The Master Player

by Emma Darcy

  ‘I’ll learn to do it myself.’

  ‘You think that can be done in a day?’ she jeered.

  ‘No. I expect it will take a while.’

  ‘Making a host of bad judgements. For a start, where do you intend to live?’

  Chloe hesitated, not having thought that far yet.

  ‘You can’t stay in Max’s guest house forever,’ her mother pushed, mocking Chloe’s indecision.

  ‘No, of course not.’

  Maybe her lack of any urgent concern over where to live gave the situation away.

  Her mother pounced. ‘He’s invited you to stay on, hasn’t he? How long?’

  ‘This is none of your business!’ Chloe retorted defensively.

  ‘Longer than a few days. Longer than a week for you to think you don’t need me. A month? Two months?’ Speculation turned to triumphant certainty. ‘Yes. Two months. Until shooting all the episodes for the show is over. That would suit him very nicely. And you’re so gullible you got sucked right in.’

  ‘It suits me, too,’ Chloe hotly insisted, hating how her mother twisted everything.

  Her claim was dismissed with a derisive snort. ‘Out of the frying pan into the fire!’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  Her eyes glittered with contempt for Chloe’s intelligence. ‘Max Hart is worse than Tony, flitting from woman to woman. He’s setting you up for when he gets rid of Shannah Lian. Which will be very soon. Mark my words! You won’t have two months free of him. I’ll bet the bank on that.’

  Dangerous…the undertow of physical attraction…impossible to ignore yet she hated her mother’s interpretation of the situation.

  ‘You’ll end up in a bigger mess than you have now,’ she went on in her disparaging voice. ‘You need me, Chloe. I’m the one who’s always protected you. Max Hart is a shark. He’ll eat you up and when you’ve satisfied his sexual appetite…’

  ‘That’s enough!’ Chloe cried. ‘I don’t have to listen to this and I won’t! Gerry…’ She turned to him in urgent appeal. ‘I want to go now.’

  He immediately hooked one arm around hers, holding the other one out in a warding-off gesture. ‘Excuse us, Mrs Rollins,’ he said politely, starting to move Chloe along the shopping aisle towards the exit.

  ‘When you know I’m right, come home to me,’ her mother sliced at her. ‘I’ll look after you.’

  Chloe maintained a stony face, looking straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge the claim that she couldn’t look after herself.

  She would.

  As for the rest, Max wouldn’t force her into anything she didn’t want.

  All along he had given her choices.

  Not like her mother, who dictated what was to be done.

  And not like Tony, who cheated on women, playing two at once.

  At least she could be her own person with Max. She liked that. It was a positive step. She was never, never going to take the backward step of running home to her mother for help. For anything!

  ‘Would you like me to drive you to another shopping mall?’ Gerry asked as he saw her settled in the car.

  She had forgotten the trolley containing the few pieces of fruit she had selected. They had walked out, leaving it standing in the aisle. ‘Tomorrow afternoon,’ she said, in too much emotional turmoil to think of food and knowing she could make do with what was available in the kitchenette. ‘Let’s go straight home, please, Gerry.’

  He nodded and took the driver’s seat without comment.

  Home…tears pricked her eyes at that slip of the tongue. The children’s house was not her home, yet it felt more like one than any of the places she’d lived in with her mother. Even the Randwick apartment that she and Tony had furnished had been more to his taste than hers-wanting to please him. He’d probably insist on keeping it as part of the divorce settlement. Chloe decided she didn’t care. Sometime in the next two months she would find a place of her own and please herself with the furnishings.

  It was difficult to keep blinking away the tears. Her chest was tight with them. Max had made it possible for her to put the past with her mother at a distance since Friday night, but meeting her face to face…she felt both physically and mentally drained by the effort of standing up to her, standing up for herself. She had run away from the confrontation in the end, with the help of the bodyguard Max had had the foresight to hire. Would she have managed otherwise?

