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“Unfortunately. The conversation always centered around one of us could be gay, the other one couldn’t, or we could beout, but they didn’t want it anywhere in our branding. And they really didn’t want us to have any relationships that were out in the public.”

“Holy shit,” Siena muttered. “Talk about homophobic, especially since we live in Portland. Then again, I can’t say that I haven’t seen it before.”

Bea nodded, folding her hands together so that Siena wouldn’t see them tremble. “We’d love to work with you for that specific reason.”

“Because I’m a lesbian.”

“Yes.”

Siena pursed her lips. “There are other queer production managers out there.”

“You also represent Bunny and Piper,” Jo chimed in again.

Bea really should have prepped her better for this conversation. While she wasn’t saying anything outrageous, this conversation could go so much smoother in some ways than it was.

“I do represent them.” Siena slowed down her speaking pace. “Which means that most of my time is spent with them.”

“We won’t be as busy as them,” Jo said.

“But you hope to be, eventually, I assume.”

“Yes,” Bea answered so Jo wouldn’t say anything else that might get them into deeper water. “Yes, we want to grow our brand and our business.”

“And what plans do you have in place for that already?”

“We’re booked after the New Year every weekend until April. And we’re working on writing a new album so we can record it in late spring.” Bea folded her hands together more sharply. Her anxiety was rearing its ugly head again.

“You’ve booked those on your own?”

“Yes.” Bea had done a lot of the leg work. Julianna’s had asked them back at least monthly, and she’d gladly accepted the booking. “But we’re starting to reach beyond what I can do.”

Siena nodded. “I’ve seen the numbers that you sent me.”

Bea shifted a glance to Jo. Had she done that when she’d invited Siena to observe them? Damn Jo for that. Sometimes she was so much better at this than Bea gave her credit for.

“Bunny and Piper did speak highly of you.”

“Did they?” Bea asked, trying not to make it sound like she was hinging more than necessary on that question.

“Yes.” Siena sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m not willing to sign a full contract with you just yet. I want to make sure that we work well together before that happens. I don’t do short term commitments. If we’re in this together, then we’re in it for the long haul.”

That was exactly what Bea had wanted to hear.

“So I have a proposal for you.” Siena stood up and walked to her desk, snagging a manilla folder and setting it on the small table before she sat back down. “There’s a charity event that I’ve agreed to manage this year. It’s a fundraiser for the Holbrook Foundation, which is a charity for single mothers. It’s not your typical fair, so I’m not looking for your regular music.”

“You’re not?” Bea frowned. How would it be any kind of test for them if they weren’t singing the songs they wrote?

“No. This is a Christmas fundraiser. The traditional songs, slightly non-traditional songs, those will be expected. You can add your own twist to them, for sure. But it won’t be your original music.” Siena spread out some of the papers in front of them.

“So we’ll have to learn all new music in order to do this?”

“You will. But like I said, traditional songs, so you should know the basics already.” Siena sent Bea a comforting smile. “I’ll represent you for this charity event, and we’ll see how we worktogether from there. If that goes well, we can sign a one-year contract. If after that year, we both agree to continue to work together, we’ll sign a much longer contract.”

“Who else is singing at this thing?” Jo leaned forward and picked up one of the papers to read.

Bea was still too stunned to say anything.

“You’d be the first to sign officially if you agree. I was just handed the contract late last week.” Siena leaned back in her chair and crossed one long leg over the other. Bea gnawed on her lip as she skimmed what she could of the papers, wanting to read them in far more detail than she had time for.