An Affair to Forget (8 page)

“
I don’t think that my opinion could interest you one bit,” she said coldly, and he managed to look hurt.

“
But you’re a reader… and readers matter,” he protested, his voice warm with fake sincerity. “Where would we authors be without you?”

Sam
’s hand descended on Morrin’s shoulder, his fingers tightening in a gentle reminder that he wanted this man to be charmed. “Go ahead, darling, be honest.”

Morrin
took a deep breath. There was only one way to give Gareth a taste of his own medicine. “If you really want to know,” she said sweetly, “I thought it was wonderful, simply wonderful! I only wish I could write like that! A gift such as yours must be simply – simply…”

Gareth
’s eyes had gone blank with surprise when she first started enthusing, then they widened in sudden swift amusement. The corners of his mouth trembled before he got himself under control.

“
Wonderful?” he suggested, and she beamed at him.

“
How amazing, that’s just what I was going to say!”

“
I thought it might be.” His voice was bland but his slightly raised eyebrow conceded the game to Morrin. Then his gaze moved beyond her, blazing into an interest that was totally sexual and masculine. Vicki, Morrin realised, had arrived.

She
rose, turning, so that they were all on their feet, facing the woman who waited on the top step as though, Morrin thought with a brief stab of resentment, she expected a round of applause. She didn’t quite get it, but the air positively crackled as the two men gazed up at her.

Vicki
wore black, a plain draped dress that moulded her lush body from shoulders to knees. The neckline plunged almost to her waist and her black hair was plaited and wound round her head, dragged back severely from her oval, full-lipped face. She seemed to flow down the steps, waving away Sam’s offer of a drink.

“
I’m starving,” she said in her husky voice, slipping her arm through Gareth’s. “Let’s go and have a marvellous dinner and – get to know each other properly.”

They
swept out without a backward glance, leaving the other two to trail along at their backs.

“
Chemistry, or what?” Sam whispered as they followed. Morrin looked at Gareth, tucking Vicki into the car as though she was a piece of precious, fragile porcelain.

“
If that’s chemistry, beware the fall-out,” she murmured, and Sam grinned and ruffled her carefully brushed hair.

Eight

Gareth drove, guiding the car effortlessly over unfamiliar roads while Vicki, beside him, gave directions. The restaurant she had chosen was in the remains of a fortress with the sea crashing against its outer wall.

At
Vicki’s suggestion they all had Canarias soup, grilled fish and charcoal-grilled meat with green salad. Vicki and Gareth talked throughout the meal, helped along by an occasional comment from Sam. They seemed to Morrin to be having some sort of vocal duel with sexual undertones. They were testing each other, sizing each other up, intent on each other. She concentrated on her plate, feeling completely out of things.

“
You’ve been very quiet, Morrin,” Gareth said as they were finishing the meal.

She
flushed, suddenly aware that she was the object of three pairs of eyes: one grey and concerned, one dark and disinterested, one green and mocking. “I haven’t had anything to say.”

“
Women always have plenty to say, even when they’re not really saying anything.”

“
Perhaps you’ve been mixing with the wrong kind of woman,” she said tartly. He laughed, and Sam reached out to cover Morrin’s hand with his own.

“
You’ll find that Morrin’s more of a thinker. She knows when to keep her own counsel.”

“
You could be right,” Gareth agreed with hidden emphasis that only he and Morrin recognised. Then, “It’s Irish, isn’t it? Your name.”

“
I believe so.” She was nervous, unsure of his next move.

“
Yes, it is. It means ‘long-haired’. Only…” He reached towards her and his fingers trailed lightly down the length of her hair. The touch was so unexpected that she almost flinched away from it, and so disturbingly sensuous that she wanted to cry out. It set up a hunger that shocked and frightened her, and yet Vicki and Sam did not seem to notice anything.

“
Only that isn’t really true in your case, is it?” Gareth went on smoothly, seemingly quite unaware of the turmoil he had started within her.

“
How on earth did you know the name was Irish?” Sam asked as Morrin fought against a mad desire to catch Gareth’s hand and hold it against her cheek.

“
I’ve always been interested in names.”

“
About
Charlotte
Dreaming
…” Vicki broke in impatiently, her dark eyes irritated. Vicki Queen liked to be in the spotlight, Morrin realised, whether she was on or off stage.

