Читать книгу Tempted By The Movie Star - Anna DePalo - Страница 12

Chapter Four

Matt hadn’t wanted Geena anywhere near his family, and yet here she was, and damned if she didn’t fit in much better than he could have predicted. Barefoot and wearing a tight skirt that restricted her movements, she still managed to execute the dance moves Cade and Lexi taught her.

Worse yet, she was very appealing doing it. No, not just appealing. The glasses paired with her excellent sense of rhythm created a dynamite combination of brains and sexy moves.

In the months he’d known Geena he’d had many inappropriate thoughts about her, even though mostly she’d sat behind her desk while they talked. She wasn’t behind her desk now, and every time she wiggled her hips, his johnson gave a twitch in response.

She was making inroads with his family members, too. His mom had defected immediately and he wanted to know what those two had talked about outside. Lexi and Herb had both warmed to her, as well. Cade had been a holdout for quite a while, but her willingness to learn the new dance step was slowly winning him over.

Then Rosie brought in Geena’s sandwich and everyone took a break. Matt fetched some chips and more of Finn’s beer from the fridge in the rec room. That was another thing. Earlier, Geena had put down the glass he’d brought her and was drinking from the bottle like everyone else. It was a small thing, but small things added up. She was easy to be with.

While Geena ate, the group lounged on the displaced furniture and talked about Thunder Mountain Academy. Matt hadn’t wanted Geena to know anything about that, either, but it was a logical topic because several chores were in the works during this break between sessions.

Geena seemed fascinated by every aspect of the program. Matt’s family softened even more in response to her enthusiasm. It wasn’t artificial enthusiasm, either. That was a quality he’d liked about her from the beginning. Hollywood was crawling with fakes, but Geena never pretended to be something she wasn’t.

Perfect example—she could have arrived all duded up in an effort to present herself as a cowgirl. Instead, she’d worn the type of clothes he’d always seen her in. This was his first glimpse of her bare toes, however. She’d propped her feet up on the coffee table and he couldn’t help noticing her sea-blue polish. And her delicate ankles and shapely calves.

He looked away. The situation was complicated enough already.

“Do you ride?” Lexi asked her.

“I don’t know the first thing about horses.” Geena finished off her sandwich. “I take that back. I know what a Clydesdale is because I’ve seen the commercials. My hat’s off to whoever came up with the idea of using them to market beer.”

Lexi smiled. “Yeah, everybody loves those big ol’ horses, me included. I just thought you might be a rider since you’re so interested in the academy.”

“I wouldn’t mind trying it sometime, but I’d be a total beginner.”

“Want to try it while you’re here?”

Matt bit back a groan. That was so Lexi, eager to introduce the uninitiated to the wonders of horseback riding. That was why she was such a good teacher, but in this case he wished she’d zip her lip.

“I’d love to, but all I brought to wear was stuff like this.” Geena gestured to her skirt and jacket.

“I can find you some clothes and boots,” Rosie said. “I’ve stocked up on spare items for the students.”

“I don’t know. I’m pretty tall.”

“So are some of the girls we get here. I try to be prepared when pants get ripped and kids come with expensive boots that shouldn’t be worn to muck out stalls.”

“So they have to be financially well-off to attend?”

“At first they did.” Herb hadn’t spoken much but this was a favorite topic of his. “We’re working on changing that. We already have one scholarship opportunity thanks to Ben Radcliffe, a local saddle maker who conducts a class every semester. We’re looking for more sponsors. There are plenty of kids who would benefit but don’t have the tuition.”

“I’ll offer a scholarship,” Matt said. “I can probably handle two or three if the money stays good. I can’t believe I haven’t thought of it before.”

“That’s brilliant.” Geena smiled. “Too bad we can’t get it organized this week because a picture of you with a recipient would be—”

“Not happening.” Matt gazed at her and wished they didn’t always have to be on opposite sides of this particular fence. But she didn’t seem to get his need for privacy. Maybe he’d have to fire her, after all. “The scholarships would be anonymous.”

She frowned. “You’d be throwing away a great PR opportunity if you do that.”

