A/N: Thanks for the continued reviewage, peops. Now, we pick up excatly where we left off, because all of this was supposed to be part of the previous chapter until I realised quite how long that would be! :P

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 15

Wade only had eyes for Zoe as he finished performing the song he wrote with only her in mind. He handed off his guitar and hopped down off the stage, barely noticing any of the other adoring fans or whatever, as he headed straight for the only woman he was interested in these days.

"Hi," said Zoe as he reached her.

"Hi, yourself," he replied, wasting no time in pulling her closer and covering her lips with his own.

It really had been too long since they were in the same place at the same time. Yes, they had talked on the phone a couple of times and text a whole bunch, but they just never seemed to be able to fix a time and place where they were both available to meet up. If it was all on one side, maybe Wade would've thought Zoe was trying to get rid of him for some reason, but he had to let her down just as many times as she had to say she couldn't make it. Now, finally, here she was, and damn, if he hadn't missed her. Wade hoped she knew that by the time they parted, to the whooping and hollering of so many people all around them in the club.

"That was... amazing," said Zoe, shaking her head, eyes wide with wonder.

"The kiss or the song?" asked Wade, smirking terribly.

"Honestly? Both," Zoe admitted with laughter in her voice. "Did you...? I mean, not to be big-headed or anything..."

"Yes, Zoe," he told her before she started to ramble too much. "The song was about you."

The smile on her face was a mile wide when she heard that, even as the colour rose in her cheeks. Wade wasn't sure if she was blushing because the song was for her or because all eyes were pretty much on them right about now. He suspected a little of both.

"Come on, doc," he said then, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Let me buy you a drink, steady them nerves some," he told her, as they moved through the crowds towards the bar. "Seems to me you're a little overwhelmed right about now."

"That is not untrue." Zoe nodded. "Wade, you were just incredible up there. I mean, I knew you could play and sing, and you told me you wrote some of the songs along with the band, but that was... it was so different and just beautiful."

"Well, I guess you could say that's kinda how I see you," he told her as they reached the bar and she pulled herself up onto a stool as he leaned on the bar beside her. "You are different to most people I have known in my life, and as for beautiful, well, sweetheart, there is nobody I know to compare."

"That I'll agree with."

Wade looked past Zoe to the man stood on the other side, frowning at the interruption, before realising he recognised the face smiling back at him.

"Jonah Breeland?" he checked.

"The one and only. How've you been, Wade?"

"I'm doin' good, man," said Wade, moving around Zoe to shake Jonah's hand. "What in the heck are you doin' up here?"

"Seems as if your girlfriend and I are work-mates," he said, tilting his head towards Zoe.

"He recently started working at the hospital," she explained as Wade looked her way, seemingly flustered and even a little confused. "I'm sorry, you two actually know each other?"

"Well, sure," Wade told her easily. "Jonah here is the nephew of our Dr Brick Breeland back home in Bluebell. You remember me tellin' you about my buddy George Tucker?"

"The one who used to live in New York." Zoe nodded. "Sure."

"Well, George was, at one time, engaged to Lemon, who is Brick's daughter and Jonah's cousin."

Wade thought he was being helpful until he saw that Zoe was blinking pretty fast.

"Okay," she said eventually. "That's... a lot of people and a lot of connections. How about we just go with you guys know each other and this is a wacky coincidence?"

"Sounds like a plan." Jonah chuckled. "So, can I get you two a drink or...?"

Wade opened his mouth to answer that, but Zoe was quick to cut in before he ever got the chance.

"That is really a very sweet offer, Jonah, but Wade and I have been trying to get some time alone for so long now. Would you mind if we had a drink together... without anybody else?"

There was a look in Jonah's eyes as he glanced between them that Wade didn't care for much, and then suddenly his eyes moved past them and he realised that Gigi was there too.

"No problem," said Jonah, waving away any concerns. "Maybe I'll ask Gigi here if she'd like a drink a little further down the bar, where we won't disturb you two private little lovebirds," he said with a smirk and no lack of sarcasm.

A minute later, he and a giggling Gigi had disappeared from view.

"What was that all about?" Wade asked Zoe, not sure yet that he really wanted an answer to that question.

"Nothing," Zoe assured him. "Jonah is just... I don't know how he was when you knew him, but at the hospital, he seems to think he's God's gift to all womankind."

"Yeah, he always was a little that way," Wade considered. "Not that I can judge exactly..." he admitted, trailing off when he realised he had the bartender's attention and ordering drinks for himself and Zoe. "So, you and Jonah known each other long?"

"Couple of weeks." Zoe shrugged. "Can we please not spend this time together talking about the annoying Dr Breeland?" she said then. "How about we talk about how much you have missed me these past two weeks?"

