Kissed By a Stranger

Except that damning him wasn’t as easy as it should have been. Instead of the expected censure, she felt anticipation at the prospect of seeing him after the show. What then? Maybe she’d invite him home for coffee after dinner. She lived at Mermaid Beach, a few minutes’ drive from the studio. It was a glorious evening. They could meander out onto the terrace overlooking the phosphorescent ocean.

How long was it since she’d invited a man to her home? Since she’d started appearing on television regularly it was more a case of keeping them from following her home. Luke was different. ‘I want a place in your life, not on your show,’ he’d said, sounding as if he meant it.

Her eyes widened. He was the first man—the first person—in years to appreciate her for herself, not for what she did.

‘Sarah, please!’

The make-up woman’s cry of frustration jolted Sarah back to reality. She’d opened her eyes as the eyeshadow was being applied. She schooled herself to behave, and the job was finished moments later. As she climbed out of the chair she flashed an apologetic smile at the make-up artist. ‘Things on my mind today.’

Understatement of the week, she thought as she made her way to the studio.

Richard was already on the set—in the right-hand seat she normally occupied. His grin dared her to complain. Somehow Luke was in her mind again, giving her his rare sense of perspective—rare in this business, anyway.

She smiled and took the left-hand chair, enjoying Richard’s look of surprise. Maybe he’d hoped to provoke a row on the set to make her look bad. It wasn’t going to work.

Well, not today. Today she had a guardian angel looking over her shoulder, counselling her. She had a suspicion his name was Luke Ansfield.

It was just as well. Since they rarely worked on-camera together, Richard made the most of every opportunity to upstage her. He stepped on her lines, read the autocue out of order, forcing her to improvise, and ad-libbed jokes which brought the camera back to him, as designed.

After forty-five minutes of this, Sarah was ready to scream. It took all the professionalism she possessed to keep smiling and treating Richard as her on-screen buddy. Only thinking of her date with Luke kept her on an even keel.

Richard seemed disappointed by the failure of his efforts to provoke her. During a commercial break before the final segment, he said, ‘You should enjoy the last story, Sarah. In fact, you should have written it.’

Before she could ask what he meant, the floor manager counted them out of the break. As Richard’s opening remarks scrolled up the autocue, a leaden sensation invaded Sarah. Oh, no, he couldn’t do this to her.

But he had.

She could do nothing but sit there in agony as Richard publicly identified Luke as Sarah’s rescuer. Footage of the car accident was followed by a newsreel clip of Luke on the racing circuit four years before.

Against her will, she sat forward. The first view was from the driver’s set of Luke’s car as he hurtled around the Suzuka track at the Japanese Grand Prix. Then the camera caught Luke himself, his compelling eyes the only part of his face visible beneath a balaclava and helmet, as he battled Schumacher, Berger and Mansell for lap upon lap.

‘Ansfield, the ultimate competitor, manages to pass the competition and take the Japanese Grand Prix,’ the commentator gasped.

Sarah released a pent-up breath. Several times Luke had appeared to be inches from death as he hurtled around the tight curves with more than seven hundred horsepower beneath him. Her vision blurred as he was shown climbing from the car to be decked in wreaths.

Dazedly she registered that they were showing a close-up of Luke while Richard read from the autocue. ‘Today a mystery surrounds this road warrior, who now lives in seclusion at his home on the Gold Coast Hinterland. Why did he quit when he had the world at his feet? We’ll bring you more as this intriguing story unfolds.

‘One person who has cause to bless Luke Ansfield’s presence on the Gold Coast is our own Sarah Fox, who might not be with us today if not for this reticent racer. Sarah?’

The camera came back to her. She blinked hard to clear her vision. This was the very thing Luke had sought to avoid. ‘You caught me by surprise, Richard,’ she said, ignoring the script scrolling beneath the camera. ‘Luke doesn’t want public recognition for saving my life. Naturally I’m grateful to him, as I’ve already assured him privately. I’m sure you’ll understand if I leave it at that, Richard?’

Her co-host gave a wolfish grin, but beneath his make-up he looked furious. ‘News is news,’ he said smoothly. ‘Although Sarah’s shyness on the subject suggests that more than her car caught fire last week. Could the former racing driver catch the Fox? You’ll hear it first on Coast to Coast. I’m Richard Nero—goodnight.’

Sarah was too incensed to care that he hadn’t thrown to her for the customary sign-off. As soon as the floor manager gave the all-clear, she tore her ear-piece from her ear and threw it onto the chair, whirling on Richard. ‘How could you run that story without consulting me first?’

He shrugged. ‘They loved it upstairs.’

‘But it was my story.’

He stood, dwarfing her by half a head. ‘Admit it, Sarah, you had no intention of blowing the whistle on Luke Ansfield.’

She felt her colour heighten. ‘Of course not. I gave him my word I wouldn’t reveal his identity.’

A gasp came from their producer. ‘You did what?’

Sarah hadn’t seen Donna Blake come up behind her. There was nothing for it but to continue. ‘Luke saved my life. Keeping quiet was the least I could do to repay him.’

Donna’s nostrils flared. ‘You’re a journalist, Sarah. This is a major story. You should be digging around to find out what he’s doing holed up in the hills instead of making deals with him. How long did you plan to sit on this scoop?’

Even Richard looked uncomfortable, as if he hadn’t expected so much furore over his story. Sarah gritted her teeth. ‘It isn’t a scoop. Luke’s an ordinary man and he’s entitled to his privacy.’ She didn’t even want to admit to herself why she hadn’t dug into his background. Was she afraid of finding something unsavoury? No, he had done nothing to warrant such an investigation, she told herself. It would be poor repayment to him for saving her life.

Donna gave a sceptical snort. “Ordinary” depends on your point of view. Luckily Richard warned me you’d try and stop this story from going to air.’

Sarah swung on her co-host. ‘So you sprang it on me unannounced. Thanks a lot, partner.’

Before Richard could frame a reply, the producer intervened. ‘Partner may be a relative term. As soon as management hears about this it will help decide the show’s permanent host. You couldn’t blame them for wanting an anchor whose first loyalty is to the programme.’