Plain Jane in the Spotlight
Plain Jane in the Spotlight
Lucy Gordon
Mills & Boon
is excited to present this new family saga from award-winning author Lucy Gordon
The Falcon Dynasty
Five successful brothers looking for brides!
Amos Falcon is a proud, self-made man who wants his legacy to live on through his five sons. Each son is different, for they have different mothers, but in one aspect they are the same: he has raised them to be ruthless in business and sensible in matters of the heart.
But one by one these high-achieving brothers will find that when the right woman comes along love is the greatest power of them all…
RESCUED BY THE BROODING TYCOON August 2011
MISS PRIM AND THE BILLIONAIRE February 2012
PLAIN JANE IN THE SPOTLIGHT July 2012
Dear Reader,
With the third book of THE FALCON DYNASTY I found myself facing new challenges. Travis is unlike most other heroes, and certainly unlike the other Falcons. Amos’s ruthless, demanding nature has descended to several of his sons. Darius, Marcel and Leonid have obvious traces of their father. Even Jackson is a Falcon, in his clear-eyed determination to do things his way.
But Travis is different: an actor in the glamorous city of Los Angeles, he’s a gentle, sweet-natured man who makes his way through life with charm and humour. His greatest gift is for winning hearts, so his career flourishes and he can take his choice of beautiful women. Whatever he touches turns to gold, and he seems to have everything a man could wish for.
It takes a special woman to discover the truth. Charlene would call herself plain and dowdy, but she’s the only one Travis trusts sufficiently to reveal the vulnerability he hides from the rest of the world.
Despised and half rejected by his domineering father, Travis has always felt on the outside of the Falcon family. Now Charlene’s open arms offer comfort and safety, and he takes joyful refuge in them. But when suddenly he has the chance to win Amos’s respect it could be at Charlene’s expense.
What he does now will define his life, and his decision reveals him as a true Falcon: not to be deflected from his chosen path. But few men would have the strength to do what he does.
Travis is my favourite Falcon. I hope you love him as much as I do.
Best wishes,
Lucy Gordon
About the Author
LUCY GORDON cut her writing teeth on magazine journalism, interviewing many of the world’s most interesting men, including Warren Beatty, Charlton Heston and Sir Roger Moore. She also camped out with lions in Africa, and had many other unusual experiences, which have often provided the background for her books. Several years ago, while staying in Venice, she met a Venetian who proposed in two days. They have been married ever since. Naturally this has affected her writing, where romantic Italian men tend to feature strongly.
Two of her books have won a Romance Writers of America RITA
Award.
You can visit her website at www.lucy-gordon.com
Plain Jane in
the Spotlight
Lucy Gordon
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CHAPTER ONE
‘FOR pity’s sake, Travis, why do you never listen? You’ve been warned a dozen times. Stay out of sleazy nightclubs.’
Denzil Raines, boss of the Sandora Studio in Los Angeles, snapped out the command and tried to control his temper. It was hard because Travis would try anyone’s patience.
The studio produced several money-making television series, but none of them raked in the wealth as fast and gloriously as The Man From Heaven, starring Travis Falcon, and protecting that investment was a major operation.
The young man enduring the lecture seemed to sum up the whole of the investment in himself. Travis’s body was lean and vigorous, his face was handsome, his air charming, his smile devastating. It spoke of eagerness to enjoy life to the full. Late nights, curiosity for new experiences, untiring energy for a vast range of pleasurable activities. They were all there in the quirk of his mouth, the gleam in his eye, and they caused much hair tearing among those who needed to keep him in check.
Denzil reflected that he’d picked the right word. Sleazy. That was it. Sleazy nightclubs, sleazy pleasures, sleazy Travis. But he knew it was precisely the hint of a ‘bad boy’ lurking in the shadows that hit the magic spot with the public. And it would go on doing so as long as it stayed in the safety of the shadows. If it was allowed to escape … Denzil groaned.
Travis was standing by the window, looking out over the view of Los Angeles. Clearly visible in the distance was the huge gleaming sign, HOLLYWOOD, that for ninety years had symbolised the city where glamour, entertainment and money united in brilliant supremacy. His gaze was fixed on the sign, as though to remind himself of the achievements he was fighting to keep. He stood, bathed in sunlight, apparently nonchalant, but actually alive to every threatening nuance.
‘I didn’t know it was sleazy,’ he said with a shrug. ‘My friend chose it for his stag night.’
‘Stag night?’ Denzil echoed in outrage. ‘Then you might have guessed there’d be half-naked dolly birds prancing around. What else are stag nights for? You should have got out of the place instead of … this!’
He held out a newspaper, jamming his finger down on a picture of a man and a girl clinging to each other. He was sitting down, shirt ripped open, the half-naked girl on his lap, her arms about his neck, kissing him madly, which he showed every sign of enjoying.
‘You had to lay yourself out for those girls,’ Denzil groaned.
‘I didn’t lay myself out,’ Travis protested. ‘I was having a quiet drink when this lady … well …’
‘Quiet? Hah! When did you last do anything quietly? And she was no lady. She’d been hired for the night to “entertain” the male guests. She entertained you all right.’
‘I didn’t ask her to sit on my lap.’
‘You didn’t push her off, either.’
‘No, that would have been rude. I was just trying to be polite.’
‘Oh, it was politeness that made you put your arms about her waist, draw her close, nuzzle her—’
‘I’m only human,’ Travis protested. ‘When a half-naked girl drapes herself over a guy he’s expected to show some appreciation.’
‘You did that all right,’ Denzil snapped. ‘She’s not the only one who’s half-naked. Look at your shirt, open to the waist, so that she can dance her fingers over your bare chest. Did she pull it open? Did you? Or did you arrive like that, hoping something would happen?’
Travis groaned. ‘Can we just leave this? I didn’t know the press was there, OK?’
‘The press is always there where you’re concerned,’ Denzil growled. ‘You should know that by now. Ever since the show became a hit they’ve been watching you, trying to find out something that makes people’s hair stand on end. And, let’s face it, there are plenty of those!’
‘I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate me,’ Travis said with a touch of wry humour.
‘Very wise. They just want to catch you out with something really damaging. It wouldn’t be such a problem if you were playing a different character, but this one is full of danger.’
The TV series, The Man From Heaven, was the talk of the entertainment world. Superficially, it seemed a conventional hospital drama, centred around the young, handsome Dr Brad Harrison, played by Travis Falcon. But beneath it was another tale. The doctor lived a life of strict virtue that was wildly at odds with his flamboyant sexual presence, and there was just a hint that he wasn’t a mortal man at all, but a spirit from another dimension.
It was the intriguing contrast between Dr Harrison’s austere life and the sexual indulgence open to a man of his attractions that had sent the show to the top of all the popularity charts. The producers were determined to keep it there, if only they could rein in Travis’s more lurid off-screen activities.
‘Folk out there like nothing better than to discover “the heavenly being” acting on his lowest human instincts,’ Denzil pointed out now.
‘But I’m not a heavenly being,’ Travis said firmly.
‘You don’t have to tell me that,’ Denzil snapped. ‘Look, the public’s crazy about you, the money’s pouring in. The next series is being planned. But that could all change if you step too much out of character in private. Look, I’m not unreasonable. Of course you want female company. Just not that sort.’
Travis studied the picture again and sighed. ‘I know. I was careless. I’ll be more careful.’
‘It would help if you were in a relationship with a respectable girl. Don’t pull that face. I know “respectable” is like the kiss of death to you, but we need the public to believe in you as one of the good guys, not a philanderer.’
‘But I am a philanderer,’ Travis pointed out.
‘Then try to pretend you’re not,’ Denzil roared. ‘You’re an actor aren’t you? So act!’
‘Act what? Do I lie to the girl and pretend it’s real? No way. That would be dishonest. Or do I tell her upfront that she’s being made use of, then see her go straight to the press?’
Denzil groaned. ‘Just get your life in order. There’s a lot at stake, Travis. Think career. Think money.’
‘All right. I’ll think money.’
‘And while we’re on the subject—about tonight—’
‘I’m not going to be at the dinner tonight,’ Travis said firmly. ‘There’s been too much bad blood between Brenton and me.’
He escaped, breathing out hard in his exasperation and relief. As he headed down the corridor his cellphone shrilled. It was Pete, his agent.
‘I suppose they’ve been onto you too?’ Travis demanded.
‘Denzil called me as soon as you’d gone,’ Pete said. ‘Apart from anything else, he’s cross because you won’t come to the dinner tonight.’
‘And I told him the answer’s still no,’ Travis groaned.
There was to be a celebration dinner for Frank Brenton’s sixtieth birthday. He was a studio big shot who’d invested a lot of money in the past and it was hoped he would put in more. Hence the big party.
‘He can’t stand me and I can’t stand him,’ Travis said. ‘He pulled every string he could find to stop me being cast in the show, and he hates my guts because he failed. Best if we don’t meet.’
‘OK, OK. I told Denzil I’d raise it. But about the other thing, he just wants to be sure you understood the message.’
‘But why have I got to be the only virtuous guy in Los Angeles?’ Travis growled.
‘Because it makes you different, and that difference puts a couple of extra noughts on the cheque. You haven’t suddenly stopped caring for money and success, have you?’
‘No way.’
‘Then get a grip.’
‘Am I supposed to live a totally moral life?’ Travis demanded, aghast.
‘No, I know you too well for that. But keep the fun stuff behind closed doors. In public, be seen only with ladies of impeccable morality. If they decided to replace you—well, there are several other actors just slavering to grab that part from you.’
He hung up, leaving Travis scowling at the dead phone.
‘Grr!’ he said.
He knew that both Pete and Denzil were right. Carelessly indulgent behaviour could imperil his career, and that was the last thing he wanted. He enjoyed the benefits of stardom too much. But what to do about it was a problem. The ‘respectable’ road definitely did not attract him.
But he couldn’t say that openly without risking everything that mattered to him: his career, his reputation, his pride, the money that was pouring in. That money told the tale of a successful man; not just to himself, but to others whose respect he cared for more than he wanted to admit.
‘They think it’s so easy,’ he mused. ‘If I play a guy who can soar above human temptations then I can be like that in real life. As if! All right, I was a bit careless with that girl in the nightclub, and I very nearly … But I didn’t! It took a lot of self-control, but I didn’t.
‘If I was really a heavenly being, I could solve the problem in an instant. I’d turn the next corner and find the perfect solution just waiting for me. But in real life that kind of miracle doesn’t happen. Ah well! Time to get to work. With luck, I might even get in touch with my virtuous side.’
He gave a wry laugh.
‘Whatever that means.’
Charlene took a deep breath as she neared the studio entrance. It was now or never. In another moment she would get through that door as a member of a party privileged to tour the studio. Or perhaps someone would spot that she was a fraud; that she was here to see Lee Anton, the man with whom she was secretly in love, who had once seemed to love her, and whose feelings she desperately hoped to revive.
A pause in the queue gave her the chance to regard herself in a wall mirror. She’d taken trouble over her appearance and knew she looked as good as possible. Which wasn’t very good, she thought sadly. Nature hadn’t made her a beauty. Not exactly plain, but not exactly pretty either. Lee had called her ‘Nice-looking’ and praised her eyes.
‘I like dark eyes,’ he’d said, ‘especially when they sparkle like yours.’
She’d clung to such remarks, and the fact that he sought her company rather than the beauties in the amateur dramatic society where they’d met. He was a professional actor, but back then his engagements were scarce and he’d been on the verge of chucking it in.
To pass the time he’d joined the amateur society, which was where they had met and quickly become attracted to each other. With her, attraction had soon become love, and she reached out to him with nothing held back. He’d responded eagerly, and the nights spent in his arms were the most joyful experiences of her life.
The play had been a triumph. She’d looked forward to the moment when he would ask her to marry him, and thought it had come when he said excitedly, ‘Guess what! The most incredible thing—’
‘Yes?’ she asked breathlessly. Out of sight, she crossed her fingers. Here it came. The proposal.
Lee was almost dancing with joy.
‘It’s so wonderful!’ he squeaked. ‘It just shows that if you wait for the right moment—’
‘And? And? And?’
‘There was an American agent in the audience.’
‘Wh … what?’
‘He wants to take me on. He reckons he could get me a part in The Man From Heaven. They’re looking for an English actor. Isn’t that great? Isn’t that the best thing you ever heard?’
‘Yes,’ she mumbled. ‘Oh, yes, great.’
Two days later he’d left for Los Angeles.
‘I’ll stay in touch,’ he’d promised.
And he had—after a fashion. There were emails, texts, the odd phone call, but no invitation for her to follow him. He was slipping away from her, and she couldn’t let that happen. She had something urgent to tell him, something that couldn’t be told on the phone.
Charlene had arrived three days ago, called him, leaving a message but receiving no response. Texts and emails went unanswered, and now she realised that he’d never given her an address. In the end she’d booked a place on the tour as the only way of seeing him.
She’d looked up the show online and learned the background story, and the role Lee was playing.
Up-and-coming English actor Lee Anton will be making his debut as Dr Franklin Baker, newly seconded to work at the Mercyland Hospital, where he rapidly becomes the friend and confidant of Brad Harrison, (played by Travis Falcon) and the only one who suspects his mysterious secret.
That morning she’d bought a newspaper, attracted by the headline—HEAVENLY ANTICS, the latest startling story from the show everyone’s talking about.
But to her disappointment there was only the briefest mention of Lee. Most of the page was taken up by a photograph of a man sitting with a girl on his lap, his shirt open to the waist, her hand seductively caressing his bare chest. His face was only half visible and for a fearful moment she checked in case it was Lee. But it wasn’t and she breathed again. It was only Travis Falcon.
Whoever he was, she thought, uninterested.
She knew she must be careful. Exposed to the glamorous temptations of Los Angeles, Lee was bound to have indulged himself, and she wouldn’t spoil things between them by harsh judgements. That was in the past. When he’d heard her news everything would be all right, and only the future would matter.
But she was glad it wasn’t Lee in the picture.
The queue was moving. Then she was inside, following the others in the guided tour that would end in the special privilege of being allowed to watch a scene being rehearsed. She paid only the slightest attention, while all the time her eyes wandered, seeking Lee.
Inside her head two voices were raging at each other.
He’s dumped you. Why don’t you face it?
And the other voice.
But he doesn’t know about … When you tell him the news it’ll make all the difference.
And then she saw him.
He was down the far end of a corridor, reading something on the wall. She tried to call him but her emotion caused her to choke. Suddenly he turned away and vanished around a corner. She began to run, not looking where she was going until she collided with an obstacle, felt two arms tighten around her and heard a man’s voice say, ‘Hey, steady there.’
‘Let me go. I must catch him.’
