Page 21 of Come Fly With Me

Jasper eyed the man-mountain standing behind his manager. The guy had to be at least seven feet tall, although Jasper was a little on the short side, so he might have been overestimating. But, apart from the height, the man was built like a pro wrestler. All oversized muscles, no neck, and a permanent frown. He also had no sense of style. He was dressed head to toe in black and wore scuffed workmen’s boots on his feet.

He wouldn’t do.

“I want Mike,” Jasper declared, half-expecting his bodyguard to manifest before his eyes.

“You mightwantMike,” Linda, the Hydro event organizer, said, “but what youneedis a skelp oan the arse.”

“What?” Jasper demanded of his manager. “What did she say?” That damn Glaswegian accent was impossible to understand, even when people weren’t muttering.

Stephen rubbed circles at his temples. “She said you might want Mike, but you need help, and fast, so your only option is Mr. Grunt here.”

“Just Grunt,” the Hulk said as he did a slow visual sweep of the room. “No Mister.”

Great. The man was a talker—not.

“Find a replacement,” Jasper ordered his manager. “I can’t party with this guy.”

Stephen pinched the bridge of his nose. The guy was obviously sick. First the breathing thing, then the head rubbing, now the nose. Jasper took a step back. Whatever his manager had, he could keep to himself.

“You shouldn’t be partying anyway,” Stephen said. “We agreed you’d get straight to bed tonight. You have an interview on breakfast TV at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”

“Wedidn’t agree anything,” Jasper told him. “Youordered me to chill tonight. But you ain’t the boss of me. In fact, I’m the boss of you. And I have to tell you, Stevo, you’re pissing me off.”

For a second, Stephen’s face turned violet, and Jasper thought the man might quit. Which was fine with him. He’d been thinking that he needed a new manager. Someone with better connections and more backbone, someone like Josh McInnes’ manager. Nowthatguy knew how to cut a deal, and he had connections everywhere. Maybe he’d look him up, seeing as he was in Scotland anyway.

“You know what?” Stephen threw up his hands. “Do what you want. I’m done for tonight.” And with that, he stalked out of the room.

“Didn’t we need him to talk to the press?” Murray, the drummer, said from the corner, where some chick was painting his toenails black.

“Let him go. It’ll do the press good to lose access for a night. Make them more eager tomorrow.” Jasper stared up at the man-mountain. “You can go home too. You ain’t needed.”

The bodyguard just stared at him for a beat before answering. “I don’t work for you. I work for the guy who just left. His orders are to stick to you. Until he tells me otherwise, that’s what I’m doing.”

What the hell? Hulk was ignoringhim?

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed.” Jasper pointed a finger at Grunt. “But I’m the one who’s in charge around here. I’m a multi-million-dollar commodity. I’m the reason everybody is here—including the thousands of people waiting in that arena.”

Grunt just grunted.

Jasper stamped one of his designer Hi-Tecs in rage. “I’mthe boss, and I’m telling you to get the hell out of here. You’re fired.”

“No can do.” Grunt pointed at Jasper’s red tartan skinny jeans. “They’re too tight. One false move, and you’ll be singing soprano.”

A wave of muffled laughter swept around the room.

“Out!” Jasper pointed at the door while he glared at the giant.

Grunt just folded his arms and stayed in place.

“I’ll call the cops,” Jasper threatened.

“We both gotta do what we gotta do,” Grunt said.

With a strangled scream, Jasper stalked over to his dressing table. His jeans weren’t too tight. And paired with the oversized orange silk blouse with billowing sleeves, left open at the collar, he looked good. Add to that the lime-green Hi-Tecs made especially for him, and he was rocking an on-trend gender-fluid punk rock vibe that would have people copying his choices in the morning. His hair was ruffled just enough to look artless, and the stubble on his jaw added an element of danger to his appearance. Huh! It wasn’t only Harry Styles who knew how to bend the rules of fashion. Jasper could give him a run for his money any day of the week.

“Ten minutes,” someone called from the doorway, reminding Jasper that he had a show to put on. The dickhead bouncer could stand around all night if he wanted to. Jasper had better things to do.

Deliberately ignoring Grunt, he sailed past the bodyguard as he headed out of the dressing room and down into the stadium.