Brit Flick Sweethearts: A Rom-Com With Spanking Read Free Page A

man.
    He gave her
hand a little squeeze and they began the walk down the red carpet.
She seemed so short next to him, even shorter than usual. She
looked as vulnerable and as beautiful as Marilyn Monroe.
    He decided to
take back what he said about her being a wooden actress. Because
this was surely the performance of a lifetime.
    “Curt! Dahlia!
Over here!” screamed a hundred photographers and journalists.
    The flash bulbs
went pop and he felt Dahlia edge closer to him.
    A man with a
microphone was leaning far over the railing. “Over here!” he
shouted above the din.
    Curt steered
his leading lady over in his direction. He recognised the logo on
the microphone as being a major television network. He knew he had
to ‘work the press,’ to quote his agent.
    “How do you
guys feel about Brick Face storming the box office?” the man
shouted.
    “We’re
thrilled, aren’t we Dahlia?”
    “Yes.
Thrilled,” she said in a small voice.
    “Do you two
have any more projects lined up together?”
    “Nothing in the
immediate future, but never say never, right?”
    “Speaking of
which Curt, are the rumours true? Are you lined up to play the next
Bond?”
    “Not that I’m
aware of,” he said, knowing full there was talk of it.
    “Dahlia!”
screamed another journalist from the other side of the carpet. Curt
led Dahlia in his direction. “I see you two are holding hands. The
question everyone here is dying to ask is, are you two an
item?”
    What Curt did
next was completely out of the blue, and came as a surprise, even
to him. The way she was trembling by his side, how beautiful she
looked, the adrenalin coursing through him, it all conspired to
make him swoop her down in an old fashioned, Hollywood style
clinch.
    The roar of the
crowd was deafening.
    “Does that
answer your question?” he asked casually when he broke off the
kiss.
    When he glanced
down at Dahlia, she looked positively shell shocked. God, she was
adorable tonight.
    He pulled her
close to him so they walked the remainder of the carpet with his
hand firmly around her waist, stopping to talk to various reporters
and to pose for numerous photographs.
    “Why on earth
did you do that?” she hissed once they were inside the theatre.
    “Because if I
didn’t find an excuse to hold you up you would’ve keeled over on
the red carpet and made both of us look like ninnys. To use your
words.”
    Except he knew
that wasn’t it. The thought of never seeing her again after this
film premiere was over was too awful. Now the press had linked them
up, he was bound to see her again through necessity.
    “Oh come on
Dahlia, don’t give me that look, this will do wonders for both of
our careers, and isn’t that what you want more than anything?”
    He fell silent
when they were approached by some smooth guy in a suit and they
were swept along into the theatre to watch their film.
     
    The after show
party was a glamorous, glitzy affair and Doris did her best not to
feel overwhelmed.
    She suspected
that she was failing miserably. Curt didn’t leave her side all
evening, steering her round to various people that were bigwigs in
the film industry. She spotted a fair few celebrities too and she
did her best not to stare.
    Again, she
failed miserably.
    “What is it
with you?” Curt asked, the amusement in his voice all too obvious
when he caught her staring for the millionth time. “Christ, that
one is only a newsreader for the Beeb, what’s so fascinating about
her?”
    “Nothing,” she
mumbled, feeling the hot blush stain her cheeks.
    But that wasn’t
to say she wasn’t enjoying herself. It felt so good to be hanging
off Curt’s arm. What woman didn’t secretly or not so secretly dream
of such a thing? And once she relaxed, she let her natural
sweetness and intelligence surface and she exchanged light banter
with all she met as they did the circuit of the room.
    The flowing
champagne helped too.
    “Darling, you
were amazing as the android,” said a face she