Hillbilly Rockstar (Blacktop Cowboys 6)

“Yes.” He handed her a piece of paper with the GSC letterhead and Garrett’s signature. “There’s a warehouse two miles from here. We’ll tow it there and check it out. Prelim checks don’t show explosives.”

She hadn’t expected them to find any, but she’d take the same precaution if it were her operation. “Good. You’ll keep in touch about what you do find?”

“Of course. You’ll have our answer first thing in the morning about problems and any potential delays.”

“Thank you, Marco. I appreciate your quick action on this.”

“You’re welcome.”

Back in the event center, JT approached her, Crash hovering behind him. “Look, Liberty, I think we started out on the wrong foot. I had no idea things had gotten so serious with what was goin’ on with Devin.”

Really? After you were attacked in his bed on his bus, you didn’t think it might be serious?

“And I, uh, love this job. This is my family—the band, the road crew. It about killed me not to be with them when I was recovering.” His hand tightened on his cane. “I acted like a jerk to you. I’m sorry. I guess after seein’ all this, I know why Devin needs an assistant.”

“I appreciate the apology. Crash will keep you updated.” She headed down the hall and parked herself outside Devin’s ready room because she didn’t have anywhere else to go.

The after-party was packed. Liberty lost track of Devin several times, but each time the room security signaled that they had eyes on him.

The concert was, as always, incredible. Time away from the stage seemed to have reenergized him and the band. So they were flying high. There seemed to be a lot of media, which was good and would sell tickets for tomorrow night’s show.

But Liberty was too antsy to stand around. She had a shit ton of paperwork to do. At the rate the party was going, she wouldn’t get started on it until two in the morning. There were eight security guards posted here tonight. She decided to let them watch over Devin: get him in the car and to the hotel.

She approached Crash.

“Hey, lady, what’s up?”

“After all that happened today, I’ve got reports to finish and file by morning. Devin is well covered tonight, so I’m heading to the hotel.”

Crash frowned. “Is everything all right between you two? I haven’t seen you together since this afternoon.”

“Fine, as far as I know. Been a crazy day, so if you’re okay with it, I’ll take off.”

“You gonna tell Devin?”

“He’s busy. I’ll see him later.”

As she waited back by the band and roadies’ buses, she started getting impatient. Where the hell was the car service? She was about to call them and chew ass when a little voice popped into her head.

Entitled much?

She stopped pacing. Dammit. This wasn’t her. She should remember that this life—car services, private jets, multiple residences, first-class hotels and gourmet food—would be a thing of the past in three weeks. All she had to do was complete the job. Then she could move up in GSC.

You’ll have the bonus money, but you won’t have Devin.

No matter how many times she told herself their constant togetherness was forcing these feelings, she knew that wasn’t true.

The car pulled up and she climbed in. At the hotel, she handled her own luggage—better get used to that—and waited her turn for a guest agent.

“May I help you?”

“Checking in for Liberty Masterson. Big Sky Promotions.”

“Yes, Ms. Masterson. I see we’ve had a change in the reservation. Two rooms for one night.”

“Two rooms?”

“Yes. Oh, I see we were able to get adjoining rooms at Mr. McClain’s request. Is that all right?”

“That’s fine.” She declined help to her room. She tried really hard not to obsess about why Devin had asked for two rooms without telling her. She unlocked the dead bolt on her side and took a long shower.

Once she’d slipped on her pajamas, she spread everything out on her desk. She opened her laptop and filled out a more personal accounting for GSC and a report for Big Sky. She finished in just under two hours.

And Devin still hadn’t shown up.

She stared out the window, unsure where the event center even was from here. She debated on cracking open a bottle of booze from the minibar. Everything was so f**ked up. Keeping her fears and feelings locked up inside wasn’t healthy. She needed to talk to someone. But who? Too late to call Harper. Bailey had gone off the grid. She scrolled through her contact list, tempted to dial Joe. Even if he’d crashed for the night, he’d be wide-awake if she called.

Between Joe’s duties at GSC and her assignment, they’d spoken only a few times in the past three months. In addition to being coworkers, she and Joe were good friends. But this situation put her on a fine line between professional and personal. If she told Joe she’d fallen for Devin, as her friend, he might pull her from duty to save her additional heartache. And as her boss, he might worry she couldn’t do her job because of her emotional ties and pull her from duty. So really, a phone call to Joe, lamenting her man woes, would end one way—with her leaving the tour. She’d made it through the hardest part, and she wasn’t walking away from that hundred grand now.

Nor was she leaving Devin’s security in someone else’s hands.

Liberty had almost fallen asleep when she heard the movement in the adjoining room. She watched the clock. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then fifteen.