“And keeping my personal life separate from my public one. That’s always been important to me, but after what happened two days ago, it’s critical.”

Her shoulders slumped. “That makes it tough to do my job.”

“I know. But that’s the way it has to be.”

“It’s okay. I’ll think of something else. I—” She stifled a yawn. “Sorry. It’s been a long day. I guess the beer and food made me sleepy.”

“I’m sure you’re exhausted.” Rosie switched into mothering mode. “You should get some rest. I know what I said about getting up at dawn, but you don’t have to.”

“Oh, no, I want to.” She glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. “When is dawn, anyway?”

That got a laugh. Even Matt couldn’t help grinning. She was such a city girl. But she was also game for anything, which meant she’d get along fine in this new setting. Resilience was a valued commodity around here.

“It’s around five fifteen,” his dad said.

Her eyes widened. “That early?”

“But you don’t have to get up then,” Herb continued. “We do because the horses need to be fed and turned out to pasture. Rosie likes to organize the food for breakfast, but we don’t eat until after six, so you’ll have some extra time to ease into the day.”

“Well, um, I never eat breakfast.”

“You’ll want to eat this one.” Lexi glanced over at Cade. “Nobody fixes a better breakfast than Rosie. Am I right?”

“Except for you, sweetheart.”

“Nice try, Gallagher.” Lexi gave him an affectionate nudge. “Flattery will get you nowhere. You’re still responsible for fifty percent of the cooking at our house.”

Cade sighed. “But I’m still no good at it.”

“You’re improving. That’s what’s important.”

“You’re both invited down here in the morning, though,” Rosie said. “It’s not every day we see Matt at the breakfast table. But Geena, you’re excused. I’ll have the coffeepot on until at least eight, so if that’s all you need, come in and help yourself. We don’t force food on anyone.”

“I’ll be there at six and I’d love to have your breakfast. I’ll also get up at dawn to watch Herb feed the horses. I’ve never seen anybody do that except in the movies.”

Herb smiled. “It’s not all that exciting.”

“Maybe not to you, because you do it every day. Me, I get up, get dressed, hit the drive-through at Starbucks and head to my office. Feeding horses at five thirty in the morning is exotic.”

“Then you’re welcome to show up at dawn.”

“Great. Thank you.” She turned to Matt. “Listen, before I toddle off to bed, can I have a word with you?”

His mom stood. “We can leave you two alone so you can talk.”

“Heavens, no! You’re all settled in. Matt and I will step out onto the porch.” She glanced at him. “Okay with you?”

“Sure.” He shouldn’t have had that last beer. He was feeling way too mellow and he had to stay sharp. But refusing to have a chat on the porch would seem rude and his mom would call him on it.

Geena walked out there barefoot and that charmed him. He didn’t want to be charmed any more than he wanted to have sexy thoughts about her. He needed to be tough and uncompromising as he sought to protect his family from...he was no longer clear what that was. He hadn’t wanted any part of his life in LA to intrude on his life here, and yet Geena had inserted herself into his inner circle and the sky hadn’t fallen.

After he closed the door, she turned and leaned her slim hips against the porch railing. She looked tired, which was understandable. The trip from California was taxing, especially for someone who wasn’t used to long layovers, little planes and country roads. She’d probably fare better traveling to New York or London than making her way to Sheridan, Wyoming, home to folks who climbed out of bed at the crack of dawn.

He found a spot to lean against the front wall of the house so they’d both be standing. He suspected she hadn’t taken one of the Adirondack chairs because she doubted she’d have the energy to pull herself back out of it. A cricket chirped nearby and a breeze stirred the tall pines not far from the house.

Geena sighed. “This is nice.”

“Yeah.” A little too nice. Even though his family was just beyond that door, he knew they wouldn’t come out. They understood this was private

That left him with a feeling of intimacy he’d never experienced with Geena. They were truly alone for the first time since she’d arrived. He began thinking about how she’d feel in his arms and how her lips would taste. Did she have a lover? After watching her dance, he could easily imagine that she did.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Apparently she was in no rush to begin the conversation, but unless they started talking he would continue with his inappropriate thoughts. If he walked over and kissed her, would she resist? Or would she part her lips and invite him in?

