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Jumping, I was surprised to see Sherman standing next to me. He wasn’t dressed to the nines like at the gala; he had on torn jeans and a long-sleeved green shirt that laced up at the neck. His easy comfort made me more nervous. “What are you doing, stalking me?” I asked.

He laughed hard while wiping the corners of his eyes. “Look at you, already acting like a big star. No, I was just picking up a new Bluetooth headset and saw you walk in. How are you doing?”

“Fine,” I said too quickly.

His thick eyebrows moved lower. “Mmm. I see.” He glanced around casually. “You’re alone. Everyone too busy for you today? Or are you avoiding them?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“On the contrary, it’s exactly my business. Many deals are made when clients get into drama with the people they work closely with.”

Heat swam up my neck. “There’s no drama.”

“No?” he asked, grinning.

“No,” I said, but I couldn’t look him in the eye.

“Bach has a reputation,” Sherman said gently. “I worried when I met you that he’d take advantage of you.”

“It’s not like that.”

“How nice of you to defend him. But I’ve known that guy longer than you have. I know how many selfish decisions he’s made.” His shoulders shifted upwards. “Using you won’t be his last one, that’s for sure.”

I whipped my head up, gawking at him. “Why do you think he’s using me?”

“Because hehasto. You know his company is barely above water, yes? He cares about his happiness, and his alone. He’ll drain Beats and Blast, take advantage of everyone working for him, promise them the moon... and then he’ll walk away when the money from his father's hard work is gone. That’s who Bach Devine is.”

There was anger blistering inside of me, yet it was blocked by my own uncertainty. Bach had told me just hours ago that, even though I wanted to keep things professional, he wasn’t going to back off. Sherman was right. Bachwasselfish.

I caught my own reflection in the phone I’d been checking out. I was pale, my eyes too wide and too wet. Sherman’s comments were getting to me. “Bach said you were the one that discovered Laurence.”

“He told you that?” His posture became guarded. “It’s true. I believed in Laurence Devine more thananyoneelse. More than his own son did. I helped get him the exposure he needed to become a world-wide sensation.”

“If I wanted that same result, what advice would you give me?”

All of his defensiveness vanished. He lit up at the first indication he was winning me over. “I'd tell you to recognize your own raw potential.”

“You think I have that?”

He put a hand on my shoulder. “I know it.”

His kind words drew a helpless smile from me.

“And,” he went on, “If I was representing you, I'd put all of my focus on you, going out swinging at every meeting to guarantee people took you seriously. And I wouldn't, not even once, try to sleep with you.”

Every bit of my skin was scalding from humiliation. I was relieved when he took his hand away. “Good to know.”

Sherman watched me closely. “I'm guessing that right now, Bach is taking meetings with all the brand-new talent that's come crawling out of the shadows since they sawyouperform under his label last night. His attention is on the next best thing. Not on what he has right in front of him.”

Unsure how to respond, I bit my tongue. Sherman slipped a hand into his jean's back pocket. Withdrawing his business card, he extended it towards me. “I'll make this clear once more. I want to sign you, Amina Richards. Not use you to rejuvenate my company.”

The first time he'd offered his card to me, I'd turned him down. Now, for some unknown reason that Ihatedmyself for, I took it.It's only a card,I thought.It's not an agreement.

Sherman was smirking like he'd won a game I didn't know we were playing. Clearing his throat, he backed away. “We'll talk soon. Good luck, Amina.” He vanished out onto the street just as the clerk came up to me again.

“So!” he chirped, clasping his hands. “Did you make a decision?”

Gripping the business card, I worried that I’d made the wrong one.