Robert walked up, a wide grin on his face. “Another sold-out show, Anson. You’re on fire.”
I smiled. “Well, Atlanta is always a good showing.”
He nodded and gave me a knowing look. He might have been my manager, but like I said, he was also my best friend. I told him about everything, including the emptiness I felt in the middle of my chest. I was surrounded by thousands of people, damn near every night, yet even with Zeus by my side, I had never felt so alone in my life.
“You’ve got three days off before your shows in Nashville…Those will wrap up the US tour dates. Get some song writing done, will you? If you want a new contract, we need to deliver some new material. Plus, you still owe them a single.”
I nodded. My commitment with my current record label was ending. I had given them three albums, by this point, plus a Christmas album that I had already recorded. It was due out in September. Robert was in talks to sign me on for a new four-album deal. I wasn’t really sure I had it in me to do four more albums. Hell, at this very moment, I wasn’t even sure I had it in me to do one.
Lanny walked up and gave me that all-knowing smile. The one that said she knew exactly what I was thinking. Get Robert away from me before I lose my shit.
“Robert, the jet is ready to go, and the limo is parked out back.”
Robert didn’t always come to my shows, but he did try and make it to the bigger ones. I liked that he was there to support me.
“Right. See you in Nashville. Good show, Anson. I like the new haircut, by the way.”
I laughed and took my cowboy hat off, running my fingers through my damp hair. “You can’t even see it under the hat, asshole!”
He laughed and walked backward as he said, “You took it off when you kissed that younger girl on the cheek because it was her birthday.”
I frowned. “That’s creepy as fuck that you pay that much attention to my hair, Rob!”
He shot me the finger and kept walking. I couldn’t help but smile. Robert had been there for me through it all. In a way, he had been like a father figure to me the last six years. Especially considering my own father hadn’t spoken to me since I left for Nashville.
Lanny sighed and then walked alongside me and Zeus. “Anson, Lori Miller is waiting in your dressing room to do an interview.”
With an internal groan, I slowed my pace. Lori was the last person I wanted to see, and I knew for a fact that the last thing on her mind was an interview with me. She wanted to fuck. And the last time we did that was…yeah, over six months ago.
“We weren’t scheduled for an interview, Lanny.”
Lanny, who was the best damn assistant in the world, looked at me with a smirk. She knew the history there with Lori. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer. I tried to tell her you wouldn’t do one, but she insisted you would, once you knew it was her. Said it was time or some nonsense like that.”
I rolled my eyes. What was it going to take to get this woman to realize I wasn’t interested?
All of my meet-and-greets were done before the show, so I had no real reason to go back to the dressing room. Everything personal of mine was on the tour bus, exactly where I liked it.
I turned and walked down the hall that led to the back of the auditorium, where my tour bus was parked.
Lanny grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. “Anson, the crowds. Your bus isn’t pulled underground here. It’s out in the open.”
With a smile, I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “It’s fine. They won’t be expecting me to leave this early, and you know it’s roped off and security is back there. You go break the news to Lori that there isn’t going to be an interview, and I’ll meet you back at the hotel.”
“Okay,” Lanny said, and turned to walk in the opposite direction.
“Hey, Lanny?”
She turned back to face me.
“Be sure to accidentally drop a hotel name to Lori that’s not the one we’re staying at. Ideally, one that’s on the other side of Atlanta, if possible.”
With a sudden wicked gleam in her eyes, Lanny nodded. “Will do, Boss!”
Lanny’s love for Lori was non-existent, and once Lori found out I’d left, she would be pissed. That would make Lanny’s night.
Lori worked for a top country music magazine. Two and a half years ago, when she interviewed me for the first time, we hit it off. She asked me out to dinner, and I said yes. The next thing I knew, we were fucking in the back of the limo she had picked me up in. It wasn’t something I did often, but that same day, I had happened to stumble on the news that Bristol, my ex-girlfriend from back home, was now dating my ex-best friend from high school. So yeah, when Lanny started to rub up on me, I went with it.