Strangers (23 page)

“It
is
a bra,” Kate snapped.

“Did you make it?”

“Been snooping?”

“Let’s see what else you have.”

He pushed past into her bedroom and pulled open the top drawer.
Ethan got the beginnings of an erection the moment he put his fingers on the contents.
“Did you make this?” He held up a pink satin bustier smothered in tiny bows.

“Yes.”

“Wear that.” It wasn’t what he’d intended but he had to see her wearing it.
When Kate came back in, Ethan swallowed hard and tried not to look at her pert breasts.
“That’s better.
Take a look.”

Kate stood in front of the full length mirror fastened to the door of her wardrobe and blinked at her reflection.

“You look sensational,” Ethan said at her shoulder.
“Ragged denims and a fabulous piece of tight lingerie.
A mix of casual and sophisticated.
They’ll all wonder who you are.”

“Who am I?” Kate whispered.

“Really, you look great.” He registered the confusion in her eyes and her flushed cheeks.
“Doesn’t Charlie say nice things to you?”

“Yes, but he expects to sleep with me.”

Ethan roared with laughter.
“Well, I don’t, but you look great.” His eyes fell to her flat, black slip-ons.
“Do you have any different shoes?”

“Flip-flops?”

Ethan thought about the Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks that would be on display and smiled.
“Why not?”

Kate kicked off her flats and slipped her feet into red plastic thongs.
Ethan looked her up and down and smiled.
This hadn’t been what he’d planned at all.
He’d turned the look from cheap to sexy, but intriguing.
He’d been aiming for slut, but maybe it didn’t matter.
Charlie would throw a fit when he saw her like this.

Kate thought Ethan would talk about Charlie in the car, but he was more interested in talking about her.

“So, how long have you been making lingerie?”

“Years.”

“Where do you sell it?”

“I don’t.
It’s just for me.”

“Well, that bustier would sell in Harrods.
Five hundred pounds at least.”

“Yeah, right,” Kate said and smiled.

“I have a friend who might be interested in buying some of your stuff.
Why don’t you make me a few samples?
All sorts of material, but large sizes.
Just because women are big doesn’t mean they shouldn’t wear sexy lingerie.”

“You mean it?” Kate asked, wondering whether he was winding her up.

“Of course I mean it.” He gave her his card.
“Put that in your pocket and send them to me when they’re done.”

He leaned back against the seat and Kate waited for the interrogation to start.

“Charlie tells me you’re a waitress.”

“Yes, at a café in Greenwich.”

“But you want to be an actress?”

“No.”

“Do you sing?”

“No.”

“Want to model?”

“No.”

“You don’t
want
to be a waitress?”

Kate rather enjoyed the surprise on his face.
“Why not?
It pays the bills.”

“What secrets do you have in your closet, Kate Snow?”

Kate was instantly alert, prey facing predator.
“I’m pure as the driven.”

“So if and when the papers start sniffing, they’re not going to come up with a husband and three kids or some other juicy bone?”

“No juicier than anything of Charlie’s.”

“What secrets does he have that I don’t know about?”

Ethan might be smiling, but Kate didn’t trust him.
She knew his type and flattery didn’t work on her.
She leaned toward him.
“Don’t tell him I told you, but he can shoot this strange sticky stuff out of his er…fingers and fly from building to building.
Oh no, hang on, that might be Spiderman.
I get so confused.”

Ethan chuckled.
“Anything else?”

“You’d have to ask him.”

“How did you meet?”

Kate wondered what Charlie had said.

“Swimming.”

“Swimming?
Bet you couldn’t believe your eyes.
What did you do?
Pretend to drown?” Ethan chortled and Kate bristled.

“I wasn’t pretending.”

That made him sit up, but she wished she hadn’t risen to the bait.

“Are you serious?
Drowning?
Christ, that’s great.”

Kate saw his mind running through ways of enhancing Charlie’s reputation.

“What happened?” he asked.

Kate didn’t feel she could back out now.

“We were caught in a rip tide.
The weather turned nasty.
Charlie kept me going.”

“I want every detail.”

“You’ll have to ask Charlie.”

“I’d rather you told me.”

Kate shook her head.

Ethan sighed, but changed the subject.
“What do your parents do?”

“Dead.”

“Take drugs?”

“Paracetamol.”

“Bad habits?”

“I eat peanut butter by the spoonful and I sometimes forget to flush,” she said.

