Free Playing the Part by Robin Covington Page A

reporters who followed the two of you over to this trailer and who saw the photos.”
    “What photos?” Piper popped her head around his shoulder, her voice nowhere close to the sexy purr of a few moments earlier.
    “Hi. I’m Lewis King, Mick’s manager.” Lewis glanced down at his smartphone and tapped the screen. “I just put a call in to your agent’s office. He’s on his way over so we can talk about the club party tonight.”
    “What club?” Mick asked.
    “The new one opened by those two guys who are minor Greek royalty or something. It’s a Dark promo thing, and you signed up ages ago.”
    Mick groaned. “Make an excuse. Those guys are assholes, and the club will suck.”
    “This is a request from the big guys at the studio. You have to go.” Lewis didn’t look regretful. He was too busy trying to peer around Mick to get a good look at Piper. “And your publisher thinks you need to make an appearance, as well.”
    “What are you talking about?” Piper edged Mick aside, the tension in her body hardening all her curves.
    “You and Mick here turned up on all the celebrity blogger sites with your lip-lock at La Bella two nights ago. You were also seen leaving together and going to your place, where Mick left at around 2:00 a.m. The pictures created a bidding war among the magazines, which delayed them getting posted for a day. But they’re juicy.” Lewis gave her a nice, slow look this time. He assessed her looks, and Mick could see his mind calculating the trend value of this kind of publicity. “You two together are hot news, and this opp is perfect. You guys go out. Show everybody that you’re currently hooking up, and it all wraps nicely for promo for the Dark movie and this one.” He waved a hand in Piper’s direction. “Apparently, your publisher thinks you’ll get some publicity for those books you write.”
    “No,” Piper replied quickly, her voice low and firm. “No publicity.”
    A knock on the door preceded Piper’s agent, Chris, who entered the trailer. “Piper, I talked to your publisher’s marketing department, and they want you to do visible promo with Mick while you’re here.” He flicked a derisive glance in Mick’s direction. “You know how I feel about that.”
    Piper shook her head, arms crossed and eyes flashing with anger. “No way. They’ve spent the last year telling me to keep out of the spotlight. I have. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve done what they asked. They can’t change their minds now.”
    Lewis stepped in, saying, “I’m sure you realize that being seen with Mick as his latest girl will only help you, right?”
    Piper’s back went rigid, and Mick decided to intervene and make it sound less like Lewis was his pimp. He and Piper were both in the entertainment business—just different media—and being seen together would generate great publicity. He’d rather take Piper home and ravage her body all night, but he could still do that after the club opening.
    “It could be fun. A little dinner and dancing at the club.” He took her hand, loosely stroking the soft skin on the back with his thumb. “If it sucks, we can go somewhere else.”
    “And have my name listed in People or one of the many blog sites as Mick Blackwell’s latest piece of ass? No, thanks.” Piper ripped her hand out his grip and moved toward the door. Mick stepped forward to block her path, coming face-to-face with her fury. She was almost shaking with her emotion, eyes bright and lips set in a grim line.
    “Hey, what do you think is going on here?”
    “Did you set this all up? This publicity stuff?” She spat out the question.
    “No. But I’m not turning it down, either. All we’re talking about is little photo opp for the public. No big deal.” Mick really didn’t understand why she was reacting this way. It was how things worked, and they could help each other out.
    “Yeah. No big deal until you take the next girl out, and then the media plasters my face all