“You’re not pregnant?” was the first thing he asked when he recovered, but the disbelief in his voice made me want to throat punch someone. Preferably him.

“No, I’m not pregnant!” I yelled, unable to keep my voice down.

“Well, that’s the first good news I’ve heard today.” Papers rustled in the background, and I could picture him sitting at his disaster of a desk. “I’d say we’d avoid addressing the headlines, but they’ve already started to spread and it’s now trending on Twitter. We’ll start scheduling interviews so you can laugh off the worst of it. I’ll see about setting up a few small venues in a couple of months so the world can see that there really is no baby bump.”

“They’ll see it just fine while I’m on tour.” No way I would be able to add my own small shows to the crazy tour schedule and still have time to work on new material.

“I’ve already pulled you from the tour.”

It took a few heartbeats for his words to sink in. “You what?” I hissed, barely able to speak. He couldn’t pull me from the tour, this was the biggest opportunity I’d had. Biggest I might ever have.

“It had to be done,” Eli said dismissively. “Fans flock to those shows to see Nate. You’re the woman who could wreck his marriage. His sales would have dropped dramatically if we didn’t separate you.”

I couldn’t turn and look at Lia. Had she known? “We? Nate knows?”

“Not yet. But I’m sure he’ll be told soon.”

“So you just decided, without talking to either one of us?”

“I didn’t need to talk to you.” Eli’s voice sounded cold as ice. “Fans think you did something wrong. They don’t want to see you perform, and they sure as hell don’t want to see you and Nate together. I made the best decision I could to save his career.”

There was so much wrong with everything he’d just said. I’d done something wrong? Talk about double standards! I was the other woman in the fake scenario, yes, but Nate was the married one. If he was having an affair, shouldn’t women be out to crucify him as well?

But it was the last part I focused on. He made the best decision to save Nate’s career. Not mine. My manager seemed more concerned about someone other than me. It wasn’t really a surprise, but it still stung. Hearing the words out loud were all it took, though.

“You’re fired.”

Eli had been talking again, about what, I couldn’t tell you, but it took him a second to realize I had spoken. “What?”

I cleared my throat. “I said, ‘you’re fired.’”

Eli laughed. The bastard actually laughed. “You’re firing me? Oh, young lady, I take back what I said earlier. THIS is the best news I’ve heard all day.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll have the paperwork sent to you later. I’d say that I’m sorry it ended this way, but I’m really not.” Before I could respond, he hung up.

I turned, hurrying back to the couch and collapsing before my knees gave out. I was almost surprised to see that Lia was still here, her face as pale as I’m sure mine was. She slid closer, grabbing my hand.

“What just happened?” I asked her, desperately hoping it was all just a big misunderstanding.

“Something that should have happened a long time ago,” she assured me. “Hey!”

I turned toward her, meeting her eyes.

With a gleam in her eyes, she said, “This is a good thing!”

“I just fired my manager, Red. I don’t…” I broke off. I wouldn’t cry over a piece of shit like Eli Callahan, but I sure as hell didn’t know what to feel. “I don’t know how to do anything he did.”

My confession made her smile. “I’d be worried if you did. We’ll find you someone great to replace him,” she assured me, tapping the top of my hand in a motherly fashion. Then, her eyes lit up. “What about Nikki?”

Nikki Kelly Woods was the best manager I’d ever met. Everyone loved her. Well, almost everyone. And if you didn’t, you feared her. She was a force to be reckoned with. I would kill to have her take me on as a client. Or, at least, auction off some of my unneeded parts on the black market—a kidney or an ovary.

I shook my head sadly. “She won’t work with me. She said it’s a conflict of interest.” I understood that. Not only was she one of my closest friends, she was Nate’s big sister and had managed him since the early days of his career, back when he was just a songwriter who never thought he’d hear his songs on country radio, let alone perform to sold-out stadiums. Plus, she was super busy; not only did she manage to keep my best friend looking squeaky clean, but she also managed her husband and was mom to the most adorable baby ever born.

Lia pursed her lips in thought. “Maybe…” She trailed off, and I knew she was thinking just as hard as I was. “I hate to say it, but maybe we should talk to Nate.”

“No.”

“He might know someone,” she countered.

“Oh, I’m sure he does,” I argued back. “I don’t want another Eli. Plus, I’m still pissed he fired Tim.” I needed to focus on one issue at a time; I could yell at Nate about his controlling asshole ways later.

“What about the band?”

Some of the guys in the band had managers, but they had a handful of other musicians on their client roster as well. I needed someone who could work yesterday, someone who could do damage control and hopefully save the rest of this tour, someone who would be on my side, and most importantly, someone who could stand up to Nate. I glanced over at the woman sitting next to me and a lightbulb went off.

“You could do it!” Last summer, Nate had hired Lia to be an interim manager while Nikki was on maternity leave. Lia had surprised us all when she not only did the job, but she did it just as well as Nik. Not to mention, she needed the distraction.

Lia’s eyebrows popped up. “I could do what?” Her voice was cautious, as if she was almost afraid of my answer.

I grinned deviously. “You could be my manager.”

“No, I couldn’t,” Lia argued. “I’m not a manager, Mols. I teach high school.”

“But you could! You kicked ass last summer. Even Nik said you could make it a career. Plus, you’re not teaching now, you’re staying on tour with us. You’re always telling me how bored you are.” Okay, so that was a stretch, she may have mentioned it once while the boys were fishing and we were stuck at some shitty little cabin with no internet so we couldn’t even download books to read. But it would definitely keep her mind occupied. “You are the one person I know who can stand up to Nate and win.”

Her eyebrows peaked as she stared at me. “You’re serious right now?”

I nodded, keeping my fingers crossed she’d say yes.

“You want me to manage you?”

I nodded again, and the pit in my stomach grew the longer she dragged this out.

She narrowed her eyes but looked as though she might’ve actually been considering it. After a few seconds, she sat forward. “You’ll listen to what I have to say? You won’t let it get personal?”

It was a pretty simple question, but I knew why she’d asked it. If push came to shove, Nate would side with his wife. She would always come first, and she didn’t want to come between my friend and me.

“It won’t get personal. I know you always have my back.”

Lia smiled and nodded quickly. “Then, yes.” She held out her hand and said, “Molly Ray, you officially have a manager. I’ll talk to Nikki about contracts and have something written up by the end of the day.”

I squealed excitedly, pulling her into a hug. “You have your work cut out for you. Eli fucked up the tour somehow. Do you want me to tell Nate, or do you want to?”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, no. That’s something we’re doing together.”

Another thought hit me. “This means you can rehire Tim!”

The smile dropped and she gave me a somber stare. “No, it doesn’t. Tim’s only job was to make sure you were safe. He was fired for a reason.” She stood and headed for the door, and I followed. “First thing I’m going to do is talk to Nik about the show. Then, I’m going to hire some decent security. Someone who will do what he is paid to do, even when you don’t want him to.” She pushed the elevator button harder than necessary.