The Spiral Path (2 page)

Setting the Stage

CHAPTER 1

Broad Beach,
California

Spring, Present
Day

T
he trouble
with reality was that it was so damned
real.
Stomach churning, Raine
Marlowe punched her security code into the control box of the beachfront
mansion's private gates. If Kenzie had changed the codes, she'd have to come up
with a new plan.

Not
that her husband had any reason to be paranoid where she was concerned. Their
separation was terribly, terribly civilized. No property disputes, a nice
little no-fault divorce that should be final in a few months. The tabloids had
been reduced to making up quotes out of whole cloth to make the story more
interesting.

Motors
purred and the ironwork gates swung smoothly open. As she drove her Lexus
through, she gave a sigh of relief. She'd made it over the first, and easiest,
hurdle.

She
parked in front of the sprawling house's entrance and climbed from the car. Even
for a professional actress, the performance she was about to give would be
hideously difficult.

As
she walked up the expensively landscaped path, she girded herself for the
coming encounter. Her carefully chosen costume consisted of a briefcase-sized
shoulder bag and a black Armani suit to show she meant business, with enough
discreet cleavage to show she was a woman.

On
the front steps she halted, unexpectedly paralyzed by the endless rush of
breaking surf. The sensual sound snapped her back to nights when she and Kenzie
lay side by side in bed. Though she missed the lovemaking desperately, even
more she missed the conversation. In the stillness of night there'd been no
stardom or competition or tabloid reporters. Just the two of them--a man and
woman linking hands as they talked lazily about their days, the work they both
loved, how much they'd missed each other during their frequent separations.

She
wondered with clinical detachment how long the pain would be so devastating. In
time, she supposed the anguish and gut-wrenching loss must fade because no one
could live at such a level of misery. But relief wouldn't come any time soon,
particularly not if Kenzie agreed to her proposition.

Face
set, she tapped in her code to unlock the front door. This one hadn't been
changed, either.

She
stepped into the foyer and immediately checked the discreetly hidden security
panel. Unarmed. Kenzie had always been careless about arming the system when he
was home. Sometimes she wondered if he'd come to believe his own invulnerable
movie roles, where he could decimate whole armies of villains without receiving
more than a few bruises and maybe a carefully placed flesh wound.

This
early on a Sunday morning, the house was silent. The Filipino couple who lived
in a separate cottage and cared for the house and its occupant would be at mass
now, but Kenzie should be home. She'd charmed his schedule out of his
assistant, Josh Burke, who'd always liked her. Since her husband was in the
final stages of shooting an exhausting action picture, he planned to spend a
quiet day at home. Perfect for her purposes. "Kenzie?"

No
answer. She checked the spacious kitchen, whose tiled floor and backsplash had
the rich warmth of a Tuscan villa. Empty, and no signs that her husband had
made breakfast here.

He
wasn't in the living room, nor in the ground floor exercise room. Damn. He was
probably still sleeping.

Hoping
to God he was alone, Rainey climbed the sweeping staircase. The house was
contemporary, designed to capture sunlight and take advantage of the
magnificent, staggeringly expensive beach frontage. Kenzie had already owned
the house when they married, and she'd been happy to move in.

He
loved the sea. In fanciful moments Rainey had wondered if he might be a selkie,
one of the legendary Celtic creatures who lived in the ocean as seals and on
land as mysterious, dangerously attractive men. The legend certainly explained
a lot, such as the fact that sometimes she felt as if she and Kenzie came from
different planets.

Would
it have made a difference if they'd bought a new house together and entered as
equals? Probably not. He'd encouraged her to redecorate to make this place as
much hers as his. They'd had great fun choosing carpets and furniture...

Hell.
When would she stop thinking of them as a couple? She reminded herself that
it had only been a few months since their marriage had exploded, so neurosis
was natural. She headed to the master bedroom suite. With every step, her
stomach knotted tighter. She considered bolting and contacting Kenzie through
Seth Cowan, but the manager would be against Kenzie taking this job. She must
risk a personal meeting if she was to have any chance of getting what she
wanted.

A
rap on the bedroom door produced no reply. Steeling herself, she opened it.

She
sighed with relief to see Kenzie sprawled on the bed alone. Given the way women
pursued him, there could easily have been an eager film student or ambitious
starlet sharing the wide mattress, and Rainey would have had no right to
complain. Months had passed, divorce papers were wending their way through the
courts, and it wasn't as if either of them had ever claimed to love the other.

She
entered the bedroom, letting her high heels click on the Spanish tile floor
like castanets. Kenzie's eyes opened. Despite the instant recognition and
wariness visible in the green depths, he didn't move a muscle. He simply lay as
still as a lion. "Good morning, Rainey." So blasted civilized.

Keeping
her distance, she said, "Sorry to disturb you this early, but I have a
business proposition for you."

Kenzie
propped himself up against the headboard, bare to the waist. His dark hair was
tousled with a sensual abandon that a stylist would have been proud to produce.
"Indeed? Tell me about it."

She
was going to have to make her pitch to a naked man. Well, she'd done stranger
things. She paced across the vast bedroom, tension reflected in her short, quick
steps. "You know I've been working on a screenplay."

"Hard
to overlook the endless series of yellow lined tablets you consumed in your
trailer when on location," he said dryly. "You finished it?"

"Done,
and almost through preproduction." She'd buried herself in the project in
a frantic attempt to hold pain at bay. Every penny she could spare had gone
into setting up a production company to do the prep work. "I've got most
of a cast and crew lined up, and a financing package put together. With a bankable
star, I'll get the green light."

"I
presume this is where I come in."

"Your
signature on a letter of intent would secure all the financing I need,"
she said bluntly. "I hear your next movie has fallen through so you have
the time free, and God knows you love to work." That had been one of the
problems in their marriage. Despite his laidback appearance, Kenzie was a
workaholic.

"I
doubt you can afford me. What's your budget for the film?"

"The
total budget is about half the salary you're getting for the movie you're
shooting now." She rubbed damp palms on her skirt. "Though I can't
afford your usual price, I've built in a million dollars for salary, plus major
profit participation. With even modest success, you'll do very well." A
lot better than she would. "It won't hurt your market value to work on a
little picture like this. People will know you're just helping your ex-wife
out." Her voice turned sardonic. "That will enhance your nice guy
image."

"So
I'll make money, and look like a gentleman," he said, unimpressed. "I
don't need either, and the drawbacks of working with you greatly outweigh the
advantages."

She
caught his gaze. "You're perfect for the part, Kenzie. And it's the kind
that wins Oscars."

Though
he didn't move so much as an eyelash, she had his full attention. After a long
silence, he said, "Let's talk about it in the gym. A couple of your
exercise outfits are still down there."

She
was going to have to continue her pitch while doing leg lifts and bicep curls?
Well if that's what it took... "Okay. I could use the workout."

She
left before he climbed from the bed, unable to bear the intimacy of seeing him
casually naked. As she headed for the gym, she wondered for the thousandth time
if they'd had a real marriage. At the time she'd felt close to him, despite the
subjects undiscussed and the declarations unmade. They'd managed to get beyond
the movie star thing.

Yet
even at their closest, she'd never truly understood Kenzie. He was as much a
mystery to her now as when they'd met. Even more so, perhaps.