Charlene wrenched herself free and ran along the rest of the corridor, turning the corner, then stopping abruptly, backing off, hand to mouth to silence the joyful cry that had been about to burst from her.
Now she could see him again: Lee, half turned away from her, hailing someone just out of sight.
‘Where have you been?’ he called. ‘I’ve been looking for you. Come here and kiss me.’
The next moment a girl appeared from nowhere, throwing herself into his wide open arms, kissing him again and again between squeals of laughter, crying, ‘Oh, darling, it’s such wonderful news!’
He was laughing too, kissing her back, saying breathlessly, ‘Hey that’s right, give me a kiss … and another … and another … Oh, I like that … oh, yes … oh, yes—’
He was lurching backwards under the girl’s impact, until they both vanished around a corner. Charlene felt as though her heart had stopped dead. Not just her heart, but the whole world. That had been Lee. No—impossible. Yes—it had been Lee. No—yes—no—yes—no!
She turned wildly, knowing she had to get out of here. But her way was blocked by the man who’d been there before and who’d reappeared.
‘I’m … I’m sorry—’
He put a friendly hand on her shoulder.
‘Don’t get upset. That guy’s not worth it.’
‘I—’ She tried to speak normally, but only a choke would come.
‘Don’t cry,’ he advised her.
‘I’m not crying,’ she said fiercely, although tears were streaming down her cheeks.
He didn’t waste time arguing, just took out a clean handkerchief and dabbed her face gently.
‘People kiss each other all the time,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t mean anything, not in this place. Kissing is just like saying hello.’
She knew that what she’d seen was far more than that, but he was trying to be kind, and she forced herself to be calm.
‘Yes—yes—thank you. I’ll stop bothering you now—’
‘You’re not bothering me. I just don’t like to see you upset. Do you know him?’
‘I thought I did—I mean, yes—no—’
He nodded, as though fully comprehending her confusion.
‘I can’t say I like him much myself,’ he admitted. ‘Are you one of his fans? You sound English. Did you follow him here?’
‘No!’ she said fiercely. ‘Of course I didn’t. What a thing to say!’
‘Sorry, sorry. No offence. So you haven’t lost your heart to him?’
‘No!’ she said violently. ‘That would be just silly—mooning over a pretty face just because he’s an actor.’
‘It has been known,’ he murmured wryly. ‘But if you haven’t, that’s good. This is no place for people with hearts. What’s your name?’
‘Charlene Wilkins. Who are you?’
She sensed, rather than saw, a tremor of surprise go through him. ‘What did you say?’
‘I just asked your name. Have I seen you before somewhere?’
‘Evidently not. My name’s Travis Falcon. I work here.’
‘Oh, yes—you’re in the show, aren’t you?’
His lips twitched with something that might have been amusement. ‘That’s one way of putting it. Now, let’s get out of here. We’ve got time for a coffee before I start work.’
‘No, I’m fine … fine—honestly—’
It was a lie. Appalled, she could feel herself on the verge of hysterics as the truth crashed in on her.
‘Come on,’ he said firmly. ‘I’m not leaving you on your own in a strange place. Not given the state you’re in.’
But to be alone was what she needed in case the screams rising within her broke out. When he reached for her she flailed madly to fend him off, and the next moment she heard a loud crack as her hand made contact with his face.
The sound was shocking and the way he rubbed his cheek told its own story. Charlene backed away, hands over her mouth, eyes wide with horror. But, incredibly, he wasn’t offended.
‘Hey, it’s not that bad,’ Travis said. ‘No big deal.’
‘It is. Oh, heavens, I hit you really hard. I didn’t mean to—I’m sorry—’
‘You will be if you don’t let me buy you a coffee. Come on, no more arguments or I’ll get tough.’
His tone was light but he held her arm in a no-nonsense grip. Nor could she have defied him now. All the strength seemed to have drained out of her. The next thing she knew, she was sitting at a table in the corner of the studio canteen.
‘I’m going to the counter,’ he said. ‘Don’t even think of escaping while I’m gone, or I’ll get mad.’ He gave her a kindly smile. ‘I can be very nasty when I’m mad.’
He left her and she sat there, without the strength to move. She felt herself sagging everywhere—body, mind and heart. How had she been such a fool as to let it come to this? Plain, sensible Charlene, famed for her common sense! And she’d gone down like a row of ninepins.
Travis Falcon. Now she recalled that he was the star of the show. He didn’t act like a star, proud and pompous. He hadn’t been offended when she’d failed to recognise him, or even when she’d accidentally struck him. More like a nice guy than a star.
She dived into her bag and pulled out the newspaper with the picture of the man in the nightclub. As she opened it another picture fell out. It had been taken on a stage and showed a young man and a girl in nineteenth-century costumes, fervently clinging to each other. She took it with her everywhere.
‘Here we are.’ Travis’s voice made her jump as he appeared with coffee and rolls. ‘It’s good to see you calmer. I was getting worried.’
‘I’m really sorry about your face,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to hit you.’
‘I know you didn’t.’
‘It’s not swelling, is it?’ she asked, searching his face. ‘If I’ve damaged you the studio will probably sue me.’
‘Hey, do you think I’m some sort of a wimp to be so easily hurt? You’re not the first girl to—Yeah, well, never mind that. Anyway, we’re only rehearsing today, not shooting, so if you’ve disfigured me it won’t matter until tomorrow.’
His comic self-deprecation was attractive, and her nerves eased enough to manage a shaky laugh, which made him regard her with approval.
‘That’s better. Now, let’s talk. How do you come to be here? I suppose you were looking for Lee?’ She nodded and he said, ‘Perhaps you should have warned him you were coming?’
‘But I did, only … he doesn’t seem to be getting his messages the last few days.’
Travis judged it best to maintain a tactful silence. He’d known Lee for only a few weeks and disliked him. Selfish, self-centred, indifferent to everyone else was how he would have described him. In the short time Lee had been in Los Angeles he’d raised the roof with his ‘girly antics’ as they had become known.
But he wouldn’t say this to the young woman sitting beside him. There was no need. Clearly she was discovering it for herself.
‘Do you know him well?’ he asked.
‘We’ve acted together.’
‘You’re an actress?’
‘Not professionally. I work in a bank, but I do a lot of amateur acting. That’s how I met Lee.’
‘Hey, now I remember. There was a story in the papers—he hadn’t had a job in a while, so he did some amateur stuff and an agent saw him.’
‘That’s right.’ Charlene showed him the photograph. ‘That’s us.’
‘What was the play?’
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Lee played Shakespeare?’
‘He was very good,’ she said defensively. ‘He was Demetrius, I was Helena.’
And Helena spent most of the play pursuing Demetrius, begging to know why he no longer loved her. Travis studied the picture, noticing the passionate adoration in her face and the impatience in his. How much of it was acting? Not much, he guessed, drawing on his knowledge of Lee.
He glanced at her. She was tall, with dark, straight hair, flowing casually over her shoulders. Not a beauty. Not even pretty in the strictest sense. Her features were regular but there was a slight touch of severity about her face that might warn people off, just at first, although it faded when she smiled, brightening her large dark eyes.
Intriguing, he thought. She didn’t flaunt everything on the surface, but perhaps she might lure a man along a fascinating path of discovery. Or maybe not. Who could say? But she was exactly the kind of woman he doubted that Lee bothered with for long.
He knew a twinge of pity. He had an uneasy feeling that she was facing heartbreak.
A shadow appeared in the doorway and a woman strode in, looking around frantically.
‘Oh, goodness!’ Charlene said. ‘I got in as part of a studio tour, and that’s the leader, looking for me.’
The woman bore down on them, uttering words of concern and disapproval.
‘I’m afraid it’s my fault,’ Travis said at once. ‘Charlene is an old friend of mine and when I saw her here I persuaded her to spend the day with me.’ He smiled at Charlene. ‘You should have told me you were coming and I’d have rolled out the red carpet.’
‘I didn’t want to be a trouble,’ she said, falling into character.
‘You’re never a trouble to me.’ He turned back to the leader. ‘You can safely leave her in my care.’
He accompanied the words with his warmest look and the leader melted.
‘Oh, well … in that case I’ll leave you to it.’ She departed, but not before giving him a mystified look over her shoulder.
‘You see?’ Travis said to Charlene. ‘No problem.’
‘That was an incredible performance,’ she said. ‘You really fooled her. Thank you so much. And I won’t be a nuisance. I’ll go now.’
‘No way. You just heard me say you were spending the day with me, so that’s what you have to do.’ He dropped his voice to a theatrical undertone. ‘If you flee my company it looks bad. People will think I’m losing my touch.’
‘And we can’t have them thinking that,’ she agreed.
‘Right. Now it’s time we went to the rehearsal.’
‘We? Am I allowed?’
‘You were going to go with the group.’
‘Yes, but will they let me in on my own?’
‘You won’t be on your own. You’re my guest, and you can do anything I say.’
He drew her to her feet, then crooked his arm for her to take.
‘Time for our entrance,’ he said.
CHAPTER TWO
WHEN they entered the rehearsal room the director raised his eyebrows, but a smile from Travis and his arm around Charlene’s shoulder evidently answered all questions.
He saw her comfortably seated and flicked open the script. ‘Which scene is it this morning?’
‘The one where you try to talk Myra out of being in love with Dr. Baker,’ the director said, ‘and Baker overhears you—if those two would only turn up—ah, Lee, Penny, there you are!’
Charlene stiffened as Lee appeared in the doorway, with the girl she’d seen him with earlier. She turned her head but not quickly enough.
Lee had seen her.
He’d recognised her.
She tried to interpret his stunned look as pleasure. Now he would hurry across the floor to greet her.
But he stayed where he was, confused, troubled. Not delighted.
‘Right, Lee,’ the director said, ‘we’ll have a camera on you, to get a reaction shot. Travis, start at, “You should forget Dr Baker.”’
They took their places and Travis began.
‘You should forget Dr Baker. I know he’s incredibly handsome, but looks don’t really matter. Try to believe me. A man’s face is the least of him.’
‘Oh, they do matter, Dr Harrison, truly they do.’ Penny sighed. ‘He’s so attractive that I can’t help loving him.’
‘But is he generous, affectionate, honest? Will he always put you first?’
‘You mean is he dull and reliable?’ she challenged.
Dr Harrison took her hands in his and spoke with feeling. ‘I promise you, when you come to marry, dull and reliable is the best.’
‘Fine,’ the director said. ‘Lee, you should try to look as though you’ve just had a terrible shock.’
Which he has, Charlene thought sadly.
The actress called Penny gave Travis a look of laughing camaraderie. ‘“Dull and reliable is the best,”’ she teased. ‘You sounded like you believed that nonsense.’
‘I’m an actor,’ Travis protested. ‘I’m supposed to talk nonsense convincingly.’ He grinned. ‘However little I believe it.’
‘Well nobody ever accused you of being dull and reliable. That picture—’
‘You didn’t see it,’ he said hastily. ‘There’s no picture.’
‘If you say so.’
They rehearsed the scene several more times. Never once did Lee look in Charlene’s direction, and perhaps Travis realised this too, because when there was a break he went over to him. Charlene couldn’t hear what they said but she saw him take Lee’s arm and draw him towards her. She noticed, too, the uneasy glance he gave Penny.
As Lee sat down next to her he managed a polite smile, but his words brought a chill to her heart.
‘Fancy seeing you again.’
‘Why do you sound surprised? I’ve been sending you texts—’
‘My cellphone needs repair. Never mind. It’s great to see you again. What are you doing here? Did you come to see Travis? I hear you’re an old friend of his. OK, I’m just coming!’
The last words were called to Penny, who was standing by the door, signalling him and mouthing a word that looked like Lunch.
‘Old friend and good friend,’ came a voice above Charlene’s head. It was Travis, who’d been shamelessly eavesdropping. ‘It made my day when you turned up here, Charlene. Now, make it even better and have lunch with me.’
His hand on her arm brooked no resistance. Not that she wanted to resist. She was too grateful to him. Lee gave her a meaningless smile and vanished out of the door with Penny.
There was no doubt that Travis had saved her dignity. All eyes were on them as he escorted her out of the studio, into the corridor, into the elevator, finally the canteen. Heads turned, people stared at him in the company of a girl nobody had seen before.
Charlene struggled to collect her thoughts. Lee’s blank manner had told her everything she needed to know. But would that change when he heard her news? She had a terrible fear that it wouldn’t.
‘Thank you,’ she said when they were sitting at the table. ‘You saved me from looking a complete fool.’
‘Don’t call yourself a fool. That’s just playing his game. Presentation is all important.’
‘It’ll take more than presentation to stop me looking pathetic,’ she said in a tone of self-contempt. ‘I came all this way for a man who isn’t interested.’
‘But nobody has to know. Smile at me. Let them see us enjoying each other’s company. Go on, smile. More. That’s better.’
She was aware of the crowded canteen, and even more aware of Lee and Penny sitting together.
Good, she thought defiantly. Now he knew she wasn’t desperate for him.
‘So you’re a financial genius,’ he said.
She made a face. ‘That’s what I used to think, but it seems not.’
‘Hey, if you’re good with figures then I’m impressed. I’m rubbish at them.’
‘But it’s possible to be good with figures and rubbish at everything else,’ she said quietly. ‘It doesn’t make you good with people. I thought being good at the job was all I needed to get promoted, but the promotion went to some little doll-face who’d learned the job from me in the first place. When I protested I was told that they relied on me to keep an eye on her.’
‘So you’d do the work and she’d get the credit?’ Travis said sympathetically.
‘And the company car. And the increase in salary. So I told them to forget it.’
‘Good for you!’
She gave a brief laugh. ‘I wasn’t very clever. They offered me a bonus if I’d stay there, look after her and promise to keep quiet about “everything”.’
‘Meaning your boss and the girl he was sleeping with?’
‘Right. I could have had it made, but I lost my temper. I was really violent. They say the building shook when I slammed out.’
‘You?’ he queried. ‘Violent?’
‘Well, you’ve already found that out, haven’t you?’
‘No, you didn’t hit me on purpose. Pure accident. You seem so sedate, I just can’t imagine you slamming out.’
He might have added that her clothes, hair and make-up told the same story: austere, severe, sober, stern, unyielding. There was nothing fiery about her. Not on the surface, anyway. But inside he guessed there was something else.
Perhaps Lee had tempted it out into the open, which made it all the more strange that he was avoiding her.
‘Well, I’m paying for it,’ she said. ‘If I’d been clever I’d have driven them to fire me, then claimed unfair dismissal and sued.’
‘Admirable, but could you have driven them to fire you?’
‘Maybe. People can be tricked into doing what you want.’ She smiled. ‘I expect you know that.’
‘Sometimes,’ he conceded. ‘But I have a feeling I’m not as good at it as you.’
