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“Hey, Greg.” She braces herself on my shoulders and hops off. “I’m here.”
He slows his steps. “Where’s the van?” His curious gaze slides over me, then Murphy and Heidi. “Who are your friends?”
She makes the introductions, but it doesn’t seem to lessen Greg’s suspicions. If I thought it was because he was actually worried about her, I wouldn’t care but that’s not the vibe he’s projecting.
“Hey, Greg.” I tip my head to him instead of offering to shake his hand. “Heard a lot about you.” Nothing good, but now’s not the best time to antagonize her manager.
“Thanks for picking her up. Well, they’re ready for you, Shelby.” He glances at me again. “You can come watch.”
As if I was planning to leave.
“Shelby,” Greg says, drawing her closer. “I got a call from some lady with the local Dream Makers organization. I explained you don’t have room in your schedule—”
“No.” Shelby stops in her tracks and whirls on Greg. “Call her back and tell her I’ll be there.”
Murphy and Heidi slide matching what-the-fuck faces my way and I shrug.
“Come on, Shelby,” Greg grumbles, yanking out his phone. “It’s one kid. And you never let me send a photographer to make it worth the trouble.”
“I don’t care. Where is it?”
He scrolls through his phone. “Empire Med. She sent an email too.”
“Forward it to me. I have tomorrow off.”
“Yes, but it’s not that close. How are you planning to get there?”
“I’ll take you,” I offer, touching Shelby’s shoulder. I don’t even know what I’m agreeing to do but it’s obviously important to Shelby.
“Thank you.” She blows out a breath. “I’m spending my day off with Rooster anyway.”
Greg narrows his eyes at me. “She needs to be four hours west of here by Friday morning.”
This motherfucker doesn’t understand who he’s dealing with. “I’ve got plenty of road experience. I’ll get her wherever she needs to go.”
His gaze slips to my VP patch and his eyes narrow. Huh. Maybe he’s not a motorcycle enthusiast.
“I’m sorry,” Shelby whispers while Greg answers a call and walks away.
“What’s Dream Makers?” I ask.
“It’s. . .” Shelby drops her gaze and shakes her head.
“It’s a children’s charity.” Heidi gently touches Shelby’s arm. “Right? They grant wishes for sick children?”
Shelby nods. “I started working with them when I was on Redneck Roadhouse. If someone asks for me, I always go if I can line up my schedule.”
How did I not know this about Shelby?
“Empire Med has a very dedicated team in the Children’s Hospital,” Heidi says. “They’ll appreciate your visit.”
“I’ll get you there tomorrow. Put it out of your head and focus on what you need to do tonight.”
She bites her lip and glances toward the loading area. “Are you sure you don’t mind taking me tomorrow?”
“Not at all.” My only plan was to soak up as much time with Shelby as possible. Doesn’t matter where.
Now that we’ve settled Shelby’s transportation issues, her shoulders relax, and a hint of a smile returns to her pretty face.
Fuck if I’m not doing whatever it takes to make this woman happy every second of the short amount of time we’ll be together.Chapter FourShelby
Heat stings my cheeks, but I flash a quick smile and I pray no one asks me for more details about Dream Makers. It’s not something I can talk about before a show or I’ll never walk out onstage tonight.
“Alexa and I made these little craft kits I was going to drop off at the children’s hospital. Do you want to take them with you?” Heidi asks. “I work there so I try to bring stuff when I can…”
Tears sting my eyes, emotions bubbling way too close to the surface for me to handle. “That’s so sweet. Thank you.”
“You don’t have to. I just…”
I hate that Heidi seems nervous around me today. I’m still the same person who went boot shopping with her in Texas. Nothing’s changed. I glance around the concert venue—a far cry from the Tipsy Saddle, the sketchy little honkytonk I was performing at the first time we met. So, maybe a few things have changed. I reach out and squeeze her hand. “That sounds perfect. I usually try to bring something with me. Thank you.”
“Well, you better go get ready.” She shoos me toward the tour buses and loading dock bustling with roadies moving equipment. “I’ll be dead-center, screaming the loudest for you.”
Gosh, I go onstage so early, some nights hardly anyone’s even in their seats yet. It’ll be nice to have at least one person I know out there in the audience. “Thank you.”
Murphy nods and wishes me luck before curling his arm around Heidi’s shoulders and steering her toward his bike.
Then Rooster and I are alone, and I’m not quite sure what to say.
I scuff the toe of my boot over crumbling asphalt, drawing Rooster’s attention to my feet. “You’re not wearing your electric teal boots?” he teases.
