Читать книгу Taming The Tabloid Heiress - Michele Dunaway - Страница 12

Four hours later Kit attempted to concentrate on figuring out the world of Last Frontier. Her roommates hadn’t sighted any of the cast members, although they’d certainly talked about one of them, a Joshua Parker, more than the others.

“Kit!”

Kit looked over at Georgia, who was waving a hand in front of Kit’s face. “Yes?”

“You’re looking a little pale. Are you okay? Do you need me to wrap your ankle? I brought an elastic bandage.”

“No thanks, Georgia, I’m fine. Really. I told you it’s nothing.” Kit smiled reassuringly. Just her luck to have twisted her ankle in front of a hypochondriac.

Georgia looked like a dubious mother hen. “If you say so. If you change your mind I’ve got the bandage right here in my purse. I never travel without an emergency kit.”

With that Georgia began watching a video on one of the Topsider Lounge’s screens. Reminding Kit of a hotel dance club, the lounge consisted of chrome rails and raised seating areas. The topmost seating was upstairs on the Compass Deck, which sounded glamorous but was really just a deck surrounding the outside of the lounge.

Kit wasn’t quite sure what to make of her roommates. Freely admitting to being a rabid fan of Last Frontier, Georgia was obviously the leader, even picking out the table on the main level.

“Here comes the waitress. What does everyone want? This round’s on me.” Georgia announced. Paula and Becca, Kit’s other roommates, offered no resistance and ordered cocktails.

Kit shook her head in refusal, but to no avail. Georgia ordered, anyway, and the waitress moved away.

“I got you some wine.” Georgia studied Kit matter-of-factly. “You only had one glass of champagne with dinner.”

“Really, I usually try to have only one.” In fact, it had been months since she had had more than one glass of wine, except for wine tasting, and then the procedure was to spit it out.

Kit’s protest fell on deaf ears as Georgia cut her off. “You’ll have one glass of wine, honey. It’s good for the arteries, and it’s not like you’re driving anywhere, sugar. Has anyone seen either Bob or Joshua yet?” Georgia turned to search the room for her idols.

Kit smiled wryly. Again Georgia had told her how life was going to be. Georgia and her father would probably get along great, but Kit just didn’t have the heart to upset Georgia the way she would her father.

The waitress returned with the drinks at the same time a cruise representative arrived on the dance floor with a microphone. Kit took a small sip of her wine, rolled it over her tongue and wrinkled her nose. Bottom-grade white zinfandel. Her father had subjected her to a wine course when she was twenty-one. While she had found the class boring, it had been the way he’d finally let her into her chosen profession. Her father didn’t want her to work, and writing about wine had been her entry into magazine features.

She snapped to attention as everyone began clapping and cheering. She had missed the introduction of the man who now took the stage. Kit craned her neck and surveyed him. He was about fifty. Could this be her subject?

“Who?” She whispered at Paula’s back.

“Bill Davies, the executive producer. His production company owns and distributes the show. He bought Joshua’s pilot.” Paula didn’t even turn around.

“Oh.” Kit leaned back in her chair. Frustrated that she wouldn’t know until tomorrow, she studied the crowd of people who called themselves LaFrofans. Second only to Trekkies in their loyalty and devotion, Kit knew that each had shelled out at least $1,000 to come on the cruise. The room was about 60 percent women, and many of them were obviously with husbands or significant others. The participants’ ages ranged from a few women Kit’s age to some appearing about seventy, with the average age somewhere around late thirties to early forties.

A confused awareness suddenly caused her spine to prickle. Someone was looking at her. Kit swiveled around in her seat to look behind her, her gaze instantly connecting with that of the man from the plane.

What in the world was he doing here? He stood watching her from the doorway, the look of surprise on his face quickly masked. He didn’t even have the decency to turn away. Instead he continued his obvious stare, a slight sardonic smile turning his full lips upward. Kit straightened her back when his raised eyebrows signaled his amusement, and then, after a haughty shake of her head, she turned forward again.

