The Spiral Path (22 page)

His gaze went to her.
"Rainey."

She gasped. "I can't play Sarah!
I've already got a job on this movie."

"Plenty of actors have directed and
starred in their own productions. No reason why you can't do the same."

"Male actors do it regularly.
Females almost never." She groped for more reasons. "Besides, I'm not
English, and I'm too old for the part."

Marcus was studying her with narrowed
eyes. "Kenzie may have a point. With the right lighting age won't be a
problem, and you do a fine English accent. Actually, when I first read the
screenplay I thought you must intend to play Sarah. It's a terrific role, and
you'll be able to handle it at least as well as Jane Stackpole."

It had been a long, difficult day, and
facing two men trying to convince her to play a role she didn't want pushed
Rainey to the snapping point.
"No!"
Barely managing to
restrain herself from throwing her coffee cup across the conference room, she
pitched her voice with ear-splitting clarity. "I am not going to play a
simple-minded teenage virgin!"

Her uncharacteristic outburst produced
startled silence. Then Kenzie straightened from his lounging position against
the wall and crossed the room. "You need a time-out."

Before she realized his intentions, he
unclipped the cell phone from her belt and tossed it to Val, then scooped
Rainey up in his arms and headed for the door. Appalled, she struggled to free
herself. "Damn it, Kenzie, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Abducting you," he said
calmly. "Before you shatter into little pieces."

"Marcus,
stop laughing!"
She
wriggled furiously but Kenzie had done a thorough job of pinning her arms so
she couldn't get loose. "Are you going to let him do this?"

Her producer tried to look serious.
"You could use a break, Rainey. A few hours away will be good for
you."

Less amused, Val grabbed the phone.
"Shall I call security?"

"Yes!" Rainey thought of the
uproar that would cause. The security men would probably ask Kenzie for his
autograph and laugh heartily about his masterful way of dealing with the little
woman. "No!"

Before she could decide on the best
course, Kenzie had carried her from the conference room. It was only a dozen
steps to a side door. He turned and shouldered the door open, keeping a firm
hold on Rainey. His rented SUV was parked just outside. He opened the vehicle
door, and had her inside in seconds.

She grabbed for the handle while he
circled to the driver's seat, but he'd locked her door with his remote. She was
searching the unfamiliar controls when he started the ignition and they roared
down the hotel driveway to the main road.

Her resistance collapsed and she buried
her face in her hands, struggling not to weep with stress and frustration. A
warm, familiar hand rested on her shoulder. "Relax, Rainey," he said
quietly. "It's Saturday, and there's nothing that has to be done for
tomorrow. Take a few hours off. You haven't seen anything of New Mexico that
wasn't through a camera lens."

She wanted to jerk away, but she
couldn't bear to sever the contact between them. "This compulsion you have
to play Tarzan has gotten old."

"I dislike repeating myself, but
direct action seemed a better approach than trying to talk rationally when you
were freaking out." He released her shoulder to change gears, keeping both
hands on the wheel after he shifted. "If you want to go back to the hotel,
say the word. But why not slow down and get things back into perspective? I
think I know some pretty good medicine for what ails you."

Did she want to go back to the hotel?
Truthfully, no. Knowing their marriage was unfixable offered a weird kind of
freedom. She'd enjoy spending some time with Kenzie, and it wouldn't be any
more painful than working with him every day. She studied his calm, perfect
profile, wishing again that he wasn't such a damned nice guy. There was a deep
kindness in him that she hungered for. Yet he'd broken their marriage as
casually as someone tossing out a magazine, and never offered regret or
apology.

She fastened her seat belt, but said in
a warning tone, "Okay, it's break time, but if the medicine you have in
mind is seduction, forget it."

"Actually, what I had in mind was
kittens."

"Kittens?" she repeated
blankly.

"I have to visit some nice people,
and their cat has kittens. Very soothing."

She loved cats, but wasn't home enough
to have one of her own, so borrowing someone else's kittens would be a nice
break. She settled back to enjoy the scenery. She'd always liked New Mexico,
but Kenzie was right--on this visit she hadn't seen any of the beauty around her
except in terms of how it would work in the movie.

There was something to be said for a
friendly abduction.

CHAPTER 12

R
ainey
dozed a little, wondering how many hours she'd spent in a car
with Kenzie behind the wheel. He didn't have a macho thing about being in
control--he simply liked driving more than she did, while she enjoyed letting go
and letting him do the work.

The sun was still well above the horizon
when he turned under a sign that announced CIBOLA. Deciding she wouldn't give
him the satisfaction of asking where the devil they were, she held her tongue
as they rattled down a long entrance road and pulled up in front of an adobe
ranch house. It was a pleasing structure, perfectly formed from its setting.

Kenzie took a folder from the backseat,
then came around the SUV and helped Rainey out. A dog trotted up and greeted
him adoringly, then turned to study Rainey. She was cautiously extending her
hand when a comfortable-looking older woman emerged from the house.

"Hi, Mrs. Grady. Here are the
brochures I promised you." Kenzie gave the woman a hug. "This is
Raine Marlowe. I brought her here to see the kittens."

Mrs. Grady's eyes widened a little, and
Rainey knew that the woman recognized her as Kenzie's wife, and probably even
knew they were getting divorced. But she only said, "They'll be happy to
meet you, Miss Marlowe. The little devils have worn everyone else out with
their playing."

The interior of the house was cool and
restful after the heat of the day. Mrs. Grady said, "Would you like some
lemonade?"

"That would be lovely."

Mrs. Grady rattled ice into a tail
glass, then filled it with lemonade from a pitcher in the refrigerator.
"The kittens are out in the garden. I don't let 'em run outside--they'd be
a quick bite for a coyote. This way."

A door opened to a walled garden
fragrant with flowers. Wondering if the small fruit tree trained against one
wall was an apricot, Rainey walked out into the late-afternoon sun. As a tiny
tabby roared across her foot, Kenzie said, "Enjoy."

He withdrew to the kitchen, leaving her
alone in the garden with the kittens. A little gray guy trotted up and tilted
its head back to study her. Rainey dropped to the ground and crossed her legs,
scooping three kittens onto her lap. Their placid mother lay by a rosemary bush
with a fourth kitten dozing under her paw.

The lemonade had the fresh, tangy flavor
that came only when it was made from scratch. After a long, deep swallow, she
gathered the kittens in her hands and rubbed her face against the soft baby
fur. The tabby began licking her ear, the gray guy purred at a high pitch, and
the third, mostly white with tabby patches, scrambled onto her lap and started
to gnaw at a shirt button.

Peace. She petted the gray kitten when
it settled on her shoulder. Kenzie was right--this was a way to regain
perspective. Things always went wrong during production, and this movie was
actually going rather more smoothly than most. Only the fact that she bore so
much responsibility was making her nuts.

She still felt like spanking Jane
Stackpole, but the girl wasn't the first to back out of a deal when a better
one appeared, and she wouldn't be the last. It was a pity--Jane had a wonderful
combination of fragility, grace, and inner steel, perfect for Sarah.

Casting was one of the most important
parts of moviemaking, and the wrong person in a part could destroy the whole
production. But there would be another ingenue who could do Sarah justice.
Tomorrow morning, when it was a decent hour in England, Rainey would call some
of her London contacts and set the wheels turning.

In the meantime--she had kittens.