Читать книгу Her Determined Husband - Kathryn Ross - Страница 7

‘YOU know I’ve always loved you.’

Kirsten’s voice sounded stiff and unnatural even to her own ears. She glanced down at the script on the kitchen table, and read the line again, but it didn’t sound any better; in fact, it sounded worse.

‘Are you still working on that one line?’ Her flatmate Chloe came in and grinned at her with genuine amusement.

‘This is no laughing matter, Chloe.’ Kirsten glanced at the kitchen clock. ‘I’ve got to leave for the studio in five minutes and I’m still no closer to getting a handle on this part.’

‘You’ll be OK once you get on set. It’s just first-day nerves.’

‘Do you think?’ Kirsten wanted to believe that, but honestly she had never felt as nervous as this before.

‘I know so,’ Chloe smiled. ‘But I think you’d better have a look at this before you leave.’ She slipped a glossy magazine down on top of Kirsten’s script.

‘Are you still buying these gossip rags…?’ Kirsten’s voice trailed off as she looked down and saw a picture of herself and Cal leaving Charlie’s restaurant after their lunch together last week.

The headline read, Is Hollywood heartthrob Cal McCormick getting back together again with his ex-wife?

Kirsten tore her eyes away from the article without reading it. ‘Who the hell took that photograph?’ she asked. ‘I didn’t see any reporters outside that restaurant.’

‘Well, you know what they’re like, they were probably hiding up a tree.’ Chloe grinned. ‘Do you want me to read it to you while you get ready?’

‘No, I do not.’ Kirsten pushed it away. ‘I’m ready to go anyway. Hell, I hope my mother hasn’t read that!’

‘Kirsten, half of Hollywood has probably read it. That’s why I thought I’d better show it to you now before you leave. In case anybody says anything.’

‘Thanks, I think.’ Kirsten snatched up her script and her car keys. ‘On that happy note, I had better go,’ she said, sliding dark sunglasses down over her face.

It was only a fifteen-minute drive to the studios. Kirsten flashed her pass to the man on the gate and drove onto the lot with a feeling of doom firmly settled in her stomach. Noticing that the car in the reserved space next to hers had Cal’s name on it didn’t help. He’d probably been here since six this morning, and knew his lines backwards and inside out.

After the fierce heat of the Californian sun it was dark and cool inside the studios. Kirsten made her way to her dressing room and found that the girls from Wardrobe and Hairdressing were already in there.

‘Morning, everyone.’ She tried to smile cheerfully, as if she hadn’t a care in the world, then she noticed the blue negligee hanging alone on the rails. ‘What’s that?’ she asked suspiciously.

‘That’s your costume.’

‘I thought we were doing an outdoor scene today?’

‘Change of plan.’ Mel, the hairdresser, smiled. ‘They’re shooting a bedroom scene instead.’

Kirsten tried to keep her smile firmly in place but she could feel it slipping. This was all she needed on her first morning.

Over an hour later, when Kirsten was left alone in her dressing room, she stared at her reflection in the mirror and tried to persuade herself that a bedroom scene wasn’t such a big deal.

Luckily The Love Child was a light-hearted romantic comedy and the bedroom scenes weren’t too steamy. There was no full nudity, just a lot of provocative kissing and canoodling between her and Cal, who played the part of Jonathan, her partner.

‘But you’re just acting a part,’ Kirsten told her reflection sternly. ‘You’re Helen, not Kirsten, you don’t even look like Kirsten any more.’

It was true that after her session in Hair and Make-up she did look different. Her hair was loose and wilder than usual; it tumbled in a riot of glossy waves over her shoulders. She was wearing a lot of make-up that had been skilfully applied to give her a natural, fresh-faced look, covering the fact that she hadn’t slept well last night. And the sexily provocative full-length blue negligee was something that Kirsten would never have chosen to wear in a million years; it was far too revealing.

‘You can do this,’ she told herself again. The words rang hollowly inside her.

What on earth was the matter with her? she wondered. She had done a bedroom scene in a TV drama last year and hadn’t thought twice about it. But then she had been acting alongside Jason Giles and Jason was a good friend. He’d made her laugh on set and it had all been very relaxed.

She thought about Jason fondly for a moment. They’d first met at a party in Hollywood when she and Cal had still been together. Then by coincidence they had been working on the same show on Broadway in New York and the same TV drama last year. His friendship had helped her through some difficult times in her life. She still saw him regularly; in fact, they were going to a première together at the weekend.

