Read Online Aspen Gold by Janet Dailey - Free Book Online Page B

direction of the commissary a block and a half away, more intrigued than ever by this bright-eyed actress who bore no resemblance at all to the bitter, pained, volatile character she had portrayed so convincingly moments ago.
    "Do you mind if we go somewhere else? I'm too keyed up. I need to keep moving."
    "Okay by me."
    "Good. We can take my car." She dug her keys out of her purse as she crossed the grassy verge by the curb and walked around the hood of an older model MG Midget, a white convertible with red seats. It suited her.
    She slipped into the driver's seat and deftly swung her legs in. John had to do a bit more maneuvering to get his long legs to fit in the small space.
    "Are you too cramped?"
    "Not if I cut my legs off at the knees."
    Her eyes sparkled with laughter. "You have a sense of humor. I'm glad." She smiled and inserted the key in the ignition. "Your seat will go back a little more. The catch is underneath."
    "Got it." He gained another two inches of much-needed room for his legs.
    The engine sputtered hesitantly, then rumbled to life. He shifted slightly in the bucket seat, stretching one arm along the back of it and hooking the other along the window. He remained silent while she pulled away from the curb and onto the road. He waited until they had left the studio lot before he resumed the conversation.
    "What are you doing on a soap?" In his opinion, she had too much talent for that.
    Considerably more than he'd given her credit for.
    "That's easy." She smiled, enjoying the sensation of the wind blowing through her hair as the little MG zipped through traffic. "It's a well-written show and a steady job. At least, it was. I found out this week, my character is being written out. Which means I'll be back pounding the pavement and going to cattle calls." She spied a set of golden arches at the next corner.
    "Do you like French fries?"
    "I guess so. Why?"
    "I love them and McDonald's has the best. I can never make myself eat before an audition and I'm always starving afterward." She whipped the car into the lot and went to the drive-through, ordering a jumbo fry and two black coffees. She took a deep, appreciative smell of the aroma coming from the sack before she passed it to him.
    "It's enough to make your mouth water."
    John wasn't sure he'd go that far, then tried to remember the last time he'd been to McDonald's as he wedged the sack in beside him on the bucket seat. They exited onto the street. Soon the little car was speeding through the traffic again.
    "Who's your agent?"
    "Maury Rose." She snagged a thick strand of hair the wind had whipped across her face and pushed it back.
    "Maury Rose." John frowned. The name didn't mean anything to him. "What agency is he with?"
    "The Maury Rose Agency." She sent him a quick, amused look.
    "A one-man operation?" His eyebrows lifted.
    "I think Joanna would resent that," Kit said, then explained, "She's his secretary and right arm. Maybe his left one, too."

    "I know some people at William Morris and Creative Artists. I'll introduce you to them," he said as she swung the car onto one of the twisting, curving roads that wound into Hollywood Hills. "You've got a nobody for an agent.
    It's time you switched to a high-powered firm that can do some good."
    "Thanks, but I'll stick with Maury.
    He's been my agent from the beginning."
    "He hasn't gotten you very far after nine years, has he?"
    "Maybe not. But he brought me to the dance.
    I'll go home with him."
    "In this business, it's all business, Kit," he informed her. "There's no room for sentiment."
    "To borrow a famous Kennedy phrase--
    "If not here, where? If not now, when?"'"
    "Noble but not realistic."
    "And you're a diehard realist, aren't you?" she guessed.
    "Guilty." The road climbed higher, the traffic noise fading.
    "How did you get started in acting?" she asked curiously.
    "On a dare. I made some comment about acting being easy and a buddy of mine challenged me to try out for a play a local theater group