Breaking Stars (The Celebrity 2)

She instantly sat up and pushed her shoulders back. “Really?”

“Yes. I’m going to fire Jayson, but only if you say you’ll take me on.”

“I have to check with my bosses, but I bet they’ll be thrilled. Are you sure you want me? I’m still really new and learning a lot.”

“Madison, I trust you. And I firmly believe that you’ll have my career and what’s best for me at heart. Walker said you’re good when it comes to things like that.”

Her cheeks flushed as I mentioned her boyfriend talking about her. “He said that? When did you talk to him?”

“I called him on the drive over here to ask how things were here for you, and if you loved what you were doing. He said you were the best thing to ever happen to his career, and that he’d still feel that way even if he wasn’t in love with you.”

She fanned herself as if all this information was far too much. “He’s lying. He definitely thinks I’m more amazing because I give him sex.”

“Probably,” I said with a smirk. “But I still want you to be my agent, and you don’t have to give me sex like you do him.” We both broke out into laughter at that, and when the giggles died, I gave her a serious look and said, “If you say no, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

Pushing away from her desk, she rose to her feet. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”

I smiled and checked my e-mails and text messages while I waited for her to return. It had been almost a week since I left Tatum, and still no word from him. I had half expected an apology, or at least some sort of communication from him. How could he be perfectly fine without me when I had to work hard to hold it together without him?

Madison walked back into the office with a giant smile and an older gray-haired gentleman in tow. “Paige, this is my boss, Gerald Taylor. Mr. Taylor, this is Paige Lockwood.”

I extended my hand and he gripped it tightly, surprising me as I said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too. You’re kind of a big deal, you know, young lady,” he said teasingly, and I blushed. “Madison says you’d like to come on board, and I wanted to be the first to welcome you to our agency. You’re in good hands with Miss Myers.”

“Thank you so much. I’m really excited to have her on my team.”

After his personal welcome, Gerald Taylor excused himself, leaving me alone with Madison.

Catching her eye, I smiled and said, “Guess I’d better go fire Jayson.”

She grinned back at me. “And then I can e-mail you the contracts to sign. This is going to be awesome, Paige.”

“I seriously feel a thousand pounds lighter already. Oh, I wanted to ask you something.”

“As your new agent, or as a friend?” she asked before sitting back down at her oversized desk.

“Agent,” I answered.

“Shoot.”

“I was thinking about writing an open letter to my fans about what really happened and posting it exclusively on my website. People will still have questions, and the media will most likely still want interviews with me, but I wanted to tell my story in a way that I could control it.”

Madison nodded. “I think that’s a great idea, honestly. I love it. Send me the final draft before you post it?”

“Absolutely. Oh, and one more thing.” I paused as she lifted her eyebrows at me, signaling for me to continue. “I want to fire Corryn as well. She’s my manager, and I believe she has my best interests at heart about as much as Jayson does. Do you think I’d be okay with only an agent for now?”

I could practically see the wheels turning in Madison’s head as she mulled it over. A moment passed before she said carefully, “That’s entirely up to you. But if you’re looking to head in a new direction for a while, I don’t see what your manager would handle that I couldn’t. I mean, in the grand scheme of things it’s a manager’s job to look out for you and plan your future, your roles, where you’re headed, and what you want to do going forward. But those are all things that I’m interested in as well when it comes to my clients.” Gazing at me with hope in her eyes, she said, “I’d like to think that until I’m proved wrong, I could sort of bridge that gap and play both roles.”

Comfort immediately filled me, and I smiled. “I think it’s worth a shot. Thank you, Madison. For everything. Give Walker a kiss for me,” I said with a wink as I stood up to leave.

I chuckled under my breath, happy that things were finally falling into place, and proud of myself for being the one to make them happen.

“Will do. And, Paige?” she called after me.

I paused at the doorway and turned to face her.

“One day I want to hear all about this broken-down town and this guy, okay?”