Sins of Sarah (16 page)

'Alex had to retire to bed,' he announced, grinning. 'He was fool enough to say he could murder a pint of creme de menthe.'

'You didn't buy him one?' Sarah was horrified.

'Lenny and I did just that! You should have seen his face, but he managed most of it. Mind you, I think he might spend most of tomorrow in the loo! It will teach him to make sarky remarks about my bum!' James laughed gaily, totally unconcerned. 'Here, let me do that - I love massaging ladies' legs'

'And the rest!' Cress put in, giggling.

'I'm only getting some rehearsal in! Keep still, Sarah.' He was just offering to do her back, and she was quite cheerfully fighting him off, when the telephone rang.

'Oh, hi, Nick,' she cried in surprise, pushing James towards Cress. 'Where are you?'

'Halfway between Oxford and Hungerford,' he replied. 'What on earth are you up to there?' Sarah was a little embarrassed that he had caught her giggling like a teenager.

'Oh it's just James and Cress,' she excused. 'We're having a drink.'

'James into threesomes now, is he?' Nick sounded amused, then he cursed, as another driver tried to cut him up.

'No, massage,' Sarah teased. 'Is everything OK?'

'Everything's fine,' he assured her, 'except for dog hair all over my car! I simply wanted to talk to you, and to remind you to bring some clothes with you tomorrow. We'll go somewhere nice on Saturday evening.' Sarah felt her insides melt suddenly.

'It's still on, then?' she tried to ask coolly, but her hand was shaking as she held the phone.

'I certainly hope so. I'm looking forward to it! Goodnight, angel.'

'What was that all about?' Cress demanded. 'Checking up on you again?'

'Something like that.' Sarah was evasive, but almost hugging herself with renewed excitement. Just the sound of his soft, caressing drawl was enough to make her want him.

Once James and Cress had gone she spent a frantic half-hour trying to decide what to take with her, what sort of clothes Nick would like to see her wear. Or not wear, she reminded herself, and spread the lotion over the rest of her body.

* * *

With the luxury of an eight o'clock call, James and Sarah had breakfast together at the hotel before leaving for Hastings Court. Although she managed to eat, it was an effort, and she was practically forcing each mouthful, which was unusual for Sarah.

'We should eat now,' James told her. 'I don't suppose either of us will feel like eating at lunchtime.'

'Don't tell me you're nervous!' exclaimed Sarah in surprise.

'I know, I'm supposed to be the one who doesn't worry about anything.' James's velvety brown eyes twinkled. 'If it's any consolation, Sarah, I'm probably as nervous as you are. I've spent about an hour in the bath this morning, and I shaved twice because I forgot I'd just done it!'

Sarah laughed with relief to find she was not alone. 'And I'll have to buy some more body lotion. I've put so much on I'll probably slide off the bed!'

'The worst thing is I've let Cress take the Mere this morning. I wouldn't have done that if I hadn't been worrying about today.' The Mercedes sports car was James's pride and joy, and Sarah lifted her eyebrows in astonishment.

'You must be serious about Cress to even consider it.'

James waved to the waitress for more coffee. 'Yes, I suppose I must be,' he said slowly. 'Funny, isn't it? With two bust up marriages I ought to know better. Still, third time lucky, perhaps. I've always liked Cress. She's different from all the bimbos I have been seeing - excluding you, of course!' 'Of course excluding me! She already bosses you around like a wife!'

'Cress bosses everyone - even Nick sometimes! You should have heard her, when she went for him over bullying you! I thought she'd take him apart. Even he quailed!' Sarah smiled at the thought of Cress being the instrument of her new friendship with Nick.

'I wondered why he suddenly apologized,' she mused. 'Cress is tougher than I thought!'

'I think it comes with the job,' James said thoughtfully. 'Whatever it is, I think I rather like it.' 'Well, miracles do happen occasionally! Come on, we'd better go, if you really are serious about me driving you to work.' She drove over to Hastings with the roof off the car in her usual brisk style.

'If I am shit-scared,' he announced as she pulled into the yard, 'it's because of your driving! Have you never heard of brakes, woman?'