‘Well, I wasn’t good at it this time. First I lost my temper, then I realised I shouldn’t have, and by then it was too late. I did everything by the virtuous book, but sometimes you can have too much virtue.’
‘How true,’ he murmured. ‘So how did you find the cash to come here?’
‘My grandparents paid. They brought me up since my parents died. They’re lovely, adventurous people. Right now they’re on holiday in Africa, looking for elephants. They said I could go with them but I chose to come here instead.’
‘To find Lee?’
‘Yes.’
‘Where are you staying?’
‘The Howley. Why do you shudder? Do you know it?’
‘Not the hotel but that part of town. Depressing. I’d get out if I was you, find something better.’
He could have bitten his tongue out for his own tactlessness. Obviously she was making the money last, not knowing how long she would be here.
He took hold of her hand. ‘Charlene, listen to me. Don’t do anything crazy. It’s not—’
‘Well, this is nice!’
They both looked at the man who’d appeared just behind Travis. He was middle-aged, bulky, and his smile was a little too broad to be convincing.
‘Hello, Denzil,’ Travis said. ‘Charlene, this is Denzil Raines, my boss.’
‘None of that “boss” stuff,’ Denzil said jovially. ‘We’re all friends here. So you’re Charlene. I’ve been hearing about you. Nice to meet you. Hope you’re having a good time. Travis, make sure you treat this lady well. All right, all right, I’ll leave you two alone now.’
He took himself off, only turning at the last moment to give Travis a thumbs up sign and a beaming grin. Travis gave an inward groan.
‘He seems nice,’ Charlene observed. ‘Is something the matter?’
‘Everything’s the matter. I’m sorry about that. Denzil is thinking how he can make use of you.’
‘Of me? How?’
‘The fact is—I’ve been a bit of an idiot, and if there’s a disaster it’ll be my own fault.’ Caution made him stop there, but then he saw her face, kindly and understanding, as so few faces were in his world, and something drove him on to say, ‘I went to a nightclub with some friends, and there was this girl—’
‘The one that sat on your lap? Is that how they got the picture?’
He groaned. ‘You’ve seen it? Yes, it was in the newspaper, wasn’t it? I’m finished.’
‘No, she’s a bit blurred. You can sort of vaguely tell what she’s up to, and the fact that she’s hardly wearing anything, but the only face you can see is yours.’
‘Yeah, me cuddling a nearly naked girl,’ he groaned. ‘Actually, I was fairly tipsy by then and I just sat there and let her … well … And I’m paying for it. I’m supposed to be virtuous in private as well as in front of the cameras.’
‘And you’re not,’ she said sympathetically. ‘Not below the waist, anyway.’
‘Right,’ he said, relieved to find her so mentally in tune.
‘Well, I have the answer,’ she said. ‘The perfect solution to all your problems.’
‘Tell me.’
‘It’s simple. All you have to do is take up residence in a monastery. There, your life will be unassailably righteous, your career will be protected, and the studio profits will be safe.’
He stared. ‘You … you …’ Then he saw the wicked glint in her eyes and joined in her laughter. ‘You evil hussy!’ he choked. ‘I ought to … oh, but it was a good joke. You really had me scared for a moment.’
‘Well, at least you’re laughing,’ she said.
‘Yes, but it’s no laughing matter. I could lose so much.’
Travis’s phone rang. He answered quickly and seemed on edge.
‘Mom, it’s all right. Honestly. I can handle it. Stop worrying, I’ll call you later.’
He hung up, looking harassed.
‘She thinks I’m going to be brought down by scandal,’ he said. ‘When she was making films nobody could have survived what’s happening now.’
‘A film actress? Hey, that’s it. I thought you reminded me of someone, and now I can see. Julia Franklin.’
Julia Franklin had been a promising film actress some thirty years ago. For a while she’d shone brightly, and her old films were still shown on television.
‘That’s right,’ Travis said. ‘She’s my mother. You’ve seen her?’
‘One of her films was on television last night, and they’re often shown in England. Everyone thought she’d go on to be a big star, but for some reason it didn’t happen.’
‘That’s because she had me. Total disaster.’
‘Did your father make her give up acting to be a full-time wife?’
‘They weren’t married. My father’s English, a businessman who’s always travelled a lot. Thirty years ago he was in the States to make some deal, met my mother briefly, and I’m the result.
‘He was already married to his second wife, his first having chucked him out for playing around. My mother’s film career was just taking off but he wanted her to throw it all away and follow him to England. Not for marriage, just to live as his mistress, be there when it suited him and keep quiet when it didn’t.’
‘I hope she told him what he could do with himself,’ Charlene said indignantly.
‘I’m proud to say that she did. In fact she did more than say it. If you met him you’d see a tiny little scar on his chin where she … let’s say, put her feelings into action.’
‘Do you mean Amos Falcon?’ Charlene said suddenly. ‘Hey, you’re one of the Falcon dynasty.’
‘In a sense,’ Travis said so quietly that she barely heard.
‘Amos Falcon was in the papers last week,’ she went on excitedly, ‘and there was a picture with this little scar—’
Travis groaned. ‘All right, yes, but please forget it. I shouldn’t have told you.’
Charlene began to chuckle. ‘The journalist went on about that scar, how the “heroic” Amos Falcon confronted a robber and drove him off, at the cost of injury to himself.’
Travis gave a shout of laughter. ‘Robber, my foot! Mom chucked an ashtray at him. She must have been a bit like you, losing your temper and storming out of the bank. She’s got her violent side too. I reckon you two would like each other. She really scared my father. Not that he’d ever admit it, but after that things tended to be at a distance.’
‘Do you mean you don’t see him?’
‘We meet occasionally, but we’re not close. His second wife booted him out as well and he married a third time. I told Mom once that he ought to have married her—I was very young and naive in those days. She said she’d sooner marry the devil himself, except that the devil wouldn’t be nearly so interesting as Amos Falcon.’
‘He sounds a colourful character.’
‘I believe his business enemies say the same. A falcon is a bird of prey, and he’s known for preying on people. But enough about him. I must tell Mom the nice things you said about her. She’ll be so thrilled that someone remembers her. What was the film they were showing?’
‘Dancing on the Edge,’ Charlene remembered.
‘That’s her,’ Travis said at once. ‘How often have I heard her say, “If it isn’t on the edge, it isn’t fun”?’
‘She played the hero’s sister, the one who was always putting her foot in it, but everyone forgave her because she had that lovely cheeky grin.’
‘True. And it’s just how it is in real life. She blurts out all sorts of outrageous things, then says “Sorry, honey”, and gives you such a smile that you have to forgive her.’
Charlene wondered if he realised that he had the same smile—mischievous, delightfully wicked. He was nice too, courteously paying her as much attention as if she’d been a raving beauty. Not like Lee Anton, she had to admit with an inner sigh.
As if reading her thoughts, Travis said suddenly, ‘Why do you bother with him?’
‘Maybe because I’m a fool,’ she said lightly. ‘We got close during the play—all those scenes we had together—’
‘But they weren’t love scenes,’ Travis pointed out. ‘Demetrius rejects Helena until the last minute—’
Charlene nodded. ‘Saying things like, I love thee not, therefore pursue me not. But Helena won’t get the message. She follows him saying, Neglect me, lose me, only give me leave, unworthy as I am, to follow you. What a twerp she is!’
She gave a grim laugh at herself. ‘Listen to me, saying that. Follow him. That’s exactly what I did.’
‘But Helena won Demetrius in the end,’ Travis pointed out.
‘Only because someone cast a spell on him. It wasn’t true love. It doesn’t happen in real life. Oh, look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be going on like this, making you listen. You’ve been really nice to me, although I can’t think why, considering that I assaulted you.’
He’d been wondering that himself. He had a kind heart and often went out of his way to help people, but he didn’t normally linger. Strangely, her clout across his face had been a turning point. Her horror and dismay had aroused his pity, making him want to defend her. He didn’t fully understand it, but she ignited his protective instincts in a way that only one other person did. And that other person was his mother.
‘I’ll get out and stop bothering you—’ she hastened to say.
‘You’re not bothering me.’ He took her hand in both his and spoke gently. ‘Look, I’ll be honest. I have a selfish motive. I don’t like Lee. I’m not sure why. There’s just something about him that gets up my nose. It’ll be a real pleasure to annoy him. You wouldn’t be so hard-hearted as to deny me that pleasure, would you?’
It was a performance. The twinkle in his eyes revealed as much, and also the fact that he expected her to share the joke. And why not, she thought, since she gained from it?
‘How could I be hard-hearted enough to deny you anything?’ she said lightly, matching his theatrical fervour with her own.
He brushed his lips against her hand. ‘That’s good,’ he murmured, ‘because Lee’s watching. No, don’t turn your head. Just look at me. Try to seem entranced.’
She sighed, throwing back her head and giving him a glance of adoration, plus a brilliant smile.
‘Well done,’ Travis said. ‘That’ll teach him.’
‘If he saw.’
‘He did. He edged just closer enough to see everything. Trust me, I’m directing this production. Am I doing a good job?’
‘They should give you an award,’ she assured him, and he grinned. ‘Is he still watching?’ she asked.
‘I’m afraid not. He’s concentrating on Penny, which makes sense because she’s the female star of the show.’
‘And she can do him a lot of good,’ Charlene mused.
So Lee’s interest in Penny was mostly professional. She would cling to that thought.
Travis read her mind and burst out, ‘Forget him. He can’t matter that much.’
‘He does,’ she said softly. ‘But I can’t talk about it.’
‘All right, I won’t press you. We’ll talk some more tonight, over dinner.’
‘I can’t promise that—’
‘You mean you want to stay free for him. But he’s engaged this evening. He’s got to go to this ghastly dinner they’re giving for Frank Brenton. He and I can’t stand each other so I won’t be—Wait a minute!’ He slapped his hand to his forehead. ‘What am I thinking of? It’s been staring me in the face all the time.’
‘What is?’
He didn’t answer but grasped her hand, looking round and calling, ‘Denzil!’
Denzil had appeared in the doorway and Travis hailed him loudly. He came straight over. Charlene felt Travis tighten his grip on her hand, urging her to say nothing.
‘What’s up with you suddenly?’ Denzil asked, sitting down.
‘I’ve been thinking about tonight, and maybe I was a little unreasonable. I’d like to attend that dinner after all, if they can accommodate me at the last moment.’
Denzil beamed. ‘I don’t think there’ll be any problem about that,’ he said.
‘Fine, I’ll want a table for two. Charlene will be my guest.’
Denzil nodded slowly, as though something had just become clear to him.
‘Leave it to me. I’ll fix it.’ He vanished.
‘So that’s settled,’ Travis said. ‘Lee will be there tonight, so dress up to the nines. Let him know what he’s missing.’
Her head was in a spin. Travis was making everything happen so fast, it was like being taken over by a whirling dervish. But a kindly dervish.
‘It’s nice of you to take so much trouble for me—’ she began.
But he shook his head firmly. ‘Let’s be clear about this. I’m not being nice. I’m doing it for myself. You’ll make me look respectable and that’ll get them off my back. That’s why I strong-armed you into it without asking your opinion first. Sheer bullying to get what I want. So don’t praise me. I’m just being selfish.’
She regarded him fondly. ‘So you’re being selfish?’
‘Horribly selfish.’ There was a twinkling devil in his eyes. ‘I don’t know how you can stand me for a moment.’
‘Neither do I,’ she agreed. ‘In fact, all I can say is—’ she paused for dramatic effect ‘—if that’s your idea of being selfish, I wish there were more selfish people in the world.’
‘So you’ll come?’
‘Just try to stop me.’
‘Fine, then it’s time for you to go back to your hotel and prepare for tonight. Rick, my driver, will take you.’
A quick phone call to summon the car, then he escorted her out to where it was waiting with Rick behind the wheel. He was an elderly man with a good-natured face.
‘Rick, this is Miss Wilkins, who’ll be coming to the Brenton dinner with me tonight.’
Rick was astounded. ‘But you said—’
‘Never mind that. Things have changed. I want you to take her to her hotel now, and return there for her tonight. See you both later.’
He waved and stepped back as the car headed out into the traffic.
‘Did I hear him right?’ Rick called over his shoulder. ‘The Brenton dinner?’
‘Yes, what’s the big deal? I know he’d planned not to go—’
‘You can say that again. Travis gets on well with most people, but not that one. Brenton tried to ruin his big chance.’
‘How?’
‘His son’s an agent, and he had his own candidate for the role. Brenton did all he could to talk the studio bosses out of giving it to Travis. He failed, so then he set out to get him fired. Spreading rumours, bad stories in the press. Didn’t work. Since then it’s been armed truce. Nobody expected Travis to go tonight. But now he’s going so that he can take you. Lady, you must be really something!’
The habit of years made her begin modestly, ‘Oh, I don’t think I’m—’ But then her courage rose. ‘As long as he thinks so, that’s all that matters.’
‘You said it!’
Charlene leaned back against the upholstery. Suddenly she was enjoying this, despite everything.
Rick delivered her to the hotel, waited while she collected her key, smiled and departed. She knew he’d regarded the surroundings with surprise. It was the kind of hotel described as ‘budget’, which meant that she had a dormitory room, shared with two other women. It wasn’t ideal, but the place was clean and efficient, and she could connect her laptop to the Internet. This she did as soon as she arrived, looking up Travis Falcon, and growing more wide-eyed the more she learned of him.
The basics she already knew. He was the son of Julia Franklin and Amos Falcon of the international Falcon dynasty. But now she learned that he’d started his career on the stage, graduated to tiny roles in films before being pounced on by the studio and cast in the series.
There were hints that his private life was colourful. He was a playboy who never seemed to stay with one girlfriend for long. He indulged in flirtations, not love. But until now his liveliness had stayed within acceptable bounds. The nightclub picture marked the start of a new phase, and Charlene could see why his bosses were concerned.
Studying the photographs, she had to admit that he was the handsomest man she’d ever seen. And the most charming. It wasn’t a matter of looks. His face had a magical ‘something’ that spoke of a lust for life, a readiness to dive in anywhere and try anything. He was filled with humour, sometimes bawdy, sometimes cheeky.
Actually, she mused, the man from heaven can be a bit of a devil. Good for him!
She remembered how he’d treated her that afternoon—kindly, gently, with warmth and understanding, and she thought she could see those things in his face. Most people would have missed them, she reckoned, but she knew better.
All right, he was making use of her. But in a way she was making use of him. It was a fair bargain. Now it was time to prepare for the evening in such a way that she would be a credit both to herself and Travis.
I ought to be grateful, she thought. Lee’s turned his back on me—
But the next moment she clasped her hand across her stomach, still slim despite her suspicions.