“
What about it?” There was a faint edge to Gareth’s voice, a faint darkening of his clear eyes – both signs that he was annoyed.

“
Sam was quite right when he said that the part of Charlotte was perfect for me. Perhaps it is time that I resurrected my career.” Vicki turned the sentence into an announcement, and Sam’s hand, still covering Morrin’s, tightened slightly to signal his triumph and relief. Then he removed it and gave the actress his full attention.

“
That’s wonderful news! So you’ll fly back to England with us?”

She
shrugged, a beautiful movement that lifted her breasts slightly in their brief covering. “I suppose I must stop being a lotus-eater some time. To be honest, darling, I’m beginning to feel just a little bit bored with this island. And Charlotte is a marvellous part… I’ll be the envy of London.” She touched his arm. “You’ll make sure of that, won’t you, Sam?”

He
took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips. “You have my word,” he said. “You know that I always wanted to put you into one of my plays.”

“
I know that you used to say so,” Vicki said huskily, her eyes holding his. To Morrin’s surprise she saw colour rise up in Sam’s face.

“
I meant it. And now that I have a second chance I won’t throw it away,” he said, as though making a solemn oath. Then, turning to beam at Morrin and Gareth, he added in his usual voice, “Now then. We must give Gareth as much time as he wants in order to get the play just right, and I’ll have to see about – ”

“
Just a minute, Sam.” Gareth’s voice was quiet but even so it held an undercurrent that stopped Sam in his tracks. “I don’t believe that I want this book to be turned into a play after all.”

“
Don’t be silly, darling,” Vicki said imperiously, “of course you must write the play for me. It will be wonderful. I will be wonderful in it, and you’ll become rich and famous.”

It
was the wrong attitude to take, Morrin could have told her that. Gareth’s eyes were hooded, his face expressionless. “I don’t think so, not this particular play. But I’m sure that there are others, Vicki.”

“
But… why not this one?” Sam looked like a child that had just found the toy it had always wanted, then lost it again.

Gareth
opened his hands out slightly, turning them palm up. They were large hands, strong and square. “Forgive me, Vicki, but I don’t think you’re the right person to play Charlotte.”

It
was said without malice, as a plain statement of fact, but colour immediately flooded the actress’s lovely face then ebbed away, leaving it ashen. For a moment Morrin was reminded of the Disney portrayal of the beautiful but wicked stepmother in Snow White.

“
Sam?” Vicki’s voice was tense and the glance she shot at Sam was furious.

“
I don’t understand.”

“
If you had read the book properly, Sam, you would know why I feel the way I do,” Gareth said, then to Morrin’s horror he turned to her. “According to your employer you’ve read the book more than once. Give us your interpretation of Charlotte’s character.”

Once
again she was the centre of attention. Vicki’s gaze impaled her like a moth pinned into a showcase, Gareth was commanding her to do as he said, and Sam’s eyes were openly begging her to be on his side. She cleared her throat.

“
I… I don’t think I’m the right person to ask.” Gareth’s lip curled in a sneer. “Probably not, since Sam pays your salary.”

“
Are you suggesting that I expect Morrin to lie in order to please me, when she thinks otherwise?”

“
If she worked for me I would certainly expect complete loyalty from her,” Gareth said coolly, and the words stung her like a whip. Then he turned his back on her, addressing himself to Sam. “You have to realise that the Charlotte in my book is a very ordinary woman at heart. She was a fighter… she married the man she loved, knowing that in doing so she had chosen a hard path. She struggled every step of the way to help him to become a success and she fought off every setback that threatened him on the way.” He paused, and shrugged. “She is a very special and rare type of woman and I just don’t see Vicki portraying her as I see her.”

“
For God’s sake, man, I’m an actress!” Vicki snapped at him. “I can be any woman you want me to be!”

“
Yes, you’re an actress, and a very good one, from what Sam has told me. But Charlotte isn’t just a figure on a stage and she never could be.”

“
You’re talking about her as if she’s a real person, someone you’re in love with,” Vicki accused.

“
Characters matter to their authors, you know, and Charlotte certainly matters a lot to me. More than I realised when I first came here.” Now it was Gareth’s turn to lift the actress’s fingers to his lips. “Thank you, Vicki,” he said, “for making me realise just how strongly I feel about Charlotte.”

