'Charming,' she said, pulling up at a red light. 'You and the double standard go hand in hand.'

'I'm tellin' you the way it is.'

'You slept with dozens of hot little starlets,' she said accusingly, 'and I went near you.'

'That's 'cause you couldn't resist me,' he said, with a knowing grin. 'Played it smart, didn't I? Knew it wouldn't take long before you fell in love with me.'

'No,' she corrected, 'you fell in love with me.'

'Yeah, I fell in love with your beautiful tits.'

'Don't be so crude.'

'Jesus, Shelby, sometimes you sound like your mother.'

'And sometimes you don't remind me of my father,' she chided. 'My father is a gentleman, and you're not.'

'Hey, this is the new me, remember? No drinking.'

'Let's not get carried away, Linc. It's only been a few days.'

'You gotta have faith, sweetheart.'

'I do. Now - important question - are you sure you'll be all right in New York without me?'

'It won't be easy,' he teased.

'I'll be joining you in a week.'

'And I'll miss you every minute of every day,' he promised, leaning towards her and nuzzling her neck. 'What do you think of that?'

'I think I love you,' she murmured, attempting to concentrate on her driving.

'Guess you must,' he said, basking in it. 'You cook me dinner, drive me to the airport. Meanwhile we've got a ton of people working for us, so how come you feel you gotta do everything?'

'It's the English in me.'

'That's what I like,' he said, moving even closer and sliding his arm around her shoulders. 'The English in you. That's what I really like - getting inside you.'

'Linc!' she gasped, almost rear-ending a Cadillac. 'I'm trying to drive.'

She dropped him off at the private section of the airport.

'You're not coming in?' he asked.

'You know I hate goodbyes.'

'Love you,' he said, kissing her on the lips. 'I'll call you when I get there.'

'You do that, Mr Blackwood. Fly safely.'

At home there was an urgent message waiting from her agent. She phoned him back.

'Yes, Ed, what's so important?'

'Did you make a verbal agreement with Merrill Zandack?'

'What kind of verbal agreement?'

'He says you agreed to star in Caught?

'I certainly didn't.'

'I presume you've read the script?'

'Yes, he gave it to me in Cannes. I liked it a lot, but I wasn't sure I was right for it.'

'Are you interested?'

'I hadn't thought about it.'

'Word is it's a hot property. The girl who wrote it directed Wild Child. They've got it on a fast track, and Zandack is offering a ton of money.'

'Linc says I don't need money.'

'And that would be because?'

'He's got plenty.'

'Yeah, well, Linc's got his career to look after, and you should look after yours. If the deal is right, it's a six-week shoot in L.A., starting in ten days.'

'I'm only here for a week, then I'm supposed to be joining Linc in New York.'

'This might be something you should do, Shelby. Zandack has the touch. Last year he had three movies nominated, and if this script is as good as he says it is-'

'Let me read it again.'

'We'll both read it and talk tomorrow. Zandack needs an immediate answer.'

'Fine,' she said. 'I'll get right on it.'

Chapter Nineteen.

Movie crews loved Lola. She'd learned early on that playing the diva did not go down well, so she always made sure to make herself known to all the key people on the set and act in an approachable fashion.

On the first day of location shooting in New York, she arrived in a car loaded down with boxes of chocolate cookies, New York State of Mind T-shirts and baseball caps for the crew. Usually the producers gave out presents at the end of a shoot, but Lola had found it was to her advantage if she arrived with gifts on the first day.

Elliott Finerman was there to greet her. Since he'd given in and hired Linc Blackwood, she was overly nice to him before moving on to the film's cinematographer, Dudley Wayne, a seasoned veteran. Dudley was the most important man to her. He was the one who would make her look out of this world.

'Darling,' she said, enveloping him in a big hug, 'all I ask is that you cover up my bags.'

'I don't see any bags,' Dudley said, peering at her with a professional eye.

'You will after I've been in New York a few days.' She laughed, bringing him in on the joke.

'You have perfect skin, Lola,' he said, quite sincerely. 'I'm sure the camera loves you.'

'And you'll make sure it loves me even more, won't you, Dudley?' she said in her sexiest voice.

'I'll do my best,' Dudley replied, mesmerized.