But things may change, she told herself. I won’t know anything until I’ve told him.
She refused to believe that he could have dumped her completely after what they had shared. There was still hope.
CHAPTER THREE
A QUICK visit to a nearby hairdresser and her dark locks were transformed, becoming curled and lush. The blue satin dress was elegant, closely fitting a slender figure that many women would have envied.
And yet there was something missing. Honesty forced Charlene to admit that. Whatever the magical ‘extra’ was, she knew she didn’t have it. She looked pleasant, but not special.
Nor could she recall ever being really special to anyone in her life. Even her mother.
Her father had been mostly absent, more absorbed by his work than his family. He’d died when she was five, and her mother had remarried a year later. She and Mark, her stepfather, had been reasonably affectionate in an undemonstrative sort of way, but she’d sensed even then that they meant more to each other than she did to either of them. Mark had a son, James, by a previous marriage, who lived with his mother. Mark had been immensely proud of him, often speaking of him in a way that made Charlene feel that she herself didn’t really exist. Even her mother, anxious to please her husband, had sometimes seemed to value James more than her own daughter.
Once she’d overheard them discussing the idea of another baby.
‘It would be nice to have a daughter,’ Mark had remarked.
‘We’ve got Charlene,’ her mother had pointed out.
‘Yes, but—you know what I mean. A real daughter—ours.’
She had crept hastily away and never mentioned what she had heard. The casually unkind words, a real daughter, haunted her ever after.
When she was fifteen they had taken a holiday together. Just the two of them.
‘Can’t I come?’ Charlene had pleaded.
‘Darling, it’s our anniversary,’ her mother had said. ‘Mark and I need to be alone. You can understand that, can’t you?’
Of course she could understand. She’d always understood why she wasn’t a priority.
So they had gone without her, and never returned. Everyone said how lucky it was that she hadn’t been on the plane when it crashed, but haunting her grief was the knowledge that she hadn’t been wanted.
Her mother’s parents had taken her in. They had no other children or grandchildren, and they consoled themselves by lavishing affection on Charlene. In their warmth she blossomed, and much of the pain was eased. She had two people to love, and she knew that they loved her.
But the knowledge of having been second best never quite left her. Her stepbrother was never in touch, which made her sad because it would have been nice to have a big brother.
She’d come to understand that she was moderate in all things: moderate-looking, nothing special; moderately talented, with skills that were efficient rather than glamorous. Her bank employers praised her with the words, ‘We need good back-room staff.’ And she felt that this was where she belonged. In the back room—of work, of life, of love, of everything. The spotlight was for others.
She had boyfriends, but none seemed to last long. The one she’d cared for most had turned out to be using her to get close to her best friend. Charlene had been a bridesmaid at their wedding, which had seemed to her to be a gloomy portent for the future.
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, she’d thought, gazing at her reflection on the day.
But on the stage it was different. In the spotlight another side of her came to life, and she revelled in it. Her scenes with Lee had inspired the producer to say, ‘You two really make something fizz between you. Keep going.’
And something had happened, something that continued when they’d left the stage, that took them into each other’s arms, then into the same bed. It was her first experience of passion, and she rejoiced.
Lee hadn’t rejoiced. He’d been troubled.
‘Look, I’m sorry,’ he’d said hastily. ‘I didn’t know you weren’t … that you hadn’t … I mean …’
‘I guess I was waiting for you,’ she’d said softly, but that had seemed to trouble him even more.
She’d thought how nice he was to be concerned for her. The other thought, that he simply hated responsibility, was one she avoided.
But soon it would have to be faced. This afternoon he’d seen her at her dullest. Tonight she would present a face that reminded him of another time. And they would talk.
Her two room-mates, both pleasant young women, applauded her appearance.
‘Got a decent guy escorting you?’ one of them asked.
‘Travis Falcon.’
They whistled, as though impressed. But in the mirror she caught the look they exchanged, which said plainly that she was fantasising. Nobody who had to stay in this run-down hotel could ever attract such a glamorous escort.
She didn’t really blame them for not believing her. She barely believed it herself. Perhaps it really was a fantasy, and Travis would fail to turn up, leaving her abandoned.
In fact he was downstairs at that moment, looking around with horrified eyes. It was as bad as Rick had warned him. He hastened upstairs and knocked on her door.
It was opened by a young woman whose face registered total astonishment at the sight of him.
‘Is Charlene here?’ he asked.
‘Yes, she … Hey, Charlene—’ She turned back to Travis. ‘Are you really … really …?’ She seemed about to faint.
‘Yes, really,’ he assured her, stepping into the room and offering Charlene his arm. ‘Shall we go, my lady?’
To his delight, she slipped into the role easily, taking his arm and declaring, ‘Thank you, kind sir.’
From the way the other two stared at them it was clear that Charlene’s standing had rocketed. They came out into the corridor and followed the couple with longing eyes until they had vanished. Then they threw themselves into each other’s arms and screamed.
Charlene tried, unsuccessfully, to control her mirth.
‘Glad you find it funny,’ Travis said as they settled into the back seats of the car.
‘It’s myself I’m laughing at, not you.’ She chuckled. ‘Did you see their faces? A woman who can claim Travis Falcon as an escort is a woman to be reckoned with.’
‘Even if she’s poor enough to stay in this neighbourhood,’ he said. ‘You should have something better. Bad characters hang out here, and they’ll be very interested in that bracelet you’re wearing. Did Lee give it to you? If so, I commend his taste.’
‘No, it belongs to my grandmother.’
‘Are you wearing anything from him?’
She shook her head. There had been no gifts from Lee.
‘Then put this on,’ he said, holding up a necklace.
Even in the dim light of the car she could see that it was a glorious, expensive piece. She felt in a daze as he fixed it around her neck, his fingers touching her softly. She was going to a glamorous occasion, escorted by the most handsome man she’d ever seen, and she was determined to enjoy it. Whatever the future held, she would make the most of tonight.
She had only the vaguest notion of their destination, and her eyes widened as they reached Sunset Boulevard, in the heart of the most glamorous part of a glamorous city.
‘Where is this dinner being held?’ she asked.
‘At the Stollway Hotel.’
Her jaw dropped. The Stollway was among the most lush, lavish and expensive places in town. Next moment, they were nearing the entrance and she could see the flashing lights, the cars crowding in to disgorge gorgeously dressed men and women onto the broad red carpet.
‘I had no idea it would be like this,’ she gasped.
‘The PR department has made the most of it,’ Travis said.
‘But I thought it would just be a restaurant. This place is so big and … that crowd … it’s like a premier.’
‘Good. So there’ll be a lot of people to see the story we’re trying to tell them. They’ll know that you don’t need Lee Anton, because you can have any guy you want, just by snapping your fingers. And they’ll see that I only like nice girls.’
While she struggled for words, his face softened, his eyes became pleading.
‘I guess I wasn’t quite straight with you. I should have told you everything but I was afraid you’d say no, and I really need to do this. You can get me out of trouble as nobody else can.’
She remembered how he’d cast his protective mantle over her that afternoon. But for that, she’d be back in the hotel now, fighting back tears of rejection.
‘But do you think I’m up to it?’ she said. ‘It’s so scary.’
‘We’ll do it together. Don’t be afraid. Just smile and make it look as though it was the most natural thing in the world to you, and you love every minute.’
He put his hands on either side of her face, looking deep into her eyes. ‘Give the performance I know you can give.’
Suddenly she was inspired. There was a time for ducking out and a time for making the most of things, and this was definitely the second.
‘As long as you’re there, giving me directions,’ she said. ‘Let’s do it.’
‘That’s the spirit. I knew I could rely on you. Now, here comes our grand entrance.’
The car stopped. Cheers erupted from the crowd as they saw Travis emerge, smiling, waving, then reaching in for her. She took his hand and he drew her out into the spotlight.
He was playing his part perfectly, leading her slowly along the carpet so that everyone could get a good view of her quiet, restrained appearance. A gentle tug on her hand and he drew her around to the other side, just in case there was anyone who hadn’t seen how modest and ladylike she was.
Charlene smiled, turned to meet his eyes, and almost gasped at the adoring look he was giving her. If she hadn’t known better, she could almost have believed him about to fall on his knees and worship her.
What an actor! she thought.
He drew her hand to his lips and the cheers rose around them. She lowered her eyes, apparently overcome, and felt him draw her close.
‘Well done,’ he murmured in her ear. ‘Keep it up.’
As they approached the huge main doors there was a flicker of interest from behind them. Turning, they saw another car arrive, the door open and Lee emerge, accompanied by Penny. Their arrival caused a small commotion but nothing like the agitation that had greeted Travis. As they danced along the carpet three photographers dashed out to get closer shots.
Lee turned his head, laughing, preening in the spotlight. But his smile died as the photographers passed him by to surround Travis and Charlene. She had a brief glimpse of Lee’s face, aghast, astounded, chagrined. Then Travis swept her into the building.
Inside, there was more of the same as they made their way to the huge restaurant at the back of the hotel. It was called Aladdin’s Cave, and decorated with a magical theme. Brightly coloured lanterns hung from the ceiling, elaborate pictures decorated the walls and everywhere there was the glitter of gold.
They were escorted to a table for two, where he settled her with every attention and said, ‘Let’s have something to drink.’
‘Orange juice for me, please.’
‘This is an evening for champagne,’ he protested.
‘Orange juice,’ she said firmly. ‘Or sparkling water.’
He was silent a moment, but then nodded and made the order. He asked no further questions, but she had a sense that he understood why she wouldn’t touch alcohol.
Denzil bustled over, rubbing his hands with delight, paid Charlene extravagant compliments and then bustled away. People were arriving slowly, waving at Travis, looking curiously at Charlene before flaunting themselves before each other, all putting on performances. For the moment it was still quiet enough to talk.
‘You’ve saved my neck, you know that?’ Travis said. ‘All those pictures they took of us outside. I have a career again.’
‘Just like that?’
‘It can happen that way in this city. Here today, gone tomorrow, back again the day after.’
‘Don’t you ever find the life exhausting?’
‘Well, I do end up living on edge a lot of the time, but it can feel worth it.’
‘I suppose success is wonderful.’
‘Yes. Not that I’ve been a success long enough to know very much. But it matters to me to achieve everything I can, just to stop my father disowning me.’
‘But surely you don’t need him? You’re independent.’
‘I meant disowning me in spirit.’ Travis gave a brief laugh. ‘It’s odd isn’t it? I disapprove of Amos, sometimes I even dislike him. But I still hate the feeling that I’m the one on the outside of the family. He despises me for not being like him, the way my brothers are.’
‘All of them?’
‘Mostly. Darius is a big man in finance, just like Amos. He’s been hit by the credit crunch, and now he’s living on Herringdean, an island off the south coast of England that one of his debtors used to pay him off. He started out hating it, but he came to love it. Falling in love with a local girl helped. I was at their wedding a few weeks ago and if ever two people were crazy about each other it’s those two.’
‘You sound as though you envy them.’
‘In a way I do. It’s nice to know your final destination, and be able to reach it. Darius has been married before and it didn’t work out, but he’s safe with Harriet. Plus his first wife likes her, even encouraged them to marry because their two children like her as well.’
Charlene recalled him talking about his father and all the children Amos had by different women. His brother’s arrangement sounded so much happier that she began to understand the touch of wistfulness in his voice.
He can’t really be jealous, she thought. An ordinary domestic set-up. Many people would call it boring, but the great star actually wishes … no, that’s just the sort of thing he’d say in interviews. I’m imagining things. Shut up, Charlie.
‘What did you say?’ Travis asked, staring at her suddenly.
‘Nothing.’
‘I thought you whispered, “Shut up, Charlie”.’
‘Did I say that out loud? Oh, heck!’
‘You actually call yourself Charlie?’
‘When I’m trying to remember to be sensible. It’s not easy in a place like LA. Common sense seems the last thing you can manage, and actually the last thing you want.’
‘I know the feeling,’ he said wryly.
‘So your brother’s settled for common sense?’
‘That’s not what Darius calls it. To him it’s finding out what his life is really all about.’
‘And it’s not just about money?’
‘Not any more. It was once but that was his “Amos” side. Now he’s found something else and the Amos side is having to stand back.’
‘I’ll bet Amos doesn’t like that.’
‘Too right. He tried to stop their marriage, but failed. Mind you, Darius will climb to the financial top again. It’s in the Falcon genes. Marcel is like Amos too, except for being half French. He makes his money from hotels. He’s got a big, glamorous place in Paris and he’s recently bought another one in London to “extend his empire”. Amos loves that. To him, that’s how a Falcon should think, in terms of empire.’
‘Perhaps you need to play a Roman emperor,’ Charlene mused. ‘How about Julius Caesar?’
‘Better still, Nero,’ he said, catching her mood. ‘Or Caligula.’
‘But Nero was a tyrant,’ Charlene objected.
‘Great. That makes him a true Falcon.’
‘And Caligula was mad. Wouldn’t your father hate that?’
‘Not if it made money.’
They laughed together.
‘Haven’t you got two other brothers?’
‘Yes, there’s Leonid, who’s Russian and lives in Moscow. We don’t know a lot about him, but he must be successful because Amos always speaks of him with respect. Jackson’s different. He’s a naturalist. He’s written books and has a television series about wildlife all over the world.’
‘That doesn’t sound like it makes him a millionaire.’
‘No, he’s not. But Amos respects him, nonetheless, because the world knows him as a “serious man” doing a “serious job”. I just “flaunt myself for the press”, but Jackson “defends the environment” and that elevates the name Falcon, even if not in business.
‘He actually told me once that I should change my name because he didn’t want to be connected with someone “prancing around for the cameras”.’
‘Your father doesn’t want you to be called after him?’ she asked, aghast.
‘He despises what I do. He was furious when I wouldn’t take a different name.’
‘No wonder you feel shut out,’ she said sympathetically.
‘Not by the others. I get on fine with my brothers, what little I see of them. But I think Amos is just hanging on in the hope that one day I’ll change into a mini-Amos.’
‘You could always act it,’ she suggested.
‘Not if I want to stay sane,’ he said hastily. ‘This way, at least I know who I am. Or I would, if people didn’t keep wanting me to put on a performance in private as well as in front of the cameras.’
‘You poor soul.’ She sighed. ‘The burdens of fame. Just think of all those unemployed actors out there who must be so grateful they don’t have your problems.’
He scowled for a moment, but then relaxed and squeezed her hand, smiling ruefully.
‘Yeah, right. I must be coming across as a bit of a wimp, eh? It’s your fault. You’re such a tempting, sympathetic shoulder to cry on that I gave in. But no more.’ His voice deepened and he assumed a haughty mien. ‘From now on, just macho authority and stern resolve.’
