Songbird by Victoria Escobar Read Free Book Online

I accepted my purse from Arc
and opened it to check for the phone. Pulling it out I ticked off
the schedule and nodded.
    “Would one of you take his bags back in a
moment?” I sat and pulled off my heels. The first stop would be in
four hours. I didn’t need my shoes until then.
    “I’ll do it later,” Max offered.
    The guys sat as the bus pulled out of the
garage.
    “As I was saying,” I spread my hands out,
“these hands are the path to timely success.”

Cursing followed by the bathroom door
slamming interrupted our card game. The guys were teaching me
Spades, and I thought I had a pretty good handle on it. I hadn’t
trumped Arc, my partner, in four rounds, which was a good
thing.
    I planned ahead and noted the guy’s food
order—minus Nicholas’s, of course. We didn’t want someone missing a
meal because they slept through a stop. The kitchenette had a
microwave so reheating wasn’t going to be a problem.
    Nicholas stormed out of the back. “What the
fuck is going on?” He stopped in his tracks as his eyes narrowed to
focus on my face. “Songbird.” Then he looked over at the guys, “Why
is she here?”
    “I knew you looked familiar.” Max snapped his
fingers. “Bluejay.”
    “I thought Ezra told you about the tour
manager.” I pushed my glasses back up and tilted my head.
    “We got a group email.” Guy wiggled his
eyebrows at me behind Nicholas’s back. “Ezra included your resume
and qualifications, though he left out your name.”
    “You got some hella credentials, darling.”
Arc didn’t quite hide his smile behind his hand.
    Nicholas snarled and yanked out his phone.
His finger about broke the screen of the device as he searched for
the number. Holding the phone to his ear, he waiting a second for
the other end to be answered before barking into the receiver.
“What the fuck.”
    He paused, shifted so his back was to me and
tapped his toes. “I don’t fucking care. A woman. Are you
serious?”
    He paused again. “I don’t have the fucking
time or inclination to deal with a chick on my own damn bus. I
don’t care what her fucking skill level is.”
    Another pause and he paced the few steps
separating us from the bedroom before growling into the phone
again. “If you really think this is some backwards ass fucking way
of getting me to heel you’re fucking delusional. Music is my heart;
that’s all I make time for. I don’t have any inclination to deal
with female histrionics.”
    Time for me to step in. I clapped slowly,
mockingly. “That’s a fine speech coming out your ass. Did you
practice that in the mirror?”
    The guys cringed away from the visible power
war when I stood and faced him. I needed their respect, so I
squashed the instinct to recoil from his violent eyes. However,
nothing about the man indicated he would strike me. Whatever else
he may be, Nicholas Walker wasn’t a woman beater.
    Nicholas stalked back to face me down. His
nostrils flared and he bared his teeth. “I don’t know who the fuck
you think you are, Songbird.”
    “I’m your tour manager, Mr. Walker.” I fisted
a hand on my hip and looked him directly in the eyes. “I’m not here
to entertain you, or whatever the fuck you got into your head. I
won’t wipe your ass.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Unless you have
some medical reason you need me to.” Planting my feet, I inhaled a
long breath before I started shouting. “If you need a whore, I’m
sure the groupies would be more than happy to satisfy that need.
I’ll even set it up for you. I can even take out the trash when
you’re done like I did this morning.”
    Nicholas visibly flinched. The hand at his
side clenched and the knuckles went white on his phone.
    I caught his phone when he threw it. “We
don’t have time to stop to replace it until Portland. I don’t think
you want to be four days without a phone.” I realized the call
hadn’t been ended, so I held it out to him. “Say goodbye to Ezra.”
I glanced at my watch.