Masquerade: a romantic comedy

by Janette Rallison

  Clarissa glanced at Natalie, though she wasn’t sure what help she’d get from that corner. Natalie wasn’t paying attention to Landon anymore. She had lain back in her chair, stretched one arm above her head, and closed her eyes. Her pose looked as relaxed as it did seductive.

  Clarissa swallowed and tried to appear casual about Landon’s touch. “Thanks. My shoulders are safe now.”

  With a gentle motion he swept her hair off of her back. “Here, lean forward, and I’ll put some on your back.”

  “I don’t think I need it,” she said.

  He shook his head, and his smile was tinged with mocking. “I think you do. You might be starting to burn already. You look a bit pink.”

  And they both knew why. Why did she have to blush when she really didn’t want to?

  Landon eyed her appraisingly. “Do you feel like you’re burning?”

  Only with embarrassment. “I’m fine,” Clarissa said.

  Landon shook his head again. “Maybe you should go inside and get out of the sun.”

  “I’ve only been here for a little while,” Clarissa said, “and Slade still needs me to babysit him. I mean, for him.”

  A smile tugged at the comers of Landon’s mouth. He seemed to think Clarissa’s discomfort was a direct compliment to him. “Slade looks like he’s taking care of Bella just fine.”

  Natalie turned her head lazily toward Landon. “If she says Slade wants her to babysit, then don’t argue with her. You don’t want to get her fired, do you?”

  “Fired?” Landon sat back in his chair. “Slade isn’t such a slave driver, is he?”

  Clarissa pulled her towel up onto her legs. “I think I’ll be fine. Really.”

  Landon waved a hand in Slade’s direction. “You don’t need to worry about Slade getting angry at you. Look at him. He’s such a family man now. Completely tame and domesticated. As harmless as a puppy.”

  “Spoken like a wolf,” Natalie said, only half teasing. “You’re still too undomesticated and wild.”

  Landon wiped the excess suntan lotion onto his arms. “I’ll settle down one day. When I find the right person.”

  Natalie let out a tinkling laugh and stretched out her long legs. Her toenails were so perfectly manicured her feet hardly looked real. “You’ll never settle down. You don’t believe in commitment any more than I do.”

  “You don’t believe in commitment?” Clarissa asked.

  “People just lie to themselves when they get married,” Natalie said. “Love only lasts as long as a man’s attention span. Or,” she added with a smile, “A woman’s attention span.” Her gaze zeroed in on Slade then, and it was a hungry gaze.

  It sent a cold chill down Clarissa’s back. Slade deserved so much better than Natalie.

  “Don’t pay any attention to Natalie,” Landon said settling into his chair. “She’s bitter and jaded. I still believe in true love.”

  Natalie rolled her eyes and snorted. “Marriage isn’t natural. Plants and animals live freely without rules. Why do people need them? Rules only hamper our freedoms.”

  “You want to live like the animals?” Clarissa repeated. “Are you planning on devouring your young too?”

  Landon laughed, and Natalie made a scoffing sound low in her throat.

  Clarissa didn’t let go of her point. “You’ve obviously never watched a nature documentary if you think that’s the way to go.”

  One of Natalie’s immaculately formed eyebrows rose. “I forgot. You’re one of the married ranks, aren’t you?” For the first time she looked at, and not just past, Clarissa. Natalie tapped her long golden fingernails against the armrest of her pool chair with a calculating look. “You’re the type of person who wants to follow all of society’s rules.”

  “Well, most of them,” Clarissa said.

  For a moment longer Natalie stared at her, dissecting her with her gaze. “Haven’t you ever longed to be free from those sorts of restrictions?”

  “Not really.”

  “Oh, come on, haven’t you ever known you shouldn’t do something, but you couldn’t help yourself?” Natalie’s voice turned smooth and lulling. She smiled, catlike. “The temptation, the lure of a few moments of ecstasy is too much to resist, and so you give in, even though you know you shouldn’t?”

  “Yes,” Clarissa said, “I have those moments. They’re called ‘eating chocolate.’”

