Brad Delmain, the man she had thought was Jake Weston, came into the room. ‘What’s the idea of locking the door? Are you—Oh!’ he seemed to become aware of the red-faced Stacy for the first time, and looked apologetically at his friend. ‘Am I interrupting something?’
‘Yes—’
‘No!’ Stacy picked up her handbag. ‘You aren’t interrupting a thing. Excuse me.’
Jake followed her, moving in front of her to block her way. ‘Will you meet me for dinner?’ he asked softly.
She looked at him in amazement. ‘You have a nerve!’ she snapped.
‘Will you?’
‘No, I won’t,’ she said angrily. ‘I don’t like you very much, Mr Weston. I’ve already explained my reasons.’ She brushed past him and ran down the stairs.
She couldn’t hear anyone following her, so she slowed down her pace. It still seemed incredible to her that she had actually been out with Jake Weston, been kissed by him, and not even known it. No one was ever going to believe her ignorance of his identity—she wasn’t sure she believed her naïveté herself, his name had been a dead give-away.
By the time she had showered and washed her hair it was getting on towards dinner time. Juliet came in about six-thirty, her eyes speculative.
‘Have a nice day?’ Stacy decided to play it cool.
‘Did I have a nice day?’ Juliet returned pointedly.
‘Wel
l, have you?’ Stacy ignored her dig.
‘Lovely, the weather has been perfect. But I’m more interested in how you spent your day.’ She sat down on her bed, looking at her expectantly.
Stacy shrugged. ‘I went to the beach.’
‘But not alone.’
She sighed. ‘No, not alone.’
‘Hey, come on,’ Juliet cried. ‘Put a bit more enthusiasm into your voice when you talk about spending the day with our famous author.’ She grinned. ‘You should have seen the green faces last night when you walked off with the prize of the evening!’
‘I’ll bet,’ Stacy said dryly, vigorously brushing her hair in an effort to dry it. The long red tresses might look beautiful, but they were certainly hard work, although she knew it had helped her get parts, especially the role of Kate in this film.
Juliet’s face was full of excited interest. ‘Well, tell me about it. How did you manage to captivate him?’
‘I didn’t know I had,’ Stacy said irritably.
Juliet spluttered with laughter. ‘You have to be kidding! He made straight for you as soon as we got to the party. Matthew was quite put out about it.’
Matthew! She had almost forgotten about him, Jake Weston’s forceful personality had taken her over completely. ‘He needn’t be,’ she remarked calmly. ‘I doubt I shall be going out with Mr Weston again.’
‘You won’t?’ Juliet’s eyes were wide.
Stacy evaded those eyes. ‘I doubt it.’
‘But why? I’m sure he was completely enthralled with you. The way he came over to you it was almost as if you already knew each other. And another thing, you seem to have your job back. His influence?’
Stacy’s cheeks stained red. ‘I suppose so, although it isn’t like you think,’ she added hastily.
‘I’m in no hurry, tell me about it.’
She shrugged. ‘There isn’t much to tell. Mr Weston just didn’t agree with Martin Payne’s decision to sack me.’
Juliet grinned mischievously. ‘I’ll bet he didn’t,’ she teased.