Ethan laughed.

“And I don’t like to share,” Kate added.

“Neither does Charlie.”

“Maybe it’s him that forgets to flush.”

“He’s a mixed-up guy,” Ethan said.

Kate didn’t respond.

“So, do you see Charlie as your meal ticket, Kate?
Fancy life with a rich pop star-turned-actor?
Are visions of Hollywood and houses with swimming pools dancing in your head?
What do you want out this?”

He sat there so smug and self-righteous, Kate wanted to shock him.
She waited a moment before answering.
“Someone who won’t hit me.”

His eyes shot to hers and she gave a little shrug.

“Don’t fall in love with him, Kate.
He might not hit you, but he’ll hurt you.”

Chapter Fourteen

Kate knew of Armageddon, but had never been there.
Clubs were too expensive and Armageddon was reputedly harder to get into than anywhere else.
Apart from the red neon sign and two men the size of small elephants standing by the entrance, the club looked nothing more than a large double-fronted, triple-pillared residential house.

Almost before the car stopped moving, Ethan’s driver shot around to open the rear door and let them out.
Once inside, Ethan waved a gold-edged invitation at a stone-faced, wafer-thin guy and ushered Kate toward the source of the thumping music.
Kate pulled up short of a pair of grotesquely beautiful double doors covered with carved, snarling animals.
She had a moment of unease before Ethan ushered her into the room.

A wave of faces rolled in their direction.
Kate guessed what they were thinking.
Who is she?
Do I know her?
Should I know her?
Ethan caught her elbow, maneuvering her to the bar.
He lifted two glasses from a serried line of champagne flutes and handed one to her.

“Not bad,” he said after the first mouthful.

Kate didn’t want a drink.
She wanted to run.
Why had she let Ethan persuade her to wear jeans?
Every woman wore a cocktail dress.
Standing next to men in black dinner jackets, they sparkled like bright jewels scattered around the room.
Kate felt out of place, as if she’d turned up in school uniform on an “own clothes” day.
Her eyes hunted Charlie.

She found him with one of the brightest gems.
The woman wore the sexiest dress Kate had ever seen—pieces of red fabric wound diagonally around her body, as if she’d been wrapped in a huge satin ribbon.
On anyone else it would have seemed as though she were bursting out of her clothes, like a female Hulk, but on this woman it looked stunning.
Kate emptied her glass and found a full one placed in her hand.

Charlie spotted Ethan, registered the woman at his side, and then turned back to the woman at his own, before his gaze shot to Kate again.
What the hell had she got on?
Jeans, for fuck’s sake?
He was gripped by a pang of guilt.
He should have bought her a dress.
He hadn’t thought.
The women around him wore designer labels, probably dresses the designers had begged them to wear.
They even approached Charlie to endorse their suits, shirts, ties.
Christ, why had Ethan let her come dressed like that?
But her top…her breasts… Charlie stared.
Fuck it, Kate looked so sexy and stunning his cock hardened against his zipper.
Thank God it was dark.

He shouldn’t have let her come.
How could he keep away from her?
He’d thought they could have a few dances and no one would notice but that wasn’t going to happen.
Charlie made himself put his arm over Natalie Glass’ shoulder and watched Kate looking for him, until their gazes collided.
Kate smiled.
He didn’t.
He watched her face fall and he turned back to Natalie.
Shit.
What the fuck had he done that for?

Kate saw Charlie’s arm move around the woman in red and a flash of pain seared her heart like a piece of meat tossed onto a barbeque.
When he deliberately looked away, Kate decided to go home.
Why ask her to come, then ignore her?
Ethan’s arm moved across her shoulder and when she tried to slide away, he kept her in place.

“Gerald, how’s it going?” Ethan gripped Kate tighter and shook the hand of the man in front of them.

“Great, Ethan.
This gorgeous young lady one of yours?”

“I’m afraid not.
Kate, meet Gerald Sweetman, co-owner of Zeron Films.”

Kate shook his hand.
The two men chatted for a while before Ethan moved her on.

“Ethan, darling.
It’s been too long.”

Ethan released Kate to triple air kiss a woman in a dress cut low enough to expose a ploughed field of furrowed cleavage.

“You’re looking lovely tonight, Foxie,” Ethan said.
“This is Kate.
Kate, meet Foxie Merton.
Foxie writes for
Hello
.”

