Groupie/Rock Star Bundle (14 page)

I quietly exited the balcony area after they
left the stage, and headed back downstairs to the club that hosted
the huge after-party celebrating the first night of the concert
series. At first I didn’t see any of the guys, and I felt a little
awkward standing there by myself looking like a lost
rabbit.

“I hate these things,” I heard a
male voice say from behind. I turned to see the manager I sat next
to during the first couple of acts. His name was Graham
something-or-another, and he had flown in from L.A. to support the
opening act.

Regardless of how little we had chatted, he was
at least a familiar face and I didn’t feel like I stuck out like a
sore thumb. I made a face. “Me too,” I said. “Someone needs to tell
famous people not everything is cause for celebration.”

He laughed and then looked down at the empty
glass in my hand. “Can I get you another?”

“Sure,” I said, and followed him over to the
bar.

He ordered my drink and then turned to me.
“Andrea, right?”

“Andy,” I corrected. “And you’re
Graham…?”

“Baxter,” he supplied in good humor, then
handed me my drink. “So do you work at a firm in Los
Angeles?”

I shook my head. “I’m actually just a writer
from Nashville, doing a favor for a friend.”

He laughed. “I guess that’s not so bad then.
You can come out here, have fun, then go back to the real world on
Monday.”

I smiled. “That’s the idea.”

“In that case,” he said as he put his glass on
the bar, “Allow me to contribute slightly to the fun by asking you
to dance.”

I started to shake my head but out of the
corner of my eye I saw Vanni walk into the room with Lourdes on his
arm. I swallowed down the handful of rocks that had mysteriously
appeared in my throat, smiled at Graham and said,
“Sure.”

He walked me to the center of the floor, and of
course the minute we get out there one of DIB’s more suggestive
tunes was featured as part of the selected music. Graham rested his
arm around my waist and casually pulled me close. “They’re really
good,” he said near my ear, referring to the band. “It kills me
Jasper Carrington got to them first.”

“Timing is everything,” I remarked as I tried
not to look at Vanni, where he stood now with Lourdes at the
bar.

“If they ever want a change in
management, give them my number,” he said.

“I will.”

He looked down at me with a devilish grin. “And
you can have it too. You know, in case things get too boring in
Nashville.”

I laughed. He had to be at least forty-five
years old, with short, dark hair and a touch of silver at the
temples. But he had the warmest brown eyes I had ever seen and a
nice smile. There were worse ways to spend an evening in Las Vegas
than flirting with a stranger I could immediately tell was pretty
harmless.

I glanced back over at the bar only
to spy Vanni and Lourdes dancing close in the corner. This caused
me to grip Graham’s shoulders a little tighter, which he seemed to
take as a green light to pull me closer.

The beat of the song was sensual and intense,
like a quickening heartbeat. “Say my name,” Vanni crooned from
every speaker overhead. “I’ve got what you’ve been waiting for.” I
closed my eyes and allowed Graham to swing me around the floor with
some fancier footwork. I followed where he guided, surprised my
feet even knew what to do to keep up. It didn’t take long for me to
realize some other dancers had moved out of our way to watch us
dance.

Some of the other guys in the band had come
into the club and set up a table in the back with Jasper, who had
now arrived. Felix watched me curiously as my dance partner led me
into a sexier move in time to the beat. As the song ended Graham
dipped me backward with a playful grin and I giggled in spite of
myself.

We walked back to the bar. “Not bad for a guy
who hates these things.”

“Necessary evil,” he informed. “Besides, my
wife insisted we take dance lessons for our wedding.”

I glanced down at his hand. I hadn’t noticed a
ring. “You’re married?”

“Occasionally,” he responded in good humor.
“It’s an expensive hobby, I’m afraid.”

He perched on the barstool next to mine. “How
about you, Andy? Anyone special waiting for you in
Nashville?”

I nodded. “His name is Simon.” Graham’s grin
faltered just a tad. So I went on. “He’s extremely jealous. And a
cover hog. And can unravel a roll of toilet paper in ten seconds
flat.”

His eyebrow rose, then together we said, “He’s
a cat.” He laughed and then leaned closer to me. “So it wouldn’t be
extremely inappropriate then if I gave you my phone
number?”

“I suppose not,” I said with a slight blush.
“After all that’s information I need if the band ever decides to
make a change in management.”

He glanced over to where Jasper sat with the
band, along with Vanni and Lourdes. Then he looked back with a
serious expression. “It may be in poor taste, and completely
self-serving, for me to say I hope that they do. Jasper knows how
to make people but he also knows how to break them. It can be a
toxic environment. He’s going to offer the sun and the moon but God
help the person who crosses him. And sometimes that just means
standing up for yourself or your principles.”

I looked back at their table.
Graham’s warning echoed what Vanni had said back in Brooklyn. His
life was not his own, and he felt powerless to change it. Graham
dug a card out of his coat pocket, pausing only briefly to write
something on the back.

He slipped the card across the bar
toward me. I reached for it and he placed his hand on mine. “That
warning goes for you too,” he added. “In case you need
it.”

His eyes were kind and sincere.
Almost fatherly. “Thanks,” I said.

He motioned for the check. “And on that note, I
think it’s time I return to the normal, quiet world of my hotel
room.” He took my hand in his and brought it to his lips. “But
thank you for a lovely dance, Andy from Nashville.”

After he paid I watched him leave. He stopped
only momentarily at DIB’s table to say congratulations to the band
and to Jasper, who didn’t seem all that pleased to see him. I used
the distraction to look down at the business card. My eyes widened
when I caught the name of his company. This wasn’t some mid-tier
manager – this was Graham Baxter of Baxter Mega-Worldwide Media
Corporation… the only record label in the country that could stand
toe to toe with Jasper Carrington.

