Star Attraction (20 page)

But then Brad began to talk of
other things, like his life in Hollywood, and in spite of her fears she could
not help but listen attentively to all the things he told her about himself and
his life in California.
 
She had
been wondering only a few hours before what his life was like, and now here he
was laying the whole of his life open before her.

“I have a house on the beach at
Malibu, on some pretty spectacular cliffs, just next to my father’s.
 
Dad and I used to get long well, but he
can be very domineering at times. After my mother and sister were killed in a
car accident three years ago, he began to get even more cantankerous.
 

“It was almost as if he had lost
two people he loved, and the pain was so great that he never wanted to go
through it again.
 
So rather than
us getting closer, he pushed me away, maybe through the fear of losing me as
well, one way or the other.
 
I’ve
tried not to disappoint him, and I've never come close to having a marriage or
children until now.”

Zaira felt sick as she heard him
say he was near to being married, and put her fork down loudly on her plate
with a clatter that made both men turn to look at her.

“Sorry,” she murmured.
 
“Go on.”

“I’m hoping this project will make
Cormac see my worth once and for all, and maybe get us closer together
again.
 
Maybe my wife can show the
crotchety old man that no one can live without love.
 
It’s taken me nearly thirty years to find it out, so maybe
Dad can learn from her too.”

“Well, congratulations, Brad,”
Matt said in a hearty tone, but he looked uneasily at Zaira, who seemed close
to tears.

They drank their coffee in
silence, and then Brad said, “Well, Matt, now that you and Zaira have got
together, I'll leave it to the two of you what contract you wish to draw up for
the publishers.
 
And now, if you'll
excuse us, we both have lectures to give tomorrow, so we’ll be off home.”

Before Zaira could say a word, he
placed a wad of money on the table, and took her firmly by the elbow.
 
He hailed a cab at the corner, and
pushed her in.

“I’m sorry, but it has been a long
day, and I just want to get home,” Brad declared, taking her hand firmly, his
voice brooking no refusal.

Zaira leaned helplessly against
him in the taxi, numb with all she had learned.
 
He was leaving her, getting married, going back home to
California forever.
 
It was too
late.
 
She had lost him.
 

Yet despite Brad's talk about
settling down soon, he
 
caressed
her fingers with his own, gently yet possessively, and kissed her softly as the
car pulled up to the curb.
 
All the
way up the elevator he kissed her, stroking her hair and her eyelids, and
cheeks, nuzzling her ear playfully until she was on fire.

He kissed and caressed her with
his hands all the way down the corridor, and ran one hand up and down her back,
pressing her closely to him in an intimate embrace which left her in no doubt
of his desires. With his other hand he unlocked the door, and switched on the
light.
 

Pleasure turned to pain as Brad
slammed her up against the wall and ground out, “The game is over, Zaira, Zoe,
whatever you’re called!
 
I want the
truth, and I want it now.”

Zaira gasped at the fury in Brad’s
green eyes, and she stammered out, “It—it wasn’t a game, it just happened.”

“Just like our making love
yesterday just happened?
 
No, it
don’t believe it!
 
The clothes, the
hair, the accent, even the eye color, were all deliberately changed.
 
It was a flawless performance, apart
from your earrings, the only slip you’ve made all these days. It didn’t just
happen!
 
You deliberately tricked
me at every turn, and I want to know why now!” Brad shouted, shaking her.

Zaira trembled as his fingers bit
into her soft flesh roughly, and her eyes filled with tears at the mental as
well as physical pain Brad was inflicting upon her.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve
put me through?
 
I’ve been going
crazy!
 
Was it all just for the
money or what?” he grated harshly.

Before she could reply, he kissed
her angrily,
 
before finally
letting her go.

Brad threw himself down on the
sofa, and she could see him shaking with rage.
 
Zaira clung to the wall, and knew this would be her only
chance to tell him the truth.
 
He might
not listen, he might get up and walk out of the door forever, but in spite of
her pride, she had to try.
 
She
braced herself and moved over towards the sofa.
 

She knelt down by his feet, and
said pleadingly, ”Brad, I know what it seems like, but just think about it for
a minute.
 
You and I bumped into
each other completely innocently in the foyer that day, and then at the party
in the evening.
 
You told me you wanted
my help to persuade Zoe Dominick to let you film the book.

 
“It just seemed to good to be true, after everything I had
been through for the past eighteen months.
 
It seemed the perfect solution to all my financial problems,
but I couldn’t be sure whether or not you were trustworthy.
 
I was touched by your sincerity when
you chatted to me that night at the party, and I had already made up my mind to
let you have the rights before you ever came to the theatre.”

“So you were just playing a game
with me after that.
 
Well, if it
was all so innocent, then why the disguise!” Brad shouted.

She grabbed his hand and held it,
forcing him to listen.

“Then Matt had made the
arrangements for the meeting, and you met me in my costume and wig, and didn’t
recognize me at all as the girl from the night before.
 
I was a bit miffed really, that you
took me for such a frump, that you couldn’t see that we were one and the same
person.”
 

Brad opened his mouth to argue,
but Zaira continued, “And then you offered me the consultation, the acting, and
the screenplay to Zaira Darcy. It all seemed too good to be true, and I was
cautious, as anyone would be with so much on the line.
 
