A Holiday Fling by Mary Jo Putney Page A

call. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, then turned and walked away.

 
     
     
    Chapter 10

     
    Los Angeles
    Usually the week between Christmas and New Year’s was an odd, waiting time, when the real world was held at bay and a girl could catch up with friends, sleep, and shopping, if she was lucky.
    Of course, mad preparations for a starring role in a movie were a different kind of luck. Jenny sprawled on the sofa in the living room of her hotel suite, sipping from a glass of white burgundy and toying with a key on a small brass ring. Marcus was taking very good care of his new leading lady. She had been working hard ever since she’d arrived in Los Angeles, but he made sure she was comfortable, and had even taken her home to his own warm, eclectic family for dinner on Christmas Day.
    Jenny suppressed a yawn, knowing she should be studying her script. She loved this movie, and deep in her bones felt the rightness that came with having material that suited her. Whether the movie turned into box office gold or bust, she would never be sorry she had accepted the role.
    But hotels were lonely. She would love to have Plato here, but that would mean six months of quarantine when she took him back to England, and that didn’t bear thinking of. Instead, he was being spoiled rotten at her parents’ house, where he stayed whenever she traveled.
    A pity she couldn’t call Patricia or another friend for a good gossip, but the hour was far too late in England, and she didn’t have close friends on this side of the Atlantic. Former lovers like Greg didn’t count. Even if she had his family’s number in Ohio, she couldn’t call. That nice cinematic farewell at Heathrow had been the end.
    She spun the key ring on her finger. In a burst of sentimentality, she had dug out the apartment key Greg had given her so many years earlier. Not that she could use it, any more than she could call him at his parents’ home, but it was a nice talisman for remembering the good times.
    On the verge of bathos, she remembered that she did have one good friend on this side of the Atlantic, and he would be happy to learn of her lucky break. She found her address book and dialed Kenzie Scott’s private number at his ranch in New Mexico.
    "Hello?" The feminine voice was low and distinctive.
    Belatedly Jenny realized that she should have anticipated that the phone might be answered by Kenzie’s wife, Raine Marlowe. Though Raine had been civil the one time they had met, she might be less polite about a phone call to her husband from an old girlfriend.
    A little cautiously, Jenny said, "Hello, Raine, this is Jenny Lyme. I’m in Los Angeles and have some wonderful news that I wanted to tell Kenzie. Is he available?"
    "We’re having a lovely moonlight-on-snow night, so he took Faith for a walk," Raine explained.
    Jenny did a quick mental calculation. "Faith is old enough to walk?"
    The other woman laughed. "Actually, she’s in a baby sling across Kenzie’s chest and probably sound asleep, but Kenzie likes taking her out. He should be back soon. If you give me your number, I can have him call you. Though if you don’t mind sharing, I always love to hear good news, too. We’re in such a difficult business that we need to celebrate the successes."
    Since Raine sounded genuinely interested, Jenny said, "Just before Christmas, Marcus Gordon called me out of the blue and asked me to step in as the female lead for his version of Auntie Mame ."
    "So you got the role! Wonderful—it was made for you, and you’ll look gorgeous in those 1920s costumes. Congratulations!"
    This didn’t sound like surprise. Putting two and two together, Jenny asked, "Did you or Kenzie suggest me to Marcus?"
    "Yes, but Greg Marino was the one who set the ball rolling in the first place. Did he come back to Los Angeles with you?"
    "No, he flew home to Ohio." Jenny’s brow wrinkled. "How was he involved?"
    "He called a couple of weeks ago and said that if any good