Free Rendezvous at Midnight by Lynne Connolly Page A

it any other way.
    “Dayum, you look great, girl!” Cliff exclaimed. “Done your makeup differently?”
    She shot him a grin. “Of course not. I know better. There’s not much more to do.” She took the clipboard and scanned the script. It wasn’t a line-by-line, but an outline of the subjects she had to cover. A red line marked where they’d stopped the day before. At almost exactly the same time. Most of the light here was artificial, but in the suite beyond, large windows opened on to a view of the bay, curving around as though it had been put there just for the delectation of the occupants of suite number one.
    She recapped from the day before, providing an overlap in case the editor needed one and went into the suite.
    This time there was no unpleasant shock, just a luxury suite decorated in a deliberately retro style. Her mind elsewhere, Lisa outlined the circumstances of her mother’s death, surprised to discover she felt no emotion as she related the story. Since her father had told her years before, she’d read about it, discovered all the details she could, but never felt any link between herself and the beautiful, though misguided, Rosanna. An accident of fate made her resemble her mother more than her father, but despite looking like her mother, she felt no connection, no fondness.
    The introduction went well. She repeated it, as she always did, in case they needed to splice anything in. Sometimes, especially in haunted sites, strange lights and sound interferences only became apparent when they were back in the editing suite, and recording everything twice was such a habit, nobody stopped to say “cut” or “retake.” Relief suffused her when she finished. She could join Michael now. She found she needed him, wanted his touch. His mind wasn’t enough. She wanted her fingers laced with his, his warmth close enough for her to feel.
    Was it always this way, love ?
    Lisa had no way of knowing. She’d liked men before, even had crushes, but had never felt this intensity of emotion for any man. It was like a physical need. She’d held back, done the right thing and tried to make her relationship with Brant work, but even then, she’d watched Michael, wondered what it would be like to be loved by a man like him.
    Now she knew. She wanted more. She doubted she’d ever be satisfied.
    I feel the same way .
    His voice in her head sounded natural and right. Lisa turned and headed for the door of the suite. An arm blocked her way.
    “Let me by, Brant.”
    He just stared at her, as though he was trying to read her, as Michael could do. Then with an audible intake of breath, he spoke. “Why did you sleep with him?”
    She raised a brow. “Can’t you guess?”
    He gritted his teeth, visibly controlling his emotions. “He’s got a big dick?”
    The crudeness suited him, she realized. Brant McManus might be big and handsome, but he had no tenderness. When she was with him, he’d made her feel possessed, wanted, but never cherished. She hadn’t known that particular feeling until last night. “Let me pass. I don’t owe you any explanations, Brant, or anything else. In case you’d forgotten, you dumped me .”
    He smiled slowly, the corners of his sensual mouth curling up in a way she used to love. With the emphasis on the used to . “Is that what this is all about? I was only waiting for you to come to your senses, baby. If you like, you can come back now. But I still want you to give up work. That’s a given.”
    “Give it to yourself. If you can find a woman who wants that, she’s an idiot and you deserve each other.”
    He showed no sign of getting out the way so she tried to reach past him to the door.
    Catching her arm, he yanked her hard into his body and then whirled around so he slammed her against the wall, knocking the breath out of her.
    “I like some spirit in a woman. But I also like a woman who knows when to give in. Just to help you along a bit, I’ll give you a bit of advice. Keep