Carole Mortimer - Bound By Contract

‘You shouldn’t drink too much of that stuff, you know,’ Gideon bit out tersely once the other man had left to get the drinks.

‘I shouldn’t?’ Madison eyed him warily—the trouble with this man, she decided, was you never quite knew what he was going to say next!

He shook his head. ‘How old are you?’

Like that! What on earth did her age have to do with anything?

‘Twenty-two,’ she answered cautiously.

‘Hmm.’ Gideon pulled a face. ‘Well, the alcohol obviously hasn’t started having an effect on you yet. At least, outwardly—you only look about eighteen! But inwardly it may be a different matter.’

Madison frowned up at him. Somewhere in all of that she felt he had given her a compliment—it was just so ambiguous it didn’t feel like one! ‘You don’t drink, Gideon?’ She had noticed his request for only orange juice.

‘No,’ he returned harshly. ‘It impedes rather than heightens the senses, has a disastrous effect on the skin and body organs, is—’

‘I get the gist, Gideon,’ she cut in laughingly; this was a house party, for goodness’ sake, not an AA meeting! ‘As it happens, I only drink wine, and then only on occasions like this.’ She looked around them pointedly at the groups of other chattering guests.

He shrugged, no answering humour in his own stern expression. ‘That’s the way most people start. You—’

‘Here we are.’ Drew arrived back with the drinks, handing the older man the requested orange juice. ‘I hope you’ll both excuse me.’ He smiled apologetically. ‘Edgar just wants to have a quick word with me.’

‘Really?’ Gideon returned mockingly.

‘Hmm.’ Drew nodded. ‘Nice to meet you, Gideon. I’ll catch up with you later, Madison.’ He squeezed her arm lightly in parting.

She watched as Drew hurried over to where her uncle Edgar stood waiting for him near the window, Edgar giving an acknowledging inclination of his head in Madison and Gideon’s direction before turning away to talk to Drew.

‘I wonder what Edgar is finding to talk to him about?’ Gideon mused dryly at her side. ‘Whatever it is, I’m damned sure it wasn’t important enough that Edgar had to talk to him right this moment! Except as a means of leaving the two of us alone together,’ he added scathingly.

Madison turned slowly to look at him, frowning. ‘What do you mean?’

He made it sound as if her godfather was matchmaking, and, as Edgar was fully aware of the raw state of her emotions, she couldn’t see that being the case at all. In fact, when she’d seen Uncle Edgar earlier, and told him about the disaster down in the pool-room, he’d looked more than a little irritated. Until she made him see the funny side of it.

Although she still didn’t find it that funny herself…

Gideon looked at her with mocking eyes. ‘I told you earlier that Edgar is a manipulator,’ he said enigmatically.

He might be, but he wasn’t a sadist—and matching her with a cynic like Gideon Byrne would definitely put him in that category!

She shrugged. ‘And, as I explained then, I just don’t see him like that.’ She looked around, wondering if there was anyone else she could go off and talk to. Anyone, as long as she didn’t have to stand here talking to this man any longer!

But there was no one else that she knew in the room—several faces she recognised, of course, but not through personal knowledge, only from films or television. Edgar certainly knew some famous people; in fact, she was a little out of place in such distinguished company. Including the man at her side!

‘I wouldn’t bother, if I were you,’ Gideon drawled as he watched her quick survey of the room. ‘Edgar would veer anyone off who looked like interrupting us!’

She turned back to him, a frown once again marring her creamy brow. In fact, she had frowned so much since meeting this man earlier today, she was surprised he hadn’t told her she shouldn’t do that, either!

‘Any why would he do that?’ she prompted lightly.

Gideon shrugged. ‘Because he wants to give me the time to offer you a screen-test with a view to a part in my next film. And for you to have the time to accept the offer!’

Madison stared at him. She seemed to do that a lot around this man too! But then he said some of the most outrageous—and unbelievable things. A screen-test! This man wanted to give her a screen-test? With a view to being in his next film—

No, that wasn’t what he had said… What he had actually said was her uncle Edgar wanted him to do that, which wasn’t the same thing at all!

She gave a rueful smile. ‘You’ll have to forgive Uncle Edgar.’ She grimaced. ‘He’s just a very doting godfather, who means well, but doesn’t see that—’

‘He’s a very powerful doting godfather,’ Gideon put in harshly.

And it was obvious this man resented whatever power Edgar might have tried to exert over him on Madison’s behalf. Which she couldn’t exactly blame him for. Gideon Byrne was a powerful man in his own right, and her godfather, if he had tried to force Madison into this man’s notice, should have thought of that.

If he had. She wasn’t absolutely sure that Gideon hadn’t just misunderstood Edgar.

‘I see it’s time for us to go in to dinner,’ Gideon drawled as the other guests began to stroll towards the dining-room.

Madison was still so inwardly disturbed by what Gideon had said about her godfather that she offered no protest when he took a firm hold of her arm and took her into the dining-room with him.

‘You see?’ Gideon murmured derisively when it turned out that Madison was seated between himself and Drew at the long oak table.

She was starting to! But Edgar, when she looked down the long table to where he sat at its head, appeared to be so engrossed in what the lady to his right was saying to him that he didn’t seem aware of Madison’s compelling gaze levelled at him.

‘So when can you come in for a screen-test?’

She turned to give Gideon a startled look—a look he returned with cold, unblinking grey eyes. ‘You can’t be serious!’ she finally managed to gasp.

‘I’m never anything else where my work is concerned,’ he informed her grimly. ‘I saw you in Hidden Highland,’ he admitted dryly. ‘You have a certain—look that I find…interesting,’ he continued guardedly. ‘I’ll be able to tell you more once I’ve had you read for me, but…’ He shrugged. ‘Let’s just wait and see, shall we?’

Wait and see!

Wait and see what? This man might be one of the hottest film directors in Hollywood at the moment—the public waiting with bated breath to see what his next film was going to be—but in the few hours Madison had known him she had also discovered that he was rude and arrogant, cynical to the point of being unbearable. Even if he should—by some miracle!—offer her a part in his film, how on earth would she ever be able to work with such a man?

Don’t envisage situations that don’t yet exist, she told herself firmly. And which may never exist, she added ruefully. She didn’t believe Gideon liked her any more than she liked him.

‘Eat your dinner,’ he instructed abruptly; most of the other guests were already halfway through their starter of smoked salmon mousse.

She felt a resentful flush in her cheeks. ‘I’m twenty-two, Gideon,’ she snapped, ‘not two!’

‘Please eat your dinner?’ He arched mocking brows.

It was certainly an improvement, but from him it still sounded like an order!

But Madison wasn’t in the mood for any more conversation with him! ‘Better,’ she nodded, picking up her knife and fork and beginning to eat.

To her surprise she heard the chuckle she’d thought she’d heard earlier down in the pool-room, and so she looked up at Gideon with quizzical green eyes.