  Natalie leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes with a huff. “You’ve never lived, Mrs. Hancock.”

  “My life is fine,” Clarissa said, realizing how ridiculous the words were as she said them.

  How was her life fine? She was a divorced temporary nanny. On the other hand, most women would have killed to be in Natalie Granger’s shoes—or in this instance, in her sandals and little white bikini.

  Clarissa had always done her best to make the right choices. How had she managed to get so far off course? How had she ended up here?

  Natalie watched her smugly. “Your life could be better than fine. I hope one day you find someone so wonderful you won’t care about breaking the rules.” Natalie’s eyes fixed on Landon’s with pointed meaning. Even from where Clarissa sat, she could tell Natalie had offered Landon up a challenge. She was sure Landon would have no trouble convincing Clarissa to break the rules. And Landon, his eyes still on Natalie, gave her an easy smile.

  A smile that meant what?

  Natalie laughed slightly, stretched again, and settled back into her chair.

  It would have been poetic justice if lightning had suddenly come from the sky and singed Natalie and her bikini, but lightning never struck when you wanted it to. Natalie would probably always be gorgeous, rich, and singe-free. She’d simply go through life amassing fans and collecting Oscars.

  Perhaps because Slade was tired of tromping through the kiddy pool, or perhaps because he figured there was safety in numbers, he picked up Bella and carried her toward the group. Elaina watched them go, then headed quickly back to the slide.

  Clarissa recognized the look on her daughter’s face. She didn’t want to leave the pool and didn’t want to be close enough to her mother to hear, in case Clarissa called for her to come.

  Slade grabbed a towel from his chair and, still holding Bella, wrapped it around her shoulders and back.

  “Bella has a stomachache,” he announced.

  Clarissa sat up in her chair, perhaps a bit too eagerly. “Do you want me to take her back to the hotel?”

  “No,” Slade said, and to his credit he actually sounded like he was debating the idea. “I’ll hold her for a while and see if she feels better. I think I just played too rough.” He leaned his lounge chair back to a 45-degree angle, sat down, and cradled Bella in his arms.

  Clarissa leaned toward Slade so she could see Bella’s face. “Bella was very good this morning. We’ll have to go to the beach soon.”

  Bella returned Clarissa’s gaze. “I don’t want to go to the beach.”

  It figured. “We’ll find something you do want to do then.”

  Slade bent down and gave the top of Bella’s head a kiss. “How’s your stomach feeling now?”

  She pushed one arm from underneath the towel and laid it on her father. “I feel good, but not gooder enough for you to leave me.”

  Slade couldn’t have scripted a better line to keep Bella at his side, and as Clarissa thought about it, she wondered if Slade had scripted the line.

  But if Slade wanted to be with Bella so he wouldn’t have to be alone with Natalie, was Clarissa supposed to stick around, or did Slade want her to leave? Clarissa wished Slade would give her some hint.

  For the next hour, Clarissa watched Elaina swim, splash, and plunge down the slide, sometimes going quickly, other times holding onto the side of the slide so she sat stopped, suspended above the water. Clarissa also listened while the others discussed reading lines, doing retakes, and wearing makeup in humid locations.

  Natalie seemed intent on keeping the conversation on subjects Clarissa had n
o knowledge of. If one of the two men ever made a comment to Clarissa, Natalie quickly found a way to steal the attention back.

  Bella stayed with the adults, and her stomach must have felt better, because she took fishy crackers from Clarissa’s bag, climbed back on her father’s chair, and ate the entire school. Then she fell asleep in the crook of Slade’s arm.

  Finally Natalie allowed the conversation to drift from talking shop, and she discussed her next party. She eyed Slade with Landon-like subtlety and said, “Have you decided on a costume for our masquerade?”

  “I haven’t even thought about it yet.”

  Natalie’s eyes lingered on Slade’s physique. “You’d make a great Tarzan.”

  Slade shook his head. “I should go as Shakespeare. Then maybe I could convince people I’m a writer.”

  Landon turned to Clarissa. “What are you going as?”

