Thrill! (3 page)

She waited for his anger to deepen, remembering his sometimes violent temper. But this time she wasn't frightened, he wouldn't dare lay a hand on her in her office.

Instead of more anger he went the other way. Little boy lost. So handsome and alone. She'd never been able to resist that stance and he knew it. Joey could turn it on like nobody else.

"OK, I get it,"

he said, pushing his hand through his thick hair. Tm like yesterday's news. Nobody'll hire me. Guess I may as well go back to drivin"

a cab."

He got up and went to the door, pausing with his hand on the knob.

"Can I buy you dinner? Try to explain what happened. I owe you that."

His intense eyes tracked her from across the room.

"Can I, Maddy?"

She was well aware that if she accepted, she'd look like a pathetic old fool...

It didn't matter, because there was no way she could resist.

ft ft ft

Joey knew exactly what he was doing, every move thought out way ahead. Dinner at a small Italian restaurant; a bottle of house red wine - three-quarters of it drunk by Madelaine, who didn't realize he wasn't keeping up. Intimate conversation - mostly about how much he'd missed her, and how great he thought she looked.

Lies, lies, but what did she care? By the time they took a cab back to her apartment on 66th Street, she was feeling sexy and womanly and very horny. Joey had fed her some story about a sick aunt in Montana and a family business he'd had to single-handedly save. She didn't believe him, but so what? He was paying her more attention than she'd had in six years and she desperately wanted him to make love to her.

Joey didn't disappoint. His lovemaking was even better than she remembered. Prolonged foreplay; leisurely oral sex; and then long, steady penetration until she cried out in a torrent of ecstasy.

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She didn't feel over fifty and fifteen pounds overweight. Joey made her feel like a beautiful, desirable woman.

He stayed overnight, making love to her again in the morning, his hard body pressing her flesh in the most incredibly exciting way. She knew she was hooked again. One night of lust made up for six years of anger.

"Why didn't you call me? At least let me know where you were?"

she asked plaintively, her fingers trailing up and down his smoothly muscled back.

"I'm here now,"

he responded.

"Isn't it enough that I came back?"

And his lips pressed down on hers, weakening her crumbling resistance until it ceased to exist.

Two days later he moved back in. A few days after that she asked him to drop by her office.

"I'm sending you up for a small role you could be right for,"

she told him.

"If you get it, that'll be a start in the right direction."

"You're the best, Maddy,"

he said, smiling the irresistible Joey smile.

And she knew she was probably being used, but somehow once again - it didn't matter.

17

~^i^_Jfl TETOU WAS a famous fish restaurant perched ^^^P^P^A above the sandy beach between Eden Roc and Juan Les Pins. Popular for many years, it was an expensive hang-out for rich locals and affluent tourists - nothing in the South of France was cheap.

Nikki had also invited Harry Solitaire and Pierre Perez to join them. Pierre was a French actor with brooding eyes and a dreamy smile - he'd flown in from Paris that morning and was due to start work on the movie in two days.

"Pierre's not married,"

Nikki whispered as they sat down.

"Not even engaged. Use a condom and go for it."

"Will you stop!"

Lara said crossly.

Pierre was as charming as Harry was persistent. Richard glared at them both disapprovingly. He was extremely protective of his ex-wife; she might be a famous movie star, but she was fragile and needed nurturing, only he knew how much.

"Why did you invite these two assholes?"

he muttered to Nikki, as Lara parried the attention.

"To piss you off,"

Nikki muttered back, grabbing his crotch under the long tablecloth.

"Quit that!"

he said sternly.

She grinned.

"Why? You know you love it."

"There's a time and a place."

"The time is now,"

she said, attempting to unzip his fly.

He couldn't help smiling as he shifted her hand. Nikki never

18

gave him time to think about other women, she was always up to something.

When dinner was over and they were lingering over coffee, Harry leaped to his feet. He lived for locations, a legitimate separation from his wife was one of the perks of being an actor.

"Let's go dancing,"

he suggested enthusiastically.

"I know a terrific place in Monte Carlo."

"Count me out,"

Lara said quickly.

"Why?"

Harry persisted, his eyes saying: You like me, don't you? Tott're attracted to me -so come on, let's get down and dirty.

"I have lines to go over,"

she demurred.

"Perhaps five minutes in the Casino?"

Pierre suggested.

She glanced at Richard for help. He rallied immediately - now that he wasn't her husband he was for ever her knight in slightly tarnished armour.

"As Lara's director,"

he said, sounding a tad pompous,

"we're taking her home."

"Christ!"

Nikki muttered under her breath.

" Why?

"What?"

Richard said irritably.

"Let her go,"

Nikki insisted, glaring at him.

He returned her glare with one of his own.

"Lara's free to do as she likes. She wants to come home with us."

"Don't talk about me as if I'm not here,"

Lara interrupted, sensing tension.

"You have an early call,"

Richard said possessively.

"You should come home."

"Maybe, maybe not,"

Lara retorted, a glint of annoyance suddenly surfacing.

Harry got the picture and quickly helped her up, gallantly escorting her to the door.

"Your ex still has a hard-on for you,"

he said in a half amused, half pissed-off voice.

"Excuse me?"

she said coolly.

"It's obyious,"

he said as they stood outside the restaurant, the warm Mediterranean air ruffling her honey coloured hair, now freed from the excruciating curls of earlier.

She shook her head.

"You're wrong."

"Oh, no, I'm not,"

he said, grabbing her hand and running her across the busy coast road to the parking lot.

