Her Determined Husband

In his dreams, she told herself staunchly. Then frowned. Well, maybe once upon a time he had very definitely been able to turn her on, she had to admit that if only to herself, but those days were long gone. When his lips touched hers now she would hate it.

She looked at her watch again and apprehensively she got to her feet. She supposed she had better not push her luck too far. She didn’t want the director tearing her off a strip on the first day of filming. Theodore was supposed to be a brilliant director, but he had an unfortunate reputation for losing his temper.

When she appeared on set she half expected them all to be waiting for her, but there was some kind of altercation going on at the other side of the studio between the electricians and Theodore and no one seemed to notice her amidst the chaos.

There were teams of people still moving furniture around on the set. Picking her way carefully across electric cables, she stood in the shadows for a moment and watched. It looked as if they weren’t going to start filming yet for at least another hour.

A spotlight was thrown on, and a huge double bed with a gothic wrought-iron headboard was illuminated in its bright glare.

‘The scene of the battlefield.’ Cal’s sardonic tone resounded suddenly in her ear, making her gaze swing away from the double bed in shock.

‘Crikey Cal! Don’t creep up on me like that,’ she said crossly. ‘You nearly made me jump out of my skin.’

‘Your nerves must be bad. What were you thinking about?’ He smiled. ‘Don’t tell me you were daydreaming about our romantic scene together? It will be just like the old days.’

‘A horror story, you mean?’ she muttered. ‘Why aren’t you ready to get into bed with me?’ she asked with a frown as she noticed he was still dressed in his suit.

‘Kirsty, I’m always ready to get into bed with you,’ he drawled sardonically.

‘You know what I mean, Cal.’ She shot him a warning look. ‘I’m here in costume, ready to shoot the scene; you look as if you’re still wearing your own clothes.’

‘No…the suit is courtesy of Wardrobe. This is not something I’d have chosen to wear.’

It looked suspiciously like one of his suits to her. ‘But shouldn’t you be…in a state of undress?’

Cal’s lips twitched. ‘I don’t think Theo is going to shoot the scene as it was first written.’

‘What’s he going to do?’ Kirsten asked in consternation as she remembered his gibes earlier about a sex scene.

Cal shrugged. ‘I don’t know. He’s the director.’

The possibility of a more intimate love scene being shot made her shiver violently. ‘But I’ve learnt all my lines; he can’t change things at this late time—’

‘Theodore is running the show, Kirsten, he can do pretty much anything he likes.’ Cal reached and straightened her dressing gown over her shoulder, bringing her attention to the fact that it had slipped.

The gentle touch of his hand against her bare arm made her shiver again. Suddenly she was very aware of how close he was standing to her, the gleam in his eye as he looked down at her. She started to feel breathless as she looked up at him. Nervously she moistened her lips as she felt his gaze linger on their softness. Her heart was pumping heavily against her chest.

She found herself remembering the way he used to kiss her, the heat of his lips and his hands against her body. She couldn’t get into bed and pretend to make love with him, she just couldn’t!

‘You’re not really nervous, are you, Kirsten?’ he asked her suddenly, his voice gentle.

‘No, of course not. Why would I be nervous?’ Her voice was higher than it should have been. Hell, this was making a mockery of all her stern words about how strong she was, how his kiss wouldn’t have any effect on her. He only had to brush his hand against her arm and she was in panic mode.

‘Shall we run through our lines while we’re waiting?’ he asked her suddenly.

‘No!’ Kirsten forced herself to move back from him. ‘What’s the point if Theo is changing the script already?’

‘Maybe you’re right.’ Cal glanced past her. ‘Here’s the man himself, so we’re about to find out.’

Theodore was a tall man of about fifty. He had wiry dark hair and eyes that were so dark and intense they could drill holes in you with just a glance. Kirsten didn’t really know him; she had only met him a couple of times. But she had heard about his fearsome reputation for flying into rages.

He looked as if he was living up to his reputation today; his face was red with anger and he was muttering something under his breath.

‘Theo, what’s the problem?’ Cal asked him cheerfully as he walked up to them.

Theo looked almost murderous for a moment, and then muttered in his broken English accent, ‘The men…the technicians have made an error. The lighting is not right.’

‘So how long before we start filming this scene?’ Kirsten asked, hoping she’d got time for a coffee.

‘We’ll run through it now.’ Theo waved them towards the set. ‘You sit on the bed, Kirsten; we’ll go over the new lines.’

As she did as she was told Kirsten tried to ignore the way her heart was thudding unevenly against her chest.

Someone shoved a piece of paper into her hand and she tried to concentrate on the new lines that had been typed out for her.

You know I’ve always loved you, but this is impossible.

It was ironic that the line she had been struggling with was the first line they wanted her to deliver. She glared at it, willing herself to be calm, to get into character.

‘OK—from the top.’ Theo nodded over at Cal.

Kirsten watched him come into the room, walk over to the dressing table and deliver his lines perfectly. He was always such a damn perfectionist, she thought, so smugly self-assured. But she had to admit he was a skilful actor; he looked very much at home and at ease…and he also looked very good in that suit, she thought hazily; he was a very handsome man.

She suddenly realised that there was silence and everyone was waiting for her to speak.

‘Sorry!’ She glanced down at her sheet of paper, pulled herself very sharply together and delivered her lines.

‘You know I’ve always loved you, but this is impossible.’

‘Nothing is impossible, honey, if we just pull together.’ Cal came and sat down next to her on the bed.

His thigh was touching against hers; she could feel the heat of him burning through the delicate material of her nightdress. Suddenly she was reminded very forcibly of a night when Cal had come home and sat next to her like this and said words not dissimilar. Her mind blurred on the words she had to say next; her throat seemed to close over.

She heard Cal prompting her softly under his breath. ‘I know we’ll work this out…’

‘I know we’ll work this out,’ she repeated.

Then he leaned closer, his lips coming within centimetres of hers. Her heart was beating so fiercely she felt sure he’d be able to hear it. She looked upwards into the vivid blue of his eyes and felt as if she was drowning. Abruptly she pulled away before he could touch her.

‘How was that?’ She looked wildly around for Theo. He was standing shaking his head, looking very annoyed. For an awful moment she thought he was about to tear into her, but to her relief she found he was looking beyond her at one of the technicians.

‘Yes…all right.’ He waved a hand dismissively. ‘Go and get a coffee or something while I sort these lights out.’

Kirsten felt as if she’d had a reprieve from a death sentence.

‘You OK?’ Cal asked her as they walked together off the set.

‘Of course I’m OK; why wouldn’t I be?’ she said defensively.