The Complete Groupie Trilogy Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Thank you for this opportunity, sir.”
    He waved his hand. “Please. Call me Jasper.” He leaned back in his chair and linked his fingers together. “Is Andy short for Andrea?”
    I shook my head. “Nope. It’s just Andy. I think I was supposed to have been a boy and just surprised my parents on arrival.”
    “I like it. There’s a certain ambiguity about it that works to our advantage. You look like a groupie, but publish like a man. It’s the perfect disguise.”
    I didn’t know what to say. Somehow I felt I should be offended, but it wasn’t as though I didn’t use my masculine name to my own favor when it suited me.
    I think it was the groupie part that bothered me more.
    “This works especially well with gossip,” he continued.
    “I’m not sure I want to write a gossip column,” I interjected but he just smiled.
    “It’s part of publicity. You know what they say – there’s no such thing as bad press as long as they’re still talking about you.”
    I supposed he had a point, but I was curious as t o where he was going with this.
    He didn’t make me wait long. He slid a folder across the desk. “As you know the band already signed the contract, and they are now working on their album. Right now I want to get buzz out there, and the best way to do that is with sex.”
    “Sex sells,” I murmured in agreement as I opened the folder. The pictures inside immediately made my stomach drop. It was photo after photo, press clipping after press clipping, of Vanni with a beautiful, lithe brunette who looked like a South American supermodel.
    This, of co urse, was exactly what she was.
    “That’s Lourdes Roemer. Lingerie model. According to the press she and Vanni are really hot and heavy right now. I’d like for you to do an interview with both of them while you’re in town. Get something to me by the end of the week so we can have something in print by the new year.”
    My eyes met his. I gulped down any distaste at the assignment with a forced, “Of course,” through my tightening throat. I already had plenty of questions lined up, like how long had they been hot and heavy? Was it before or after he flirted with me and made big plans on how I would help him celebrate his birthday?
    Jasper wasn’t done. He handed me the band’s itinerary, which was packed full for the next seven days, including Vanni’s birthday just days before Christmas. “We’re really going balls to the wall so you’ll have to fit interviews with the band wherever you can in that schedule. I’ve given you press credentials to get you into all the venues, even the performances. It’s all in here.”
    He handed me a packed manila folder. “So that should be enough to get you started. Set up an appointment at the end of the week so I can see what you have, and we’ll go from there.”
    He gave me a dismissive smile as he rested both forearms on his desk, and I rose to my feet with my hands full of goodies I suddenly didn’t even know if I wanted. “Thank you, Mr. – Jasper,” I eked out before I practically ran out of his office.
    I have to be honest; I so saw that whole thing going another way.
    I was quiet on the way back to the hotel, where I planned to submerse myself into a bubble bath and order room service and let this new information gestate for the rest of the night.
    Vanni had a girlfriend, a little detail he had forgotten to mention to me.
    This was supposed to be a whirlwind week of sex and romance, and now it turned out that was true for everyone except the person out $3000 to make the damn trip in the first place.
    The longer I thought about it the more steamed I got. Boy, did he have some nerve! Was he romancing me just to get some free press? Or was it funny to watch the little groupie get her hopes up only to laugh about it later with his superstar model girlfriend?
    My phone buzzed and I saw it was Vanni finally checking in. It was all I could do not to chuck the phone out the window. I silenced it