She nodded and slipped into the back seat, embarrassed to be leaving this amazing tour in such a pedestrian way. By the time she got to the hotel, she questioned whether she should even go out. She dug through her suitcase and was about to throw in the towel and call it a night, when she saw the little black dress she’d picked up at Caesars Palace in Vegas. She smirked. Fine. If Bristol didn’t think hooking up was a good idea, then she was going to make damn sure Bristol knew what she was missing.

Chapter Twenty-four

Where was she? Bristol scanned the packed club several times, hoping to lay eyes on Annie. The afterparty was always the best part of finishing a tour. Top Shelf rented out The Cliffs, and getting in was impossible unless you were on the list. Bristol made sure everyone from her tour, including Annie, was on it. She felt like her heart had fallen out of her chest when she heard one of Lizzy’s assistants tell them she saw Annie grab her luggage and drive off in a nondescript sedan. Bristol wanted the opportunity to say good-bye to her in person. She wanted time with just her.

Right now, Bristol was surrounded by people she barely knew and others she wanted to get away from. Sterling swung by a few times, but Bristol’s table was always full, and it was hard to hear conversations. Bristol shrugged and pointed to her ear, even though she heard every damn word out of Sterling’s damn mouth.

“I’m avoiding Sterling, too. She can chat with us when we go in for our meeting this week,” Lizzy said.

They watched her work the room, stopping to laugh with the famous people and ignoring people she didn’t recognize. “If nothing else, she’s a hard worker.”

“For what, though? What’s the allure at this point? The Mayfields have hundreds of millions of dollars. They could buy a small country somewhere,” Lizzy said.

“Too bad she can’t go there and run it,” Bristol said.

“Should I order us another round?” Lizzy waved over their waiter, whose sole job was their table.

“What can I get you ladies?”

“Bring us a bottle of tequila,” Lizzy yelled.

The thought of doing shots made Bristol shiver sourly. “Oh, no. I’ll take Disaronno on the rocks. Give her the tequila bottle.”

“And lime wedges. We’ve got the salt here.” Lizzy waved the saltshaker at the waiter.

“I should probably make a round just to be social,” Bristol said. Lizzy and one of her assistants scooted out of the booth to free Bristol. She got about ten feet before people pounced on her and asked to take selfies. “Maybe later. I have to be somewhere right now.” She smiled to soften the blow and headed to the restroom.