By the time I knew I could trust you,
it had all got a bit too complicated. And I do admit it, after everything I've
been through with my soon to be ex husband, the money was too good to be
missed. But it wasn't only that.
 
The chance to turn my
 
own
book into our screenplay for the amazing film I know you're going to make of
'The Dark Lady' was a dream come true.
 
So I played along with everything, and even got the added bonus of you
offering to play Hamlet.”

“Matt knew everything, didn’t he?”
Brad demanded, trying to wrest his hand free.
 
“Christ, I felt like such a fool tonight.”

“He was only going along with it
to protect me.”
 
Zaira took his
hand in both her own, and looked up at him longingly.
 
“Matt and I talked about it today, and he tried to convince
me to tell you before you found out fory ourself.
 
But I told him I didn’t want anything to ruin the
Hamlet
production, and that I would tell
you on Saturday night as soon as it was over.”

He shook his head from side to
side, but the scowl on his face had become less frightening.
 

“Honestly, Brad, I don’t blame you
if you never want to see me again, which is why I skipped rehearsals today and
worked the entire afternoon to finish the screenplay.
 
You are entitled to that if nothing else.
 
Even if you hate me, you can still go
ahead with the project if you want, back in Hollywood.
 
You were telling Matt, and you’ve been
telling me all along, that you’re in love with someone else, so I won’t blame
you if you want to forget all about teaching here, and go home to California to
make the film.”

Brad looked at her in surprise.

She forced herself to go on, “I
know it’s awful my deceiving you all this time, but even when I came to trust
you, it seemed easier to just continue the deception until all our business was
out of the way.
 
I’m free of the
past now.
 
I’ve paid off all my
debts thanks to you, but I owe you a lot more. You’ve made me live again.”

Brad looked down at her, his face
inscrutable.

Zaira summoned up all her courage,
and told him the unvarnished truth.
 
“It’s hard to explain, Brad, but the Zaira you first met was my act, my
creation, not really Zoe, though I think you’ve helped create her.
 
Zoe is the real me I’ve never been able
to let loose, until you set her free. The physical appearance of Zaira is the
same apart from the hair and eyes, but Zaira the academic I manufactured out of
a need to feel safe and protected from the rest of the world.
 
You think Zoe is the fake me, but Zaira
Darcy is the real fake.
 
I’ll
understand if you never want to see either of us again, Brad, but I want you
know how much I’ve loved every single moment we’ve ever shared together.”

Her eyes filled with tears, and
she started to get up off the floor, only to be pulled into his lap.

“And which one of you made love to
me the other day?” Brad whispered softly.
 
“I want to meet her again.”

Her grey eyes locked with his
green, and she could see the embers of desire alight.
 
“It’s me, Zaira.
 
I’ve wanted you from the moment we bumped into each other in the foyer,
Brad. I couldn’t stand seeing you always running away.
 
I had to make love with you, even if I
regretted it for the rest of my life.”

He kissed her searchingly, and
murmured against her lips, “Do you regret it, Zaira?”

“How could I?
 
It’s all I could have ever wanted, and
more,” Zaira sighed against his cheek.
 
“But I sensed last night that you had regrets.
 
You told me there was someone else....”

“Ah, that again.
 
You said it before, but there never has
been any one else but you.”

Zaira struggled to get out of his
lap, and once her feet were squarely on the floor she ran from him.
 
“But you said there was, and besides,
you even told Matt you were getting married!
 
Now you’re the one playing games with me.”

“Zaira, listen…” Brad urged, but
she put her hands over her ears and
 
tried to retreat into her bedroom.

“No more lies between us.
 
The truth has to come out once and for
all.
 
I’ve seen the photo of the
gorgeous blond by your bed that you tried to hide, so don’t lie!” she shouted.

Brad laughed as he shook his head
sadly, and stepped into her bedroom before she could slam the door in his
face.
 
“That isn’t the other woman.
It's a photo of my sister.
 
I
didn’t want to show it to you, I didn’t want to talk about it, but now you know
that she was killed in that terrible car accident with my mother three years
ago, so even that secret is out in the open,” Brad said huskily.

“Your sister!”
 
Zaira gasped. She stared at him for a
moment. His grim expression told her he was completely sincere.

“The only rival for your
affections has been you,” Brad said, as he put his arms around her demandingly,
and the zipper at the side of her dress parted.
 

"Brad—"

“I’ve tried to fight my feelings
for Zoe knowing I was in love with Zaira,” he said with a sigh.

Still she struggled against him,
not believing he could be serious.

“I loved Zaira first, from the
moment I saw her and she told me off in the elevator. Then I met Zoe, so
similar in some ways, so different in others.
 
I was drawn to her irresistibly, and after the fight I had
had with Zaira that morning, I thought I had ruined my chances forever,” Brad
confessed, a small grim smile playing about his sensual mouth.

“I tried to keep my distance from
you, but couldn’t.
 
It was just too
strong for me to control,” she whispered, as her dress dropped to the floor and
her bra after it.

“So beautiful,” Brad
murmured.
 
“I thought of Zaira only
after making love to Zoe, and was going to have to break it off with her.
 
But I wanted to be sure of what Zoe
felt for me before I hurt you irrevocably.
 
I had cheated on you even though I loved you, and felt a
complete swine,” he said in an anguished voice, as he stroked her bare breasts
and shoulders in admiration.
 
Zaira
shivered with pleasure as his lips traced a line down her neck to her breasts.