“What is it, Kit?” Georgia frowned. “Is anything wrong?”

“Uh, no. I just saw some guy I sat next to on the plane.” Whoever the man from the plane was, she could not acknowledge him now. It was better to pretend they’d never met. She had a job to do.

“Georgia!” Paula’s whisper seemed to echo, and Kit started. “Look! There! In the doorway! Look!”

Georgia turned around, as did just about everyone else in the vicinity of Paula’s loud whisper.

“Oh, my God! Oh, my God! It’s him!” Georgia’s voice came out in a breathless rush, and Kit thought Georgia was about to have a major heart attack.

The buzz hummed loudly in the room, and Georgia began babbling about how good he looked in black, and as the room erupted into a thunder of cheers and clapping, the man from the plane strode easily into the room and joined Bill Davies on the dance floor. Fans jumped to their feet, but Kit stayed rooted to her chair, doomed.

Oh, my God, Kit mentally repeated Georgia’s words, but with dread instead of enthusiasm. The man from the plane was none other than Joshua Parker, the man her roommates fawned over. Kit’s mortification flared. She’d never expected to see him again, the man she’d shared sexual innuendoes with. Yet here he was, and worse, he was someone famous!

Somewhere she must have crossed a leprechaun, because she certainly didn’t have the luck of her Irish ancestors.

“Sorry, Kit,” Georgia said, breathlessly fanning herself with her hand. “Every time I see him I can’t believe a man can be that beautiful. He’s been our idol since a group of us saw him at a convention eight years ago. I just can’t believe I didn’t sense him—he looks so wonderful in black. Don’t you think so?”

He’d look much better somewhere else. “He looks great,” Kit lied with a nod, inwardly seething behind her perfect poker face. She took a long, slow swallow from her glass, letting the cheap wine burn its way like bitter medicine down her throat. She’d almost accepted this man’s proposition, and worse, he knew she’d considered it.

Now here he was in front of her! Obviously comfortable in his environment of being center stage, Joshua easily answered questions and told light jokes. Kit had to give him credit, when he was with an audience he was a true performer, and they loved him.

He had changed again. This time he wore a simple black long-sleeved shirt and black weekend trousers. Both failed to hide his well-toned, lithe, six-foot body, and Kit could see why the women in the room were absolutely crazy about him. Not only had he given them their favorite television show, but he was gorgeous to boot.

Because of the lounge’s lighting, auburn highlights shimmered and danced through his hair. And those lips. Those lips that had so sexily asked her if she had ever made love on a plane.

Despite her resolve to be nonchalant and impassive, Kit wanted to drop right through the floor. If she had known she was going to see him again she never would have answered him the way she had on the plane.

As if he had a sixth sense of her scrutiny, Joshua turned and looked directly at her. He saluted her with his eyes, sending his straight brows arching upward gently before they turned downward at the corner.

Kit returned his gaze of devilish delight with a haughty, dismissive stare. The corner of his mouth tilted upward in secret amusement, and Kit watched a grin rake across his face. Then he broke eye contact and whispered something to Bill Davies.

Kit took another long, slow sip of her wine. He still could be a cowboy, she thought, massaging her battered ego. He had the primal, all-male desperado look, despite his wearing dress shoes and not cowboy boots.

Kit idly fingered her now-empty wineglass. She wasn’t sure how that happened, and she looked up in time to catch a small, self-satisfied smile crossing Joshua’s face. For a brief moment Kit felt challenged, and she concentrated on the introductions Bill Davies was making as the Last Frontier actors began to cluster together on the stage.

“Fellow LaFrofans, now that you’ve met everyone, we’re about to get started. Tonight is simply one big happy party. Mingle with your Last Frontier family and enjoy the evening. We have only one request. There are over eight hundred fans on the cruise, and over five hundred in here tonight. Please, no autographs. We have a long autograph session scheduled tomorrow, and we promise you will get as many as you need then. Tonight let’s just dance, drink and be decadent! Joshua?”

Joshua stopped whispering to the people Kit guessed to be the various actors and took the microphone from Bill’s outstretched hand.

