Free A Ballad for Her Cowboys by Luxie Ryder Page B

reaction to the idea of seeing them again told her all she needed to know.
    Her hand was on the latch. She’d been about to fling the door open and drag Aiden and Seth back to bed with her when she realized a little caution might be wise. It could be the sleazy Hoagie waiting on the other side, and she didn’t even want to think about what he’d make of seeing her wrapped in no more than a towel.
    ‘Who is it?’ she called out. She wished she had a spy hole.
‘It’s me.’
    Misty staggered backward, recognizing the voice only too well. Oh, God. How had he found her this time? She toyed with the idea of simply waiting until he went away, but he began to pound the wood loud enough to make the neighbors come out to investigate.
    ‘I know you’re in there,’ Wade shouted. ‘And I won’t give up so you may as well just let me in.’
    ‘Just hold on and shut the fuck up,’ she muttered, clenching her fists at the urge to let him in just so she could smack him upside the head.
    She ran into her room and put on a robe before she opened the door. Misty didn’t need to worry that Wade would read too much into her appearance. The only way he’d been interested in what was under her bathrobe would be if he thought her credit card was inside.
    She threw back the door without looking at him and walked away and into the main living area, sure he would follow.
    ‘That’s not very welcoming, darlin’. Aren’t you pleased to see me?’
    ‘I’ve got no money left, Wade, so you’ve wasted your time hunting me down.’ She cut to the chase, unwilling to play his games again.
    He looked like shit. What she had once thought of as a hippie-inspired, rebellious air he had about him just seemed messy. His shoulder-length, dirty blond hair had been her favorite thing about him, but now she couldn’t stand the thought of running her fingers through the greasy strands. A few days’ worth of beard covered his strong chin, and he smelled like he needed a bath. A leather biker jacket he shouldn’t have been able to tolerate wearing in the Arizona desert, did nothing to hide how much weight he lost.
    ‘Now don’t be like that. I have good news for both of us.’
    ‘I can’t imagine anything you could tell me that I’d consider good news. Unless it’s that you agreed to sign the papers?’
    Wade laughed at her snippy comment and Misty remembered the grudging admiration she had for his ability to let everything roll off his back.
    ‘I got you a gig—a huge one.’ He put his hand up, stopping her when she opened her mouth to tell him to get out. ‘Seriously, this is what we’ve been waiting for.’
    ‘First, what’s with the ‘we’? There is no ‘we’ anymore. And second,’ she sighed, angry at herself for even asking, ‘where exactly is this huge gig?’
    He paused for effect and then opened his arms as if bestowing peace on mankind. ‘You mean ‘what’. It’s a twenty-city tour, kicking off at The Bergen.’
    Misty couldn’t believe her ears. ‘In Nashville?’ He nodded. ‘What are they offering?’
    ‘A slot as a support artist on a show called Women of Country. I told them you were a headliner, but they weren’t buying.’
    She shuddered. Misty could only imagine what Wade had said. Not that he’d done it for her benefit, more to increase the value of his percentage.
    ‘They wanted me?’
    Wade nodded a little too enthusiastically. Misty raised an eyebrow and waited for him to tell her the truth. ‘I know the guy organizing the talent,’ he confessed. ‘So what do you think?’
    She didn’t know what to think. Sure, she needed a job she could take after this gig was over, but she didn’t want to get involved with him or one of his scams.
    ‘Before you start getting all fired up and thinking to yourself that it’s just Wade and one of his usual cons, I swear I’ve stopped drinking and whoring around—’
    ‘Just wait up. Why are you telling me this? I don’t care if you are still drinking,