Bound By Contract

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No, he hadn’t… In fact, he’d said almost as much to her last night. But she still didn’t believe Edgar was completely innocent in all of this; he looked far too self-satisfied for that to be the case.

‘It will probably be a waste of time, anyway,’ she told him crossly. ‘Prestigious as being in a Gideon Byrne movie would be, another one-or two-line part isn’t exactly going to make me a star—’ She broke off, a perplexed frown on her face as something Gideon had said last night came rushing back to her.

‘When I introduce you to the world as the star of my next film…’

She didn’t remember anything after that, so presumably that was when she had fallen asleep. Did that mean Gideon had carried her up to bed? Was that why she was still wearing the red dress from last night?

She gave a groan, closing her eyes.

But she was sure he had said star!

‘Open the envelope, Madison,’ Edgar instructed impatiently. ‘Don’t keep us both in suspense.’

Her hands shook with apprehension rather than suspense as she finally ripped open the envelope. Uncle Edgar was right; there was a business card inside, a card that simply had Gideon Byrne’s name printed on it in gold lettering, with a telephone number underneath. Even on the business card the man’s intense privacy came over quite plainly, having no address, no other adornment but that name and number.

She grimaced. ‘It doesn’t say anything here about calling him—’

‘Look on the back, Madison,’ Edgar rasped. ‘There’s something written there.’

The writing was large, in black ink, and read simply, ‘Don’t be a fool, Madison; call the number!’ There was no signature, but there didn’t need to be one; those eight words epitomised Gideon Byrne; he’d managed to insult her once again while at the same time issuing an order he expected to be carried out!

‘Don’t be a fool!’ he’d written; he’d known last night that she disliked him enough to stubbornly ignore his offer of a screen-test…

But was she also stubborn enough to ignore even the remotest chance to star in a Gideon Byrne movie…?

Was she?

Madison McGuire was a fool, Gideon decided angrily as he lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling, his arms folded on the pillow behind his head. Twenty-four hours since he had left Edgar’s home, and he still hadn’t heard from Madison.

He had known she was stubborn, accepted that she had a temper too, remembering how those green eyes flashed on occasion. But despite what he’d put on the back of his card he hadn’t really thought she was a fool…

So what did he do now?

He had been quite elated at the prospect of having found his Rosemary, had even told his assistant, Claire, all about Madison McGuire. And now, nothing. And it wasn’t in his nature to go chasing after any woman, even on a professional level. So much for Edgar’s machinations on Madison’s behalf; maybe the older man should have spoken to Madison before setting things in motion!

But he wanted Madison to play Rosemary, damn it! And the only way he was going to achieve that, it seemed, was by seeking Madison out. Something he baulked at doing. It put him at a disadvantage from the beginning, and he wasn’t in the least comfortable with that.

Damn the woman!

The telephone began to ring at his bedside. The clock read eight-thirty. Who the hell—?

But he knew. Suddenly he knew.

‘Good morning,’ he drawled into the receiver, his anxiety of a few minutes ago slowly receding; he didn’t believe he was going to have to seek Madison out, after all…

‘Mr Byrne,’ Madison replied curtly. ‘I realise it’s early, but—I’m calling in reply to your message concerning a screen-test,’ she added stiltedly.

And hating every minute of it, he realised with a half-smile. No doubt the earliness of the call was due to the fact that Madison had decided to just get the evil deed over and done with. But at least she wasn’t the fool he had started to think she might be…

‘Twelve o’clock today suit you?’ he returned as abruptly.

There was complete silence on the other end of the telephone line, as if Madison, despite being the one to make the call, had been caught off guard.

Then she drew in a deep breath. ‘That’s fine,’ she returned evenly. ‘Edgar is driving back into the city today, so I can come in with him.’

Gideon’s hand tightened about the receiver. Edgar! The man was starting to become his nemesis. ‘That will be nice for you both,’ he rasped. ‘I’ll see you at twelve o’clock—’

‘You haven’t told me where to go,’ she put in quickly.

Because his thoughts had been on where he would like to tell Edgar to go! ‘Edgar knows the way,’ he bit out curtly. ‘Don’t be late,’ he instructed before ringing off.

God damn it, he was no happier now that Madison had rung than he had been before when he had thought she was a little fool for not contacting him!