“Nate Nash!” Darla screamed at her through the phone. “You’re working with Nate Fucking Nash?”

This was why she hadn’t told her best friend sooner what was going on in her life. Darla had taken her hate of Nate to epic proportions and she had to love her friend for her loyalty, but after the last few weeks, things had changed and Stevie no longer hated Nate. After last night and the kiss they’d shared, things had changed again and she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it.

“Yes,” she sighed. “We’re working with Nate. He came to us. He wanted to make amends and the song…” she sighed again thinking of the words that he’d written. “The song is amazing.”

“But still,” Darla said grumpily. “It’s Nate. How do you know he’s not going to screw you over again?”

“We have a contract,” Stevie said, “and we’ve talked, a lot. He really is sorry for the way things happened and he was the one who gave Derek my number—”

“Too little too late,” Darla said and Stevie rolled her eyes.

“Look Darla, I know you don’t like the guy, but—”

“No Stevie, it’s not that I don’t like him, it’s that I don’t like what he did to you. Have you forgotten what you were like after he left? Have you forgotten that you just about gave up on music altogether because of him?”

Stevie sighed. “That was my decision,” she said. “I chose to let what he did rob me. I can’t blame him for my own insecurities.”

“Sure you can,” Darla said. “He’s got big shoulders, he can take it.”

He did have big shoulders and she had become intimately acquainted with them last night. And his lips and his tongue and the way his hair felt under her fingers.

“You’re still in love with him,” Darla said, pulling Stevie out of her lust-induced memories.

“What? No.” Stevie swallowed down the panic. “I was never in love with him.”

“Bullshit,” Darla said. “You were so head-over-heels in love with him that it was sickening to watch and he had no clue, no clue whatsoever about the way you felt. The guy was Mr. Oblivious when it came to you.”

She was right, but Stevie had no idea that anyone else had known how she felt about him. She’d thought she’d been able to keep it to herself.

“God, Darla,” she said, “I was such an idiot back then.”

“Oh honey,” she said, her tone softening. “Are you sure you’re not still hung up on him?”

“No, I’m not still hung up on him,” she lied. “We’re just working together. After the song is finished, we’ll go our separate ways and I probably won’t ever see him again.”

Darla didn’t say anything for a long time and Stevie began to wonder if the phone had dropped out.

“I’m coming out there,” her friend said.

“No, Darla—”

“I need to see you, I need to see you and him together.”

“Darla, you can’t leave Tom and those babies of yours.” Darla had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl, eight months earlier and Stevie had yet to meet them in person, although she had seen enough photos of them to feel like she had.

“Tom is due for some time off and we haven’t had a vacation in so long. We’re coming and I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Stevie rolled her eyes, although she was secretly glad to have a chance to see her best friend again.

“Okay,” she said, “text me when you know the details and I’ll pick you up from the airport.”

Darla squealed and Stevie had to hold the phone away from her ear to preserve her hearing.

“I didn’t think you would give in so easily,” Darla said and Stevie laughed.

“I miss you,” Stevie said, “and I can’t wait to cuddle your babies and spoil them rotten.”

Darla laughed and the sound released some of the tension that Stevie had been feeling since the kiss last night.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Darla said. “I can’t wait to see you.”

They said their goodbyes and Stevie couldn’t help the grin that split her face. It had been far too long since she had seen Darla and it was just what she needed when everything around her seemed to be changing. Darla had always been her rock and right now what she needed more than anything, was a solid place to stand.

Kissing Nate last night had been all kinds of wonderful, but also all kinds of complicated. She didn’t expect it, although she had felt closer to him during dinner than she’d ever felt with him. Her feelings towards him had always been so one-sided, but last night something had shifted and for the first time she’d felt that they were on even footing. When he’d kissed her, she’d just about melted into a puddle and had to grab onto him in order to keep herself upright. She’d dreamed of that kiss for so long that it was almost surreal to have it happen. And it had exceeded her expectation.

There had always been that chance that she had built the moment up to such proportions that it could never really live up to the hype, but with a single touch of his lips on hers, whatever she had imagined had been reduced to ashes. Nate had kissed her like no one had ever kissed her before. Not even Carson had lit her up like Nate had last night. Up until that kiss, Carson had been the only person to stir her girly parts, but it paled into insignificance in the face of Nate’s kiss.

The only problem now was that she didn’t know where they stood. That was not just a friendly good night kiss, but he had pulled away just when things were starting to get interesting. She had been well aware of the erection straining his pants. Had he just been testing the waters? Satisfying his curiosity? And what did it mean when they saw each other today at the studio?

Darla, Tom and her two beautiful babies burst into Stevie’s life with all the subtly of a freight train, and she loved every minute of it. They’d stayed close friends through the years, despite living two states away; email, phone and Skype had become the conduit for their relationship lately. Stevie had missed Darla and her big personality and was so happy to be face to face with her that she didn’t even care that she knew an interrogation was coming… well, she told herself she didn’t care. The fact was that she couldn’t lie to Darla, and not just because it was wrong to lie to your best friend. No, she actually couldn’t lie to her and get away with it. Darla could read her like a book.

