Читать книгу Star of His Heart - Brenda Jackson - Страница 9

“If he’s as hot as you say he is, then maybe you should let him know you might be interested, Rachel.”

Rachel wiped paint from her hands as she glared at the phone. If her best friend since elementary school wasn’t there in person to see her frown, transmitting it through the speakerphone was the next best thing. “I’m not interested.”

And because she knew Charlene would belabor the point, she went on the defensive and said, “Look, Cha, I thought you of all people would understand. You know I don’t like mixing business with pleasure. Besides, I have plenty of work to do.”

Charlene laughed. “You always have plenty of work to do. If becoming involved with a man is a way to slow you down, then I’m all for it. It’s time you started having fun.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “I could say the same for you.”

“Face it. Men aren’t drawn to me like they are to you.”

Rachel pulled in a deep breath knowing there was no use telling Charlene just how wrong she was. Her words would go in one ear and out the other. For once she wished Charlene would be the one to face it and see that she was beautiful and sexy.

Charlene had to be the kindest and sweetest person Rachel knew, but she always slid to the background when it came to dating and romance. Rachel blamed Charlene’s parents, since they always thought their older daughter, Candis, was the “pretty one” and had always put her in the limelight. As far as Rachel was concerned, Charlene had a lot going for her, including a beautiful singing voice.

“I’m in no mood to argue with you, Cha. You know how mad I get when you put yourself down.”

“I’m not putting myself down. I’m just stating facts.”

“Then let me state a few of my own,” Rachel said. “I’m the one on set every day surrounded by gorgeous men. The only problem is that those men are checking out the tall, slender actresses, not me.”

When Charlene didn’t say anything, Rachel had a feeling there was more going on with her friend. “Okay, Cha, what’s wrong?”

There was another long moment before Charlene replied, “I talked to Mom today.”

Rachel slumped down into a chair. Mrs. Quinn was the mom from hell, and that was putting it kindly. She’d always managed to boost one daughter up while at the same time tearing the other one down. “And?”

“And she wanted me to know that Candis made the cut for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition next year and will be staying in Paris for a while.”

“That’s great, and I’m sure you’re happy for her.” Rachel knew she could say that because deep down she knew Charlene was. Candis and Charlene had a rather good relationship despite the competitive atmosphere created by their mother.

“Yes, of course I’m happy for her.”

“And?”

“And what?” Charlene asked.

Rachel pulled in a deep breath; her patience was wearing thin. “And what else did Mrs. Quinn say?”

“Just the usual about she still doesn’t understand how Candis could be so pretty and me so plain when we had the same parents. She ended the call by even suggesting that maybe she and Dad got the wrong baby from the hospital. She said it in a joking way but I knew she was dead serious.”

Rachel bet the woman had been dead serious as well, but she would never tell Charlene that. That was the kind of garbage she’d had to put up with all her life. “She wasn’t serious, Cha. You and your mother look too much alike for you to be anyone’s baby but hers.”

Evidently Mrs. Quinn never took the time to notice the similarity. Or maybe she had noticed and since she’d never been happy with her own looks, she was passing her insecurities on to Charlene.

Rachel thought about her own situation. She had been raised by her uncle Jacob and her aunt Lily after her parents had been killed. Rachel had been only one year old and Sofia had been ten. Her aunt and uncle were wonderful and had raised her and Sofia as their own children, since unfortunately they’d never had any. The one thing Uncle Jacob and Aunt Lily didn’t do was play her and Sofia against each other. Everyone knew that Sofia wanted to follow in their father’s footsteps and take his place with Uncle Jacob at Limelight.

Although her uncle and sister would have loved for her to join them in the family business, Rachel had never been pressured to do so. She chuckled, thinking it was enough to have Sofia as her agent.

“Hey, let’s do a movie this weekend,” she suggested, thinking her best friend needed some chilling time.

“Sounds super, but don’t you have a lot to do?”

Rachel laughed. “I always have a lot to do, but I need a break to have fun, and it sounds like you do, too.”