What she needed to do was think about this bedroom scene in the same relaxed way as the one with Jason last year. Why was she finding it so difficult to get into her character?

A picture of Cal’s teasing grin and blue eyes rose in her mind and she felt suddenly sick with nerves again.

Maybe some meditation would help, she thought desperately. Chloe swore by meditation, and she had shown Kirsten how to use it as a method of unwinding.

She glanced at her watch. She had ten minutes before she needed to be on set. Quickly she sat down on the floor and crossed her legs in the lotus position, then, putting her thumb and forefinger together, she closed her eyes and tried to focus her mind and slow her breathing.

That was how Cal found her ten minutes later, sitting in the cramped, confined space between the dressing table and the clothes rails, humming softly under her breath. It was obvious she hadn’t heard him enter the room because she didn’t move or open her eyes.

He took the opportunity to watch her unobserved for a few seconds. She looked very young, probably about twenty-two or-three, yet he knew for a fact that she was thirty-one. She also looked incredibly sexy in the blue negligee. It dipped very provocatively over the full, creamy curve of her breasts and showed the slender lines of her body to perfection.

For a moment he found himself remembering when Kirsten had been his wife. Remembering her warmth and her passion and the hot nights when they had lain entwined in each other’s arms, desire and need raging out of control.

He moved further into the room and her eyes flicked wide open in shocked surprise. ‘What are you doing in here?’ she demanded angrily. ‘How dare you come in without knocking?’

‘I did knock and I thought I heard you say come in.’

‘Well, I didn’t!’ Her eyes moved over him. He was wearing a dark suit that sat well on his broad shoulders and he looked disturbingly handsome, too handsome for any woman’s peace of mind.

But, as her grandma in Yorkshire would have said, handsome is as handsome does…or something along those lines. She tried to keep that fact in mind as she met his amused gaze.

‘If you don’t mind my asking, what the heck are you doing down there on the floor?’ he drawled laconically.

‘I was meditating. Not that it’s any of your business.’

‘I see.’ His lips twitched in amusement. ‘Is it some new acting technique?’

‘It’s to help me relax,’ she said tightly. ‘What do you want, Cal? Or have you just come in here to insult me?’ She ignored his helping hand as she got to her feet.

‘I’d never insult you, Kirsten,’ he said softly, his eye drifting down over the curves of her figure.

Conscious suddenly of her scanty attire, she reached for the silk dressing gown that matched her nightdress and threw it on.

‘I just wanted to ask if you’re OK with this sex scene we’re going to do this morning?’

‘Sex scene?’ She gathered the robe around herself like a shield, and at the same time she felt her throat tighten in alarm. ‘It isn’t a sex scene, Cal.’

‘We are about to get into bed together and your body is going to be pressed tightly against mine as we kiss…amongst other things.’ His voice lowered huskily, his eyes sparked with humour. ‘So what would you like me to call it?’

She tried not to blush or look in the slightest bit uncomfortable. ‘What do you mean…amongst what other things?’ she asked and despite her best efforts she knew she sounded rattled. ‘It’s a bedroom scene, Cal; sorry to disappoint you, but there’s no sex in the film at all.’

‘Isn’t there?’ He frowned. ‘That’s disappointing. And it’s not what our esteemed director Theodore Tradaski was telling me a few moments ago.’

Kirsten tried to remain calm. He was just winding her up. ‘It’s one kiss, Cal, and I shall have to grit my teeth in order to bear even that much.’

To Kirsten’s consternation, Cal didn’t seem to be put out by her words. ‘Good! I like a challenge to my acting skills. We’ll see how long you manage to resist my charms, then, shall we?’

‘What does that mean?’ Her eyes narrowed warily.

‘I think you know what it means,’ he murmured. ‘You pretend to grit your teeth and hate me and I’ll do what I was always good at and turn you on.’

‘You are insufferable sometimes, do you know that?’ she told him heatedly, trying not to look as mortified by his crass remarks as she felt.

‘Only sometimes?’ he asked in mock disappointment.

Someone knocked on the door behind him. ‘A bouquet of flowers has arrived for you, Kirsten,’ a voice called cheerfully.

Cal turned and stepped out of the door. One of the stage-hands was outside; she was practically hidden behind an enormous bouquet of red roses.

‘Oh, Mr McCormick, I didn’t realise you were in here,’ she gushed, her voice filled with a kind of reverence that made Kirsten feel nauseous.

