“No, they’ll send him on the company jet,” Tina said. “And you got permission for Ronnie to be your handler?”
Tanner nodded, but I was confused. “Handler?” Tanner was a grown man.
“That’s what they call it when you travel with the talent,” she explained. “You handle all the logistics while you’re out and about.”
“I’m the talent?” Tanner asked with a grin.
“You’re talented,” Tina said, and I nodded in agreement. Then she turned back to me. “Just wait until you see the private jet. You’ll love it. I’ll find out what all you’ll need.”
“Need? Isn’t it a pretty short trip? We’re not staying overnight, are we?” My last question was aimed at Tanner.
“No, we’ll just fly there in the morning, scout around, and fly back in the evening.”
“But you’ve got the trip next week, too. To the convention your fan club is throwing.” Tina grinned as Tanner’s face paled.
“Oh yeah.” I’d completely forgotten about it, but I’d told Tanner I’d go, and I meant it.
“That one’s a bit more involved,” Tina said, looking at me. “You’re in charge of the hotels, the transportation, getting Tanner to all the sessions and the autograph signing and all that.”
Tanner gulped. “I’m going to have to sign autographs?”
“Yes.” I couldn’t help but grin at the uncertainty on his face. Maybe he really did need a handler. And besides, he was pretty damn fun to handle. I wasn’t exactly objecting to spending two days alone with him, either.
“This is going to be fun for you both,” Tina said, looking pleased. “Though if you wanted to do some data entry on the plane…”
I laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Tina was a godsend. She spoke to the powers that be and got me all the information I needed for both trips, along with a credit card to use for the hotel rooms next week and any incidentals for the day trip with Tanner on Friday.
She also showed me the online system for logging all the information after I got back. Then, just when I thought we were done, she got a mischievous look in her eye. “There’s one more thing we should research.”
I grinned when she pulled up the website for Tanner’s fan club. I’d meant to look at it but I kept forgetting. “That’s amazing,” I said as we both stared at the cluttered webpage.
Tina squinted as she looked at the screen. “It’s like a shrine to Tanner.” She clicked through some photos. “Look, people have submitted pics from Tanner sightings.”
“Aren’t most of those Aiden?”
“I think so. Yeah, that one is him in Palm Springs. Tanner wasn’t at that event.”
Glancing over the tabs at the top of the website, I whistled in amazement. “They wrote fan fiction about him.” That I had to read. Maybe Tanner and I could do it together on one of the plane trips. He looked cute as hell when he blushed.
“And here’s a page where people—well, women—ask questions about him. I wonder who they think is going to answer?” Tina asked.
“Click there, that’s the tab for the convention next week.”
Tina did so, and I was surprised by the organization. There was a luncheon, an autograph signing, and a speech by Tanner—I sincerely hoped he already knew about that. “Who are the people speaking at that panel session?” I asked.
Tina and I scanned the session description. “I think they’re the authors of some of the more popular fan fiction.”
“Tanner’s going to hate this,” I said. And Ford and Aiden were going to tease him mercilessly.
Tina grew serious. “If he does, you have to encourage him to put his best foot forward anyway. I know this seems like a small thing, but it counts as good will in the studio’s eyes. There'll be some press there, so it’s important that you make sure Tanner shows up when he’s supposed to and plays along. And it’s also your job to play the bad guy if you have to.”
“The bad guy?” I echoed. For the moment, I thought she meant like the villain in a fight scene.
“Yeah, like if they ask too much of Tanner. Or if some women invite him back to their hotel room or something. You have to step in and say no to those things so if they get upset, it’s at you, not him. That’s part of your job as handler.”
“All right.” Though the trips sounded like fun, I was beginning to realize that there was more to my role than I thought—at least for the one next week. “Anything else I should know?”
Tina automatically shook her head, but then she held up her hand. “Oh yes, one more thing. It’s company policy that everyone who flies on the jet has their passport with them. You brought yours, right?”
“Of course.” Since I hadn’t known how long I’d be away from home, I’d brought my important documents with me.