Carole Mortimer - Bound by Contract

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Bound by Contract
A novel by
He grabbed the receiver. “Yes?” he demanded
“Gideon.” Madison spoke in that gentle American drawl. “II‟ve signed the contract and
will have it brought over to you,” she said hesitantly.
Gideon was stunned. Madison McGuire was a complete puzzle to him. She‟d been upset
about the contract earlier, and now she called and told him she‟d signed the damned thing,
without a single change!
“I can read your thoughts, Gideon,” Madison murmured in a wryly amused voice.
“I doubt it,” he drawled ruefully.
“IUncle Edgar had no right to interfere. I‟m quite capable of fighting my own battles,”
she said hardly.
Gideon smiled to himself. Now he did know the reason Madison had signed the contract:
stubborn pride. Well, he had enough of that himself, so maybe he did understand her, after all….
But not too much! After all, he had behaved completely out of character earlier when
he‟d kissed her. And now that she had signed the contract, the two of them were going to be
constantly together for the next eight months at least….
PROLOGUE
„I DON‟T care what you thought, EdgarI‟m not interested in taking on one of your
women!‟
Edgar drew in a sharply angry breath. Gideon hadn‟t even let him finish saying what he
wanted to say before jumping down his throatsomething that just didn‟t happen to Edgar. As
the owner of a production company, Edgar didn‟t often come up against opposition, and certainly
not in this bluntly verbal way. But then, when had Gideon ever been anything else? It was just as
well he thought of Gideon almost as his son, otherwise the younger man would now be feeling
the brunt of his own anger.
Edgar had invited Gideon to this weekend party at his country home with the sole
intention of introducing him to Madison. Unfortunately, Gideon had told him a short time ago
that he would be leaving early in the morning, and Madison wasn‟t due to arrive until
mid-afternoon, meaning that Edgar had to talk to him about Madison now…
And so, instead of giving the younger man the short, sharp reply he wanted to give, he
gave him a look of intense irritation. „Madison is not one of my women, damn itshe‟s my
god-daughter!‟
„That makes a change from nieces!‟ the younger man scorned. „And considering you‟re
an only child it‟s amazing where they keep appearing from; two in the last six months, I believe!‟
„I wasn‟t aware anyone was counting,‟ Edgar felt stung into replying; he was a bachelor,
for goodness‟ sake, and if at sixty-two he still found women attractive and beddable, he didn‟t
expect to have to answer to anyone for it! „I will say this once again, Gideonand I‟ll emphasise
this only once,‟ he added harshly; he might be very fond of Gideon, but the younger man‟s
derision was unacceptable. „Madison is the daughter ofan old friend of mine. She also happens
to be an actress.‟
Gideon, as a director, was in the process of casting his next film, and Edgar, as the head
of the production company that Gideon was currently working for, had someone in mind for the
lead of that film. Unfortunately, as Gideon himself was too aware, he was the director of the
moment. He had walked off with the Best Director award at the Oscars the previous year, and it
had been a feather in Edgar‟s cap that he‟d managed to persuade Gideon to come back to
England and work for his production company. But Gideon‟s own superior position almost
meant Edgar didn‟t have the sway he would usually have with most other directors…
Gideon‟s mouth tightened. „And I have never used the casting-couch approach when
casting my filmsand I‟m not about to start now! Not even second-hand,‟ he added pointedly.
Edgar had to try very hard to hold on to his temper this time. Gideon was a good twenty
years younger than him, and physically fitter than Edgar had been for some yearsbut, even so,
Edgar could feel his own temper rising to the pitch of violence. „I merely asked that you stay on
until tomorrow afternoon so that you can meet Madison,‟ he said icily. „I said nothing about
going to bed with her!‟
Gideon‟s mouth twisted mockingly. „That‟s as wellI prefer to pick my own
bed-partners!‟
Edgar sighed. „I think we‟re straying from the point here.‟
„Not at all,‟ the younger man dismissed. „You assured me I had a free hand with this film.
Hell, you almost begged me to work for your production company‟
„I think “beg” is exaggerating things rather, Gideon,‟ he cut in dryly.
„Sorry,‟ Gideon returned without a tinge of regret in his voice, his mouth twisted with
distaste. „You probably prefer to save that for your nieces. Or god-daughters!‟ he added coldly.
Edgar didn‟t doubt that the young man was angry, and he was fond of Gideonbut even
so…! „I think you‟re going too far, Gideon,‟ he challenged. „We go back a long way ourselves,
and of course your father and I remained friends even after‟
„I don‟t ever recall using any of my family connections with you when we agreed that I‟d
work for your company,‟ Gideon cut in harshly, having stiffened defensively. „So why don‟t we
just agree not to discuss my fatheror your god-daughterfor the rest of my stay here? Which
ends in the morning,‟ he added pointedly.
Once again Edgar drew in a sharply angry breath. He‟d certainly hit upon a raw nerve by
mentioning Gideon‟s father. He would have been wiser not to have mentioned Johnand
definitely not to have almost mentioned the scandal that had ruined his career. He‟d made a
tactical error; Gideon‟s anger was not what he wanted at the moment. What he really wanted was
for Gideon to stay here until tomorrow afternoon and meet Madison…!
