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‘And she turns on the heat and he winds up in bed with her.’
‘Mr. Morgan, you’ve obviously never read the script. She does no such thing. She...’
‘She charms the hell out of the guy...’
'You're wrong. That’s not what happens. I go to the party, I meet this man, and he sweeps me off my feet. When he kisses me...’
Cade Morgan snorted. ‘When he kisses you? Jesus, Miss Padgett, you sure as hell look old enough to know who kisses who.’ He turned to the director. ‘I’m right, aren’t I, Jerry? She kisses him, doesn’t she?’
Jerry Crawford shrugged his shoulders. ‘Don’t ask me,’ he said innocently. ‘I don’t remember.’
‘That’s ridiculous!’ Shannon snapped. ‘He kisses her. I should know, shouldn’t I? I mean, it’s my scene. And I certainly know whether someone’s kissed me or I’ve kissed him. I...’
‘Clearly, you don’t, Miss Padgett,’ Cade Morgan growled. Before she could move, he wrapped one hand around the back of her head and drew her to him. ‘This is what it’s like when someone kisses you,’ he said, and his mouth closed over hers.
Shannon’s outraged cry was lost against his hard mouth. She heard the startled gasp of the people watching them and then, for the thudding tick of a heartbeat, the room spun away from her. Her senses reeled under the sudden, unexpected assault, telling her that he smelled of leather and cold air, that his mouth tasted clean and sweet, that his grasp was like steel, that it was drawing her closer to him, so close that she could almost lean into him and close her eyes and...
Cade’s hand dropped away from her as suddenly as it had brought her to him.
‘Have you got it straight now, Miss Padgett?’ he asked softly. ‘That’s what it feels like when a man kisses you.'
For a second, something glinted brightly in his eyes. Then, it was gone.
Satisfaction, she thought, that was what she'd seen. He'd re-paid her insult, and with interest. Carefully, she squared her shoulders.
‘Really?’ she asked in a voice that almost purred. ‘Well, I guess I haven’t been missing much, then.’
The crowd murmured in delight and Cade Morgan’s eyes narrowed.
Don’t push your luck, , Shannon told herself quickly. Exit, stage left, and do it fast.
‘Jerry,’ she said sweetly, turning to the director, ‘I’ll be in my dressing-room.’
She waited for Jerry to tell her not to bother, that all she had to do was pick up her pay check and leave the set forever, but he simply nodded.
‘Sure, Shannon,’ he said agreeably. ‘I’ll call you when we need you.’
‘Do that,’ she said, as if she gave directors orders every day.
Without so much as a glance at Cade Morgan, Shannon and stalked across the stage, trying not to dwell on the fact that her bare legs probably ruined what she had wanted to be a regal effect.
But Cade Morgan was dwelling on it, at least, she thought he was. Why else would his low, wicked chuckle follow after her? It didn’t make for a dramatic exit— and neither did the fact that she could still feel the imprint of the man’s arrogant mouth against hers.
CHAPTER TWO
‘Are you sure you don’t mind having dinner on the run, Shannon? I know you were probably looking forward to veal piccata at Luigi’s.’
Shannon shook her head and shrugged free of her corduroy jacket. ‘Luigi’s veal piccata tonight means black coffee all day tomorrow,’ she said with a grin. ‘Believe me, Claire, I’m better off sticking with something less fattening. A salad, maybe.’
‘You need more than that after working all day. Have a small steak along with it.’ Claire Holden looked around the noisy restaurant and sighed.. ‘Although I don’t think places like this know the meaning of the word small. Just look at the size of those portions, will you?’
‘This is the real world, Claire,’ Shannon said lightly. And people eat real food in—where are we, anyway? Queens? Brooklyn?’
Her agent grinned and folded her hands on the table top.
‘For shame,,’ she teased. ‘You’ve lived in New York long enough to know that the Nassau Coliseum is on Long Island. You know, just east of Queens...’
‘And west of the moon,’ Shannon laughed. ‘Well, it might as well be. I never get a chance to get out of the city.’