Watching her, Elliott marvelled at her seductive skills. This girl would fuck a snake if it could do something for her in return. Actresses! They were all the same. Phoney as a game of three-card monte.

The director, Fitch Conn, was a big, gangly, blond man in his thirties. He'd directed several successful movies and was all over Lola immediately. They'd had a couple of meetings in L.A. and he was already enamoured. He was on her side, exactly the way she wanted it.

The first day's shooting took place outside on a street downtown in the Village.

Linc was not around. Lola was pleased because it gave her time to bond with the crew. Trailed by Big Jay and Jenny, her assistant, she handed out the cookies, T-shirts and baseball caps, talking and joking with whoever crossed her path. By the end of the day she'd won everyone over.

The following morning, when Linc turned up, she was ready. They were shooting more location street scenes and the excited crowds had to be cordoned off by several burly New York cops who kept on sidling over and asking for her autograph.

Lola greeted Linc with a friendly hug. 'I'm thrilled you're making this movie with me,' she purred, establishing that it was her project. 'We'll have so much fun.'

'Sounds good,' he said, thinking how sexy Lola Sanchez was in her form-fitting red dress, emphasizing every delectable curve.

'Is your lovely wife with you?' Lola asked, glancing around as if she expected to see Shelby.

'She's flying in next week,' Linc replied, accepting a mug of coffee from an assistant.

'Then we must all have dinner,' Lola insisted. 'I'll arrange everything.'

'Great,' Linc said. 'With, uh... It's Matt, right?'

'Matt isn't here,' she said, managing to look a tad forlorn.

'When does he arrive?'

'Can I tell you a secret?' she said, lowering her voice and leaning close.

'Sure,' he replied, inhaling a strong whiff of her heady scent.

'This is not public knowledge yet. But unfortunately we're getting a divorce.'

'You and Matt?' Linc said, surprised. 'The guy I met in the South of France?'

She nodded.

'That was only a few weeks ago - the two of you seemed real tight.'

'As you well know, Linc,' she said, in a sad voice, 'illusion is everything.'

'Jeez! I'm sorry to hear that you've split.'

'Are you?' she said, giving him a long, meaningful look, which he chose to ignore.

At the lunch break Lola ate outside with her hairdresser and her makeup artist, Jenny and Faye. They all sat at one of the long trestle tables set up in a parking lot, along with the rest of the crew. Lola knew it was important to show everyone she was a girl of the people, not a stuck-up princess like so many stars.

Her group surrounded her, making sure that no intruders got anywhere near her.

They were a close-knit posse who'd all worked together on her last two films.

Linc chose to eat in his trailer, which pissed her off. Later that day she questioned him. 'Are you a snob?' she asked, in a teasing fashion, 'I eat with the crew. Where were you?'

'Here's the deal,' he answered, with an easy grin. 'I prefer staying in my trailer where I can relax, study my lines, make phone calls. When you've been in the business as long as I have, you'll do the same.'

Translation: Lunch break is getting-high time. In private. He'd already set up his supplier, a real-estate guy who dealt on the side and was available to come by the set anytime he called. The coke was flowing freely and he felt no desire to drink. The perfect solution.

'Shame,' Lola said, licking her glossy lips. 'I always think it can be so helpful if co-stars get to know each other.'

'Right,' Linc replied, fully aware that she was coming on to him. Nothing new about that, most women did. But he wasn't into responding. He recognized that Lola Sanchez was dangerous territory, and now that he'd given up drinking, and she was getting a divorce, he knew enough to stay away - although he had to admit that she was some hot number. Exactly what he didn't need. He had Shelby, and he would do nothing to put their relationship in jeopardy.

'How would you feel about me accepting a movie in L.A.?' Shelby asked, over the phone.

'Huh?' Linc said, safely back at the hotel.

'If you don't want me to do it, I won't. It all happened very suddenly.'

'It's not the movie we talked about - the one where you take your clothes off again? 'Cause if it is-'

'No, Linc,' she interrupted. 'I promised you I wouldn't do that.'

'What is it?'

'The script Merrill Zandack gave me to read in the South of France. Ed recommends I do it. It's a completely different role from the woman I played in Rapture.'

'Yeah?'

'I'd be playing an undercover cop.'

'You?

'Yes, me. I'm an actress, remember?'