Kate received the same kiss that wasn’t a kiss.
The woman handed her a pink business card and answered a few vacuous questions of Ethan’s, before he pulled Kate on.

“I didn’t know Ethan Silver represented Kate Beckinsale?” someone muttered as they passed.

“Wasn’t it Kate Hartley?” another voice asked.

Ethan chuckled.
He slid his arm around Kate’s waist.
His fingers touched her bare skin and she flinched.

“They’re intrigued.
Keep them that way,” he said at her ear.

He picked up another couple of glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and handed one to Kate.
She knew she shouldn’t drink any more until she’d eaten, otherwise she’d fall asleep or fall over.
She tried not to look for Charlie, but he always seemed to be in the periphery of her vision, always with the woman in red.
He hadn’t even come over to say hello.
Disappointment gnawed at her heart.

As Ethan turned to speak to someone else, there was a tap on her bare shoulder.
A dark-haired, pale-faced guy stood smiling at her.

“Hi, what’s your name?” he asked.

“Kate.”

There was a pause and Kate realized he wasn’t wondering who she was, but expected her to know him.
She didn’t.

“And you are?” she asked.

“Morgan Price.
You’ve probably seen me on Arrow.
On BBC2.”

“I don’t have a TV.”

Judging by the dropped jaw, Morgan was dumbfounded by the idea of a household deprived of his brilliance.

Kate took pity on him.
“What’s it about?”

His face relaxed again.
“It’s a sci-fi drama.
A specialist team of detectives travel around the country, hunting serial killers and kidnappers.
I’m Paul Arrow, the main character.” He looked at her quizzically.
“Do you do stage work then?”

“No.”

“Singer?”

“No.”

“Model?”

“No.”

“She’s a talented fashion designer,” Ethan said as he passed.
“She makes her own underwear.”

Kate gritted her teeth as Morgan’s eyes lit up like candles.
“Wow.
Did you make this?” He touched the bottom of Kate’s bustier.

“Yes.” She twisted away from his fingers.

“Now you’ve switched from no to yes, want to go someplace and show me what’s underneath?”

“No, she fucking wouldn’t.” Charlie appeared between them, a ball of belligerence.

Morgan hesitated, then slid away.

Charlie edged Kate to the side of the room.
“What the fuck are you wearing?”

Kate looked down at her jeans and then at the dresses of the other women and knew no matter what she’d worn, she would never look that good.

“Ethan told me to change out of the dress I intended to wear and he was right.
I would have looked cheap.
Now, I look different.
If you don’t like what I have on, too bad.”

“You look fucking delicious, but everyone is going to notice you.
This lot are trained piranhas.”

“Charlie, come and dance,” someone whined by Kate’s shoulder.
The woman in the red dress shoved herself between them and draped her arms around Charlie’s neck.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

“Kate, this is Natalie Glass.
Natalie—Kate.
Natalie’s going to be in
The Green
with me.”

“What have I seen you in?” Natalie asked Kate.
“Weren’t you an extra in
The Conservatory
?”

“Yes, the Venus fly-trap,” Kate said.

Charlie laughed.
Kate watched Natalie edging Charlie away.
She tussled for a moment with the slimy green monster intent on consuming her internal organs, but aware that looking any longer at Miss Slashed Dress only encouraged the monster’s rapid growth, Kate backed away.
Natalie shot her a triumphant smirk and Kate smiled as brightly as she could, before turning her back on the pair of them.

Kate realized now that Charlie had invited her in an attempt to make up for his neglect.
He’d known she was upset about the other night and the fact that he hadn’t called her but Kate couldn’t see why he’d bothered asking her to come here.
He didn’t even want to stand and talk to her, so she’d rather not be here.
She’d leave—after she’d eaten.

The food had been laid out in a side room and when she saw it, Kate took a step back.
This had to be the most magnificent spread she’d ever seen.
She stood for a moment, devouring it with her eyes.
It looked too beautiful to eat.
Everything lay on silver plates and everything was miniature.
Tiny circles of bread topped with cream cheese, pate or smoked salmon.
Grapes so miniscule Kate didn’t think they
were
grapes, until she tried one.
There were star-shaped pastry cases topped by one curly pink prawn.
Petite rolls the size of plums and a display of exotic fruits she’d seen in the supermarket but never bought because they cost a couple of quid each.
There were dishes of caviar, oysters on beds of ice and a load of stuff she didn’t even recognize.
There were also no women anywhere near the food.
Only old men.