Phoenix Falling by Mary Jo Putney Page B

breath, rage vanishing into understanding. "I see, sir. You mean I should stop being distracted by heroes and Hollywood and just do the job. Be Mustafa instead of a nervous actor."
    "Right. But I'm not 'sir.' I'm a swine. An arrogant unbeliever—and I definitely don't belong on a pedestal."
    "Yes, si... Sir Swine." Sharif smiled. From now on, he would regard Kenzie as a fellow actor, not a paragon.
    Kenzie clapped the young man on the shoulder. "Let's go back and try it again, and this time, send chills through John Randall's unimaginative heart."
    Take eighteen was filmed without a hitch.

 
     
     
    Chapter 8

     
    After the final scene of the afternoon, Rainey rolled her tight shoulders. It had been a long day, but a good one. After filming the close-ups of Randall's first meeting with Mustafa, they'd gone on to an earlier scene where Randall risked his life to save one of his men from a poisonous snake.
    Kenzie had been wonderful—tight-lipped, fearless, utterly competent. She hoped there would be room for the incident in the final cut because it demonstrated Randall's courage, his marksmanship, and his dedication to his men. Since Randall's rigid world view might be hard for modern audiences to relate to, it was important to show that by the standards of his day, he was an exemplary officer.
    Walking up to Kenzie, she said, "You're doing great."
    Looking tense and tired, he unbuttoned his heavy red wool uniform tunic, revealing the very modern white T-shirt underneath. "This is only my first day. It's going to be a long couple of months." Rubbing at the red marks left by his tight collar, he headed for his trailer.
    She followed, stretching her steps to match his. "Thanks for settling Sharif down. Since you talked to him, he's been terrific."
    "He's very talented. The perfect blend of danger and disturbing appeal."
    "The tension between the two of you is complex enough to make everything that happens later believable."
    She was about to say more when Kenzie paused, tall and intimidating in his uniform. "Is there a good reason why you're following me around?"
    Rainey stopped in her tracks, flushing scarlet. "As... as your director, I wanted to see how you're doing."
    "As your soon to be ex-husband, I find too much proximity exhausting."
    She felt as if she'd been slapped. "I... I thought we were getting along pretty well. I'd hope we could work together as friends."
    A muscle jumped in his cheek. " Friends . A woman's idea of a good solution and a man's nightmare. You are not my friend, Rainey. You are my wife, at least for now. While you're thinking amiability, I'm thinking how much I enjoyed sleeping with you. I can't help it, I'm a man and we're made that way. Usually we hide our base natures, but when I'm making a movie, I haven't much energy left over for maintaining a civilized facade. Not where you're concerned."
    "You think only men obsess about sex?" she retorted. "How very retrograde."
    His brows arched. "Is that a declaration of interest?"
    "It's a declaration of memory." She sighed. "We both knew this would be difficult. I didn't mean to make it worse by following you around. I'm just worried. About you, the movie, everything."
    He gave her a wintry smile. "A little worry is useful, but too much is destructive. Don't overdose on anxiety before we even get to England."
    "You're right, of course, but relaxation is hard to do on command." She saw a gleam in his eye and belatedly wondered if he was going to suggest that sex was a famously effective stress reliever—one that he'd used with her in the past when she was tied in knots.
    A memory seared through her of the two of them lying in bed together after making love, a pine-scented candle burning on the bedside table. She couldn't even remember where they were—an inn on the coast of Brittany, maybe, because waves had been crashing on the headlands outside. But she remembered how she'd felt: utterly tranquil, her busy brain almost still. So this is peace,