Chapter 17

Part Two: Man of My Heart

Jasmine Grey took off her signature white Stetson, ran a hand through the tumble of her auburn curls and gave a sigh of relief.

"Done for the night." She grinned at Gary Lockwood, her tour manager. "But it rocked, didn't it?"

Gary gave her a smile a mile wide. "It sure did. You were hotter than a pistol. Carson's gonna be real excited at the response you're getting."

"It's hard to believe a year ago I was still playing any club in Austin where I could get a gig and sending out demos to anyone and everyone."

"Then one night Carson dropped into that club where you were filling in," Gary reminded her, "and the rest, as they say, is history."

Carson Wagner was one of the hottest managers in the business. Unlike many others in the business, he chose to make his base of operations in Austin, Texas, rather than Nashville. He told people Austin was rich with talent they hadn't even discovered yet. He'd grown up a big Willie Nelson fan and loved to tell people he thought Willie's real career started when he left Nashville and began recording in Austin. He also hung out each year at Austin's annual South By Southwest Music Festival. Jasmine knew he'd found some of his top talent there.

Carson managed both Jasmine and Sweet Dixie, the very hot country rock band she was opening for. This was a ten-stop tour, promoting new albums for both Jasmine and Sweet Dixie and so far she had to pinch herself at the success. Her merchandise was selling, fans were lining up for autographs and she had two encores every performance. The best part of it was the pleasure Sweet Dixie took in her success, and the encouragement they gave her. Last night they'd even called her onstage to sing with them in one of their songs. She felt blessed that Carson had paired her with this group. She could have landed with a bunch of egotistical assholes who tried to walk all over her.

"This business is funny, isn't it?" She shook her head. "You work your patootie off trying to be a success and in the end it's ninety percent luck."

"Yeah, but if you don't have the talent, all the luck in the world won't help." Gary cocked his head. "You've got the talent, lady. I predict by a year from now you'll outdraw Sweet Dixie."

"Ohmigod." She fanned herself. "From your lips to God's ears." But his words made her feel so good. Gary was a no bullshit guy who'd been in the business a long time. He was an experienced road manager, which she knew was why Carson had assigned him to her. Life was good.

If she could just figure out a way around this thing with Cobra, everything would be terrific. Her bass player was turning out to be a real problem. She started to say something to Gary about it, but just then the door to the big dressing room they all shared banged open and her band walked in, hot and sweaty from an enthusiastic performance, giving each other high fives.

"You all nailed it tonight," she told them. "I mean, right on the money."

"We could have done a third encore if the promoters hadn't been so stingy with the time," Cobra griped. But then he grinned and made straight for her. "Hot damn, baby!" He grabbed her, whirled her around and tried to plant a kiss on her lips. "C'mon, Jas. We smoked it tonight. Let's you and me do a little celebrating."

Gary pried Cobra's arms from around Jasmine and tugged him to the side.

"No touching the merchandise," he joked, trying to lighten the situation.

"Hey, Cobra." Hondo Carr, the band's rhythm guitarist, threw a towel at him. "Mop up your sweat and get ready for the ladies. You know they'll be all over you. Leave the star alone or we might not have a job."

Jasmine would never fire Cobra or the other two. They were top of the line backup musicians and she knew she was lucky to have them. But something would have to be done about Cobra. They just needed to get past this last night. Then she could talk to Carson about it.

He had assured her he'd thoroughly vetted all her backup musicians but he must have missed something in John "Cobra" Mattice. Rehearsals had been great and she chalked his overt flirting up to the ego of a much in demand musician. But once they were on the road he went after her with a full court press.

She'd heard of this happening to other female singers so it obviously wasn't an isolated thing. When she'd asked how they handled it, they told her with a lot of humor and a firm refusal. That usually took care of it, they assured her.

Well, it sure hadn't worked with Cobra. He might be one of the best bass players in the industry but he had an ego a mile wide and couldn't seem to keep his hands off of her. She was getting tired of having to avoid being near him except for rehearsals, and using Gary as a shield. Tonight was the closing night of the tour. As soon as she got home she planned to talk to Carson about making a change.

"Don't I get a little kiss for those hot licks tonight?" Cobra called to her.

"Here." Jack Duval, the band's drummer, wrapped his arm around Cobra's neck and hauled him close. "I'll give you a kiss." He laid a smacker right on Cobra's cheek.

The bass player shoved him away, his eyes hot with anger.

"Not you, asshole. Miss Sweet Cheeks is the one I want."

"And disappoint all those groupies waiting for you?" Hondo teased.

"Okay." Gary took Cobra's arm. "Let's all play nice. Jasmine's wiped after tonight's performance. Can you cut her a little slack and keep your juvenile shit to yourself?"

Jasmine held her breath, waiting to see how Cobra would react. Finally he blew out a breath and pasted a grin on his face.

"She sure doesn't know what she's missing." He brushed his long black hair back from his sweat-slicked face and stared at her with heat in his eyes. "But that's okay. We got time."

"Time to greet the public," Gary reminded him. He looked around the room at everyone. "Get cleaned up a little, you guys. There's an afterparty as soon as Sweet Dixie finishes, but I've got a few people coming to see Jasmine and the band before then. Jas, honey, get yourself a cold drink and pull out your best smile. Two of them are reporters."

"Okay." She nodded, releasing the breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. She looked around at the band. "You guys let Gary prep you for a few minutes. You know they'll want to talk to everyone."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They pulled off the sweat-soaked shirts they'd worn on stage and Gary handed out fresh Jasmine Grey T-shirts for them to put on.

There was a knock on the dressing room door and Gary went to answer it. Jasmine saw him talking to someone in the hall, look at his watch and nod his head. When he turned back into the room he was grinning.

"Make yourself beautiful, Jas, and get your patootie back out there. Sweet Dixie's got a surprise for you. They want you on stage for another number with them tonight."

Her eyebrows flew up to her hairline. "They do?"

"Uh huh. Next to last song. Come on." He tapped his watch. "Get it together. Time's a-wastin'."

"B-But what about the reporters and stuff?"

"Hell, I'll bring them to the wings and they can watch from there. They'll be salivating. This is big, sugar. Sweet Dixie wants you to sing with them again and on the last night of the tour. I smell big headlines and big record sales."