  “A nanny. I’ll have to babysit.” For a moment Clarissa wished Slade would contradict her statement. He didn’t, though.

  Landon tilted his chin down, staring over at Slade in a silent appeal. “Come on. Let Clarissa go. You’re working her to death.”

  “Of course,” Natalie added. “Just look at her, she’s withering away under the strain of her workload.”

  “It’s all right,” Clarissa told Landon quickly. “I’m here to work.”

  Slade grinned over at Landon. “He doesn’t understand. Work is a foreign concept to Landon.”

  Landon looked down at his watch. “Actually it’s not.” He smiled at Clarissa, then the others. “I had better get going. I’ve still got some lines to work on before rehearsal.”

  Clarissa waited until Landon had returned to the hotel and then motioned to Elaina to come out of the pool. As the little girl trotted up to her, Clarissa said, “I think you’ve had enough sun for the day.” She held open a towel, wrapped it around Elaina’s dripping body. “I’m going to take Elaina inside,” she told Slade. “Do you want me to take Bella too?”

  “No.” He said the word too quickly, then recovered his casual manner. He ran a hand over Bella’s curls. “If we move her, she’ll wake up, and she probably needs the extra sleep, what with her stomachache and all.”

  Uh-huh.

  Clarissa smiled as she took Elaina’s hand and stood up. Natalie might have fame, fortune, and a figure that looked stunning in a white bikini, but she didn’t have Slade. All her conniving and flirting wasn’t going to change that.

  And somehow, while Clarissa walked back up to her room, she felt better about the afternoon.

  Chapter 19

  Slade stayed at the pool talking with Natalie for another hour, carefully measuring the minutes to give AJ enough time to read his screenplay. He draped his towel carefully over Bella so she wouldn’t burn and kept the conversation focused on Natalie. As long as she kept talking about herself, she wouldn’t bring up subjects he wanted to avoid: specifically he and she together in any way beyond sitting here by the pool.

  It was easy to contain the conversation. He kept asking Natalie about her projects, and she happily ate away the time. She complained about her agent, the director of her last movie, and the media coverage of her career.

  “Someday I’ll get a role where I’m not just another pretty face. You know, a role with meat to it.” She pulled her legs up on the lounge chair and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around her knees. “That’s the problem with being beautiful. No one takes you seriously.”

  Poor thing. He could tell by the way she preened and postured how her beauty troubled her.

  “You’ll find something,” he said.

  He glanced at the clock on his phone. Surely AJ had had enough time by now to not only read the screenplay but to assign parts. Slade sat forward in his chair. “I ought to take Bella inside. Should we go check in with AJ?”

  She picked up her skirt and towel from the side of her chair and stretched her arms. “Sure. We can drop Bella off at your nanny’s room first.”

  He walked slowly back to the hotel, carrying Bella against his shoulder. He tried not to jostle her too much. Natalie walked beside him, wrapping her skirt back around her waist as she went.

  “Do I look tanner?” she asked.

  Slade glanced at her. “Sure.”

  She eyed him over, coyly. “I don’t know how you can tell. You haven’t looked at me all day.”

  Slade didn’t respond to her statement. They’d reached the hotel, and he opened the door for Natalie. They walked without speaking across the lobby to the elevator. As Slade pushed the button Natalie said, “Your nanny seems quite dedicated.”

  “I think so.” He could feel Natalie’s gaze on him as he watched for the elevator doors.

  “She’s a little stuffy, though.”

  “She’s responsible,” he said.

  “And her fashion sense is appalling.”

  “Her fashion sense is normal. Not everyone lives on Rodeo Drive, you know.”

  “But she is quite pretty.”

  Although he knew it was pointless, Slade pushed the lighted elevator button again. “You don’t suppose this is broken, do you?”

  “I noticed you didn’t disagree with me about that last statement,” Natalie said.

  “What? About Clarissa being pretty? It would be pointless to disagree with the obvious.”

  The elevator door opened, and Slade stepped inside and pushed the button for the eighth floor. Natalie followed him in and leaned against the elevator wall. “Your tastes have changed since I knew you.”

