Page 41 of Flirting with Trouble

“No. I watched bands and actors on YouTube, like everyone else, but this was before videos blew up on social media the way they do now, and doing it that way didn’t work for me. I needed to feel people’s energy if I was going to try to rep them. I went to watch musicians at dive bars and checked out street performers, and I talked to everyone. It was really fun.” As I say it, I realize how much I miss it. “It was that networking that led to my success. I had buttoned-up professionals referring me to the most outrageous rock bands and other creative types. I was traveling to see bands in underground bars and actors in tiny, little-known theaters, and I was excited by every aspect of it. I was able to support myself after seven months, and a year later I’d paid back every cent I borrowed.”

“It sounds like you found what you were born to do.”

“I have no doubt about that.” The ache of longing for the life I gave up tugs at me. I struggled with that ache often the first few years after Harvey died, and I had to work hard to tamp it down and focus on my new responsibilities. “I really miss that part of the business.”

“You should be out there doing it. It’s your passion.”

“I wish I had the time, but someone has to run the company.”

“Can you hire someone else to run it?”

“And risk something happening to Harvey’s legacy? No way.”

His brows knit. “Would you mind telling me how you ended up with Harvey? Were you working for him, or…?”

I’m surprised he wants to know, and even more surprised that I want to tell him.

Wells

I know I’m walking a fine line, pushing Victory to open up to me about her late husband, but while I see her struggling to decide whether she’ll share more, I can feel how much she wants to. I wish I could put my arms around her and tell her it’s safe to open up to me. That I won’t hurt her or try to be Harvey or one-up him. I don’t want to undermine what they had. I just want to know more about her and how she came to be this incredible woman.

“I understand if you’d rather not talk about him.” But I really hope you trust me enough to share. A sea of emotions washes over her face, and I’m sure she’s going to take the out I’ve offered.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind telling you.”

I exhale a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“It’s not a very exciting story,” she says cautiously.

“I’m not looking to be entertained. I want to know more about you, and love stories aren’t often exciting. That’s a myth. They’re complicated. Look at Sutton and Flynn. Didn’t he try to get her fired before they got together?”

“Yes. But they also survived the Amazon rainforest together, and that’s a kind of excitement I can do without.”

“Me too, so tell me your impossibly dull story.”

That earns another smile. “Fine. I was twenty-six, and I had been working on my own for a few years. I was still working out of my studio apartment, because office space is outrageously expensive in the city, but I had things pretty well figured out by then. I had a solid reputation, and I had found my niche scouting amazing artists who just needed the right help and guidance to shine and get more substantial deals.”

“This is probably a stupid question, but what kind of guidance did you give them?”

“That’s not a stupid question. But the answer depends on the artist. It runs the gamut from figuring out how to better capture an audience’s attention or developing their brand, or getting them professional training to strengthen their weaknesses, to helping them learn how to handle social media or social interactions better.”

“You do all of that and market them?”

“At the beginning I did. By the time I met Harvey, I farmed out some of that whenever it was financially feasible, because my time was better spent working on deals.”

“And that’s what you were doing when you met Harvey? Crafting a deal?”

“Actually, no. The night we met, I was in the village scouting a band, and Harvey sat down next to me at the bar. I knew of him, of course. He was one of the biggest names in the industry, and Blank Space was one of the agencies I had submitted a résumé to after I quit that first job. But I never even got in the door for an interview.”

“I bet you guys laughed about that after you got together.”

Her smile broadens. “We did.”

“So, I guess you make a habit of meeting your future lovers at bars in the middle of July?”

“No, I do not, and for the record, Harvey and I didn’t get together that night.” The wind blows a lock of hair into her face, and she tucks it behind her ear. “At least not like that.”

“Why not? I googled him. He was a good-looking guy. Older than I imagined, but age is just a number.” I was surprised by how much older he looked than her and how distinguished he appeared to be, but he was a handsome, dark-haired guy with serious eyes and a kind smile. He probably had his pick of women. The fact that he chose Victory shows he had good taste, because she’s one of a kind. But what I find more interesting is that she chose him, which tells me a lot about the kind of man he must have been.