скачать книгу бесплатно
The woman inside her so lacking in self-confidence blossomed under the simple, if unfounded praise. She could feel her skin warming, could feel her heart racing—could feel her smile breaking loose…
Then a sultry female voice sounded above her head. ‘As always flattery will get you everywhere, Irish boy…’
Whipping her head round, Cassidy found herself staring up at a face she recognised from movie billboards and TV screens. The woman wasn’t just beautiful, she was perfection. Even without airbrushing.
When Will pushed his chair back, the actress stepped over to him and kissed each of his cheeks, European-style. ‘I heard you got a green light for your pet project. Bravo, you!’
‘You know what I had for breakfast this morning too?’
‘Not in a long time.’ She aimed a wink at Cassidy, who smiled weakly in return. ‘Not that you haven’t been invited often enough…’
Will remembered his manners. ‘Angie—this is Cassidy Malone. Cass, this is—’
‘Angelique Warden. Yes, I know.’ Cassidy made the smile more genuine as she stood up and stretched a hand across the table. ‘It’s nice to meet you. I loved your last movie.’
‘Shame the box office didn’t feel the same way. But thank you.’ Her eyes narrowed momentarily. ‘Wait a second. You’re not Cassidy Malone as in Ryan and Malone?’
Cassidy’s gaze slid briefly to Will and then back. ‘A long time ago…’
‘Then the rumour is true? They picked up the option?’
Will nodded, and glanced around him as if it was a state secret. He even lowered his voice. ‘It’s not been announced yet, so—’
‘Oh, you don’t have to tell me, you idiot. How exciting!’
Suddenly Cassidy was much more interesting to her than before, and a matching set of European cheek kisses were bestowed on her before Cassidy could warn her of her cold.
‘So nice to meet you. Make him bring you to dinner. I have a million and one questions to ask about the Ryan and Malone years. Will thinks being enigmatic makes him more interesting.’
‘Not everyone likes their every move reported in the dailies.’
Still blinking in stunned amazement at having been kissed by one of the highest paid actresses on the globe, Cassidy found her attention caught by the drawl of Will’s newfound American twang. The words made her scowl in recrimination. He’d been many things back in the day, but cruel had never been one of them. The famous Angelique Warden had hardly had an easy time with the press in the last year.
But Angelique laughed huskily and batted his upper arm with her designer purse, pouting and rolling her eyes. ‘Yes, but it’s such a joy for the rest of us. Dinner. Saturday. Bring your partner. I’m going to learn all your darkest secrets.’
‘No, you’re not.’
‘I’ll ply her with alcohol if I have to.’ She winked at Cassidy for the second time and Cassidy was immediately charmed by her.
In fairness, if she plied the only Irish native on the planet who couldn’t hold her drink with alcohol then she would get everything she’d probably never wanted to hear. Half a glass of wine and Cassidy’s tongue tended to take on a life of its own.
‘No, you won’t. I need her lucid for the next few weeks.’
‘Was he always so serious?’
Cassidy looked at Will, found him staring at her with a disconcertingly unreadable expression, and her answer kind of popped out. ‘No. He wasn’t.’
He stared at her until she could feel her toes curling in her shoes.
So she bravely lifted her chin in challenge.
After what felt like a very long time, Angelique laughed musically. ‘Okay, then. Well, you two kids have fun. I can highly recommend the scallops. Saturday, Irish boy—you hear me?’
‘I hear you.’
He waved an arm to indicate Cassidy should sit back down, and she was glad of it. She really was starting to feel light-headed. Maybe she should have dragged herself out of bed for breakfast after all?
‘I’ll call on Saturday and tell her we can’t make it.’ He re-opened his menu. ‘I think we should start brainstorming tomorrow and get something down on paper over the weekend.’
That fast? Great. Now she felt nauseous as well.
Hiding partially behind her auburn hair as she lowered her chin to scan the menu, she cleared her throat and asked, ‘You have any ideas?’
‘A few.’
It was like pulling teeth. ‘Any you’d care to share?’
When she glanced at him she saw the slight upward pull on the corners of his mouth before he answered. ‘Not here, no.’
Cassidy’s gaze moved from side to side and she lowered her voice to a stage whisper. ‘Are they watching?’
