Superstar (34 page)

Carrin relaxed
a little, wishing that she was able to think clearly, but the
champagne bubbles still fogged her mind. He walked around the
roses, and she turned to face him, raising her chin. He stopped
before her, taking her hands, and she studied his beautiful,
smiling face.

"Carrin." His voice was a caress, sending shivers through
her. His smile faded. "I know you don't believe me, but I want to
spend the rest of my life with you." She opened her mouth, but he
pressed his finger to her lips. "No, don't spoil this for me,
please. Indulge me. I've wanted to say these things to you for such
a long time; I have to say them now. I'm not trying to persuade
you, but what I'm saying is true, and I'm going to prove it to
you."

Mark
removed his finger, and she stared at him, her heart dying. Her
dream was coming true, and in an even more beautiful way than she
had ever imagined. Enjoy the moment; logic urged her, buoyed by
champagne. It did not matter what he said, so long as he did not
try to seduce her, for she knew that she would not be able to
resist him now. So long as she did not tell him what she felt, she
was safe. He could only embarrass himself with his sweet
lies.

Mark glanced
around, then led her to the bench and pushed her onto it. He sat
beside her, looking almost shy as he held her hand.

"I feel like a
damned schoolboy," he muttered. "You remember in the forest, I told
you that you made me nervous?"

She
nodded.

"Well, right
now I'm shaking in my shoes." He smiled. "This has never happened
to me before, and I had begun to think it never would. Hell, I'm
thirty-four years old, and I've never been in love."

Carrin noticed
that his hands were shaking slightly, and quelled her scepticism.
If this was an act, it was his best performance yet. How sweet it
would be to believe him, just for this wonderful moment, to let her
dream become reality.

He looked
away. "I want to be with you always, Carrin. To share everything
with you. I want us to have children, girls that look like you, and
boys... well, it doesn't matter what they look like, as long as
it's not me."

"Why?" The
question burst from her unbidden.

He looked
startled. "Why? Hell, I would have thought that was obvious. Who
would want to look like me? Funny eyebrows and a really stupid
smile. Why do you think I'm cast as a villain so much? I'm no Simon
Grey."

"I've never
seen you smile."

"Good thing
too, you'd probably run a mile."

Carrin raised
her hand and touched his cheek, as she had always longed to do. "I
think you're beautiful."

"You do?"

She
nodded.

He looked
away. "Well, I'm glad you think so. But we're getting off the
subject."

"I like this
subject."

"I bet you do,
because it's embarrassing. But I want to tell you -"

Carrin shook
her head. "I don't really want to hear it."

"Because you
don't believe it."

"That's right.
Until you can prove to me that you're really going to spend the
rest of your life with me, I don't want to talk about what we want
from life afterwards." The champagne still affected her, and she
wanted to enjoy this magic without spoiling it with doubts. "How
are you going to prove it?"

"Well, that's
the tricky bit. First we have to get married."

Carrin's heart
turned over, and a warm flood of joy rushed through her, tempered
with a taint of disbelief and sadness. Such sweet lies, and so much
magic. If only it was real. It seemed that he was prepared to go to
any lengths to win her trust, and she wondered why. Had he made a
million dollar bet with someone that he could make her fall in love
with him? There seemed to be no other logical explanation, and she
could just imagine him laughing triumphantly if she admitted her
feelings for him.

"A Hollywood
marriage?"

"Yes, of
course it has to be, but not the sort you're thinking of."

"Do we have to
get married first?"

He shook his
head. "No, but I'd rather we did."

She smelt a
trap and jumped to her feet. "And then it will be too late, if
you're lying to me."

Carrin
turned to leave, unable to stand anymore. His sweet lies and gentle
manner were utterly disarming, and she was struggling not to fall
into his trap. Mark jumped up and grabbed her wrist. Pulling her
into his arms, he held her so tightly that she could hardly
breathe. She could feel his heart pounding, and his breath warm on
her neck as he buried his face in her short hair. Her attempts to
struggle free were fruitless. His arms like steel bands, holding
her gently but without giving an inch.

