Brad Masters stepped forward and took Madison’s hand. ‘Madison, isn’t it? Delighted to meet you.’
‘And I’m delighted to meet you, Mr Masters,’ she gushed, eyes darting furiously to check him out. The Patek Philippe watch on his wrist must have cost a hundred grand!
He smiled easily. ‘Call me Brad.’
Simonetta wasted no time getting in next. ‘Simonetta Mastrangelo,’ she announced, giving Brad her hand. To her disappointment he didn’t kiss it.
‘Good evening, Simonetta,’ Brad replied. ‘I’ve seen your face before. You’re a model, aren’t you?’
Simonetta shot a smug look at Madison. Brad turned to Sapphire, who was standing at the back.
‘Last but not least, you must be Sapphire. Hello.’
‘Hello there,’ said Sapphire, blushing. Brad Masters was standing right there, in front of her! He shook her hand formally and his grip was strong and warm. Brad stepped back and surveyed the three of them.
‘I trust you’re enjoying your stay.’
‘Oh, we’re having a ball,’ Madison breathed, determined to strike up conversation first. ‘You have a really beautiful home. Of course, I’ve stayed in places as big as this before, but none quite so amazing. Your décor is really something,’ she added.
Brad smiled at her, as if he were slightly amused by something. ‘Thank you, Madison. I like it.’
‘How was your trip, Brad? Did you make any good deals?’ Simonetta asked, casually putting one hand on her hip to show off the outline of her body. She knew that when it came to powerful men, the way to impress them was by talking business.
Brad looked a bit taken aback. ‘It was a trip worth making, thank you, Simonetta.’
She smiled, doing that half-closed thing with her eyes she knew made men go wild.
Brad looked at Sapphire instead. ‘Have you had the chance to explore?’
‘Yes, it’s really beautiful, thank you. I’m just wondering, though…why did you invite me here?’
Brad ignored the question. ‘Do you play tennis?’
‘A bit,’ said Sapphire, blushing because he was singling her out. ‘I haven’t played much since school, though.’
‘We must find time to have a game,’ he told her. ‘Anyway, enough of my small talk, you must be starving. Please, follow me.’
Pushing Sapphire out of the way, Madison went after him, closely followed by Simonetta. All the way down the marble corridor, Brad made easy conversation with the girls, pointing out the famous photographs and paintings adorning his walls.
‘I’m particularly pleased with that – it’s an original Andy Warhol,’ Brad said as they passed a painting of brightly coloured flower prints.
Madison nodded sagely. ‘The name’s familiar. Was he on American Idol?’
Brad’s face stayed neutral, but Sapphire couldn’t help raising her eyebrows. She couldn’t believe Madison didn’t know one of the most famous artists of the last hundred years!
A few yards on, Brad stopped at the door of the dining-room. ‘By the way,’ he said casually, ‘I invited someone else to join us for dinner.’
He pushed the door open. ‘Girls, meet Cam Tyler.’
Madison screamed.
Cam Tyler rose from his seat and smiled. Madison realised she was hyperventilating and tried to calm down. She couldn’t believe he was standing there in the flesh.
Cam was a twenty-year-old American R&B star who was the singing sensation of the moment. His debut single – originally released on his own MySpace page – had shot to the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and he was tipped to be the next Usher, Ne-Yo and Justin Timberlake rolled into one. No wonder the music industry was going crazy for him, and every label was desperate to sign him.
But as usual, it seemed Brad Masters had got in there first.
‘Hi,’ Madison said breathily. ‘I’m Madison Vanderbilt.’
‘Cam,’ he said easily and stepped forward to take her hand. Madison held it a little longer than necessary before letting go. She stepped back to take a better look at the singer. She knew he was hot, but in the flesh he was even better. Cam Tyler was ripped. Six feet of pure muscle, with biceps nestling under his Rocawear T-shirt; Madison just wanted to reach out and squeeze. If the body was something, the face was even better – tanned, square-jawed and with chocolate-brown eyes that gave a Labrador puppy a run for its money. Today Cam’s short, thick black hair had been styled upwards into a cool quiff.
Madison smiled seductively, running her tongue over her lips. She was satisfied to see Cam smile back.
Brad stepped in to carry on the introductions. ‘Cam, this is Simonetta Mastrangelo.’
‘Buongiorno,’ Simonetta drawled. She’d got over her initial surprise of meeting Cam Tyler and was now back to her aloof, studied self. The boy was too young for her; Simonetta normally only dated men in their late twenties or thirties. But there was no denying he was cute. She gave him a casual once-over.
Cam raised his eyebrow interestedly. ‘Hey, Simonetta.’
‘And this is Sapphire Stevens, our English contingent,’ Brad said, gesturing to Sapphire.
Cam looked at her, as if he hadn’t really noticed she was there before. ‘Hey, Sapphire. Great name.’
‘Hi there,’ she mumbled, noticing a diamond stud glinting in his ear. Cam Tyler was the best-looking boy she had ever laid eyes on. She could feel herself going red under his penetrating gaze. Cam smiled, as if well-aware of the effect he was having on her.
A gong sounded somewhere in the house. Brad smiled.
‘Dinner is served.’
Two hours later, the four were still sitting at Brad’s dinner table, having seen off a delicious seafood dinner. Despite her claims that she wasn’t hungry and ‘couldn’t eat a thing’, Madison had polished off two plates of mussels and a piece of the exquisite dark chocolate tart that had been brought out for dessert. Now they were having coffee while Brad explained why Cam was there.
‘Cam’s working on his debut album for BMM and we both decided he’d be better off out here, without any distractions.’
‘LA’s kind of crazy,’ Cam said. ‘I needed some space to write, so when Brad invited me to stay in his guesthouse, I jumped at the chance.’
Brad looked across at Sapphire. ‘You should ask young Sapphire for help if you get stuck. I hear she’s quite a talent when it comes to writing lyrics.’
Cam looked at Sapphire. ‘Really? That’s cool.’ He sounded like he was being polite rather than interested.
Sapphire blushed again. ‘I’ve written a few things,’ she mumbled.
Madison decided the conversation had gone on long enough without her. She leaned across the table, giving Cam the full benefit of her cleavage.
‘Do you work out, Cam?’
Sapphire and Simonetta