‘Well, well! Look who’s here.’
Looking up, Charlene saw a tall, hard-faced, middle-aged man, regarding them coldly. She heard Travis groan, then say, ‘Charlene, this is Frank Brenton. Brenton, this is Miss Charlene Wilkins.’
Brenton flickered cool, angry eyes over her, nodded, then spoke to Travis in a rough voice. ‘Some people have a gift for escaping from awkward situations. I congratulate you. You got away with it this time, but there’ll be others. That’s guaranteed.’
‘Nothing’s guaranteed,’ Travis said.
‘I think you’ll find you’re wrong. You go about inviting trouble, Travis, and such an invitation always gets accepted.’
There was frank dislike in his eyes. His glance at Charlene was almost insulting, and an incredible suspicion came to her, making her temper flare.
She slipped her arm about Travis’s neck, leaning her head against him.
‘You never know what life holds next,’ she said sweetly. ‘Of course, some people think they do, but then they get taken by surprise.’
‘Oh, I don’t think I’m going to be surprised.’
She met his eyes. ‘Nobody ever does until it happens.’
‘Perhaps you’ll be the one surprised.’
She shook her head. ‘That won’t happen, because I believe the worst of people.’ She fixed him with a hard, steady gaze before saying, ‘The very worst, more than most people would ever dream of, because I have a nasty, suspicious nature. But, like you say, we’ll just have to wait and see.’
Brenton seemed on the verge of answering, but then he thought better of it, scowled and walked away.
Travis stared at her in astonishment. ‘What the blue blazes was that all about?’
‘You don’t know? You haven’t guessed?’ she asked regarding him wryly.
‘Did you just do what I thought you did? You drove the enemy off and now he’s taking cover.’
‘I think he might be more the enemy than you realised. That girl in the night club; did she really just appear out of nowhere?’
‘Well, yes, it was a stag night and… Hey, what…are you saying-?’
‘That he fixed it? I don’t know. But it’s possible, isn’t it? He knew you’d be there, it would have been easy for him to arrange.’
‘You mean he-?’
‘First the girl, then the photographer. Was it just chance that they appeared? Didn’t you ever wonder?’
He shook his head. ‘I just thought it was one of those things,’ he said.
‘Travis, wake up! You live in the middle of this city, where people must be playing tricks on each other all the time. You’re far too trusting. Now I’ve met him, I can see that he’s exactly the kind of man who’d do that.’
‘All in five minutes? You saw it and I didn’t.’ His shoulders sagged. ‘And I think of myself as worldly wise.’
He sounded depressed and she smiled at him fondly. There was something about Travis that was the complete opposite of worldly wise, and which drew her towards him. He was, as he’d said, too trusting. In this sophisticated city, that part of him was dangerously vulnerable.
‘Thank goodness for you,’ he said. ‘What would I do without you?’
‘For the moment you don’t have to. You’ve got a big sister keeping an eye out for you.’
He grinned and squeezed her hand. ‘I’d offer to be your big brother, but I guess I’d keep tripping over things and making a mess of it.’
‘Big brother sounds nice. I’ll watch out to see you don’t trip up too much. Hey, look at him now.’
Together they watched the long table at the head of the room. It was slightly raised, making it easy to see Brenton taking his place. People were waiting for him, including a man with a similar face.
‘Travis, that man who’s slapping Brenton on the shoulder-’
‘His son.’
‘You mean the agent? Rick told me about them.’
‘That’s right. And the guy with them is the actor Brenton wanted to see cast instead of me.’
‘There’s a faint likeness. He’s not Brenton’s son as well, is he?’
‘Not officially, but there are rumours. I guess they’re probably true.’
‘So that’s why they’re so determined to discredit you. You watch out. He as good as said that he’ll try something else. Just don’t make it easy for them.’
‘No, I won’t-now I can see it-’
He rubbed his eyes, then looked at her again closely and spoke in a voice of awed discovery. ‘I’m beginning to think meeting you was the best thing that’s ever happened to me.’
CHAPTER FOUR
TRAVIS rubbed his eyes again. ‘I guess you just never know what’s around the corner, and… Charlene?’
But he’d lost her attention. Her gaze was fixed on the far side of the room where Lee was entering with Penny on his arm. They were smiling at the world and at each other, looking around the room, then back to each other. A photographer positioned himself before them and they twisted and turned as expected, before making their way to their table.
Travis observed Charlene, noting how she never moved, but sat clasping the stem of her glass with tense fingers. At last she relaxed and looked away. He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. She squeezed back. There was no need to say anything.
The evening began. A lavish banquet was served to the long table up high at the end of the room and the twenty smaller tables spread out around the room. As she ate the delicious food Charlene wondered what had possessed her to speak as she had done. She’d implied to Travis that she was here for him and only for him, to take care of him and be ‘big sister’ to his ‘big brother’.
But that couldn’t happen. She was here for Lee. Soon they would talk, she would tell him her news, they would become a couple and her usefulness to Travis would end.
She searched the room. Lee was sitting with Penny, not far away but half obscured by other tables. She watched him, willing him to see her. Yes, now his glance had turned her way. But no, now it had turned away again.
‘Charlene,’ Travis said quietly. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine,’ she said, smiling at him, giving the performance they had agreed. ‘It’s going to be a really wonderful evening.’
He’d seen what had happened. He understood what she was doing, and his admiration grew.
As the meal neared its end people rose and drifted from table to table.
‘Come on,’ Travis said, taking her hand and drawing her across the floor, calling, ‘Lee, good to see you here. And Penny. You look lovely, darling.’
Penny received his kiss with delight, glad to give the show’s star her whole attention, leaving Lee no choice but to talk to Charlene.
‘Fancy seeing you again,’ he said brightly as she sat beside him.
‘You speak as though you never expected to see me again,’ she said. ‘But we weren’t going to leave things there, were we?’
‘I didn’t mean to dash off the way I did. Things just happened suddenly.’
‘I know. I’m glad for you. But I had to see you again because…after we were so fond of each other…’
‘Yes, we were. I remember that well, but…life moves on. Things are so different now that it wouldn’t have been fair for me to try to drag you in, and-’
‘But you didn’t drag me. I’m here because I wanted to see you.’
‘That’s sweet of you, but I hate to think how much it must be costing you. This town is so expensive.’
‘Well, it is a bit, yes, but-’
Surely he would offer to help her with the cost? She waited for the words.
‘Look, Charlene, perhaps-’
