From the moment he took the stage, Luc owned every inch of it.

In spite of herself, Haley was mesmerized. She'd never seen a live show, and the video she had seen didn't do it justice.

He jumped and gyrated, laughing when he made mistakes, smiling at individual people in the crowd, waving to them.

Once Haley was sure he was looking at her, eyes smoky, body swaying gently to the music. He smiled and waved his fingers, confirming her thoughts and making the girls who stood next to her scream with a combination of joy and envy.

"Oh my god, he waved at you!" Courtney and Jasmine were beside themselves. "You're so lucky!"

Haley laughed at their joy, admitting to herself that was indeed pretty neat when the guy who was commanding 20,000 souls in one building singled you out for a wave and a smile.

She could see he was getting sweaty, forehead and chest starting to shine under the lights. His hair, too, was getting damp, ringlets forming around his face.

He was sexy.

Haley had never thought of anyone in these terms before, except maybe an actor in a movie in passing. Definitely never someone she knew in person. The guys who came on to her were just that, guys with a come on, with an agenda that she had absolutely no interest in.

Eyes on the prize, always, right?

And the prize was a life in New York City or London or Chicago, being a journalist for the New York Times or something similar, something far, far away from rural Kentucky, where boys chased you because you had a nice body and pretty hair. The prize was an exciting life filled with more than bowling on Fridays and church on Sundays.

And this was the beginning, right? To go on tour with Luc and write a kick ass piece on her experience, to finish school in New York and emerge on the other side as a new person, someone more than Haley Carter from Carter's Hollow.

Yes, definitely.

Onstage, Luc shook his hair out of his gorgeous eyes, shaking sweat from the tips of his beautiful hair.

Someone handed him a guitar, and she spoke into his mic.

"Okay, let's slow things down a little, shall we? This is something brand new, no one's heard it yet, and I'm going to premier it here, tonight, for you lovely people."

The crowd's reaction was immediate and heartfelt, their shrieks and yells of approval shaking the rafters. Next to her, Jasmine and Courtney were losing their minds at their good fortune, hugging each other and crying.

Luc closed his eyes as he began strumming, a lovely melody in a minor key. The stage went dark, with only a follow spot glowing on his dark head like a halo.

Sometimes things get so dark, so dark

Sunshine seems so far away from me

His haunting words filled the stadium, and the crowd stood, transfixed, as he sang with his eyes closed. To be there when Luc unveiled new music—

Haley knew she was watching something really special.

The song ended and the floors shook with the applause and screaming from the fans.

Luc opened his eyes and smiled, coming back from wherever it was he went when he sang.

He bantered a bit with the audience, reading some of their signs, laughing at the ones he couldn't read out loud.

"I want you all to know," he said as the show wound down, "that no matter what direction my career takes me, this, right here, performing for you, is my favorite thing, bar none. Whatever direction life takes me, I'll always do this, I'll always come back to singing for you, because it's what I love more than anything."

The stadium erupted in screams of approval and love while Luc kissed his palm and waved it toward the audience, over and over.

Finally, he bowed, waved, and left the stage, practically sprinting through the crowd that was trying to touch him, take his photo, to have any kind of contact with their idol.

Haley was surprised to find Bobbie next to her, grasping her by the elbow and guiding her back the way they'd come. She waved a hasty good bye to Jasmine and Courtney, who waved back.

"Hurry, hurry, before the stampede starts," Bobbie said with a laugh, practically shoving Haley through the doors. They wound their way through the corridors of Madison Square Garden and suddenly Haley found herself with Gomez in an underground drive.

"Hello, Ms. Carter, I hope you enjoyed the show," he said courteously as he held the door for her.

"God yes, it was fantastic," Haley replied as she climbed in. Normally she'd be headed for bed by this time, but she found herself wide awake, excited about the after party.

Gomez drove her back to the same hotel where she'd catered that night, only tonight everyone was headed upstairs to Luc's suite.

Not that there were a lot of people, just three or four rode up in the elevator with Haley. She didn't recognize any of them.

The elevator opened to the suite, and Haley put the memories of that night out of her mind. After all, she'd been here since then, hadn't she? For lunch? And all had been fine.

Tonight, there were about fifteen or twenty people milling around in the lounge/living room area, all holding drinks and chatting. Some were people who'd been in the VIP section with her—how had they gotten here so quickly? They nodded their recognition and greetings to Haley, lifting their drinks in quiet hellos.

Luc himself wasn't there yet, at least Haley didn't see him anywhere. A passing waiter offered her a glass of champagne, which she accepted and began to sip.

"Hello there," said a voice next to her. "Fancy seeing you here."

She turned to see Lewis Torrance, drink in hand, smiling at her, ferret eyes roaming down her body before coming back to rest on her face.

