Free July (Calendar Girl #7) by Audrey Carlan Page B

The ten dancers hooted and hollered, smacking high fives to one another, doing the man-hug thing.
    “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Anton asked as Heather entered the room. She noticed our position and frowned. I tried to smile at her as she approached.
    She stopped about four feet from us, crossed her arms over her chest, and pursed her lips. “Word is you want to talk to me?”
    Anton bristled. “Chilly reception,” he murmured and I laughed, hugged him once more, and pulled away.
    “You getting food?” Heather asked.
    I shook my head. “Nope, eating in tonight. Need to rest and take a hot bath to soak these muscles !” I spoke loud enough for Maria to hear. She did a tit lift and a head tilt while laughing, obviously proud of herself. Damn, the bitch was cool. Everything from her sumptuous body to her dancing ability, her beauty, she was all that and a bag of chips. I wondered if she had a guy. Alec would rock her world. Hell, Alec had rocked my world and often.
    No more Alec.
    I sighed and moved to Heather, hugged her close and whispered, “Go easy on him. He may be clueless, but he loves you like a sister. Give him the benefit of the doubt okay?” I pushed back and held her at arm’s length. Her blue eyes filled with unshed tears and she nodded. “Okay, go get ‘em tiger,” I said and smacked her ass hard as I passed.
    “Ouch! Bitch!” she yelled, though the enthusiasm in her tone proved she wasn’t mad.
    I flicked a hand behind my back giving her the finger. “Sit on it and spin!”
    Behind me, I could hear her say to Anton. “Can you believe her?”
    Anton laughed then a muffled oompf filled my ears. I turned around to see Anton squeezing the life out of Heather. “Don’t leave me, H. I need you.”
    “You don’t need me.”
    “Bullshit! You take care of me.”
    I waited to see how she’d respond. “Yeah, you know what, I do. Time for you to realize that and make something of it or I’m walking.”
    “You walk and I’ll run after you. No other band is getting my manager,” he roared.
    “Manager?” The word came out broken and gritty, almost as if it hurt to say it.
    “That’s right. People want me to play their venues? They go through my manager. They want me to pimp their product? They go through my manager. They want me doing awards shows? They go through my manager. And that, chica, is you. From here on out, Heather Renee is the Latin Lov-ah’s Manager.”
    She paced in front of him. “So, that means I get a raise?”
    He nodded. “Big fucking raise, H. How’s about fifteen percent on every gig.”
    A sharp whistle left Maria’s lips.
    “Seriously?”
    “You bring me the jobs, you get paid. I looked into it H. That’s more than fair, plus we pay your expenses out of our business account when we travel. Your name will appear on the albums, the whole enchilada. So”—he held his hand out—“do we have a deal or what?”
    Heather’s eyes were wide; her mouth opened and closed like she couldn’t catch her breath. “But…but…but, that’s so much.”
    It was a rhetorical statement but Anton answered anyway. “No, it’s what’s going to happen for me to keep my talent. Now, you gonna keep me hanging, or are we going to do this?”
    Heather held out her hand. It trembled as she clasped Anton’s. Without hesitation he pulled her into his arms in what I knew was a bone-crushing hug. I’d been on the other side of those arms when he was worried or frightened. “Never doubt my love for you. H, you are the most talented woman I know. You keep me going. Having my sister, my hermana , my mejor amiga making sure I’m taken care of, getting us the best contracts, that’s my dream come true. I’m sorry I didn’t do it earlier.”
    She sniffed into his neck, tears rolling down her cheeks. I hugged myself not able to give them privacy. It was too beautiful to witness.
    “H, we’re going to have to hire us a new PA. You’re going to be too busy to be dealing