“
My dear, I’m so glad to know that I was of some use to you after all.” Her mouth curved in a smile but her eyes were blazing as she snatched her hand away and stood up abruptly. “I’m tired. It’s time we went back to the villa.”

They
travelled back in silence. Gareth seemed to be a million miles away and Vicki’s anger filled the enclosed space. Sam slumped in his seat, deep in thought, while Morrin looked unseeingly out at the night.

As
soon as they reached the villa Vicki flounced off to her room without a word. Sam hurried after her while Gareth strode through the house and out through the French windows to the guest house in the garden with only a curt, “Good-night.”

Morrin
was glad to escape to her own room, but no sooner had she changed into her dressing-gown than Sam tapped at the door.

“
She’s absolutely furious.” He came in without waiting for an invitation, slumping despondently on the bed. “What possessed the man to speak like that in front of her?”

Morrin
sat down at the dressing-table and picked up her hairbrush. “I doubt if Gareth Sinclair understands that actresses’ egos are delicate.”

Sam
was too wrapped up in his own problems to notice the trace of sarcasm in her voice. “He’s living in her villa, you’d think he would have more sense than to be so abrupt with his hostess.” Then he added wryly, “So now you can go ahead and say it.”

“
Say what?”

“
That you told me it would all end in tears. You warned me and you were right. How did you guess?”

She
stared at herself in the mirror, choosing her words carefully. “That’s all it was… a guess. It seemed to me that a man who had had nothing to do with the stage might not understand how important it is to you and Vicki Queen.”

“
The thing is, Morrin, I know that
Charlotte
Dreaming
would make a great play, and I know that the part would be ideal for Vicki.”

“
You’ll find another play for her.”

“
Perhaps it will be too late by then. Someone else will have booked her, or she’ll have had time to decide to stay in retirement.”

“
Why is working with Vicki so important to you, Sam? From what I gather she has enough money to live like this for the rest of her life.”

“
But it would be such a waste! She’s a fine actress, but nobody has appreciated that. All she needs is the right part, and I want to be the man to find it for her. We would work so well together, Vicki and I. I was looking forward to it and now…”

His
voice trailed away, then suddenly he jumped to his feet, filled with purpose. “Dammit, Morrin, I’m not going to let that man just fly off back to Britain tomorrow without giving it one final shot.”

“
Sam…” Her heart sank.

“
Put some clothes on, sweetie, we’re going to talk to him.”

“
He’ll be asleep… and I’m tired!” But even as she protested she knew that it was no use. “Wait outside,” she said. “I’ll be five minutes.”

*

Gareth, his feet bare, his jacket and tie tossed aside, his shirt unbuttoned, made no secret of his irritation when he saw the two of them outside his door.

“
I was just going for a swim.” He leaned on the door frame, making it plain that they were not going to be invited inside, and brushed aside Sam’s attempt to reopen a discussion about his book. “It was a crazy idea; I told you from the beginning that I couldn’t see Charlotte on the stage and I should have stuck to my guns.”

“
If we could just find some time to talk I’m sure we could work something out.”

“
If you want to talk then you can join me at the pool in – ” – Gareth consulted the watch on his wrist – “three minutes’ time.”

“
I’m not much of a swimmer,” Sam admitted.

“
That’s too bad. Perhaps you could contact the airport first thing tomorrow morning,” Gareth suggested to Morrin, “and get me booked on to the first possible plane. I’ll get back in good time to keep that appointment in Austria. See you at breakfast.”

He
closed the door firmly in their faces and they had no option but to start back to the house through the quiet warm night. Then Sam stopped. “Hang on… you like swimming, Morrin.”

“
Me? Not particularly.”

“
Yes you do. You spend at least one lunchtime every week at a leisure centre, don’t you?”

“
I just joined to keep Deborah company.”

“
She says you’re a better swimmer than she is. She told me once that you won medals at school.”

Morrin
started edging towards the villa and the safety of her room. “Sam, no!”

“
For me, honey!”

“
I’m too tired.”

“
What could be more relaxing than a late-night dip beneath the stars?”

“
I’m going to bed!”

Sam
caught at her arm, whirling her round to face him. “Don’t you see, Morrin, that this is our last chance? If you can persuade him to give me just one more day… just another twenty-four hours… Vicki and I will have time to work on him.”

“
Sam… !”

“
Do this one thing for me and I will never ask you to do anything again.” He pulled her into his arms, dropped a kiss on the end of her nose. “Please?”