Starstruck by Anne McAllister Read Free Book Online

“But don’t you have to—I mean, all these people are —”
    “Let’s go,” Joe said, and he plunged through the milling crowd, towing Liv after him, smiling and shaking hands all the way, saying, “Thanks. Thanks for coming,” and finally he w r enched open the door that let them out of the noise, glare and cigarette smoke and into the blessed dimness and fresh air of the parking lot. The lake shimmered under the street lights in the distance, and Joe heaved a long sigh.
    “Whew,” Liv said, shaking her head in amazement. “Is it always like that?”
    “Often enough. Tim gets me out of it, usually. But he flew back to L.A. tonight.”
    “That’s the advance man who set up our interview?” she asked cautiously. They were walking through rows and rows of cars now and he still had his arm around her, so he couldn’t still be mad. Perversely she knew she should be wishing he were, instead of holding her against his hip as they walked so that their strides coordinated, their rhythms meshed. She could feel the weariness in his body and wanted to soothe it. A foolish desire, she reminded herself.
    “Yeah, that was Tim,” he answered her, and sighed. “About that interview — ”
    “Don’t worry about it,” she told him. “I have enough. And I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t give it to me, anyhow. I was unconscionably rude to you earlier.”
    Joe laughed. “No, just honest.” He gave her a tired grin, which she returned.
    “Well, not actually,” she said, surprised at her own daring. “I find that you improve on acquaintance. I think I rather do like you after all.”
    “Despite my rather inept pass at you when we first met?”
    “Despite that,” Liv agreed, unlocking the door to the bus. The wind lifted her hair and she felt a cooling breeze on her neck. Thank goodness, she thought, feeling entirely too hot otherwise.
    “Tell me, how did I redeem myself?”
    She considered this. “Well,” she began slowly, “once you got over the shock, you didn’t turn and run when you found out I had five kids. And you ate your peas and hung up the towel straight in the bathroom. Also, you’re trying to keep the world safe and peaceful for my children. Quite a lot, actually,” she told him, smiling and feeling ridiculously happy all of a sudden that he hadn’t left her to go back to his hotel room alone.
    Joe grinned. “Good for me,” he said softly. “Can I add something to the list?”
    “What’s that?” She looked up into the shadows of his face, just scant inches from her own, and felt her breath shorten. Another of the twenty-six kisses, she wondered.
    “Can I drive home?”
    Liv’s eyes widened. “Drive home?” she repeated stupidly.
    “It helps me to relax,” he explained. “And the rest would probably do you good, too.”
    Stunned by the turn of events, Liv could do nothing but agree. Drive home? “I guess,” she said and immediately wished she didn’t sound so ungracious. Then added, “But it’s a very temperamental car. It’s only used to —”
    “I’ll use my unbeatable charm,” Joe assured her, smiling. “Please?” There was a husky note in his voice that forbade her to deny him anything and she thought, no wonder he's so successful with women, but she handed him her keys and he helped her in and shut her door.
    “Don’t blame me if it stalls,” Liv said when he’d come around and got in beside her.
    It didn’t. Apparently the Harrington charm worked as well on VW s as on women, Once convinced that he was really going to drive, Liv felt herself almost unconsciously relax. In fact she rather enjoyed letting him take over. For one thing she had a chance to watch him unobserved. The tiger qualities she had noticed earlier hadn’t completely disappeared, but they didn’t seem so threatening now. The harsh lines of his face had gentled, whether from relief or exhaustion she didn’t know. But as he drove he seemed less of the tense, prowling jungle cat of early