Heartthrob (34 page)

Three times … “My dad was …” She shook her head, not wanting to talk about her father. “Let’s get out of here. Let’s go up to the pond.”

“No way. The mosquitoes have grown to the size of vultures up there.” Jamaal slapped at his arm as he followed her away from the trailers. “It’s bad enough away from the water.”

“So … where do you want to go?”

Susannah held her breath as he didn’t answer. His face was in the shadows, so she couldn’t read his eyes.

“You know, you did some really incredible acting yesterday,” he finally said. They were walking slowly, and they took a right turn, almost automatically, into the churchyard. “I wanted to tell you that last night. Working with you is incredible. And when it clicks—the way it finally did—it’s unbelievable.”

“I felt the same way,” she whispered. “I mean, about working with you.”

“I’ve never lost myself inside a character the way I did in that scene with Moses and Jane,” he said. “It was kind of scary, you know? I mean, we’re such good friends, but Moses, he’s got such a jones for Jane, all of a sudden he’s kissing her, and … I really hope I didn’t scare you or like, freak you out or …”

“I wasn’t scared.” Now was the time. As Jamaal turned to face her, as they stood there in the graveyard, surrounded by shadows and monuments to people long since gone from this earth, Susie knew it was time to tell him that she had loved those kisses. And that she wanted him to kiss her again—for real this time. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

But Jamaal wasn’t done. “Good, cause I wouldn’t want
you to be scared of me, or to, you know, worry that I’m gonna like, just randomly grab you and kiss you and shit, because that was Moses, you know? That wasn’t me. Besides, we don’t have that kind of relationship. You and me, we’re buds, right?”

“Yeah,” Susie said. “Right.” She kept her voice light, kept a soft, natural smile on her face. It was an award-winning performance, considering that all the hope she’d been carrying around for the past day and a half had just been crushed into a fine powder and now lay in a dusty pile at her feet—along with the shreds of her tender heart. “You and me, we’re buds.”

Jed awoke to find Kate slipping into bed. “Hey, who’s this strange woman in my bed? Oh, it’s you—what’s-your-name.” He kissed her, molding her body against his. “Gee, I almost didn’t recognize you—you’ve been gone for so long.”

“I’m sorry I woke you. How are you feeling?” Her smoky voice rasped over him in the darkness. She was soft and warm, and smelled delicious.

He pulled her even closer and kissed her again. “Completely better. Miraculously cured. Whatever that antibiotic was the doctor prescribed for me, it’s kicking this thing clear out of my system. When I woke up at noon—without you, might I add, and missing you desperately, might I also add—I could have gotten up and gone to work.”

“Ah,” Kate said, running her fingers through his hair, a sensation that felt so good, it should have been against the law. “So now the dreaded visit from the doctor was a good thing, huh?”

“Thank you for making me see the doctor,” Jed said, and kissed her again. She tasted like coffee and … whiskey? He pulled back. “Hey. Have you been partying without me? What time is it, anyway?”

The clock on his bedside table read 12:47.

“Late,” she told him. “We wrapped around ten, but then I had to go over the reports. And then there were the dailies. I haven’t been watching them lately, and I should be, so when Victor asked me to come along, I went. And afterward, as long as we were at the VFW, we had a drink.”

Victor. She’d been out nearly until one, having a drink and watching the dailies—two things Jed either couldn’t or wouldn’t do—with her ex-husband. And he noticed that she didn’t mention the fact that in addition to the day’s reports, she no doubt had spent a great deal of time tonight juggling the schedule around for the next few days—all on his account.

“I guess, um, Naomi left today, huh?”

“She’s doing a project over in Italy. She stayed here as long as she possibly could. Victor’s pretty down.”

“So, naturally he tries to cheer himself up by having a drink with you.”

Kate shifted over and turned on the light. “Are you jealous?” She gazed at him, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Oh, my God. You’re jealous!”

“No, I’m not.”

“You are.” Her smile spread to a grin. “I’m the one who spent six—or wait, was it seven?—hours watching you fondle some starlet, and
you’re
jealous because
I
have a drink with my ex.” She laughed, clearly quite pleased. “That’s very funny.”

