leader of the mutineers—but the producer had been constantly on the phone to the financiers in New York, who had been threatening to withdraw backing from a production which was clearly going over budget. To make matters worse, the actor playing Captain Bligh had been carted off to hospital with a grumbling appendix, the make-up department had been maintaining a ‘go slow’ over difficult working conditions, and the scriptwriters had appeared to be permanently drunk.
Quickly sorting out his client’s difficulties—which had mainly consisted of telling Craig to forget his new-found enthusiasm for method acting and to concentrate on earning his two-million-dollar fee—Jack had also somehow managed to pour soothing oil over most of the other problems currently bedevilling the production.
‘I don’t know how you do it,’ she told him at the end of the week as they sat out on the terrace of their hotel, sipping gin slings as they watched the tropical sun sink slowly down beneath the horizon. Gazing at Jack’s tall, broad-shouldered figure clothed in a crisp white short-sleeved open-necked shirt and trim navy shorts, Laura found herself envying the way that he always managed to look so cool and unruffled—in sharp contrast to herself, the scruffy film crew and the heavily costumed actors, all visibly wilting in the steamy heat.
‘When we arrived, I felt certain that it wouldn’t be long before there was going to be a real mutiny,’ she continued. ‘But now that the writers have decided to lay off the booze, and everyone else has calmed down, the only problem you haven’t yet solved seems to be the question of extra finance to complete the film.’
‘I may be able to sort out some simple problems but I’m afraid I can’t perform miracles!’ he laughed, before ordering more drinks from a passing waiter.
Continuing to discuss various aspects of the troubled production, which, in her view at least, was destined to be a total flop at the box office, she was surprised when he suddenly announced that it was time they both had a break.
‘A break...?’ She frowned at him in puzzlement.
He shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Frankly, there’s not much more we can do here—although Craig has asked me to let you stay on for another week, just in case any further problems should arise. Hey, relax!’ he added with a grin as she groaned and pulled a face. ‘I know looking after Craig isn’t easy—but it’s hardly a fate worse than death!’
‘Maybe not, but it comes pretty close,’ Laura grumbled, dreading having to cope with the neurotic, highly strung film star, who genuinely believed that he was totally irresistible to women. ‘Do I really have to stay on here?’
‘Yes, I’m afraid you do,’ Jack told her firmly, explaining that he was returning to London after the weekend for an important meeting. However, with a few days in hand, he’d decided, he went on to tell her, to accept an invitation from the producer of the film, who’d arranged a trip to an archipelago of tiny atolls in the Pacific Ocean, only ninety minutes away by air from Tahiti.
‘Quite frankly, Laura,’ he added, ‘for the past week we’ve been forced to listen to enough moaning and whining to last a lifetime! So it will do us both good to get away for a few days.’
‘You mean...the invitation includes me as well?’
‘Well, I was hardly planning to leave you behind,’ he drawled sardonically. ‘Unless, of course, you simply hate the idea of sitting beneath shady palm trees, gazing out over a blue lagoon—and savouring the total peace and quiet?’
‘It sounds like heaven,’ she agreed with a wistful sigh. ‘But—’
‘Good, that’s settled,’ he said firmly as he rose to his feet. ‘I’m going to be tied up with business calls for the rest of this evening, but I’ve arranged for us to be collected from the hotel first thing tomorrow morning. By the way, don’t forget to pack your bikini,’ he added, gently brushing her cheek with his finger before turning to stride away.
Left alone on the terrace, Laura’s mind was filled by a mass of confusing emotions as she gazed blindly out over the ocean, now barely visible in the gathering darkness. Back in London, frantically busy during working hours with the phone going non-stop, she normally had no trouble in stifling her feelings for Jack. But she wasn’t at all sure that this weekend break was a good idea. Especially when merely the soft, warm touch of Jack’s hand on her face could leave her feeling almost sick with hunger and desire.
It had, of course, been nothing more than a careless, friendly gesture. But there didn’t seem to be anything she could do about the almost overwhelming, deep longing to find herself clasped within his strong embrace.
Desperately trying to pull herself together, Laura realised that she was undoubtedly guilty of overdrama-tising the situation. After all, she and Jack weren’t likely to be alone on this trip. Sam, the producer, was a jovial and gregarious man who was almost bound to have asked several other actors and staff to join him. So allowing herself to get into a state about spending a weekend in Jack’s company wasn’t just silly—it was totally pathetic!
However, despite sternly lecturing herself on the folly of indulging in hopelessly romantic dreams, she slept badly that night. And when she descended to the hotel lobby the next morning it was to discover that her strong sense of apprehension and foreboding had been well founded, after all.
‘The balloon has just gone up,’ Jack announced as he led her towards a waiting taxi, explaining that the financial backers of the film had apparently run out of patience and were threatening to withdraw funding. With Sam and his assistants having to catch the first plane back to New York, in a desperate attempt to save the production, it now seemed that only Jack and Laura would be free to enjoy the weekend.
‘But...but surely we can’t just disappear like this?’ she muttered nervously. ‘Most of the cast will be out of their minds with worry, and—’
‘Nonsense! There’s absolutely nothing we can do about the situation,’ Jack said as their taxi sped through the crowded, noisy streets of Papeete towards the airport. ‘And I certainly don’t intend to spend the next few days wet-nursing a bunch of grouchy, bad-tempered people—however sorry I might feel for them,’ he added firmly, refusing to listen when she pointed out that their client, Craig Jordan, wouldn’t be at all happy with their departure from the unhappy scene.
‘Craig is perfectly capable of looking after himself for a few days,’ her employer retorted dismissively. ‘And, since fate has clearly taken a hand in this affair, what I now have in mind certainly doesn’t include a third party!’ He paused for a moment before adding quietly, ‘However, if you really don’t feel like coming on this trip, Laura, then you only have to say so.’
There was no mistaking the glint in his grey eyes, the warm smile accompanying his words causing her to feel unexpectedly breathless, her heart pounding with a crazy mixture of soaring, wild excitement and nervous apprehension. Did ‘what I have in mind’ mean what she thought it did? Because, if so, she was going to have to take a very quick decision. Once she got on that plane with Jack, there would be no going back. Whatever the outcome, their relationship was never going to be the same again.
On the other hand, he was at least playing fair and giving her the chance to call the whole thing off. So, the safe, sensible decision would be to firmly and politely decline to accompany him on the trip—right? Unfortunately, it was proving difficult, if not downright impossible, to think clearly at the moment. It suddenly seemed as if he was sitting far too close, her mind and concentration distracted by the long, mahogany-brown legs almost touching her own, her nostrils filled with the strangely intoxicating, heady tang of his cologne.
Deciding to be sensible, Laura took a deep breath, fully intending to say that she’d prefer to remain in Tahiti. She was, therefore, considerably astounded to find herself agreeing that, yes...maybe a short break would be a good idea after all.
Totally unable to explain to herself, let alone to anyone else, why she should have agreed to such an emotionally insane invitation, it seemed to Laura as if she spent the rest of the day in a completely mindless daze.
Their hotel,