The Rumours Collection

‘How did today go?’ he asked.

It occurred to her then how comforting it was to have someone to debrief with at the end of the day. Under normal circumstances she would have gone home to an empty bedsit. Sure, she could have called a friend or have a friend call her, but to have someone on site who was genuinely interested in her made her feel supported. Grounded. Safe. Protected. ‘It was...interesting,’ she said.

‘Did Elisabetta behave herself?’

Kat took Flynn’s coat from him and held it against her. She could easily have hung it up next to hers but she wanted to savour the warmth and smell of his body still trapped in the cashmere. ‘She was hell on wheels during rehearsals, but after everyone left we sort of came to an understanding.’

One of his dark brows lifted in an arc. ‘That sounds intriguing. Tell me what happened.’

Kat gave him a quick run-down on the conversation she’d had with Elisabetta. ‘Mind you,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t trust her, for all her charming friendliness. She’s like a chameleon. She changes when it suits her.’

‘That’s why she has the reputation she has as an actor,’ Flynn said. ‘She can morph into any character she wants. But you did well to stand up to her. Not many people do. They’re too frightened of her celebrity to connect with the person under the façade.’

Kat frowned. ‘You think it’s a façade? That she’s not like that normally? Bitchy and unfriendly to anyone she perceives as a threat?’

He leaned on one crutch as he brushed his bent knuckles down her cheek. ‘She’s a bit like you. You can be prickly and unfriendly until you establish trust. Maybe she recognised that same quality in you.’

Kat turned and hung up his coat as she thought about it. She straightened out the sleeves, dusted off an imaginary bit of lint from the back and turned to look at him again. ‘What would you like for dinner?’

He was looking at her strangely. There was a slight frown between his eyes and his mouth had lost its easy smile. Then he did a slow blink and refocused. ‘Sorry, did you say something?’

‘I asked what you wanted for dinner,’ Kat said. ‘I didn’t have time to pick anything up after the rehearsal, but I can go out now to the convenience store and—’

‘No,’ he said. ‘This has gone on long enough. You don’t need to wait on me hand and foot. I can order something in but only if you’ll stay and share it with me.’

Would that be all that she was sharing? The thought of spending another night in his bed was tempting. More than tempting. But what if what Elisabetta had said was true? That he would only have her in his bed when it suited him? How long would it suit him? A week? A month? Until Richard’s party was over?

Why are you stressing about how long he wants to sleep with you? It’s a fling. They’re not meant to last long.

I’m not stressing. I’m just wondering...

You’re in too deep. You know you are. You’ve got feelings for him, deep, scary feelings that involve weddings and babies and a white picket fence.

I want a career first. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.

So you keep saying.

When the food arrived, Kat set it up in the dining room. Once they were both seated, Flynn raised his wine glass to hers. ‘To the most beautiful new talent to hit London’s West End.’

Kat gave a self-deprecating snort. ‘I don’t know about that. I’ve got so much to learn. It’s a big step up from toilet-paper ads to playing Sylvia.’

‘You got that part on your merit.’

She fingered the bottom of her glass. ‘Did I? Or did Elisabetta choose me because she wants to get back at Richard by publicly humiliating me?’

He put his hand over hers, stilling its restless fidgeting. ‘Look at me, Kat.’ His eyes were dark and serious. ‘Whatever her reasons were, you have to take control now. It’s up to you. Actors have to deal with difficult casting arrangements all the time. Good actors don’t bring their personal life to the stage. You have to be Sylvia on that stage, not Richard Ravensdale’s love child. Understood?’

Kat let out a wobbly breath. ‘You’re right. You’re so right.’ She smiled. ‘Thanks for the pep talk. If ever you get sick of practising law, you could be a life coach.’

His smile was rueful as he pulled his hand back from hers. ‘Yeah, well, I’m good at sorting out other people’s problems. It’s different when it’s closer to home.’

Kat searched his features for a beat. ‘Is there something you’re struggling with? Personally, I mean?’

His expression closed like curtains on a stage. ‘No.’

His answer was too abrupt, too definite. Was he having second thoughts about their relationship? Did he want it to end sooner rather than later?

