Hollywood Husband, Contract Wife. Jane Porter

in front of her, but Kristie hadn’t budged and the other girls were still watching and waiting.

      She knew she had to say something. They were desperate for a morsel of news, some juicy little tidbit, and isn’t this what Alexandra had agreed to do? Play the part? Become Wolf’s new love interest?

      Shaking her head, Alexandra finally looked up. “If he proposes, I’ll let you all know.”

      Three o’clock that afternoon, the studio’s main number rang and the receptionist took the call and then buzzed Alexandra to let her know she had an incoming call from Wolf Kerrick. Unfortunately the receptionist chose to use the intercom to tell Alexandra of her call, instead of a private line.

      With Kristie and the other girls staring in rabid fascination, Alexandra picked up her phone and took the call off hold. “Alexandra Shanahan,” she said as crisply as possible.

      “Wolf Kerrick,” the voice answered at the other end of the line. His voice was deep and husky and tinged with amusement.

      Alexandra didn’t know if it was the timbre of his voice, or the amusement in it, but it immediately set her teeth on edge. “Hello.”

      “Can I bring the coffee girl a coffee?”

      Aware that Kristie was inching forward, Alexandra ducked her head, trying to avoid being overheard. “No, thank you.”

      “How about I take you for a coffee?”

      “Wolf, I’m working.”

      “Not very hard.”

      “What does that mean?”

      “It seems to me you’re just sitting there, staring at your desk.”

      “How do you know?” Alexandra demanded before noticing the office had gone strangely silent. Lifting her head, she saw that Wolf, dressed in loose dark denims and a black linen shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest, had entered the front doors and stood next to the receptionist’s desk talking on his cell phone.

      My God, he looked gorgeous. And sinful. “What are you doing?” she whispered urgently into the phone, trying to duck her head so he couldn’t see her face or the telltale blush turning her cheeks a crimson pink.

      “Watching you.”

      She squeezed her eyes shut. “Why?”

      “Because I want to.”

      “Wolf.”

      “Can you just do that with a little more passion in your voice?”

      “No!” Alexandra started to slam the phone down and then, remembering she had an audience, hung the receiver up more gently. Phone down, she watched Wolf slowly saunter toward her through the rows of desks.

      She heard the girls whispering excitedly as he passed. Wolf had to have heard the whispers, too.

      Reaching her desk, he stood over her, his linen shirt half open, giving her and everyone else a glimpse of burnished bronze skin and hard, toned muscles. His dark eyes half smiled down at her, and yet there was nothing sleepy about him. He had the silent, watchful air of a wolf before it attacked.

      “I’m stealing you away,” he said.

      Alexandra hadn’t expected to see Wolf for days. She’d thought maybe by the weekend he’d call her, contact her, set something up for the future, and yet here he was, at her desk, causing trouble.

      And she wasn’t ready for trouble. Didn’t think she’d be ready for his kind of trouble for a long time. Last night had taken something out of her. Last night had been a tease, a torment. She’d had so much fun with him that she’d imagined he’d been enjoying her company just as much. Instead he’d been acting.

      Acting.

      Alexandra smiled her brightest, most confident smile to cover her trepidation. “I wish I could go. But I’ve so much work. I’ve a million things to do and Daniel—”

      “Has already given you permission to take off early.” Wolf smiled down at her, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “So get your purse and let’s go.”

      CHAPTER FOUR

      IT WAS A GORGEOUS afternoon, hot, sunny, the sky a dazzling California blue. Wolf was driving a different car than he had last night, a gleaming red Ferrari that looked brand-new.

      A studio head, just leaving his office and heading for his car, noticed the Ferrari, too, and wandered over to shake Wolf’s hand and compliment him on the car.

      “That’s a Superamerica, isn’t it?” he said to Wolf as he shook his hand. “Hardtop convertible.”

      Wolf opened the passenger-side door for Alexandra. “It is.”

      “I was reading about the car’s revolving roof recently. Doesn’t it open up in ten seconds?”

      Wolf was heading to the driver’s side now. “It does.”

      “What are they? Half mil?” he asked as Wolf settled behind the wheel.

      Wolf put the key in the ignition, started the engine. “A little less than that,” he said before putting the car into reverse.

      The other man whistled. “Beautiful car.”

      Wolf nodded agreement and drove away. But Alexandra sat next to him, dumbfounded.

      “This car is worth half a million dollars?”

      Wolf shot her an amused glance. “It’s not that much. It’s closer to a third of a million. But I can see you don’t approve.”

      She studied the car’s interior. The steering wheel wasn’t exactly normal. It had paddle shifters on the wheel, but other than that it looked like an ordinary—albeit very clean—sports car. “I don’t understand why anyone would spend so much money on a car.”

      “I have the money.”

      “Yes, but—”

      He was leaving Culver City behind and heading for Santa Monica. “But what?”

      “But you could do a lot of good with that money. You could feed starving children and build houses for the homeless and things like that.” She stopped talking, bit her lip, stared at her hands, inspecting the spa manicure she’d gotten at the salon yesterday. “I know it’s none of my business. I just wish I had the means to help more people. I think we should all help more people.”

      Wolf looked at her for a long, silent moment. “I agree,” he said quietly before returning his attention to the road.

      They traveled in silence down Santa Monica Boulevard and then north on Highway 1 wrapping the coast toward Pacific Palisades and scenic, craggy Malibu.

      Wolf drove well, fast but confidently, and with the cliffs to the right and the sea to the left, Alexandra felt as though she were part of a movie or some reality television show.

      He had been unusually quiet since she made her comment about helping others, but she wasn’t sorry for thinking people should help others and she wasn’t sorry for thinking an expensive car like this was a waste of money. He could buy whatever he wanted and she could think whatever she wanted. They weren’t really a couple. They didn’t have to agree.

      Finally Alexandra couldn’t take the silence any longer. She made a pitiful stab at conversation by asking him, “Are you excited about the new film?”

      “Excited?” Wolf repeated, his upper lip curling. “I wouldn’t say I’m excited, but I will be glad to work again. Working distracts me. Keeps my mind off other things.”

      It wasn’t the answer she’d expected. She’d imagined he enjoyed acting, thought he would have found a certain fizz factor from being one of the most highly acclaimed actors in the business. “What things?”

      His