“Probably.”
“Then I guess I should feel lucky that we missed the train.” He sounded irritated.
Whoops. “Look, Alec, I realize I haven’t revealed much about myself in the time we’ve known each other, but—”
“You’re not required to reveal anything about yourself, Molly. I apologize for taking that tone. I’m your chauffeur, and what you choose to tell me or not tell me is entirely up to you.”
“Now you’re upset.”
He sighed. “Only with myself. I’ve known from the beginning that you weren’t chatty. And I am.”
“Not today.”
“Well, I got to thinking that I’ve probably been boring you. I’ll bet you didn’t want to hear—”
“I’ve loved hearing all about your family,” she said softly.
“You’re being polite.”
“No, I’m serious. I don’t have any good stories like that.” His normal childhood and his adventures with his younger sister made her green with envy.
“Oh, God. Please don’t tell me you’re an orphan.”
“No. But my upbringing was…different.”
“And you don’t want to talk about it.”
“It’s better if I don’t.” She’d discovered a long time ago that nothing good came of telling people her dad was Owen Drake, one of Hollywood’s top directors, and her mother was Cybil O’Connor. If fans remembered Cybil O’Connor at all, it was for a spectacular nude scene in The Haunted Lagoon, a movie released twenty-eight years ago. After that, she’d given up acting to become Mrs. Owen Drake and mother to Molly Drake. Molly had always felt the weight of that sacrifice.
She’d also learned that mentioning her parents usually brought out intense curiosity, and people tended to forget their manners in the quest for insider dirt. Maybe Alec wouldn’t pump her for information about big stars, or mention her mother’s infamous nude scene. Knowing Alec, he really wouldn’t react that way. Still, Molly liked being anonymous for a change, and moving from L.A. to Connecticut had allowed her to separate herself from that high-pressure, glitzy world.
Alec cleared his throat. “I shouldn’t do this, but I have one question about you, and it’s killing me.”
She braced herself. “Only one?”
“Okay, more than one, but this certain one—let’s just say my buddy Josh got me to thinking, and I can’t get the question out of my head.”
“Is Josh the driver I met when you gave him a ride?”
“Yeah, when his limo broke down outside New Haven.”
Molly remembered a wiry guy with curly black hair. Josh always seemed to be in motion. “A high-energy type.”
“That’s the one. Anyway, you don’t have to answer, but if you could say yes or no, it would mean a lot to me.”
“You sound as if this has been keeping you up at night.”
Alec coughed. Then he coughed again, and the tips of his ears grew pink. “Uh, no, not really.”
She couldn’t make sense of his reaction until she replayed what she’d said. You sound as if this has been keeping you up at night. When she realized the potential double meaning, heat rushed to her face, too. “Wait a minute. I wasn’t trying to be—”
“Are you in the movies?”
Startled, she laughed. She was so not in the movies. Her parents had wanted that more than anything, and she’d tried. But an introverted little bookworm, no matter what she looked like on the outside, couldn’t expect to make it on the big screen, even with a stage-door mommy and a stage-door daddy.
“Are you?”
She smiled at him. This conversation was helping her case of nerves. “Well, you caught me. I’m not Molly Drake at all. I’m really Nicole Kidman trying to escape the paparazzi.”
“Um, I didn’t mean that kind of movie.”
“Then what—” Her mouth dropped open. Alec was asking her if she acted in adult videos.
“But I’ll bet Josh has it all wrong.”
At first she was insulted that Alec would think it was remotely possible that she was a porn star. He should know her better than that. Or should he? She hadn’t talked about herself, which left room for all kinds of speculation. Apparently Josh and Alec thought she looked sexy enough to act in those videos, which intrigued her. “You said I didn’t have to answer, right?”
“Of course you don’t have to answer, but—”
“So I’m not going to.” Then she watched the pink that had tinged his ears make its way over his entire face. Darting a glance into his lap, she discovered that the image of her as an X-rated video star was having quite an effect on him there, too.
His voice sounded strangled. “So you are.”
“I didn’t say that.” This was fascinating, and it definitely kept her mind off her anxiety-producing appointment with Benjamin.
“Yeah, but not answering is the same as answering.”
“Not necessarily.” She wondered what he’d do if she put a hand on his thigh, but she didn’t want them to have an accident.
“Now I wish I hadn’t asked.” He swallowed. “I thought you’d say no.”
“That’s no fun.”
“Oh, so you really aren’t, but you want me to think you are?”
Highly entertained, she continued to smile at him. “What do you think?”
He gripped the steering wheel and stared at the road ahead. “I think I just got myself into a heap of trouble.”
2
ALEC NEEDED A COLD SHOWER, but that wasn’t possible, so he casually adjusted the air-conditioning vent so it blew directly on his lap. He’d been worried that the X-rated video question would insult Molly, but at least then he’d have had his answer. She wasn’t insulted. She was taking the Fifth.
Even if he hadn’t studied law, he’d still know that anybody who refused to answer was most likely hiding something. So she really could be a star of those movies. He wasn’t proud of his reaction to the news, either. Damned if he wasn’t rising to the occasion.
She could also be teasing him. That concept didn’t improve his condition at all. A woman willing to kid around about something like that would be the kind of bed partner he’d always dreamed of, someone who liked to have fun with sex instead of making it into a serious business. She was either an X-rated movie star or a sexy little tease. Both possibilities had him so turned on he could barely drive