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Lucy Gordon
Mills & Boon
is excited to present this new family saga from award-winning author Lucy Gordon
The Falcon Dynasty
Five successful brothers looking for brides!
Amos Falcon is a proud, self-made man who wants his legacy to live on through his five sons. Each son is different, for they have different mothers, but in one aspect they are the same: he has raised them to be ruthless in business and sensible in matters of the heart.
But one by one these high-achieving brothers will find that when the right woman comes along love is the greatest power of them all…
RESCUED BY THE BROODING TYCOON August 2011
MISS PRIM AND THE BILLIONAIRE February 2012
PLAIN JANE IN THE SPOTLIGHT July 2012
Dear Reader,
With the third book of THE FALCON DYNASTY I found myself facing new challenges. Travis is unlike most other heroes, and certainly unlike the other Falcons. Amos’s ruthless, demanding nature has descended to several of his sons. Darius, Marcel and Leonid have obvious traces of their father. Even Jackson is a Falcon, in his clear-eyed determination to do things his way.
But Travis is different: an actor in the glamorous city of Los Angeles, he’s a gentle, sweet-natured man who makes his way through life with charm and humour. His greatest gift is for winning hearts, so his career flourishes and he can take his choice of beautiful women. Whatever he touches turns to gold, and he seems to have everything a man could wish for.
It takes a special woman to discover the truth. Charlene would call herself plain and dowdy, but she’s the only one Travis trusts sufficiently to reveal the vulnerability he hides from the rest of the world.
Despised and half rejected by his domineering father, Travis has always felt on the outside of the Falcon family. Now Charlene’s open arms offer comfort and safety, and he takes joyful refuge in them. But when suddenly he has the chance to win Amos’s respect it could be at Charlene’s expense.
What he does now will define his life, and his decision reveals him as a true Falcon: not to be deflected from his chosen path. But few men would have the strength to do what he does.
Travis is my favourite Falcon. I hope you love him as much as I do.
Best wishes,
Lucy Gordon
About the Author
LUCY GORDON cut her writing teeth on magazine journalism, interviewing many of the world’s most interesting men, including Warren Beatty, Charlton Heston and Sir Roger Moore. She also camped out with lions in Africa, and had many other unusual experiences, which have often provided the background for her books. Several years ago, while staying in Venice, she met a Venetian who proposed in two days. They have been married ever since. Naturally this has affected her writing, where romantic Italian men tend to feature strongly.
Two of her books have won a Romance Writers of America RITA
Award.
You can visit her website at www.lucy-gordon.com
Plain Jane in
the Spotlight
Lucy Gordon
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CHAPTER ONE
‘FOR pity’s sake, Travis, why do you never listen? You’ve been warned a dozen times. Stay out of sleazy nightclubs.’
Denzil Raines, boss of the Sandora Studio in Los Angeles, snapped out the command and tried to control his temper. It was hard because Travis would try anyone’s patience.
The studio produced several money-making television series, but none of them raked in the wealth as fast and gloriously as The Man From Heaven, starring Travis Falcon, and protecting that investment was a major operation.
The young man enduring the lecture seemed to sum up the whole of the investment in himself. Travis’s body was lean and vigorous, his face was handsome, his air charming, his smile devastating. It spoke of eagerness to enjoy life to the full. Late nights, curiosity for new experiences, untiring energy for a vast range of pleasurable activities. They were all there in the quirk of his mouth, the gleam in his eye, and they caused much hair tearing among those who needed to keep him in check.
Denzil reflected that he’d picked the right word. Sleazy. That was it. Sleazy nightclubs, sleazy pleasures, sleazy Travis. But he knew it was precisely the hint of a ‘bad boy’ lurking in the shadows that hit the magic spot with the public. And it would go on doing so as long as it stayed in the safety of the shadows. If it was allowed to escape … Denzil groaned.
Travis was standing by the window, looking out over the view of Los Angeles. Clearly visible in the distance was the huge gleaming sign, HOLLYWOOD, that for ninety years had symbolised the city where glamour, entertainment and money united in brilliant supremacy. His gaze was fixed on the sign, as though to remind himself of the achievements he was fighting to keep. He stood, bathed in sunlight, apparently nonchalant, but actually alive to every threatening nuance.
‘I didn’t know it was sleazy,’ he said with a shrug. ‘My friend chose it for his stag night.’
‘Stag night?’ Denzil echoed in outrage. ‘Then you might have guessed there’d be half-naked dolly birds prancing around. What else are stag nights for? You should have got out of the place instead of … this!’
He held out a newspaper, jamming his finger down on a picture of a man and a girl clinging to each other. He was sitting down, shirt ripped open, the half-naked girl on his lap, her arms about his neck, kissing him madly, which he showed every sign of enjoying.
‘You had to lay yourself out for those girls,’ Denzil groaned.
‘I didn’t lay myself out,’ Travis protested. ‘I was having a quiet drink when this lady … well …’
‘Quiet? Hah! When did you last do anything quietly? And she was no lady. She’d been hired for the night to “entertain” the male guests. She entertained you all right.’
‘I didn’t ask her to sit on my lap.’
‘You didn’t push her off, either.’
‘No, that would have been rude. I was just trying to be polite.’
‘Oh, it was politeness that made you put your arms about her waist, draw her close, nuzzle her—’
‘I’m only human,’ Travis protested. ‘When a half-naked girl drapes herself over a guy he’s expected to show some appreciation.’
‘You did that all right,’ Denzil snapped. ‘She’s not the only one who’s half-naked. Look at your shirt, open to the waist, so that she can dance her fingers over your bare chest. Did she pull it open? Did you? Or did you arrive like that, hoping something would happen?’
Travis groaned. ‘Can we just leave this? I didn’t know the press was there, OK?’
‘The press is always there where you’re concerned,’ Denzil growled. ‘You should know that by now. Ever since the show became a hit they’ve been watching you, trying to find out something that makes people’s hair stand on end. And, let’s face it, there are plenty of those!’
‘I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate me,’ Travis said with a touch of wry humour.
‘Very wise. They just want to catch you out with something really damaging. It wouldn’t be such a problem if you were playing a different character, but this one is full of danger.’
The TV series, The Man From Heaven, was the talk of the entertainment world. Superficially, it seemed a conventional hospital drama, centred around the young, handsome Dr Brad Harrison, played by Travis Falcon. But beneath it was another tale. The doctor lived a life of strict virtue that was wildly at odds with his flamboyant sexual presence, and there was just a hint that he wasn’t a mortal man at all, but a spirit from another dimension.
It was the intriguing contrast between Dr Harrison’s austere life and the sexual indulgence open to a man of his attractions that had sent the show to the top of all the popularity charts. The producers were determined to keep it there, if only they could rein in Travis’s more lurid off-screen activities.
‘Folk out there like nothing better than to discover “the heavenly being” acting on his lowest human instincts,’ Denzil pointed out now.
‘But I’m not a heavenly being,’ Travis said firmly.
‘You don’t have to tell me that,’ Denzil snapped. ‘Look, the public’s crazy about you, the money’s pouring in. The next series is being planned. But that could all change if you step too much out of character in private. Look, I’m not unreasonable. Of course you want female company. Just not that sort.’
Travis studied the picture again and sighed. ‘I know. I was careless. I’ll be more careful.’
‘It would help if you were in a relationship with a respectable girl. Don’t pull that face. I know “respectable” is like the kiss of death to you, but we need the public to believe in you as one of the good guys, not a philanderer.’
‘But I am a philanderer,’ Travis pointed out.
‘Then try to pretend you’re not,’ Denzil roared. ‘You’re an actor aren’t you? So act!’
‘Act what? Do I lie to the girl and pretend it’s real? No way. That would be dishonest. Or do I tell her upfront that she’s being made use of, then see her go straight to the press?’
Denzil groaned. ‘Just get your life in order. There’s a lot at stake, Travis. Think career. Think money.’
‘All right. I’ll think money.’
‘And while we’re on the subject—about tonight—’
‘I’m not going to be at the dinner tonight,’ Travis said firmly. ‘There’s been too much bad blood between Brenton and me.’
He escaped, breathing out hard in his exasperation and relief. As he headed down the corridor his cellphone shrilled. It was Pete, his agent.
‘I suppose they’ve been onto you too?’ Travis demanded.
‘Denzil called me as soon as you’d gone,’ Pete said. ‘Apart from anything else, he’s cross because you won’t come to the dinner tonight.’
‘And I told him the answer’s still no,’ Travis groaned.
There was to be a celebration dinner for Frank Brenton’s sixtieth birthday. He was a studio big shot who’d invested a lot of money in the past and it was hoped he would put in more. Hence the big party.
‘He can’t stand me and I can’t stand him,’ Travis said. ‘He pulled every string he could find to stop me being cast in the show, and he hates my guts because he failed. Best if we don’t meet.’
‘OK, OK. I told Denzil I’d raise it. But about the other thing, he just wants to be sure you understood the message.’
‘But why have I got to be the only virtuous guy in Los Angeles?’ Travis growled.
‘Because it makes you different, and that difference puts a couple of extra noughts on the cheque. You haven’t suddenly stopped caring for money and success, have you?’
‘No way.’
‘Then get a grip.’
‘Am I supposed to live a totally moral life?’ Travis demanded, aghast.
‘No, I know you too well for that. But keep the fun stuff behind closed doors. In public, be seen only with ladies of impeccable morality. If they decided to replace you—well, there are several other actors just slavering to grab that part from you.’
He hung up, leaving Travis scowling at the dead phone.
‘Grr!’ he said.
He knew that both Pete and Denzil were right. Carelessly indulgent behaviour could imperil his career, and that was the last thing he wanted. He enjoyed the benefits of stardom too much. But what to do about it was a problem. The ‘respectable’ road definitely did not attract him.
But he couldn’t say that openly without risking everything that mattered to him: his career, his reputation, his pride, the money that was pouring in. That money told the tale of a successful man; not just to himself, but to others whose respect he cared for more than he wanted to admit.
‘They think it’s so easy,’ he mused. ‘If I play a guy who can soar above human temptations then I can be like that in real life. As if! All right, I was a bit careless with that girl in the nightclub, and I very nearly … But I didn’t! It took a lot of self-control, but I didn’t.
‘If I was really a heavenly being, I could solve the problem in an instant. I’d turn the next corner and find the perfect solution just waiting for me. But in real life that kind of miracle doesn’t happen. Ah well! Time to get to work. With luck, I might even get in touch with my virtuous side.’
He gave a wry laugh.
‘Whatever that means.’
Charlene took a deep breath as she neared the studio entrance. It was now or never. In another moment she would get through that door as a member of a party privileged to tour the studio. Or perhaps someone would spot that she was a fraud; that she was here to see Lee Anton, the man with whom she was secretly in love, who had once seemed to love her, and whose feelings she desperately hoped to revive.
A pause in the queue gave her the chance to regard herself in a wall mirror. She’d taken trouble over her appearance and knew she looked as good as possible. Which wasn’t very good, she thought sadly. Nature hadn’t made her a beauty. Not exactly plain, but not exactly pretty either. Lee had called her ‘Nice-looking’ and praised her eyes.
‘I like dark eyes,’ he’d said, ‘especially when they sparkle like yours.’
She’d clung to such remarks, and the fact that he sought her company rather than the beauties in the amateur dramatic society where they’d met. He was a professional actor, but back then his engagements were scarce and he’d been on the verge of chucking it in.
To pass the time he’d joined the amateur society, which was where they had met and quickly become attracted to each other. With her, attraction had soon become love, and she reached out to him with nothing held back. He’d responded eagerly, and the nights spent in his arms were the most joyful experiences of her life.
The play had been a triumph. She’d looked forward to the moment when he would ask her to marry him, and thought it had come when he said excitedly, ‘Guess what! The most incredible thing—’
‘Yes?’ she asked breathlessly. Out of sight, she crossed her fingers. Here it came. The proposal.
Lee was almost dancing with joy.
‘It’s so wonderful!’ he squeaked. ‘It just shows that if you wait for the right moment—’
‘And? And? And?’
‘There was an American agent in the audience.’
‘Wh … what?’
‘He wants to take me on. He reckons he could get me a part in The Man From Heaven. They’re looking for an English actor. Isn’t that great? Isn’t that the best thing you ever heard?’
‘Yes,’ she mumbled. ‘Oh, yes, great.’
Two days later he’d left for Los Angeles.
‘I’ll stay in touch,’ he’d promised.
And he had—after a fashion. There were emails, texts, the odd phone call, but no invitation for her to follow him. He was slipping away from her, and she couldn’t let that happen. She had something urgent to tell him, something that couldn’t be told on the phone.
Charlene had arrived three days ago, called him, leaving a message but receiving no response. Texts and emails went unanswered, and now she realised that he’d never given her an address. In the end she’d booked a place on the tour as the only way of seeing him.
She’d looked up the show online and learned the background story, and the role Lee was playing.
Up-and-coming English actor Lee Anton will be making his debut as Dr Franklin Baker, newly seconded to work at the Mercyland Hospital, where he rapidly becomes the friend and confidant of Brad Harrison, (played by Travis Falcon) and the only one who suspects his mysterious secret.
That morning she’d bought a newspaper, attracted by the headline—HEAVENLY ANTICS, the latest startling story from the show everyone’s talking about.
But to her disappointment there was only the briefest mention of Lee. Most of the page was taken up by a photograph of a man sitting with a girl on his lap, his shirt open to the waist, her hand seductively caressing his bare chest. His face was only half visible and for a fearful moment she checked in case it was Lee. But it wasn’t and she breathed again. It was only Travis Falcon.
Whoever he was, she thought, uninterested.
She knew she must be careful. Exposed to the glamorous temptations of Los Angeles, Lee was bound to have indulged himself, and she wouldn’t spoil things between them by harsh judgements. That was in the past. When he’d heard her news everything would be all right, and only the future would matter.
But she was glad it wasn’t Lee in the picture.
The queue was moving. Then she was inside, following the others in the guided tour that would end in the special privilege of being allowed to watch a scene being rehearsed. She paid only the slightest attention, while all the time her eyes wandered, seeking Lee.
Inside her head two voices were raging at each other.
He’s dumped you. Why don’t you face it?
And the other voice.
But he doesn’t know about … When you tell him the news it’ll make all the difference.
And then she saw him.
He was down the far end of a corridor, reading something on the wall. She tried to call him but her emotion caused her to choke. Suddenly he turned away and vanished around a corner. She began to run, not looking where she was going until she collided with an obstacle, felt two arms tighten around her and heard a man’s voice say, ‘Hey, steady there.’
‘Let me go. I must catch him.’
Charlene wrenched herself free and ran along the rest of the corridor, turning the corner, then stopping abruptly, backing off, hand to mouth to silence the joyful cry that had been about to burst from her.
