Risk it All

Face the Music

Brantley's POV:
After parking my truck in the lot, I pulled my hat down low over my face and slipped my dark shaded into place so that hopefully no one would recognize me. Since I had pretty much broken every speed law between Maysville and Orlando, I'd managed to get here early before too many concert-goers had arrived.
After passing my ticket to the man working one of the ticket windows, I walked in the venue looking for someone that I would recognize. The show tonight featured Trace Adkins, Alan Jackson, Rascal Flatts, Eric Church, Big & Rich, and Keith Anderson. None of which I had worked with so none of them knew me on a personal level other than bumping into one another at awards shows.
Finding my way to the stage, I eased my way to the back and flipped my hat backward and removed my shades. Because I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, I bumped right into someone. I immediately apologized and went to walk around them without looking to see who it was. I had one mission and that was to find Bailey. But as I went to go around, I heard my name.

"BG? What the hell are you doing here man?" said the voice of the guy that I had bumped into. I turned to see who it was and damn near sent up a prayer of thanks because of the person standing in front of me.

"I came to get my girl Trace." I said matter of factly. "She's been ignoring me long enough and I'm tired of it.

"And whos' your girl? Oh shit... You and Bailey?" said Trace as it dawned on him who I was here for.

"Yeah. She was working for me and well, it became more than a working relationship if you know what I mean. She told me some things about herself that she thought would cause a rift in our relationship. Before I could convince her to stay, he left and apparently went on tour with you." I explained, not sure why I was telling the big man my business. "Know where I can find her?"

"She's on my bus sleeping. The Girl has been working herself into exhaustion since joining us on tour. So much so that I have gotten on her ass about a time or two and I make it a rule to not get involved with my staff. She's been trying to hide how tired she's been but she's not doing a very good job of it." explained Trace, earning a glare from me in jealousy. "Now don't look at me like that. There is nothing going in with us BG. She was dead on her feet earlier and I told her to go get on my bus and get some rest. She had argued of course, but when I told her that I would carry her there myself, she finally agreed."

"She's stubborn as hell man." I said, a half smile creeping up on my face as I thought about her standing up to Trace. Even I felt short compared to him, I was six foot tall so I could only imagine how Bailey looked standing beside him at 5'2.

"That she is." said Trace laughing.

"I need your help. Like I said, she's been ignoring me for months. I have some things I need to say. I came tonight to make her listen to me. Think you can help a brother out?" I asked.

"I can tell you care about her man. Just tell me what I can do to help?" said Trace as he slung his arm over my shoulder and turned us toward his dressing room.

Bailey's POV:
I didn't know how long I had been sleeping but when I did finally wake, I could tell that the sun had set. Glancing at the clock on my phone, I saw it was nearing 9:00. Trace was set to start at 9:30. Sitting up, I slipped my shoes back on and tugged the oversized shirt back over my head. I folded the blanket and placed it back on the bed. Even though Trace had told me to not worry about the show tonight, I wasn't going to not do my job. I needed to stay busy for as long in order to not think about Brantley.
I had just walked into the back door of the venue when Johnny, Trace's drummer, popped around the corner.

"Hey, I was just coming to look for you. Trace said that he needed you in his dressing room. Something about a wardrobe malfunction." said Johnny.

"Okay. I was just headed to look for him." I said pasting a smile on my face that I knew didn't touch my eyes. "Thanks Johnny."

"You're welcome sweetheart." he said, giving me a smile and running back the direction he'd came.

I set off for Trace's dressing room, wondering what sort of wardrobe malfunction he could possibly have. The man only wore button-ups and jeans. When I reached his dressing room, I knocked. When I didn't get an answer, I cracked the door open and eased my way in. Letting it shut behind me, I began going through the clothes on the rolling hangers to see which of them would warrant me coming down for a wardrobe malfunction. Especially since he had told me to not worry about coming to the show tonight and insisting that I get some sleep.
The sound of a throat being cleared had me raising my head and turning around. Needless to say, I was not prepared to see Brantley standing there, his green eyes locking with mine as soon as I looked up. My throat immediately dried up, threatening to choke me and my heart threatened to beat out of my chest. Considering the massive secret I was hiding from him, this could turn ugly and fast.

"Bailey Mae, long time so see..." said Brantley, giving me his best devil-may-care smile. Dressed in jeans, a cutoff black tee, his chains and rings and that damned hat pulled low over his eyes, he looked down right delicious. But by no means was I under the impression that he was as relaxed as he wanted me to think he was. I had ignored him for months and I knew that he was merely putting on an act. Then, the handsome devil smiled even bigger before speaking again. "I think it's time you and I sat down and talked. Don't you?"