He murmured
into her ear, "Oh, god, Carrin, don't do this to me. Please, I'm
begging you. Please trust me, just this once. Why would I want to
marry you if I didn't love you? Why are you still so damned
suspicious?" He held her away, locking eyes with her. "Tell
me."

It was too
late now to prevaricate, she decided, it was time to lay all the
cards on the table. Perhaps if he realised that his scheme was
hopeless, he would stop.

She said, "I
overheard a conversation between you and Simon, the first week I
was here. Simon told you not to toy with me, and you said that you
had a use for me."

He
frowned. "A use for you? What the hell... wait a minute, I remember
that." He smiled. "We weren't talking about you, Miss Big Ears. I
was talking about Jenna. Simon took a shine to her, and he wanted
her for himself. He knew that she didn't mean anything to
me."

"And what...
use did you have for her?"

"Window
dressing. When I needed a date for an evening out, she made a
pretty partner, that's all. Actors are expected to go out with
supermodels and actresses, and I couldn't go to functions without a
partner. After I talked to him, I decided to do as he asked. After
all, I had an even lovelier potential partner living in my house. I
asked Jenna to come and see me. She came late one night, when I was
swimming."

Carrin
remembered that, and nodded.

Mark
continued, "She thought that she was finally going to get into my
bed, but instead I told her that her services as my partner were no
longer needed, and of course she clobbered me."

"That's all
she was to you? Someone to go out with?"

"That's
all."

She shook her
head in mystification. "You never slept with her?"

"Never. I have
a rule about not sleeping with women who are taller than me."

Carrin
giggled, delighted to learn that he was not as bad as she had
thought. She had felt sorry for Jenna when he had dumped her,
thinking that she had been his lover and therefore his callous
brush-off had hurt her. If she had only been a date, however, she
had little to complain about. Even if she had feelings for him, it
was not his fault that he did not return them, and he had not taken
advantage of her. That was assuming that he was telling the truth,
yet somehow she believed him, it sounded so like him. A gremlin of
doubt crouched in the back of her mind, telling her that this was
too good to be true, and either she was going to wake up soon, or
there was still a sinister side to this story. She ignored it,
letting the joy wash through her in a huge warm tide. So long as
she admitted to nothing, this night would embarrass only him, if he
was lying. Mark smiled, still holding her around the
waist.

She asked,
"Just how tall are you, anyway?"

"Not
very."

"Tell me."

He pulled a
face. "Not quite six foot."

"Five foot
eleven?"

He nodded. "If
you insist on exact figures, yes. Can we get back to the original
discussion?"

"What was
that?"

"You were
about to agree to marry me."

She smiled.
"Was I? I don't remember you asking, just assuming, just like a
superstar with a bloated ego would."

He sighed.
"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

Carrin shook
her head, ready to burst with happiness. If he was prepared to go
as far as actually marrying her, she would go along with it, but
she would never tell him how she felt.

Mark
hesitated, his eyes wary. "Okay." He released her and guided her
back to the bench, making her sit. "I'm not doing this with you
standing up."

"It's just a
question."

"But it's the
most important one I'll ever ask, so I'm going to do it right."

"What do you
mean?"

Mark sank down
on one knee and took her hands. Carrin stared at him in amazement.
She had not expected him to go this far. He studied her hands,
caressing them. When he looked up, his eyes caught the moonlight
and glowed, deep blue.

"If I prove to
you on our wedding day that I love you with all my heart and will
never leave you or betray you, will you marry me?"

Her heart
swelled until she thought it would burst, and her eyes stung at the
poignant beauty of the moment, so much more than her wildest dreams
had ever conjured. She swallowed hard, struggling to speak around
the lump in her throat. He was waiting, his eyes intent.

Carrin nodded
jerkily. "Yes."

