“UP AND COMING STARLET BARES HER BOOBIES!” “EXPOSURE OF YOUNG AND SWEET SENSATION JENNA WALSH UNTHINKABLE!” screamed newspaper headlines.
I’d recoiled with horror, dumbly forcing myself to look up the video. Oh god, the Green Guys site was the first one that popped up after entering my name, and I clicked numbly. The mass of writhing bodies was explicit, the girl in the video bearing an uncanny resemblance to me, so good that I could see how no one would question the likeness.
Even worse, the video had already been viewed twenty million times, with two million thumbs up. It was a nightmare, and I could hardly believe what had happened, the pressure on my chest crushing, my breathing shallow and fast.
Things were only made worse when a nameless employee from my modeling agency called to let me know that Levast had terminated my contract.
“Alright,” I’d said woodenly. “I’ll deal.” I’d expected that one because Levast represents high-fashion brands, they wouldn’t want a pornstar on their roster. I just needed a bit of time to prove my case, and then Rafe would hire me once again.
But what I hadn’t expected was every single one of my other bookings calling within a day to let me know that I was no longer needed.
“Really?” I’d gasped when Young, Broke and Fabulous notified me that I no longer needed to fly to Malibu next week. YBF is an up-and-coming LA brand known for its sexy, daring beachwear, and they’d walked on the wild side a couple times. Their last show was modeled entirely by Playboy centerfolds, so I’d figured their creative head would keep me on.
“I’m sorry Ms. Walsh, but we just doesn’t see YBF customers identifying with hardcore porn stars,” said the monotonous voice. “Softcore yes, but not what you did.”
I almost wanted to scream into the earpiece that it wasn’t me, there’d been a huge mistake. But who would believe that? So I’d hung up the phone and turned to my only ally left. My sister Tina. Family stands by family right, or at least it should, and I’d flown out to San Francisco on the red-eye, covering my head with a scarf to escape recognition.
Thank god Jake, her husband and my ex-fiancé wasn’t there. I would have died, he’d be laughing so hard at my predicament.
“Teen, Green Guys must have found a girl who resembles me to do the video for a few thousand bucks. Please believe me,” I said forcefully. “Please.”
Tina looked skeptical. “Jenna, I’m not sure,” her voice trailed off. “And you know there’s no love lost between you and my husband, Jake’s never liked you.”
“I know!” I said, struggling not to raise my voice. “But I need your help, and I need Jake’s help in particular. Manning Pharma has a ton of people working for the company, Jake’s dealt with public relations crises in the past. Please ask him for me, won’t you?”
“I don’t know Jenna,” said my sister, her cheeks flushing. “He still blames you for Janie almost dying.”
I shook my head resignedly. The Pernacular debacle had nothing to do with me, but somehow Jake thought I was responsible for Janie’s ill health.
But before I could speak, Tina interrupted. “Jake’s on a business trip right now, but I’ll ask,” she said resignedly. “I’ll do it … for Mom and our family, if not for you.”
“Thank you,” I said relieved. The Mannings were my last hope because Rafe still hadn’t returned my calls … breaking my heart.
14
Rafe
“Mr. Connor,” piped my secretary from outside, “Call for you on Line 2.”
I frowned. This was odd, I’d asked not to be disturbed except in urgent circumstances and it was unlikely that anything would happen now that New York fashion week was over. What was it? Some designer having histrionics because the latest embroidered silk from Italy hadn’t come in yet? Some young model giving lip because she was homesick? I sighed. All in a day’s work as CEO.
“Fine, send it through,” I growled. The phone rang and I picked up.
“Rafe Connor,” I barked shortly. This better be good because there were a thousand things on my to-do list, including reviewing our financials and finalizing bonuses. Time was money, and dollars were lost with every wasted minute.
“Rafael, Jake Manning here of Manning Pharmaceuticals,” said a deep voice.
I immediately felt my hackles rise at the sound of another alpha male. Okay, he was probably in San Francisco, I knew Manning was one of those biotechs located on the West Coast, but the pseudo-proximity got to me. A nasty feeling ran down my spine but I made myself stay calm.
“What can I do for you?” I said in a deceptively smooth voice. “Manning and Levast are hardly in the same industry.”
The man chuckled over the phone. “No, definitely not except that your clientele seem to ingest a lot of our prescription drugs, but that’s a discussion for another day. I’m calling because we have an issue that’s troubling us both … Jenna Walsh.”