Along Came A Prince (4 page)

“Maybe this?” He
gently took Stacia into his arms and kissed her as if there could be no
tomorrow. It didn’t exist. He wasn’t leaving, because there was no place else
to go. There was only now harnessed to forever in an unbreakable chain.

She put both her
hands on his face, trying to get as close to him as possible. He answered by
putting his on hers. Deeper and deeper went the kiss. It held the promise that
this was only the beginning for them. Suddenly, it was over. They stood apart,
and she instantly missed his warmth and his tenderness, combined with a passion
she’d never experienced before.

“There just wasn’t
enough time,” he said regretfully. “I have to do something about that.”

“I…don’t think
there’s anything you or I can do.”

“I’ll have to
think about it though.” His arms surrounded her again. “Right now, all I can
think about is you.” He kissed her again, his tongue mating with hers.

His kiss rocked
her world the same as it did before. She felt as if the whole planet had been
detached from its axis and was soaring through space, never to return again.
And she could live with that. Nothing else mattered but Clay at this moment,
this time and place. But it had to stop…a small voice deep inside her demanded
it. So she did. She stopped the kiss and an icy, cold shock of reality replaced
it. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want us to end up doing something we’ll be sorry
for later.”

“I know.” He pulled
out his cell to check the time. “I see it’s your bewitching hour. I want you to
know that you’ve bewitched me ever since I bumped into you by the caviar last
night. You can cast quite a spell, Stacia, but now I guess it’s time for me to
get back to my hotel. I leave early tomorrow for home.”

Her fingers
touched her tingling lips that had not returned to normal from his kisses. “How
can you get so…formal…so fast…after those kisses? I guess most women you’ve met
wouldn’t have stopped you.”

“Trust me, Stacia.
You are not like most women. You are unique and special. Maybe my way of
controlling what we just experienced doesn’t match yours, but it’s the only way
I know how to get control of myself.” He bent down and planted a gentle kiss on
her cheek.

“Goodbye,
princess,” he said as he walked out the door. “See you soon.”

♥♥

Prince Clayton was
mesmerized, and he couldn’t get the gorgeous red-haired woman off his mind
since he’d left her condo that evening. He’d had to get out of there fast after
those amazing kisses. His mind had started fantasizing about more than just kissing
her, probably due to the combination of spending time with her and his fiery
attraction to this incredible woman, Stacia Saunders, the movie actress. Hollywood
star or not, she was by far the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life.
Not that he was typically a fan of red-haired women. Actually, he hadn’t been
particularly interested in any woman with that color hair…until he’d met her.

And her eyes.
Sea-green, he’d say if he were asked to describe them. Right when he first saw
her, even though it was only for moments, he’d instantly decided she was the
only woman he’d ever seen who had everything. Her immediate offer to help him was
caring and indicated the beauty she had inside. Her loveliness spoke of her
beauty outside. And her sexiness exploded before him, tantalizing his
imagination to heights he hadn’t realized existed. But he could only leave her
standing there because Sam had been about to introduce him. Then, later that
evening and today, after spending more time with her, the experiences had only
cemented his first impression of her. She was the complete package, the real
thing. Everything in the world any man could desire.

It was long after
midnight, and unable to sleep, he sat in his hotel suite with drawing pencils
and a sketch pad, trying to think up a design for his upcoming show. The only
thing he could dream up was a very vivid picture of one ravishing Miss
Saunders.

Well, he’d better
come up with some workable plans and fast. His deadline was getting
hair-splitting close...only a few days were left. He stood up and stretched. He
walked over to his balcony and leaned on the railing while he surveyed the
lights of the city below. It was much more impressive when Stacia was next to
him.

He had to
concentrate on letting his creative juices flow. Moments later he laughed out
loud. Suddenly his ice sculpture came to life, and he had his idea…and a way to
see Stacia Saunders again.