“Thanks, Bill.” His voice was low and seductively husky. Given the collective sigh reverberating throughout the lounge, Kit figured that half the women in the room must have believed that they had died and gone to heaven. Knots formed in her shoulders as he continued.

“Tonight we’ve decided to start the fan cruise off on the right foot.” His French-Canadian accent caused her stomach to plummet. She took a sip from the new glass of wine in front of her. Not knowing what she was up against, some liquid courage couldn’t hurt.

“Each of the members of the Last Frontier family are going to go out into the audience like this.” Joshua threaded his way past several tables and moved to stand inches from Kit. “We’re each going to dance with one of the fans to start the evening. In the middle of the song, the DJ will invite the rest of you to join us on the dance floor.”

Kit didn’t know which was worse, the fact everyone was staring at her or the fact that Georgia was fanning herself with her hand and hyperventilating simply because Joshua Parker was standing behind Kit’s chair. Kit’s stomach churned, and for the first time in her life she understood fear-induced nausea.

“May I have this dance?”

Kit froze like a deer in the headlights. Despite her shock, her mouth opened. A “no” started to form but never materialized as Joshua’s strong and demanding fingers closed over hers. His firm grip burned, sending waves of desire pulsating through her.

Kit pulled to free herself from his tenacious grip, but instead Paula and Georgia gave her a helpful shove that sent her right into his waiting arms. Joshua smiled and passed the microphone to a steward, who appeared from nowhere. The touch of his fingertips against her elbow felt like a flame as he led her to the dance floor.

The lights dimmed, and the first song was a soft, almost waltz-like wedding reception number. Her concentration evaporated when Joshua Parker expertly took her hands. Years of dance classes came in handy, and she moved automatically while he held her at a polite distance. Laughter and squeals of delight reached her ears as other cast members retrieved their dance partners. Kit gritted her teeth and reminded herself that she had been in trickier spots before and survived the experiences. Barely, but she’d survived.

“You did this deliberately.” Kit’s words sounded biting, but she made her face radiate only happiness.

“So what if I did? Imagine my surprise to see you, ma chérie. Shocking. I never would have pictured you to be a LaFrofan. But here you are, in the flesh.”

The way he said flesh made Kit shudder.

“Anyway, after our brief encounter today I wanted to feel your body close to mine again.” Joshua moved her smoothly and expertly around the floor. “And it definitely fits mine, don’t you think?”

He chuckled softly. As his deep laughter tickled her ear, Kit’s nerve endings sent illicit thoughts racing to her brain. Joshua’s fluid movements impressed her, as did the heat coming from his steely chest, a chest she longed to lean against. His next words brought her back to reality.

“Anyway, I’ve been dying to know your reaction once you discovered me onboard. Did you know on the plane that you had Joshua Parker offering to make you a member of the mile-high club? Most of the women in here would be swooning.”

He repositioned his hand slightly higher on the exposed skin of her back and pulled her closer. The simple movement of five soft fingertips shot heated tremors up and down her spine.

“I’m not most women,” Kit returned heatedly, displaying the Irish temper she was known for. “If this weren’t a public place I would—”

“What? Dump dog food on me? Or maybe a glass of wine?”

“I don’t believe you! You know who I am! You knew on the plane!”

He laughed at her outrage and twirled her, sending her away before guiding her toward him again. Kit understood his intent too late, and his twirl pressed her body directly against his. In a millisecond she felt the masculine call of every firm, tight muscle of his body and her body’s own immediate weak-kneed response to it. The instant loss of sanity she had felt on the plane returned, and even the slight pain from her injured ankle vanished. She drew a quick breath as the next move pushed her away from him.

Control, Kit, she told herself. Get control of yourself. Her eyelids fluttered and she struggled to contain her body’s response to the growing sensation from the simple act of Joshua’s hand in contact with the bare skin on her back. She lost concentration.

