The Complete Groupie Trilogy (7 page)

These were the perks, as Iris gleefully pointed out more than once, and a once in a lifetime opportunity for this lowly writer from Tennessee. And I could hardly complain. It was a huge step up on the social ladder fr
om my normal Wednesday routine.

The best part of the night was getting to know Jacob Corey, Jasper’s fabulous assistant. He was a beautiful man of cutting wit who knew just about everything about everyone, and was generous enough to dish in conspiratorial whispers I nearly had to take a blood oath were off the record. He introduced me to all those big name celebrities I was a little intimidated to approach on my own, and was – by far – the best dance partner of the night. He taught my body to move in ways I never knew were possible.

It became apparent that Jacob was not just an assistant but Jasper’s right hand man, who single-handedly made the entire night such a success everyone in the city would clamor for an invitation to the next shindig.

By the time he kissed me goodnight at the break of da
wn I knew I had an instant BFF.

In the car on the way back to the hotel I sent a text to Vanni expressing my regret he couldn’t stay at the party as it was
loads
of fun. I still had a devious smile plastered on my face when I drifted off to sleep at about 6:00 a.m.

Iris pounded on my door by 8:00 a.m., and after a brief five minutes under frigid water I was dressed and back out running amidst th
e bustling New York City crowd.

The band wasn’t due back at the studio until noon, so the morning was spent at Iris’s office preparing information for press kits to be released with the upcoming album. She included me in the creative process, and both she and Alana were excited about my contributions. It made me momentarily f
orget I was asleep standing up.

By afternoon we were at the studio with the band, along with such guests as Jasper, Jacob and Lourdes. That last bit was a little hard to swallow so I stayed mostly a quiet piece of the furniture in the background as I watched all of the players in their roles. Iris and Jacob were animated and articulate, standing on equal footing with the powerful Jasper – who still intimidated me more than I cared to admit. Lourdes was friendly and familiar with the band, and she and Vanni played their parts well as young lovers who couldn’t get enough of each other.

It reminded me of the night before when Vanni declared he wanted me. He sounded so sincere, and the imprint of his body against mine provided that physical evidence supporting his claim. Yet today he had eyes only for the striking brunette who sat showing miles of tanned, beautiful leg for him while he sang. Like any straight, red-blooded man he couldn’t take his eyes off of her and sang each song as a personal serenade from a man possessed by love.

How could I fit those two pi
eces of information in my head?

I endured two hours of this confusing hell before Lourdes declared she had an appointment and had to leave. I heaved a deep sigh of relief at the notion, which made me question only briefly if I had been holding my bre
ath the entire time beforehand.

Vanni pouted that she had to go, but gave her a tight cuddle with a passionate kiss for everyone to see, as if branding her before sending her out into the world. I wanted to look away but I couldn’t. It was all a part of the ongoing mystery how he could claim to want both an Amazon goddess and a no-name travel writer who was more at home at a tractor pull than in front of a camera.
It just didn’t make any sense.

Yet after Jasper offered to share a car with Lourdes and they both had gone, Vanni’s eyes sought me out and never left me again the rest of the time we were at the studio.

It was like a switch flipped. He sang every song to me, flashed every smile at me and even spared me a wink or two, or three, while he did his thing behind the microphone.

It dawned on me that everyone else was busy doing actual work whereas I was his only audience, as Lourdes had been before.

Maybe he just needed an adoring fan to woo while he sang.

This made a lot of sense in my limited knowledge of singers and celebrities, but didn’t do much for my ego. Here I was thinking that there was something special about me to earn his desire, but it could be as simple as I was the onl
y one paying him any attention.

This disheartening thought drove me out of the room. I was popping open a soda when Jacob found me. He wore a sunny smile and was just as energetic as the night before. How was that even possible? “Where’s the IV pumping speed into your blood?” I asked, unsuccessfully hiding my own bloodshot eyes behind my glasses.

“You learn to catch catnaps with your eyes open,” he winked.

I stifled a yawn. “I’m surprised you didn’t leave with your boss. Aren’t you needed at HQ?”

“He wasn’t going straight back to the office,” he dismissed. “I have about another hour before I’m required. So I thought I’d hang out here, with you.” He studied my face. “But the minute Vanni started to sing I think all of us disappeared from the planet. You got it bad, girlfriend.”

I averted my eyes. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I don’t blame you,” he offered. “He is a nice piece of eye candy. Too bad he doesn’t rehearse like he performs. I was half-tempted to hide all his shirts.”

This made me laugh. “Please don’t. I’d never be able to get anything done.”

“Good point,” he agreed with grin.

I sighed. “I’m no Lourdes though.”

“Thank God,” Jacob snickered. “One is enough.” He paused. “Is that what’s bothering you?”

I shrugged. I wanted to pour my heart out and tell him about all the messages and the flirtation before I came to New York, my expectations of what I would enjoy here when I arrived. It sounded stupid in my head. Finally I just confessed, “I didn’t know about Lourdes until I got here. It just came as a bit of a shock.”

“Ah,” he said as he leaned back against the counter. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, hon, nothing is what it seems in this world. We’re here to create an illusion, an image.”

“So don’t believe what I hear?” I asked, parroting Vanni’s own advice to me.

“Or see,” he said. “It’s all carefully choreographed for maximum effect. Anytime a product is marketed for sale, you only see what the seller wants you to see.”

“So what is Vanni selling?” I asked out loud.

“Sex,” Jacob replied. “Here you have this hot guy trying to sell himself as a rock god, a man who can seduce you with a song. He dates a blindingly beautiful supermodel so that he can boost his image, but sells his affection to his adoring fans. Girls eat that stuff up. All women want to take what the pretty girls have.”

