‘Charming.’ She gave a little laugh. ‘Maybe you should stickyourhead through it then? Since it’s more recognisable than mine.’
Once again, her dry humour brought a smile to his face. ‘Come on, you must know any actor’s head would be far too big to fit through such a small space.’
‘You don’t seem so big-headed.’
There was no guile to her comment, just soft honesty and it sneaked under his guard and prodded at a tender spot he hadn’t even realised was there. It pleased him to know he hadn’t made such a bad impression on her after all. Weird. Maybe it was because he’d frightened her earlier. Usually, he didn’t give a toss what people thought of him – although no one wants to be thought of as a possible sexual predator. Gerrard would do his pieces if Rowan came out of this somehow managing to garner an evenworsereputation for himself.
Which gave him pause for thought. He came back down to stand opposite her and cleared his throat. ‘So, what’s your plan once you get out?’ he asked.
‘Me? Oh, I’ve got a bus to catch.’ She flicked a look up at him briefly, the corner of her mouth twitching, before she looked back up at the shelf.
‘Ha ha.’
‘I’ll have to go in and ask Sibyl for the key. Explain what happened. And if she’s gone, I guess I’ll find a security guard or failing that…call the fire department?’
‘No chance this is going to fly under the radar then?’ he said, and she cocked her head to one side, glancing back at him. He went to put his hands in his back pockets and realised he couldn’t because of the makeshift bandage. ‘Okay, here’s the thing. I need to give you fair warning.’
‘About what?’
‘When people find out that we got locked in a room together, there’s going to be…rumours. Assumptions. About what we were both doing in here in the first place.’
Even in the shadows he could see the moment she cottoned on to what he meant; the gleam of her eyes widening. ‘Really? Even with someone like me?’
His mouth opened and he clamped it shut on his automatic need to question why she would refer to herself like that – as though she was unattractive or unimportant. But that probably would have just made the conversation even more awkward, and it was plenty awkward enough. ‘I only have to stand slightly closer to one woman than any other in a room full of people, and suddenly I’m having a sordid affair with her.’
Which was where Gerrard had got this PR stunt with Cassandra in his head from in the first place. They’d been at the Christmas party the agency threw for its clients every year, at some posh hotel in London. Twice, he and Cassandra had been in the same group of people talking and that was all it needed for some photographs to be taken and rumours to start. One had caught him handing her a glass of champagne, another of her laughing while looking directly at him – though he was ninety per cent certain it wasn’t him who had cracked the joke – and another when he’d offered her a hand to lean on while she straightened the strap on her shoe.
‘God, how can you stand it?’ Lila all but whispered after another pause.
‘Well, ordinarily, I don’t really care.’
‘You don’tcare?’
‘No. It’s just people talking. They can think whatever they want to think.’ The level of shock and compassion in her voice was making something squirm inside him. Was it really that odd? Why should he care about a bunch of strangers he was never likely to meet, gossiping behind his back?
‘Right,’ she said like he’d just stated it wasn’t a big deal if someone lopped off his foot. ‘So, how come this isn’t an ordinary circumstance? Why d’you care this time?’
Oh, that was right. He’d brought it up because therewasa reason he should care. They weren’t all strangers – some of them were producers too.
‘I’m…sort of in my agent’s bad books at the moment. He wants me to keep my nose clean to while I’m being considered for this big part and I reckon him thinking I walked straight out of that conversation and into a liaison in a store cupboard, might push him over the edge.’
She went quiet again. ‘Probably best if I try to get you out of here without alerting someone then?’
‘Look, it sounds unlikely you can, in which case that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. But if thereisan opportunity…’
‘I mean…I cantry… Maybe I could sneak the key away? But…is it really a problem for you if Sibyl knows? She’s on the crew. Everyone’s signed the NDA, right?’
‘I know but no one is going to hunt them down and sue for a bit of tittle-tattle. Honestly, they’re not that effective for the small stuff.’ He sighed and immediately regretted it. He didn’t feel sorry for himself. Whatever they printed didn’t matter…except that it was having consequences for him now, when it came to this producer not wanting someone with his “image”.
‘Okay. I’ll do my best.IfI make it out.’ She climbed back up the steps and leaned forward, but as soon as she put a foot on the shelving, it started to wobble. Rowan tried to brace it, leaning his weight against it. There was an ominous creak as she wiggled forward, and she immediately backed away with a low groan of frustration. ‘The whole thing’s going to collapse if I crawl across it.’
‘Shall we clear it and move the rack?’
‘That’ll take forever.’
‘How about I lift you and sort of, post you through?’
She laughed. ‘Postme through? I know I’m small, but I am a full-grown woman, not a paper airplane. Are you sure you could do that?’
