Songbird (6 page)

When I got no response, I fisted a hand and
tapped it against the wall. “Shamus.”

I don’t know what he saw when he stood at the
bottom of the stairs but he came up them three at a time. “Hey,
Nick, let’s give Miss Bianca some air.”

Shamus took most of Nicholas’s semiconscious
weight and studied me as I brushed hands down my skirt. “You
okay?”

I nodded without looking at him. “Knocked the
wind out of me mostly. Let’s get him in the car. The guys can help
cart his ass onto the tour bus.”

Shamus nodded and helped Nicholas down the
stair with me behind them. I ignored my shaking legs and tight
stomach. Nicholas was drunk and out of it—he wasn’t interested in
me as a person.

I was a little shaken by the experience. I
wasn’t cheap. At least what I told myself. I most certainly wasn’t
aroused. There was no reason for that kind of reaction. Was he good
looking? Yes. Was I interested in the philander? Absolutely
not.

I checked my watch, calculated, and figured
I’d be cutting it close to get us back to the buses on time. I
followed Shamus and Nicholas down the stairs and outside, using the
time to steady myself. After Shamus dumped Nicholas into the car, I
nodded to him and walked around to the driver’s side.

“Thanks so much. The…
girl
is in the
shower. Escort her out and make sure she doesn’t take anything
that’s not hers.”

“Not my first rodeo.” Shamus smiled. “Have
fun on tour.”

I gave him a thumbs up and climbed into my
car. I checked to make sure Nicholas’s seat belt was fastened
before pulling out of the drive. With rush hour so close the
highways were a no go and I had a schedule to keep.

I sped through the side streets of town as
fast as traffic would allow. I had been in Nashville long enough to
know some of the most obscure roads to get through town in a pinch.
Nicholas leaned against his door with his face pressed to the glass
and by all appearances seemed back asleep. My tires squealed around
the turn into the garage and the stop was less than gentle. Four
minutes to go. I tapped the horn lightly twice and hopped out.

“Come on, Walker. It’s time for bed.” I
unbuckled his seatbelt and hauled him out.

Three sets of very surprised eyes bulged at
me. I tossed the keys to Max. “Get his stuff out of the back and
grab my purse and phone.”

“You smell like mysteries and exotic places.”
Nicholas leaned heavier against me. I stumbled a little and was
grateful when Guy came to Nicholas’s other side to take some of his
weight.

“So tired,” the singer muttered.

“Bed’s on the bus. I promised, remember.”

We were forced to move one at a time onto the
bus. I went first in case he toppled forward and Guy came up behind
him. He staggered up the stairs a lot easier then he’d stumbled
down them at his house.

“Keeping promises is important.” He swayed
and I wrapped fingers around his wrists guiding him cautiously
forward through the bus.

“I never break a promise.” I told him as I
back stepped into his space.

When I pushed him down on the bed he
automatically pulled off his shirt and wriggled out of his pants
and boots as he climbed up to the pillows. I only shook my head and
pulled the covers over him as the now naked Nicholas settled into
deep sleep once more.

I closed the door as I stepped out and back
down to the lounge area. “Thank you.” I accepted my purse from Arc
and opened it to check for the phone. Pulling it out I ticked off
the schedule and nodded.

“Would one of you take his bags back in a
moment?” I sat and pulled off my heels. The first stop would be in
four hours. I didn’t need my shoes until then.

“I’ll do it later,” Max offered.

The guys sat as the bus pulled out of the
garage.

“As I was saying,” I spread my hands out,
“these hands are the path to timely success.”

Cursing followed by the bathroom door
slamming interrupted our card game. The guys were teaching me
Spades, and I thought I had a pretty good handle on it. I hadn’t
trumped Arc, my partner, in four rounds, which was a good
thing.

I planned ahead and noted the guy’s food
order—minus Nicholas’s, of course. We didn’t want someone missing a
meal because they slept through a stop. The kitchenette had a
microwave so reheating wasn’t going to be a problem.

Nicholas stormed out of the back. “What the
fuck is going on?” He stopped in his tracks as his eyes narrowed to
focus on my face. “Songbird.” Then he looked over at the guys, “Why
is she here?”

“I knew you looked familiar.” Max snapped his
fingers. “Bluejay.”

“I thought Ezra told you about the tour
manager.” I pushed my glasses back up and tilted my head.

“We got a group email.” Guy wiggled his
eyebrows at me behind Nicholas’s back. “Ezra included your resume
and qualifications, though he left out your name.”

“You got some hella credentials, darling.”
Arc didn’t quite hide his smile behind his hand.

Nicholas snarled and yanked out his phone.
His finger about broke the screen of the device as he searched for
the number. Holding the phone to his ear, he waiting a second for
the other end to be answered before barking into the receiver.
“What the fuck.”

He paused, shifted so his back was to me and
tapped his toes. “I don’t fucking care. A woman. Are you
serious?”

He paused again. “I don’t have the fucking
time or inclination to deal with a chick on my own damn bus. I
don’t care what her fucking skill level is.”

Another pause and he paced the few steps
separating us from the bedroom before growling into the phone
again. “If you really think this is some backwards ass fucking way
of getting me to heel you’re fucking delusional. Music is my heart;
that’s all I make time for. I don’t have any inclination to deal
with female histrionics.”

Time for me to step in. I clapped slowly,
mockingly. “That’s a fine speech coming out your ass. Did you
practice that in the mirror?”

