by Miranda Lee
It had been that naive trust of hers which had finally forced him to stop before that trust deepened into something else. Leo knew he couldn’t bear it if he hurt Violet. And he would, if she fell in love with him. He’d used the cold shoulder treatment during the drive home, hoping that would put an end to her thinking well of him. But she wouldn’t have it, lashing into him verbally with a fiery passion which had been as telling as it had been irresistible.
Hence his promise to call her today. A stupid promise, since there was no future for them. Even if she’d been older and more experienced, she lived on the other side of the world.
But there was no going back on his word, Leo accepted with a resigned sigh as he drew his phone out of his jacket pocket. Still, he resolved to keep the conversation short and swift. He would not, he vowed, say or do anything foolish or selfish. He would encourage her to move on with her life and to forget all about him.
* * *
Violet had just decided to give up on her shopping expedition and have a bite to eat when her phone rang. The possibility that it was Leo sent her pulse-rate galloping and her fingers fumbling for the phone.
‘Damn and blast,’ she muttered when she dropped the darn thing back into the bottom of her roomy handbag, panic setting in at the prospect of his hanging up prematurely. If it was Leo, that was.
Please, God, don’t let it be Mum!
She didn’t dare take any extra time looking at the caller ID, sweeping the phone up to her ear straight away.
‘Hello,’ she answered, sounding way too breathless. Very annoying, since she’d planned to play it cool if he did actually ring.
‘It’s Leo, Violet.’
‘Oh, I’m so glad you called,’ she said straight away. So much for her playing it cool!
‘I promised I would,’ Leo replied somewhat stiffly.
‘Yes, yes, I know. But I thought... Oh, it doesn’t matter what I thought now. I presume you’re already at the airport?’
‘Yes. But my flight doesn’t take off for another hour.’ Leo immediately wished he hadn’t told her that. Now he had no excuse to keep this call short.
‘That’s great. Gives you plenty of time to talk to me, then. I’m out shopping for clothes but I’m due coffee and a sandwich. I was heading into a café when you rang. Please don’t hang up. I have to stop talking to give the girl my order at the counter.’
Leo smothered a sigh as he realised he had no intention of hanging up. It seemed Violet was as irresistible on the end of a phone as she was in bed!
‘I’m back,’ she said thirty seconds later. ‘Are you still there?’
‘Of course. So, have you bought a whole new wardrobe yet?’ He recalled that was one of her other New Year resolutions.
‘To be honest, I haven’t bought a thing. I don’t think I have any fashion sense.’
‘Rubbish. You looked fantastic last night.’
Violet was relieved that he couldn’t see her blush of pleasure. ‘Thank you, but I didn’t actually choose that dress. A sales girl suggested it.’
‘Then go back to that sales girl and ask her for help.’
‘What a good idea.’
‘My ideas usually are. And, yes, I’m egotistical as well as a heartless cad.’
Her soft laugh did things to Leo which threatened all his resolves where Violet was concerned.
‘You’re nothing of the kind,’ she said.
‘Henry might not agree with you after last night,’ he said ruefully.
Violet’s mouth dropped open in shock. ‘Oh, my God, you didn’t tell him the truth, did you?’
‘No, but I had to come up with some reason why I didn’t get in till three. He was still awake, as I predicted. So I said I sent you home in a taxi after the show, then went into the casino to one of their bars, where I was picked up by this stunningly sexy tourist who invited me back to her room for a while.’
‘Heavens! Couldn’t you have just said you stayed for a gamble on the tables?’
‘No. Henry knows I don’t gamble with my money.’
‘But movie making is a gamble,’ Violet pointed out. Very intelligently, Leo thought.
‘True,’ he agreed. ‘But it’s not the same kind of gambling. Casino gambling is all a matter of luck and chance, with the odds stacked in the house’s favour. With movie making you can increase your chances of a win if the screenplay ticks all the right commercial boxes. That way, you reduce the risk of total failure and put the odds in your favour. Unfortunately, when I chose my last project, I let my emotions rule my head—a mistake I won’t make again.’
Even as he said those words, Leo feared he was in danger of doing exactly that. Not with a movie but with Violet. She’d been a wicked temptation to him right from the start. It was going to a battle royal to resist further temptation. Thank God she did live on the other side of the world. That should help, as well as the fact that shortly he would be starting on a new movie project, not just as producer but as director as well.
He’d dabbled with directing on other projects, once when the director had gotten ill and another time when the director he’d hired had stormed off for two days just before the shoot was finished. But this would be the first time his name would show on the credits as director and producer. He’d been looking forward to the challenge for weeks.
Frankly, he’d become a little bored with just producing, the same way he’d grown bored with being a lawyer. His low boredom-threshold was one of his character flaws, Leo accepted.
‘So what are the main ingredients of a hit?’ Violet asked.
‘Sorry. Trade secrets. I’d have to kill you if I told you that.’
‘Oh, don’t be silly. I won’t tell anyone.’
‘Why don’t you have a guess?’
