A thick, heavy silence filled the room upon his departure.
“Laney, I’m very sorry you experienced that and, more importantly, that you didn’t feel you could come talk to me about it.”
Laney swallowed hard and nodded.
“I want to make sure you have whatever you need to get through this, so get with Marla and your manager and let me know. The label will do whatever it takes to make this right.Iwill do whatever it takes to make this right.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. She rose from her chair and walked across the room. At the door, she paused and turned, looking at Rowan. “I really am sorry. For what it’s worth, he pushed me away almost immediately and told me he loved you. That you were the only woman he’d ever been in love with and he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize your relationship.”
“Thank you,” Rowan said.
Laney nodded and walked out.
“Now,” Walter said, walking back to the head of the table. “Luke, you have some decisions to make.”
Luke sat next to Rowan and took her hand again. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to live your dream. I want you to make music,” she said.
“As long as you’re with me.” He wouldn’t do it without her.
“I’m not going to go anywhere this time,” she said.
He pressed his lips against hers, sealing her promise. She opened under his mouth while her hand stole behind his neck, holding him tightly. He would never get enough of kissing her.
A deep throat clearing broke them apart. A blush stole across her cheeks and he winked. They had plenty of time to catch up on that later.
“All right,” Walter said, clearing his throat again. “We’ll need to find you a new manager, but if you’re still good with the terms of the contract we drew up on Monday we can go ahead and sign it.”
“I want Marla,” he said.
“What?” Her head jerked. “I’m not a manager.”
“You do everything a manager does,” Luke said. “You take better care of me and my career than anyone else ever has.”
“I—I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes,” Rowan said.
“Yes. Yes!” She laughed. “I would love to be your manager, Luke. Thank you. I won’t let you down.”
“I know,” he said. “Walter, I don’t have any issues with the contract, but I have a more pressing appointment right now. How does a week from next Wednesday sound?”
“What do you need to do?” Rowan asked. “We’re here, you should just sign the contract now.”
He gazed into her earnest eyes. “I need to marry you. So right now, we’re going to the courthouse for a license and we’re going to get married by the Justice of the Peace. Then we’re going to call your parents and my mom and we’ll drive to Johnson City or Flat Holler or wherever they want to put the church wedding together and we’ll get married again.”
“Oh, really?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “Really.”
“There’s just one problem with your plan,” she said.
He sucked in a deep breath. He’d shoot down any argument she had. He wasn’t going to go another day without her being legally his woman. “What’s that?”
“I need to return my rental car,” she said.
He smirked. “I have a manager that can take care of that for us.”