‘They?’ His gaze rose, curiosity lifting his brows.
‘The script gremlins…’
There was a second of silence, and then a brief rumble of low laughter broke free. ‘Haven’t changed, have you?’
Oh, how little he knew.
They managed small talk after that. The latest movies Will’s company had produced, the differences in living in California compared to Ireland…They even segued from there to the weather. But she couldn’t help missing the ease they’d once had with each other. Angelique was right—Will had got serious with age. It made Cassidy feel like even more of an idiot. She couldn’t seem to manage a conversation without a wisecrack or teasing him the way she’d used to, and it added to her feeling of awkwardness. Then she hit rock bottom in the embarrassment stakes when he walked her back to the hotel.
The air really was thinner in California. And it really was incredibly warm. Food hadn’t got rid of her light-headedness. Her nose felt more blocked than ever, her throat hurt, and her voice was beginning to fade…
Then, back in the foyer of the beautiful hotel, surrounded by beautiful people in expensive clothes, Will turned to say goodbye and the world began to spin. The edges of her vision blurred—she swayed. And, as she had figuratively speaking so many years ago, Cassidy fell at his feet.
She came to with her head resting against Will’s hard chest, his warmth surrounding her. He must have sat her up. He had his arm around her. Blinking the world into focus, her eyes immediately sought his.
He was frowning. ‘What happened?’
‘If I had to guess, I’d say I fell down,’ she informed him dryly.
‘Are you sick?’
‘Bit of a cold. I spent the morning in bed.’
His mouth narrowed into a thin line as he held a glass of water to her lips. ‘You should have said something.’
Allowing the water to wash the dryness from her mouth and throat, she glanced around at the sea of interested bystanders and immediately felt colour rising in her cheeks. Great. The never-ending humiliation continued. It reminded her of that time in high school, before she’d had laser surgery, when she’d forgotten her glasses and got into the wrong car outside the school gates. She’d held a five-minute conversation with a complete stranger before she’d realised what she’d done…
Irritation sounding in her voice, she tried to push up on to her feet. ‘I’m good now, Will. Thanks. Let me up.’
But he held her in place. ‘Give it a minute.’
When he held the glass back to her mouth, her sense of mortification was raised several notches. She pushed his hand away. ‘Stop that. I can do it. I don’t need a minute.’
Taking the glass from him, she struggled anything but gracefully to her feet, splashing water onto her hand and the floor. Once she was upright, she swayed precariously. Will stepped forward—one hand removing the glass, one arm circling her waist as he calmly informed her, ‘That went well.’
Cassidy scowled at the grumbled words as he handed the glass to a hovering concierge before demanding, ‘Key card.’
‘What?’
‘Give me your key card.’ Lifting his free hand in front of her body, he waggled long fingers. ‘Hand it over. You’re going back to bed.’
‘I don’t think—’
‘Good. Run with that. Key card.’
While her brain tried to think up an argument against the new and not necessarily improved attitude he seemed to have acquired with age, her traitorous hand reached into her bag for the card. Apparently the best she could come up with in reply was, ‘I don’t remember you being this bossy.’
‘Comes with the territory in my job.’ His fingers closed around the card.
‘Can we get anything for the lady?’
Will nodded at the concierge’s question. ‘You could send up some chilled orange juice to room…?’
When he lifted his brows at Cassidy, she sighed. ‘Ten-twenty-eight.’
‘And send out to the nearest pharmacy for cold medicine of some kind.’
The concierge nodded. ‘Of course, sir.’
Completely out of nowhere, Will did the last thing she’d expected and bent at the waist, scooping her into his arms like some kind of caped superhero. The man would put his back out! She was a good twenty pounds over the weight she’d been the last time he’d pulled that stunt.
A part of her curled up and died even as her arm automatically circled his neck. ‘Put me down, Will. I can walk.’
As she whispered the words her gaze met that of several fascinated observers, and a couple of women who looked distinctly as if they were swooning. Now her cheeks were on fire. ‘Will, I’m serious! I’m too heavy.’
‘No, you’re not. Shut up, Cass.’
She wriggled, and felt her lunch rearrange itself inside her stomach, drawing a low moan from her lips. If she threw up in public she was taking the next plane home. It would serve Will Ryan right if she threw up over him!
