Her Leading Man Read Online Free

threw out his arms, barely missing Christina, who had
to jump back to avoid being belted. “Nobody cares about the camels. People
go to the
pictures to see the stars.”
    As he lifted his chin, pasted a noble expression onto his handsome
face, and peered off into the distance as he delivered the line, Christina
had no difficulty in figuring out which star he meant. She grimaced before she
could stop herself .
    Martin, on the other hand, appeared slightly taken aback . “I hope that’s not the only reason,
Pablo,” he said gently. Christina had to give him credit for
being able to
put up with guff remarkably well . “We at Peerless always
strive to deliver a superior product.”
    Since he was talking about an industry Christina despised as
manipulative and mind-numbing drivel, she was proud of herself when she
restrained a contemptuous g uffaw .
    Nevertheless, she was more encouraged than not when she returned to
her hotel room to report to her grandmother.
     
     
     
     
Two
     
    Elizabeth Noble Mayhew ,
“ Gran” to
Christina, clumped down the stairs of the Desert Palm Resort holding tightly to
the banister with one hand and clutching her cane with the other. Christina had
asked if she
could be of help to her, but as usual her grandmother had refused
assistance.
    “ l’m
old, not helpless, drat you, child.”
    Grinning at her back, Christina made her voice sound contrite.
“Yes, Gran. I’m so sorry . ”
    Her grandmother sniffed . “Don’t mollycoddle
me, damn
it . ”
    “ Never?” Christina wondered what the gallant
Pablo Orozco would make of an old lady who swore like a sailor and
had more brains than ten of him . Nothing good, she
hoped.
    Martin Tafft passed across the hotel lobby at the foot of the stairs.
Christina watched him with more interest than she usually paid to men. She
couldn’t afford to be interested in men until she’d finished her education—if she
ever did.
    Yet Martin appealed to her. She thought her reaction had something to do with his dedication to his chosen field of work, even
if his field wasn’t one of which she particularly approved. She felt the
same degree of dedication to medicine. Medicine, she reminded herself so that she
wouldn’t get foolish notions about Martin, was an ennobling profession.
Moving pictures were merely entertaining trash.
    “ Who’s that?” her grandmother barked, and
she held out her cane to point at Martin.
    “ That’s Mr. Tafft. He’s the director and
producer of Egyptian Idyll , Gran. He’s the power behind the Pharaonic throne, as
it were.”
    “ Humph.
Looks too smart to be in the pictures.”
    He did look smart. “Yes. I believe he’s considered to be rather
intelligent.”
    “ Why’s he wasting his time in pictures,
then?” Gran reached the bottom stair and balanced carefully before taking the
last step onto the lobby floor.
    Christina shrugged. “Money, I suppose. Like the rest of
us.”
    She was startled when a voice spoke from a few feet off. “Miss
Mayhew! Please, allow me to assist your grandmother.”
    Martin Tafft hurried up to the two of them and held out a hand.
Gran slapped it away brusquely. “Lay off, you. I might be old, but I’m not
in my dotage
yet.”
    Martin jumped back, startled. Christina didn’t blame him. “Gran,”
she said, “there’s no need to be rude. M r. Tafft was only being
polite.”
    “ Pshaw,” said her grandmother with
admirable conciseness.
    Christina wasn’t generally embarrassed by her feisty grandmother’s
less-than-stellar behavior, but she believed Martin Tafft deserved better, at
least at this point. If he should turn out to be a rat later on,
then Christina would let her grandmother go at him all she wanted. She
smiled at Martin, having learned from experience that men got dippy when
she did that.
“I’m so sorry, Martin. Gran’s touchy about her independence.”
    Martin’s gaze flew between the two women for a second. He was
clearly trying to figure them both out. Christina