  She wasn’t sure. The old sense of helplessness had welled up in her although she’d fought it as hard as she could. It wasn’t easy to shed a lifetime of being dominated, being told what to do and torn up emotionally if she resisted, giving in because she couldn’t bear the many manifestations of her mother’s anger. She needed the refuge Max had given her, needed the time to build up her own strength of purpose. Yet was her mother right? Did Max have a personal as well as a professional motive for helping her? Was she hopelessly gullible? What was the truth?

  The tears spilled over. She tried desperately to mop them up and regain some composure as they arrived at Max’s mansion. Gerry opened the passenger door for her and she kept her head down while alighting from the car. ‘Thank you,’ she choked out, swallowing hard before adding, ‘I’ll see you in the morning, Gerry.’

  ‘Have a good night, Miss Rollins,’ he replied.

  ‘You, too,’ she mumbled and bolted for the children’s house, wanting its cosy comfort to embrace her and close out all the horrid feelings aroused by the meeting with her mother.

  Max felt his jaw tightening with anger as he listened to Gerry Anderson’s report. Stephanie Rollins was obviously going to be relentless in her drive to get her cash-cow daughter back in her clutches. She was a shrewd operator, sowing doubts, fears and seeds of suspicion in Chloe’s mind-everything possible to undermine trust in him. It was good that Chloe had defied her, but at what cost?

  ‘The mother’s a very nasty piece of work,’ Gerry summed up. ‘I’d say there’s been physical as well as mental abuse in their relationship. I’m not into hitting women but I sure wanted to thump that one.’

  ‘While I sympathise with the urge, be warned that she’d sue you for assault and manipulate the situation her way,’ Max advised.

  ‘Miss Rollins…’ He shook his head. ‘Something about her gets to me. You did good to rescue her from that woman.’

  Doubts about his motives had been seeded in the bodyguard’s mind, too. Max read them in the eyes scanning his, asking if he was going to be good for Chloe Rollins in the long run. Which was none of Gerry Anderson’s business, and he knew it, so it wasn’t put into words. But he cared-that something about Chloe would inspire it in most men-and the caring made him say, ‘She was crying in the car. Don’t know if there’s anything you can do about it…’

  ‘I can provide a distraction,’ Max said with a reassuring smile. ‘You may well be looking after a puppy at the studios tomorrow whenever Miss Rollins is required on set.’

  The bodyguard’s concern was swallowed up by a wide grin. ‘No problem, Mr Hart. Got a dog of my own. Always liked them.’

  The report over, they both stood and shook hands. The bodyguard made his exit from the library. Max sat back down on the chair behind his desk and thought about where he was going with Chloe Rollins. There was no question in his mind that he’d done her a good service by separating her from her mother. But would he be good for her in the long run?

  He’d never asked that question of himself in his pursuit of other women. They’d always known the score with him and he hadn’t ever felt responsible for the choice they made. But Chloe was different. She was very, very vulnerable. He had to take that into account or he might find it difficult to live with himself afterwards.

  Chloe cringed at the knock on her door. She’d cleaned up her tear-blotched face, had a long, hot shower to ease the tension in her body, wrapped herself in the silk kimono she favoured for lounging around after working all day, and was curled up on the window seat in the living room, trying to empty he
r mind by watching the traffic on the harbour. She didn’t want to see or talk to anyone, didn’t want to think.

  The knock was repeated.

  Several times.

  Becoming more insistent.

  It forced her to realise that whoever it was probably knew she was home and would be concerned if she didn’t appear. With a reluctant sigh, she uncurled herself, swung her feet onto the floor and headed for the door. Eric’s weather-beaten face was almost pressed against one of the glass panes, relief replacing worry when he caught sight of her approach.

  Chloe made a rueful grimace, indicating she wasn’t dressed for receiving visitors, though she didn’t mind speaking to the kindly old handyman who’d helped her move in here, opening and disposing of the boxes brought by the removalist. He was in his seventies, wiry in build and still surprisingly strong, his skin deeply tanned from working outdoors, though he always wore a cap to protect his bald head from getting sunburnt.

