LITMIR.BIZ

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fault,” she tossed back. “That’s just like a man. Always blame the woman. Well, for your information, Mr. McBride, this never would have happened if you hadn’t sneaked into the house like a thief in the night!”

      “So now it’s my fault for being considerate? I didn’t want to wake you, dammit!”

      “Well, you did!”

      “Well, excuse me for breathing. Next time, I’ll come stomping in so you’ll be sure to know it’s me. Will that make you happy?”

      “As a clam.”

      “Fine!”

      Seething, they glared at each other like two eight-year-olds facing off in the playground across a line drawn in the dirt. It was a fight neither of them could win. Frustrated, Joe swore and turned to storm into his bedroom. A split second after he slammed his door, he heard the echo of Angel’s across the hall.

      Tearing off his clothes, he let them lay where they fell and crawled into bed, determined to forget the entire incident and go right to sleep. But long after the dust settled in the hall and the silence of the night crept back into the house, sleep eluded him. Because every time he closed his eyes, he could see the awareness in Angel’s eyes right before he kissed her, taste the sweetness of her on his tongue, feel the soft, enticing curve of her breasts pressed against his chest as he’d wrapped her close in his arms. Furious with her, he tried to convince himself it had been too long since he’d had a woman, that he would have reacted the same to any female who appeared before him in her nightgown, but his body wasn’t buying it. There was only one woman he ached for tonight, dammit, and like it or not, that was Angel Wiley.

      Chapter 3

      After kissing Joe McBride, locking lips with Garrett Elliot was like kissing a snake. Angel hated it—and despised him—but there was no getting around it. Garrett played her love interest in the movie, and when the script called for a kissing scene, she had no choice but to step into his arms.

      She liked to think she was a professional and a damn good actress. She didn’t so much as cringe when Garrett made one little mistake after another and the director called for the scene to be reshot time and time again. Instead, she prided herself on never breaking out of character. Her face alight with the love her character felt for the man she adored, she lifted her mouth to Garrett’s and melted into his arms. No one but she and Garrett knew that her skin crawled every time he touched her.

      It had always been that way between them, from the day they’d met on the set for the first time last year during the making of Wild Texas Love. One of the most sought after leading men in Hollywood, he’d had a reputation for sweeping his leading ladies off to his bed…until he’d worked with her. She’d turned him down flat, and he’d never forgiven her for that.

      If she hadn’t been so desperate to get out of L.A. for a while, she never would have agreed to work with him again. He’d made her pay in the past by spreading outrageous lies about her and earning her an unfair reputation, and now he was making her pay again by deliberately blowing one take after another so she would be forced to kiss him again and again until he thought she had suffered enough.

      She could have told him that that point had long since come and gone, but she’d be damned if she’d give the worm the satisfaction. So she hid her distaste deep inside, where no one could see, and told herself the man she was kissing wasn’t Garrett, but his character, Sebastian. When she closed her eyes, she almost believed it.

      She might not have completely convinced herself, but the director, obviously bought it. “Cut!” Charles yelled. “That’s a take.”

      Relieved, Angel jerked out of Garrett’s arms and whirled away, her only thought to get back to her dressing room where she could wash away his touch. She’d barely taken three steps when she found herself face-to-face with Joe.

      After the heated words they’d exchanged last night and a kiss that she hadn’t been able to put out of her mind, she’d left the house that morning still feeling like the injured party. She’d promised herself that it would be a cold day in hell before she spoke to him again, but she’d forgotten she would have to spend the morning kissing the devil.

      “I didn’t know you were on the set,” she said stiffly. “How long have you been here?”

      “Long enough. I’ve been waiting to talk to Charles.”

      Behind her, Garrett said something crude to one of the crew and didn’t care who heard. Her face expressionless, she thought she hid her distaste well, but Joe shot a sharp glance at the other man, then brought his gaze back to her and studied her through narrowed eyes that saw far too much. “Are you all right?”

      She started to say no, that kissing Garrett always made her feel slimy, only to remember what Myrtle had told her about the McBrides. An old-fashioned family raised on values that had unfortunately gone out of style in today’s world, they were protective of friends and family and anyone in need of help. As much as Joe might dislike the idea of her living in his house, she couldn’t imagine him standing idly by and doing nothing if he suspected Garrett had taken advantage of her or any other woman. He’d confront him. And while she had to admit that she would like nothing more than to see Garrett have to answer to someone who wouldn’t hesitate to knock him on his ass, he was her problem to deal with and she’d handle it—without ending up on the cover of the tabloids again.

      Drawing on all her skills as an actress, she laughed gaily. “Are you kidding? I just spent most of the morning kissing the number one heartthrob in America. Why wouldn’t I be all right?”

      She would have sworn her smile was carefree and deserving of an Academy Award, her tone right on target, but Joe was shrewder than she’d given him credit for. For what seemed like an eternity, he just stared at her with those razor-sharp brown eyes of his, probing to her very soul. Returning his gaze unblinkingly, she didn’t so much as twitch an eyelash, but whatever he saw in her eyes did nothing to soften the rigid set of his square jaw.

      “If he does anything that makes you feel uncomfortable,” he growled, “I want to hear about it. Understood?”

      She understood all right—if he and Garrett locked horns, she would be the one who would be blamed! And that left her with no choice but to make excuses for her costar. “Garrett’s a jerk, but he’s not usually as obnoxious as he was this morning. I guess he was paying me back for getting him moved to Myrtle’s. He’ll be fine once he cools down.”

      “I don’t care if you had him moved to Mars, that’s no excuse for that kind of behavior. If he doesn’t want a lesson in manners, he’d better toss the attitude and clean up his act.” Shooting Garrett one last warning glare, he strode off to meet with the director.

      Staring after him, Angel sighed in relief. Not because a potential fight between the two men had been averted, but because Joe McBride was turning out to be everything she’d thought he would be. If he was willing to take Garrett to task for his juvenile behavior, she could just imagine what he would do to a man who threatened not only her, but her daughter.

      “Mommy!” With a shriek of delight, Emma was out of the studio limo and racing up Joe’s front walk toward Angel as fast as her dimpled little legs would carry her.

      Tears welling in her eyes, Angel met her halfway and scooped her up into a bear hug, clutching her close. Mine, she thought with a sob. Every time she touched her golden curls, looked into dancing blue eyes that were the image of her own, it still amazed her that God had blessed her with this precious three-year-old bundle of energy and unconditional love.

      Lord, she’d missed her! She’d wanted to send for her days ago, right after she’d moved into Joe’s, but she’d had to force herself to be patient, to make sure she was doing the right thing and could really trust Joe McBride before she brought her daughter into his home. Yesterday morning on the set, when he’d told her he wanted to know if Garrett stepped over the line, he’d convinced her that he wasn’t a man who would tolerate anyone abusing the females under his care. She didn’t care what he thought

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