The Tycoon's Scandalous Proposition. Miranda Lee

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       CHAPTER SIX

      HOW AMAZING, KATE thought a little breathlessly as Blake swept her onto the dance floor and into his arms. Dinner tomorrow night and a part in a Blake Randall movie.

      Amazing, but also a little worrying. She’d heard casting couch stories, knew that it still happened, and wondered if Blake was of that ilk. Would he expect her to have sex with him at the end of the evening?

      Kate knew he fancied her—had seen desire in his eyes. And even more worrying was the suspicion that if he made a pass at her she might just say yes to whatever he wanted. Which was not like her at all!

      But this was her chance, wasn’t it? she reasoned desperately. Her chance to get her career off the ground. And she did find him attractive. Very attractive. And sexy. Very sexy. It was that mouth of his. And the hot, hungry gleam which fired up his eyes whenever he looked down at her. Which he was doing at the moment. He made her feel sexy in return. And terribly tempted.

      A thought suddenly came to her, however—one she didn’t like at all.

      ‘This part you have in mind for me,’ she said as he whirled her round, thankfully at arm’s length. ‘It’s not in one of Lachlan’s movies, is it? I honestly don’t want to be in one of his movies.’

      ‘No, it’s not a rom-com. More of a family drama. A character-based script which I wrote a few years ago but hadn’t got round to making. But it’s all systems go now, and we start shooting in late November. Look, keep this under your hat, but I think Lachlan and I will be parting company in the near future.’

      ‘But why?’ she asked, totally taken aback.

      Blake glanced over at the man in question before answering. Fortunately the dance floor was big enough for them not to be too close. Nevertheless, when he spoke he kept his voice low.

      ‘Mr Rodgers has an exalted opinion of his acting abilities. He doesn’t really understand why his movies with me have been so successful. He thinks it’s solely due to him. He might do one more movie with me, but he’ll go with the money in the end. He recently got himself a new agent—one who’s buddy-buddy with the big production companies. They’ve already offered him a very lucrative contract for three movies. He says he’s just thinking about it, but I can see the writing on the wall.’

      ‘That’s not very loyal of him,’ Kate said, feeling upset for Blake. Though he didn’t seem that upset himself.

      He shrugged. ‘There’s no such thing as loyalty in Hollywood. Just box office figures. I’ll survive without him, I can assure you. I have several new projects already in the pipeline—none of which rely on Lachlan Rodgers.’

      ‘That’s good.’

      Good, too, that she wouldn’t have to work with him. That would have been just awful. And so would her acting have been, with her new brother-in-law’s presence being both distracting and upsetting.

      Still, Blake might be right about Lachlan’s acting abilities being limited. When they’d been at NIDA he certainly hadn’t come top of the class. He’d been good, but not as good as some of the others. She herself had been singled out by their teachers for more praise than he had.

      ‘Let’s not talk about Lachlan any more,’ Blake said. ‘I’d rather talk about you. So, tell me, if you’ve only had that one part in a play since you graduated, how have you been surviving financially?’

      ‘Well, I do live at home, rent-free. And I’ve been working at a local deli at the weekends. That pays for my clothes and fares, and leaves me free to go to auditions during the week.’

      ‘Do you have a good agent?’

      Kate sighed. ‘I thought I did. But I’m beginning to have my doubts.’

      ‘You need to get yourself a new one, then.’

      ‘I СКАЧАТЬ