Celebrity in Death

laugh.
    “I’m not half the clotheshorse Julian is.”
    “Something else he and Roarke have in common.” Eve glanced around. “He’s not here? I don’t think I’d miss him.”
    “Always late. He’s bringing Nadine.”
    “Really?”
    “Who knows,” Marlo said with a shrug. “K.T.’s not here yet either, so—”
    “Both our stars. Valerie, get a picture. Joel Steinburger.” The tall, robust man with steely hair and hard black eyes pumped Eve’s hand like a well handle, then turned, gripped her shoulder, bared his teeth at the woman with the camera. “This is a pleasure, a pleasure.” Baring his teeth again, he hooked his free arm around Marlo’s waist, pulled her in. “How did you enjoy your visit to the set today—better late than never! Preston tells me Detective Peabody is going to do a cameo for us. Delighted. We’ll get you in there, too.”
    “No,” Eve said.
    “It’ll be fun. We’ll see you get the full glamour treatment. Who doesn’t want to be a vid star for a day?”
    “Me.”
    “We’ll talk.” He winked at her, but those black eyes bored in. “Valerie’s handling the public relations and media for the project. The two of you have to set up lunch, discuss promotion.”
    “No,” Eve repeated, glanced at the pretty woman with milk chocolate skin and tiger’s eyes. “Sorry, but I don’t do lunch or promotion.”
    “Valerie will handle everything, make it fun for you. Word is you don’t have an agent or manager. Saves some time without the middlemen. We’re going to need you for a couple of days for the extras for the home discs, but the cop look. No glamour there. The audience wants the real you.”
    “Does the word
no
ring any bells?”
    “Now, now, honey, no need to be shy. Valerie will walk you through it. And get those photo ops we missed on set today rescheduled. Asap.”
    “Joel.” Smiling easily, Roarke put a hand on Steinburger’s arm. “Why don’t we find somewhere to talk?”
    “Roarke, of course. Another pleasure. The businessman,” he said with another wink at Eve, “the husband. The helpmate.”
    “Do you think he knows Roarke just saved his life?” Peabody wondered.
    “Did he really call me
honey?
I think my ears deceive me.”
    “Apologies, Lieutenant.” Valerie offered a coolly professional smile with the apology. “Mr. Steinburger’s giving a hundred and ten percent to this project. He expects the same from everyone involved.”
    “Where does he get the extra ten?”
    Valerie’s smile tensed at the corners. “And promotion is part of the whole. If you find you have any time, any at all, please contact me. I promise I’ll vet everything, and only make the best possible use of your time.”
    “I wonder if she called him ‘Mr. Steinburger’ when they used tobang like hydrohammers in his Hollywood office,” Marlo murmured when Valerie walked away.
    “No, she called him God,” Matthew said, “as in, ‘Oh God, oh God, oh God yes!’ I’ve heard her. Sadly, the office has been quiet since we got to New York.”
    “Oh, they ended it months ago, before we left the Coast.”
    “Got Publicity Chief on the project out of it. Sorry.” Matthew flashed that quick, charming smile at Eve again. “We’re shallow, overly obsessed about who’s doing who.”
    “Like high school,” Eve suggested.
    He laughed. “Afraid so. Plus gossip passes the time between takes.”
    “Darling Eve!”
    The Irish was a bit more ripe in the voice, and no, the eyes not as stunningly blue. But Julian Cross hit the gorgeous mark, and moved well.
    In fact he moved straight to Eve, yanked her into a quick, hard kiss, with a hint of tongue.
    “Hey!”
    “I couldn’t help it.” The not-quite-blue-enough eyes twinkled at her. “I feel like we’re close.”
    “Think that again and they’ll have to write a fat lip into your next scene.” She caught Roarke, eyes narrowed, across the room. “And possibly a broken jaw.”
    “Julian, behave.” Nadine Furst sent Eve a sympathetic eye roll as she latched firmly onto Julian’s arm. “Are we the last ones here?”
    “K.T. hasn’t showed up,” Marlo told her, and tipped her face up as Julian leaned over to kiss her. “Julian, you haven’t met Detectives Peabody and McNab.”
    “Peabody!” With enthusiasm, he reached up, popped her right off her feet. She let out a kind of
woo
before he kissed her. Then she said, “Um.”
    “My girl,” McNab said.
    “McNab!” Julian didn’t pop McNab off his