Finally he had to say something, anything, to keep him from acting on his fantasy. “You picked up that dance step pretty fast.”

She opened her eyes and smiled. “Thanks. I should be able to, after fifteen years of ballet and tap.”

He liked having another key to her personality. “When was this?”

“My mother enrolled me when I was three. Voice and acting lessons, too, so I’d be a triple threat. She named me after Geena Davis. I was supposed to be a star.”

“I didn’t know that.” Not surprising. What he didn’t know about Geena was seriously out of proportion to what he did know. “What happened?”

“A common story.” She gave a little shrug. “I can dance and sing okay but I have no talent for acting. If I’d been movie-star beautiful that might have made up for my bad acting, but I’m not.”

“I think you look nice.” That just popped out. Hadn’t meant to say it at all.

“Thanks.” She smiled and took off her glasses to polish them. “But I would have had to be a real knockout to succeed. Luckily, along the way I discovered that supporting the careers of other actors makes me happy. I’ve hung out with them all my life, so opening a PR business was a no-brainer. Mom wasn’t too pleased with my decision, but she eventually came to grips with it.”

“That’s good.” He sometimes wondered if the woman who’d given birth to him would come out of the woodwork and claim his success was all because of her. “I’ll have to admit that I’ve never seen one of your mother’s movies.”

“Sad to say, they were forgettable. She blames the scripts and the directing. Personally, I think she’s better at creating drama offscreen than on. I was afraid she’d end up with her own reality TV show, but fortunately we were all spared that. She finally gave up trying to draw attention to herself and moved to Italy.”

He couldn’t get a bead on whether she loved her mother or tolerated her. “Is that a good thing?”

“To be honest, it’s a relief. She’s exhausting to be around.”

“Almost as bad as a day spent trying to get to Sheridan, huh?”

“In retrospect, it wasn’t so terrible.” She put her glasses back on and pushed away from the railing. “Anyway, I didn’t want to go to bed without talking to you about something.”

Ah, yes, bedtime. Between the dancing, the beer and finally being alone with her, he was losing the battle with his sexual attraction. She’d be in the bedroom next to his and that would make falling asleep a challenge. When he’d arrived, his mom had asked him if he wanted to bunk in one of the cabins for nostalgia’s sake. Knowing he’d be interfering with the cleaning and preparations for the summer school kids, he’d decided not to.

Now he wished he’d opted for the cabin. His mom had obviously accepted Geena, and for all he knew Rosie had put them adjacent to each other on purpose. It would be like her to think it served him right for being so unwelcoming. He wasn’t feeling unwelcoming anymore. Life had been so much simpler when he’d thought of Geena as the enemy instead of a sexy woman who might or might not be seeing someone.

She took another deep breath, which strained the buttons on her jacket.

He’d been fascinated by that jacket all evening. It revealed a slight bit of cleavage, and near as he could tell, she wore nothing but a bra or a camisole underneath. She didn’t really need a blouse because the jacket provided decent coverage, but he’d thought about what he’d see if he unfastened the buttons.

He needed to get off this train of thought and buy a ticket on another one. Her outfit was no more seductive than any she’d worn in meetings they’d had regarding his career. But those meetings had taken place in her office and not during a cool evening when a silky breeze wafted over them bringing the scent of wild grasses and pine trees.

“You’re upset because I invaded your territory.” Her voice was soft and weary.

“That did upset me.” He wasn’t angry now but chose not to say that.

“If I’d only hoped to convince you to go along with my original plan, then coming here would have been obnoxious, but that’s not why I booked those flights.”

“Then why did you?”

“First of all, I realized that Briana isn’t going to let go of this. If you haven’t gone online then you might not know, but she’s come up with a cutesy slogan and she’s plastering it everywhere.”

Okay, this topic might effectively cool his jets. “I’m afraid to ask what it is.”

“Run, Forrest, run.”

“Oh, for God’s sake.” Just as Geena had predicted, he’d been branded a coward. “That’s sickening.”

