Pirate's Gold by Lisa Jackson Read Free Book Online

candlelight was trapped in their mystic depths. “Of course.”
    â€œI can’t afford to take the chance that the competition might find out what we’re doing because we’re working on an entirely new concept.” It sounded like a warning. His eyes had deepened to a threatening gray in the gathering dusk.
    â€œI understand.” She took a sip from the wine to clear her throat. A warm breeze lifted her hair away from her face and the candlelight caught on the burnished strands. “What is this new concept? ” She couldn’t mask the interest in her voice.
    He watched her carefully. “What we want from you is a thread of continuity in all of the cuts from that one album. For example, the first song, the one you just heard in the car, is about a young man who finds out that his live-in lover has been unfaithful and that she’s leaving him for the other guy. All in all the lyrics are pretty basic, melancholy rock and roll.”
    Maren nodded. Nothing he had told her was out of the ordinary. Not yet. But apparently he thought he was offering her the opportunity of a lifetime. She could read it in his intense gaze.
    â€œOkay. In the following song, this same man is out on the streets, looking for another woman. He’s still alone, but instead of hoping his lover will see her mistake and come back to him, he’s relieved that their affair is over.”
    â€œSo much for love everlasting,” Maren noted cuttingly.
    The corners of Kyle’s mouth quirked as if he might smile, but he seemed to think better of it. “The point is that I want to see some part of the original tape cut into the second and quite possibly the third. I want a visual image that carries through the entire five-song story. For example, the actress who plays the lover on the first tape should also appear in the following sequences. I don’t care if she’s just an elusive memory, or if he actually sees her again. I’ll leave that part of it up to you. But I want the visual story to flow smoothly and be not only a story in itself, but also to contain a vital part of the five-chapter song.”
    â€œAnd the reason you’re doing this is so that one side of a video disk will display a twenty-five-minute movie that you can sell.”
    Kyle smiled and the lines of his face seemed less harsh. “One reason,” he agreed slowly. Ryan had tried to tell Kyle about Maren McClure’s intelligence, and the man had been right. The lady was definitely not easy to pigeonhole. Kyle wondered why a man would even want to try and stereotype Maren. Her air of mystique intrigued him; her keen mind beckoned him…Maren broke into his dangerous thoughts.
    â€œSo you’re looking for a record of something like a television miniseries.”
    â€œYou could look at it that way,” he acquiesced. The woman with the icy blue eyes and flaming hair was quick, there was no doubt about it. “The principal characters of the plot would, of course, be members of Mirage.”
    Maren held back the sigh in her throat. Teaching rock stars to act was one of the largest stumbling blocks in the making of videotapes. The musicians were great when called upon to lip-synch the words to a studio recording while playing their instruments, but when called upon to act, very few could perform without a considerable amount of coaching. Fortunately J. D. Price, the lead singer for Mirage, was handsome and had some acting experience—two big plusses. It made Maren’s job considerably easier.
    â€œSo you expect me to outline all of the action on storyboards for all five cuts and have the first tape ready to be released by the end of May?” Kyle nodded as the tuxedoed waiter brought steaming platters of Italian scampi to the table. After refilling their glasses, the waiter once again left them alone on the balcony. Maren thought about the work ahead of her, should she accept Kyle’s offer.