For that reason Edgar again swallowed his own anger, visibly relaxing. „I can assure you
that Madison is not what you think she is,‟ he told the younger man smoothly. „She‟s very
talented‟
„What‟s her full name?‟
„Madison McGuire.‟
„Never heard of her,‟ Gideon dismissed scathingly, glancing around at the twenty or so
other guests at Edgar‟s home for the weekend, obviously bored by their own conversation.
Edgar noticed that Gideon was distractedand it angered him again. „And you‟re never
likely to if you won‟t even meet her!‟ he snapped. „You want an unknown to play Rosemary; you
said so yourself.‟
„But it will be an unknown of my own choosing, not yours!‟ Gideon rasped, his grey eyes
glacial as he met Edgar‟s gaze. „Does she know about all this?‟ he scorned. „Is that why you‟re
pushing so hard? Does she think the part is already hers?‟ His mouth twisted scathingly.
He had pushed enough for the moment, Edgar realised; if he pushed any more just now
Gideon might leave before he produced his pièce de résistance!
„Madison knows nothing about this conversation, Gideon,‟ he assured him smoothly;
Madison would be no more pleased than Gideon if she did! „Why don‟t we just forget about this
for now?‟
„Let‟s just forget itperiod, Edgar,‟ the other man drawled in a bored voice.
Edgar had no intention of doing any such thing. He was doing the right thing by
introducing Madison to Gideon; he was sure of it. He just hoped that Susan, darling Susan,
would forgive him when she found out what he had done! Susan…
„It‟s time to watch my private showing of the new Tony Lawrence film,‟ he told the
younger man after receiving the signal from his manservant. „I‟m sure you‟re going to love it.‟
He wasn‟t sure of any such thing, but he was hopingoh, yes, he was hoping…
But Gideon‟s expression, as he sat beside him before the lights went down in the private
theatre in the basement of the house, didn‟t augur well. And so much depended on the next few
minutes, so much more than even Gideon could guess. Otherwise he would already have walked
out…!
Edgar kept his eyes on the screen, but he was completely aware of the man sitting next to
him. He knew exactly the moment Madison appeared, could feel Gideon‟s sudden tension, the
way he sat forward in his seat, that habitual air of boredom that could be so irritating totally
dissipated as his gaze was now riveted to the screen.
Yes!
Edgar could barely contain his own excitement. He was certain Gideon had taken the
hook. Now all it depended on was whether or not they could get him to take the bait…!
One thing he did know: Gideon would not be leaving here early tomorrow morning, after
all…
CHAPTER ONE
„I NEVER believed in mermaids until this moment!‟
She didn‟t even open her eyes. The man with the silkily smooth voice was sure to be one
of her uncle‟s guests, and from the little she had seen of
them
since her arrival he wouldn‟t be
worth opening her eyes for!
She‟d flown in from America only this afternoon; she was tired, jet-lagged, and desperate
for sleepwhich had proved impossible; her uncle had a houseful of guests for the
weekendnoisy guests who seemed to invade most of the house.
She‟d finally taken refuge in the swimming pool that took up half the basement of the
house. Drifting on an airbed, she felt the warmth of the water relaxing her in a way that couldn‟t
be found in the main part of the house. The last thing she neededor wantedwas to be found
by one of her uncle‟s guests!
„No fish-tail,‟ she murmured disparagingly as she wriggled her toes pointedly, still half
asleep, her hands trailing in the warmth of the water. Her body looked youthfully slender in a
turquoise-coloured bikini, while her long blonde hair trailed in the water behind her.
„Mermaids don‟t have fish-tails when on land,‟ the man murmured mockingly.
„But I‟m in the water,‟ she answered impatiently, keeping her face averted from the
direction of his voice, wishing she‟d never entered into the verbal exchange; perhaps if she had
kept quiet he would have just gone away!
„
On
the water,‟ the man corrected her smoothly. „Tell me, is that accent for real, or are
you just rehearsing for a part?‟ he added derisively.
Her mouth tightened. She wanted some peace and quiet; surely the fact that she was
down here alone made that more than obvious? And yet this man persisted in talking to her, even
passing comment on her American accent. In fact, he was a damned nuisance!
„Is
that
accent for real?‟ she returned in a perfect imitation of his educated English
accent. „Or are
you
just rehearsing for a part?‟
‘Touché,’
he murmured appreciatively.
„What makes you think I‟m an actress?‟ She felt drawn into asking, becoming intrigued
in spite of herself.
„Most, if not all, of Edgar‟s guests this weekend are involved in the acting world,‟ the
man drawled.
„Including yourself?‟ she prompted lightly.
„Including myself,‟ he confirmed dryly.
She wasn‟t impressed. Her mother had been full of dire warnings when she‟d told her she
wanted to be an actress, but one piece of her mother‟s advice she had learnt to take to heart:
never become involved with anyone else in the business!
It was something she had to admit she‟d learnt the hard way, falling for one of the male
leads in the first play she‟d ever been in off-Broadway. What she hadn‟t realised at the time was
that his interest would last only as long as the run of the playall of three weeks!when he
would then move on to the next play, the next gullible actress. She was still smarting from the
experience. Of the man. And the folded play.
Which was why she‟d taken one look at the guests here today and disappeared to the
peace of the indoor swimming-pool; she could spend some time with Edgar once the other guests
had gone. She still felt too emotionally raw to mix with the „beautiful people‟ just yet!
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