He walked through the remainder of the foyer as if she weighed nothing, and then turned to hit the elevator button with his elbow. Adding even further to her nightmare, he then moved the hand at her waist and dropped his chin to frown at her body. ‘What are you wearing under that blouse?’
Oh. Dear. God.
‘I think you’ll find we’re eight years too late for a conversation about my underwear.’
When he looked at her, she summoned a smirk.
His green gaze travelling over her face, he took in her flushed cheeks and the way she was chewing on her lower lip before he looked back into her eyes. ‘Wearing something so tight that it restricts your breathing is hardly going to help any, is it?’
‘It’s not like I planned on falling at your feet.’ Oh, she just didn’t know when to stop, did she?
Amusement danced across his eyes. Before he could say anything the elevator doors opened, so he turned sideways and guided her inside. ‘Push the button, Cass.’
She did. Then Will took a step back and lifted his chin to watch the numbers as they lit up above the doors.
‘You can put me down now. Seriously.’
‘That’s not happening.’
Cassidy sighed heavily. His stubborn streak, she remembered. When Will had dug his heels in over something he’d been an immovable object. It had led to more than one heated debate when they were writing, but back then they’d had one heck of a good time making up afterwards. Naturally now she’d thought about that her body reacted. So she tried to think of the names of all of the seven dwarfs to distract herself—there was always one she couldn’t remember; now, which one was it? Scrunching her nose up while she concentrated didn’t help. Nope still couldn’t get him. Elusive seventh dwarf! She sighed again.
‘Huff all you want, Cass. I’m not putting you down.’
The elevator pinged and the doors slid open while she informed him, ‘You’ll have to put me down eventually. It’ll make it a tad difficult to do the basics, lugging me around like a sack of spuds all day.’
When he turned from side to side to search for the plates on the wall that would indicate where her room was, she waved a limp arm. ‘That way.’
‘Why didn’t you call and say you weren’t feeling well?’
Because a part of her had been looking forward to seeing him again, that was why. Her curiosity had been getting the better of her ever since his e-mail had arrived. Only natural considering their history, she’d told herself. What girl wasn’t fascinated by how her first love looked years after the last time she saw him? It was one of those things that never completely went away. Along with the associated paranoia of wondering whether time had built her memories of him into some kind of magical figure he couldn’t possibly live up to, or whether he would have aged much better than she had.
In the face of further humiliation, she lied, ‘I felt better when I got up.’
‘Liar.’
Cassidy sighed louder than before. ‘I hate that you can still do that. Fine, then—I wanted to know why I was here.’
‘Yes, obviously. Because I didn’t explain it in the e-mails I sent you…’
Was he fishing? She lifted her chin and frowned up at his profile at the exact moment he chose to lower his dense lashes and look down at her. It made her breath catch in her lungs. One man should not look that good! It took every ounce of strength she had not to drop her gaze to his mouth. Then she had to dig deeper to make herself breathe normally again.
She should never have made the trip over. ‘It wasn’t like you picked up a phone to discuss it.’
Broad shoulders shrugged before he slotted her key card into the door. ‘Different time zones. And my schedule has been crazy.’
Cassidy lifted a brow. ‘Liar.’
‘Nope.’ He shouldered the door open. ‘You’re seven hours behind over there. I’ve been dealing with a movie that’s running over budget every second. Any time I had to call you would have been during school hours your end. Plus, if you were worried about making the trip and wanted me to call you, you’d have said so in your e-mails—wouldn’t you?’
She hated it when he used reasoning on her. And when she couldn’t read him the way he did her. Back in the good old days the former had been useful mid-debate, and the latter had been endearing as heck—especially when he’d told her what she was thinking in a husky voice, with his mouth hovering above hers. But now? Now it just kept on making her feel like even more of an idiot than she already did for not realising the physical attraction she’d had for him would be as uncontrollable as it had been before. There was no fighting chemistry. When the pheromones said it worked, it worked. It was up to the brain to list the reasons why it couldn’t.
Setting her gently on her feet by the giant bed, he leaned over to drag the covers back before standing tall and letting a small smile loose. ‘Take it off.’
‘Excuse me?’
He jerked his chin. ‘That industrial-strength whatever-it-is you’re wearing. What is it with women and those boned things, anyway?’
