"Bennett, Cherie - Sunset Island 011 - Sunset Paradise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bennett Cherie)

"No kidding?" Matt asked. "I'm impressed."
"I just got lucky," Carrie demurred.
"You did not," Sam exclaimed. "Your stuff is great."
"Sam," Emma said in a low voice, touching Sam's arm, "butt out."
"Do you happen to know a writer there named Faith O'Connor?" Matt asked Carrie.
Carrie was stunned. Faith O'Connor was the writer she had worked with when she took photos of Graham Perry at his big concert in Miami the previous winter. She had refused to take shots of him that could prove he was addicted to cocaine, and Faith had practically fired her on the spot. Graham had since completely cleaned up his act. He'd sought counseling and never touched drugs. Carrie's memory of Faith's ruthlessness, however, had remained.
"Yes, I know Faith," Carrie said evenly.
"Well, as far as I'm concerned, she's as big a barracuda as Bubba down there," Matt said, pointing to the huge fish below them. "She'd sell her mother to the devil for the right story."
"I'm glad to hear you say that," Carrie said, relief in her voice. "I had some problems with her myself. So, how do you know Faith?"
"It's a long story," Matt said, running his hand through his sandy brown hair. "How about if you come get a drink with me and I tell you then?" He stood and held out his hand to Carrie to help her up. Carrie took it and they walked toward the bar in the bow of the boat. Sam gave Carrie a big thumbs-up
sign behind Matt's back as the two of them walked away.
When they reached the bar, Matt and Carrie each got a pina colada. "So what's the Faith O'Connor story?" Carrie asked.
"Well, I'm an actor and I live in New York," Matt explained. "I was cast in this new play, Exhaling Darkness. Nancy Pumpkin, the rock singer, had a part in it, too. Faith decided to do a feature story on our play."
"So what's wrong with that?" Carrie asked, taking a sip of her drink.
"Nothing," Matt said, "if all she had wanted to do was report. But somehow she got the idea that Nancy was having an affair with the director."
Carrie raised her eyebrows quizzically.
"So," Matt continued, "she hounded all of us in the cast whenever she could to try and get the story. She told us all kinds of lies about what Nancy supposedly thought of us and the play."
"That's rotten," Carrie murmured.
"No kidding," Matt agreed. He looked out at the horizon. "Anyway, to make a long story short, O'Connor managed to make everyone so suspicious of everyone else that we all wound up hating one another. She never got us to talk, I'm happy to say."
"Did she ruin the play?" Carrie asked.
"Hard to say." Matt shrugged. "It wasn't a bad script, but there was so much tension in the cast that the whole thing just couldn't come together. It opened and closed in one night," he said wistfully. "But I suppose that's show biz."
"That's terrible," Carrie said, finishing her drink.
"It could have been worse," Matt said philosophically. "At least I got paid Equity scale."
"What's Equity scale?" Carrie asked.
Matt started to explain to her all about Actors' Equity, the union of professional theatrical actors and stage managers, just as Emma and Sam walked up.
"Don't let us interrupt," Sam said. "We're just checking to make sure you two didn't fall overboard."
"These are my friends Emma and Sam," Carrie said, introducing Matt to them.
"Ah, yes, your guardian angel," Matt joked, shaking Sam's hand.
The four of them talked for a while, then Sam and Emma headed back to the glass-bottom area. Carrie and Matt continued talkingЧabout the theater, photography, politics, everything.
He's so easy to talk to, Carrie thought
wmie Matt was telling her a story about his acting class in New York. / already feel comfortable with him.
Before she knew it, two hours had passed and the Heart of Glass was pulling back into the ferryport.
"Talk about a fast trip," Matt said, smiling into Carrie's eyes. "I'm sorry it's over."
"It was great talking with you," Carrie said sincerely. "I guess I should go find my friends."
"Wait," Matt said, putting his hand on Carrie's arm. "Can I see you again?"
Before Carrie could open her mouth, Billy Sampson's face swam into her consciousness. Billy. She was in love with Billy. It was bad enough that she had to deal with her old boyfriend, Josh, who was still attracted to her. She just couldn't get involved with yet another guy!
"I don't think so," Carrie said, turning away.
"Are you sure?" Matt asked. "I really . . . well, I'd like to get to know you better."
"I have a boyfriend," Carrie blurted out.
"Is that it?" Matt laughed. "Well, is he here with you?"
"No," Carrie confessed, looking down at the deck.
"Good," Matt said. "Now, you're staying at the Hotel Paradise, right? What room are you in?"
"I really don't thinkЧ" Carrie began.
"We'll be Mends. That's all," Matt said, gently pushing some hair away from Carrie's face.
"Friends, huh?" Carrie said.
"Friends," he repeated solemnly.
"I'm in room eighteen-oh-four," Carrie told him.
"I'll call you," he promised. He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips.
The reaction Carrie felt was definitely more than just friendly.
"Hot fun in the summertime," Sam sang out as they bopped down the hall back to their rooms. Once inside, she threw herself down on the couch near the window. "Whew.' I am pooped!"