“Just think, you and I meeting here, again, like this.” Joshua shifted the fingertips of the hand that held Kit’s, haphazardly caressing the pads on her fingers in the process. Kit shuddered. “And of course I knew who you were. Your reputation precedes you.”

The jerk! Of all the comments he could have made. Kit fumed. “Well, I didn’t recognize you. If I had I would have known exactly how much of a jerk you are.”

Joshua laughed boldly. “I admire your spirit. Too bad we didn’t take advantage of the plane.” He shrugged ruefully. “But life is full of if-onlys, isn’t it, Kit?”

His words trailed off as he dipped her. Kit bristled. How dare he mock her? She discovered he wasn’t finished.

“You know, Kit, it’s a shame. We could’ve had such an interesting time together. I know you want me, Kit, your body can’t lie.”

“C’est la vie,” Kit replied, using one of the few French phrases she knew. She gave an eloquent shrug. “I’m sure I’ll survive the pain. The horror.”

Joshua’s laughter insulted her ears. “Touché, my darling Kit. You’re truly a firebrand. You’ve pierced my heart with your sarcasm and insensitivity for my male ego.”

Only the fact she needed an interview from one of the cast members he worked with kept Kit from spiking her heel into his foot. “Somehow I can’t picture you dying over it.”

Joshua led her through some complicated steps with ease. “No, I doubt I will. After all, a cruise is a cruise. Still, I’m sure you’ll manage to get some publicity out of it somehow. You wouldn’t want Daddy to think you’ve turned over a new leaf. There are plenty of men onboard to dazzle.”

Kit somehow checked her rising fury. The nerve of the man! The arrogance! How dare he speak to her like that. Fine, she thought. Two could play this game. She gave him a saccharine smile, and her tongue dripped syrup.

“You know, that’s oh, so true. I didn’t think you were the only fish in this sea.”

Joshua’s eyes darkened dangerously, and Kit drew herself up and raised her eyebrows at him. He shifted his fingers, his face becoming a mask. “Well said. I almost feel sorry for your fiancé. No wonder he cannot control you.”

Joshua’s gaze held hers until Kit looked away. Strange, foreign feelings coursed through her. What was wrong with her? One glass of wine and her guard dropped.

Kit blinked to focus. She hoped the lights blinding her were from the disco ball hanging from the ceiling and not from someone’s flash. But how could someone born on Friday the thirteenth ever be lucky?

And no man had ever overwhelmed her like Joshua Parker. Over the years she had lost count of the number of men her father tried to match her with. Even good old Pete, her one and only ex-fiancé, had never moved her like this, which was why he was now happily married to someone else. Rallying her defenses, Kit readied her arsenal but the song ended.

Joshua pulled her next to him, and Kit gazed up at him, willing her features to take on a look of pure defiance.

“You were just great.” His voice was husky and slightly hoarse. “I knew you’d be just great.”

Kit almost didn’t hear his next words, they were spoken so softly. “We’d be just great. It will be one of life’s greatest disappointments that we won’t get to find out.”

As the length of her body pressed against his for what seemed to be an indeterminable second, Kit felt her mutinous body fully respond. Her knees undermined and weakened, she clung to him. Way too much bad wine, Kit thought, as she looked away from him, desperately trying to extinguish the fires of desire blazing in every pore.

Joshua pushed her away from him, as if somehow she had singed him too, although Kit knew that wasn’t possible. He didn’t look charred, in fact, he looked relieved. Clapping began all around them.

“Bravo. Again we part.”

“Let’s make it for good this time,” Kit murmured softly under her breath. Tense from their encounter, she was barely aware of the continued clapping as Joshua guided her to the edge of the dance floor.

As he left her, Kit rubbed her elbow and tried to erase his touch. No good. She could still feel the way her wanton skin had trembled beneath his fingertips. From across the room, Kit watched as a look of sheer satisfaction and masculine amusement crossed his face. Catching her gaze, he mockingly saluted her with his bottle of mineral water. Irritated at his insolence, Kit turned away, only to face her rabid roommates, who were now descending on her for all the details of her dance-floor encounter.