A/N: Thank you so, so much to all the lovely people who keep sending me such nice reviews. I already loved this story, but your support makes me want to write it even more! Might explain why this chapter is slightly longer than some and the real reward y'all get for being so kind to me? The first Zade date of this fic! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 8

"I don't really understand a lot o' this," Wade admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Not that I wanna make any notions you have of musicians or Southern folk being dumb seem true or anythin', but I always thought if we pissed off Alan, this whole music career we were supposed to have was headed straight down the drain."

Candice smiled nicely enough from her end of the couch, though Zoe wasn't absolutely convinced her mother wasn't about to say something regrettable. Thankfully, she didn't.

"You really don't have to worry about all the details, Wade," she assured him instead. "Alan McKenzie is a cog in a machine, that's all, and I happen to know that he is a very annoying cog at the best of times. Thankfully, he's not the only band manager in the world and he can't do you too much harm thanks to a little... well, let's say damage control on my part," she explained with a look that Zoe had seen many times before.

"Mom knows people," she explained to Wade. "Lots of important people in the music industry, amongst other places, and by calling in a couple of favours she... fixed things."

"Fixed it so Sippin' Whiskey didn't lose the record deal or the gigs we had lined up?"

"Exactly." Candice smiled. "All you have to do is take these papers, get them signed by yourself and the rest of your band, and I can introduce you to your new manager tomorrow morning. You'll have no trouble with Bradley Carlton. He's a charming boy, isn't he, Zoe?"

Zoe glared daggers at her mother and would've been tempted to kick anybody else who so embarrassed her like that. Unfortunately, that wasn't the kind of thing you could pull with your mom.

"He's a nice guy, from what I remember," she said, clearing her throat. "The point is, you'll have a decent manager, and you won't lose any of the deals you already had lined up. You'll play the clubs, finish your album, it'll be great," she said, smiling widely at Wade.

He smiled back at her, and yet, somehow, Zoe wasn't quite sure the expression was entirely genuine. She figured maybe she just didn't know him well enough to be able to tell. After all, it had only been a few weeks and they never did manage to get even one date yet.

"Uh, right," he said eventually, shaking his head and looking to Candice instead of Zoe. "Thank you, ma'am, for all that you did here for me and the guys. We appreciate it, or at least, I do and they will too, when I tell 'em."

"No problem at all," said Candice as she got up from her seat, looking amused when Wade got up too. "Any friend of Zoe's is a man worth helping with his career," she said pointedly.

Zoe rolled her eyes then watched as Wade shook Candice's hand with gusto and thanked her all over again for what she had done.

"Those contracts need to be signed and sent back to me by 2pm at the latest," she was telling him as she left. "I need to get them over to the management company and copied to a few others for the deal to be finalised."

"You'll get 'em, and thank you, again," Wade told her, raising the hand that held the papers in a kind of odd wave as Candice finally opened the door to let herself out.

"I'll call you soon, honey!" she called back to Zoe.

"Thanks, Mom!" she replied, just before the door closed with a bang. "And that was my mother," she said to Wade, laughing as she cleared the coffee cups away.

"She's kind of intimidatin', I don't mind admittin'," he agreed, following Zoe as she headed for the kitchen, "but I'm all kinds of grateful for what she's doing for me and the band. Your momma really is something else, Zoe Hart."

That made her laugh out loud. "Yeah, that's been said before," she admitted, as she moved around the kitchen, shoving the cups into the dishwasher and generally tidying things. "Of course, there's usually a different tone of voice that goes with it," she added, turning towards the door and almost running right into Wade.

She hadn't really been aware of his exact location and now she found him leaning on the doorjamb, completely blocking her exit. She gave him an enquiring look and Wade smiled down at her.

"You know, since I only met Ms Candice today, seems to me that somebody must've pleaded my case awful hard to get all this stuff figured out so fast," he said, waving the paperwork in his hand.

"Maybe they did," Zoe agreed, nodding her head, "but don't let it go to your head, cowboy," she advised, hands on her hips. "I like to help people, it's in my nature. You know, doctor, healing the sick, saving lives. I guess it doesn't hurt to save a career now and then too," she said, smirking a little.

"Well, you should know I appreciate what you did for me, you and your momma both," he said, leaning down towards her a little. "Seems you've been taking care of me a lot these past few days, first my hand, now all this," he reminded her. "Gotta mean somethin', right?"

Zoe had the overwhelming feeling that he was going to kiss her, and quite honestly, she wasn't sure she would mind much if he did. Still, it certanly wasn't her way to make things too easy, not for Wade or for anyone. She backed up a step, though her smile remained.

