Hollywood Wives - the New Generation (32 page)

Oh, Jesus! She'd just come out with the L word. Why hadn't he
given her the speech?. Screw Quincy and his ideas. This was getting too
hot to handle.

'Uh, listen,' he said, wondering how he could make a fast escape
without hurting her feelings, 'you're a terrific woman, Carol, but I've
told you before, I'm not ready to be involved in a serious
relationship.'

'I'm not asking you to,' she answered smoothly. 'However, I do have
to talk to you about something important.'

'You do, huh?' he said, inwardly groaning.

'Will you sit down and have a brandy with me?'

'You know I don't drink,' he said, irritated that she didn't
remember.

'Sorry, I forgot. Do you mind if
I
have one?'

Oh Christ! What was she going to say? More declarations of love?

'Go ahead, I'll have water.'

'I've got that non-alcohol beer you like.'

'No, that's okay,' he said, immediately thinking about Lissa and her
joke about the beer gut.

Yeah, Lissa. What was she doing? She'd probably hooked up with some
handsome stud by now and forgotten all about him.

Carol poured herself a brandy, passed him a bottle of Evian, and sat
down on the couch, patting the space beside her. Reluctantly, he joined
her.

'I'm glad you enjoyed dinner,' she said.

'You're an excellent cook.'

'Thanks. My mother taught me,' she said, edging closer.

'Yeah?' he said, wondering how soon he could back off without it
appearing obvious.

'Although Amber couldn't help giving me a few helpful hints.'

'Amber's really something.'

'Yes, she is,' Carol agreed. And then all of a sudden she moved in
and began kissing him.

Michael found it most off-putting when a woman initiated kissing. It
meant you couldn't stop, you had to go forward, even if you didn't want
to.

He kissed her back, he had no choice.

She had an annoying habit of running her tongue over his teeth, and
as she did that, he realized there was absolutely nothing left between
them. He couldn't have got a hard-on under any circumstances. The
thrill was long gone.

I've gotta get out of here
, he thought.
I've gotta get
out of here right now
.

'Uh… what did you want to talk about, Carol?' he asked, finally
extracting himself.

'Before I tell you what it is,' she said, sitting up very straight,
'I want you to know that I'm not asking you for a thing.'

'Huh?' he said, wondering what the hell she was coming up with.

'I
want
to do this,' she said earnestly. 'I'm doing it for
me. So… you can be as involved as you want, or not involved at all.
Whatever you decide, I promise I'll understand. And I'll
never
ask anything from you financially.'

He felt a bad feeling enveloping him. 'What?' he managed.

'I'm pregnant,' she said.

Chapter Twenty-eight

Larry was anxious to leave the party as soon as Taylor showed up.
'I've been here for hours,' he complained, tapping his watch, 'and I'm
very tired.'

She was having none of it. 'Well, I'm
not
?' she said,
quite
exhilarated.

'Aren't you working tomorrow?'

'Late call,' she said, waving at Stella and Seth across the room.

'We have important things to discuss regarding your project,' Larry
said, hoping to lure her home that way.

'Do you mind if we sit down first, so I can at least get something
to eat?' she said, pulling him out to the tented patio.

'I've already eaten,' he said. 'It would be better if we talked at
home. This band is too noisy for conversation.'

'You're such a grouch,' Taylor said, obviously on a high. 'Please
don't
spoil my great day'

'I have things to tell you, Taylor. Things that will please you.'

'So tell me at the table, darling,' she said, holding onto his arm.
'Come on, I want you to meet Montana.'

'I already know Montana,' he said, in a surly voice. 'I worked with
her husband once.'

'She mentioned it. You were married to Susan at the time.'

'What has that got to do with anything?'

'Nothing.'

'Then why bring it up?'

'I'm having the
best
time with Montana,' Taylor said,
refusing to let him ruin her night.

'I'm sure you are,' Larry said, getting more uptight by the minute.

'She's an amazing director,
so
in touch with her actors.'

'That's nice,' Larry said.

'Of course,
you're
always in touch with your actors,
aren't you?' she said, grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing
waiter.

'I try to be,' Larry said, sensing it was going to be a long night.
'Taylor,' he said seriously, 'I've been giving a lot of thought to your
project, and you're right, you
should
be in control, not
working for other people.'

'What if the other person was you, Larry?'

'Meaning?'

'There's a wonderful female role in your next movie,' she said,
seizing the opportunity. 'Why can't I play it?'

It was the first time she'd asked if she could be in one of his
films, and she felt particularly bold doing so. But what the hell? She
was an actress, for crissakes, and he was her husband. Why
couldn't
he give her the part?

'I… I hadn't thought about it,' he said hesitantly. 'The studio—'

'Oh, please!' she interrupted. '
You
tell the studio what
you
want. Everyone knows you make all the creative decisions.'

'I wasn't aware that you had any desire to be in my movie.'

'Why wouldn't I? You're an incredible director. Most actors would
kill to work with you.' She took a gulp of champagne. 'Montana said I
was brilliant today, absolutely brilliant.'

'What did you do?'

'Shot a love scene between me and Sonja Lucerne, who, I must say, is
extremely charming, and totally professional.'

'I'm glad you're enjoying yourself,' he said, not liking the thought
of
his
wife indulging in a love scene with another woman.
Quite frankly, it disgusted him.

'Anyway, darling,' Taylor said, 'if
you
want to go home,
I'll understand. And I'm sure you won't mind if I stay and wind down.
You know what it's like when the old adrenaline is pumping. I won't be
able to sleep for hours.'

'I'll stay with you,' he said stiffly. 'And then you can hear what
I've arranged.'

'What?' she said, her eyes darting around the room to see if she
could spot Montana.

'I gave your script to a new writer,' Larry said, stroking his
beard. 'I think he can do something special with it, something the
studio will approve of. So I've gone ahead and arranged a meeting with
him and a couple of Orpheus executives. Naturally you'll be there. And
if you want, I'll come too.'

'Larry,' she said happily, 'this is fantastic news. Who's the
writer?'

'Now don't get excited, because the studio has already approved him.'

'They have?'

'You have to trust me on this, because if there's one thing I know,
it's talent.'

'
Who
, Larry?'

'Oliver Rock.'

There were more messages from Evan when Nicci got home. Saffron had
not come with her, she'd decided it was better for Lulu to sleep in her
own bed.

Nicci played the messages over several times. Saffron was right, he
did
sound uptight, especially when he called her unreliable.

Ha! She might be unreliable - although she didn't think she was. But
he
was a liar - he should've told her about a former fiancee,
it was unsettling that he hadn't.

She switched all the phones off, including her cell, and went to
bed. Tomorrow she'd get into it. Tonight she was still too hung-over.

And as she drifted off to sleep her last thought was of Brian with
his sleepy bedroom eyes and crooked grin.

Brian, Brian, Brian…

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