Unless I want to be kicked back to my roots of headlining bars and honky-tonks, shut up and deal is my new motto.
A flush of fear ripples over my skin. How can I be so excited to get back on the road and terrified at the same time?
Next, Miranda relays an obscene amount of money Glow wants to pay me for the interview and reminds me that interviews aren’t usually paid but they’re willing because this is a “special circumstance.”
I take that to mean they expect the goriest of details no matter how uncomfortable it makes me to relive the kidnapping.
“You made it clear to them that they need to be respectful, right?” Rooster says as if he’d read my mind.
“Yes, of course,” Miranda huffs. “But they will pose serious questions. It’s probably better if you’re not there to alter the vibe of the—”
Rooster laughs, low and threatening. “Yeah, not happening.”
“Mr. Randall—”
“I won’t open my mouth and say a word, unless I have to. But Shelby’s not doing any interviews alone.”
Under the desk, I slide my hand over his leg to let him know how much I appreciate that. He reaches down and squeezes my hand.
“Shelby,” she protests.
“Nope.” I lift my chin. “That’s non-negotiable.”
“Fine.” She tips her head down, furiously scribbling over her notepad, adding what looks like a dozen exclamation points. “All right. Dream Makers. I’d like to set something up and—”
“Not gonna happen. I don’t use those visits for publicity. Never have. Never will.”
“Jesus,” she grumbles. More strokes of fury with her pen. “All right. I think I saved the best for last.” Under her breath she mutters something I can’t make out. “Diamond Tough Denim—you heard of them?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Since I couldn’t afford many—or any—brand name stuff growing up, I’ve never paid much attention to labels. Even now, it’s not something I care about. Why waste time wanting stuff I can’t afford?
“They’re an old company. All American-made, so they’re on the pricier side. Quality stuff. They used to lean more toward work clothes for, you know, rich people who wanted to play dress up and pretend they were stable workers or whatever.”
I can’t really make sense of what she’s yammering about, but I nod along, waiting for her to get to the point.
“Well, they’d like to break into a more youthful, fashionable market and they’re looking for someone to help them influence that transition by targeting their ideal demographic.”
“Okay…”
“They want you to wear their pants in public, on your social media, on stage, and take some photos in them for money, Shelby,” she spits out in an exasperated rush.
“Well, why didn’t you just say that?”
“They think you’d be perfect. You’re very down-to-earth and have that graceful, Southern belle vibe.”
No one’s ever confused me for a Southern belle. This lady sure has some strange ideas about the South.
“And of course, country music is very popular. So you hit all their sweet spots.”
“Great.”
“You’re open to it?” she asks with two delicately penciled, hopefully raised eyebrows.
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“Fantastic.”
“No nudity or anything gross, though, right?” I mean, from her description, it doesn’t sound like it will be a problem, but I feel compelled to throw that out there.
“No, honey. That is absolutely not what we want for your image. We’ll need to find you some people to go over these contracts. But I’ll get working on this now. I don’t want them to offer it to anyone else.”
This sounds great and all but before we go any further, I need to clear something up. “We haven’t discussed your fee yet, Miranda—”
“You and I can discuss that later,” Rooster says to the screen.
I choke and turn his way but before I open my mouth, Miranda whistles for our attention. “My fees have been covered for now.”
What? “By who?” I sputter.
“Dawson,” she answers matter-of-factly.
“What?” I half-jump out of my chair. Except, where exactly do I plan to go? I sink back down in my seat. “Why would he do that?”
“We had a long discussion. I understand he feels guilty about all of this. Glenna being his ex and all.” Miranda shrugs. “Does it matter?”
I guess it doesn’t. I side-eye Rooster and he nods.
“Thank you, Miranda.” Even though the situation is weird, my momma raised me with manners after all.
“The agent and lawyers will probably want a percentage but you’ll work that out,” she says.
Great. More people taking a cut of what I work my ass off for.
Why is this so complicated? I don’t want to prance around in jeans. I want to sing songs.
And buy my momma a house one day.
“What do you think?” Rooster asks after we log off the call with Miranda.
“That was…exciting and a little weird.” I’m still staring at the computer monitor which is just a screen saver of a Harley now. “She’s intense.”
“Chaser says she has a good reputation and a long list of A-list clients.”
“Thank you for setting that up.” I slap my hands on my thighs. “Damn, you’ve been busy. Buying vehicles and sorting my career—”
“It’s not my intention to interfere with anything. I wanted to help.”
I grab his hand between mine and hold his gaze. “I know that. I’m trying to thank you. Sorry if it didn’t come out that way.”
He rubs his thumb over the back of my hand. “It scared me and pissed me the fuck off that Glenna had a part in this but somehow she could make you look bad. Ruin all of your hard work. I don’t want to take any chances.” He clenches his jaw tight. “After what you went through. What that psycho did. No one’s taking your career away from you or fucking with it, Shelby. The security stuff, I can handle. I will handle it. But this—” he waves his hand at the screen. “I can’t do a damn thing for you on that end.”
There’s a whole lotta love and faith running through all his words. I’m so close to tears, I bite my lip to hold them back. “Thank you.” After a few seconds, I’m calm enough to ask my next question. “Did you ask Dawson to cover her fees?”
“Hell no. I got her name from Chaser. But since he’s not really in the country music ‘scene,’ I asked Dawson for his opinion. He knows her and must’ve spoken to her. I was going to cover whatever she charged until you get rollin’.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t.” He cups my cheek and rubs his thumb over my bottom lip. “I don’t like letting another man take care of anything for my girl. But I also feel like he owes you. So for now, it’s fine. The second you feel there might be a conflict of interest, though, you fire her and we’ll find you someone else. Okay?”
I’m impressed with Rooster’s mercenary attitude.