‘It’s OK, I was just leaving.’ Cal’s eyes flicked over the bouquet. ‘Who are the flowers from?’ he asked casually.

Much to Kirsten’s consternation, the woman opened the card that accompanied the flowers. ‘They’re from Jason Giles.’ she told him eagerly. ‘The message reads…’

Kirsten started to move to take the flowers away from her but she wasn’t quick enough.

‘…“Break a leg, Kirsty, I know you’ll be terrific. I look forward to our date on Saturday at the première.”’ The woman smiled up at Cal. ‘Oh, and he’s put some little kisses on the bottom.’

‘Excuse me!’ Kirsten whipped the bouquet from the stunned woman’s hands. ‘That’s a private card!’

‘Oh, sorry!’ The woman pulled a face and then caught Cal’s eye and blushed and grinned at him in a conspiring way.

As the woman bustled back down the corridor—probably to tell the whole of the set what was written on her flowers, Kirsten thought in annoyance—Cal lingered in the doorway. ‘Little kisses on the bottom?’ he drawled mockingly.

‘That card was none of your business—’

‘I can’t believe that Jason Giles is still hanging hopefully around you,’ Cal continued with a frown. ‘Why don’t you put him out of his misery and get rid of him?’

‘Because I don’t want to get rid of him,’ she told him tersely. ‘Jason and I are very close.’

‘Really?’ He gave her a very disdainful look.

‘Yes…really.’ She supposed she was exaggerating. Jason was just a friend. But she did value his friendship; it had helped keep her together after her divorce.

‘So how long has he been giving you these little kisses on the bottom, then?’ Cal drawled wryly. ‘Did it start on Broadway or as soon as I vacated the marital home?’

‘Don’t judge everyone by your own low standards,’ she told him heatedly.

‘Oh, come on, Kirsten! From what I’ve heard, the sheets had barely cooled on our bed before he was around knocking on your door.’

‘Jason came around to offer his moral support. He’s a wonderful person and I resent the distasteful implications in that statement.’

‘You’re certainly very protective of him. You must have it bad.’

‘Go to hell, Cal.’ She slammed the door shut.

It was only when the door closed that it suddenly dawned on Kirsten that Cal was fully dressed in his suit. They were supposed to be shooting a bedroom scene in a few minutes, so how come she was the only one dressed for bed? She glanced again at her watch. He should at least be wandering around in a dressing gown by now.

Maybe he was such a big star now that he didn’t care if he was late on set? Maybe he intended to keep them all waiting? She frowned; that didn’t sound like the Cal she remembered. Back in the days when they had been married, he had always had a thing about being punctual, and used to hate it if she was even a couple of minutes late for anything. Of course, he hadn’t been such a phenomenally big star back then—moderately successful…but nothing more. Maybe all this mega-stardom had gone to his head.

Well, if he thought she was going to stand around kicking her heels in this scanty costume he had another thought coming. Kirsten took her time and found a vase and water for her flowers, then sat for a while in the warmth of her dressing room.

She found herself thinking about Cal’s taunting gibe. ‘You pretend to grit your teeth and hate me and I’ll do what I was always good at and turn you on.’

In his dreams, she told herself staunchly. Then frowned. Well, maybe once upon a time he had very definitely been able to turn her on, she had to admit that if only to herself, but those days were long gone. When his lips touched hers now she would hate it.

She looked at her watch again and apprehensively she got to her feet. She supposed she had better not push her luck too far. She didn’t want the director tearing her off a strip on the first day of filming. Theodore was supposed to be a brilliant director, but he had an unfortunate reputation for losing his temper.

When she appeared on set she half expected them all to be waiting for her, but there was some kind of altercation going on at the other side of the studio between the electricians and Theodore and no one seemed to notice her amidst the chaos.

There were teams of people still moving furniture around on the set. Picking her way carefully across electric cables, she stood in the shadows for a moment and watched. It looked as if they weren’t going to start filming yet for at least another hour.

A spotlight was thrown on, and a huge double bed with a gothic wrought-iron headboard was illuminated in its bright glare.

‘The scene of the battlefield.’ Cal’s sardonic tone resounded suddenly in her ear, making her gaze swing away from the double bed in shock.

‘Crikey Cal! Don’t creep up on me like that,’ she said crossly. ‘You nearly made me jump out of my skin.’

‘Your nerves must be bad. What were you thinking about?’ He smiled. ‘Don’t tell me you were daydreaming about our romantic scene together? It will be just like the old days.’

