Superstar (41 page)

He murmured,
"I'm still going to prove it to you."

"There's no
need."

"I want to. I
don't ever want you to doubt me again. Unfortunately, in my line of
work, there are many situations that might hurt you if you weren't
completely sure of me."

She pulled
away a little to look into his eyes. "Like what?"

Mark shook his
head. "I'm not sure I should tell you until you've got my ring on
your finger."

"Tell me."

"You're not
being fair. You know I can't say no to you."

"Good."

"Well, there
are love scenes that I'll have to do with some very attractive
actresses." He smiled as she pulled a face. "Then there are the
rumours. As you know, Hollywood's full of them. The press love to
insinuate that a star's involved with his leading lady, and
sometimes it's true. Then there are the fans. I receive a lot of
love letters from women I've never met, and there are actresses
who'll try to be photographed in compromising situations with me,
while others will make false claims to the press. Shall I go
on?"

She shook her
head. "No, I've heard enough. Forewarned is forearmed. I won't
believe any of it, I promise."

"After we're
married, you won't have any doubts about me."

Carrin pulled
him close, and he responded to her kiss with a passion that made
tingles shoot through her like little electric shocks. Sweeping her
up in his arms, he carried her up the staircase. To her
disappointment, he deposited her outside her room, opened the door
and swatted her on the backside.

"We've waited
this long, we'll wait another night," he said, shaking his head
when she turned to him. "Go to sleep. It's a big day tomorrow."

Carrin fought
the urge to drag him into her room. She was pretty sure that she
could seduce him if she tried, but then they would get no sleep,
and she did not want to look weary on her wedding day. Tomorrow
night, she promised herself, there would be no more excuses.

Olivia woke
her the next morning, bustling into her room and pulling open the
curtains.

"Wake up; it's
a beautiful day for a wedding."

Sunshine
bathed the garden outside, and Carrin smiled as she sat up and
hugged her knees. Today, her dream would finally come true in all
its unbelievable glory. She bathed and ate a light breakfast,
although her stomach quivered with excitement. The fashion house
arrived at ten o'clock to fit her dress. A score of helpers and
designers flooding in to tuck, tug and sew. They made last-minute
adjustments and discussed little additions that were added or
rejected. As she was undergoing the clucking chief designer's final
tugging and tucking, Carrin's mother came in and shooed them out.
Mrs York looked lovely in a lacy peach creation that Mark had
insisted she should have. She gave her daughter an appraising look
and nodded.

"You'll
do."

Olivia gasped.
"She'll do? She looks absolutely incredible."

"That's what I
meant."

Olivia snorted
and rearranged the folds of Carrin's veil.

Mrs York
smiled. "Where are you going for the honeymoon?"

"To the ranch
first, then we'll fly to Spain for a week at his villa. We might
spend some time cruising on his yacht, if I don't get seasick."
Carrin smiled. "Mark doesn't plan to make another movie for at
least a couple of years, so we're going to have a long
honeymoon."

"Sounds
wonderful."

"Oh, mom, it
is, isn't it?" Carrin went her mother and hugged her, and Olivia
clucked about messing up her dress. Carrin added, "I hope we can
start a family before the honeymoon's over. I want a little boy who
looks just like him."

"Of course you
do." Her mother chuckled. "And he probably wants a daughter who
looks just like you. But, all things being equal, you'll have
children who look like both of you."

"He's going to
be a terrific father."

"He'll
probably spoil them rotten."

"I don't care.
When he starts working again, I'll be with him on location, kids
and all."

Mrs York
sighed. "Sounds like you've got it all planned."

"I've dreamt
about it for ages, and now it's all coming true, just like a fairy
tale."

Her mother
blinked. "They do sometimes, when you find the right man."

"I have."

Julia entered,
radiant in a salmon pink bride's maid's dress and flushed with
excitement.

"Come on, the
car's waiting."