♥♥

The next morning, Stacia
arrived at Hal’s office fifteen minutes early. She was shown into his elegant suite
in Beverly Hills, which she loved to tease him that she’d helped pay for. He
always came back with, “
Why do you think I get you such high salaries? Have
to pay my rent, you know.
”

In his thirties,
everyone wondered how someone as young as Hal could be such an important agent.
The truth was he kept his clients’ best interests first above his. He didn’t go
after the fast bucks for himself, just what would keep “his stars shining
brightly over Hollywood,” as he liked to say. He had a law degree from Harvard
as well as a business degree. His mother, Helen Ashley Shores, was a retired
actress. At the time he’d graduated summa cum laude, his mother had needed his
services to straighten out a messy lawsuit she was involved in with her then current
agent. Once he settled her problems, she asked him to be her agent. He decided
he liked the job, and his clientele list had grown ever since.

“How’re you doing
this morning, kiddo?” Hal asked, displaying a warm smile as she sank into his
plush leather couch.

“Everything’s
fine, Hal, except for one thing I forgot to mention before.”

“And
that is...?”

“Farrell Fontaine.
He plans to call you about me. I know what your answer would be if he wanted me
for one of his porn films.”

“Yeah, the roof
would probably blow right off this building.”

“That’s why I love
you, Hal. You’ve always got my back. Linda is one lucky woman.”

Hal had one of the
strongest marriages she knew. The love they had for one another radiated from
inside each of them whenever Stacia saw them together. Linda Montgomery was no
trophy wife either, although she had the assets to be. She had a law degree
from Harvard, like Hal, and practiced law in a penthouse suite in downtown L.A.

“Thanks, but I
think
I’m
the lucky one to have her.” Hal leaned back in his recliner. “By
the way, how’s old Farrell doing?”

“He was in rare
form. He almost pulled me off my chair at dinner, then passed out.”

“I feel sorry for
him. He’s a good producer, or was, I guess. He did a great job on my mother’s
first movie.”

A knock at the
door interrupted their conversation, and Hal’s assistant announced the arrival
of Nathan and Arthur.

“Show them in,”
Hal instructed.

The two men
entered the room, and Hal stood up and immediately became the executive
attorney-businessman-agent experience had educated him to be. “Mr. Sterling,
Mr. Keyes,” he said. He extended his hand to each of them and motioned toward
the over-stuffed leather chairs in front of his desk. “I think you’ll be
comfortable here.”

At Hal’s nod to
her, Stacia moved from the sofa to a chair he’d placed at a right angle close
to his.

“I understand
you’re interested in Stacia for your new movie,” Hal began. “This meeting, as
you know, is simply an inquiry for more information.”

“That’s fine,” Nathan
said. “Thank you both for agreeing to see us.”

“Suppose you tell
us more about your plans. The name of the movie, for starters, and who your financial
backer is. We need to know that in order to make sure of your credibility and
also to be certain everything and everyone is legit. Stacia will, of course, be
paid whether it is a hit or a flop. We will need a guarantee on that.”

“You don’t fool around,
do you?” Arthur said. “I see now where your reputation comes from.”

“Okay, let’s start
with the easy ones first,” Nathan suggested. “The movie is
London Affair
.”

“Are you serious?”
Hal stood up from his desk, stuck his hands in his pockets and walked toward
the door. From the dark expression on his face, Stacia wondered if he was going
to open it and ask the two men to leave.

“That was my
mother’s first picture,” he finally said. “The one she received her Oscar for
as supporting actress.”

“I thought you’d
be surprised,” Nathan commented. “That’s one of the reasons we wanted to tell
you in person.”

“It was filmed in
1949. My mother was nine at the time.”

“We know,” Nathan
said.

“Do you also
know
the horrible things that happened after the filming of it?” Hal sputtered.

“What horrible
things?” Stacia asked, unaware the words had even been spoken.

“Never mind,” Hal
said, dismissing her in a tone of voice she hadn’t heard him use before. He
walked back to his desk, sat down, and steepled his hands. She could tell he
was in control again. “I don’t feel comfortable recommending this film to
Stacia.”

Stacia’s mouth
flew open, as did Nathan’s and Arthur’s.

