Page 5 of Country Road Romance

“Remember,” she’d said, “this whole festival is a chance for you to burnish your reputation and take the next step forward. Focus on that and nothing else.”

All of this was how he found himself in his room, scrolling aimlessly on his phone. He thought about sending an update out on Instagram or TikTok, but resisted the urge. He knew all too well that anything like that had to get Sheri’s approval before it went live. Since he’d already managed to alienate his handler for this whole adventure, the last thing he needed was to piss her off, too.

Charlie had to admit, though, that his handler wasveryattractive, which wasn’t something that he’d expected. On the surface he looked like your typical country boy–with his plain white T-shirt, tight jeans, and boots–but he also had something classy and even a little nerdy about him, too. Maybe it was his chilly attitude, or maybe it was the way that his shoulders and thighs threatened to burst out of those same T-shirt and jeans but something made Charlie’s heart beat a little faster.

You just think that because he reminds you of all of the hot guys you went to high school with but didn’t have the guts to approach.That was definitely true, but back then he’d been plain old Charlie Slaughter and not Charlie Garrett, jewel in the crown of the Romance Network.

You shouldn’t even be thinking about him in that way at all,he reminded himself.You’re here to do a job, so let it go at that. The fewer entanglements you get into while you’re here, the better.

Charlie laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. He slipped down into sleep much faster than he’d expected.

Suddenly his phone buzzed, waking him up. Seeing that it was Sheri, he swallowed a groan. He was sure she was going to give him a hard time, even though he had no idea what he could have possibly done wrong.

Sure enough, as soon as he answered it she was letting him have it.

“What did I tell you about taking selfies with people who haven’t been vetted yet?” she snapped. “I specifically said to leave all of that to me, and what did you do? You went and got a selfie with the first person you ran into that wasn’t that redneck who picked you up at the airport. Honestly, Charlie, why do you even keep me on your payroll if you’re just going to ignore everything I have to say?”

He let her go on for several more minutes like this, until she finally ran out of steam.

“Are you done?”

“Yes, for now,” she said. It was the same pattern that they always got into. He would do something that she didn’t like, she would give him an endless hard time about it, he would apologize, and then the cycle would repeat. It was charming, in its own way, if also a bit irritating.

“Good,” he said. “So what else do you have planned for me while I’m here? I really don’t want to stay holed up in my hotel room for the entire trip.”

“I guess that depends on you. Do you think you can stay out of trouble if I schedule you a ride around town with your handler later tonight?”

He looked out the window. It was still rather early in the morning, and he hated the thought of staying in his room for several more hours until Sheri decided that it was okay for him to come out.

“Can we bump it up a few hours? I haven’t been to Huntington before, and I’d like to explore town a bit before all of the craziness starts.”

Charlie didn’t mention that he thought the handler hated him. He’d deal with that in a bit.

There was a pause on the other end of the line as Sheri thought about it.

“Okay, fine. You can go out on the town for the day, but I want you back in your hotel room by eleven tonight. Sharp. Is that clear?” They both knew that was hardly enough time to really get an evening going, but Charlie knew that this was the best he was going to get.

“Yes, mom,” he said sulkily.

“Don’t pout,” she said, sounding uncomfortably like his actual mother. “And you should call her, you know. She hasn’t heard from you in a couple of weeks, and she’s been sending me vaguely passive aggressive text messages. I know I’ve said this before, Charlie, but I don’t know why you bothered moving her out to California if you weren’t going to spend more time with her. You might as well have left her here.”

“I’ll try,” he said. “Um…I think I forgot to get my handler’s number. Do you have it?”

Sheri sighed. “Yes, I have it. I’ll give him a call and tell him to be there in fifteen minutes.”

He’s going to just love that,Charlie thought.As if he didn’t hate me enough already.

“If that’s everything for now, I’m going to leave you to your own devices,” she said. “Remember. Behave yourself.”

Before Charlie could say anything in response the phone beeped to tell him she’d hung up.

Fifteen minutes wasn’t that much time, so he just did a routine check to make sure that he didn’t look too rumpled from the flight, popped a couple of Altoids in his mouth, and made hisway back downstairs. Someone upstairs must have been looking out for him, because he managed to get to the lobby without being seen by anyone. Even the fangirl at the front desk just gave him a knowing wink as he stepped through the revolving door.

And then the mob hit him.

There were the reporters, of course, and they were joined by at least a couple of hundred fans–many of them middle-aged women–and they swarmed him as soon as he stepped outside into the midday sunshine. No matter how many times this happened, and it happened a lot, he’d never really gotten used to it. Every time he found himself looking out at all of those faces looking rapturously at him he’d feel his heart start to beat faster and faster, his palms would get sweaty, and little spots would dance in his vision.

Calm down, Charlie,he said over and over.You can get through this just like you always have.

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