‘A horror story, you mean?’ she muttered. ‘Why aren’t you ready to get into bed with me?’ she asked with a frown as she noticed he was still dressed in his suit.

‘Kirsty, I’m always ready to get into bed with you,’ he drawled sardonically.

‘You know what I mean, Cal.’ She shot him a warning look. ‘I’m here in costume, ready to shoot the scene; you look as if you’re still wearing your own clothes.’

‘No…the suit is courtesy of Wardrobe. This is not something I’d have chosen to wear.’

It looked suspiciously like one of his suits to her. ‘But shouldn’t you be…in a state of undress?’

Cal’s lips twitched. ‘I don’t think Theo is going to shoot the scene as it was first written.’

‘What’s he going to do?’ Kirsten asked in consternation as she remembered his gibes earlier about a sex scene.

Cal shrugged. ‘I don’t know. He’s the director.’

The possibility of a more intimate love scene being shot made her shiver violently. ‘But I’ve learnt all my lines; he can’t change things at this late time—’

‘Theodore is running the show, Kirsten, he can do pretty much anything he likes.’ Cal reached and straightened her dressing gown over her shoulder, bringing her attention to the fact that it had slipped.

The gentle touch of his hand against her bare arm made her shiver again. Suddenly she was very aware of how close he was standing to her, the gleam in his eye as he looked down at her. She started to feel breathless as she looked up at him. Nervously she moistened her lips as she felt his gaze linger on their softness. Her heart was pumping heavily against her chest.

She found herself remembering the way he used to kiss her, the heat of his lips and his hands against her body. She couldn’t get into bed and pretend to make love with him, she just couldn’t!

‘You’re not really nervous, are you, Kirsten?’ he asked her suddenly, his voice gentle.

‘No, of course not. Why would I be nervous?’ Her voice was higher than it should have been. Hell, this was making a mockery of all her stern words about how strong she was, how his kiss wouldn’t have any effect on her. He only had to brush his hand against her arm and she was in panic mode.

‘Shall we run through our lines while we’re waiting?’ he asked her suddenly.

‘No!’ Kirsten forced herself to move back from him. ‘What’s the point if Theo is changing the script already?’

‘Maybe you’re right.’ Cal glanced past her. ‘Here’s the man himself, so we’re about to find out.’

Theodore was a tall man of about fifty. He had wiry dark hair and eyes that were so dark and intense they could drill holes in you with just a glance. Kirsten didn’t really know him; she had only met him a couple of times. But she had heard about his fearsome reputation for flying into rages.

He looked as if he was living up to his reputation today; his face was red with anger and he was muttering something under his breath.

‘Theo, what’s the problem?’ Cal asked him cheerfully as he walked up to them.

Theo looked almost murderous for a moment, and then muttered in his broken English accent, ‘The men…the technicians have made an error. The lighting is not right.’

‘So how long before we start filming this scene?’ Kirsten asked, hoping she’d got time for a coffee.

‘We’ll run through it now.’ Theo waved them towards the set. ‘You sit on the bed, Kirsten; we’ll go over the new lines.’

As she did as she was told Kirsten tried to ignore the way her heart was thudding unevenly against her chest.

Someone shoved a piece of paper into her hand and she tried to concentrate on the new lines that had been typed out for her.

You know I’ve always loved you, but this is impossible.

It was ironic that the line she had been struggling with was the first line they wanted her to deliver. She glared at it, willing herself to be calm, to get into character.

‘OK—from the top.’ Theo nodded over at Cal.

Kirsten watched him come into the room, walk over to the dressing table and deliver his lines perfectly. He was always such a damn perfectionist, she thought, so smugly self-assured. But she had to admit he was a skilful actor; he looked very much at home and at ease…and he also looked very good in that suit, she thought hazily; he was a very handsome man.

She suddenly realised that there was silence and everyone was waiting for her to speak.

‘Sorry!’ She glanced down at her sheet of paper, pulled herself very sharply together and delivered her lines.

‘You know I’ve always loved you, but this is impossible.’

‘Nothing is impossible, honey, if we just pull together.’ Cal came and sat down next to her on the bed.

His thigh was touching against hers; she could feel the heat of him burning through the delicate material of her nightdress. Suddenly she was reminded very forcibly of a night when Cal had come home and sat next to her like this and said words not dissimilar. Her mind blurred on the words she had to say next; her throat seemed to close over.

She heard Cal prompting her softly under his breath. ‘I know we’ll work this out…’

‘I know we’ll work this out,’ she repeated.

