The Tycoon's Scandalous Proposition

‘What about boyfriends?’ he asked, wanting to know the lie of the land before he got his hopes up too high. Not that a boyfriend would stop him now. The more time he spent with Kate the more he wanted her.

‘What?’ she said, blinking up at him.

God, she did have lovely eyes. And so expressive. Perfect for the camera.

‘You said you don’t have loads of girlfriends,’ he went on, ‘but you’ve surely had loads of boyfriends. There must be one at the moment.’

A strange cloud dulled her eyes. Strange, because he couldn’t read the emotion behind it. What was it? Not distress. Or dismay. Sadness again? Yes, that was it. Sadness. A very deep sadness. He wondered if she’d had a serious boyfriend and something dreadful had happened to him. He couldn’t imagine any man worth his salt dumping Kate, so what else could it be?

Only death, Blake decided, warranted this depth of sadness. A very recent death, possibly. That would explain everything that had puzzled him about her tonight. It might also explain why she hadn’t responded all that strongly to his none-too-subtle overtures. Perhaps by finding him attractive—and he was pretty sure she did—she felt she was betraying her loved one.

Blake pulled himself up sharply before he got carried away. Which he did sometimes. Nothing worse than being a movie-maker. He found drama in every situation. The reality was probably nothing like what he was imagining.

‘Actually, no,’ she said, a rueful little smile hovering. ‘I do not have a boyfriend at the moment. I have had boyfriends in the past, of course.’

Well of course she had. If she hadn’t she wouldn’t be normal.

‘Then there’s no one to object if I ask you out to dinner tomorrow night?’ he went on.

She didn’t look totally surprised, just a little wary.

‘No,’ she said, but there was reservation in her voice and reluctance in her eyes.

He knew then that she wasn’t going to be easily seduced. One part of him admired her for it, but that other part—the part which was aching and hard and more conscienceless than it had ever been—refused to be deterred.

So he decided to play his trump card. Too bad if it was a bit premature. A man had to do what a man had to do.

‘I want to talk to you about a part in my next movie which I think would be perfect for you,’ he added, dangling what he knew would be a powerful carrot.

There was no doubting her surprise. No, her shock. Genuine, ingenuous shock. God, she really was irresistible.

‘But why would you do that?’ she asked, jerking her head back a little as she blinked up at him. ‘Surely you would need me to audition for you first.’

Damn it all, why did she have to be so difficult? He respected her for it, but it was irritating.

‘I don’t need to see an audition from a graduate of NIDA,’ he dismissed. ‘Their programme produces the most talented actors.’

‘Yes, but...but...’

‘Kate Holiday,’ he said sternly. ‘Do you want to be a successful actress or not?’

‘Of course I do,’ she replied, looking quite offended. ‘It’s what I want most in the world.’

‘Then stop looking a gift horse in the mouth.’

She smiled then. Which pleased him no end.

‘You’ll come to dinner tomorrow night?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. Now, let’s go and dance.’

CHAPTER SIX (#uf50f8d74-993a-53b8-865b-a75d9e9aafc4)

HOW AMAZING, KATE thought a little breathlessly as Blake swept her onto the dance floor and into his arms. Dinner tomorrow night and a part in a Blake Randall movie.

Amazing, but also a little worrying. She’d heard casting couch stories, knew that it still happened, and wondered if Blake was of that ilk. Would he expect her to have sex with him at the end of the evening?

Kate knew he fancied her—had seen desire in his eyes. And even more worrying was the suspicion that if he made a pass at her she might just say yes to whatever he wanted. Which was not like her at all!

But this was her chance, wasn’t it? she reasoned desperately. Her chance to get her career off the ground. And she did find him attractive. Very attractive. And sexy. Very sexy. It was that mouth of his. And the hot, hungry gleam which fired up his eyes whenever he looked down at her. Which he was doing at the moment. He made her feel sexy in return. And terribly tempted.

A thought suddenly came to her, however—one she didn’t like at all.

‘This part you have in mind for me,’ she said as he whirled her round, thankfully at arm’s length. ‘It’s not in one of Lachlan’s movies, is it? I honestly don’t want to be in one of his movies.’

‘No, it’s not a rom-com. More of a family drama. A character-based script which I wrote a few years ago but hadn’t got round to making. But it’s all systems go now, and we start shooting in late November. Look, keep this under your hat, but I think Lachlan and I will be parting company in the near future.’

‘But why?’ she asked, totally taken aback.

Blake glanced over at the man in question before answering. Fortunately the dance floor was big enough for them not to be too close. Nevertheless, when he spoke he kept his voice low.

‘Mr Rodgers has an exalted opinion of his acting abilities. He doesn’t really understand why his movies with me have been so successful. He thinks it’s solely due to him. He might do one more movie with me, but he’ll go with the money in the end. He recently got himself a new agent—one who’s buddy-buddy with the big production companies. They’ve already offered him a very lucrative contract for three movies. He says he’s just thinking about it, but I can see the writing on the wall.’

‘That’s not very loyal of him,’ Kate said, feeling upset for Blake. Though he didn’t seem that upset himself.

He shrugged. ‘There’s no such thing as loyalty in Hollywood. Just box office figures. I’ll survive without him, I can assure you. I have several new projects already in the pipeline—none of which rely on Lachlan Rodgers.’

‘That’s good.’

Good, too, that she wouldn’t have to work with him. That would have been just awful. And so would her acting have been, with her new brother-in-law’s presence being both distracting and upsetting.

Still, Blake might be right about Lachlan’s acting abilities being limited. When they’d been at NIDA he certainly hadn’t come top of the class. He’d been good, but not as good as some of the others. She herself had been singled out by their teachers for more praise than he had.

‘Let’s not talk about Lachlan any more,’ Blake said. ‘I’d rather talk about you. So, tell me, if you’ve only had that one part in a play since you graduated, how have you been surviving financially?’

‘Well, I do live at home, rent-free. And I’ve been working at a local deli at the weekends. That pays for my clothes and fares, and leaves me free to go to auditions during the week.’

‘Do you have a good agent?’

Kate sighed. ‘I thought I did. But I’m beginning to have my doubts.’

‘You need to get yourself a new one, then.’

‘I think I will.’

The music changed from a waltz to a faster, more throbbing beat. More people got up to dance, at which point Blake pulled Kate very close and told her to put her arms around his neck. After a slight hesitation she did so, and felt Blake dropping his hands down to her hips. His grip was firm, pulling her lower half against him, making Kate quickly aware of something hard pressing against her stomach. It was impossible to ignore.