Lovescenes

‘I told Claire—my agent—virtually the same thing and she said I was crazy. But I knew I wasn’t. I’ve never seen an audience like that at a rehearsal.’

‘Well, that’s because it wasn’t an audience. It was a bunch of gawking idiots, waiting to see me make an ass of myself.’

‘What? Don’t be silly, Cade. That wasn’t it at all. Those people...’

He sprang to his feet and stalked across the room. ‘Come on, Shannon, we both know that those people think of me as an intruder.’

‘An intruder?’

He shrugged his shoulders. ‘You know what I mean. All those actors and technicians, watching me, knowing I got a chance some of them would give their right arms for.’ He took a deep breath and swung around to face her. ‘I don’t blame them for wanting to see me mess up. But, damn it, you can’t blame me for not wanting to give them the satis...’ He broke off in the middle of the sentence and Shannon rose from the chair and walked towards him.

‘Cade,’ she said gently, ‘you don’t understand. Those people weren’t there to see you fail. They heard about... about what happened the day we met, you see, and about all the things people said about it, and...and...’ She took a deep breath. ‘They want to see us together,’ she said finally. ‘They want to see if what they’ve heard is true.’

He looked at her blankly. ‘Wha

t they’ve heard?’

Her eyes narrowed. If he’s playing games with me, she thought, if he’s putting me on... But Cade was looking at her as if she were speaking another language. My God, she thought, is he so ter­rified of failing that he thinks the whole world is watching him?

‘Sparks, remember?’ she said with false brightness. ‘They want to see if the room lights up when we play our love scenes.’

‘If the room...’ His eyes widened. ‘Really? Is that what they’re waiting for?’ She nodded her head and a smile lit his face. ‘Damn it, that’s terrific!’

‘There’s nothing terrific about it. I don’t want to burst your bubble, Cade, but those people are going to be very disappointed.’

‘That’s it,* he said, flashing her a quick, uncertain smile. ‘Give me a vote of confidence and then snatch it back. I thought you said they weren’t waiting to see me fall on my face.’

‘My, what an ego we have, Mr. Morgan. Didn’t you hear me? Those people are watching us, not just you. I’m the one who’s supposed to be the pro.’ She laughed shakily. ‘Hasn’t it occurred to you that no matter how well we play that scene, it’s not going to be good enough?

Cade shook his head. ‘I don’t understand. If you’re an experienced actress and if they’re not waiting for me to bomb...’

‘Dammit, nobody’s the least bit in­terested in us as actors. They want to see us together. That’s what I meant when I said it’s not going to be good enough. Everybody’s expectations are so crazy.. Shannon’s words stumbled to a halt as a crooked smile flickered across his face. ‘What is it?’

‘I wish to hell I’d known all this before,’ he said softly. ‘I’d have told you there isn’t a thing to worry about.’

‘Of course there is. It’s as if everybody’s forgotten we’re acting. They’re bound to be disappointed.’

Cade took the empty glass from her hand. She watched as he set it on the table.

‘Let me show you something,’ he said, twining his fingers through hers.

‘Show me what?’ Her voice was wary, but she let him draw her toward him. ’

‘Nobody’s going to be disappointed,’ he said. ‘Not Jerry, not that crowd of gawkers...’

Her heart thumped erratically. ‘No, don’t...’

‘Not anybody, Shannon. I guarantee it.’

His eyes were narrow slits of blue darkness and his fingers steel clamps around hers. She shook her head, her body tensing instinctively as the space between them lessened until finally they were only a breath apart.

‘Cade, please...’

His hand tangled in the cascade of her hair as he bent his head to hers and her whispered plea was lost against his mouth.

For an instant she struggled against him, and then her blood grew thick in her veins. She made a sound that was half moan, half sigh as Cade gathered her against him, crushing her until she felt that she was molded to him.

She leaned into his embrace, bur­rowing into the hardness of his chest, stretching herself against the hard length of him, as if her legs might col­lapse under her.