An Affair to Forget (11 page)

It
was a shot in the dark, but it hit its target. Gareth lost his smile, gaping at her for a moment before pulling himself together. “What do you know about Charlotte?”

“
Vicki said last night that she was almost real. She is real, isn’t she? She’s not just a character in your book.”

“
How the hell,” he asked slowly, “did you work that one out?”

“
Because of the way you spoke about her last night. With passion, with… with love.” The words almost choked her. “Charlotte was – is – someone you know and care for. Or knew, and cared for.”

“
Well, well, full marks for observation. And now I suppose you expect to be told the full story. Sorry, love… we’re discussing you, not me. As I said, I saved you just when you were busy talking yourself out of a job. Surely that’s worth a little gratitude – to be shown, by the way” – he sat down on the bed and patted the space by his side invitingly – “in any way you choose.”

Morrin
edged back towards the safety of the door. “Vicki didn’t seem to be surprised to hear that you’re staying.”

“
You should have been a detective. You might try it next time you throw yourself out of work.”

“
When did she try to persuade you?” Morrin probed, though she had already guessed the answer.

Gareth
stretched out on the bed, hands behind his head, perfectly relaxed.

“
Sam should have stayed at his window for a little longer last night… or perhaps not, I’d hate to upset him. Oh yes, I saw him watching us. That’s why I kissed you, to give him something to think about. But once you’d left he lost interest and went away. That’s when Vicki came tapping at my door. It was fortunate that you didn’t take me up on that offer of a cup of hot chocolate, sweetheart.” His mouth curved in a wicked smile. “She’s not one for messing about, our Vicki. I reckon if she’d found you here with me” – he patted the bed again – “when she came calling she’d have scratched out those big blue eyes of yours.”

Morrin
felt light-headed. She didn’t want to hear any more, and yet she couldn’t walk away from him.

“
So she – ”

“
– was very persuasive,” Gareth agreed smoothly, stretching his legs across the bed and contemplating his bare toes. “An amazing woman. I tell her that she’s too sexy to play my Charlotte and she immediately uses her sexual abilities in an attempt to get me to change my mind. As I said earlier, it was really quite a night.”

This
was the man she had run from, the man she had spent sleepless nights over, the man whose kisses she had eagerly sought and returned a few hours earlier. She thought of him making love to her and then to Vicki, and realised that neither of them mattered to him.

Morrin
’s hands came out of her pockets and doubled into fists as she went to stand over him. “And you really wonder why I left your house? How could any woman with an ounce of self-respect work for someone like you? You’re self-centred, self-opinionated, vain, pompous, uncar– ”

She
yelped as fingers clamped over her arm, whisking her through the air and across Gareth’s reclining body to land on the bed by his side.

“
That” – he was on his knees now, looming over her, his hands pinning hers above her head, his eyes an emerald cauldron of fire just above hers – “is quite enough from you. Now it’s my turn.”

“
Let me go! I’ll scream!” she threatened, and he laughed at her.

“
You’re far too well brought up to embarrass yourself like that. You know something, Morrin? It’s time someone taught you that if you can’t take it you should stop trying to hand it out.”

“
I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She gritted the words through set teeth. Changing his grip in order to free one of his hands Gareth began, casually, to unfasten the top button of her blouse.

“
Yes you do. You’ve got a beautiful body, and no doubt Sam’s taught you how to use it. But he should also have told you that a woman who likes to tease can get a nasty surprise if she meets up with the wrong man… me, for example.”

The
words stung as hard as though he had hit her with his open hand.

“
Don’t you dare!”

“
It’s time you realised that I’ll dare whatever and whenever I like,” he said. Morrin twisted beneath him, trying unsuccessfully to throw him off, but his weight pinned her down firmly.

“
Gareth, please…” She began to feel frightened. “You’re wrong about – about everything!”

He
lifted his head, his eyes probing hers. “You’re lying. Again,” he said, while his fingers began to work on the second button.

“
I’m n-not! I am not lying! Listen to me – ”

“
No time for that now,” Gareth said briskly, suddenly sitting up and swinging his feet to the floor. “We’re supposed to be writing a play… remember?”

Morrin
couldn’t believe it. She lay there, stunned, while he got off the bed and went into the bathroom. He was back almost at once, pulling on a short scarlet robe, looking down on her.

“
Come on, then, lazybones. Better fasten yourself up, it’s difficult for me to concentrate on work with you sprawled all over my bed and looking so seductive.”

Blood
rushed to her cheeks as she scrambled up, trying with shaking fingers to fasten her blouse while he watched, his hands fisted on his hips.

“
After all, petal,” his voice bullied her, “you got what Sam wanted, didn’t you? I’m staying. And it’s going to cost you.”

Eleven

“You’re going to have to help me,” Gareth said a few minutes later. “I’ve never written a script before, but you must have some knowledge of how they work.”

“
I’ve read one or two and seen plays in rehearsal, but I’ve never written one.”

He
shot an irritated look at her. “You’ll have to do better than that if you want to get me out of your hair. Forget about being coy, Morrin, I believe Kennedy when he says that you’ve read my book from cover to cover several times. So talk to me about it!”