When the babies were settled with their nanny (yes, Darla had a nanny and Stevie really couldn’t blame her; she had a business to run and Tom worked long hours too), the three of them sat down with a drink and they caught up. Stevie really liked Tom. His calm and steady personality was a counterpoint to Darla and, as crazy as it seemed, they complimented each other.

“So, we’re thinking of moving,” Darla blurted out and Stevie sat back stunned.

“What?”

Tom sighed and nodded. “I need a change,” he said, his deep voice soothing.

“You’re leaving ‘The Company?’” Stevie asked, flabbergasted.

‘The Company’ was what she and Darla had called the firm where Tom had interned and then become an associate. All the cool kids worked there, AKA ‘The Glam Tramps’ husbands, and that Tom was choosing to leave was completely out of left field. She looked at Darla. “What about your salon?”

“I’ve had an offer to buy it,” she said with a shrug and then a sip of her wine. “And to be honest, I was getting a bit sick of perming all the old biddies and listening to their gossip.”

Stevie snorted. “You would never get tired of listening to gossip.”

“True,” she said with a sigh, “but it’s always the same gossip, and even that gets boring the fiftieth time you hear it.”

Stevie smirked at her. “Does that mean you’re finally ready to take me up on my offer?”

Darla and Tom shared a glance.

“Maybe,” Darla said, “if Tom can find work out here too.”

Stevie jumped to her feet and squealed, running around to hug her best friend. She had been asking Darla to come to Nashville and work as her and the band’s stylist for the upcoming tour. Stevie knew that if she could get Darla’s name out there, she would get more than enough work to start a business.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Darla said laughing. “It’s not set in stone yet.”

Stevie went back to her seat and pouted making Darla laugh. “We still need to hook Tom up.”

“Right,” Stevie said, looking at her other friend. “Ever thought of entertainment law?”

Tom raised his eyebrows at her and she saw a tell-tale gleam. If he hadn’t thought about it before, he was thinking about it now.

“I’ve done a bit of intellectual property law and contracts and torts…it might not be too much of a stretch.”

“That’d be perfect,” Darla said and Stevie knew her brain had gone into planning mode. She could almost see the wheels spinning in her brain.

“What’s up?”

Stevie looked up at Vanessa and Nadine as they walked in.

“Hey guys, these are my friends that I told you about. Darla and Tom.”

They shook hands and exchanged greetings before flopping down on the couch opposite.

“Where’s Jace?”

Nadine rolled her eyes. “Where do you think he is?”

“He’s still at the studio?” Stevie raised her eyebrows. “What happened now?”

“He and Nate got into it again,” Vanessa said with a dismissive shake of her head. “Those two are either best friends or mortal enemies, there is no in between.”

“Sounds like Nate,” Darla mumbled under her breath.

“They’re both just protective of their music,” Stevie said, trying to be the peacemaker but Darla just snorted. “Fine,” Stevie said, exasperated, “they’re both being egotistical jerks.”

Darla jumped to her feet. “We should go out. Is there a karaoke bar in this town?”

“Santa’s!” Stevie, Vanessa and Nadine answered together and then laughed.

“Santa’s?” Tom asked.

“This I gotta see,” Darla said.

“Did you bring your kit?” Stevie asked hopefully.

Darla gave her ‘the eye.’ “You think I’d come all this way without it?”

Stevie laughed, so glad to have her best friend here. She slung an arm around her shoulder and gave her a weird, one armed hug. “I wanna be a pageant princess,” Stevie said. “The big hair, the gloss, the glitter, the works.”

Darla rubbed her hands together. “You’ll let me go all the way? No whining or complaining about the backcombing and the hairspray?”

“I put myself completely in your capable hands.”

“What about you girls?” Darla asked looking at the stunned sisters.

“Ah…”

“It’s okay,” Stevie said. “Darla’s the best.”

“I wanna be vamp,” Vanessa said and then looked at her sister.

“I wanna be a pin up girl,” Nadine said, her eyes alight with mischief.

“One Elvira and one Dita Von Tease coming up.”

Stevie glanced at Tom expecting to see frustration or exasperation at his wife’s antics, but the look on his face was nothing but adoration and love. He may come across as the straight laced one, but he had never tried to temper Darla’s more outrageous personality. Stevie wanted someone like that, someone who could rejoice in her triumphs and get enjoyment out of seeing her happy instead of trying to box her into something she wasn’t.

She’d thought she’d found that with Carson. He’d been so supportive of her career, right up until his became more important. But she wasn’t going to think about that tonight, not with her best friend here and the promise of alcohol and karaoke in her future.

Nate slid into the seat of the dive bar beside Tom.

“Hey man,” he said, trying to shake off the annoyance from the argument he had with Jace in the studio. The dude was driving him crazy with his perfectionism. They weren’t freaking Celine Dion. Nate was worried that Jace would produce them into the very thing he was trying to get away from. He wanted the raw, harsh sound of his roots, not some slick over-engineered piece of fluff. He’d been there, done that and had the scars to prove it.