19 "I am not going dancing, Harry,"

she said firmly.

"Don't be foolish, Lara,"

he said, still flirting.

"I give you my word as an Englishman that I will not attack you."

"I'm so relieved,"

she replied with a sarcastic edge. They held a long steady look, then the others joined them.

"Come along, sweetheart,"

Richard said, taking her arm and hustling her toward his car.

Lara didn't like his proprietary attitude, and she noticed Nikki was not thrilled either.

"You know what,"

she said, loosening Richard's grip,

"I'm taking Pierre up on the Casino idea. Not that I gamble, but I'd enjoy seeing the inside of a French casino. Is it like Vegas?"

Pierre smiled his dreamy smile. Harry scowled. Richard began to object, but Nikki stopped him.

"Have a good time,"

she said with an encouraging wink, giving Lara a little shove toward Pierre's car.

"And don't worry, we won't wait up!"

fr & -fr

The casino in Monte Carlo was not like Vegas at all, it was an imposing building located in a busy square close to the sea. Accompanied by Pierre and Harry, who'd insisted on coming too, Lara walked around, watching the avid players intent on losing their money. Old women in beaded evening gowns, bedecked with expensive jewels, played next to obyious rogues busy piling stacks of chips on their lucky numbers as the roulette wheel turned; steelyeyed card-sharps sat next to stone-faced blonds at the blackjack tables; craps, chemin de fer and other games abounded.

"It's so ... unbelievably grand,"

Lara said, groping for the right description.

"Almost from another era."

"Rather decadent,"

Harry said with a jolly laugh.

"I like it!"

An alert floor manager with boot-black hair and a matching dinner jacket swooped down, landing on Lara with an ingratiating smile.

"Mademoiselle Ivory, it is a pleasure to welcome you to our casino,"

he said in velvety tones.

"Would you and your friends care for a drink?"

"No, thank you,"

she said, introducing Harry and Pierre.

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The manager's whiter than white smile was in overdrive.

"Anything at all we can get for you, please do not hesitate to ask."

She smiled back.

"You are a wonderful actress, Mademoiselle Ivory,"

the manager added, his English impeccable.

Lara dazzled him with another smile.

"Thank you."

He was on a roll.

"And may I say that in person you are even more beautiful."

Excessive compliments bothered her. Even after all this time she still felt a deep flush of embarrassment when people singled her out. They had no idea who she really was. Nobody knew the true story - not even Richard, and he'd gotten closer to her than anybody.

"She certainly is,"

Harry said, hanging in because only he knew the way to her villa, so goodbye Pierre.

"Will you be playing tonight?"

the casino manager asked. Finished with her beauty and talent, he now wanted her money.

She smiled sweetly.

"Perhaps another time."

The manager drifted away. She turned to Pierre.

"Shall we go?"

Pierre took her arm. Harry moved protectively in on her other side. Together they escorted her to the door.

Lurking on the steps outside the casino were several paparazzi. They sprung into action, yelling her name, flashbulbs bursting into light all around her.

Automatically she shielded her eyes, as Harry quickly distanced himself, making it appear that she and Pierre were a couple.

Great, Lara thought, now I'll be all over the tabloids. She hated being linked to someone she hardly knew. Last month she'd been m the same restaurant as Kevin Costner, and the supermarket rags had written they were planning marriage!

The paparazzi chased them all the way to their cars. Harry was furious, it meant he couldn't make his move without being photographed - his wife was a jealous woman who wouldn't aPpreciate late-night photos of him and the delectable Ms Ivory getting into a car together while she sat at home in Fulham with wo underfive children and his seventy-six-yearold mother. He had no choice but to allow Lara to go with Pierre.

21 However, all was not lost - he had a plan. Jumping in his rented Renault, he stuck close behind Pierre's car as they moved off in to traffic.

As soon as he was sure they were not being followed, he began honking his horn and flashing his lights, forcing Pierre to pull over.

"What's the matter?"

Lara asked, as Harry leaned in the window.

"Richard insisted I drive you home,"

he said.

"I promised I would."

"Why?"

"Because Pierre will never find the house."

"Of course he will."

"Do you have the address?"

"No . . ."

she said, hesitating for a moment.

"But it's in St-Paulde-Vence. I'm sure I can direct him."

"There's a hundred twists and turns up there. You'll have to come with me, otherwise you'll be driving around all night."

"Harry'

He shrugged as if he didn't care.

"Listen, luv, whatever you want."

What she didn't want was to be lost in the hills with a French actor she hardly knew.

"You're right,"

she said, reluctantly getting out of Pierre's car and into Harry's.

Pierre was not upset. It was late and he was tired - too tired to try scoring with an exquisite American movie star who would probably reject him. Besides, his real preference was men - a secret he'd managed to keep to himself on account of the fact it would ruin his blossoming career as a leading man.

Lara waved goodbye to Pierre, settling back in the passenger seat of Harry's Renault. She closed her eyes, and decided she must have been crazy leaving the security of Nikki and Richard to run around Monte Carlo with a couple of actors. Why did she always manage to do the wrong thing?

For a moment her mind drifted and she thought about Lee her former boyfriend. Lee was a genuinely nice guy, admittedly not the most exciting man in the world - but he'd satisfied her needs.

What were her needs?

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Someone to cuddle up with. A warm body in the middle of the night. Occasional sex. Companionship.

Christ, Lara, you sound as if you're seventy-five!

She frowned.

Harry glanced over at her.

"Don't look so happy,"