"I patched up your hand because it's my job," she reminded him. "And I got my mom to help out you and the band because I owed you a favour and... well, you did say the whole trying to punch your manager thing mostly happened because he insulted me, right?"

"That is true," Wade agreed. "I mean, he didn't know it was you exactly, just some woman waitin' on me for a date."

Zoe nodded her head. "Yeah, about that date. Never quite happened, did it?"

"Hey, you wanna remedy that, doc, I am more than willin'," said Wade with real enthusiasm as he checked his watch. "Now, I gotta get this paperwork figured out with the guys, but unless you're working some shift that gets in the way, I would love to pick you up and take you to dinner at... seven-thirty?" he offered, with hope evident in his eyes.

There was a part of Zoe that said she was a fool to agree after the last time, but it wasn't as if Wade had just stood her up for the hell of it a few nights ago. He had very good reasons for not being where he was supposed to be. Besides, she had been the one to ask then and he had readily said yes. Now he was doing the asking and he looked so genuine, she couldn't really deny him a second chance.

"Okay," she said eventually. "Seven-thirty, but," she continued, holding up a warning finger, "if you are so much as one minute late, Wade Kinsella-"

Before she could say more, Wade dipped his head and planted a quick kiss on her cheek that startled Zoe to silence.

"Not one second late, doc, I promise," he said softly before very quickly turning and walking away, leaving her stunned. "I'll be back at seven-thirty. Prepare yourself for the best date of your life, Zoe Hart!" he yelled as he hurried out of her apartment, something akin to a whooping Native American war cry escaping before the door quite closed behind him.

Zoe couldn't help but laugh, and even when she stopped, the smile remained. Honestly, she was really looking forward to their date tonight.

Wade didn't feel much in the way of fear, he just wasn't the type, and when he did, he sure as hell knew how to hide it well. It certainly had been a good long while since the idea of a date with a woman made him anything like nervous, but then, no other woman had been Zoe Hart.

After what happened the last time, and promising her so faithfully a few hours before that he would not be even a second late for this date, he arrived at Zoe's building a full fifteen minutes early and waited in the car a while before heading into the apartment building behind someone else who buzzed themselves into the main door.

Travelling up in the elevator, Wade checked his watch as he reached Zoe's door and smiled when he saw it was only 7.25. Knocking on the door, he waited all of thirty seconds before Zoe opened it, and the sight of her just about took his breath away.

"Wow. Look at you," he said, looking her over appreciatively. "Zoe Hart, you are beautiful."

"You're not so bad yourself, Wade Kinsella," she told him, even as she blushed at his compliment to her. "And hey, punctual too," she said, having glanced at her watch. "I'm impressed."

"You think this is impressive, doc," he told her, holding out his arm for her to take so they could leave, "you ain't seen nothin' yet."

Of course, it had occurred to Wade that Zoe was a woman who liked the finer things in life and since his fledgling music career was apparently not about to go to hell, he could afford to treat her like the lady she certainly seemed to be. He got them a table at a real nice restaurant and, naturally, took her there in his (or rather the band's) own chauffeur-driven car.

"Thanks, Pete," she said, waving to the driver as Wade opened the car door for her outside the fancy eatery.

"Huh." Wade shook his head. "Been making friends with the driver?"

"Well, this is the third time he's driven me around," she noted. "Honestly, I've probably had as much conversation with him as I have with you so far."

"Seems to me we should be lookin' to fix that," said Wade, escorting her into the restaurant.

There were certain things that bothered him about this date. It wasn't paying the bill at the fancy restaurant that scared him, not even knowing how to behave in such a nice place, because Wade did know his manners well enough. He had also deliberately picked a restaurant he had been to before, with a menu he knew he'd be able to read and pronounce. All of that was fine. The problem, surprisingly, was Zoe.

So far, they hadn't spent all that much time alone together. As she pointed out as they left the car, she had probably spent almost as much real quality time alone with Pete the driver as with Wade himself. There was a brief conversation at the club that first night, another a while later, then at the hospital when she patched up his hand, (much of which he didn't recall too clearly thanks to the pain), his explanation of what happened that night, and then earlier today after her mom left the apartment. Those few things plus a few texts and a couple of phone calls was the sum total of their whole relationship so far. Suddenly, Wade was just a little worried that he wouldn't have anything much to say that a woman like Zoe would want to hear, and that he would be lost in any conversation she tried to start about anything she liked or knew much about.

"Wade?" she said from across the table, alerting him to the fact he probably had a weird look on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Sure, doc. Just dandy," he promised, putting some real attention on his menu, as she did the same. "You like this place, right?" he checked, without looking up.

"Are you kidding? I love it here," said Zoe with real enthusiasm that he was pleased to hear in her voice and see in his face when he did glance her way then. "I don't get to come in too often, but when I do, I am never disappointed. The chef has a way with pasta, I don't even know how he does it. Do you come here much?"