More curious I flipped the card
over. The message he had written: Room #1225.

It was a gentlemanly way of orchestrating a
booty call, I supposed. But I put the card in my purse anyway. I
had no intention of going to his room, but the business information
might come in handy someday.

I slid off of the barstool and
headed over to our table, though as cozy as Lourdes and Vanni were
I wasn’t especially excited to do so. Felix was quick to swing me
back out on the dance floor, but mostly because he knew who Graham
Baxter was and wanted to know what I was doing talking to
him.

“It was just a little harmless
dance,” I said, keeping the other stuff mostly to myself for
now.

“Harmless dance with Jasper’s
nemesis,” Felix corrected.

“Was he mad?” I asked, referring to
Jasper.

Felix just shrugged. “Something has been up his
ass since he got here. Maybe he and Athena had a fight or
something. I think this Vegas thing is bigger than anyone
knows.”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you hear? She wants to stay here. Have
her own one-woman show.”

“I don’t listen to gossip that
doesn’t pertain to the band,” I reminded him.

Felix swung me around. “So you don’t know that
he’s about to lose half his empire over a scandalous
affair?”

My shocked eyes met his. “What is in that stuff
you’re smoking, anyway?”

He just laughed. “Don’t take it from me. Ask
Vanni.”

I would have loved to ask Vanni. I
would have loved to even say hello to Vanni. But Lourdes was curled
in his lap like a cat. Or was it a snake? Instead I made small talk
with Yael and Iain, who both were ready to call it a
night.

I agreed, and we all left after saying a brief
goodbye to Jasper, our benefactor.

“Thank you for the lovely flowers,” I said
after he kissed me on the cheek. “That was sweet of
you.”

“Thank you for all you do, Andy,” he said as he
patted my hand. Then, he pulled me a bit closer and whispered,
“Just remember where your alliances lie.”

It was then I knew he saw me talking to Graham
and wasn’t all that pleased about it, and that was his oh-so-subtle
warning to watch my step.

I was momentarily tempted to go to Graham’s
room to ask him in detail about his concerns regarding Jasper, but
I knew that it was highly inappropriate given I wasn’t interested
in anything other than chitchat. He may have been an older man but
all the parts were still in working order, as I could feel against
my leg when we were dancing.

Instead I went to my own room and
stripped out of the fancy trappings and into my comfy pajamas. My
cell phone buzzed and with a casual glance I saw it was my first
real contact from Vanni. “Full dance card tonight,” it
read.

I thought briefly about not answering it, but
instead I just wrote, “You too.”

That was enough to shut him up. My phone didn’t
ring again the rest of the night.

The next morning I skipped the buffet line and
opted for another café in the hotel. I sat with the paper, reading
the review of the previous night. “Exciting, fresh sound,” the
reviewer gushed. “Don’t miss this band.” It gave the other dates
for the show during the festival, and noted the local radio station
was giving away tickets to ten pairs of lucky fans to the Saturday
show.

I sighed as I checked my planner. I still had
to set up the fan event after that show for the winners of the
contests. So many errands, so little hair to pull out.

“You’re not sick of Vegas yet, I
hope.”

I glanced up to see Graham standing
next to my table. I offered him a sunny smile. “Not yet. Ask me
again on Saturday.” I motioned for him to join me, which he
did.

“I would love to,” he said as a waitress
brought him a menu. “If only to see you again.”

I blushed a bit and averted my
eyes.

“I apologize if my leaving you the hotel room
information was a bit crude. I was a bit tipsy and still high after
our dance. I forget there are nice girls out there in the world who
would never think to go to a stranger’s hotel room.”

“You can take the girl out of Tennessee,” I
quipped. “It wasn’t personal. You are a very charming
man.”

“Say you were at least tempted and make my
entire morning,” he asked with a big grin.

I laughed. It was easy to do with him. “Of
course,” I said though I withheld the real reason I considered
going to his room. “But I think Jasper might have me drawn and
quartered if I am seen fraternizing with the enemy.”

He chuckled and gave me an embarrassed grin.
“It was refreshing to talk to someone who wasn’t climbing all over
themselves to get something out of me,” he admitted. “You had no
idea who I was, which was a bit humbling I might add.”

I got the feeling he didn’t need me
to keep him humble. He did a great job keeping his profile
sophisticated but modest – in direct contrast to Jasper. Everything
about him was understated. “I guess I should throw in the towel as
an entertainment writer,” I teased.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “After I realized
that you weren’t falling all over yourself to follow me up to the
room I went online and dug up your work for the band.”

“I’m surprised I was that easy to find,” I
said, knowing full well I never gave him my last name. But then
again the name Andy Foster was fairly synonymous with DIB from the
website to the press copy, so anyone who really wanted to find me
probably could.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“You’d be surprised what you can find if you
are motivated,” he said as he tipped his glass of orange juice to
me. “But a smart girl like you probably knows that
already.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t sure what I
knew. And I wasn’t sure that this was the appropriate forum to ask
him for information on Jasper.

My phone buzzed. It was Iris. I motioned for
him to excuse me before I answered.

“You never called me last night to update me,”
she playfully accused. “I’ve been pulling my hair out all
morning.”

I laughed. “I highly doubt that. But to answer
your question, it went great. The reviews are in the morning paper
and everything is working according to plan.”

She then shot off a bunch of questions on
things that I still needed to do, and I gave her a brief rundown
while Graham sat across from me watching the exchange with slight
amusement.