“I didn’t know
you’d have such strong negative emotions about this particular movie. I’m
sorry,” Nathan said. “We studied the film closely. It would be easy to use
Stacia’s image over Audra Parker’s. Arthur here is the expert on this. In fact,
we believe Stacia bears a striking resemblance to Audra and their ages mesh
perfectly.”

“And the ensuing
publicity?” Hal remarked, sarcasm tinting his words. “I don’t suppose that had
anything to do with your choice?”

“Yes, naturally,
we considered that,” Arthur declared, “but as a determining factor, the answer
would have to be no. We can obtain the rights for this movie at a fair price.
It was an excellent movie and, as you know, it won an Oscar for Best Film, as
well as a nomination for Audra posthumously for Best Actress.”

“I don’t know.”
Hal shook his head. “But, I’ll tell you what. Let’s hypothetically consider it.
What about Stacia’s salary?”

“I believe her
rate is 10 mil a film,” Nathan said. “We’re prepared to double that and offer
her $20 million.”

“Well, gentlemen, you
two have done your homework, I’ll say that for you. Your offer as it stands now,
however, is not acceptable. With all the uncertainties of this project and
repercussions that cannot be anticipated at this time, I can’t recommend this
project to Stacia as is.” Hal folded his hands and allowed his fingertips to
touch his bottom lip momentarily. Then he spread his arms out and, fingers up,
he pointed to a large stack of screenplays on his credenza. “See those? These projects
are just for Stacia to accept or reject. I’m sorry, but under the
circumstances, you need to raise your ante another ten mil.” He settled back in
his chair as if he were a brick building that couldn’t be moved.

Stacia was blown
away by all of her agent’s negotiations. Who would pay her $30 million to act
in a movie? As innovative as Nathan’s and Arthur’s ideas were, she would have played
the role for nothing.

The two men looked
at each other, and Nathan nodded his head in his partner’s direction. “We were
told not to haggle over her salary,” he said. “Our backer authorized us to accept
a proposed sum of up to $10 million more than we first offered. He said you
were a master at negotiating and that you’d always win in the end. I understand
now what he meant.”

“All right, we can
continue then.” Hal dismissed the compliment as if it hadn’t taken place. “Now,
what about your mystery backer?”

“Sorry, but he
remains anonymous, or he’s out of the deal.”

“How do we know he
can afford it? What proof do we have?”

For the second
time, Nathan and Arthur looked at each other and smiled.

“Oh, he can afford
it, all right,” Nathan said. “To calm any fear you might have of him dropping
out, he said he’d deposit Stacia’s salary in her bank immediately into an
escrow account. This would be distributed under the usual terms of her
contract, if she agrees to do
London Affair
.”

“Well, outside of
the choice of movie, everything else seems to be in order. Stacia and I will
discuss this and let you know the answer soon, within a day or two.”

“Sounds fair
enough.” Nathan stood up to leave.

Arthur did too. He
turned to Stacia. “I hope you come on board. We think we have a winner here,
and how many times can you get in on the ground floor of a new idea?”

The four shook
hands and said their good-byes, and Nathan and Arthur left Hal’s office.

“Well, Stace,
there you have it. What do you think?”

First, thank you
for getting me $30 million. Wow, I can’t believe it. You’re an amazing agent,
you know.” She shook her head. “None of this seems real to me.”

Hal chuckled. “It
will be when you see the numbers in your bank account. Anyway, it’s all in a
day’s work and you’re worth every cent…and even more.”

“I really don’t know
anything about the movie though. I haven’t seen it, but nevertheless, even
though it’s a gamble, I’m 100 percent for it, if you believe it’s right for me.
Do you?”

“I don’t know. I’d
like to talk to my mother about it. That may sound strange for a grown man to
say, but she was there when the original was made. And by the way, so was
Farrell, as one of the producers.”

“Are you saying we
should suggest he be a producer on this one also?”

“No, of course not,”
Hal said. “I do think, however, that maybe Arthur was right. How many times can
you get in on the ground floor of a new idea?”

“Then it’s
settled.” She started for the door. “We’ll plan on saying yes, unless your
mother convinces us otherwise.”