She checked herself out in the mirror. She had on a tight scarlet dress plunging in the front, Jimmy Choo stilettos, ruby chandelier earrings, and her hair was wild and sexy, the way Tony liked it.

Big Jay hovered in the lobby of her suite. 'Mr Alvarez is on his way up,' she informed him. 'When he gets here, make yourself scarce.'

'Sure, Miss Lola. I'll be outside if you need me.'

'Thanks. You always know what I want, don't you?'

Big Jay let loose with a rare smile. He'd been Lola Sanchez's personal security for two years and he'd savoured every minute. Who wouldn't?

Tony entered, smiling, looking sharp in a white suit and black shirt. 'Music, babe. I'm in the mood for Marc Anthony.'

'I'm always in the mood for Marc Anthony,' she said, smiling back at him.

'You, my sexy little witch, look hot. Guess who was on my mind in New Orleans?

An', believe me, there's some freako babes in that city.'

'Not to mention the imported babe you had with you. You're such a bastard!'

'I kicked her to the kerb real fast.'

'I should hope so.'

'C'mere, Lola-Lola, lemme take a long look at you.' She sashayed toward him.

'Get me vodka,' he ordered.

'Do I look like the room-service waiter?' she asked imperiously.

'Get me one of those bottles from the mini-bar.'

'Why?'

"Cause I'm gonna suck it off your fine nipples, baby. Go to it.'

'Tony!' she exclaimed. 'I'm all dressed and ready to go out. I thought we were planning to salsa the night away.'

'We're gonna salsa the night away all right,' he said, with a wolf-like grin, 'only first I gotta have those nipples in my mouth, so go fetch the vodka. Go, girl, go!'

'No, Tony,' she said stubbornly. 'You'll spill it on my dress.'

'Do it!' he said darkly. 'That's an order, woman.'

There was something exciting about a man who wouldn't take no for an answer. She did as he asked, fetching a miniature bottle of vodka from the mini-bar.

As she walked back towards him, she realized that she was already sexually aroused. Tony had a way of turning her on like no other man.

He took the vodka from her and, with a practised flick of his wrist, undid the halter on her dress, peeling it down until her breasts were exposed.

'You're such a bad boy,' she said, catching her breath.

'You got the finest tits in the world,' he said admiringly. 'Take everythin'

off.'

She didn't need asking twice. Wriggling out of the tight material, she placed her dress carefully on the back of the couch.

The shades were not drawn. She didn't care who was watching, it was all good.

Naked, apart from a black lace thong, she pressed her body against his.

'You're somethin', babe,' he said, thrusting his fingers into the delicate sides of her thong and pulling it down.

'Look at you with your shaved pussy and your big juicy tits. You do it for me, babe. Every time. I wanna see you in nothing but diamonds and high heels. My baby was made for bling-bling. That's it.' Grinning, he opened the bottle of vodka with his teeth. Then slowly he began pouring the cold liquid over her bare breasts, sucking and licking it off.

She came almost immediately.

Tony Alvarez was surely the sexiest man in the entire world.

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

Linc did not trust himself to go back to the hotel. They'd finished filming for the day, but he had no urge to leave his trailer. Instead he snorted a few more lines of coke, before deciding that one drink was a necessity. Too bad if Shelby discovered he'd been drinking - she was hardly in a position to criticize.

He hoped she hadn't seen the New York papers. Tomorrow they'd be old news, somebody's cat litter.

He was still furious about the photo in People, and about her movie, which everyone seemed to be talking about. And he hadn't forgotten the USA Today story where she'd trashed him.

The angrier he became, the more he felt like another drink. After a couple of Scotches and a swish of mouthwash, he finally got into his car and had his driver take him to the hotel.

When he entered the suite, he discovered Shelby asleep on the couch.

He stared at her for a moment, unable to take his eyes off her. She was so beautiful all curled up and innocent.

Shame she was such a devious bitch.

He didn't know whether to wake her, or let her sleep. Jesus! She had his stomach tied up in knots. Was this what love was all about? If it was you could shove it.

'What're you doing tonight?' Nick asked.

'Why?' Cat responded.

They were sitting around on the beach while her cinematographer was busy setting up the next shot. Nick picked up a handful of pebbles and began hurling them at the sea. 'Thought you might fancy goin' back to Ago.'

'Maybe,' she said tentatively.

'Should I take that as a yes?'

'Hmm... I'm not sure that watching you put the moves on a couple of babes is my idea of a thrilling time.'

'No big deal,' he said offhandedly. 'The offer's there if you want it. We get together every night, usual table.'

'Every night?'

'Yeah, it's like my hang-out,' he said, scooping up more pebbles. 'By the way, my friend Max was kinda into you.'

'Which one was Max?'

'The dude with the glasses. He writes for Rolling Stone. He's envious of you, thinks you pulled a lucky break.'

'Of course he'd think that,' she said scornfully. 'Hard work and talent had absolutely nothing to do with it.'

'He was quite into your movie too - the one you did before. What was it called?'

'Wild child.'

'Never got around to seeing it myself, but the word on it was seriously good.'

'I'm surprised you accepted me as your director if you hadn't seen my movie.'

'I trust Merrill's judgement. He gave me my first break.'

'Did he also force you to give him a blow-job?'

Nick threw her a quizzical look. 'What did you just say?'

'Nothing,' she said, grinning. 'It's an inside joke.'

'Oh, yeah, I heard the rumour. He makes all the females in his movies give him blow-jobs before they get the role, right?'

'That's what they say.'

'How about you then?'

'Get serious. Do I look like the kind of girl he'd come on to? My movie was called Wild Child. That should give you a hint.'

'All about you, was it?'

'There were pieces of me in it, yeah.'

'So, uh, Cat - tell me,' he said, rubbing his stubbled chin, 'what kind of a wild child were you?'

'You name it, I did it.'

'You were a raver, then?'

She smiled mysteriously. 'Wouldn't you like to know?'

The script supervisor interrupted them to confer with Cat about a problem with a line of dialogue. Cat jumped up, solved the problem, and began walking back towards the action.

Nick got up and followed her. 'You gotta come tonight,' he urged. 'We'll make it a party. Bring Jonah if you want.'

'It's Jonas,' she corrected.

'Is he a fag?'

'Why would you ask that?'

'He's always so kind of, y'know, neat and groomed.'

'Jonas is not gay.'

'You screwed him, then?'

'None of your bloody business.'

'God,' he said amiably, 'you're a cranky one today.'

'You shouldn't ask so many personal questions.'

'Sorry. I'll get myself in front of the camera an' see if I can nail this scene for you.'

She watched him walk ahead of her with his cocky strut. He was immediately joined by the makeup girl and one of the female PRs.

Popular stud, Nick Logan. And didn't he know it.

She was worried about her possessions in New York. The problem was that Jump was spiteful enough to follow through on his threat. He hated not getting his own way.

Since she still had a few minutes before they would finish setting up the camera tracks, she called her girlfriend, Luanne.

'Where are you?' Luanne asked, happy to hear from her.

'In L.A., directing a movie.'

'That's cool.'

'The not so cool part is that Jump and I have split.'

'Crap!' Luanne exclaimed. 'What happened?'

'I'll tell you when I see you. Here's the thing - Jump's on his way back to New York, and he's threatening to dump my stuff on the street, so I need a favour.'

'Go ahead.'