Then he leaned closer, his lips coming within centimetres of hers. Her heart was beating so fiercely she felt sure he’d be able to hear it. She looked upwards into the vivid blue of his eyes and felt as if she was drowning. Abruptly she pulled away before he could touch her.

‘How was that?’ She looked wildly around for Theo. He was standing shaking his head, looking very annoyed. For an awful moment she thought he was about to tear into her, but to her relief she found he was looking beyond her at one of the technicians.

‘Yes…all right.’ He waved a hand dismissively. ‘Go and get a coffee or something while I sort these lights out.’

Kirsten felt as if she’d had a reprieve from a death sentence.

‘You OK?’ Cal asked her as they walked together off the set.

‘Of course I’m OK; why wouldn’t I be?’ she said defensively.

‘I don’t know…you just seemed on edge. You look very pale as well.’ His eyes moved over her face with a kind of tender concern that tugged at her heartstrings.

‘Well, I’m fine.’ They stopped next to the coffee machine and she watched as he put a paper cup under the water.

‘How’s your dad?’ he asked her suddenly.

‘He’s had the second lot of tests, we’re just waiting for the results.’ She took the hot coffee from him, noting that he’d remembered she drank it black with no sugar.

‘If there’s anything I can do, you’ll let me know?’

‘There’s nothing any of us can do except wait.’ Her voice held a faint tremor. How was it he could upset her more when he was being kind than when he was being infuriating? she wondered.

She looked down at her coffee and remembered a time when he had been wonderful to her…when they’d been happy. She frowned suddenly. She couldn’t start thinking like that—it was a very slippery slope.

‘Hell, this is awful coffee, almost as bad as the stuff you used to make,’ Cal muttered, pulling a face.

‘There’s nothing wrong with the coffee I make,’ she replied indignantly.

Cal smiled. ‘You always made lousy coffee,’ he said softly. ‘Don’t you remember your breakfast specialty…burnt coffee?’

She tried very hard not to smile at that memory. He was talking about the time during their first few days of marriage when she had put a coffee pot on the stove to keep warm and then got distracted…by him, as she recalled. She had to admit the coffee had tasted awful, but she had been too much in love at the time to care. Her eyes narrowed on him. ‘No, I don’t recall that.’

Behind them on set, Theo was doing a lot of shouting and arm waving. Kirsten turned to watch him, glad of the distraction.

‘Where is Theo originally from?’ she asked Cal as he also turned to watch what was going on.

‘I don’t know. I think he’s part-Russian, part-Greek, apparently he speaks both languages fluently.’

‘He’s a bit fearsome, isn’t he?’ Kirsten reflected. ‘But then, I’ve heard he’s a genius and I suppose a lot of brilliant people are a bit eccentric.’

Cal smiled, but he didn’t have time to answer because Theo had left the set and was marching towards them. ‘We’ll have to shoot another scene,’ he said angrily. ‘Nothing is right on there…nothing. And time is money.’

He stopped next to them, raking a hand through his hair with an air of absolute distraction. ‘Come into my office, will you?’ he ordered. ‘There are a few things we need to talk about.’ Then he marched on ahead of them towards a door at the end of the corridor.

Kirsten caught Cal’s eye. ‘What do you think he wants to talk to us about?’ she whispered.

Cal gave a quizzical shrug and then grinned at her. Despite herself, she grinned back at him, then pulled herself up. What was she doing? Cal was not her friend and he was definitely not a co-conspirator. Turning away, she followed Theo down the hall.

Theo’s office was tiny, almost like a broom cupboard. There was just room for his desk, two chairs and a filing cabinet. Cal stood just inside the door while Kirsten took the vacant chair opposite the director.

‘OK…I just want to run through the details of filming next week.’ Theo was rifling through the untidy piles of paper on his desk as he spoke. ‘You know we are transferring to San Francisco; the locations manager has found a house that we will use for filming.’

Kirsten settled back into her chair, feeling a little more relaxed now that it was apparent Theo wasn’t going to talk about adding sex scenes to the film. She knew all about the move to San Francisco; she’d been told when she accepted the part.

‘Ah…here we are.’ Theo found a piece of paper and pushed it towards her. ‘That’s just a rough schedule of the scenes we will be working on day by day.’

Kirsten glanced down at the paper, wondering how accurate it would be when the scene they were supposed to be working on today had been changed twice already.

‘The studio will be providing accommodation for you in San Francisco, so you don’t need to worry about that. My assistant will give you the details at the end of the week when she issues you with your flight tickets.’

