He grabbed her bags and held the door of the limo open. Somebody guided her guitar into the seat. She looked inside and gasped. Bristol motioned for her to come inside.

“Hi.” Bristol leaned forward to greet Annie.

Annie was more than surprised. She put her hand over her heart and crawled next to Bristol. “What a massive surprise! Hi!” Limos were big, but being inside one with Bristol Baines made the space small. She wanted to know where Lizzy and the assistants were but liked that it was just the two of them.

“I’ve already practiced this morning. Since I’m not flying through the air on wires this tour, there’s not much to do other than show up and sing.”

“I’m so happy you’re here.” Annie wanted to reach out and fix Bristol’s crooked collar but didn’t dare touch her. They were already in one another’s personal space, and while Annie didn’t mind the closeness, she was worried about Bristol. They barely knew each other. Bristol seemed shy and reserved and not at all like the person who danced onstage almost every night.

“How was your flight?”

“It was great. Thank you for the first-class ticket. I felt famous and important.”

“You are famous and important,” Bristol said.

Annie shrugged. “Not yet, but I did get several thousand more subscribers to my channel, and that’s amazing.”

“You’re very good. I’m glad Lizzy found you.”

“Thank you for this opportunity. I know you could’ve chosen anyone, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Annie tried to sound as serious and grateful as she could without breaking down and crying at her fortune. Her heart skipped when Bristol touched her wrist.

“It’s okay. I like helping artists out.”

“I love that you do that. Ali Hart, Willow McAdams, Natasha Breeze, and me.” Annie noticed that the corners of Bristol’s mouth turned down when she mentioned Natasha’s name. After landing the gig, Annie did a lot of internet searches about Bristol but didn’t know what to believe. It wasn’t her business anyway. She was sure somebody like Bristol had somebody waiting for her, even after an eighteen-month tour. It sounded like she’d had two really bad breakups. One with Natasha and one with the daughter of the president of Top Shelf. The internet was pretty sure Bristol exclusively dated women, but she’d never publicly said so. Maybe she didn’t care about labels.

“I haven’t been wrong yet,” Bristol said.

Annie crossed her fingers. “And I hope you’re not wrong with me either.”

“I’m never wrong.” Bristol’s voice was low, and Annie shivered at the quiet confidence. “As much as I love us covering ‘Brass in Pocket,’ maybe you can just sing one of your originals, and I can sing with you.”

“Wait, what? You want to sing one of my songs?”