Her Determined Husband

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Yes, with Jason—’

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

CHAPTER THREE

THEY were in Kirsten’s bedroom amidst chaos. The dressing table was cluttered with a wild assortment of jars, make-up and face creams, all in aid of Kirsten’s last-minute effort to look her best, and the bed was strewn with Chloe’s hairdressing equipment.

She’d planned to wear a long red dress to the première tonight. But that was when she had thought she was going with Jason. Her change of escort had thrown her into a total panic, and at the last minute she’d changed her mind about the red dress, rejecting it for being too daring. If it weren’t for Chloe’s kind offer to do her hair and help her get ready she would probably be really on the last minute by now, she thought.

‘Thanks for helping, Chloe,’ she said. ‘I did think, right up to last night, that I’d be able to get out of this ridiculous charade. I’ve tried to ring Sue Williams all week but each time I’ve been told she is unavailable and will ring me back but she never does. Of course, if it had been Cal phoning she would have snapped to attention. But Cal didn’t bother to phone her. Oh, no, Mr Cal McCormick could never be that decent. I swear he’s just going along with all this to annoy me.’

‘Hold still, for heaven’s sake!’ Chloe muttered, pushing Kirsten’s head further forward so that she could stick a few more hairgrips in the back of her hair.

‘The studio wouldn’t want to fall out with Cal. So if he had backed me up I’m sure they would have dropped the idea.’

‘Look on the bright side,’ Chloe mumbled through a mouthful of grips. ‘A lot of women would love to be seen on Cal McCormick’s arm. It won’t harm your career.’

‘No…just my mental health. I’ve had the most awful week with him at that studio, Chloe; you wouldn’t believe how irritating he can be. And tomorrow we have to go to San Francisco together, because the studio has booked us on the same flight. It’s just the last straw having to go out with him tonight as well.’

‘But you used to love him once…didn’t you?’ Chloe said softly. ‘He can’t be all bad.’

‘No…he’s not all bad,’ Kirsten admitted. She could feel her heart slamming against her chest as she thought about that question. ‘I did love him once…but it was a terrible mistake.’

‘So what were his good points?’ Chloe asked, trying to take her friend’s mind off the evening ahead.

‘I don’t know.’ Kirsten frowned; she didn’t want to think about his good points. She glanced sideways at the untidy room. ‘He was fanatically tidy.’

‘That’s not a good point.’ Chloe stuck the last of the grips in Kirsten’s hair. ‘There,’ she said with a certain amount of pleasure, ‘you can look now.’

Kirsten looked up and met her reflection in her dressing-table mirror in surprise. ‘Wow! Is that really me?’ She watched as Chloe lifted up a mirror to show her the back. She had wound her hair up into a very sophisticated chignon, which made Kirsten look extremely stylish and very feminine. ‘You’ve done a fantastic job, Chloe. Thank you. And my make-up is great too!’

‘I should have stuck to being a beautician, shouldn’t I?’ Chloe smiled. ‘At least I can make money out of that, unlike my acting career.’

Kirsten turned around to look at her friend. ‘Didn’t you get that part you auditioned for?’

Chloe shook her head. ‘I start back to work at the beauty shop next Monday.’

Kirsten regarded her sympathetically. ‘I’m so sorry, Chloe.’

Chloe shrugged. ‘I’ve got another audition tomorrow…so, who knows? I might get lucky. And at least I like my job at the beauty shop. It could be worse.’

‘Yes…like the job I got once as a singing waitress on rollerblades.’

‘I remember you telling me about that.’ Chloe laughed. ‘Was that around the time you first went out with Cal?’

‘No, I was successfully established as a singer when I first met Cal. Whereas his career in acting was just starting to take off.’

She was silent for a moment as she thought about that. ‘Things seemed so uncomplicated back then. He used to make me laugh…we had such fun together.’

‘So he did have some good points.’

‘Just a few,’ Kirsten admitted cautiously. She glanced at her wristwatch. ‘He’ll be here to pick me up soon. Are you sure I look all right?’ She stood up from the dressing table so that Chloe could run a critical eye over her.

She was wearing a long white dress with shoestring straps that crossed provocatively low on her back. The material was finest silk and it clung to her figure before falling to the floor with a side split that showed a glimpse of long leg. ‘You don’t think it’s too revealing?’

Chloe shook her head. ‘You look stunning.’ She tapped her fingers on the glossy magazines that she had brought with her into Kirsten’s room. ‘Just have a flick through these…they’re all wearing dresses like that to the premières now.’

The shrill ring of the doorbell cut through the silence of the apartment. Kirsten looked at her friend in alarm. ‘If that’s him he’s early!’

‘Keep him waiting, then,’ Chloe said, turning for the door. ‘I’ll go and let him in.’

Kirsten sat back down at the dressing table. She felt incredibly nervous, as if she had first-night jitters or something. This was a ridiculous situation, she thought angrily. Whoever had heard of being forced to date your ex-husband for publicity purposes? Hollywood was a weird place.

She heard Cal’s voice from the hallway and stared down at her hands…hands now devoid of the wedding ring she had once worn. ‘You must have loved him once.’ The words echoed through her mind.

She had thought she loved him…had thought that it was love at first sight.

They had met at a wedding. She had been a friend of the bride; he’d been a friend of the groom. She had glanced across the aisle of the church and their eyes had met. Right there and then she had fallen under his spell.

He had looked so handsome in his dark suit, and when he’d smiled at her she had felt herself blush to the roots of her hair. She remembered feeling pleased that she had been wearing a wide-brimmed hat so that she could dip her head and hide from his deeply provocative gaze.

‘Who’s that?’ she had whispered to her friend Charlotte, who had been sitting next to her. ‘No…don’t look yet…he’ll know I’m asking about him.’

Charlotte had peeped from under her own hat and then smiled. ‘That’s Cal McCormick…he’s an actor. He had a cameo role in the movie that made it big last summer. Apparently he’s very up-and-coming. According to the grapevine, definitely one to watch.’

‘I can agree with that.’ Kirsten had smiled and risked another glance across the aisle. ‘Who is he with?’ she had asked, looking at the attractive brunette by his side.

‘Maeve Ryan. She’s married to Brian Harris, the director. He’s a lot older than her, but apparently it’s been a match made in heaven as far as her acting career is concerned. I think Brian is working abroad; that’s why she’s here with Cal. They’re very good friends.’

They’d been more than just good friends, Kirsten thought angrily now. Trouble was, she had been too blind to see it, and by the time she’d woken up to the fact she and Cal had been married, and she had been seven months pregnant.

The baby wasn’t something Kirsten allowed herself to think about. It was too painful. Even now when her thoughts flitted over the subject she felt the raw thrust of emotion…a pain that had never healed.