A short while later, Rachel made her way to the kitchen, hungry after missing lunch. On the way home she had stopped by a restaurant owned by one of the cameramen’s parents. She considered Jack Botticello her buddy, and his parents were truly a godsend. Whenever she dropped by their Italian restaurant, Botticello’s Place, for takeout, they always gave her more food than she could possibly eat in one sitting. There would definitely be enough lasagna left for tomorrow’s dinner.

As she sat down at the table to enjoy her meal, she recalled everything that had happened on the set that day, especially the scenes that included Ethan Chambers. She couldn’t help but remember the moment he had walked into a patient’s hospital room. To say he swaggered into the room would probably be more accurate. And when he began speaking in what was supposed to be a northern accent, all eyes and ears were on him. There was no doubt in her mind he was a gifted actor. It was as if the part of Dr. Tyrell Perry had been created just for him.

She couldn’t wait for the airing of the show in a few weeks to see how he would be received by the viewing audience. It would probably be no different than the way he’d been received on the set. Women were all but falling at his feet, doing just about anything to get his attention.

He had mentioned to a member of the camera crew in between scenes that he was going to get a cup of coffee. The three women who’d overheard him had all but broken their necks racing across the room to the coffee cart to get it for him. She could tell he’d actually gotten embarrassed by their antics. That surprised her. Most men would be gloating about all the attention. But then, this had been his first day on the job. There was no doubt in her mind that eventually his media-hungry playboy tendencies would come out. It was only a matter of time.

Unbidden, the memories surfaced of what had happened during their makeup session that day. Had he deliberately tried to unnerve her? Break down her defenses so she would behave the way Tina, Cindy and Nina had done today with the coffee incident? It wouldn’t surprise her to discover he was just as superficial as all the other playboys in Hollywood. And to think for a short while today she’d actually been attracted to him. But with his make-you-drool looks, the attraction couldn’t be helped. It had a way of vamping your senses the first time around.

And his family had money. He’d mentioned his roots were in Napa Valley, but it was only later that day when she’d overheard some of the camera crew talking about how wealthy he already was that she realized he was one of those Chamberses. There were two African American families whose roots and vast financial empires were in Napa Valley. The Russells and the Chamberses. Both families’ vineyards were known to produce some of wine tasters’ finest.

So, okay, she had let her guard down and let herself be affected by him. But tomorrow would be better. She had gotten used to him and would be more in control.

With that resolved, she proceeded to finish her meal.

“Do you promise, Uncle Ethan?”

Ethan couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, I promise.”

“Truly?”

“Yes, truly.”

His six-year-old niece, Kendra, had him wrapped around her finger and probably knew it, he thought. When his parents had mentioned to her that Los Angeles was close to Disneyland, she had begun asking him questions. Mainly she wanted to know if he’d seen any princesses.

Just to hear her voice was a sheer delight because Kendra hadn’t done much talking since her mother had died three years ago in a car accident. She had pretty much been withdrawn and quiet much of the time. But she would always talk to her Uncle Ethan.

“Daddy wants to talk to you, Uncle Ethan.”

“Okay, sweetheart, and always remember you’re Uncle Ethan’s cupcake.”

“I remember. Nighty-night.”

He then heard her hand the phone over to his brother, Hunter, after telling her daddy nighty-night, too and after exchanging an “I love you” and an “I love you back.” It was only then that Hunter placed the phone to his ear. “What’s going on, kid?”

Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle. There was an eight year difference in their ages, and Hunter never let him forget it. But even with that big variation, they’d always gotten along. Like all brothers, they’d had their disagreements, but they’d never lasted more than a few hours. Except for that one time a few years ago when Hunter had tried pressuring him into staying in the family business and getting all those ideas out of his head about making it big in Hollywood.

Ethan had left home anyway to pursue his dream. It was only after the fatal car accident that claimed Hunter’s wife’s life—an accident that Hunter and Kendra had survived—that Hunter had understood why Ethan had to do what he did. He’d learned that life was too precious and fleeting to take for granted. Tomorrow wasn’t promised to anyone.

“Nothing much is going on. Kendra talked a lot tonight,” he said.

“Only because it’s you. She loves her uncle Ethan. Besides, she wanted to ask you all about princesses.”

Ethan grinned. “Yeah, I noticed. What’s up with that?”