‘All right. I will. Now, let me see... A movie’s not the same as a book, being a strictly visual medium. But some of the basic elements are the same. In the main, you need a cast of characters you care about. No, scratch that thought—you don’t need to care about all the characters, but you definitely have to care about the main protagonist, who’s a male, preferably.’
‘That’s a rather sexist statement.’
‘You said your research was applied with ruthless logic, not sentiment or political correctness. Most of the big hit movies I can think of have a male protagonist.’
‘Fair enough. What else?’
‘Action scenes. And I don’t mean car chases; I personally hate car chases. But the story should be told through action, not talk. People see better than they listen. What dialogue there is has to be part of the story telling without a word wasted.’
Leo was impressed. ‘Go on.’
‘Then there has to be a credible conflict. The audience has to believe that there’s something real at stake in the movie they’re watching. The characters can be larger than life but still have to feel real.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Mmm. Well, pace is very important. When you have only two hours or so to tell a story, you’d better get straight into it, then not let up till the last moment. Drop the pace for too long and you risk losing your audience. Oh, and the ending has to satisfy, with all the threads tied up. None of those up-in-the-air dangly finishes.’
‘I never have dangly finishes,’ Leo said, the corner of his mouth twitching as he tried not to laugh.
‘That’s good, then,’ Violet said, oblivious of any double meaning in her last statement. ‘Just a sec. My coffee and sandwich have just arrived. Thanks,’ she said, not to him. ‘Please excuse me if you hear slurping and swallowing whilst we’re talking. So what went wrong with your last movie?’
‘To quote an extremely intelligent critic I just met, it was too talky, too little pace and definitely not enough action.’
‘Heavens! What possessed you to make it in the first place? No, no, let me guess—it was a book and you loved it to pieces. It was also a very long book.’
‘Mmm, yes and yes. It was over a thousand pages.’
‘No. It’s an original screenplay. But after talking to you I do have a couple of concerns. I tell you what,’ he said, ignoring the warning bell ringing at the back of his brain. ‘How about I email the screenplay to you when I get home and you tell me what you think of it? That is, if you don’t mind.’
Mind? Dear God, did he have any idea how much she’d love that? She’d love anything which would keep them in contact. Already she was thinking that he was sure to come back to visit Henry again one day. And when he did...
Meanwhile, it was imperative that she did act cool. One hint that she was in love with him and he’d run a mile. Violet knew the score now. As a twice-married forty-year-old, Leo wasn’t interested in romantic entanglements. He did, however, like his sex. And intelligent conversations about movies. She could do both of those things.
‘I’d be happy to have a look at it,’ she said matter-of-factly. ‘But Leo...’
‘Yes?’
‘Screenplays are not my field of expertise. Everything I said just now was just...you know...my personal opinion.’
‘Your very brilliant opinion, Violet. I can see why Henry values your judgement. You have a creative mind and great analytical skills. So, what is your email address?’
He put it into his phone as she relayed it to him.
‘I’ll need to know what you think as soon as possible,’ he said. ‘We start shooting late next week. Now, I don’t expect you to do this for me for nothing, Violet. I’ll put you on the payroll as a consultant for a flat fee of, say, two thousand pounds?’
‘Good grief! No, no, I don’t want you to pay me. I’ll be only too happy to do it for you for nothing.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Absolutely.’ No way could she have accepted money from him. It wouldn’t have felt right.
‘Very well. How’s the coffee? I hope you’re not letting it get cold.’
‘No. I have a sip every now and then.’
‘And the sandwich?’
‘It can wait.’ She wasn’t going to waste a second of this conversation by eating. ‘So when do you arrive back in London?’
‘Touchdown at Heathrow is scheduled for six a.m.’
‘That’s early. Will there be anyone there to meet you?’ Violet asked, wincing as she realised that might sound like she was pumping him for personal information. But it had crossed her mind—a million times—that Leo probably did have some lady friend back in London. Or possibly several lady friends. The man who’d taken her to bed last night did not live the life of a monk. But, truly, she’d rather not know. Ignorance was bliss, so they said.
‘No. I’ll take a cab home to Wimbledon. Which is a suburb of London, as well as a tennis tournament.’
‘I can’t play tennis but I love to watch it on TV. I’d love to go and watch it for real one day,’ she said rather wistfully.
‘Then why don’t you?’ Leo replied without thinking.
‘I guess I don’t have the courage to travel alone.’ Getting onto a plane again would take some doing as well. Though of course she would have to at some stage; Violet appreciated that.
‘That’s last year’s Violet talking,’ Leo said, exasperation in his voice. Though was he exasperated at her or himself? ‘Not the New Year girl. You should travel whilst you have the chance.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean before you settle down. Difficult to travel once you’re married with children.’
‘I have no intention of settling down for ages yet,’ Violet protested, marriage having never entered her head. ‘I’ve only just begun to live, Leo. Do you realise that before last night I’d never been on a date?’
‘I would imagine that status quo will change in the near future, Violet, especially if you keep on looking the way you looked last night. You’ll have men jumping out of the woodwork wanting to take you out.’ And take you to bed.