That hurt. I didn’t think I was that way. “Sounds manipulative. On all parts.”

“It is,” he said matter-of-factly as he grabbed an apple from the basket. “That’s just the way it is. Same old game. New players. And rest assured there will be another Lourdes, and another, and another – but he’ll be a huge success before he settles down. If he ever does.”

“So what you’re saying is it would be foolish to fall in love with someone like Vanni.”

“Fools rush in,” he quoted. Then, with an evil grin, “But that doesn’t mean you can’t love him for a night. I know I would.”

I laughed, but this lascivious encouragement didn’t help me much. That had been what I initially told myself I wanted when I flew out here. But now, knowing that was all it could be, took so
me of the wind out of my sails.

I stifled another yawn. It was going to be a long night, especially with the gig and Iris’s after party to celebrate Vanni’s birthday. I wanted to go back to the hotel for a nap but now that Lourdes was gone, I enjoyed the attention I was getting from Vanni. Maybe it was all a charade, but it m
ade me feel sexy and important.

Maybe I could enjoy it cautiously, as long as I remembered the rules of the game.

It was dangerous thinking, I knew. But the minute Vanni entered the room I knew the last thing I wanted was to leave. Jacob gave me a wink before he left us alone.

Vanni wore that damnable smirk as he strolled over to where I stood by the coffee dispenser. He poured himself a cup of tea silently, but his eyes spoke volumes as he inspected me head to toe.

I felt positively frumpy after the glamor of the night before.

“Long night?” he asked, as if he didn’t know.

“Of course,” I replied. “You know me. I’m a regular party animal.”

He laughed and leaned against the counter so that we were eye level. “Maybe I’ll find out tonight. Plan on sticking around for my birthday party?”

“I don’t know,” I offered. Then, more wickedly, “Depends on what’s in it for me.”

He responded to my challenge by standing upright and towering over me. Slowly he pulled me toward him with a strong arm, and I felt my soft curves melt against his body. I watched his mouth as it descended toward my own, and then – when he was a breath away – I whispered, “Is Lourdes going to be there?”

He grinned as he looked from my mouth to my eyes, then back again. “She’s got an early call,” he murmured.

“Aw, too bad,” I murmured in return, my eyes on that sexy pout. “Who is going to kiss you at midnight on your birthday?”

“Hopefully the person that I’ve wanted to kiss since I met her eight months ago,” he whispered, which made my heart topple all the way down to my feet.

“You’re a charmer, Mr. Carnevale,” I said, stunned he’d remember down to the month. “Why should I believe any of the pretty things you say?”

He pulled me closer. “Because you can feel it,” he said.

He was right. I totally could.

I gulped hard as I disentangled myself from his arms before we did something in public that was probably illegal. “Then I look forward to midnight,” I said as I spun out of the room with a smile.

Iris dragged me away from the studio around the time that Jacob headed back to Jasper’s office. She claimed that we had some major shopping to do for the gig that night. At this rate I was going to have to buy another suitcase to take home with me, or at the very least keep a closet at Iris’s house for any upcoming New York trips – which, depending on what happened at mid
night – might be a possibility.

I tried to temper my excitement over having Vanni all to myself that evening with the knowledge that he would still be “publicly” taken by Lourdes long afterwards. But if Jacob was right, and I wanted so to believe that he was, it was a convenient relationship for publicity, not somethi
ng that was organic or natural.

It was a business arrangement that Jasper seemed to be orchestrating with a heavy hand, along with everything
else in Vanni’s musical career.

Vanni had expressed his interest for me way before Lourdes hit the scene, which I kept telling myself that had to count for something. I was entitled just one night, if nothing else.

If Iris had known what I was thinking as we wandered from shop to shop she’d have dropped dead in shock. I was a fresh-faced newb from Tennessee who had spent her fair share of Sunday mornings in church, and Saturday night watching old Cary Grant movies on TV. I believed not only in the sanctity of a relationship but the magical promise of true love.

The cynical 25-year-old in me understood that was just as much an illusion as celebrity relationships built for publicity. And that was the chick who was casting her vote for a night of hot sex with someone who was destined to be a big star.

A chance for hot passionate sex with a man who could make my knees buckle with just a glance, or his trademark smirk? Any girl would do the same in my place, and probably very soon would. Besides, you’re only young once. And this was the time in my life to sow those wild oats. Somehow I suspected they didn’t come any wilder than Giovanni Carnevale.

Iris insisted I get another pair of high heeled boots, but I insisted only on sheer black top and cropped leather jacket. I had but one real present for the birthday boy, and I thought it only appropriate he could see how pretty it was packaged before he got the privilege of unwrapping it.

That night I pulled out the cobalt blue satin corset and cinched myself up before adding the sheer lace top that dipped low in front of my overflowing cleavage. I wore black jeans that hugged the generous swell of my derrière, something that Vanni had hinted he couldn’t wait to get both hands around in one of his more suggestive emails. It was actually written as a limerick that made me laugh out loud when I read it. It was an ode to my curves he had written naked, according to what he told me with a grin I could hear over the phone.

This was the intellectual foreplay that had me primed and ready to pounce him the
minute I stepped off the plane.

Jacob was right. There was no law against having one passionate night with the man. It didn’t have to mean love. Who even knew if there was such a thing?

From the minute I entered the club I was on the hunt. Lourdes was there, and looked amazing in her leather pants and gold sequined halter top that draped low in front of her own ample breasts. I tried not to make any comparisons because there were really no comparisons to make. We were as different as night and day. Instead I sat with Iris, Alana and Jacob in the table next to Jasper and Lourdes.