Paul met her
at the bottom of the stairs. He looked dashing in his new suit, and
his eyes widened at the sight of his sister. Olivia handed Carrin
her bouquet of white orchids, and they went out to the
ribbon-decked limousine. John grinned and winked as she slid in
with Paul, and the rest of the bride's party entered another
limousine. On the way to the church, Paul gave her a pep talk about
the joys of marriage that she really did not need. She was not
nervous about marrying Mark, only terrified of doing something
wrong, like fluffing her lines during the ceremony or tripping over
her hem and falling flat on her face on her way up the aisle.

Only a few
hired photographers and cameramen waited at the church to record
the event for her and Mark’s private viewing. Most of the cameramen
she recognised from the movie, and waved to them, receiving warm
smiles. The paparazzi had evidently been banned, but helicopters
buzzed overhead, and she did not doubt that telephoto lenses were
trained on her and cameras clicked. Olivia and Mrs York came over
to straighten, brush, tug and cluck over Carrin's dress as she got
out of the car. Finally, she took Paul's arm and walked into the
church.

Flowers filled
it with heady scent and bright colour. Rows of well-known faces
lined the aisle, smiling encouragement. The music seemed to carry
her to the dark-haired man who waited at the altar, a blond giant
beside him. The wedding ceremony drifted around her as she gazed
into Mark's eyes, and he slipped a simple gold band onto her finger
beside her engagement ring. She did the same for him, and he held
her hands as the last words were pronounced, then lifted the veil
and kissed her.

The music rose
again as they left the church, and they paused on the steps for a
photo-op. Confetti and rice bombarded them as they ran to the
limousine, now covered with spray-painted pronouncements of their
new status.

On the drive
back to the mansion, Mark held her hand and smiled whenever she
looked at him. Carrin's heart did little flip-flops each time her
eyes met his, hardly able to believe that he was now her
husband.

He fiddled
with his ring. "I'll have to take this off sometimes."

She shot him a
puzzled look. "Why?"

"When I make
movies, silly. Don't give me that look."

Carrin smiled.
"I wasn't being suspicious."

"You sounded
it. Boy, am I going to have fun teasing you. You always fall for
it."

"I don't!"

"Do too."

At the house,
a smiling Rita waited with the bevy of maids who would serve the
reception guests. Mark took Carrin's hand when she tried to make a
beeline for the tables that groaned under the mountains of food and
champagne, and led her into the study. She removed her veil while
he poured two drinks, and she put her glass aside to throw her arms
around him.

Mark released
her at a knock on the door, and Rita stuck her head in. "Mr Goodall
is here, sir."

"Ah, good,
show him in." Rita vanished, and Mark turned to Carrin. "One last
bit of business."

"You don't
have to do this," she protested.

"I know."

Rita ushered
in a short, balding man, whom Mark introduced as his lawyer. Mr
Goodall congratulated Carrin, shooting Mark a reproachful look.
Mark invited him to sit, and Mr Goodall settled behind the big oak
desk. Snapping open his briefcase, he extracted a sheaf of papers
while Carrin and Mark sat facing the desk. Mr Goodall donned a pair
of glasses and gave Mark another hard look, then turned to
Carrin.

"According to
Mark's instructions, I've drawn up some papers for you to sign, Mrs
Lord."

Carrin glanced
at Mark, but he was deadpan, sipping his drink. The sound of her
new name sent a thrill through her.

Mr Goodall
went on, "All it requires is for Mark to sign it, and then you. May
I add that this was done against my advice."

Mark frowned.
"Get on with it, Joe."

Mr Goodall
sighed and handed the papers to Mark, who picked up his gold pen
and signed them with a flourish. He held out the papers to Carrin,
his eyes meeting hers.

"This is a
list of all my assets. Everything I own; my valuables, cars,
properties, stocks and shares, every single material possession I
have. It also contains all of my contracts, royalties, money in the
bank and future commitments."

Carrin took
the papers and glanced through them, stunned by the value below
each item.

Mark went on,
"Once you sign that, it all belongs to you, every single thing." He
glanced around as Mr Goodall groaned and rose to pour himself a
stiff drink. Mark smiled. "It also entitles you to any future
amounts paid to me for any work I do. If we ever get divorced for
any reason, whether you divorce me or I divorce you, I'll be left
penniless, without an income, even if I work, it goes to you. If I
die, you get it all too."