'Only in an emergency!' Sarah retorted, waltzing into make-up.

Patti began teasing about body make-up the minute they appeared, and the laughing and joking that went on relaxed them both. By the time Nick came in, they were fully made up and Ronnie was putting Sarah's hair up.

'OK, plan of campaign!' he said firmly. He was wearing his glasses to go through the script with them, and it made him seem more remote, somehow. 'This morning we'll do the first three shots, to the point where your clothes come off, then we'll rehearse the rest and shoot that this after-noon. So we're going to have to motor a bit.' He smiled at Sarah. 'You can wear something to rehearse in, as long as it's skin-coloured and doesn't leave marks.' Cress had already organized that, Sarah realized with relief. 'Jenny, go and get Sarah into that camisole and petticoat so I can see it, please.' Cress had thoughtfully stitched another layer of chiffon under the petticoat and put more lace on the bodice, but as Sarah put it on she began to shiver with fear. In the dressing room mirror it looked opaque, but she knew enough of film lighting to know it would look transparent on camera, and there was a full crew for the morning shots.

Jenny had gone to get Sarah's dress when Nick came into her dressing room. Laughing with mischief, Sarah fell into his arms, hugging him, and Nick couldn't resist a long, deep kiss. 'I missed you last night,' he confessed as they drew apart. 'We'll make up for it later, I promise!' He turned her around, gently. 'That is lovely. Cress was right,' he added as Jenny came back with her dress and he slipped back into being the impersonal director. 'Bare feet,' he instructed. 'And your pants show through - sorry, Sarah.'

She laughed. 'I knew you'd spot that.'

'I don't miss much,' he reminded her as she stepped carefully into the delicate voile dress. 'Did you alter those buttonholes. Jenny?'

'Every bloody one!' Jenny said, with feeling. She had spent hours adding elastic to the button loops, after Cress had discovered they were too tight for James to unfasten them easily.

'I'll take your word for it, then.' Nick remembered the camisole buttons he'd ripped off. 'I won't try them!'

'It does feel wicked,' Sarah told James as they walked down to the pavilion, 'to walk around without any knickers on. My mother would have had a fit about all this!'

'Mine gets embarrassed in the Co-op every time I do a scene like this,' James admitted.

'Have you really done that many?'

'A few. I did one with Tam once. We had a real row halfway through!' Sarah was giggling with amusement at his wicked description of that as they walked into the set.

The main room of the pavilion had been turned into the doctor's bedroom by the set designer, because a double height ceiling meant they could use a tower, and shoot from above. Heavy velvet drapes were closed over the windows, and a fire blazing in the hearth already made it warm. With a smoke machine misting the dimly lit atmosphere, it seemed oppressive to both of them.

'Bloody hard bed,' said James, testing it. 'One of us is going to get bruises on her backside from that!' Even in the warm room Sarah began to shiver and, when Nick touched her as he was positioning them her hands were icy. He ached to comfort her, but knew he couldn't in front of the crew. Wistfully, he retreated to the high stool he used behind the camera to watch the monitor. They had three shots, the two running into the room, as if from downstairs, some dialogue, and then James unfastening her dress and letting her hair down before kissing her. The first two they did in a couple of takes, although Sarah wanted them to go on for ever.

Strangely, the audible gasp of admiration from the crew as the dress fell and she turned into James's arms wearing the thin chiffon comforted her more than words ever could. Holding position, as Lenny moved some lamps and changed filters to light Sarah's cascading hair, James hugged her to him. 'They're all lusting after you,' he said, and grinned. 'Does that make you feel better?'

'A bit - but I still wish it was all over.' She only began to laugh again when Nick asked James to lift her up and slide her down his body. After a couple of attempts he turned to Nick in exasperation.

'I'm going to do myself a mischief,' he complained. 'Have you any idea how heavy she is?'

'Yes, I have, and you're just not doing it properly.' To the amusement of the crew, he demonstrated exactly what he wanted, with an easy skill that had Sarah laughing in seconds.