They ate in a companionable silence but Kat got the feeling he was mulling over something. Every time she glanced at him he was frowning. It would relax whenever he caught her looking at him, and his smile would quickly replace it, but it only lifted half of his mouth.

Was his foot annoying him? Slowing him down at work? Her guilt over injuring him came back with a vengeance. Everything had changed between them once she had run over his foot. The dynamic of their relationship had changed. They had gone from enemies—at least on her part, that was—to lovers. Intimate partners in a fling-relationship that had a scarily loose time frame. It never used to bother her when she’d had temporary relationships in the past. It was just how things were. She had never felt a pressing ache in her chest at the thought of it ending. She had never envisaged a future together where she could have it all: the career, the loving and supportive husband, the kids, the house and the pets.

But now, after just one night sleeping in Flynn’s bed, she realised how much she wanted to repeat it. To spend not just one night but many nights, all the nights that were allotted to her on this earth.

But what did he want? He had made it clear he wasn’t going to settle down. Even Elisabetta, who knew him well, had said the same.

‘I bought you something today,’ Flynn said into the silence.

Kat looked up in surprise. ‘What? Why?’

He leaned back in his chair to reach for a small package on the sideboard she hadn’t even noticed was there when she’d come in to set the table. He handed the package to her with an unreadable look. ‘Actually, it’s from Cricket,’ he said. ‘For taking him for all those walks.’

Kat unpeeled the satin ribbon and the paper to find a jewellery box from a well-known jeweller inside. Her heart flip-flopped. Jewellery? What sort of jewellery? She tentatively opened the box and found a beautiful tortured pearl on a delicately crafted white-gold chain. The pearl was irregular in shape but she knew from reading about them somewhere that each one was completely unique. Was he telling her something by this lovely gift? That he saw her as unique and special? She looked across at him. ‘I don’t know what to say...it’s beautiful. But you shouldn’t have bothered.’

‘Cricket insisted,’ Flynn said. ‘Anyway, it’s just a trinket.’

A trinket? Kat looked back at the gorgeous pearl. This was no throwaway trinket. This would have cost a packet. She had never been given jewellery as a gift before. In fact, as far as gifts went, she had received very few over the course of her twenty-three years. Her mother had never had enough spare cash for presents, and certainly none of Kat’s past boyfriends had ever gifted her with anything—not so much as a bunch of flowers.

Kat leaned down to where Cricket was sitting at her feet waiting in hopeful enthusiasm for a titbit to be offered his way. ‘Thank you, Cricket,’ she said, ruffling his funny ears. ‘You’ve made me feel very special. I’ll treasure this for always.’

Cricket yapped as if he understood every word she said and then did one of his crazy little twirls.

‘Mad dog,’ Flynn said with a relaxed smile.

Kat met his gaze across the table again. ‘I think he’s the nicest dog I’ve ever met.’

Are you talking about the dog or him?

The dog... Okay, both.

Sucker.

Kat lifted the pearl and its chain out of the box and trailed it across her palm. ‘Does Cricket buy all your lovers gifts?’

‘You’re the first because I’ve only had him since Christmas.’

She put the pearl back in its box and gently closed the lid. She was the first but wouldn’t be the last. Why should that make her feel empty inside? As if a giant hole had been gouged in her stomach? ‘What happened with your family that you ended up with Cricket?’

He picked up his wine glass and looked at the contents for a moment. ‘There was a scene. There usually is at Christmas and birthdays—any occasion, really.’

‘What happened?’

He took a slow breath in and released it in a whoosh. ‘I didn’t like the way my parents were treating Cricket. He’s not the sort of dog you can lock outside, especially as they’d had him in the house since he was a puppy. We got into an argument and things escalated. My father’s solution was to have Cricket euthanised.’

‘Oh, no!’

‘Oh, yes.’ His look was grim. ‘I left with Cricket and drove back here and had a perfectly lovely evening with the Carstairses and their kids. It was the best and worst Christmas, if you know what I mean.’

‘I do,’ Kat said. ‘But how lovely that you’ve got him now. He adores you. It’s like he’s always been yours.’

That smile that made her insides melt was back. ‘I haven’t quite figured out the logistics of what to do with him when I go away on holidays or business,’ he said. ‘He doesn’t strike me as the boarding kennel type.’