Now she could see him again: Lee, half turned away from her, hailing someone just out of sight.
‘Where have you been?’ he called. ‘I’ve been looking for you. Come here and kiss me.’
The next moment a girl appeared from nowhere, throwing herself into his wide open arms, kissing him again and again between squeals of laughter, crying, ‘Oh, darling, it’s such wonderful news!’
He was laughing too, kissing her back, saying breathlessly, ‘Hey that’s right, give me a kiss … and another … and another … Oh, I like that … oh, yes … oh, yes—’
He was lurching backwards under the girl’s impact, until they both vanished around a corner. Charlene felt as though her heart had stopped dead. Not just her heart, but the whole world. That had been Lee. No—impossible. Yes—it had been Lee. No—yes—no—yes—no!
She turned wildly, knowing she had to get out of here. But her way was blocked by the man who’d been there before and who’d reappeared.
‘I’m … I’m sorry—’
He put a friendly hand on her shoulder.
‘Don’t get upset. That guy’s not worth it.’
‘I—’ She tried to speak normally, but only a choke would come.
‘Don’t cry,’ he advised her.
‘I’m not crying,’ she said fiercely, although tears were streaming down her cheeks.
He didn’t waste time arguing, just took out a clean handkerchief and dabbed her face gently.
‘People kiss each other all the time,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t mean anything, not in this place. Kissing is just like saying hello.’
She knew that what she’d seen was far more than that, but he was trying to be kind, and she forced herself to be calm.
‘Yes—yes—thank you. I’ll stop bothering you now—’
‘You’re not bothering me. I just don’t like to see you upset. Do you know him?’
‘I thought I did—I mean, yes—no—’
He nodded, as though fully comprehending her confusion.
‘I can’t say I like him much myself,’ he admitted. ‘Are you one of his fans? You sound English. Did you follow him here?’
‘No!’ she said fiercely. ‘Of course I didn’t. What a thing to say!’
‘Sorry, sorry. No offence. So you haven’t lost your heart to him?’
‘No!’ she said violently. ‘That would be just silly—mooning over a pretty face just because he’s an actor.’
‘It has been known,’ he murmured wryly. ‘But if you haven’t, that’s good. This is no place for people with hearts. What’s your name?’
‘Charlene Wilkins. Who are you?’
She sensed, rather than saw, a tremor of surprise go through him. ‘What did you say?’
‘I just asked your name. Have I seen you before somewhere?’
‘Evidently not. My name’s Travis Falcon. I work here.’
‘Oh, yes—you’re in the show, aren’t you?’
His lips twitched with something that might have been amusement. ‘That’s one way of putting it. Now, let’s get out of here. We’ve got time for a coffee before I start work.’
‘No, I’m fine … fine—honestly—’
It was a lie. Appalled, she could feel herself on the verge of hysterics as the truth crashed in on her.
‘Come on,’ he said firmly. ‘I’m not leaving you on your own in a strange place. Not given the state you’re in.’
But to be alone was what she needed in case the screams rising within her broke out. When he reached for her she flailed madly to fend him off, and the next moment she heard a loud crack as her hand made contact with his face.
The sound was shocking and the way he rubbed his cheek told its own story. Charlene backed away, hands over her mouth, eyes wide with horror. But, incredibly, he wasn’t offended.
‘Hey, it’s not that bad,’ Travis said. ‘No big deal.’
‘It is. Oh, heavens, I hit you really hard. I didn’t mean to—I’m sorry—’
‘You will be if you don’t let me buy you a coffee. Come on, no more arguments or I’ll get tough.’
His tone was light but he held her arm in a no-nonsense grip. Nor could she have defied him now. All the strength seemed to have drained out of her. The next thing she knew, she was sitting at a table in the corner of the studio canteen.
‘I’m going to the counter,’ he said. ‘Don’t even think of escaping while I’m gone, or I’ll get mad.’ He gave her a kindly smile. ‘I can be very nasty when I’m mad.’
He left her and she sat there, without the strength to move. She felt herself sagging everywhere—body, mind and heart. How had she been such a fool as to let it come to this? Plain, sensible Charlene, famed for her common sense! And she’d gone down like a row of ninepins.
Travis Falcon. Now she recalled that he was the star of the show. He didn’t act like a star, proud and pompous. He hadn’t been offended when she’d failed to recognise him, or even when she’d accidentally struck him. More like a nice guy than a star.
She dived into her bag and pulled out the newspaper with the picture of the man in the nightclub. As she opened it another picture fell out. It had been taken on a stage and showed a young man and a girl in nineteenth-century costumes, fervently clinging to each other. She took it with her everywhere.
‘Here we are.’ Travis’s voice made her jump as he appeared with coffee and rolls. ‘It’s good to see you calmer. I was getting worried.’
‘I’m really sorry about your face,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to hit you.’
‘I know you didn’t.’
‘It’s not swelling, is it?’ she asked, searching his face. ‘If I’ve damaged you the studio will probably sue me.’
‘Hey, do you think I’m some sort of a wimp to be so easily hurt? You’re not the first girl to—Yeah, well, never mind that. Anyway, we’re only rehearsing today, not shooting, so if you’ve disfigured me it won’t matter until tomorrow.’
His comic self-deprecation was attractive, and her nerves eased enough to manage a shaky laugh, which made him regard her with approval.
‘That’s better. Now, let’s talk. How do you come to be here? I suppose you were looking for Lee?’ She nodded and he said, ‘Perhaps you should have warned him you were coming?’
‘But I did, only … he doesn’t seem to be getting his messages the last few days.’
Travis judged it best to maintain a tactful silence. He’d known Lee for only a few weeks and disliked him. Selfish, self-centred, indifferent to everyone else was how he would have described him. In the short time Lee had been in Los Angeles he’d raised the roof with his ‘girly antics’ as they had become known.
But he wouldn’t say this to the young woman sitting beside him. There was no need. Clearly she was discovering it for herself.
‘Do you know him well?’ he asked.
‘We’ve acted together.’
‘You’re an actress?’
‘Not professionally. I work in a bank, but I do a lot of amateur acting. That’s how I met Lee.’
‘Hey, now I remember. There was a story in the papers—he hadn’t had a job in a while, so he did some amateur stuff and an agent saw him.’
‘That’s right.’ Charlene showed him the photograph. ‘That’s us.’
‘What was the play?’
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Lee played Shakespeare?’
‘He was very good,’ she said defensively. ‘He was Demetrius, I was Helena.’
And Helena spent most of the play pursuing Demetrius, begging to know why he no longer loved her. Travis studied the picture, noticing the passionate adoration in her face and the impatience in his. How much of it was acting? Not much, he guessed, drawing on his knowledge of Lee.
He glanced at her. She was tall, with dark, straight hair, flowing casually over her shoulders. Not a beauty. Not even pretty in the strictest sense. Her features were regular but there was a slight touch of severity about her face that might warn people off, just at first, although it faded when she smiled, brightening her large dark eyes.
Intriguing, he thought. She didn’t flaunt everything on the surface, but perhaps she might lure a man along a fascinating path of discovery. Or maybe not. Who could say? But she was exactly the kind of woman he doubted that Lee bothered with for long.
He knew a twinge of pity. He had an uneasy feeling that she was facing heartbreak.
A shadow appeared in the doorway and a woman strode in, looking around frantically.
‘Oh, goodness!’ Charlene said. ‘I got in as part of a studio tour, and that’s the leader, looking for me.’
The woman bore down on them, uttering words of concern and disapproval.
‘I’m afraid it’s my fault,’ Travis said at once. ‘Charlene is an old friend of mine and when I saw her here I persuaded her to spend the day with me.’ He smiled at Charlene. ‘You should have told me you were coming and I’d have rolled out the red carpet.’
‘I didn’t want to be a trouble,’ she said, falling into character.
‘You’re never a trouble to me.’ He turned back to the leader. ‘You can safely leave her in my care.’
He accompanied the words with his warmest look and the leader melted.
‘Oh, well … in that case I’ll leave you to it.’ She departed, but not before giving him a mystified look over her shoulder.
‘You see?’ Travis said to Charlene. ‘No problem.’
‘That was an incredible performance,’ she said. ‘You really fooled her. Thank you so much. And I won’t be a nuisance. I’ll go now.’
‘No way. You just heard me say you were spending the day with me, so that’s what you have to do.’ He dropped his voice to a theatrical undertone. ‘If you flee my company it looks bad. People will think I’m losing my touch.’
‘And we can’t have them thinking that,’ she agreed.
‘Right. Now it’s time we went to the rehearsal.’
‘We? Am I allowed?’
‘You were going to go with the group.’
‘Yes, but will they let me in on my own?’
‘You won’t be on your own. You’re my guest, and you can do anything I say.’
He drew her to her feet, then crooked his arm for her to take.
‘Time for our entrance,’ he said.
CHAPTER TWO
WHEN they entered the rehearsal room the director raised his eyebrows, but a smile from Travis and his arm around Charlene’s shoulder evidently answered all questions.
He saw her comfortably seated and flicked open the script. ‘Which scene is it this morning?’
‘The one where you try to talk Myra out of being in love with Dr. Baker,’ the director said, ‘and Baker overhears you—if those two would only turn up—ah, Lee, Penny, there you are!’
Charlene stiffened as Lee appeared in the doorway, with the girl she’d seen him with earlier. She turned her head but not quickly enough.
Lee had seen her.
He’d recognised her.
She tried to interpret his stunned look as pleasure. Now he would hurry across the floor to greet her.
But he stayed where he was, confused, troubled. Not delighted.
‘Right, Lee,’ the director said, ‘we’ll have a camera on you, to get a reaction shot. Travis, start at, “You should forget Dr Baker.”’
They took their places and Travis began.
‘You should forget Dr Baker. I know he’s incredibly handsome, but looks don’t really matter. Try to believe me. A man’s face is the least of him.’
‘Oh, they do matter, Dr Harrison, truly they do.’ Penny sighed. ‘He’s so attractive that I can’t help loving him.’
‘But is he generous, affectionate, honest? Will he always put you first?’
‘You mean is he dull and reliable?’ she challenged.
Dr Harrison took her hands in his and spoke with feeling. ‘I promise you, when you come to marry, dull and reliable is the best.’
‘Fine,’ the director said. ‘Lee, you should try to look as though you’ve just had a terrible shock.’
Which he has, Charlene thought sadly.
The actress called Penny gave Travis a look of laughing camaraderie. ‘“Dull and reliable is the best,”’ she teased. ‘You sounded like you believed that nonsense.’
‘I’m an actor,’ Travis protested. ‘I’m supposed to talk nonsense convincingly.’ He grinned. ‘However little I believe it.’
‘Well nobody ever accused you of being dull and reliable. That picture—’
‘You didn’t see it,’ he said hastily. ‘There’s no picture.’
‘If you say so.’
They rehearsed the scene several more times. Never once did Lee look in Charlene’s direction, and perhaps Travis realised this too, because when there was a break he went over to him. Charlene couldn’t hear what they said but she saw him take Lee’s arm and draw him towards her. She noticed, too, the uneasy glance he gave Penny.
As Lee sat down next to her he managed a polite smile, but his words brought a chill to her heart.
‘Fancy seeing you again.’
‘Why do you sound surprised? I’ve been sending you texts—’
‘My cellphone needs repair. Never mind. It’s great to see you again. What are you doing here? Did you come to see Travis? I hear you’re an old friend of his. OK, I’m just coming!’
The last words were called to Penny, who was standing by the door, signalling him and mouthing a word that looked like Lunch.
‘Old friend and good friend,’ came a voice above Charlene’s head. It was Travis, who’d been shamelessly eavesdropping. ‘It made my day when you turned up here, Charlene. Now, make it even better and have lunch with me.’
His hand on her arm brooked no resistance. Not that she wanted to resist. She was too grateful to him. Lee gave her a meaningless smile and vanished out of the door with Penny.
There was no doubt that Travis had saved her dignity. All eyes were on them as he escorted her out of the studio, into the corridor, into the elevator, finally the canteen. Heads turned, people stared at him in the company of a girl nobody had seen before.
Charlene struggled to collect her thoughts. Lee’s blank manner had told her everything she needed to know. But would that change when he heard her news? She had a terrible fear that it wouldn’t.
‘Thank you,’ she said when they were sitting at the table. ‘You saved me from looking a complete fool.’
‘Don’t call yourself a fool. That’s just playing his game. Presentation is all important.’
‘It’ll take more than presentation to stop me looking pathetic,’ she said in a tone of self-contempt. ‘I came all this way for a man who isn’t interested.’
‘But nobody has to know. Smile at me. Let them see us enjoying each other’s company. Go on, smile. More. That’s better.’
She was aware of the crowded canteen, and even more aware of Lee and Penny sitting together.
Good, she thought defiantly. Now he knew she wasn’t desperate for him.
‘So you’re a financial genius,’ he said.
She made a face. ‘That’s what I used to think, but it seems not.’
‘Hey, if you’re good with figures then I’m impressed. I’m rubbish at them.’
‘But it’s possible to be good with figures and rubbish at everything else,’ she said quietly. ‘It doesn’t make you good with people. I thought being good at the job was all I needed to get promoted, but the promotion went to some little doll-face who’d learned the job from me in the first place. When I protested I was told that they relied on me to keep an eye on her.’
‘So you’d do the work and she’d get the credit?’ Travis said sympathetically.
‘And the company car. And the increase in salary. So I told them to forget it.’
‘Good for you!’
She gave a brief laugh. ‘I wasn’t very clever. They offered me a bonus if I’d stay there, look after her and promise to keep quiet about “everything”.’
‘Meaning your boss and the girl he was sleeping with?’
‘Right. I could have had it made, but I lost my temper. I was really violent. They say the building shook when I slammed out.’
‘You?’ he queried. ‘Violent?’
‘Well, you’ve already found that out, haven’t you?’
‘No, you didn’t hit me on purpose. Pure accident. You seem so sedate, I just can’t imagine you slamming out.’
He might have added that her clothes, hair and make-up told the same story: austere, severe, sober, stern, unyielding. There was nothing fiery about her. Not on the surface, anyway. But inside he guessed there was something else.
Perhaps Lee had tempted it out into the open, which made it all the more strange that he was avoiding her.
‘Well, I’m paying for it,’ she said. ‘If I’d been clever I’d have driven them to fire me, then claimed unfair dismissal and sued.’
‘Admirable, but could you have driven them to fire you?’
‘Maybe. People can be tricked into doing what you want.’ She smiled. ‘I expect you know that.’
‘Sometimes,’ he conceded. ‘But I have a feeling I’m not as good at it as you.’
