Chapter 3
She’d dodged him.
His little country starlet had dodged him.
She was gone after his set. Her bus was dark. Her band was out partying, and no one knew where she was.
Janelle and Jenny hung off his arms, but he couldn’t muster up even a shred of enthusiasm for a three-way tonight.
She bailed on me. When was the last time a woman avoided me?
Mick couldn’t remember.
“See you later, ladies. I’m hanging with the boys tonight.”
“But they’re fucking our friends.” Janelle pouted. “Just let me blow you, Mick. You know you love it.”
“Not tonight.”
The way Tana Zephyr had looked when she heard the girls fighting over him made him feel like he’d done something wrong.
I’m Mick Vines. I do whatever and whoever I want.
And tonight, he wanted to be doing her.
But that wasn’t happening now.
“Mick.” Jimmy’s voice came from the hallway.
“Yeah, man?”
“We partying or what?”
“I don’t know. I was looking for Tana.”
“She left during the encore.”
“Fuck. Really?”
Jimmy tilted his head. “Why?”
“I wanted to talk to her.”
“I heard you did that before her set.”
“I did.”
“Fuck, you’re trying to nail her, aren’t you?”
Mick didn’t deny it.
“Dammit, Mick. She’s so new. The last thing we need is the press hating you because you wham, bam, thank you, ma’am’d America’s newest sweetheart.”
“Wait. You work for me—”
“Which is why I care, Mick. We gotta rehab that rep of yours. I’ve got two publicists coming up with game plans, and neither include her.”
“Then fucking change your plans, Jimmy.”
“I should’ve known that’s why you wanted her here. Fuck, man. We’ve got a whole tour. You can’t nail her the first night and break her heart.”
“She dodged me, Jimmy.”
“Wait, what?”
“You saw her leave. I’d asked her to have a drink with me tonight. She bailed.”
Jimmy’s mouth dropped open. “No way. A woman immune to your charm and star power? Never thought I’d see the day.” He paused. “Wait. America’s sweetheart. America’s country Romeo. What if … oh damn, this is good.”
“What?”
“What if you two pretend to be together? Date. Fall in love. This tour will be through the roof. We can even add more cities. It’ll help you. It’ll help her. It’s genius.”
“Pretend?”
“Yeah. Publicity would be insane. Your rep could be rehabbed. She gets a major boost. Then you go your separate ways when it’s done—with no drama.”
“Other than that last part, I like what I’m hearing.”
“But you can’t fuck her and then fuck her over, Mick. Or get caught fucking anyone else. ’Cause then you’ll ruin it, okay?” Jimmy sent him a knowing look. “Let me talk to her manager. Bill, right?”
“Jimmy—”
“This is brilliant, Mick. And if you do fuck her? Okay, whatever. Not my business. But don’t get caught with anyone else. Okay?”
He took a moment to consider it, but Mick already knew what he wanted. “You got a deal. Now, good luck getting her on board. She said she had a boyfriend.”
Jimmy huffed out a laugh. “Don’t even worry about that. If that girl knows what’s good for her … I’ll take care of everything, Mick. You just wait. This is gonna be PR gold. Can’t buy this kinda publicity. She’ll fall in line. Just watch.”
Mick smiled. If one way doesn’t work, try another. Perseverance always pays off.