The guys cringed away from the visible power
war when I stood and faced him. I needed their respect, so I
squashed the instinct to recoil from his violent eyes. However,
nothing about the man indicated he would strike me. Whatever else
he may be, Nicholas Walker wasn’t a woman beater.

Nicholas stalked back to face me down. His
nostrils flared and he bared his teeth. “I don’t know who the fuck
you think you are, Songbird.”

“I’m your tour manager, Mr. Walker.” I fisted
a hand on my hip and looked him directly in the eyes. “I’m not here
to entertain you, or whatever the fuck you got into your head. I
won’t wipe your ass.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Unless you have
some medical reason you need me to.” Planting my feet, I inhaled a
long breath before I started shouting. “If you need a whore, I’m
sure the groupies would be more than happy to satisfy that need.
I’ll even set it up for you. I can even take out the trash when
you’re done like I did this morning.”

Nicholas visibly flinched. The hand at his
side clenched and the knuckles went white on his phone.

I caught his phone when he threw it. “We
don’t have time to stop to replace it until Portland. I don’t think
you want to be four days without a phone.” I realized the call
hadn’t been ended, so I held it out to him. “Say goodbye to Ezra.”
I glanced at my watch. “We’re about to stop for dinner. It’s a two
hour stop and the drivers are switching to continue on through the
night. If you want to eat, now’s the time. If you don’t we stop
again in six hours for gasoline and a leg stretch.”

He snatched the phone from my hand. “Listen,
Songbird, I really don’t want to fucking deal with female hysterics
on a three month fucking long tour. I don’t care how good you
are.”

“Mr. Walker.” I decided he could use the
lesson of his own words. “You’re being an asshole, and you’re
treating me like your shit doesn’t stink. Well I have news.”

His jaw clenched and ticked. “You would
fucking compare me to that asshole?”

I gestured with a hand. “Proof is in the
pudding.”

He snarled, turned and stalked back to his
room. The door vibrated for several long seconds after it
slammed.

“You’ve got balls, Stilts,” Max stated
quietly.

“Brave, brave woman,” Guy commented.

I sat down and rubbed my chilled arms.
No,
not brave. Just incredibly stubborn
. I pushed a smile to my
lips buffed my nailed on my shirt to hide the shaking and picked
the cards back up. “Where’d we stop?”

Even as I told myself he could starve and rot
the peacekeeper in me demanded I make amends. When the bus stopped
for gas and food, I eyed the bedroom warily. Since the door slammed
there hadn’t been a peep from Nicholas.

“Can I ask a favor?” I looked at the boys. I
was about to ask a huge favor and would need to sweeten the pot a
little if I wanted them to agree.

“Doesn’t hurt to ask.” Guy replied.

“Can you guys rotate on fresh air and leg
stretches,” I pointed to the back, “I don’t want that one sneaking
off and fucking the schedule. And in his current mood, I have no
doubt he will, given the opportunity.”

Max laughed. “You’ve got his number
already.”

“I’ll run and grab dinner, and I’ll bring
back desert if you can do this for me.” I gestured to the rest
stop. I had no idea what I would find inside but I was praying for
a Carvel or something close.

“Coffee,” Arc said. “I want coffee, real
coffee and you have a deal. I’ll stick around.”

The other guys nodded.

“We don’t eat sugar the way Nick does.” Max
stated. “Just bring the coffee, and as much as you can.”

“Okay.” I waved to Doug smoking a cigarette
near the front of the bus as I jogged into the rest stop.

No Carvel but the Dairy Queen would work. I
pulled out my phone and began collecting food for six men. By the
time I got my DQ order I was doing some creative juggling.

Charlie grinned at me as he was walking in
and at least held the doors so I could get out. I jogged across the
lot and back up to the bus. I could hear the shouting within three
feet of the door.

“You’re not my fucking boss,” a very angry
Nicholas roared.

Rolling my eyes—this was the worst first day
of tour I’ve ever had—I painted a smile on and climbed back onto
the bus.

“I’ve got dinner guys, and turtle cheesecake
blizzards.” I pretended to be surprised to see Nicholas out of his
room. “Hey. Guy said you’d be okay with a bacon burger and a baked
potato but I can go get something else if you’d like. There’s ice
cream here too. And I’ve got this box of Joe and a bag full of
coffee condiments if you prefer.”

“I could go for some ice cream,” Nicholas
muttered and took the DQ carrier and wandered over to the
kitchenette counter to dig for a spoon. “Cool, chocolate and
caramel.”

Arc grinned at me—his back was to
Nicholas—and took the coffee and condiments.

“Smells good, Stilts.” Max set the table.

“If you want coffee after dinner, I make a
cup that rivals Starbucks.” I offered.

“Yeah?” Guy sat and began opening the bags I
set down.

I wrung my hands and watched them unload the
bags. Arc and Max sat devouring their meals in great gulping
mouthfuls.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Nicholas asked and I
jolted.

I turned to see him leaning against the
counter and licking ice cream off a spoon. His eyes were narrowed
and focused on me. My stomach tightened and I was forced to look
away. Why was watching the man eat such a sensual act?

“I will. Once I know everything is good and I
don’t have to run back for anything. Did you want something
specific? I can go get something else. I’m sorry, we were only
guessing at your meal, I should have asked but you seemed put off
so I thought—”