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Authors: Jennifer Blake
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Logan. If he saw it, he gave no sign. “Yes,” she said finally.
“And I suppose you were alone, you and Logan?”
“That’s right,” Clare said, twin spots of anger beginning to burn on her cheekbones.
Amazingly, a crooked smile moved over Marvin Hobbs’s mouth. “I see,” he said, a knowing, satisfied sound in his voice.
“No,” Logan corrected him quietly, “I don’t think you do. Clare is my fiancee.”
Clare swung her head to stare at Logan. His face was closed and unreadable.
The older man cleared his throat, the dull flush of a decent man caught in the wrong rising under his skin. “I didn’t … I must congratulate you then, and apologize, doubly. You will have to admit I had cause for my error.”
Marvin Hobbs had expected to find his wife with Logan; there could be little doubt of that. His words could apply to his misjudgment of the situation between Logan and Clare, but they could just as easily mean he thought he had been given reason to believe Janine would be there. Clare was not surprised that Logan refused to commit himself by agreeing or disagreeing with the man. As for Logan’s announcement, it was not every day that she received the honorary title of fiancee. Though the shock of it still tingled along her veins, she was not so stupid as to think Logan meant anything except to save her embarrassment and to put any suspicions Hobbs might have completely to rout. It appeared to have served the purpose, but if Logan was not going to undo what he had accomplished, he must begin to yield a little.
In defiance of the tension between the two men, Clare said, “It doesn’t matter, Mr. Hobbs. I believe you drove here, didn’t you? Could you tell us what the roads are like?”
“Anxious to get away, are you?”
“Not at all,” Clare said, aware even as she searched her mind for an excuse that would blend with what he had been told that she was not cut out for this kind of subterfuge. “It is only that I … I don’t want to distract Logan from his work.”
“I don’t imagine he minds,” Hobbs said. “But what work is this, Logan? I thought you had finished this screenplay of yours?”
“So did I, but Clare seems to think that certain characters, most of them female, need to be a bit stronger.”
“Does she, now? She may be right, but I hope you don’t intend to make any major changes. I like the script the way it is. As a matter of fact, I think it would be a good idea for us to get down to some serious discussion about it.” He turned back to Clare. “Are you staying in Aspen, Miss Thornton?”
“Not in Aspen, but in the area.”
“Good. I want you, and Logan to have dinner with me tonight. I owe you that much for barging in here, and it will be as good a time as any for seeing what terms we can come up with on this new production.”
Once again Clare glanced at Logan. The look on his face was far from helpful as he stood watching her, with one arm resting on the newel post and something perilously like laughter lurking at the back of his eyes.
Clare turned to the other man. “It is kind of you to include me in the invitation, Mr. Hobbs,” she said finally. “However, I am sure you and Logan can get along much better if I am not there.”
“I don’t know about that. It seems to me you may be a young lady with something worth contributing.”
“No, really, I would rather not.”
“Logan, I leave it to you to persuade her,” Marvin Hobbs said. “I am sure you can do a much better job than I can. I will reserve a table for seven o’clock in the dining room of my hotel. I hired a four-wheel-drive vehicle to get up here, but I don’t see why you can’t make it out with street tires and chains, after the plow comes. I’m looking forward to seeing both of you at seven.”
Furnishing them with the name and address of the place where he was staying, the producer shook hands with Logan, nodded to Clare, and took his leave.
Chapter 4
“I don’t suppose he
“And I suppose you were alone, you and Logan?”
“That’s right,” Clare said, twin spots of anger beginning to burn on her cheekbones.
Amazingly, a crooked smile moved over Marvin Hobbs’s mouth. “I see,” he said, a knowing, satisfied sound in his voice.
“No,” Logan corrected him quietly, “I don’t think you do. Clare is my fiancee.”
Clare swung her head to stare at Logan. His face was closed and unreadable.
The older man cleared his throat, the dull flush of a decent man caught in the wrong rising under his skin. “I didn’t … I must congratulate you then, and apologize, doubly. You will have to admit I had cause for my error.”
Marvin Hobbs had expected to find his wife with Logan; there could be little doubt of that. His words could apply to his misjudgment of the situation between Logan and Clare, but they could just as easily mean he thought he had been given reason to believe Janine would be there. Clare was not surprised that Logan refused to commit himself by agreeing or disagreeing with the man. As for Logan’s announcement, it was not every day that she received the honorary title of fiancee. Though the shock of it still tingled along her veins, she was not so stupid as to think Logan meant anything except to save her embarrassment and to put any suspicions Hobbs might have completely to rout. It appeared to have served the purpose, but if Logan was not going to undo what he had accomplished, he must begin to yield a little.
In defiance of the tension between the two men, Clare said, “It doesn’t matter, Mr. Hobbs. I believe you drove here, didn’t you? Could you tell us what the roads are like?”
“Anxious to get away, are you?”
“Not at all,” Clare said, aware even as she searched her mind for an excuse that would blend with what he had been told that she was not cut out for this kind of subterfuge. “It is only that I … I don’t want to distract Logan from his work.”
“I don’t imagine he minds,” Hobbs said. “But what work is this, Logan? I thought you had finished this screenplay of yours?”
“So did I, but Clare seems to think that certain characters, most of them female, need to be a bit stronger.”
“Does she, now? She may be right, but I hope you don’t intend to make any major changes. I like the script the way it is. As a matter of fact, I think it would be a good idea for us to get down to some serious discussion about it.” He turned back to Clare. “Are you staying in Aspen, Miss Thornton?”
“Not in Aspen, but in the area.”
“Good. I want you, and Logan to have dinner with me tonight. I owe you that much for barging in here, and it will be as good a time as any for seeing what terms we can come up with on this new production.”
Once again Clare glanced at Logan. The look on his face was far from helpful as he stood watching her, with one arm resting on the newel post and something perilously like laughter lurking at the back of his eyes.
Clare turned to the other man. “It is kind of you to include me in the invitation, Mr. Hobbs,” she said finally. “However, I am sure you and Logan can get along much better if I am not there.”
“I don’t know about that. It seems to me you may be a young lady with something worth contributing.”
“No, really, I would rather not.”
“Logan, I leave it to you to persuade her,” Marvin Hobbs said. “I am sure you can do a much better job than I can. I will reserve a table for seven o’clock in the dining room of my hotel. I hired a four-wheel-drive vehicle to get up here, but I don’t see why you can’t make it out with street tires and chains, after the plow comes. I’m looking forward to seeing both of you at seven.”
Furnishing them with the name and address of the place where he was staying, the producer shook hands with Logan, nodded to Clare, and took his leave.
Chapter 4
“I don’t suppose he
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