"Hello, Lewis," Haley responded, smiling, doing her best to be cordial, though she already knew she couldn't stand him, for some reason. "I thought you were opening for Luc, but I didn't see you at tonight's show?"

"My contract is for the European leg of the tour only," he explained in between taking drinks from his glass. "I just joined him here a few weeks early to rehearse and get the feel of things."

"I see." Haley took another sip of her champagne, just for something to do, and was surprised to find her glass empty.

"Here, let me top you up, Love," Lewis said, taking her empty glass, setting it on a passing tray, and taking a full one for her.

"Thank you," Haley said, though she hadn't wanted another drink.

Just then Luc emerged from his bedroom suite, hair wet and in a collared linen shirt and jeans, after what must've been the fastest shower in history. He smiled at everyone, looking too handsome to be believed.

Haley didn't usually notice people's looks, and she wondered if the one glass of champagne had gotten her drunk already.

She had noticed how sexy he was at the concert, but of course that was bound to happen, when he was turning everything on, all the way. Now he was just himself, Luc deLaurentis, not Luc, international superstar.

He sat down on the sofa and gestured for a drink. Then he looked around, saw Haley, and gestured for her to come and sit by him.

She obliged, ignoring the knowing smirk Lewis was flashing her way.

Haley realized that, to the casual observer, she would merely appear as Luc's latest conquest, his latest casual lay.

She sat next to him, but a measured distance away, a fact that he noticed and smiled about as he sipped his drink.

"So?" he asked, shrugging interrogatively. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Oh yes," Haley responded, nodding for emphasis. "I've never been to a concert before, let alone been a VIP, so it was really special."

Luc's eyebrows arched in surprise. "You've never been to a concert of any kind before? Really?"

Haley nodded again. "Tonight was my first, and you were amazing."

Luc smiled, his pleasure evident. "Well, thank you for that. I thought tonight went very well, myself, so it's nice to have confirmation from an objective source." He put his arm around her, rubbing her shoulder. "It was nice to have you there, Haley with the hazel eyes, truly."

"It was my pleasure," Haley replied, surprised that she enjoyed the feel of his hand on her shoulder.

They both saw Lewis getting ready to snort some coke off a small table.

Luc sighed with irritation. "Lew? You know I don't like that sort of thing at my private parties, right? Could you please take it back to your room if you're going to get into that shit?"

Lewis gave him a salute with the hundred dollar bill he was using to snort. "Promise, chief, if I do any more, I'll leave first, yeah?"

Luc sighed again and shrugged. "I suppose it will have to do," he replied. He raised his voice. "People? Please, just booze tonight, okay? I'm really not in the mood for anything else."
Haley looked around as everyone nodded and went back to whatever they were doing.

Was that all it took? Just one sentence from Luc himself to stop all "hanky-panky"?

She was impressed.

Luc gestured toward Lewis. "I hope that sort of thing doesn't bother you? The drugs, I mean?"

Haley shrugged. "I mean, it's not my thing, but I go to NYU, I've seen everything. At least once."

Luc looked at her. "Really? Everything? Like what?"

Haley shrugged again. "What do you want, like a list?"

Luc just continued to look at her.

"Well, at any party there's usually pot, of course, and mushrooms, coke?" She stopped and looked at Luc, to gauge whether or not he wanted her to go on.

"Um, I think I've seen people shooting up heroin, though not very often, since they usually like to do that in private, for some reason. I guess it's mainly just alcohol, a lot of alcohol."

"And how does all of this make you feel? Hm?" Luc was looking at her intently.

"Well, mainly I'm glad we live in New York, and no one has to drive home, though I do worry about people being in that state and getting on the subway, especially the girls. Women are vulnerable in a way that men aren't, you know?"

Luc nodded. "You're a nice person, Haley. Maybe too nice for all you're going to see and experience with me on tour."

Haley sat up and stared at him. "What are you talking about? You're not rescinding your offer, are you? To let me go on tour with you?"

Luc laughed comfortably, reaching up to pull her back into the curve of his arm. "No no, Haley With the Hazel Eyes, I'm not, don't worry."

He turned his head so he could look into her eyes. "I just worry that someone as fresh, as naive as you, might be shocked at some of the things that go on during a tour, that's all."

But that's what I want to see, Haley thought to herself.

She smiled. "I'll be fine, honest. Like I said, I've seen it all, some of it twice."

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you," Luc concluded, rubbing her shoulder once more. "Oh, Haley, the things you're going to see."

"I know! I've never been to Europe before," Haley replied, misunderstanding him on purpose. "I've heard Italy and Greece are the most beautiful places on earth, so I'm really looking forward to it." She leaned back into his arm, realizing that she kind of liked the feeling of it. His thigh was kind of rubbing against hers, the same firm thigh that had had girls screaming during the show, and Haley realized that she kind of liked that, too.