'Were you together before she was with Leo?'

'In a manner of speaking.'

'What on earth does that mean?'

'It means the waters are a little muddy.'

'Sigourney cheated on Leo with you?' I say, my voice practically a screech. 'Marc! How could you-'

'She didn't cheat on Leo with me,' says Marc. 'She got together with him after I told her I wasn't interested. But she still called me endlessly. Asking me for another chance. G.o.d knows why I hardly treated her well.'

'Did she live with you or anything?'

'No. She didn't live with me. She didn't have any impact on my life whatsoever. We just both happened to be in LA at the same time on the same circuit. In those days, it was inevitable something would happen.'

'Because she's so beautiful?'

'No. Because we went to the same clubs and saw the same people. The bad crowd. What happened between us was no big deal. Maybe she cared more than I did. I don't know. But in those days I didn't give a d.a.m.n.'

'It's hard to think of you that way,' I say. 'Being so selfish.'

'I was selfish. Completely selfish and lost.'

'So Leo doesn't know? That Sigourney still called you when they were together?'

'I never told him. But with Sigourney ... you never know what she could have said in the heat of the moment. She certainly likes to manipulate people's emotions.'

'Did she hurt you?'

Marc laughs. 'No. But I saw her in action. With Leo. And others.'

'Leo told me he was messed up over her for a while.'

'I'm not surprised. For all his immaturity, Leo is honest and open. She no doubt dragged him through the mud.'

'There's two sides to every story.'

'In Sigourney's case, I doubt that. Maybe she's changed now. I don't know. Anyway. Look Sigourney Seymour is someone I hardly knew. From a time I was completely lost. She meant nothing then and she means nothing now.'

'What hurts is you didn't tell me.'

'What was there to tell? Until today I didn't know she was in the movie. You want me to tell you about every woman I've slept with? It could take me some time.'

'Thanks.'

Marc runs his hand through his hair. 'Maybe I handled things wrong. I don't know.'

'What about when I was working with Leo? Why didn't you mention you'd had a thing with his ex-girlfriend?'

'I didn't have a thing with his ex-girlfriend. I slept with her a few times. And she got hung up on me. End of story. There was really nothing to tell.'

'You still could have told me sooner. When Nadia said she was in the movie-'

'Tell you in a room full of people? You would have thanked me for that?'

'Were you planning on telling me?'

'Of course. I wasn't going to have you work with the girl and not know. Look, back then s.e.x was meaningless to me. Absolutely meaningless. Women came and went and I hardly remembered their names.'

'Nice.'

'I'm just telling you the truth. Until Leo made that comment, I wasn't even sure if it was the same girl I slept with. She was that unremarkable to me.'

'If you're trying to make me feel better-'

'You know me, Sophia. I won't lie to you. It's hard for me to see you hurt. But you have no reason to be. No reason at all. In my mind, you're the only girl I've ever slept with. Because you're the only girl who ever got in here.'

He takes my hand and puts it over his heart.

I stare at the floor.

'Look at me.'

Reluctantly I do. And when our eyes meet, I find my stomach softening.

'The only girl,' he says. 'Never forget that.'

'Okay.'

'Life started the moment I met you. But I can't erase the past. I wish I could, but I can't.'

'If you erased the past, you wouldn't be the man I fell in love with.'

'So you still love me then?'

'I suppose so.'

'Suppose?'

'Yes. Suppose. I ... Marc. Tell me you love me.' I know my eyes are a little wild as I search Marc's face. I'm desperate for him to make this all better. My head tells me I'm being silly. Jealous. The past is the past. But my heart is aching.

'I love you,' says Marc, his voice low. 'You and only you. It's only ever been you.'

I close my eyes and kiss him, sliding my arms around his neck.

Marc's arms wrap around mine and he kisses me back, softly at first, but then more pa.s.sionately.

I respond to him, squashing my body against his, giving him short desperate kisses over his cheeks and neck.

'Make love to me Marc,' I say. 'Show me. Show me you love me.'

'I can show you.'

Marc lifts me up and carries me to a metal wall and presses my back against it. Then he wraps my legs around him and I feel him firm and long between my thighs.

I arch my back and give a little moan as he squeezes my b.u.t.tocks between his fingers, his lips dropping to my neck.

'The only girl,' he whispers against my skin.

Effortlessly, Marc transfers my weight to one strong hand and uses the other hand to free himself from his trousers.

He pushes my panties aside and lets my weight come slowly, slowly onto him until he's all the way inside me.

I moan as everything presses against him.

His hands come to my hips and he holds my thighs firmly, pushing my b.u.t.tocks against the wall. Then he tilts his pelvis just the right way so he touches my most sensitive part.

I let my head touch the wall and moan as Marc moves back and forth.

'Yes,' I whisper. 'Oh G.o.d Marc, yes, yes.'

As he moves faster, I hear my b.u.t.tocks smacking against the hard wall and light moans coming from my throat.

I realise I'm getting pretty loud.

'Marc,' I murmur, unable to suppress another moan. 'People might hear.'

'This is a good opportunity to practise self-discipline.'

'I don't ... think I can.'

'Then I'll stop.'

I moan and grab his b.u.t.tocks. 'Please, please don't stop.'

'But you don't want people to hear.'

'I know.'

'Then you need to be quiet.'

'I'll try.'

'Maybe this will help.' Marc shifts my weight onto one hand and clamps his other hand over my mouth. He moves slowly and rhythmically back and forth inside me.

'Oooh,' I murmur, the sound softened by his fingers.

Marc begins to move harder and faster, pounding me into the wall.

I cling to him and let warm waves of pleasure overtake me, biting my teeth together to stop from crying out.

But I don't manage it. 'Oh G.o.d!' I shout into Marc's fingers.

Marc's hand clamps more firmly over my lips. I can see he's losing himself too. His eyes are slightly closed and his head is tipped back.

The slapping sound of my b.u.t.tocks. .h.i.tting the wall gets louder and louder as Marc pounds away.

I moan against his fingers, my eyes tight shut as I feel warm waves move over me.

This just feels too good. Way too good. The hardness between my legs. Marc's fingers digging into my b.u.t.tocks. And his hand clamped over my mouth.

Marc lifts me higher up the wall with every thrust, and my b.u.t.tocks rub raw on the metal wall.

'Marc. Marc!' I croak against his fingers as I come, throwing my arms around his shoulders and collapsing against his chest.

Marc buries his head into my hair and lets out a quiet moan.

I feel him come too.

He drops his hand from my mouth and pushes himself right inside me, his eyes closed.

We cling to each other, breathless.

Then I start to laugh.

'Something funny?'

'This isn't what I excepted to happen on my first day.'

25.

As Marc and I head back to the Rapunzel wardrobe room, I slip my hand into his.

'Can I ask you something?' I say.

'Anything.'

'Is the reason you didn't want to see Baz ... was it something to do with Sigourney? That you didn't want me knowing you'd slept with her?'

'I already told you. I had no idea her name would come up today. She has nothing to do with anything.'