“
Well…” She hesitated, staring down at the laptop’s flashing cursor. “It seems to me that you should divide the book up into sections then sort them out in order of priority.”

“
Sounds like a good idea.” He stopped pacing and came to sit opposite, nodding. “I can see that working.”

Morrin
took a deep breath then said carefully, “Your other problem is whether or not Vicki can play the part of Charlotte in a dramatised version.”

“
You know perfectly well that I don’t see Vicki as Charlotte.”

“
Why not?”

His
eyes probed hers. “You know that already, don’t you?” he said, then, as her gaze dropped away from his, “Charlotte is honest and faithful, and when she loves it’s for ever. The man who loves her can never care for another woman. Charlotte must be… is… everything to him.”

Morrin
’s mouth was dry and she had to take her hands quickly from the keyboard and fold them in her lap to hide their trembling. She had never heard Gareth sound so sincere.

“
So,” he went on, suddenly brisk and matter-of-fact, “Vicki isn’t the right person to play her, and if you really have read the book properly you’ll agree with me.”

“
I do,” she admitted.

“
Then back me up by telling Kennedy what you think.”

“
I’ve tried, believe me.” Then, as he threw his hands up in despair and got up from the chair to resume his pacing, “But you could look at Charlotte from another angle, taking her strengths and portraying them in a slightly different way through dialogue.”

“
In other words…?” he prompted.

“
In other words, concentrate on the angles that Vicki can develop and let the rest stay in the background.”

He
came to stand over her, glowering. “Then it wouldn’t be my Charlotte.”

“
No,” Morrin agreed, wincing inwardly at that possessive ‘my’, “but it would be the Charlotte that Sam saw in your book as soon as he read it. I’ve heard you say before that readers bring their own opinions to bear on every piece of writing, and what Sam sees is a version of Charlotte that Vicki could do. It’s quite usual for writers to angle characters in order to make them better stage or screenplay characters and you’ll still have the real Charlotte, your Charlotte, in your book. Nobody can spoil that picture of her. And,” she added as his eyes glazed over in deep thought, “you would reach another type of audience with the play.”

He
squatted down by her chair, grinning. “In other words, my love, you think that I should cheat.”

“
If you want to put it like that, yes. Why not?”

“
You clever little thing.” Before she could stop him he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her soundly on the lips. Then he got to his feet and began to pace again, this time with the sense of purpose she remembered from the time she had worked for him. “Right,” he said with renewed enthusiasm. “Let’s start on this play!”

A
few hours later they had roughed out the first act and completed five pages of script. It was a joint effort and the two of them had argued, laughed, and fretted together, becoming completely involved in the project.

When
the completed pages were printed out Gareth pulled a chair close to Morrin’s and said, to her alarm, “Let’s try reading it aloud.”

He
read well but Morrin felt self-conscious and shaky at first. Then as they moved on to the second page Charlotte’s character began to catch her interest and she read with mounting enthusiasm, finding herself disappointed when the five pages were finished.

“
What do you think?”

“
I think it’s good. You’ve brought Charlotte to life.”

“
We did it,” Gareth corrected her. “You read very well. It was almost as if you know her. Morrin… why did you run away like that?”

“
I’ve told you, because…” Her voice failed her. They had been sitting close together in order to share the pages of script; how close, she had not realised until she looked up to see his eyes only inches from her own.

“
Just because I touched you, like this…” He held the script in one hand, and now he lifted the other to cup her cheek. “And kissed you, like this?”

Before
she could move, his lips were covering hers, holding them in a soft, light caress. She would have pulled back, but his hand was on the nape of her neck, holding her still.

“
Gareth,” she said faintly when he took his mouth from hers, “this isn’t fair.”

“
But it’s very pleasant, isn’t it? Tell me to stop, and I will. Promise.” Amusement danced in his eyes and she felt the warmth of his soft laugh on her cheek. She felt her treacherous lips part eagerly as he leaned towards her again, knew that her own hands were creeping up to touch and hold him… then as a step was heard on the path outside they pulled away from each other so sharply that the papers Gareth held went flying.

“
Damn,” Morrin heard him say as they both dropped to the floor to retrieve the script. The door opened, and the gust of warm, flower-fragrant air it let in sent the pages eddying about the floor.

“
Have you two been working all this time?” Sam wanted to know, sweeping into the room. “Dinner’s almost on the table.”

“
Already?” Morrin stared up at him in disbelief.

“
What do you mean already? We’ve been waiting for you for ages, but Vicki sent me to say that she won’t wait any longer.” Sam bent to pick up a page that had skittered across the tiled floor to his feet. “You’ve started, then? Can I read it?”

“
Of course.” Gareth tapped the retrieved pages on the table to bring them into order, then handed them over, while Morrin glanced down at her slacks and blouse.

“
I’ll have to change.”

“
No need, you look fine as you are,” Sam assured her, then, eyeing Gareth’s red dressing-gown and bare legs disapprovingly, “You could dress up a bit, though, Sinclair.”