There was silence and, thinking the meeting was now at a close, Kirsten started to get up.

‘One last thing.’ Kirsten sat back down as Theo started to rifle through the papers again. ‘The PR people have been in contact with me this morning. They brought this to my attention.’

To Kirsten’s horror, Theo brought out a magazine from the depths of the chaos…the same magazine that Chloe had been at pains to show her this morning.

Theo slid it across the table; it was open at the picture of her and Cal leaving Charlie’s restaurant.

‘Let me tell you right now that there is absolutely no truth in that article whatsoever.’ Kirsten sat forward on her chair and looked over at Cal. ‘It’s complete rubbish…isn’t it, Cal?’

‘What is it?’ Cal reached over her and picked up the magazine. ‘Nice picture of you, Kirsten,’ he murmured lazily. ‘You’re very photogenic, you know.’

‘Never mind that. Will you please tell Theo that the article is rubbish? We were just having lunch—’

‘I can’t think why Theo would be interested.’ Cal put the magazine down.

‘I’m not,’ Theo replied. ‘It’s the PR people that want me to draw it to your attention. They like this kind of thing…it will help sell the film. Sue Williams says she wants to come down to talk about it with you. Set up some interviews. I think she wants to do that in San Francisco—’

‘Sue Williams?’ Kirsten shook her head. ‘Who—?’

‘She’s in charge of the PR department. Anyway…’ Theo ruffled through the papers on his desk again ‘…they’ve asked me to tell you to play up this angle…this question…that there might be a rekindling of your romance. The publicity will be good; our film will keep getting a plug. Everyone will be happy.’

‘Well, I’m not happy,’ Kirsten said quickly. ‘In fact, I’m furious. There is no truth in that story. Cal and I are not getting back together—’

‘It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not,’ Theo said patiently. ‘It’s just a publicity stunt. If you’ve got any complaints, take it up with Sue…she should be dealing with this, not me. In the meantime they want you and Cal to attend a première together.’ He reached under the papers and drew out an envelope. ‘Here we are. It’s on Saturday night. The studio have asked that you pick Kirsten up at around seven-thirty, Cal, and they want you to attend the party after the film and then take Kirsten home about midnight—’

‘And do we have to go to bed together as well?’ Kirsten asked scathingly. ‘Cocoa at twelve-fifteen and satin pyjamas off by twelve-thirty?’

Theo’s eyebrows rose. ‘They haven’t made any suggestions as to what happens after midnight—’

‘I think that’s when Kirsten turns into a pumpkin,’ Cal put in drolly.

Kirsten shot him a look of annoyance. ‘Well, at least I’m not going to turn into a rat like you—’

‘Now, now!’ Theo interjected warningly. ‘We must have a good working relationship here.’

Kirsten shook her head angrily. ‘Work is here at the studio; this is encroaching on my private life. Besides, I’m already going to that première, but I’m attending with Jason Giles.’

Theo shrugged. ‘That’s up to you. But the people upstairs won’t be happy…there’s a lot of money riding on this film and they will expect you to be co-operative.’

The implied threat hung heavily in the air. Kirsten stared at Theo. Did he mean if she was difficult that the studio would just refuse to work with her in the future?

‘But this isn’t right…’ Kirsten looked around at Cal, hoping that he might support her. ‘We are not going to do this, are we, Cal?’

He met her eyes steadily and shrugged. ‘I’ve had to do worse things for PR. I’ve no real objection to posing for a few photographs or ferrying you backwards and forwards to a première. I draw the line at the cocoa, though…I hate cocoa.’

Kirsten’s eyes glittered a bright, intense green. She might have known that he wouldn’t back her up.

‘OK, that’s settled.’ Theo got up from his desk and put an envelope into Cal’s hand. ‘That’s your invitations for Saturday. Let’s get back to work now.’

Theo strode out of the room, leaving Kirsten staring at Cal with ill-disguised fury. ‘What does he mean…that’s settled? I haven’t agreed to anything.’

‘It’s not really a big deal. You were going to go to that première anyway.’ Cal shrugged.

‘Yes, with Jason—’

‘I’m sure Jason will get over the disappointment,’ Cal said wryly. ‘But it doesn’t sound like the studio will. I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty Saturday.’ He turned to leave and then looked back at her. ‘By the way…I was only joking about the cocoa,’ he said with a grin. ‘It’s the pyjamas that I hate. I’d much prefer you in the outfit you’re wearing now.’