LITMIR.BIZ

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a persuasive smile. ‘Okay, I’ll come for one drink. It’s strange to think that we won’t be appearing at the Globe any more.’

      ‘But maybe we’ll be appearing on Broadway soon.’ Kat gave Mina a sideways glance as they walked the short distance to the pub. ‘Everyone knows that your father has been in negotiations to take the production to New York. Has he said anything to you about what’s going to happen?’

      Mina shook her head. ‘I know everyone thinks Joshua confides in me because I’m his daughter, but he doesn’t treat me any differently from the rest of the cast. I had to audition three times for the role of Juliet. Dad doesn’t give me any special favours.’

      If anything, her father was tougher on her than other members of the cast, Mina thought ruefully. Joshua Hart was himself a brilliant actor, and a demanding perfectionist. He was not the easiest man to get on with, and Mina’s relationship with him had been strained since the events that had happened while she had been filming in America had led Joshua to accuse her of bringing the Hart name into disrepute.

      Kat was not deterred. ‘Just imagine if we do appear on Broadway! It would be a fantastic career opportunity. You never know, we might even get spotted by a top film director and whisked off to LA.’

      ‘Take it from me, LA isn’t so wonderful,’ Mina said drily.

      Kat gave her a close look. ‘I’ve heard rumours, but what did actually happen when you went to America to make a film?’

      Mina hesitated. She had become good friends with Kat, but even so she could not bear to talk about the darkest period of her life. Her memories of the film director Dexter Price were still painful two years after their relationship had ended in a storm of newspaper headlines. She couldn’t believe she had been such a gullible fool to have fallen in love with Dex, but she had been alone in LA for her first major film role—young, naïve, and desperately insecure about her hearing impairment. The American film industry demanded perfection, and she had felt acutely conscious of her disability.

      She had been grateful for Dexter’s reassurance, and within a short time she had fallen for his blend of sophistication and easy charm. Looking back, Mina wondered if one reason why she had been drawn to Dex was because he had reminded her of her father. Both were powerful men who were highly regarded in the acting world, and Dex had given her the support she had always craved from Joshua Hart. When Mina had found out that Dex had lied to her it was not only his betrayal that had left her heartbroken, but the fact that once again her father had failed to support her when she had needed him.

      ‘Mina?’

      Kat’s voice jolted Mina from her thoughts. She gave her friend an apologetic smile as they reached the pub and she opened the door. ‘I’ll tell you about it another time.’

      The pub was busy and fortunately the din of voices was too loud for Kat to pursue the subject. Mina spotted some of the play’s cast sitting at a nearby table. ‘I’ll get the first round,’ she told Kat. ‘Save me a seat.’

      As she fought her way to the bar Mina decided she would have one drink and then leave. The noisy pub made her feel disorientated and she longed for the peace and quiet of her flat. She suspected that there were a few journalists amongst the crowd. Rumours that Joshua Hart’s production of Romeo and Juliet might go to New York were circulating, and for the past week the paparazzi had been hanging about the theatre hoping for a scoop.

      Mina squeezed through the crowd of people gathered in front of the bar and tried to catch the barman’s eye. ‘Excuse me!’

      The barman walked straight past her and she wondered if he hadn’t heard her. The loud background noise inside the pub made it difficult for her to hear her own voice and so regulate how loud or softly she spoke. Moments later the same thing happened again when another barman ignored her and went to serve someone else. It was situations like this that made her conscious of her hearing impairment. Her hearing aids worked incredibly well, but as the bar staff continued to take no notice of her she felt a resurgence of her old insecurities about her deafness. She felt invisible, even though she could see herself in the mirror behind the bar.

      As she watched her reflection a figure appeared at her shoulder. Mina tensed as she met his gaze in the mirror and her heart slammed against her ribs as she recognised him. It was him—the man who had been in the audience—and close up he was even more gorgeous than she’d thought when she had seen him from the stage.

      His eyes were a brilliant topaz-blue, glittering like gemstones beneath his well-defined brows that were a shade darker than his streaked blond hair. When Mina had seen him at the theatre the firm line of his mouth had looked forbidding, but as she watched him in the mirror he gave her a smoulderingly sexy smile that made her catch her breath.

      ‘Perhaps I can be of assistance?’

      The gravelly huskiness of his voice caused the tiny hairs on the back of Mina’s neck to stand on end. She could not place his accent. Slowly she turned to face him, conscious that her pulse was racing.

      ‘One advantage of my height is that I can usually attract the attention of bar staff,’ he murmured. ‘Can I buy you a drink?’

      His stunning looks and sheer magnetism ensured that he would never be ignored. Mina flushed when she realised that she was staring at him. ‘Actually, I’m trying to order drinks for my friends...but thanks for the offer.’

      Her voice trailed off as her eyes locked with his. She could feel the vibration of her blood pounding in her ears as she studied his lean, handsome face. He was ruggedly male and utterly beautiful. Was this how Juliet had felt when she had first set eyes on Romeo? Mina wondered. In her character study of the role of Juliet she had tried to imagine how it felt to be a teenage girl who had fallen desperately in love at first sight with a young man. It had been more difficult than Mina had expected to step into Juliet’s shoes. Could you really feel such intense emotion for someone you had just met, before you had got to know them?

      Her common sense had rejected the idea. The story of Romeo and Juliet was just a fantasy. But now, in a heartbeat, Mina understood that it was possible to feel an overwhelming connection with a stranger. Even more startling was her certainty that the man felt it too. His eyes narrowed on her face and his body tensed like a jungle cat watching its prey.

      Someone pushed past her on their way to the bar and knocked her against the stranger. Her breasts brushed his chest and an electrical current shot through her. Every nerve ending tingled and her nipples instantly hardened and throbbed. For a few seconds she felt dizzy as the heat of his body and the spicy scent of his aftershave hijacked her senses and filled her with a fierce yearning that pooled hot and molten in the pit of her stomach.

      With a little gasp she jerked away from him. He was watching her intently, as if he could read her mind. In a desperate attempt to return to normality, she blurted out, ‘You were at the theatre tonight. I saw you. Did you enjoy the play?’

      His bright blue eyes burned into her. ‘You were— astonishing.’

      He spoke in a low, intense voice, and Mina was startled to see colour flare briefly along his sharp cheekbones. She had the impression that he had intended to make a casual response to her question but the words had escaped his lips before he could prevent them.

      Thinking about his lips was fatal. Her eyes focused on the sensual curve of his mouth and her breath caught in her throat.

      ‘You came last night, too...and the night before that,’ she said huskily.

      ‘I couldn’t keep away.’ He stared deeply into her eyes, trapping her with his sensual magic so that Mina could not look away from him. Weakness washed over her and butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She swayed towards him, unable to control her body’s response to the invisible lure of male pheromones and sizzling sexual chemistry.

      A bemused expression crossed the man’s face and he shook his head as if he was trying to snap back to reality. He pulled a hand through his dark blond hair, raking it back from his brow.

      ‘Tell me what your friends want to drink and I’ll

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