Kat reached down to scratch Cricket underneath his chin. ‘Is your daddy calling you fussy, my sweet? You’re not a fusspot, are you? You just love the comfort of home and I don’t blame you one little bit.’

When she looked up again she caught Flynn looking at her with that odd look on his darkly handsome features. ‘What’s wrong?’ she said. ‘Why do you keep looking at me like that?’

His expression became blank. Unreadable. The stage curtains not only pulled across but the lights turned out as well. ‘How am I looking at you?’

‘I don’t know...as if you’re uncertain about something...about me.’

He reached for the wine bottle to refresh their glasses. ‘It’s just work stuff playing on my mind. Big cases, big egos, big bucks involved.’

‘I guess it’s another good reason to avoid marriage,’ Kat said. ‘You see the other side of it—the dirty and bitter side. No wonder it puts you off.’

He put the wine bottle back in the silver cooler. ‘Not all marriages end up in the divorce court. Some couples manage to last the distance, but you can never know if you and your partner are going to be the success story or the soul-destroying showdown.’

‘True,’ Kat said. ‘But do you think it’s more about good luck than good management?’

‘A bit of both, probably,’ he said. ‘When I look at your brothers and sister and their partners, I can’t imagine any of them ever wanting a divorce. But life can throw up some curve balls. Relationships can get knocked off course by all sorts of things. Bad health, financial stress, kids or the lack thereof, interfering relatives... The list is endless.’

‘I guess communication is the key,’ Kat said. ‘Being able to talk about stuff—really talk, I mean. Not locking stuff away only for it to blow out in an argument when it’s too late to fix it.’

He gave a wry smile. ‘Listen to us. The experts on the institution both of us are actively avoiding.’

Kat smiled back but for some reason it felt false. ‘Yeah, well, I didn’t rule it out entirely. Just not right now.’

A long silence passed.

All Kat could hear was the ticking of the mantle clock in the sitting room next door.

‘It’s tough finding a partner once you’re famous,’ Flynn finally said. ‘You can never know if people want you for you or for the social esteem it gives them to be associated with you. Both your brothers have struggled with that.’

‘Has Miranda experienced it too?’

‘She lost her boyfriend Mark when they were teenagers,’ he said. ‘Cancer. She hadn’t dated since. She martyred herself until Leandro whisked her away to Nice to help him sort out his late father’s estate. He’s had a thing for her for ages. Everyone could see it except Miranda.’

Another silence ticked past.

‘Does it happen to you?’ Kat asked. ‘The celebrity thing? I mean, you’re so close to the Ravensdales. Do people use you to get to them?’

‘Lovers, you mean?’ he said. ‘Occasionally, I guess. It doesn’t really bother me, to be perfectly honest.’

‘Because you only want them for sex?’

He looked at her for a beat or two. ‘Putting it baldly, yes.’

Was that all he wanted from her? Their relationship was based on the physical chemistry they had, not on anything else. No lasting bond was being formed. No future path was being laid out. No plans were being made for continuing their relationship indefinitely. ‘I guess I should count myself privileged you want me for other things as well,’ she said, and held up her hand to tick off a list. ‘Dog walking, cooking, running errands, scintillating conversation.’

His smile was a little twisted. ‘I want you for lots of reasons.’

Her insides slipped sideways at his deep and husky tone. But common sense raised a red flag. ‘You want me to go to Richard’s party,’ Kat said. ‘Be honest. That’s your primary goal. It has been from day one.’

‘I’m not denying I want you there,’ he said. ‘But it’s no longer my primary goal.’

She moistened her suddenly dry mouth. ‘What is?’

His eyes smouldered as they held hers. ‘Why don’t we clear away here and I’ll show you?’

Flynn woke from a disturbing dream later that night. It took him a moment to realise it had only been a dream. His heart was pounding, his skin was clammy and his pulse was racing like he’d had four energy drinks back to back. He had dreamt he was left alone on an island in the middle of the ocean. There was no power. No lights. No food. No shelter. No way of contacting anyone. A cruise ship was in the distance but it was too far for him to swim. There were sharks in the water. Menacing dorsal fins everywhere, circling the island. Every escape route was seething and swirling and swishing with danger.