‘Well, I wasn’t good at it this time. First I lost my temper, then I realised I shouldn’t have, and by then it was too late. I did everything by the virtuous book, but sometimes you can have too much virtue.’
‘How true,’ he murmured. ‘So how did you find the cash to come here?’
‘My grandparents paid. They brought me up since my parents died. They’re lovely, adventurous people. Right now they’re on holiday in Africa, looking for elephants. They said I could go with them but I chose to come here instead.’
‘To find Lee?’
‘Yes.’
‘Where are you staying?’
‘The Howley. Why do you shudder? Do you know it?’
‘Not the hotel but that part of town. Depressing. I’d get out if I was you, find something better.’
He could have bitten his tongue out for his own tactlessness. Obviously she was making the money last, not knowing how long she would be here.
He took hold of her hand. ‘Charlene, listen to me. Don’t do anything crazy. It’s not—’
‘Well, this is nice!’
They both looked at the man who’d appeared just behind Travis. He was middle-aged, bulky, and his smile was a little too broad to be convincing.
‘Hello, Denzil,’ Travis said. ‘Charlene, this is Denzil Raines, my boss.’
‘None of that “boss” stuff,’ Denzil said jovially. ‘We’re all friends here. So you’re Charlene. I’ve been hearing about you. Nice to meet you. Hope you’re having a good time. Travis, make sure you treat this lady well. All right, all right, I’ll leave you two alone now.’
He took himself off, only turning at the last moment to give Travis a thumbs up sign and a beaming grin. Travis gave an inward groan.
‘He seems nice,’ Charlene observed. ‘Is something the matter?’
‘Everything’s the matter. I’m sorry about that. Denzil is thinking how he can make use of you.’
‘Of me? How?’
‘The fact is—I’ve been a bit of an idiot, and if there’s a disaster it’ll be my own fault.’ Caution made him stop there, but then he saw her face, kindly and understanding, as so few faces were in his world, and something drove him on to say, ‘I went to a nightclub with some friends, and there was this girl—’
‘The one that sat on your lap? Is that how they got the picture?’
He groaned. ‘You’ve seen it? Yes, it was in the newspaper, wasn’t it? I’m finished.’
‘No, she’s a bit blurred. You can sort of vaguely tell what she’s up to, and the fact that she’s hardly wearing anything, but the only face you can see is yours.’
‘Yeah, me cuddling a nearly naked girl,’ he groaned. ‘Actually, I was fairly tipsy by then and I just sat there and let her … well … And I’m paying for it. I’m supposed to be virtuous in private as well as in front of the cameras.’
‘And you’re not,’ she said sympathetically. ‘Not below the waist, anyway.’
‘Right,’ he said, relieved to find her so mentally in tune.
‘Well, I have the answer,’ she said. ‘The perfect solution to all your problems.’
‘Tell me.’
‘It’s simple. All you have to do is take up residence in a monastery. There, your life will be unassailably righteous, your career will be protected, and the studio profits will be safe.’
He stared. ‘You … you …’ Then he saw the wicked glint in her eyes and joined in her laughter. ‘You evil hussy!’ he choked. ‘I ought to … oh, but it was a good joke. You really had me scared for a moment.’
‘Well, at least you’re laughing,’ she said.
‘Yes, but it’s no laughing matter. I could lose so much.’
Travis’s phone rang. He answered quickly and seemed on edge.
‘Mom, it’s all right. Honestly. I can handle it. Stop worrying, I’ll call you later.’
He hung up, looking harassed.
‘She thinks I’m going to be brought down by scandal,’ he said. ‘When she was making films nobody could have survived what’s happening now.’
‘A film actress? Hey, that’s it. I thought you reminded me of someone, and now I can see. Julia Franklin.’
Julia Franklin had been a promising film actress some thirty years ago. For a while she’d shone brightly, and her old films were still shown on television.
‘That’s right,’ Travis said. ‘She’s my mother. You’ve seen her?’
‘One of her films was on television last night, and they’re often shown in England. Everyone thought she’d go on to be a big star, but for some reason it didn’t happen.’
‘That’s because she had me. Total disaster.’
‘Did your father make her give up acting to be a full-time wife?’
‘They weren’t married. My father’s English, a businessman who’s always travelled a lot. Thirty years ago he was in the States to make some deal, met my mother briefly, and I’m the result.
‘He was already married to his second wife, his first having chucked him out for playing around. My mother’s film career was just taking off but he wanted her to throw it all away and follow him to England. Not for marriage, just to live as his mistress, be there when it suited him and keep quiet when it didn’t.’
‘I hope she told him what he could do with himself,’ Charlene said indignantly.
‘I’m proud to say that she did. In fact she did more than say it. If you met him you’d see a tiny little scar on his chin where she … let’s say, put her feelings into action.’
‘Do you mean Amos Falcon?’ Charlene said suddenly. ‘Hey, you’re one of the Falcon dynasty.’
‘In a sense,’ Travis said so quietly that she barely heard.
‘Amos Falcon was in the papers last week,’ she went on excitedly, ‘and there was a picture with this little scar—’
Travis groaned. ‘All right, yes, but please forget it. I shouldn’t have told you.’
Charlene began to chuckle. ‘The journalist went on about that scar, how the “heroic” Amos Falcon confronted a robber and drove him off, at the cost of injury to himself.’
Travis gave a shout of laughter. ‘Robber, my foot! Mom chucked an ashtray at him. She must have been a bit like you, losing your temper and storming out of the bank. She’s got her violent side too. I reckon you two would like each other. She really scared my father. Not that he’d ever admit it, but after that things tended to be at a distance.’
‘Do you mean you don’t see him?’
‘We meet occasionally, but we’re not close. His second wife booted him out as well and he married a third time. I told Mom once that he ought to have married her—I was very young and naive in those days. She said she’d sooner marry the devil himself, except that the devil wouldn’t be nearly so interesting as Amos Falcon.’
‘He sounds a colourful character.’
‘I believe his business enemies say the same. A falcon is a bird of prey, and he’s known for preying on people. But enough about him. I must tell Mom the nice things you said about her. She’ll be so thrilled that someone remembers her. What was the film they were showing?’
‘Dancing on the Edge,’ Charlene remembered.
‘That’s her,’ Travis said at once. ‘How often have I heard her say, “If it isn’t on the edge, it isn’t fun”?’
‘She played the hero’s sister, the one who was always putting her foot in it, but everyone forgave her because she had that lovely cheeky grin.’
‘True. And it’s just how it is in real life. She blurts out all sorts of outrageous things, then says “Sorry, honey”, and gives you such a smile that you have to forgive her.’
Charlene wondered if he realised that he had the same smile—mischievous, delightfully wicked. He was nice too, courteously paying her as much attention as if she’d been a raving beauty. Not like Lee Anton, she had to admit with an inner sigh.
As if reading her thoughts, Travis said suddenly, ‘Why do you bother with him?’
‘Maybe because I’m a fool,’ she said lightly. ‘We got close during the play—all those scenes we had together—’
‘But they weren’t love scenes,’ Travis pointed out. ‘Demetrius rejects Helena until the last minute—’
Charlene nodded. ‘Saying things like, I love thee not, therefore pursue me not. But Helena won’t get the message. She follows him saying, Neglect me, lose me, only give me leave, unworthy as I am, to follow you. What a twerp she is!’
She gave a grim laugh at herself. ‘Listen to me, saying that. Follow him. That’s exactly what I did.’
‘But Helena won Demetrius in the end,’ Travis pointed out.
‘Only because someone cast a spell on him. It wasn’t true love. It doesn’t happen in real life. Oh, look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be going on like this, making you listen. You’ve been really nice to me, although I can’t think why, considering that I assaulted you.’
He’d been wondering that himself. He had a kind heart and often went out of his way to help people, but he didn’t normally linger. Strangely, her clout across his face had been a turning point. Her horror and dismay had aroused his pity, making him want to defend her. He didn’t fully understand it, but she ignited his protective instincts in a way that only one other person did. And that other person was his mother.
‘I’ll get out and stop bothering you—’ she hastened to say.
‘You’re not bothering me.’ He took her hand in both his and spoke gently. ‘Look, I’ll be honest. I have a selfish motive. I don’t like Lee. I’m not sure why. There’s just something about him that gets up my nose. It’ll be a real pleasure to annoy him. You wouldn’t be so hard-hearted as to deny me that pleasure, would you?’
It was a performance. The twinkle in his eyes revealed as much, and also the fact that he expected her to share the joke. And why not, she thought, since she gained from it?
‘How could I be hard-hearted enough to deny you anything?’ she said lightly, matching his theatrical fervour with her own.
He brushed his lips against her hand. ‘That’s good,’ he murmured, ‘because Lee’s watching. No, don’t turn your head. Just look at me. Try to seem entranced.’
She sighed, throwing back her head and giving him a glance of adoration, plus a brilliant smile.
‘Well done,’ Travis said. ‘That’ll teach him.’
‘If he saw.’
‘He did. He edged just closer enough to see everything. Trust me, I’m directing this production. Am I doing a good job?’
‘They should give you an award,’ she assured him, and he grinned. ‘Is he still watching?’ she asked.
‘I’m afraid not. He’s concentrating on Penny, which makes sense because she’s the female star of the show.’
‘And she can do him a lot of good,’ Charlene mused.
So Lee’s interest in Penny was mostly professional. She would cling to that thought.
Travis read her mind and burst out, ‘Forget him. He can’t matter that much.’
‘He does,’ she said softly. ‘But I can’t talk about it.’
‘All right, I won’t press you. We’ll talk some more tonight, over dinner.’
‘I can’t promise that—’
‘You mean you want to stay free for him. But he’s engaged this evening. He’s got to go to this ghastly dinner they’re giving for Frank Brenton. He and I can’t stand each other so I won’t be—Wait a minute!’ He slapped his hand to his forehead. ‘What am I thinking of? It’s been staring me in the face all the time.’
‘What is?’
He didn’t answer but grasped her hand, looking round and calling, ‘Denzil!’
Denzil had appeared in the doorway and Travis hailed him loudly. He came straight over. Charlene felt Travis tighten his grip on her hand, urging her to say nothing.
‘What’s up with you suddenly?’ Denzil asked, sitting down.
‘I’ve been thinking about tonight, and maybe I was a little unreasonable. I’d like to attend that dinner after all, if they can accommodate me at the last moment.’
Denzil beamed. ‘I don’t think there’ll be any problem about that,’ he said.
‘Fine, I’ll want a table for two. Charlene will be my guest.’
Denzil nodded slowly, as though something had just become clear to him.
‘Leave it to me. I’ll fix it.’ He vanished.
‘So that’s settled,’ Travis said. ‘Lee will be there tonight, so dress up to the nines. Let him know what he’s missing.’
Her head was in a spin. Travis was making everything happen so fast, it was like being taken over by a whirling dervish. But a kindly dervish.
‘It’s nice of you to take so much trouble for me—’ she began.
But he shook his head firmly. ‘Let’s be clear about this. I’m not being nice. I’m doing it for myself. You’ll make me look respectable and that’ll get them off my back. That’s why I strong-armed you into it without asking your opinion first. Sheer bullying to get what I want. So don’t praise me. I’m just being selfish.’
She regarded him fondly. ‘So you’re being selfish?’
‘Horribly selfish.’ There was a twinkling devil in his eyes. ‘I don’t know how you can stand me for a moment.’
‘Neither do I,’ she agreed. ‘In fact, all I can say is—’ she paused for dramatic effect ‘—if that’s your idea of being selfish, I wish there were more selfish people in the world.’
‘So you’ll come?’
‘Just try to stop me.’
‘Fine, then it’s time for you to go back to your hotel and prepare for tonight. Rick, my driver, will take you.’
A quick phone call to summon the car, then he escorted her out to where it was waiting with Rick behind the wheel. He was an elderly man with a good-natured face.
‘Rick, this is Miss Wilkins, who’ll be coming to the Brenton dinner with me tonight.’
Rick was astounded. ‘But you said—’
‘Never mind that. Things have changed. I want you to take her to her hotel now, and return there for her tonight. See you both later.’
He waved and stepped back as the car headed out into the traffic.
‘Did I hear him right?’ Rick called over his shoulder. ‘The Brenton dinner?’
‘Yes, what’s the big deal? I know he’d planned not to go—’
‘You can say that again. Travis gets on well with most people, but not that one. Brenton tried to ruin his big chance.’
‘How?’
‘His son’s an agent, and he had his own candidate for the role. Brenton did all he could to talk the studio bosses out of giving it to Travis. He failed, so then he set out to get him fired. Spreading rumours, bad stories in the press. Didn’t work. Since then it’s been armed truce. Nobody expected Travis to go tonight. But now he’s going so that he can take you. Lady, you must be really something!’
The habit of years made her begin modestly, ‘Oh, I don’t think I’m—’ But then her courage rose. ‘As long as he thinks so, that’s all that matters.’
‘You said it!’
Charlene leaned back against the upholstery. Suddenly she was enjoying this, despite everything.
Rick delivered her to the hotel, waited while she collected her key, smiled and departed. She knew he’d regarded the surroundings with surprise. It was the kind of hotel described as ‘budget’, which meant that she had a dormitory room, shared with two other women. It wasn’t ideal, but the place was clean and efficient, and she could connect her laptop to the Internet. This she did as soon as she arrived, looking up Travis Falcon, and growing more wide-eyed the more she learned of him.
The basics she already knew. He was the son of Julia Franklin and Amos Falcon of the international Falcon dynasty. But now she learned that he’d started his career on the stage, graduated to tiny roles in films before being pounced on by the studio and cast in the series.
There were hints that his private life was colourful. He was a playboy who never seemed to stay with one girlfriend for long. He indulged in flirtations, not love. But until now his liveliness had stayed within acceptable bounds. The nightclub picture marked the start of a new phase, and Charlene could see why his bosses were concerned.
Studying the photographs, she had to admit that he was the handsomest man she’d ever seen. And the most charming. It wasn’t a matter of looks. His face had a magical ‘something’ that spoke of a lust for life, a readiness to dive in anywhere and try anything. He was filled with humour, sometimes bawdy, sometimes cheeky.
Actually, she mused, the man from heaven can be a bit of a devil. Good for him!
She remembered how he’d treated her that afternoon—kindly, gently, with warmth and understanding, and she thought she could see those things in his face. Most people would have missed them, she reckoned, but she knew better.
All right, he was making use of her. But in a way she was making use of him. It was a fair bargain. Now it was time to prepare for the evening in such a way that she would be a credit both to herself and Travis.
I ought to be grateful, she thought. Lee’s turned his back on me—
But the next moment she clasped her hand across her stomach, still slim despite her suspicions.
But things may change, she told herself. I won’t know anything until I’ve told him.
She refused to believe that he could have dumped her completely after what they had shared. There was still hope.