Wade smirked at that. "Baby, you oughta know I have missed the heck outta you. That hospital has been takin' liberties with your time."

"Yes, because your music career takes none of yours," she reminded him with a look, though she was smiling enough to take the edge off.

"Touché," Wade replied as they both picked up their drinks, him clicking his beer bottle against her Martini glass.

"So, I don't know how things are for you this next week," said Zoe then, placing her glass back down on the bar, "but it's looking like I'm going to be free most of the weekend. Any chance you have a window for me in there somewhere, cowboy?" she asked, leaning in so close.

"You keep on lookin' at me like that and I will punch a window clean through both days just for you, doc," he promised her, stealing a kiss that she seemed more than happy to let him have. "Seriously though, I gotta talk to Bradley before I know for sure. We play most of our gigs Friday and Saturday nights, you know that, but we're pretty much done recording for the album, so the studio shouldn't be takin' up too much of my time."

"Well, that's positive." Zoe nodded. "And you know, it doesn't have to be a night-time date. I'd settle for lunch, a coffee date even, anything where I actually get to be in close proximity to you for more than ten minutes."

Wade couldn't help the smirk that came over his face as a couple of less than clean thoughts ran through his head. "How close are we talkin'?" he asked them, licking his lips.

Zoe laughed and slapped his shoulder, though she didn't actually answer the question. Rightly or wrongly, Wade took that as a positive sign.

"I had this idea to take you to some other fancy restaurant," he confessed then. "George Tucker gave me some ideas on that, but I don't know about gettin' a reservation when neither one of us knows when and where we'll be," he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought on it. "You know, things would be so much easier in Bluebell."

"Really?" Zoe asked, choking a little on the last of her Martini. "I can't imagine being in Bluebell. I mean, all I really know is New York, or at least the northern half of the country. I guess I'm just a city girl."

"And I'm a country boy, doc, but that doesn't mean I don't get along okay up here, at least, for now," Wade told her. "I got an idea you'd like Alabama well enough if you gave it a chance, and small towns do have their charms. Now, it's true that we only have the one fancy restaurant in Bluebell, and would you believe it is actually called Fancies?" he told her with a grin. "But if we were there and I wanted to take you someplace special, well, I guess I'd sooner pack up a lunch, drive you out someplace pretty, down by the lake maybe, and we'd have ourselves a real nice picnic instead of puttin' on our fancy clothes and sittin' in a restuarant."

Wade hadn't realised how easily he zoned out until suddenly he was back in the room full of noise and people jostling to get to the bar. Shaking his head, he laughed at himself, and took a long drink of his beer without looking at Zoe.

"Guess that sounds pretty lame to you, huh?"

"Nope, not lame at all," Zoe told him in a soft voice and a look in her eyes to match as he glanced her way then. "I think that sounds beautiful, Wade, I really do. You almost make me wish we were in Bluebell, Alabama right now."

If he thought she was serious, Wade was pretty sure he would be offering to take her there right in that moment, but she wasn't, not really, he was sure on that. Still, he did believe she liked the sound of a picnic at least and that idea could just have potential. Unfortunately, before they could settle anything, there was a tapping on his shoulder, somebody eager to let him know that he was needed backstage before the other half of the set began.

"Wow, that was... brief," said Zoe regretfully. "Duty calls, huh?" she said with a sigh.

"Apparently." Wade rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, baby."

"It's fine," Zoe assured him, clearly forcing a smile. "You're busy, I'm busy. Maybe one day we will finally get that second date."

Wade got to his feet, stepped in real close to take her face in his hands and kissed her firmly on the lips. When he pulled back, he met her eyes, determined that she heard him and believed what he said.

"We will get that date, Zoe Hart. I promise you," he swore faithfully, kissing her one more time before he really did have to go.

Zoe could hardly keep the smile off her face, even as she watched Wade walk away from her. So, they didn't get to see much of each other lately, but any small worries she might have had about Wade not being keen, or about her own imagination making more of what was between the two of them than was actually there, they had all been quashed in the last few minutes.

Picking her cell out of her purse, she typed a quick text message and sent it off in the hopes of it being seen immediately.

Zoe:
This weekend. Punch that window, cowboy. I'm done waiting.

She wondered how he would interpret her words. After all, the last couple of times he talked about waiting for her, Wade had meant sex. Zoe knew that very well, and even though it wasn't the only way she meant for her words to be taken, she was actually okay if he did think that was what she was getting at.

Practically holding her breath, she waited to see if she might get an answer before the second half of the band's set began. Her eyes flitted to the stage and she realised not one member of Sippin' Whiskey had returned yet, then her phone beeped, and she looked back down at the screen, smiling at the message written there which was followed by a smiling emoji with heart eyes.

Wade:
Your wish is my command, doc.

To Be Continued...