“The Princess and the Frog. She’s seen it five times already. I should blame you since you’re the one who got her the DVD as soon as it went on sale.”

“Hey, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my cupcake,” he said, meaning it.

He talked to Hunter for a few minutes longer before his brother passed the phone to their folks. In addition to the winery, Hunter and his parents ran a small four-star bed-and-breakfast on the property. It was always good to call home because he truly missed everyone, and updates were priceless.

“And you’re eating properly, Ethan?”

He cringed at his mother’s question, knowing he would have to tell her a little white lie, especially when at that very moment the timer went off to let him know his microwave dinner was ready. He had a beer to drink and his dessert would be a bag of peanut M&M’s he’d grabbed out of the vending machine when he’d left the studio today. Paige had invited him to her place for dinner but he had declined.

He removed his dinner from the microwave and said, “Yes, Mom, I’m eating properly.”

“Met any nice girls you want to bring home?”

She has to be kidding. The last few girls he dated weren’t any he would dare bring home for his parents, brother and niece to meet. But then the face of his sexy pixie flashed across his mind and he couldn’t help but think that she would work. For some reason he liked her, and the sexual vibes between them hadn’t gone unnoticed, although it was evident she’d tried ignoring them.

Besides, he didn’t have time to meet girls—nice or any other kind. He had lines to study every night, especially tonight. Frasier had been impressed with him today and had added another scene to his schedule for tomorrow.

“No, Mom, so don’t go planning a wedding for me yet.”

Later that night when he slid into bed, he couldn’t help but think just how blessed he was. Both of his parents were alive and in good health. As the oldest son, Hunter had taken on his role with ease and was the perfect businessman to manage the family’s vast wealth. And Hunter had had the insight to utilize the property surrounding the winery to build the bed-and-breakfast, which was doing extremely well. The reservation list was always filled up a year in advance.

As much as he’d loved Napa Valley, Ethan had known it wasn’t in his blood to the extent it had been in Hunter’s. After college, he returned home and tried working alongside Hunter and his parents, but he hadn’t been happy. Hunter had said it was wanderlust and that eventually he would get over it, but he never did. A year later he had made up his mind to pursue his dream.

So here he was, living in a nice place in L.A. and building the career he’d always wanted. Money was no object, thanks to a trust fund that had been set up by his grandparents as well as the financial standing of the winery, in which he was a stockholder. Of course, every once in a while some smart-ass reporter would ask him why an independently wealthy person would want to work. He was sure Anderson Cooper was asked the same question often enough, too. Ethan wasn’t privy to Anderson’s response, but his was simply, “Wealthy or poor, everyone has dreams, and there is such a thing as continued money growth.”

He reached over to turn off the lamp light, thinking that things had gone better than he’d expected on the set today. His lines had flowed easily, and for a while he had stepped into the role of Dr. Tyrell Perry. To prepare, he had watched medical movies and had volunteered his time at a hospital for ninety days. He had come away with an even greater respect for those in the medical industry.

As he stared up at the ceiling his thoughts shifted to the woman he’d met that day, Rachel Wellesley. There had been something about her that pulled her to him like a magnet. Something about her that he found totally adorable. Even among the sea of model-type women on the set, she had somehow stood out.

And when she had leaned over him to apply whatever it was she brushed on his face, he had inhaled her scent. With his eyes closed, he had breathed it all in while imagining all sorts of things. It was a soft scent, yet it had been hot enough to enflame his senses.

So he had sat there, letting her have her way with his face while he imagined all kind of things, especially the image of her naked.

More than once during the shoot, he had had to remind himself that he didn’t really know her and that it would be crazy to lose focus. But he would be the first to admit that he hadn’t counted on being bowled over by a woman who had to tilt her head all the way back just to look up at him. He smiled, remembering the many times they had looked at each other and the number of times they had tried not to do so. And nothing could erase from his mind the sight of the soft smile that had touched her lips when she’d seen his tattoo and when he’d told her why he had it. If he had been trying to impress her, he would definitely have garnered brownie points. But he wasn’t trying to impress her.

He shifted in bed, knowing he had to stay focused and not let a pretty face get him off track. All that sounded easy enough, but he had a feeling it would be the hardest thing he’d ever had to do.