It surprised Leo how much that last thought bothered him, which was ridiculous. He should be encouraging Violet to take other lovers. How else would she ever be sure when and if she did fall in love? The only way to maturity and self-knowledge was through experience.
‘I do have a lot of catching up to do,’ Violet went on thoughtfully. ‘Most girls my age have had a dozen boyfriends by now and I haven’t even had one.’
‘I don’t think acquiring a boyfriend should be your first priority,’ Leo advised. ‘Dating is good, but exclusivity can be somewhat confining. You should go out with lots of different men whilst you’re still footloose and fancy-free.’
‘Oh, I do love the sound of that—footloose and fancy-free. It sounds so...exciting.’
‘It is exciting to be free to go where you like and do what you like without having to answer to anyone else.’
‘Is that what you do, Leo, now that you’re divorced and your only child is all grown up?’
‘To a degree. I do have work obligations, of course. Though I’m lucky that I enjoy my job.’
‘So do I. Enjoy my job, that is.’
‘Then you’re lucky too. Most people in this world don’t enjoy their work. Speaking of work, how soon do you think you might be able to read that screenplay?’
‘If you email it to me as soon as you get home I should have it finished over the weekend.’
‘That’s great. So, do you want to email me your opinion or would you prefer I rang you?’
Leo knew immediately that he should have told her just to email him. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The truth was, he liked talking to her, almost as much as he liked sleeping with her.
Violet’s heart turned over. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought today would end up with her feeling so happy.
‘I think it’s better if you ring me,’ she said, carefully keeping her voice businesslike. ‘Sending emails back and forth can sometimes take longer than one simple call.’ Not that she intended to let him get away with one call. Between now and then she’d think of reasons why he should ring her again. And again.
‘Right. How about Sunday evening?’ Leo suggested. ‘Around nine your time? That’s mid-morning in London. Would you be free to talk around then?’
Violet would have been free if he’d said three in the morning.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘That’ll be fine.’
‘Till next Sunday, then. Have to go, Violet. I promised to give Henry a call before I boarded and I’m running out of time. Bye.’
‘Bye,’ she replied. But he’d already hung up.
Violet sat there for a long moment, still somewhat stunned by this turn of events. By the time she’d left Joy’s to come shopping today, she’d resigned herself to the reality that her one-night fling with Leo was a thing of the past, with no possibility of seconds. She’d certainly never envisaged any further communication between them, other than a brief goodbye call from Leo. Even that she hadn’t been bargaining on.
But he’d not only rung, he’d chatted away to her at length, encouraging her to travel, to spread her wings, like Joy had said. Okay, so Violet wasn’t altogether thrilled that Leo was virtually encouraging her to sleep with other men. But she refused to worry about that. Her main goal was keeping the lines of communication open with him. Already she was planning how she was going to do that. Planning other things as well.
When was Wimbledon, exactly? She wasn’t positive but she thought during the European summer. A perfect time for a holiday in London, plus the opportunity to show Leo just how widely she could spread her wings!
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE FIRST THING that struck Leo when he let himself into his townhouse was how damned cold it was. And how empty. Staying with Henry over Christmas had spoiled him. So had Sydney’s glorious weather.
But it wasn’t the memories of Henry’s good company, or the warm, sun-filled days, which filled his min
d as he switched on the ducted air-conditioning. All he could think about, all he’d thought about during the rather tedious flight home, was Violet.
Why, he wondered as he carried his luggage upstairs, did she fascinate him so? It wasn’t just because she was young and beautiful. Since his divorce from Helene, he’d met lots of young, beautiful women. None of them had ever captured his interest the way Violet had. Of course, Violet was nothing like those girls when it came to her character. She wasn’t brash, ruthlessly ambitious or tough as nails. She was sweet, soft and genuinely nice.
Leo had to admit that all those rather old-fashioned qualities appealed to his somewhat world-weary self. He could understand why he liked her so much. What bothered him was why he’d lusted after her to the degree he had. And still did.
Leo rejected the idea that it was Violet’s virginity which had turned him on so. He’d been turned on by her well before he’d known she was pure as the driven snow. On top of that, he’d never been enamoured with the fantasy of taking a young girl’s virginity. If anything, her being a virgin had worried the life out of him. He’d been scared, not just of hurting her emotionally but physically. Thankfully, he hadn’t on either score.
Leo heaved a hugely disgruntled sigh as he dumped his luggage at the foot of his bed then headed for his study. A wicked temptation, he’d called her. She was still that. Maybe even more so now. His lust for her hadn’t abated at all. Continuing contact with Violet—even verbal contact—was hardly designed to eradicate that lust, or to make temptation go away.
He shouldn’t have said he would send her that screenplay. He certainly shouldn’t have said he would ring her. But it was a done deal now. And in truth he did have some concerns about the darned thing. Leo knew from experience that it was easy to become blind to the minor flaws of a screenplay once you were sold on the story as a whole. He’d had a niggling feeling for a while that there was something wrong with the first act, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.