He turned his head expecting to see Kat beside him in the bed but the space where she had been earlier was empty...well, apart from Cricket, of course. ‘What are you doing in here?’ he said. ‘You’re supposed to be sleeping in your basket downstairs.’

Cricket sank his undershot chin even lower onto his paws, his eyes taking on a beseeching look that would make anyone with half a heart think twice about removing him.

But that was the trouble. Flynn had more heart than he wanted right now. It was taking up more and more room in his chest, making him feel things he didn’t want to feel. He couldn’t explain why suddenly everything had changed when for so long he had been perfectly happy with his life. Seeing Kat arrive home earlier that evening had shown him what his life could be like if they were a couple. Not just dating or having a fling, but a committed couple.

He had been excited all day at the thought of coming home. The thought of sharing a meal with her, talking to her, watching her with Cricket, making love to her, had distracted him all day. He had bought her that pearl in his lunch hour. A completely spontaneous thing he still couldn’t explain. He had walked past that jeweller’s hundreds if not thousands of times and never once had he looked at the display in the window. But that day he had felt compelled not only to look but to go inside. He had seen the pearl and instantly known it was perfect for Kat. It was unique and beautiful, just as she was.

He tossed the bedcovers aside and reached for his crutches beside the bed. He was completely over his foot. It wasn’t so much the pain now but the inconvenience. He was tired of how it slowed him down.

Where was Kat? Had she gone back next door? He made his awkward way downstairs and saw that her coat was no longer hung up next to his. Her hat and gloves were not on the hall table. A cavern of emptiness spread in his chest like a flesh-eating stain.

He was alone.

Kat knew Flynn was in a foul mood as soon as she arrived the next morning. She had left his bed the night before because he’d seemed restless while he slept. She’d assumed his foot was giving him trouble so she’d left so he could have the bed to himself without having to worry about her bumping him during the night.

There were other reasons she had left. One big reason, actually. Not that she wanted to examine it too closely.

He was in the kitchen stirring a cup of coffee, which seemed a little pointless, as he didn’t take milk or sugar. His back was turned towards her and even though he was wearing a business shirt and trousers she could see the tension in his body. She could even sense it in the air, crackling like static. Even Cricket was acting a little subdued. He wasn’t bouncing around and twirling in excitement but had a baleful look on his funny little face.

‘Good morning,’ she said with Pollyanna brightness.

‘Morning.’

‘How did you sleep?’

‘Fine.’

She waited a beat but he still didn’t turn around to greet her. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘No.’

Kat rolled her eyes. ‘So why are you giving me the cold shoulder?’

He turned but in doing so he lost hold of one of his crutches. It clattered noisily to the floor, terrifying Cricket in the process. The poor little mutt went careening out of the room as if someone had taken a baseball bat to him. Flynn swore and tried to pick up his crutch but Kat got there first. ‘Here you go,’ she said.

‘Thanks.’ It was little more than a brooding mutter.

‘Clearly someone got out of the wrong side of the bed. Am I supposed to play twenty questions or will you tell me?’

‘Why didn’t you stay last night?’

‘I’m being paid to house-sit next door,’ Kat said. ‘That means I’m meant to actually house-sit. Pardon me for being a little pedantic about these things but accepting money from someone without doing the work is not something I’m all that comfortable doing.’

His tight frown relaxed slightly but didn’t completely disappear. ‘I’m sorry. I’m being unreasonable. Of course you have responsibilities next door.’

Kat put her hand on his forearm where he was leaning on his crutch. ‘I was worried I was disturbing you last night. You were tossing and turning so much I thought your foot would get hurt if I stayed.’

There was a flicker of wryness in his smile. ‘You don’t take up that much space.’

‘I’d better check on Cricket,’ Kat said. ‘Is he usually so jumpy around fallen objects?’

‘My father threw a shoe at him at Christmas. I got the feeling it wasn’t the first time.’

‘I don’t think I like either of your parents very much,’ she said. ‘I hope I don’t have to meet them. I’m not one for keeping my opinions to myself.’

His smile set off a twinkle in his dark eyes. ‘So I’ve found out.’

Kat reached up and planted a kiss to his mouth before she could stop herself. ‘Good morning,’ she said softly.

‘Good morning,’ he said with equal softness. ‘Do you want some breakfast? I’ve made coffee.’

