Groupie/Rock Star Bundle (11 page)

But why didn’t they know? I certainly made that
information accessible to anyone with an Internet
connection.

Maybe they knew they just didn’t
care.

It didn’t seem to matter while he was on that
stage. Onstage he belonged to all of us, not just one person. He
thrust his groin suggestively with the music and winked and smirked
at the women who responded enthusiastically to his primal movements
and salacious lyrics.

Thankfully there were no cover tunes to remind
me of how this whole crazy mess started, but Dreaming in Blue had a
few new songs extoling the virtues of lovemaking, and the female
body, to fill the void.

“I’m gonna fill you from the inside – OUT,” he
wailed while Yael shredded his guitar at a breakneck speed. “Can’t
wait to hear you – SHOUT,” he sang in a call and response way that
had the entire audience on their feet and no doubt doing
unmentionable things in their underwear.

Had it not been a more formal affair I wouldn’t
have been surprised to see bras sail across the stage.

It was all I could take to grit
through a new song called “Baby, Say My Name,” which reminded me
all too well of his mouth on my skin as he uttered a similar sexy
command. The fans were in a frenzy screaming “Giovanni!” as loud as
they could to be heard above the din.

I wanted to get up and run away but there would
be no explaining that to Iris or Jacob without going into
embarrassing detail. Plus Vanni would see that I couldn’t take it
and I just couldn’t handle that final humiliation.

So I crossed my arms and stared
daggers at him whenever he tried to do his “rock star” thing to
me.

This customer wasn’t buying it. He had burned
every bridge there was to burn getting into my panties.

The concert lasted about an hour and
a half overall, with one big encore song at the end which would no
doubt be the second single released from the album. It was a major
hit with the hungry crowd who just couldn’t get enough, and the
anthem type “Make it Happen” had almost everyone in the crowd
believing they could have anything they wanted if they just wanted
it bad enough. Ha, I thought to myself. Not quite
everything.

The band came out for a bow, and I busied
myself with gathering my purse rather than risk looking into his
eyes again. I didn’t look up until they had all run offstage. By
then Iris had leaned across Jacob to ask me, “Wasn’t that
fantastic? Can I pick ‘em or what?”

I had to smile at my friend. I
couldn’t begrudge her obvious success. She had worked so hard to
make her mark and this band was going to do it. She picked a winner
and even got in good with the likes of Jasper Carrington thanks to
her innate instinct over what made someone a star.

She had been one of my dearest
friends from the time I was in grade school, and as close to me as
my blood kin, of which there was one. So I would never rain on her
parade just because the main float happened to include an
asshole.

This was the entertainment industry.
They were all assholes to some degree or another.

Plus she had gone so out of her way
for me and helped make a few of my own dreams come true. There was
no way I’d pop her balloon by being a petulant brat. “You were
right, Iris,” I said with a sincere smile.

We waited until most of the crowd
had cleared out before we stole away to a reserved limo. We arrived
within minutes at the midtown restaurant where the after party was
booked. TVs around the multi-level building all played raw footage
of the concert that had been recorded for release with the
album.

Jasper didn’t plan to leave any
stone unturned.

Some of the fans who had won coveted
spots at the after party were already there, mingling with some of
the executives who had arrived early. All the stars, including the
band, were due to arrive late and make a grand entrance.

I went immediately to the bar on the upper
level and ordered a double whiskey neat. I needed something with a
little more kick to get me through this hurdle. I rubbed my temple
as I tried to ignore the huge thumping beat of the
music.

Jacob cornered me before I could head back down
to our table on the mid-level. “Okay, you. What gives?”

I didn’t look him in the eye. “I don’t know
what you mean.”

“I saw those claws come out while you were
watching Vanni onstage. I know you’re hiding something from me. You
might as well tell me because I always figure everything out
anyway.”

I stole a look his direction. With one gulp I
drained the glass and signaled for another one. “It’s nothing.
Really. Absolutely nothing.”

“Um-hum. If this is nothing I’d sure hate to
see what it would look like if it was something.”

I sighed deeply and then glanced
down at our table, where Alana and Iris chatted and laughed. The
words finally tumbled out. “Fine. It was something. But only, as it
turns out, for one of us.” His eyebrow rose as he listened to me
finally confess my big secret. “It started in Philadelphia. He
acted like he was interested, like really interested.”

Jacob leaned against the bar on one elbow. He
knew who I meant. There was no judgment. Not even curiosity. Just
concern.

“I guess that’s his M.O. Make the fans think
they can have something they can’t have.”

“To a degree,” Jacob conceded.

“Nothing happened. I left early, and he
contacted me. We emailed and talked on the phone. He wanted me to
come to New York. Made it seem like when I got here…” I couldn’t
even finish. The idea seemed so ludicrous now.

I threw back another drink and then signaled
for another. Jacob put his hand over the glass and shook his head
at the bartender. “And when you got there, you found out about
Lourdes.”

I nodded with a pout I could no longer hide.
“But he still acted like he was interested. Acted like the thing
with Lourdes was no big deal. He was attentive. Sexy. Sweet. So on
his birthday we left early. Together. Went on a hansom cab ride
through the city.” Jacob groaned but I forged on. “Ended up at my
hotel. Went up to my room.”

Jacob changed his tune and signaled for the
bartender again. He indicated I needed another drink, and this time
ordered one for himself. He glanced back at me. “You didn’t.” It
was more of a hopeful plea than a statement.

I shook my head. “He got a very timely call
from his new roommate.”