“Nate,” Tom said with a grin, sticking out his hand to shake.

They had been friends before Nate was picked up by Rocksteady and then with the fallout with Stevie, Nate had pulled away, not wanting their friends to have to take sides. There had been a hundred times that he’d wanted to pick up the phone and call Tom, just to say hello, sometimes to talk through something that was on his mind, but he’d held back in deference to Stevie. But fuck, he’d been lonely. He wasn’t one for having an entourage follow him around and had found himself more isolated than he’d ever expected. Banging the odd groupie didn’t alleviate that all pervading aloneness that he’d felt suffocating him, no matter how hard he tried to make it so.

“Where are the girls?”

Tom pointed to the stage where Stevie, Vanessa and Nadine were pouring over a songbook. “Darla went to the ladies’ room.”

Nate nodded and raised this hand to get the waitress’s attention. He ordered a beer and then sat back, mentally shuttering the bad day away as he watched the three women take the stage. Seeing them made up to the hilt wasn’t a surprise. Having Darla in attendance almost guaranteed it, and he had to smile at the woman who had taken up residence in his mind. Thoughts of Stevie plagued him day and night, more so now that he had kissed her. The feel of her lips against his was tattooed on his brain and late at night when he couldn’t sleep, he could almost feel them.

Darla slipped into her seat as the low, slumberous guitar started and Stevie, Vanessa and Nadine took their places in front of the microphones. The ‘Pistol Annies’ song ‘Hell on Heels’ filled the packed bar to whoops and hollers from the crowd. The women owned the stage, all playing up the country twang in their voices as they sang about their sugar daddies. Nate couldn’t help the grin that split his face. These three women could go out on the road all by themselves and kill it. He and Jace were practically superfluous.

The waitress bought his beer and he ordered another round for the table. The applause and stomping feet was thunderous as the trio finished their song, bowing and blowing kisses to the crowd. Stevie had changed in the years since they’d been estranged. She never used to play up to the crowd, but now, it was like seeing a completely different side of her. They were all smiles as they headed to their table and he watched as Stevie ducked her head when she noticed him. Was that a blush? Had she been thinking about the kiss as much as he had?

“Whoo-hoo!” Darla cried, jumping up to hug Stevie. “You girls rock!”

“Where’s Jace?” Nadine asked when she saw Nate.

Nate rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. “He’s still at the studio.”

She shook her head and picked up his beer, taking a long drink.

“Is he always this—”

“This much of a pain in the ass?” Vanessa asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I was going to say focussed, but pain in the ass works.” He snatched his beer back from Nadine and finished it as the waitress handed out the next round.

Nadine blew out a breath causing her heavy bangs to billow, surprising considering the amount of hairspray he could image was in them. “No, he’s not,” she admitted, picking at the label on her beer bottle. “I think it’s working with you.”

“Me?” Nate asked, surprised. “What did I do?”

Darla snorted and shook her head.

“You got something to say Darla?”

She turned back to him and opened her mouth, but closed it without speaking and took a drink, turning away from him once again.

“No, it’s not that,” Vanessa said. “Although you two do fight like an old married couple.” Nate snorted. “What I mean is, this is a crucial song for not just you but us as well and he just wants it to be—”

“Perfect.” Stevie looked at him as she said the word, her eyes full of something that he couldn’t identify. Pity maybe. God, he hoped it wasn’t pity.

“Yeah well I think he is strangling it. He’s tweaking the magic right out of it.”

“Maybe you need to do it live,” Darla said and they all turned to look at her, mouths agape. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “It used to work with Stevie and Nate when they were just starting out. When a song wasn’t gelling the way they wanted, they’d gather a group of us together and play it…something about having an audience to feed off.” She shrugged. “I’m not a musician, but I expect working in a studio all the time can make it feel kind of stale.”

“She’s right,” Nate said.

“Ooh, say that again,” Darla smirked.

He shook his head and picked at the label on his beer. “It just feels so sterile now. It needs something, but I can’t put my finger on it. I do think we need to play it to an audience. Not a big one, just an intimate group that can give us feedback.”

“Like a focus group,” Tom added and Nate nodded.

“Exactly, a focus group.”

Stevie shared a look with Jace’s sisters and they shrugged. “Can’t hurt,” Vanessa said.

Nate finished his beer and stood, pulling out his keys. “I’ll go back to the studio and talk to Jace.”

“I’ll go with you,” Stevie said, standing. “What?” she said, looking around at the faces looking at her. “You think Nate and Jace can have a conversation without it degenerating into sniping without a voice of reason?”

“No,” Nadine said with a huff. “You’re right. He’ll listen to you.”

She bent down to kiss Darla’s cheek. “We won’t be long. Nate can drop me home or I’ll get a lift with Jace. Don’t wait up.”

He followed her out, his hand hovering over the small of her back wondering how he got lucky enough to have some alone time with her. Or unlucky as the case may be.