“Thank you, Willie.” She waited until he raised the privacy glass between them and pulled out her phone. She wanted to text Annie, but she still didn’t have her number. She pulled up Instagram and smiled. Dom was great at her job. All platforms were full of tour photos, videos, and quotes. She made a mental note to give Dom a raise. She busied herself by watching TikTok videos, and in no time, they were pulling up to her gated community. Willie gave identification to the security post, and Bristol rolled down the window to prove it was her.

“Ms. Baines. Are you back from your tour?” Mac asked. Bristol always liked Mac. He was courteous and professional with her and the other celebrities who lived in this neighborhood.

“Only back for the night, but my tour will be over in two weeks.” She trusted him not to sell her information to the press and tipped him well every year at the holidays to ensure her privacy.

“It’ll be nice to have you back when you’re done. I’m sure you miss being home,” he said. He punched in the code that opened the tall, wrought-iron gate.

She nodded to him and told him to have a good night before she raised the window. She brushed away a few tears that fell when her estate came into view. Seeing the world was great, but there was nothing like the comfort of coming home, even if it was just for a few short hours.

Chapter Fifteen

Delilah’s was a popular club with tons of celebrities, but all Annie could think about was getting back to the hotel and sleeping for at least ten hours. It was after midnight, and she was dragging. How Sterling did it continuously was beyond her comprehension.

“You were so great onstage,” Sterling said.

Annie was impressed with how Sterling managed to use large hand motions and not spill her wine. “Thank you again for this opportunity. I’m having so much fun.”

Sterling cocked her head and pursed her lips but didn’t say anything. She slightly shook her head as though erasing a thought and held her wine glass against Annie’s. “That’s what we do. Enough about that. Tell me about your life back in Denver. You do music for your day job, right?”

How did she know that? “Yes. I’m a contract jingle writer, but I took the last month off to do this tour.” She glanced at the time again. It was almost twelve thirty.

“You keep looking at the time, and I’m starting to get a complex,” Sterling said.