"I've been here once," Wade admitted. "Friend o' mine recommended it to me. See, he used to live in New York for a while, when he was hell-bent on bein' a real fancy lawyer."

"A lawyer?" Zoe asked, looking surprised. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I would think all your friends would be in music. Not all my friends are doctors," she said, laughing at herself.

"Well, I don't know him because he's a lawyer or anythin'," Wade explained. "Me and George Tucker came up together, back in Bluebell. Just about the best friend I ever had. Funny thing that just when he got back home after his time in the city, I go and get my big break and come on up here."

Zoe looked up from her menu one more time, seeing a faraway look in Wade's eyes. The moment he realised she had seen it, he put his focus back on the menu and then the waitress was there and they needed to place their order. By the time she was gone, Wade seemed to be back in the room and Zoe wasn't sure whether bringing up his hometown was a good idea or not. In the end, she realised if she didn't ask about Wade's life before rockstardom, she really didn't know what she was going to say.

"You must miss home a lot. I mean, Alabama, that's a long way from New York, right?"

"It's pretty far," Wade agreed, nodding his head. "But, you know, it ain't so bad up here. City has its perks," he told her, smiling widely just as their drinks arrived. "Here's to beautiful New York City doctors and their kickass mommas in PR," said Wade, lifting his glass in a toast.

"And here's to Southern cowboy rockstars, who are obviously going to make it big," said Zoe in kind, clinking her Martini glass against Wade's beer glass with a grin.

As first dates went, so far, so good.

"Next thing I know, the damn fool is tossin' that crossbow like it's nothin', didn't even check if the safety was on, which it was not, and then he's on the ground yellin' about the arrow in his leg."

"Oh my God!" Zoe gasped, trying hard to breathe through the laughter that just wouldn't end.

Some of the problem was a few too many drinks over dinner, but honestly, Wade had told her so many funny stories about the people of Bluebell on the car ride home, she was just in fits the whole time. It was nice though, to laugh, to have fun, to feel so comfortable and happy. She really hadn't dated much for quite a while, and when she had dared to go on the occasional night out with a guy, one or both of them usually ended up disappointed. Tonight had been so different.

"I really should not be laughing," she said as they stepped out of the car and the fresh air hit her. "I'm a doctor, I must not mock the afflicted. I took an oath!" she insisted, turning to face Wade and losing her balance a little as she fell against his chest.

"You don't gotta worry, doc," he assured her, setting her back steady on her own two feet. "George Tucker was just fine, and hey, we all got a good story to tell out of it," he said, smiling as he pushed Zoe's hair gently back off her face.

It had been a funny story, but all the humour had gone out of the situation now as they faced each other. As much as Zoe had suspected Wade was going to kiss her hours before in her kitchen, she hadn't been absolutely certain, not like she was in this moment. This perfect, perfect moment on a dark New York Street as his hand slid behind her head and he leaned down to cover her lips with his own.

Zoe had never once had any concerns about Wade's ability to kiss. Guys like him were really good at that kind of thing and he did not disappoint at all. In fact, if his other arm hadn't wound around her, as her own went up around his neck and the kiss went on and on, her knees might just have buckled enough to bring her to the pavement in quite an ungraceful heap.

When they finally parted, Zoe had to take in a very deep breath. Her lips were bruised and her cheeks flushed, but damn, she was happy, smiling wide and sure she wouldn't be stopping for a good while yet.

"I had a great time tonight, Wade," she told him easily. "It was worth two attempts to get to this."

"I'll agree to that," he told her, one hand still at her cheek. "So, I guess the gentlemanly thing to do now would be walk you to your door, right?" he said with a look in his eyes that Zoe couldn't mistake.

Truthfully, she was very tempted to take him up on the offer too, but there was something, a voice inside her, a strange sense of propriety or something that made her slowly shake her head.

"Thank you, but no," she said, almost regretfully. "It's not that... Wade, I'm just not that kind of girl. Weirdly, I almost actually wish I were right now, but... but I'm just not."

She didn't want to think it, but a small part of Zoe almost expected him to say something mean and walk away, never to be seen again. Thankfully, Wade proved her wrong one more time.

Nodding his head in silent understanding, he then leaned in to softly brush his lips against her own one more time. "That's just fine with me, doc," he said near her ear, "'cause I am more than certain that you're worth waitin' for."

Zoe was pretty sure she stopped breathing altogether when she heard that and didn't start again until after she watched Wade climb back into the car, waving goodbye to her, before he fully closed the door and was driven away.

It really had been the most amazing night, just like he said it would be, and Zoe would be happy to have many more just like it in the future.

To Be Continued...