“
Have a gin and tonic ready in two minutes,” Gareth told him, and shooed the two of them out.

*

By the time they sat down at the table Sam had scanned the few pages of script. He was so enthusiastic that Vicki began to look irritated.

“
It’s only a rough idea,” she said sharply. “Not a finished play.”

“
It’s got a lot of promise. We’ll read it out loud after dinner… I’ll take the part of Charlotte’s future husband.”

Because
Gareth stared at the floor throughout the brief reading Morrin was unable to tell what he thought of Vicki’s interpretation of the role. The actress attacked the part hard, putting far more into the reading than Morrin had. Afterwards, she found fault with several small points, but even she could not entirely fault the play.

“
You want us to go on with it, then?” Gareth wanted to know.

“
I would have to read more before I could make a decision,” Vicki told him, and he shrugged.

“
I can spare another couple of days, but no more than that.”

“
You have a natural talent for dialogue,” Sam said. “It shone through the book, and I like the angle you’ve taken with the play.”

“
Morrin has to take some of the credit. I’ve enjoyed working with her ag– ” Gareth stopped short then went on easily, “ – against my own instincts, I have to admit.”

“
Why should you feel uncomfortable about working with her?” Sam asked almost belligerently.

“
I knew from what she said earlier that Morrin didn’t care for the book, so naturally I thought that her… personal feelings,” Gareth said casually, “would get in the way.”

“
Morrin’s too professional to allow personal beliefs to cloud her work.”

“
I realised that, this afternoon,” Gareth agreed. Seeing the flicker of annoyance that had passed over his face Morrin knew that his earlier slip of the tongue, when he had almost said that he had enjoyed working with her again, had been accidental. But now that danger had been averted he was teasing her again, giving everything he said a hidden meaning that only he and she recognised. “In fact,” he went on easily, “there were times when I could almost have sworn that she liked the book after all.”

“
As Sam says, I like to do my best, regardless of my own personal feelings.” Morrin stood up, anxious to bring the discussion to a close. “I think I’ll go for a walk before bed.”

“
Why not try a swim?” Gareth suggested, stretching his arms above his head. From within their shelter, unseen by the others, his green eyes challenged her. “That’s what I’m going to do.”

“
Tonight I would rather walk.”

“
I’ll swim with you,” Vicki chimed in. “It will give us a chance to discuss Charlotte’s character more fully. Sam, you can go walking with Morrin.”

Gareth
shrugged and got to his feet. “See you at the pool later, then,” he said, adding ominously, “And tomorrow you and I will pick up where we left off this afternoon, Morrin.”

*

“So how was it?” Sam wanted to know as he and Morrin wandered down the dusty road.

“
Tiring.” It had also been exciting and exhilarating, but she could not tell Sam that. She had always enjoyed working for Gareth; during the planning and writing of his books he became totally committed, and although the work was arduous, each day had been an adventure. In the evenings, alone in her small bedsit while her employer was out with his current girlfriend, she had found herself longing for the next day.

“
I can imagine. He shouldn’t have worked you so hard,” Sam said, and then, his voice exultant, “but it paid off, didn’t it? He’s made a good start and Vicki’s impressed.”

“
Is she?”

“
I can tell. She still wants to be coaxed, though. That’s why she wanted us out of the way tonight.”

“
I think I’ll turn back now, Sam. I’m more tired than I thought.”

“
Of course. It’s a shame that you’re having to work in such a lovely place,” Sam said as they retraced their steps. “There were so many places I wanted to show you.”

“
You still could, if we found a secretary for Gareth. I’d far rather be with you than with him.”

“
We might be able to do that,” Sam said thoughtfully, and her heart leapt, only to fall again as he went on, “but on the other hand, love, it might be a better idea for you to go on working with him. You can keep his nose to the grindstone and he seems to be happy enough with you.”

“
And what if I’m not happy with him?”

“
He’s not tried anything on, has he?” Sam asked suspiciously.

“
Of course not, Vicki’s much more his type than I am. I just don’t care for him, that’s all.”

They
had almost reached the villa. He put a hand on her arm, turning her to face him. “Just two more days, darling. Just enough time to establish the play and persuade Vicki, then you’ll be free, I promise. This will be the last time I ask you to – ”

“
Stop saying that, Sam!”

“
I’ll tell you what… to make up for you having to slave over a hot laptop for the next two days, how about us having the holiday of a lifetime later? Wherever you want to go, all expenses paid.”

“
You mean… us together?”

“
Why not?” He bent to kiss her gently, the way Gareth had kissed her earlier. Yet it wasn’t the same. “Separate rooms if you insist… separate hotels if it makes you feel happier. But let’s spend some time alone together, getting to know each other properly. Where do you want to go?”

Still
half convinced that he was teasing, Morrin snatched names out of the air. “The Seychelles… Malta… China…”

“
Australia, Singapore, Tasmania. You choose, and as soon as this deal’s wrapped up we’ll go. That’s a promise. No shop talk, nobody else, just you and me.”

“
I couldn’t,” she said nervously, and he kissed her again.

“
You could. And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather share an exotic beach with. Robinson Crusoe, remember?”