She gave him a look of mock reproach. ‘Coffee is not breakfast. You need proper nutrition when your body is repairing itself.’

He tugged on a tendril of her hair. ‘Yes, dear.’

Kat laughed off his hen-pecked husband imitation. ‘As if you’d ever allow a woman to tell you what you could and couldn’t do. Or a man, for that matter.’

He didn’t answer when she turned to go and search for Cricket, but when she glanced at him as she got to the door he was no longer smiling and that brooding frown had settled back between his brows.

The next two weeks flew past with Kat juggling rehearsals and shifts at the café. She spent most evenings with Flynn but insisted on returning to her own bed next door. The Carstairs family was coming back the following week and she wanted to make sure everything was in tip-top shape for their arrival.

On set, Elisabetta was her usual demanding self, but Kat came to look forward to their scenes together onstage. She felt inspired by the older woman’s talent and knew when Elisabetta pulled her up for something it was because she knew Kat could give more, could dig deeper, could perform from her heart and soul instead of simply acting out a role. Elisabetta loved acting the way Kat loved it. It was a driving passion, an ambition she’d had since she was young.

Kat found it a little weird to have struck up a tentative friendship with her biological father’s wife, but over the course of the rehearsals she felt a bond growing between Elisabetta and herself that she never would have predicted. She wouldn’t have described them as friends, by any measure of the word, but she liked to think Elisabetta respected her for her willingness to learn. In a rare moment in the dressing room, Elisabetta even told Kat some of her anguish over finding out about Richard’s affair with Kat’s mother.

‘I hated her and I hated him,’ Elisabetta said, leaning forward to apply a fresh coat of lipstick. She pressed her lips together. ‘The worst thing was, he was still seeing her when he’d reconciled with me.’

‘I know,’ Kat said. ‘I don’t know how you could stay married to him after that. I would’ve divorced him in a flash.’

Elisabetta turned on her chair in front of the lighted mirror, her expression a little wistful. ‘Have you ever been passionately in love?’

Kat opened and closed her suddenly dry mouth. ‘I...erm...’

‘I loved Richard from the moment I met him,’ Elisabetta said. ‘I looked into his eyes and wham. That was it. But I hate him too. Some days the hate wins, other days the love does. Right now, I’m undecided.’

‘Do you think he’s learned his lesson?’ Kat asked.

Elisabetta sighed as she picked up her hairbrush. She examined it for a moment before absently drawing a couple of hairs free from the bristles. ‘Who knows? Some men never do.’

Kat let a little silence pass before she asked, ‘Do you think I should go to his party on Saturday? I mean, would it upset you if I did?’

Elisabetta’s hand tightened on the hairbrush, the tendons on her hand standing out like white cords. But then she relaxed her hand and began brushing her hair as casually as you pleased. Swish... Swish... Swish... ‘It’s no skin off my nose what you do. I don’t care either way.’

If Kat hadn’t been an actor herself she would have believed Elisabetta. She would have taken her answer at face value. But something about the older woman’s indifferent tone rang an alarm bell. What if by going to the party Kat upset Elisabetta? What could be worse at your husband’s Sixty Years in Showbiz party than his dirty little secret showing up? Her friendship with Elisabetta—if you could call it that—was too fragile, too new, to compromise it. Her career was balanced on the high wire of Elisabetta’s approval. She couldn’t risk it. Not for the man who hadn’t wanted her to be born in the first place.

But what about Flynn?

He’ll understand.

You think?

Kat didn’t want to think about it. The topic of Richard’s party was the elephant in the room whenever she was with Flynn. An elephant with halitosis. Neither of them had mentioned Richard’s party in the last couple of weeks. But as she walked Cricket later that day she knew she would have to give Flynn an answer one way or the other.

Flynn listened as his male client ranted about his soon-to-be-ex-wife in between raving about his replacement of her with a woman half his age. This was his fourth client today, all of them desperate to extricate themselves out of their marriages, and yet, strangely, Flynn could think of nothing but the good side of marriage. When he heard his client try and justify his actions in taking a mistress, because his wife had been sick during her pregnancy for a couple of months and not interested in sex, Flynn’s back came up. What about the promise of ‘in sickness and in health’? Wasn’t that supposed to mean something?