'So he's Superman.' James grinned and tried again, more successfully.

'Yes, but I wish he'd taken that pen out of his pocket!'

* * *

By the time they had done the shot to Nick's satisfaction, and then repeated it for the reverse, her hair had been repinned a dozen times and her head ached from the constant pulling and pinning.

'Your head aches from too much coffee first thing,' Jenny admonished, proffering tea and aspirin as they changed in the Winnebago while the camera was moved and the lighting changed for the afternoon shots.

'Or the wine last night,' James reminded her.

'I'm just tense as hell,' Sarah grumbled as Ronnie brushed out her hair.

'Soon fix that,' James swung her hair over one shoulder and began massaging her neck and shoulders. 'Told you I was good at this, didn't I?' .

'Oh, that's wonderful,' she breathed. 'I think I might marry you after all, James.'

'Well, we'd have a very public honeymoon first, if you did!' As James had forecast, neither of them wanted the lunch that Joanna brought them. Even the wine Nick sent went mainly untouched. Alone together in the Winnebago, James smoked moodily and Sarah sat hunched up on the banquette, hugging her knees, her face hidden by the curtain of hair falling over it.

'It must be bad if you can't even drink champagne,' he teased at last, perturbed by her silence.

Sarah raised stricken eyes to his. 'James, I can't do it! I had no idea he would ask us to do all that - I'm not surprised he made himself scarce just now. He daren't face me, the bastard! None of that was in the script! He was making it up as he went along, I swear it!'

'Don't be silly, sweetheart.' James put a comforting arm around her. 'I told him to leave us alone. I thought you'd prefer it. Look, Sarah, he really has tried -I promise you. The last time I did a love scene for Nick, the actress and I were stark naked for two whole days! He's cut this right down to one afternoon for your benefit, I'm sure. We can do it - you know we can - we just need to get into the mood.'

'And how do you propose we do that?' she demanded. 'I'm going to throw up in a minute, I'm sure I am!'

'Rubbish!' James had a glearn in his eye that she suddenly didn't like. 'We have two options. Plan A, I could take you into the bedroom here and prove you can do it . . .'

'No!' Her cry of protest was so immediate and sharp that he had to laugh.

'OK, then,' he relented. 'Plan B. Put your shoes on, we'll go for a walk and I'll wear you out instead!'

'Like this?' Sarah looked down doubtfully at the towelling robes which were all they were wearing so that they wouldn't have clothes marks on their skin.

'No one will see us - except perhaps the crew, and they won't worry. Come on, we won't go far. The fresh air will do us good.' They walked up into the woods that stretched from behind the pavilion way up into the far distance. It was cooler under the trees, and totally peaceful, with the only noise coming from the odd bird above them and the rustling of the dead leaves under their feet. Sarah began to relax, as she always did in the open air, breathing in the scent of the wild garlic and laughing as a squirrel bur-rowed around in the undergrowth.

James held out a hand to her as they walked, and she let hers creep into it. 'Better?' he smiled. 'Not feeling sick now?' Smiling back, she shook her head.

James perched himself comfortably on a fallen log. 'Has Nick got you into bed yet?' he asked casually. 'He is fussing about you enough to make me think so, and he's fancied you ever since that audition.'

'Mind your own business,' she retorted, far too quickly, and James frowned.

'Be careful with Nick, sweetheart,' he warned her quietly. 'He can be a ruthless bastard, and I'd hate to see you get hurt. I'm very fond of you, you know.'

'Just because I look young it doesn't mean I can't look after myself,' she retaliated. 'Anyway, Nick is worried about it himself - he's not as ruthless as you think.'

'He's proved he is more than once, my love,' James said. 'You may think I screw around, and occasionally I do, but I didn't when I was married - at least only once, and I suffered for that!'

'I heard about that one!' She grinned. 'It's a very small world in this business!'

'Yes, and as far as Nick is concerned, don't you forget it.'

'Don't worry, I won't!' Surer of herself now, she kissed him, then was astonished to find him kissing her back with a surprisingly passionate sensuality.