The Hottest Ticket in Town by Kimberly Van Meter Page B

didn’t know the first thing about tour responsibilities, but she didn’t hold it against him. When she simply graced him with a patient smile, he frowned and said, “Now, I know you think I’m talking out of my ass but damn it, Laci, you’re the star. That ought to come with some kind of privilege, right? You collapsed on the stage in Memphis. What’s gonna happen when it happens again? You’re playing with fire, girl.”
    â€œI wish I could just quit the tour, but there are people relying on me for their livelihood, Kane. I help feed their families. I can’t just quit because I’m
tired
,” she told him.
    He hit her with a stern look. “Exhaustion and fatigue ain’t the same and you know it. Your manager isn’t doing you any favors by booking you into the ground,” he maintained. “Listen, I understand you feel responsible for these people—I get it, I have a payroll, too—but in your case, they know a tour isn’t supposed to last forever. If you have to cut your tour short, they’ll just find someone else to work for on another tour. And no one is saying you can’t ever tour again, just give yourself some breathing room, for crying out loud.”
    â€œI wish it were that easy,” she said, shaking her head. Why were they arguing? Criminy. She just wanted to put an end to this conversation and go back to enjoying their dinner. “I know what, why don’t we go down to the fishing pond and see if we can catch some fireflies. I remember doing that as a kid and there’s just something about it that I miss.”
    Kane shook his head, returning to his plate, and she knew he was swallowing whatever else he had to say on the matter. “Sure, that’s fine,” he said, around a forkful of roast. As he chewed, he closed his eyes, clearly enjoying the food, even if he was bothered by the conversation, and Laci thought to herself, Cora, that crafty old bird, was right.
When all else fails...stuff a man with good food.
    * * *
    K ANE DIDN ’ T HAVE any right butting his nose into Laci’s business, but once the barn door was open, it was real hard to chase after the horses. The idea of Laci going back on tour when she was plainly exhausted rubbed him all sorts of wrong, but what could he do? In the overall picture, he was no one in Laci’s world. The truth pinched but he wasn’t in a habit of sugarcoating bullshit just because he didn’t like the smell. So that left him with one option: swallowing his opinion and letting her run her own life.
    And he hated that option.
    Laci grabbed her plate and his after he’d finished his last bite and then after they’d washed and put away the dishes, they grabbed some Mason jars and headed outside. Laci slipped her hand into his and they walked into the humid summer night, the sound of cicadas buzzing all around them, and Kane felt his tension draining away. He’d forgotten how soothing that sound was. He lived in the city now, where, although his house wasn’t exactly planted in the middle of downtown, the night sounds were nothing the way they were in the country, where nature flanked you on all sides.
    â€œAdmit it, this was a good idea,” Laci teased, bumping him with her shoulder playfully, and he nodded with a small smile, which she matched with an even bigger one. “I’ve missed this so much,” she said with a sigh as they walked toward the creek that cut its way through the property and fed the pond. As they approached, bullfrogs belched their night song from the reeds and there was something so perfect about the moment that Kane was momentarily pulled back in time to when he and Laci used to come to this very spot for a few hurried kisses and wild, fumbling embraces stolen between chaperoned moments. Laci must’ve remembered, too, because she cuddled up close to him with a contented sigh that tickled his soul in a way that