“Charming people is your job,” Logan retorted, stepping off the porch as Scarlett’s Audi TT rolled to a stop. “You’re late,” he snapped as she cut the engine.
“I’m late?” Lucas said in his ear, tone rising in confusion.
Scarlett protested, “By ten minutes.”
“You sound too cranky for this to be a booty call,” his brother taunted, having heard the female voice. “I take it our rebellious niece wasn’t home on time.”
“Something like that. Later.” He disconnected the call, cutting off his brother’s laughter.
Logan frowned as Madison stepped from the car. “What is she wearing?”
“I’m Greta Garbo as Mata Hari,” Madison announced, striking a pose, arms out, face in profile, nose lifted to the sky.
Logan surveyed the elaborate headpiece that concealed Madison’s blond hair and the sparkling caftan-looking gown that covered her from chin to toes. With her dramatic makeup and solemn expression, his niece was an acceptable Greta Garbo.
But he’d asked Scarlett to steer Madison away from acting, not demonstrate how much fun it could be.
“Doesn’t she look great?” Scarlett asked, coming around the front of the car. Also in costume, adorably feminine in a blond wig and pale pink ostrich-feather dress, she gave Logan the briefest of glances before settling her attention on the teenager.
The fondness in her gaze struck low and hard at Logan’s gut. Unprepared for the blow, he stiffened. Scarlett genuinely liked the girl. And from Madison’s broad smile and the hint of hero worship in her eyes, the feeling was mutual. When he’d agreed to let Scarlett show his niece around the hotel, he never dreamed they’d become friends. But now he understood his faulty judgment. Having an actress of Scarlett’s caliber to learn from would be any fledgling actress’s dream come true.
“Just great.” He felt a growl building in his chest. “Madison, why don’t you go in and take off the costume so Scarlett can take it back to the hotel with her.”
Logan’s shortness dimmed his niece’s high spirits. “She said I could bring it with me when I go back tomorrow.”
“I’ve been thinking that the hotel might not be the best place for you.”
“It figures that I’d find something I enjoy and you’d take it away.” Madison threw her arms out. “Do you all want me to be miserable? Is that it?”
“I thought you might spend some time with me at the office tomorrow.”
“We tried that, remember?” Madison crossed her arms over her chest and dropped the enigmatic Mata Hari facade. Once again she looked like a twenty-first-century teenager playing dress-up. “You left me sitting in the lobby with the receptionist while you dealt with all the supersecret stuff for your clients. No, thanks.”
Up until now, Scarlett had remained silent. Now she stepped into the fray, her manner relaxed, her voice a refreshing spring breeze. “Madison, why don’t you head in. Your uncle and I will figure something out.”
To his amazement, Madison did as she was told. Giving Scarlett a quick, warm hug, his niece shot him a pleading look before disappearing through the front door.
“How did you do that?” The question tumbled out of him. “She fights me on everything from breakfast to bedtime. But you tell her to do something and she agrees without so much as a frown.”
“I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve treated her like the intelligent young woman she is.”
“Meaning, I haven’t?”
“You’re pretty bossy.”
“She’s seventeen.”
“When I was seventeen, I had my GED, was managing my acting career and having a ball with my friends.”
“She’s not you.”
“I’m not saying she is. But she’s smart and ambitious. If she’s behaving like a brat, it might be because no one is listening to her.”
“So now you’re an expert.”
Scarlett’s only reaction to his sarcasm was the warning flash in her eyes. Her tone remained neutral as she said, “I’m not an expert. I’m simply offering you my opinion.”
“Noted.”
“Please let her come back to the hotel tomorrow. She can shadow my general manager. Lucille’s exactly what you want in a mentor. A professional career woman with a master’s degree in business. Hardworking. Conservative dresser. You’ll love her.”
While Logan appreciated that Scarlett had taken a strong interest in Madison, he couldn’t shake the concern that no matter how hard she tried to steer his niece toward college and a career that would please her parents, Madison would continue to be dazzled by Scarlett’s larger-than-life persona and remain steadfast in her decision to become an actress.