Jed pinned her to the bed. “Yeah, like
you
weren’t jealous watching that scene? I saw you. I was watching you the entire time out of the corner of my eye. You were standing there like that Amazon Warrior Queen you sometimes pretend to be. You know, real tough, real bitchy, real hard. The Queen of Mean.”

“Frau Steinbreaker,” she told him.

He laughed. “You have a name for her?”

“She’s a part of me that I sometimes use to—”

“Which part of you? Your little toe? You might fool some people, but you’ll never fool me again, babe. You’re not Frau Steinbreaker. You’re Frau Sweetie-pie.”

He kissed her again, harder and deeper this time, and she sighed, pulling him closer, intertwining her legs with his. “And damn right I’m jealous,” he murmured. “I’m not sharing you with anyone.” He kissed her again. “Even when you desert me for hours at a time.” He kissed her again. “Even when you hurt my feelings by having a babysitter come in and stay with me all day and all night.”

Harlan Kincaid had been out in the other room when he’d woken up at noon. The young pastor had stayed with him until after dinner, when Annie had arrived to take over. The fact that Kate didn’t trust him enough to leave him alone for a single day had stung bitterly.

She gazed up at him. “I hurt your feelings. Oh, my God.”

Jed shook his head, realizing what he’d said. “No, you didn’t. Not really. It’s no big deal. I was just kidding.”

She gently pushed him off of her and sat up. “No, you weren’t. I hurt your feelings—and you
told
me.”

She kissed him then, so sweetly and softly he nearly melted.

“I’m sorry your feelings were hurt,” she continued, “but I had no choice. And in case you didn’t notice—I canceled the agreement with Joe Boren, the supervisor who was supposed to come in. I also called the financial backers and recommended that we no longer require intense supervision for you, but they turned me down. They’d agreed to front the money on the condition that you were supervised. I know this frustrates you, but I can see it from their point of view.”

Jed gazed at her, feeling a swirl of emotion inside of him. He cautiously tamped it down. “Are you telling me you trust me?”

“I sleep with you every night. Doesn’t that imply some kind of trust?”

It did, but he wanted more. He ached from wanting more. He wanted her to tear up that contract addendum. He wanted her to stop the daily searches of his trailer, he didn’t want to attend any more mandatory AA meetings. He wanted to sleep in the same trailer that he hung out in. He wanted her to look into his eyes and tell him she had faith in him, that she believed without a doubt that he would continue to triumph over this illness that had claimed his father and mother, and had damaged the rest of his family. He wanted her—this beautiful woman who had once been such a good little Catholic girl—to look him in the eye—he, who had been everything her parents had ever warned her about, who had woken up facedown in the gutter more times than he cared to remember—and say she trusted him completely. In every possible way.

He wanted to forget that despite everything, he still wanted a drink.

But he couldn’t forget, and it scared him to death.

He was—dare he say it—happy. His sex life rated a fifty on a scale from one to ten. And unlike some of the other women he’d had relationships with, he liked being with Kate even when they weren’t making love. She was his friend. She made him laugh.

But sometimes, even while he was laughing, he felt that familiar, sharp craving for a drink.

“Hey, here’s some news you’re going to love.” Kate sat cross-legged on the bed. “There was a great review of
Mean Time
in
Variety.
And Siskel and Ebert both loved it, too.”

Jed blinked. “
Mean Time?
I didn’t even know Stan Grogan finished postproduction.”

“It was released last week. I can’t believe they didn’t tell you. Anyway, this article said the reviews and initial
box office were so good, they’re immediately releasing it to even more theaters.”

Jed nodded. “Stan’s a good guy. I’m glad the movie’s finally seeing the light of day. I thought I did some good work in it, too.”

“Yeah, the reviewers agreed. All of ’em said that the movie wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t matter, because your performance carried it completely.”

“That’s nice—come here and kiss me.”

She did, but then pulled back. “I would’ve thought you’d be more excited about this.”

“Right now I’m much more excited about
this.
” He cupped her breast through her pajama top.

She laughed. He loved making her laugh. “I guess you have another headache that needs healing.”

“Well, there’s the beauty of making love—it makes you feel better even when you don’t have a headache.”

She laughed again as she helped him take off her pajamas, helped him off with his shorts. And then he lost himself in the softness of her skin as she kissed him, taking him the closest to heaven he’d probably ever get.

