The conversation continued in a similar vein for several more minutes before gradually becoming lighter and turning to more pleasant matters. Ethan gave her a glowing description of the villa and by the time they got back, the atmosphere in the car had thawed considerably. Emma gave a surreptitious sigh of relief. So far, so good.
As they accompanied Laney up the steps to the terrace, Rich and Mark appeared at the door. As Laney caught sight of them, the troubled expression on her face morphed into something much brighter. Emma watched as the movie star walked across to the two men and held out her hand, a real smile appearing on her face. Emma was just wondering if she maybe already knew Rich, via his father, when the actress’s hand reached for and caught hold of the hand of Mark, not Rich.
‘Hi, I’m Laney. It’s good to meet you.’
‘Hi, Laney. I’m Mark, and this is Rich.’ He was looking vaguely puzzled and a bit overcome.
From the expression on Laney’s face, it was clear which of the two men interested her, so Emma hurried across to make sure she knew just whose hand she was shaking – and maybe to wrestle her away from Mark.
‘Richard is JM’s son from JMGP.’ This elicited a bit more interest and a smile aimed at Rich.
Ethan made his way over and joined in the conversation. ‘And Mark owns this place.’
Laney’s eyes lit up. ‘Wow, you lucky man, Mark. It’s delightful.’ By now Laney had moved on from gracious diva mode to flirty diva mode, and she even reached over and patted him on the arm. ‘I look forward to getting to know your beautiful house, and you, a lot better.’
Emma could feel a rising sense of what could only be explained as jealousy and she fought hard to dominate it. Fortunately at that moment Erasmus appeared, trailed, as ever, by Katya who was wearing a purple caftan and oriental headdress. Erasmus looked as if he was wearing the exact same clothes as last night: a crumpled Hawaiian shirt, the breast pockets bulging with all manner of junk, and the scruffiest pair of jeans Emma had ever seen outside of a rodeo. On his feet, as a nod to the sunny weather, he was wearing sandals today, rather than last night’s battered deck shoes, and it looked suspiciously as though his big toenails had been painted bright orange.
‘Laney, my dear, how wonderful to see you and how outstandingly beautiful you look, as always. A delight for the eyes.’
‘Erasmus, darling, long time no see. I’m so, so excited to be working with you once more. I can’t imagine anyone better.’ Abandoning Mark, Laney walked across and air-kissed him noisily. He beamed back at her.
‘The pleasure will be all mine. It’s a real privilege to work with the very best.’
Emma and Mark exchanged glances. He was looking askance, but Emma knew that this was tame by Hollywood standards. She knew lots of people for whom these effusive compliments would have been just run of the mill. She gave him a little smile and winked. He winked back and her feeling of jealousy subsided. A bit.
Lunch was taken outside on the terrace, shaded from the sun by a wide awning. There was a gentle breeze blowing and the temperature was delightful. As they were outside, Mark had brought Carmen, who stationed herself under the table between Emma and Mark, her nostrils flaring as each successive course was produced. The chef had prepared a magnificent cold spread ranging from a vast assortment of ham and salami to halves of lobster, filets of salmon and spicy prawns. There were no fewer than five different salads, made up of a dazzling variety of plants and herbs, vegetables and fruits and tiny little edible flowers.
Emma kept a close eye on Laney, having deliberately seated her between Erasmus and Ethan, as far away from Mark as possible. The actress just picked at her food and refused anything but water to drink. Ethan, on the other hand, dug in and filled his plate, but there was no contest as to who managed to eat the most: Marylou won hands down, by a knockout and two submissions, packing away enough food to satisfy a rugby team.
Emma was pleased to see Ethan and Laney chatting and as the day progressed, she distinctly got the impression that they were getting on just fine.
Later that afternoon, as the shadows began to lengthen and after Erasmus had retired to his room with Katya for another bout of meditation, the others met down at the tennis court for a game. Laney immediately chose Mark as her partner, which meant that Ethan was left with Emma. Laney turned up dressed in a stretchy top that could have been sprayed on and short shorts that left very little to the imagination.
As it turned out, the two sides were pretty evenly matched. Laney was very polished, but lacked power in her shots. It was clear that Mark was a stylish player, but it was also clear that he was a bit rusty. Ethan made up for a lack of technique by hitting the ball so hard, he almost dented the surface of the court. Unfortunately, this same power made him less consistent and his serves more often than not ended up in the net, threatening to tear holes in it. It was a close-run thing, but Emma and Ethan just managed to win the set by a single game. Ethan’s reaction was predictably boisterous. As her winning serve went in, he ran across and grabbed her, lifting her bodily into the air and whirling her round like a rag doll. As he set her down again, he deposited a smacking kiss on her cheek and raised her arm in the air like a victorious boxer.
‘That’s my girl, English. You were dynamite.’
She rearranged her clothing and gave him a smile in return. ‘Could have gone either way. A very close game.’
As she was speaking, she saw Laney, not to be outdone, turn to Mark and kiss him on the cheek as well, suspiciously close to his mouth. Emma had to struggle to keep the smile on her face as she and Ethan walked over to the net for them all to shake hands. As always, a simple touch of Mark’s hand was enough to send a little tremor through her body. She swallowed hard.
‘I don’t know about you guys, but I need a shower and a cold drink.’
Mark nodded in agreement. ‘If you’re all willing, I’ve asked the chef to prepare some canapés, and we’d like to offer you all a few glasses of champagne later on to celebrate the fact that our first guests are such world-famous names. Would that be okay with you?’
Ethan had no hesitation. ‘Sounds great to me, Mark.’
Laney went a step further, grabbing Mark and pulling him towards her so she could stick another smacker of a kiss on his cheek. ‘What a lovely thought. I’d be delighted.’ She glanced across at Emma. ‘But you’re quite right, first things first – I need to change.’
Chapter 16
Emma was ready on the terrace at seven o’clock. Marina and Rich were already there, as was Marylou, strategically positioned alongside the canapés. Emma had struggled to decide which dress to wear, torn between the realisation that it was lunacy to try to compete with the most famous and beautiful actress in the world, and the desire to look so good for Mark that he wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off her. Short of going topless, she knew that would be an impossibility, but she did her best to look good all the same, putting her hair up, wearing her new shoes, and choosing her smartest and, purely by chance, or so she told herself, her most revealing dress.
When Laney came down onto the terrace, Emma immediately realised that there was a broad gulf between what she considered revealing and what Laney considered revealing. The broad gulf in question was Laney’s cleavage that extended right down to the film star’s navel. Doing her best to rise above any petty feelings of jealousy – and the sudden overwhelming urge to scratch the actress’s eyes out – Emma went over to meet her.