CHAPTER THREE
A QUICK visit to a nearby hairdresser and her dark locks were transformed, becoming curled and lush. The blue satin dress was elegant, closely fitting a slender figure that many women would have envied.
And yet there was something missing. Honesty forced Charlene to admit that. Whatever the magical ‘extra’ was, she knew she didn’t have it. She looked pleasant, but not special.
Nor could she recall ever being really special to anyone in her life. Even her mother.
Her father had been mostly absent, more absorbed by his work than his family. He’d died when she was five, and her mother had remarried a year later. She and Mark, her stepfather, had been reasonably affectionate in an undemonstrative sort of way, but she’d sensed even then that they meant more to each other than she did to either of them. Mark had a son, James, by a previous marriage, who lived with his mother. Mark had been immensely proud of him, often speaking of him in a way that made Charlene feel that she herself didn’t really exist. Even her mother, anxious to please her husband, had sometimes seemed to value James more than her own daughter.
Once she’d overheard them discussing the idea of another baby.
‘It would be nice to have a daughter,’ Mark had remarked.
‘We’ve got Charlene,’ her mother had pointed out.
‘Yes, but—you know what I mean. A real daughter—ours.’
She had crept hastily away and never mentioned what she had heard. The casually unkind words, a real daughter, haunted her ever after.
When she was fifteen they had taken a holiday together. Just the two of them.
‘Can’t I come?’ Charlene had pleaded.
‘Darling, it’s our anniversary,’ her mother had said. ‘Mark and I need to be alone. You can understand that, can’t you?’
Of course she could understand. She’d always understood why she wasn’t a priority.
So they had gone without her, and never returned. Everyone said how lucky it was that she hadn’t been on the plane when it crashed, but haunting her grief was the knowledge that she hadn’t been wanted.
Her mother’s parents had taken her in. They had no other children or grandchildren, and they consoled themselves by lavishing affection on Charlene. In their warmth she blossomed, and much of the pain was eased. She had two people to love, and she knew that they loved her.
But the knowledge of having been second best never quite left her. Her stepbrother was never in touch, which made her sad because it would have been nice to have a big brother.
She’d come to understand that she was moderate in all things: moderate-looking, nothing special; moderately talented, with skills that were efficient rather than glamorous. Her bank employers praised her with the words, ‘We need good back-room staff.’ And she felt that this was where she belonged. In the back room—of work, of life, of love, of everything. The spotlight was for others.
She had boyfriends, but none seemed to last long. The one she’d cared for most had turned out to be using her to get close to her best friend. Charlene had been a bridesmaid at their wedding, which had seemed to her to be a gloomy portent for the future.
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, she’d thought, gazing at her reflection on the day.
But on the stage it was different. In the spotlight another side of her came to life, and she revelled in it. Her scenes with Lee had inspired the producer to say, ‘You two really make something fizz between you. Keep going.’
And something had happened, something that continued when they’d left the stage, that took them into each other’s arms, then into the same bed. It was her first experience of passion, and she rejoiced.
Lee hadn’t rejoiced. He’d been troubled.
‘Look, I’m sorry,’ he’d said hastily. ‘I didn’t know you weren’t … that you hadn’t … I mean …’
‘I guess I was waiting for you,’ she’d said softly, but that had seemed to trouble him even more.
She’d thought how nice he was to be concerned for her. The other thought, that he simply hated responsibility, was one she avoided.
But soon it would have to be faced. This afternoon he’d seen her at her dullest. Tonight she would present a face that reminded him of another time. And they would talk.
Her two room-mates, both pleasant young women, applauded her appearance.
‘Got a decent guy escorting you?’ one of them asked.
‘Travis Falcon.’
They whistled, as though impressed. But in the mirror she caught the look they exchanged, which said plainly that she was fantasising. Nobody who had to stay in this run-down hotel could ever attract such a glamorous escort.
She didn’t really blame them for not believing her. She barely believed it herself. Perhaps it really was a fantasy, and Travis would fail to turn up, leaving her abandoned.
In fact he was downstairs at that moment, looking around with horrified eyes. It was as bad as Rick had warned him. He hastened upstairs and knocked on her door.
It was opened by a young woman whose face registered total astonishment at the sight of him.
‘Is Charlene here?’ he asked.
‘Yes, she … Hey, Charlene—’ She turned back to Travis. ‘Are you really … really …?’ She seemed about to faint.
‘Yes, really,’ he assured her, stepping into the room and offering Charlene his arm. ‘Shall we go, my lady?’
To his delight, she slipped into the role easily, taking his arm and declaring, ‘Thank you, kind sir.’
From the way the other two stared at them it was clear that Charlene’s standing had rocketed. They came out into the corridor and followed the couple with longing eyes until they had vanished. Then they threw themselves into each other’s arms and screamed.
Charlene tried, unsuccessfully, to control her mirth.
‘Glad you find it funny,’ Travis said as they settled into the back seats of the car.
‘It’s myself I’m laughing at, not you.’ She chuckled. ‘Did you see their faces? A woman who can claim Travis Falcon as an escort is a woman to be reckoned with.’
‘Even if she’s poor enough to stay in this neighbourhood,’ he said. ‘You should have something better. Bad characters hang out here, and they’ll be very interested in that bracelet you’re wearing. Did Lee give it to you? If so, I commend his taste.’
‘No, it belongs to my grandmother.’
‘Are you wearing anything from him?’
She shook her head. There had been no gifts from Lee.
‘Then put this on,’ he said, holding up a necklace.
Even in the dim light of the car she could see that it was a glorious, expensive piece. She felt in a daze as he fixed it around her neck, his fingers touching her softly. She was going to a glamorous occasion, escorted by the most handsome man she’d ever seen, and she was determined to enjoy it. Whatever the future held, she would make the most of tonight.
She had only the vaguest notion of their destination, and her eyes widened as they reached Sunset Boulevard, in the heart of the most glamorous part of a glamorous city.
‘Where is this dinner being held?’ she asked.
‘At the Stollway Hotel.’
Her jaw dropped. The Stollway was among the most lush, lavish and expensive places in town. Next moment, they were nearing the entrance and she could see the flashing lights, the cars crowding in to disgorge gorgeously dressed men and women onto the broad red carpet.
‘I had no idea it would be like this,’ she gasped.
‘The PR department has made the most of it,’ Travis said.
‘But I thought it would just be a restaurant. This place is so big and … that crowd … it’s like a premier.’
‘Good. So there’ll be a lot of people to see the story we’re trying to tell them. They’ll know that you don’t need Lee Anton, because you can have any guy you want, just by snapping your fingers. And they’ll see that I only like nice girls.’
While she struggled for words, his face softened, his eyes became pleading.
‘I guess I wasn’t quite straight with you. I should have told you everything but I was afraid you’d say no, and I really need to do this. You can get me out of trouble as nobody else can.’
She remembered how he’d cast his protective mantle over her that afternoon. But for that, she’d be back in the hotel now, fighting back tears of rejection.
‘But do you think I’m up to it?’ she said. ‘It’s so scary.’
‘We’ll do it together. Don’t be afraid. Just smile and make it look as though it was the most natural thing in the world to you, and you love every minute.’
He put his hands on either side of her face, looking deep into her eyes. ‘Give the performance I know you can give.’
Suddenly she was inspired. There was a time for ducking out and a time for making the most of things, and this was definitely the second.
‘As long as you’re there, giving me directions,’ she said. ‘Let’s do it.’
‘That’s the spirit. I knew I could rely on you. Now, here comes our grand entrance.’
The car stopped. Cheers erupted from the crowd as they saw Travis emerge, smiling, waving, then reaching in for her. She took his hand and he drew her out into the spotlight.
He was playing his part perfectly, leading her slowly along the carpet so that everyone could get a good view of her quiet, restrained appearance. A gentle tug on her hand and he drew her around to the other side, just in case there was anyone who hadn’t seen how modest and ladylike she was.
Charlene smiled, turned to meet his eyes, and almost gasped at the adoring look he was giving her. If she hadn’t known better, she could almost have believed him about to fall on his knees and worship her.
What an actor! she thought.
He drew her hand to his lips and the cheers rose around them. She lowered her eyes, apparently overcome, and felt him draw her close.
‘Well done,’ he murmured in her ear. ‘Keep it up.’
As they approached the huge main doors there was a flicker of interest from behind them. Turning, they saw another car arrive, the door open and Lee emerge, accompanied by Penny. Their arrival caused a small commotion but nothing like the agitation that had greeted Travis. As they danced along the carpet three photographers dashed out to get closer shots.
Lee turned his head, laughing, preening in the spotlight. But his smile died as the photographers passed him by to surround Travis and Charlene. She had a brief glimpse of Lee’s face, aghast, astounded, chagrined. Then Travis swept her into the building.
Inside, there was more of the same as they made their way to the huge restaurant at the back of the hotel. It was called Aladdin’s Cave, and decorated with a magical theme. Brightly coloured lanterns hung from the ceiling, elaborate pictures decorated the walls and everywhere there was the glitter of gold.
They were escorted to a table for two, where he settled her with every attention and said, ‘Let’s have something to drink.’
‘Orange juice for me, please.’
‘This is an evening for champagne,’ he protested.
‘Orange juice,’ she said firmly. ‘Or sparkling water.’
He was silent a moment, but then nodded and made the order. He asked no further questions, but she had a sense that he understood why she wouldn’t touch alcohol.
Denzil bustled over, rubbing his hands with delight, paid Charlene extravagant compliments and then bustled away. People were arriving slowly, waving at Travis, looking curiously at Charlene before flaunting themselves before each other, all putting on performances. For the moment it was still quiet enough to talk.
‘You’ve saved my neck, you know that?’ Travis said. ‘All those pictures they took of us outside. I have a career again.’
‘Just like that?’
‘It can happen that way in this city. Here today, gone tomorrow, back again the day after.’
‘Don’t you ever find the life exhausting?’
‘Well, I do end up living on edge a lot of the time, but it can feel worth it.’
‘I suppose success is wonderful.’
‘Yes. Not that I’ve been a success long enough to know very much. But it matters to me to achieve everything I can, just to stop my father disowning me.’
‘But surely you don’t need him? You’re independent.’
‘I meant disowning me in spirit.’ Travis gave a brief laugh. ‘It’s odd isn’t it? I disapprove of Amos, sometimes I even dislike him. But I still hate the feeling that I’m the one on the outside of the family. He despises me for not being like him, the way my brothers are.’
‘All of them?’
‘Mostly. Darius is a big man in finance, just like Amos. He’s been hit by the credit crunch, and now he’s living on Herringdean, an island off the south coast of England that one of his debtors used to pay him off. He started out hating it, but he came to love it. Falling in love with a local girl helped. I was at their wedding a few weeks ago and if ever two people were crazy about each other it’s those two.’
‘You sound as though you envy them.’
‘In a way I do. It’s nice to know your final destination, and be able to reach it. Darius has been married before and it didn’t work out, but he’s safe with Harriet. Plus his first wife likes her, even encouraged them to marry because their two children like her as well.’
Charlene recalled him talking about his father and all the children Amos had by different women. His brother’s arrangement sounded so much happier that she began to understand the touch of wistfulness in his voice.
He can’t really be jealous, she thought. An ordinary domestic set-up. Many people would call it boring, but the great star actually wishes … no, that’s just the sort of thing he’d say in interviews. I’m imagining things. Shut up, Charlie.
‘What did you say?’ Travis asked, staring at her suddenly.
‘Nothing.’
‘I thought you whispered, “Shut up, Charlie”.’
‘Did I say that out loud? Oh, heck!’
‘You actually call yourself Charlie?’
‘When I’m trying to remember to be sensible. It’s not easy in a place like LA. Common sense seems the last thing you can manage, and actually the last thing you want.’
‘I know the feeling,’ he said wryly.
‘So your brother’s settled for common sense?’
‘That’s not what Darius calls it. To him it’s finding out what his life is really all about.’
‘And it’s not just about money?’
‘Not any more. It was once but that was his “Amos” side. Now he’s found something else and the Amos side is having to stand back.’
‘I’ll bet Amos doesn’t like that.’
‘Too right. He tried to stop their marriage, but failed. Mind you, Darius will climb to the financial top again. It’s in the Falcon genes. Marcel is like Amos too, except for being half French. He makes his money from hotels. He’s got a big, glamorous place in Paris and he’s recently bought another one in London to “extend his empire”. Amos loves that. To him, that’s how a Falcon should think, in terms of empire.’
‘Perhaps you need to play a Roman emperor,’ Charlene mused. ‘How about Julius Caesar?’
‘Better still, Nero,’ he said, catching her mood. ‘Or Caligula.’
‘But Nero was a tyrant,’ Charlene objected.
‘Great. That makes him a true Falcon.’
‘And Caligula was mad. Wouldn’t your father hate that?’
‘Not if it made money.’
They laughed together.
‘Haven’t you got two other brothers?’
‘Yes, there’s Leonid, who’s Russian and lives in Moscow. We don’t know a lot about him, but he must be successful because Amos always speaks of him with respect. Jackson’s different. He’s a naturalist. He’s written books and has a television series about wildlife all over the world.’
‘That doesn’t sound like it makes him a millionaire.’
‘No, he’s not. But Amos respects him, nonetheless, because the world knows him as a “serious man” doing a “serious job”. I just “flaunt myself for the press”, but Jackson “defends the environment” and that elevates the name Falcon, even if not in business.
‘He actually told me once that I should change my name because he didn’t want to be connected with someone “prancing around for the cameras”.’
‘Your father doesn’t want you to be called after him?’ she asked, aghast.
‘He despises what I do. He was furious when I wouldn’t take a different name.’
‘No wonder you feel shut out,’ she said sympathetically.
‘Not by the others. I get on fine with my brothers, what little I see of them. But I think Amos is just hanging on in the hope that one day I’ll change into a mini-Amos.’
‘You could always act it,’ she suggested.
‘Not if I want to stay sane,’ he said hastily. ‘This way, at least I know who I am. Or I would, if people didn’t keep wanting me to put on a performance in private as well as in front of the cameras.’
‘You poor soul.’ She sighed. ‘The burdens of fame. Just think of all those unemployed actors out there who must be so grateful they don’t have your problems.’
He scowled for a moment, but then relaxed and squeezed her hand, smiling ruefully.
‘Yeah, right. I must be coming across as a bit of a wimp, eh? It’s your fault. You’re such a tempting, sympathetic shoulder to cry on that I gave in. But no more.’ His voice deepened and he assumed a haughty mien. ‘From now on, just macho authority and stern resolve.’
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Lucy Gordon
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: Plain Jane in the Spotlight, электронная книга автора Lucy Gordon на английском языке, в жанре современные любовные романы