Man Trouble by Melanie Craft Read Free Book Online

soon focused elsewhere, and Molly started sleeping through the night again.
    Despite the royalty checks that kept arriving, and her covert collection of press clippings, the commotion had been so removed from Molly's daily reality that even she had begun to think of Sandra as a separate person. Not a stranger, of course. More like a twin sister prone to outrageous and embarrassing behavior. The mental division was soothing, and although Molly was aware that the Psychology department would have a field day with her coping strategy, she didn't spend much time worrying about it. It had all settled down into an odd but manageable situation.
    “Carter,” Molly said, and found that her voice was shaking, “I think that I've been very agreeable about helping with this project. I agreed to come on this trip. I agreed to put on a blond wig, blue contacts, a tight dress, and a bra with pads so thick that I would probably survive a shotgun blast to the chest. I agreed to spend a week of my life acting like a simpering idiot in order to convince a playboy billionaire to pay attention to me. But I never
ever
agreed to be Sandra in public! I won't do it. What if someone figured out that it was me?”
    “Not possible,” Carter said calmly. “If nobody here has ever seen Sandra, then how could they know that you're not really her?” He frowned. “That didn't come out right. I meant—”
    “I
know
what you meant,” Molly said.
    “Excuse me,” Elaine said. “But I simply don't see how you can be so sure that no one here knows Miss St. Claire.”
    “I'm sure,” Carter said. “Trust me, I'm sure.”
    “Hmm,” Elaine said, and then shrugged. “Well, have it your way, then. I'm beginning to see that it was a good decision not to include this project in my book. I personally believe that lying should be limited to minor issues like one's age and natural hair color.”
    Carter started to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of the phone.
    “Goodness,” Elaine said. “That's probably the manager returning my call about the flowers. How annoying.”
    She picked up the receiver. “Yes? Oh, yes, hello. Well, I'm afraid that we had a bit of a misunderstanding…”
    Carter's hand closed on Molly's arm. “Molly, listen,” he said in a low, urgent voice. “This is the reason why I didn't hire a local model for this project, like you suggested. We need someone with a famous name, someone with cachet. We need Sandra. Otherwise, the project is doomed.”
    “You tricked me,” Molly said. “You knew that I wouldn't have agreed to come here and play Sandra. You brought me here under false pretenses.”
    “It's true,” Carter said, suddenly drooping like a scolded dog. “It's true, and I admit it. I am a terrible person, but I'm desperate, Molly, don't you see? You're my only chance, and I thought that if I could just get you here, I might be able to convince you that it wasn't really so different to put on the costume and call yourself Sandra instead of…Fifi, or Trixie, or whatever name we would have picked. It's the same adventure, just a little more exciting.”
    “Exciting for you, maybe,” Molly said. “You're asking me to risk my reputation and my career in order to help you with yours.”
    Carter gazed at her with soulful eyes. “Isn't that what friends are supposed to do?”
    Molly groaned. “I don't believe this.”
    “How dangerous could this be? Nobody here will guess that you and Sandra are the same person. And there are no paparazzi allowed on the island, so you won't even have your picture taken. All you'll do is cement the perception that Sandra St. Claire is a tall, voluptuous blonde. What better way to make sure that nobody ever links her to Molly Shaw?”
    “What about the fact that I happen to be sharing a cottage with her?”
    Carter shrugged. “I doubt that anyone other than the staff will notice. But if someone does, you can say that you're an old friend of Sandra's, and you're working with her as