“Oh, honey,” he crooned. Jacob put his arms
around me for a hug four months overdue, and I held onto him for a
long, painful moment. I hiccupped back a sob when we pulled apart.
“I’m sorry, Andy,” he said. “I wish I would have known.”

“I couldn’t tell anyone,” I said. “Both Iris
and Alana told me not to get involved. And then, once I knew he was
dating someone, there was no alternative. I knew it was wrong to
try and make something happen. I don’t know. I guess I felt
entitled.” I dabbed at my eye with the corner of a cocktail napkin.
“The clincher was the interview with the two of them. When I heard
he wrote ‘Wanting Her’ for her Lourdes I just couldn’t take it
anymore. I had to leave.”

Jacob chuckled, which surprised me.

“What?”

“He didn’t write that song for her,”
Jacob told me in a hushed whisper. “They had that song from the
moment they hit the studio. June? July, maybe? It was still summer,
that much I know. Lourdes didn’t come into play until after
that.”

“Labor Day,” I supplied, because I had
memorized every damn detail of that relationship even though I
hadn’t wanted to.

“Remember when I told you that people who have
something to sell are all about marketing an image?” I nodded.
“Jasper is trying to sell Dreaming in Blue. What better way to
create buzz about a single than to have some juicy
backstory?”

I didn’t know what to say. It
bubbled up in my fuzzy brain that if he wrote the song in the
summer, it still could have been about me.

It was a crazy, nutty, completely
self-serving thought – but it made me instantly giddy.

“So Lourdes and Vanni…”

Jacob glanced down at the mid-level. Jasper had
arrived with Athena and Lourdes. He glanced up toward our area and
Jacob pulled us back away from the edge. “Are crazy, madly in love.
On the record.”

He gave me a meaningful look and I nodded. I
instantly understood.

It also made sense why Vanni had been so eager
to be with me, despite her moving into his apartment. If they
didn’t have a real relationship, he was free to pursue anyone he
wanted.

And he had wanted me.

Jacob hugged me again. “Thank you
for telling me,” he whispered against my ear.

“No, thank you,” I said. He had definitely
given me food for thought.

But Jacob wasn’t done. He took both my hands in
his. “Andy, I love you and I want to see you happy. I’m not
convinced that involves this crazy life or a man like Vanni. You’re
a good person. Decent. Honest. This world will chew you up and spit
you out again if you’re not careful. The rules are different here.
So be careful. Okay?”

I nodded. It was the same advice that Iris and
Alana had given. Vanni was limited in what he could give.
Apparently the trick was not wanting any more than that.

When I looked down at the mid-level where he
and the band entered the club, I had to wonder if that was even
possible anymore. My heart leapt just seeing his face. And I could
tell he was scanning the room to find someone in
particular.

It did not escape my notice that his
eyes lit upon Lourdes, and kept right on going.

He spent some time with the fans who had been
invited as V.I.P. guests. As I watched from the upper level I could
tell that he had grown quite proficient making each one of those
swooning fans feel like they were the only person on the planet
when he talked to them. He looked them in the eye, didn’t look
around for an escape, he was completely in the moment. He’d openly
touch them, lean in close to them, give them direct eye contact –
all those things that made one feel valued and accepted.

I leaned my elbows on the rail and
watched him. He gave big, full-bodied hugs to each one, even an
older woman who was in no way a sexual conquest. But his smile and
the touch of his hand on her arm made her blush nonetheless. As the
band moved on after spending a generous chunk of time interacting
with them, those fans felt as though they had made a new
friend.

I was still smiling when he glanced up in my
direction. My bright hair was a dead giveaway. For a moment the
entire room between us ground to an abrupt halt, or at least felt
that way. A moment later he disappeared in the crowd and before I
knew it I heard his voice call my name from just a few feet behind
me like magic.

I turned to face him, uncertain if
it would have the same potent effect that it had prior to the last
time we spoke. Just one look in those eyes, and feeling the heat of
his body from three feet away, and I knew I was in serious
trouble.

Everything I thought I had buried came bubbling
up to the surface. Especially when he reached for a bear hug like
the ones he had given to his new fans. Only mine was longer, as if
he was trying to make up for lost time.

“Thank you for coming,” he said against my
hair. “I didn’t think you would.”

We pulled apart. “I’m a professional,” I said.
“It’s just business.”

His face fell somewhat. “We need to talk,
Andy,” he said. “There are things you need to know.”

“It doesn’t matter, Vanni.”

“Yes, it does,” he corrected. “It matters to
me.”

I sighed as I looked into his eyes. I knew then
they would always be my downfall. “When?”

He glanced around. “Tonight’s out of the
question,” he stated. “Can you meet me tomorrow? For
lunch?”

I hesitated only briefly. If it was a public
place I stood half a chance. “Where?”

He mentioned a pizza joint in Brooklyn. “Old
haunt,” he admitted with a half-smirk. “Not as hip as this but
private.”

“Okay,” I found myself saying.

He brightened immediately. He pulled me close
for another hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said softly, then
returned to his party down below.

I stayed long enough that Iris and
Alana wouldn’t feel abandoned by my absence, and truthfully it was
fun to hang out with the band again. It was like I lived two
separate lives, and in this one I had more fun than I remembered
having in my ordinary day to day. The boys were all cutups who kept
me in stitches, even Yael, whose apathetic Goth exterior was
actually a pretty good disguise for the sensitive, witty fellow
underneath.

They were all actors in their own
way, except for Felix – who was too enhanced by his questionable
herbal supplements to be anything other than who he was: a stoner
from California who had a passion for wringing every bit of life
out of each and every moment. He coaxed me to dance one time before
I finally convinced everyone that it was time for this Tennessee
girl to get her beauty rest.