She took a condom from under one of the pillows, and she covered him, and he rolled her onto her side, spooning his front to her back, thrusting deeply inside of her.
Yes.

“I’m so glad you finally came home,” he whispered. “It seemed like such a waste to spend the entire day in bed without you.”

Kate laughed again, but her laughter soon turned to a sigh of pleasure as he reached to touch her, stroking her with his fingers as well as his body.

“Jericho Beaumont!” The voice that called out his name was about two octaves deeper than Kate’s would ever be.

Bang bang bang! A sudden pounding on the door of the trailer made them both freeze. “Unlock this door, you son of a bitch!”

Kate gazed over her shoulder at Jed. “Were we expecting a one
A.M.
social call from Russell McCoy?”

“Do you think if we ignore him, he’ll go away?”

Bang bang bang! “Unlock it
now
, you bastard, before I kick it in!”

Kate couldn’t help but laugh. “I think not.”

She pulled away from him, and he groaned. “Oh, hell, can’t we just tell him to come back in an hour?”

“He doesn’t sound like he’s got any patience to spare.”

She was searching the floor for her pajamas, and she tossed him his shorts as well.

Bang bang bang! “Open this door, damn it! Open it now! I know you’ve got her in there!”

“Who’s he looking for?” Kate wondered as she quickly pulled on her pajamas and then her robe. “Maybe he’s drunk, and he thinks you’ve got his ex-wife in here.”

Jed slipped on his shorts, and then looked at himself in profile in the mirror on the closet door. “I dunno. Do you think he’s going to be able to guess exactly what we were doing?”

Bang bang bang!

Kate laughed. “I’ll go see what he wants. You stay here.”

“No way.” Jed beat her to the door, suddenly dead serious. “You stay back. If he’s drunk he could be dangerous.”

Bang bang bang! “Open up, goddamn it!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jed said loudly. “Hang on.”

He opened the door, ready for anything. Russell McCoy tried to launch himself into the trailer, intending to push him back or even knock him over.

But Jed made himself into a wall, and McCoy was stopped short still outside the door.

But he wasn’t stopped vocally. “Where
is
she? I know you’ve got her in here, you sick pervert.”

“Who exactly are you looking for, Mr. McCoy?” Kate asked coolly.

The man peered in at Kate in confusion. “But—”

McCoy had been drinking. Jed could smell the alcohol on his breath, heavy and sweet. The vein that was bulging on his forehead looked as if it were about to explode.

And if he were going to explode, the best place to do it would be on the road in front of the trailer—not inside, where Kate could be hurt by flying shrapnel. Jed stepped through the door, herding McCoy back onto the street.

A crowd had gathered—cast and crew members who’d been awakened by the shouting. Jed saw Annie, saw her look back at the trailer, and he knew Kate had come outside as well. He didn’t glance back. He kept his eyes carefully on Russell McCoy.

“Should I call the police?” Annie asked.

“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary,” Jed said quietly. “What do you say, Russell? I don’t know who you’re looking for, but unless it’s Kate, she’s not with me.”

“I think we can all go back to bed and mind our own business now.” Kate’s cool voice allowed no protests or discussions.

But although the crowd began to turn away, they all turned back when Russell McCoy suddenly lost it. “Yes, I want you to call the police! Susie’s been sneaking out to meet with you, I
know
she has, and what you’ve been doing with her is statutory rape!” He lunged forward, but again Jed was ready for it, and he didn’t even step back.

Susie?

Jed turned to look at Kate.
Susie
?

“She said you were giving her and that black boy acting lessons, but now I know that was nothing more than a front for some kind of sick clandestine meetings. You seduced her, you depraved son of a bitch. You seduced her, and now she’s gone!”

Kate came down the steps. “Mr. McCoy, if Susie’s missing, we can help you find her. But I can assure you,
there’s nothing untoward going on between your daughter and Jericho.”

“What kind of producer casts a man like Beaumont in a movie with a child?” McCoy moved surprisingly quickly for such a large man, heading directly toward Kate, but Jed moved even faster. He grabbed the man’s shirt and hauled him past Kate and up against the side of the trailer with a crash.