Player in Paradise Read Free

startles me. It sounds deep and raspy, but I’m not able to place it. “Who’s this?”
    “It’s Austin.”
    My heart leaps into my throat, but I try to speak normally. “Oh, hey, what’s up?”
    “I think I may need your help.”
    Calling your publicist for help on a Monday morning usually meant something bad happened over the weekend. This was so not the way I wanted to start my work week.
    “With what?” My stomach churns as I anticipate the bad news.
    “ Uhhh…I kissed a girl at a club last night…and the girl wasn’t Cassidy. And…”
    “And? ?”
    “Someone might have taken a picture, and it might be circling online right now.”
    From his lips to my inbox. My email news alerts start blowing up with mentions of Austin cheating on Cassidy.
    “Ok, ok, we can handle this,” I say, not knowing if we actually can.
    “How?” he asks.
    “I’ll call you right back. Don’t say anything to anyone about this. Not your housekeeper, not your driver, no one. And don’t leave your house.”
    “My lips are sealed.”
    “Good, I’ll call you right back.”
    I hang up and find Priscilla standing over my shoulder. “Come to my office, now,” she barks.
    Shit. Shit. Shit. I’m getting fired. I know it.
    “Close the door,” she instructs.
    I do as I’m told and take a seat at her desk. My heart is pounding so hard that I’m sure she can hear it through my chest.
    “Do you know why I called you in here?”
    I nod. “I just got off the phone with Austin.”
    “Why didn’t you conference me in?”
    I freeze. Why didn’t I do that? I don’t know. I panicked!
    “Um...I told him I’d call him right back. I was going to talk to you first.”
    Priscilla dials Austin’s number and puts him on speaker. “Austin, it’s Priscilla and Olivia.”
    “How do we fix this?” he asks , urgently.
    “I’ ll get with Cassidy’s management and we’ll issue a joint statement that says you were out with some friends and the kiss didn’t mean anything. We’ll say that the only reason you did what you did was because you were too scared to admit your deep feelings for Cassidy and acted out. And when you admitted this to her, you told her that you would never do something like this ever again. She accepted your apology and you’re going on vacation together to work on being a closer couple.”
    How did she think that u p in five seconds? I guess she’s been through similar situations with other clients during her many years in the entertainment business.
    “Do I really have t o go on vacation with her?” he asks.
    “Do you want your fans to think you’re a cheating asshole, or do you want them to think you did this because you’re a hopeless romantic?” Priscilla responds.
    Austin sighs. “I understand.”
    “Start packing. I’m sending you two to Hawaii as soon as I figure out what dates work with both of your schedules. Olivia will be watching you like a hawk so that you don’t get into trouble again.”
    Me? Hawaii? With Austin Ford? What?
    Priscilla hangs up the phone and purses her shiny pink lips. “I need you to babysit him around the clock. I’ll book you adjoining rooms so you can make sure you don’t see or hear anyone in his room that isn’t part of his or Cassidy’s entourage.”
    I nod my head and hold my hands together tightly in my lap. I try to appear calm as she continues to divulge the plan. “We’ll alert the media to come to the airport in Honolulu, so make sure they’re lovey-dovey coming off the plane. And round up every photographer you can to take photos of them on the beach. Encourage them to play in the ocean, get ice cream together, have him carry her in the sand. Anything to make it look like they’re madly in love.”
    “Yes, of course ,” I reply.
    “If you sense anything going wrong call me right away.”
    I nod. “Got it.”
    “Good. Draft up the statement; I’d like to see it in the next ten minutes.”
    I rush back to my desk and type out the biggest piece