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CHAPTER ONE
HE watched her The launch party for the new hit television shoas packed with celebrities, many of the women more structurally beautiful than the one he watched, but to Maximilian Hart’s mind, she outshone them all There was a lovely simplicity about her that attracted both men and women, a natural quality that evoked the sense she would never play anyone false The quintessential girl next door whoht, plus the soft sensuality in her feo to bed with her
There was nothing hard, nothing inti about the way she looked Her blonde hair was in a soft short flyaway style that invariably seehtly ruffled, not sprayed into shape There were dimples in her cheeks when she smiled Her face had no sharp lines Even her nose ended in a soft tilt And her body was hooman’s should be-no bony shoulders, no sticklike arms, every part of her sweetly rounded and curved, not voluptuously so, not threatening to other wo to any man
Though her eyes were the real key to her attraction, their luested that her soul was open for listening to and euarded about those eyes They drew you in, showing every e vulnerability that stirred a man’s protective instincts as well as the more basic ones
The wide generous mouth was al the sa s whatever you wanted from her and you believed she truly felt it, not an actress playing a part It was a gift that could turn her into a huge star, and not just in the television show he’d bought and had rewritten to showcase what he’d seen in her
Oddly enough, he wasn’t sure she wanted to be one Her do mother wanted it Her ambitious script-writer husband wanted it She did what they wanted, never raising any objection to it but there had been occasions when Max had gliht no-one atching, when she wasn’t required to be someone else’s creation, when she was not on show
She was on show tonight and the party people were flocking to her, wanting to share her spotlight, fascinated by her unique charisma whether they wanted to be or not The crowd around her kept shifting, changing, forced to give way to others anted a piece of her if only for a little while Although Max noted that those most closely connected to her life left her to shine alone
It didn’t surprise him Neither her round person, which they inevitably becaaze away frolance around, unsurprised when he spotted her roup of television executives, increasing her network of contacts she could use Max had disliked dealing with her Unavoidable since she had appointed herself her daughter’s agent He kept any businesswith her short and coldly rebuffed any attempt at a more personal connection with him
Pushy, full of her own ego, Stephanie Rollins was the worst kind of stage-mother Her vividly dyed carrot-red hair yelled notice me, remember me, even without its butch shortness, which accentuated her abrasive attitude of I’h there was nothing butch about her body, which she dressed with in-your-face sexiness; cleavage on show, tight skirts, extres
Everything was used as a weapon in her fight to win her oay and there was nothing Max liked about her Even the nahter-Chloe-see reue, yet it always struck a false note with Max It see simple would have suited her better
Mary
Mary Hart
His mouth twitched with ae had never appealed to hies were satisfied with one wo else a wife could do Besides, Chloe Rollins already had a husband and Max didn’t believe in poaching otheraa messy business life Max stayed firmly in control of both
He wondered what use her husband was aze roved around the crowd, seeking the handsome charuy was full of glib lip but Max didn’t thinkability None of the lines he came up with had any emotional punch They invariably had to be edited, sharpened by other writers on the script-writing team for the show Tony Lipton wouldn’t be on the team at all but for his inclusion in the deal with Chloe
Interesting…he was not currying attention He was right off at the edge of the party crowd, half-turned away froe with Chloe’s personal assistant, Laura Farrell Angry frustration on his face Angry deter in with a viselike grip She wrenched herself free of it and whirled away froed through the crowd,a beeline for Chloe
Max’s instinct for trouble was instantly alerted There were media people here He did not subscribe to the view that any publicity-however bad-was good publicity Any distraction from the success of the shoas not welco unpleasant centred on the star
He h the crowd, but he was co from the opposite side of the room-i past the cluster of people surrounding her, e screa around Chloe’s shoulders as she leaned forward and whispered so venomous
Definitely venomous
The shock on Chloe’s face-the totally stricken look-told Max this was big trouble Fortunately he was only a few seconds behind Laura, close enough for his tall and powerfully built physique to shield that look from most of the nearby spectators
‘Get out of my way, Laura,’ he co the wo around to face him