In a smooth
movement, he rose to his feet and pulled her into his arms, cupping
her face to gaze deep into her eyes. She let her eyes roam over his
face, longing to touch the proud straight nose and fine, crooked
dark brows. Her gaze lingered on his mouth, with its narrow top
lip, so mobile and sensitive, and fuller, sensuous bottom lip, so
close. He was not smiling, and before she knew what was happening,
he kissed her.

Tingling
thrills raced through her in a warm, shivering tide that blossomed
in her belly and suffused her chest. Her heart pounded, and her
head spun. His warm lips caressed hers with passionate tenderness.
All the kisses that she had experienced before seemed clumsy and
artless by comparison. Her arms slid around his waist, exploring
the ridges of muscle on his flanks through his silk shirt. She
pressed close to him, and longed to get closer still. His breath
quickened, and his hand slid down her back to press her to him. Her
hands, as if of their own volition, plucked the shirt from his
waistband and slid under it, caressing his warm back.

Mark stepped
away, releasing her from the spell, and pulled her hands from under
his shirt. He ran his fingers through his sleek dark hair and shook
his head.

"Now who's
seducing who?"

She smiled,
longing to pull him close again, not wanting the magic to end. "You
started it."

He looked
rattled. "I wasn't trying to seduce you, especially not in Simon's
rose garden."

"Then it seems
you don't even have to try."

"My god, what
will happen when I do?" He smiled crookedly.

Throwing
caution to the winds, she stepped up to him and slid her arms
around his neck, running her fingers through the soft hair on his
nape. He held her away.

"We should go
and tell Simon the good news."

"Not yet."

"Carrin,
don't. I only have so much will power, you know."

She sighed and
allowed herself the pleasure of tracing his cheek with her
fingertips. He captured them and kissed her palm.

"Come on,
before you drive me crazy."

Mark moved
away, tucking his shirt in, then took her hand. Carrin seemed to
walk on air as she strolled beside him back to the house. The fog
of champagne gave her courage when they reached the lights, where a
considerably reduced crowd laughed and talked around the pool. Mark
led her into the lounge, his eyes scanning the room for his friend.
Simon leant against the wall, chatting to a comedian. Janice hung
on his arm, gazing at him raptly. Mark headed for them, but Carrin
hung back, suddenly shy. He turned to her.

"You're not
chickening out on me now."

He tugged her
after him, and Simon broke off his conversation to look up and
crow, "Mark! There you are! We thought you'd left."

Mark was
forced to release her hand in order to shake the comedian's
proffered one. Without his tactile support, and away from the magic
of the moonlit rose garden, her doubts rushed back. Was she doing
the right thing? It was too late now, however. Mark leant forward
to speak to Simon. The blond superstar let out a whoop of delight
that made her jump, then scooped her up into a bear hug. She
squeaked in surprise.

"Carrin, you
little darling, I thought it was never going to happen!" He grinned
and kissed her on the mouth, much to her shock and
discomfiture.

Mark tapped
him on the shoulder. "You can put her down now."

Simon obliged
with a laugh. "Hey, this is great! When's the big day?"

Janice scowled
and demanded, "What the hell's going on, Simon?"

"Mark's
getting married!"

Janice's mouth
fell open. "To her?"

He nodded.
"Isn't it great?"

Janice glared
at Carrin. "Yeah, wonderful."

Simon's
enthusiasm could not be dampened. He turned and banged thunderously
on the nearest table. "Listen up, everyone!"

The hubbub of
talking and laughter died down. Carrin wanted to run. She hated to
be the centre of attention. Mark pulled her to his side and put an
arm around her shoulders.

"Don't worry,"
he murmured.

Simon
addressed the crowd. "Mark's getting married to Carrin York!"

Shouts of
congratulation came from the throng, along with applause and even a
little cheering. Comments like 'another one bites the dust' were
shouted, and only one very drunk man asked, "Mark who?"

Mark glanced
at her. "Well, the dice are cast. If I fail, I'm going to end up
looking like a real idiot."