  He smiled encouragingly at her, showing the yellowed teeth that had been discoloured from too many years of pipe-smoking. He was carrying a basket, loaded with bags-probably something he wanted to deliver to her. It wasn’t until she was almost at the door that she saw he wasn’t alone. A few paces behind him stood the unmistakable figure of Max Hart, his back turned to her, his head slightly bent as though he was studying the lawn.

  Her heart instantly leapt into a faster beat, her hand lifting in agitation to the loose edges of the kimono gown near her breasts. Her bare breasts. She felt her nipples hardening as alarm jagged through her mind. If her mother was right about what Max wanted with her, she couldn’t let him see her so readily naked in this gown. He might take it as an invitation. Besides, even though her body was covered, just his presence made her too acutely aware of it, too aware of his dynamic sexuality and how it affected her.

  She gestured to Eric to wait and fled to her bedroom. Off with the robe, underclothes on, slacks, top, a quick brush through her hair and she was reasonably presentable. No make-up but that was good. It meant she wasn’t trying to look attractive. She paused long enough to take several deep breaths, needing to calm herself, then went back to the front door, opening it without hesitation, speaking in an apologetic rush.

  ‘Sorry to keep you waiting. I wasn’t expecting anyone to call on me and…’

  ‘Not to worry, Miss Chloe,’ Eric assured her, grinning from ear to ear. ‘We’ve brought you a little homecoming present.’

  ‘A homecoming…?’

  Eric stepped aside as Max turned to face her, and Chloe’s bewilderment faded into a gasp of surprise at the sight of the tiny black-and-white puppy cradled in his arms.

  ‘He’s a miniature fox terrier,’ Max said, smiling indulgently at the pup who was licking his hand. ‘He looked at me through the pet shop window and his eyes said he needed someone to love him.’ His gaze lifted from the pup, the dark brilliant eyes boring straight into Chloe’s heart. ‘I thought of you…saying yesterday you wanted something real in your life…’

  ‘You bought him for me?’ Delight was mixed with shame over letting her mother poison her thoughts about this man…her wonderful white knight providing her with everything she needed…never mind any dark side he might have.

  ‘Do you want him?’

  ‘Please…’ She eagerly held out her arms and the adorable pup was quickly bundled into them. ‘I wasn’t ever allowed to have a pet. I’ll love him to death, Max. Thank you so, so much!’

  She hugged the squirming little body up against her shoulder and laughed as she felt her neck being licked.

  ‘Got everything he needs here,’ Eric said. ‘Sleeping basket, food, bowls for water and food, collar and leash, dog shampoo…the whole works. Okay if I bring it in and show you everything?’

  ‘Yes, please do.’

  She stepped back inside to give him room to enter, expecting Max to follow. But he didn’t. He stood in the doorway for a few moments, watching her petting the puppy, the sheer magnetism of the man making her pulse race and trapping her breath in her chest, and when he smiled directly at her, her mind felt positively giddy.

  ‘Seeing your pleasure is my reward,’ he said softly. ‘I’ll leave you to it, Chloe.’

  He didn’t wait for her to reply, striding away before she could find breath enough to speak. She told herself she had already thanked him anyway, but his departure and his wonderfully thoughtful gift left her feeling even more ashamed of letting her mother tarnish the image of him fighting her dragons.

  She lifted the pup down from her shoulder to look into the eyes that had appealed to Max in the pet shop, asking to be loved. She saw the same expression in them and smiled. ‘This is your home. With me,’ she promised him.

  And in that sweet moment of bonding with the beautiful little dog, she felt a huge welling of love for the man who had given her so much of what she’d needed, without demanding any more of her than fulfilling her contract with him as best she could.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THE rest of the working week passed without any upsetting incident. Chloe felt nervous about doing another shopping trip but she refused to be deterred from it, telling herself that would mean her mother was still dominating her life. She stocked up on her favourite foods and settled happily in the children’s house each night, loving the company of her darling little dog. She saw nothing of Max, which made her even more comfortable with the situation, feeling it proved her mother was totally wrong about his motives for taking her under his protective wing.

