"Thanks again babe." Rayna drawled as her hairstylist exited the dressing room. She stood in front of the mirror analyzing every curl of her hair then smacking her lips together to make sure her lipstick was even. She had a short cranberry colored dress on that hugged her body so tight she thought her lungs were going to explode. The dress nearly shoved her boobs to her throat and her five inch silver heels made her lean against the counter to maintain her balance.
She watched as the door to the dressing room swung open. Deacon stepped in wearing his nice fitted jeans and a teal button down that brought out the color of his eyes. He sighed taking in her outfit. "Wow!" Rayna glared at him in the mirror. "How am I supposed to perform in this?" He smirked as he walked closer to tease her. "You could practice by giving me a private show." She smacked his arm. "Shut up." He winced. "Darlin' you're going to outshine those twenty-year-olds." She rolled her eyes knowing he was referring to Juliette. "Gee thanks."
He leaned in for a kiss but she pointed to her lips and shook her head. "Mmm mmm lipstick babe." Deacon nodded. Rayna grabbed his hand. "But you can hold me if you promise not to mess up my hair." She slowly took a step towards him, making sure she had her balance. She wrapped her arms around him. He kissed the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her. He pulled away from her for a minute to face her. He placed his hands on her hips. "Gosh, you're so darn beautiful." Rayna smiled at him.
There was a knock at the door. "Is it that time already?" Rayna sighed. Normally this is where the tech. guy stuck his head in but the door didn't crack open. There was another faint knock on the door. Rayna grabbed a hold of the counter again to hold her up. "Come in." She yelled, watching the door slowly open. A blonde woman with a VIP pass around her neck cautiously stepped in and shut the door behind her. The woman bit her lip. "I'm sorry to bother you Ms Jaymes." The woman had a men's suit jacket draped over her arm. "Deacon you forgot this in the wardrobe room." Deacon froze for a moment like a deer in headlights then he shook his head. "I don't need that for the opening number." Rayna smacked his arm. "Deacon, don't be rude to the girl. You can leave your jacket in here and change with me." She raised her eyebrows, wrapping her arm around his neck, playfully smiling at him. Deacon took a deep breath, his attention still on the young girl. "Melanie, I think you should take the jacket back to where you found it." Melanie politely nodded her head and excused herself, shutting the door behind her.
Rayna looked at him confused. "What's going on babe?" Deacon wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead, shifting his weight on his feet. Rayna watched him then took a step back. "What is so important about the jacket?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing." Rayna slammed her hand down on the make-up counter. "Are you hiding something from me?" He tried grabbing her hands but she pulled away. "Darlin, please can we just drop it? We have a show to do." Rayna sighed. "Babe, just talk to me. Is it booze? Pills?" Deacon wrinkled his forehead. "What? God no, Ray." "Then what are you hiding in that jacket that you don't want me to see?" Deacon shrugged. "Nothing." Rayna rolled her eyes. "It's not nothing." There was another knock at the door, a tech guy stuck his head in. "You're on in 5 Ms Jaymes."
"Thank you. Ya'll are the best. Goodnight." Rayna waved to the audience as she made her way offstage. She pulled her earpiece off violently as she swore under her breath. "Whoa, whoa. Easy Rayna. Those cost a pretty penny." Bucky said, following her down the hall. Rayna reached her dressing room and grabbed the door handle to hold her up while she removed her shoes and threw them forcefully on the floor. Bucky stood back with his eyebrows raised. "Is there a problem?" Rayna sighed. "I can't fit in a size 2 dress when I'm a size 6." She huffed as she made her way over to the mirror. "I can talk to the wardrobe department about it." Rayna rolled her eyes. "Oh you mean Melanie?" She said with disgust in her voice. "Is this you having a diva moment or are you jealous Deacon's talking to her right now?" Her jaw dropped. "He's what?" Rayna sat down on the stool and looked at herself in the mirror. "What's going on Rayna?" Rayna shook her head. "I don't even know Buck. Deacon was so on edge tonight." Bucky stared back at her in the mirror. "You don't think he's back to drinking, do you?" Rayna shrugged. "I didn't smell anything on his breath but he acted really weird when Melanie showed up with his jacket and now he's talking to her? Do you think he's cheating on me?"
Tears began to form in her eyes. Bucky put his hand on her back. "I thought ya'll were engaged?" Rayna looked down at the ground. "Unofficially." Bucky nodded. "I think he loves you a lot and maybe you should give him a chance to explain." Rayna sighed unaware Deacon was listening on the other side of the door. "A big part of me loves him so much that I want to ignore the fact that he's hiding something from me but there's a small part that doesn't trust him. Maybe I should just call this whole engagement thing off for now. It's not like its official anyway and the public doesn't know." Bucky patted her on the back. "Are you sure that's what you want?" Rayna buried her face in her hands. "No of course not but I think it's what we both need. I thought we were over the secrets after everything with Maddie." Rayna twirled her stool to face Bucky. "Is there anything I can do?" He helped her down. "You can book another room. I think we both need our space right now."
Out in the hallway Deacon leaned up against the wall. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. After Deacon walked offstage during intermission, he had slipped the suit jacket on. He reached into the pocket of the jacket and pulled out the ring box his mother gave him. He opened it to admire the ring, then quickly snapped it shut and put it back in his pocket.