Carrin stared
at him, and Mark continued, "I'm not trying to buy you. I'm just
handing you my life, so to speak. You'll control all of it, I'll
have nothing. Without you, I'll have nothing anyway."

She put the
papers on the desk. "You don't have to do this."

"I know." He
held out the pen. "Sign it."

Carrin
wondered how she could ever have doubted him. Tears burnt her eyes
and spilt over. Mark took her hand and pressed the pen into it.

"Sign it,
Carrin."

Mr Goodall
gulped his drink and poured another. Carrin took the pen, and Mark
moved the papers under it, nodding in encouragement. Tears ran down
her cheeks, and he wiped them away, cupping her face to gaze into
her eyes.

"This is how
much I love you. So you never have to doubt me again, for any
reason. This is the only way I know to prove to you that I'll never
leave you."

Mr Goodall
made a choking sound.

Carrin shook
her head. "I don't want it. I know you love me, I don't need any
proof." She put down the pen, picked up the papers and tore them in
half. "I won't live my life with a sword at your throat."

His slow,
crooked smile widened into that schoolboy grin. "Well, guess what,
Mrs Lord? We're married in community of property, so half of it's
yours anyway."

As he stood
and pulled her into his arms, she heard the soft sound of the door
shutting as the lawyer left. She gazed into his eyes. "I'll never
doubt you again."

"If you do,
I'll have another set of those papers drawn up and tie you to a
chair until you sign them."

Carrin shook
her head. "I don't want your money."

"I'm not
trying to give it to you, only to prove that I'll never leave
you."

She stood on
tiptoes and pressed her lips to his, then whispered, "I know you
won't."

Mark smiled.
"Good, now I can tell Simon I won the bet."

"You
what?"

"The bet. You
know, that I could make you fall in love with me."

"Right."
Carrin nodded. "How much was it for?"

"Five
million."

"Poor
Simon."

"Yeah, he was
sure he'd win."

She cocked her
head. "Funny that he was so delighted when you told him we were
getting married."

"Well, that
wasn't the bet, was it?"

"Ah. But why
weren't you on the phone to him last night then?"

He chuckled.
"The fact that you tore up those papers was the proof that you
really do love me, otherwise you might have been a
gold-digger."

"That's true.
But since we were married in community of property, I might still
be one."

"But why would
you settle for only half when you could have had it all?"

"Do you really
think I thought those papers were real?"

"Of course
not, you're too smart for that."

She nodded.
"Damn right I am."

Mark laughed
and hugged her. "You're too smart for me, that's for sure."

"Yeah, I
landed myself a real big fish, didn't I?"

"Ah, we're
going to have so much fun together."

"Never a dull
moment, I guarantee it." She cocked her head. "Especially if you're
going to make a habit of reading my mind."

"Well, after I
had explained away all your reasons for doubting me, and proved
that I wasn't a woman-beater, that was the only possible reason for
you to still be suspicious. But I'll have you know that I never
gamble. And even if I did, I wouldn't bet on something like that.
You must have thought I was a real bastard, to think that I would
do something like that."

"No, it just
didn't seem possible that someone like you could love someone like
me."

He smiled.
"Why not? You're a beautiful, sexy, fascinating girl. And in the
end, I'm just a guy."

"No, you're a
world-famous multi-millionaire."

"Still just a
guy."

A knock came
at the door, and Rita entered when Mark answered, carrying a silver
tray piled with newspapers and magazines. "The newspapers are here,
sir."

"Ah good."
Mark scooped them up and paged through one. Carrin tried to take
another from him, but he tucked them under his arm, shaking his
head.

"Me
first."

"I want to
see!"

"I'll read it
to you."

Carrin fumed,
but waited while he found the right page and folded the paper,
reading it.

"Entertaining." He nodded. "That's good. 'Action-packed.' 'A
world-class performance.'" He smiled, but his expression was a
little worried.