  Saturday was a glorious day, tempting her outside as soon as she’d done her washing and tidied the house. It was great fun taking her dog for a frolicking walk down to the lower terrace. He had to stop and sniff at everything, yapped wildly at finding a frog, and generally leapt around with the sheer joy of living. Chloe laughed at his antics, vastly amused when he’d tumble over, then quickly stand on stiff legs, looking around suspiciously as though to ask, ‘What did that to me?’ before bounding off again.

  She ended up rolling on the grass with him, much to his dancing excitement, and that was how Max came upon them on his way to the boatshed.

  ‘Hi, there!’ he called, startling Chloe into sitting bolt upright, which caused him to hastily add, ‘Don’t get up. It’s good to see you looking so relaxed and I’m just passing by. It’s such a perfect morning, I thought I’d take the catamaran out on the harbour.’

  Like herself, he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and once again Chloe was struck by his awesome physique, her heart skittering, flutters in her stomach. He crouched down, his hands outstretched in open welcome as the puppy bounced across the grass to sniff him.

  ‘Hi, little fella.’ One hand was licked and Max used the other to scratch behind the dog’s ear, smiling at Chloe as he did so. ‘What did you call him?’

  ‘Luther.’

  ‘Luther,’ he repeated in surprise, raising a quizzical eyebrow. ‘That’s a serious name for a playful pup.’

  ‘It has dignity. He’s only ever going to be little but he thinks he has dignity and I’m giving it to him.’

  ‘Right!’ Max grinned, highly amused by the idea. ‘I can see that’s important.’

  ‘And he also reminded me of Martin Luther King.’

  Both eyebrows shot up this time and Chloe grinned back at him as she explained, ‘He’s black and white and Martin Luther King fought for desegregation, wanting to bring blacks and whites together.’

  ‘Ah! You’ve clearly given it a lot of thought.’

  ‘A name deserves a lot of thought. You’re loaded with it all your life.’ She grimaced. ‘I’ve always hated mine.’

  He looked slightly bemused by this and asked, ‘Why?’

  She shook her head, not wanting to tell him it was how her mother made such a harsh gutteral sound of it when she was angry. ‘I just don’t like it.’

  ‘You could have it changed,’ he advised her.

  She shrugged. ‘Too late for that. It’s a career name now.’

&
nbsp; ‘It’s never too late to make changes,’ he said seriously, straightening up and strolling towards her, Luther prancing around his feet. ‘What name would you prefer for yourself?’ he asked curiously.

  ‘Maria.’ It was soft and had a loving sound to it. ‘Ever since I saw the musical West Side Story, I’ve wished it was mine, though I guess it wouldn’t go so well with Rollins. Not as distinctive as Chloe.’

  ‘Maria…’ he repeated whimsically.

  ‘And I ended up marrying a Tony,’ she said with bitter irony. ‘Just goes to show how dreams can lead you astray.’

  ‘Well, you’ve woken up from that dream now, and Luther will give you more real devotion than your husband did.’ He dropped down on his haunches to pet the pup again. ‘Won’t you, little fella?’

  He was right about that. Nothing about Tony’s devotion had been real. But that was behind her now, no point in dwelling on it. She had to look ahead. If she ever married again, she would make sure it was to a man of substance like…

  Her gaze fastened on Max, who sprawled back on the grass, laughingly pretending that Luther had knocked him over. The pup leapt onto his chest and madly licked his chin. ‘Save me! Call him off!’ Max appealed to Chloe.

  ‘Luther, come here!’ she said firmly, and the little dog raced over to her, tail wagging like a windmill. She cuddled him on her lap, settling him down, eyeing Max with amusement as he rolled onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow. ‘I don’t think you needed to be rescued from a miniature fox terrier.’

  His dark eyes twinkled teasingly. ‘He was getting a taste for me. He might have gobbled me up.’

  She laughed.

  He smiled, and this close to her, his smile set off a fountain of buzzing female hormones inside Chloe. He was so attractive, for one wild moment, she fiercely envied Shannah Lian’s intimate relationship with him, wishing she could experience him as a lover. Her mind instantly clamped down on the shockingly wayward thought and sought some normal distraction from it.