Billy Weston, the band’s lead guitarist, came over to hug Kate. “Great show, Kate,” he said with a loud kiss to her cheek. “You picked the right night to be on fire, baby!”

“Thanks. You, too.” She wanted nothing more than to kick off the cowboy boots that felt like hundred pound weights and get the hell out of there. As she watched Mabel’s manager, Charlie Sledge, push his way through the crowd of band members, their friends, and stage crew, Kate plotted her escape so she could get home to Reid.

“Kate!” Charlie called. “Kate, come here.”

She tossed her towel into her tote bag and took a long drink from a bottle of water before she turned to Charlie. “Hey, what’s up?”

Charlie leaned close to her ear and spoke in a low tone. “Buddy and Taylor want you to come by their table for a drink.”

“They do? Let me tell the guys.” Her heart galloped with excitement. Holy shit!

“Just you, Kate,” Charlie whispered.

Kate looked over to where the other five band members were partying. “But the guys—”

“Just you. Come on, they’re waiting.”

Following Charlie to the table in the corner, Kate heard Ashton’s voice telling her not to talk to anyone in the business without him. Surely he didn’t mean people like Buddy and Taylor, did he?

“Buddy, Taylor, this is Kate Harrington,” Charlie said.

Buddy jumped up and extended his hand to Kate. “Great to meet you, darlin’. That was a damned impressive show you put on tonight.”

“Thank you,” Kate managed to say.

Taylor shook Kate’s hand. “Have a seat, honey.”

Still trying to catch her breath, Kate saw Charlie signal to Butch behind the bar to bring them a round of drinks.

“Well, I’ll leave y’all to get acquainted,” Charlie said. “You let me know if y’all need anything.”

“Thanks, Charlie.” Buddy turned to Kate. “I gotta tell ya, darlin’, I’m blown away. You were smokin’ up there tonight.”

Kate felt her cheeks get hot. “Thank you, Mr. Longstreet.”

“Oh, please, honey, call me Buddy.”

“You’ve got an amazing voice,” Taylor said. “Buddy and I are hoping you might want to work with us.”

Stunned, Kate starred at her. “Are you kidding?”

They shared a laugh. “Hell no, we’re not kidding,” Buddy said. In the same casual tone a regular person might use to ask the time of day, he added, “How about you let us make you a star. Would you like that?”

Kate’s mind went blank. She’d fantasized about how this might happen. Would she meet someone at a party? Would there be a message one day from a producer who received a copy of the demo she sent to every record company in town? She never could’ve imagined this.

“Darlin’? Y’all right?” Buddy peeked out from beneath the famous Stetson.