“I agree, but the plain truth is that you’re not going to be able to ride this one out. She’s portraying your silence and your absence as an admission of guilt and she’s spinning stories about how you lusted after her during the filming of Preston’s Revenge.”

His stomach pitched. “That’s a damned lie.” So much for the seductive ambiance of the porch.

“I know it is.”

“How?” Their discussion in her office came back to him along with the anger he’d felt at being wrongly accused. “You weren’t there.”

“No, but I—”

“Geena, you’ve always been a straight shooter before. Please don’t twist yourself into a pretzel because you like my family and you want to smooth things over.”

Her chin lifted and she met his gaze. “That is not the case and I resent your implication.”

“And I’m suspicious of your sudden turnaround! How can you be so sure I’m telling the truth?” He took a step closer. “Maybe I spent every available moment on location trying to seduce her while she valiantly fought me off.”

A flame burned in her eyes, which were definitely green, like he’d thought. “I’m trying to apologize, damn it. You didn’t try to seduce her and you didn’t kiss her outside that café. A gentleman wouldn’t do those things. I allowed the photo to convince me of something I should have known wasn’t true. But I finally figured it out.”

This was turning into an effing roller coaster. “So you’ve decided I’m a gentleman?”

“I didn’t just decide. You’ve demonstrated it from the beginning with your yes, ma’am behavior and your respect for everyone in my office, including the cleaning lady. She made a point of telling me that you showed up late one afternoon after we’d all left and you offered to carry out the trash.”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Most people, Matt. So obviously you didn’t initiate that embarrassing scene in Burbank and you didn’t hit on her during the filming. It doesn’t fit your profile. It’s not you.”

“God, that makes me happy. You can’t imagine how happy.” Vindicated. Damn, that felt good.

“Because I hadn’t put that together, I insulted your sense of honor. No wonder you stomped out of my office. I’m surprised you didn’t end our business relationship.”

He smiled. “That was my original goal when I thought I’d be escorting you back to town. First I’d get you a hotel room and then I’d fire you.”

“Good thing Rosie asked me to stay, huh?”

“I wasn’t in favor of that, either.”

“Yeah, she robbed you of your chance to fire me.” She gazed at him with an expression that bordered on tenderness. “You can still do that if you want, although Rosie seems to think you need me.”

The warmth in her eyes brought him right back to the thoughts he’d been having until the discussion turned ugly. Drawn by that warmth, he drifted closer, within touching distance. “I probably do need you. I have no idea how to deal with this fiasco. Anyway, I can’t fire you with Rosie around. She’d give me hell for it. The others wouldn’t like it, either. You made some friends in there.”

“Nice to know.” For some reason her glasses misted up. She took them off. “How about out here?”

He was a goner. “I’ve always liked you. That’s why it bothered me so much that you believed I’d caused that scene.”

“I’ve always liked you, too.” She moistened her lips. “That’s all the more reason I should have stopped to think before I jumped to conclusions.”

The gesture caught his attention and he noticed her lipstick had worn off. He’d never seen her without it. Because of that, the natural pink of her bare lips was more arousing than if she’d stripped naked. The sweep of her tongue had left her mouth with a satin sheen that begged to be savored.

“Rosie thinks there’s more to it.”

“More to what?” While he’d been imagining how she’d taste, he’d lost track of the conversation. Lifting his gaze, he saw awareness in her expression and his heart pounded in anticipation. She knew what he wanted. Judging from the way she was looking at him, she wasn’t opposed.

“The kissing incident.” Her breathing quickened. “She doesn’t think we have all the facts and you won’t make those public because you’re too much of a gentleman. I’m inclined to agree. There are lines you won’t cross.”

He searched her expression. “Apparently you admire that.”

“I do.”

“Then maybe we should head inside.”

She swallowed. “We should?”

“Uh-huh. I’m guessing you already have someone in your life.”

“Actually, I don’t.” Her voice was laced with tension. “Why do you want that information?”

“Because I’m two seconds away from kissing you and I’d hate to ruin my sterling reputation.”

Color bloomed in her cheeks. “I promise your reputation’s safe with me.”