  “A lot about me has changed since you knew me.”

  As the elevator rose, Bella stirred, slightly lifting her head and then putting it back down on Slade’s shoulder. Natalie watched Bella for a moment, then moved from the elevator wall and walked around Slade. At first he didn’t know why she was circling him, then he saw her check Bella’s face.

  “She’s still asleep,” Natalie said.

  “She was playing hard.”

  “Just like her father.” Natalie came around to face him. “He’s been playing hard to get all day.”

  “Natalie—” he began.

  “I know what you must think of me, I mean, being here with AJ and talking to you like this. The truth is things haven’t gone well between AJ and me for awhile. I just haven’t gotten around to breaking it off with him. I haven’t had a reason to until now.” She tilted her head and looked up at Slade, her lips slightly parted. “Seeing you again—Slade, you’re one of the few men I’ve ever really cared about, and here you are with me again.” She put her hand on his arm and ran caressing fingers up it. “That can’t be coincidence. Don’t you believe in fate?” She leaned closer to him.

  Slade sighed and kept his voice low. “Natalie, you’re as beautiful and as persistent as ever. But it would never work out between us.”

  She didn’t move away from him. “Why not?”

  Because he wanted someone he could respect—a woman he could trust. Because of a dozen other reasons, all of which he couldn’t tell her without the risk of being slapped before they reached the eighth floor. “I’m seeing someone right now.”

  “Oh.” She dropped her hand from his arm. Her voice suddenly sounded tight and crisp. “And to think I just heard on Entertainment Tonight that you are a confirmed bachelor.”

  “You know how accurate those shows are.” He cleared his throat nervously. “Her name is Kim, and she’s flying in from England to see me on Wednesday.”

  “England. How lovely.” Natalie drew her lips into something that was half smile and half scowl. “Such a warm, passionate people, the English.” The elevator door opened and they stepped out and headed down the hall. “Is she an actress?”

  “No, actually, she’s a botanist,” and then because Natalie was staring at him in disbelief, he added, “She’s finishing up her PhD in botany at the University of Sheffield.”

  “A PhD in botany?” Natalie repeated. “You can’t be serious.”

  He wasn’t. “I am.” He hoped Ki
m would understand when he told her of these new developments in their relationship.

  Natalie’s voice was all sharp edges. “Well, it’s become suddenly clear to me why no one knows you’re dating her. I’d hide something like that too.”

  They’d reached Clarissa’s room, and Slade knocked lightly on the door. “Kim’s a lovely person,” he said. “And I’m not hiding her. In fact, I’m bringing her to your costume party.”

  Natalie blinked coolly. “I can hardly wait to meet her. She can put on a lab coat and come as herself.”

  Clarissa answered the door. She’d changed into a sundress and put on just enough makeup to emphasize her large eyes. Her hair had been brushed into soft blonde waves that lay on her shoulders. She looked both wholesome and beautiful.

  “Are you ready for me to take Bella?” Clarissa’s eyes, though not as blue as Natalie’s, were brighter, clearer. And suddenly it struck him exactly how alike and yet how contrasted the two women with him were. It was as if someone had created Clarissa purely to make a point—not all beautiful women were like Natalie.

  “Bella is asleep.” As soon as Slade said the words, he felt his daughter’s arms tighten around his neck. He walked over and tried to lay her down on the couch, but she wouldn’t let go of his neck.

  “I want to stay with you,” she mumbled into his shirt.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he told her.

  She didn’t let go of his neck, and then wailed, “Noooo!”

  Clarissa came and helped peel Bella’s arms off him, repeating, “It’s all right, Bella, we’ll order some lunch, and then you’ll feel better.”

  At last Clarissa was able to drag the little girl from her father’s arms. “She’ll be fine in a minute,” Clarissa told Slade over the wailing. “Just go.”

  Slade hesitated, then turned and went with Natalie. The wailing was still audible, though faint, all the way down the hall.

  Slade would have liked to change out of his swimming things before he talked to AJ. He didn’t suggest it to Natalie. It was better to limit his time with her as much as possible.