Hillbilly Rockstar (Blacktop Cowboys 6)

No confusion on her job expectations.

“Now, what were your concerns?” she said frostily.

“You’re a little prickly, aren’t you?”

“If you’d dealt with as many pricks as I have over the years, you’d know some of that attitude was bound to rub off on me.”

He laughed. “Well, my set of conditions is a bit different. You protect me, but you don’t get to judge me. I like women, I like sex and I have a lot of both. I’m up late, which means I sleep late, but that don’t mean I’m lazy. I work out at least every other day, so you need to keep up. That said, I need time alone to write, and the only time that happens is when I’m on my tour bus. I’ll be one hundred percent safe while we’re traveling down the road, so during that time, you’ll need to entertain yourself.”

“Not a problem.”

“My biggest stipulation is that you can’t tell anyone you’re my bodyguard, especially your sister. I don’t need this spread among my friends in Muddy Gap.”

“GSC is discreet and professional. I have nondisclosure agreements with them, and I’m fully prepared to sign them with you. I don’t talk about my work with anyone.”

“I appreciate that. Now, here’s my final concern. Crash will tell everyone associated with the tour that you’re my new personal assistant. However, when you store your stuff in my tour bus, no one is gonna believe it. They’ll assume we’re f**king. Will that be a problem for you?”

She shook her head. “I don’t care about anything except doing my job.”

Devin raised an eyebrow. “Even if it means I’ll parade groupies past you?” he countered. “You prepared for the questions from my bandmates? You don’t care if they think you’re a star f**ker? You can honestly act like you don’t give a shit who I f**k as long as I’m givin’ it to you on a regular basis? Because in my past experiences, no woman ever deals well with that.”

That gave her pause. Then she offered him that evil smile. “Maybe since I’m a more . . . masculine-acting woman—your words, not mine, Mr. McClain—that means I proudly embrace the same I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude that men do when it comes to casual sex.”

“You gonna toss my knee-jerk comment about your physical attributes in my face every chance you get?”

Liberty cocked her head. “Yep. You wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t mean it, which means you have to accept that I won’t forget it. You’re used to saying whatever pops into your head, and I doubt anyone ever calls you out on it. Be warned: I will.”

“So noted.”

“And I don’t shy away from asking what I need to know.”

“Such as?”

“When was your last relationship that lasted longer than a box of condoms?”

He refused to let her get a rise out of him. “Four years ago.”

“Then no one is expecting you to suddenly become monogamous.”

“True.” He took a sip of his cold coffee. “But I’ll expect you to look like the type of woman I’d hire. Or have in my bed.”

She scowled. “What does Devin McClain’s type look like?”

“Not that.” He gestured to her outfit. “Wearing a getup like that will be a dead giveaway that you’re not who you claim to be. And I’m not all right with that. You shouldn’t be either. Darlin’, you gotta blend.”

Instead of bristling, she nodded. “Understood. But I won’t wear constricting clothing. I can’t run in high heels. My gun needs to be accessible at all times.”

“Will you always be carrying?”

“It’ll depend on the situation. But, yes, I’ll either have a handgun or a stun gun on my person, which is standard in the personal-protection business regardless of your gender or mine.”

Devin didn’t want this—he truly felt he didn’t need it. But in the case of picking the lesser of two evils, he’d choose her. He managed a smile. “You’re hired. I play Denver tonight and Cheyenne tomorrow night. The tour leaves in three days. See that you’re ready.”

“I will be. And thank you.” She pushed back from the table. “I’ll bring the others back in so you all can iron out the final details.” She slipped out the door.

He closed his eyes. Given how much they’d butted heads in the past hour, he’d better stock up on headache medicine.

After a minute, the chair next to him squeaked, but he kept his eyes closed. His agent said, “Everything all right?”

“I guess.”

“Choosing her is the smart move, Devin.”

Like they’d given him a choice. “Why? Because I’m not attracted to her in the least?”

His agent cursed softly, then leaned closer. “No. Because it’s what the tour promoters want. After agreeing not to play the song that’s brought everyone a buttload of trouble, and following their security demands, you’ll be seen as a team player. They’ll reward you. Mark my words.”

“Great.”

“It will be.”

Devin opened his eyes. Liberty had retaken her seat but wouldn’t meet his eyes.

Carl and Garrett were passing papers back and forth. Everyone else was silent.

Wasn’t long before Liberty said, “Garrett, you need anything else from me right now?”

“No. If you have something else to do, feel free.”