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Мортимер Кэрол
Passionate Winter
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CHAPTER TWO
LEIGH sat morosely at the table, still tired after her almost sleepless night. She had found it impossible to sleep when she had crept into the house in the early hours of the morning, and not wishing to disturb Karen had sat in the lounge trying to doze in one of the armchairs. She was still smarting under the rudeness of Piers Sinclair, and felt sure that if she ever met him again she would tell him exactly what she thought of him. And it wouldn’t be very flattering!
She turned around as Karen emerged from their bedroom rubbing her eyes tiredly. She looked in astonishment at Leigh, her mouth falling open in surprise.
‘But what …’ she shook her head dazedly. ‘What are you doing here?’
Leigh grinned ruefully. ‘Waiting for you to wake up so you can tell me you told me so. Gavin turned out to be just as much of a rat as you warned me he’d be.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yes, oh,’ she couldn’t help smiling at Karen’s expression. ‘But don’t worry, I got out before anything happened.’
‘Oh!’ This time it was a sigh of relief, and Karen padded off to the kitchen to put the kettle on. ‘Then how did you get home?’ she asked as she came back into the room, tucking her legs beneath her as she settled in the other armchair.
‘I think I’d better tell you the whole story,’ Leigh sighed. She was suitably rewarded by Karen’s shocked face, and began to feel better herself after telling someone about the fiasco the previous evening had turned out to be.
‘And Piers Sinclair actually brought you home?’ exclaimed Karen, handing Leigh the steaming cup of coffee she had made during the recount of the story.
‘Mmm,’ Leigh sipped appreciatively at the hot brew. ‘He said he felt responsible for me.’
‘He did?’ Karen almost squeaked.
‘Yes, he did.’ She looked curiously at her friend. ‘Why the emphasis? Do you know something about the famous Mr Sinclair that I don’t?’
‘Well …’ Karen hesitated. ‘I don’t know if it’s the same Piers Sinclair, but it isn’t exactly a common name, is it? Was he a racing driver, do you know?’
Leigh nodded her head. ‘So Gavin says, and from the way he drove I’m willing to believe it.’
‘It’s the same one, then,’ said Karen excitedly. ‘Fancy him being Gavin’s father! Anyway, if I remember correctly, he had a rather bad accident a couple of years ago, injured his back, I think. It ruined his career and he had to give up competitive driving. He was very famous in his time.’
‘Strange, I don’t remember reading about it.’
‘You probably remember the scandal attached to the incident more. At the time of the accident he was supposed to be having an affair with the wife of his greatest rival, and it was reported that this other man had deliberately tried to kill Piers Sinclair. Of course, everyone denied it, including the three main characters, but the mud stuck and a few months later this other chap retired from racing and his wife began divorce proceedings.’
‘I think I remember now. I thought his name sounded familiar. What a charming family they are!’
‘Yes, you’re well out of that family. And it wasn’t very polite of Gavin to palm you off on his father, was it?’
‘Palm me off just about sounds right. Actually I don’t think he was feeling very polite after being caught in that ridiculous position. Well, would you?’ Leigh chuckled lightly. ‘You should have seen him, Karen, he looked really stupid lying there on that fantastic carpet.’
‘I wish I had seen him. I would have told him what I thought of him. He had no right to expect you to … well, to…’
‘I should have guessed really. He’s been making funny comments for the last few weeks, but innocent that I am, I thought he was suggesting we got married.’
Karen spluttered with laughter. ‘You have such a trusting nature, Leigh. It’s just unbelievable!’
‘Not after last night I don’t. I must have seemed like a complete idiot to Gavin; he seemed to think I knew what his plans were. From now on I don’t intend to trust anyone unless they prove they’re worthy of that trust. Well, no man anyway. I should have known better. I’ve always been a lousy judge of character.’
‘It isn’t very nice to find something like that out about someone, especially in that way.’ Karen looked more closely at Leigh. ‘Did you get any sleep at all last night?’
‘Not really. Is that a polite way of telling me I look terrible?’
‘Well, you do look a bit tired. Why don’t you go to bed for a few hours? I’m going out anyway, so I won’t disturb you.’
‘I can’t, I’m afraid. I promised Mum and Dad that if I was doing nothing else I would go home for lunch and tea today. And it seems that I now have nothing else of importance to do,’ Leigh grimaced.
‘What about the party this evening?’
‘Oh, I’ll be back in time for that, but I must go home. My brother is playing football for the local team this afternoon and I suppose he’ll expect me to be there to cheer him on. Not that I feel much like shouting myself hoarse, but I can’t let him down.’
‘You won’t be in any fit state to go to Angie’s party tonight.’
‘Oh, I don’t know, the fresh air may wake me up. I just hope Gavin doesn’t decide to put in an appearance. I think I may make a scene if he does, and I would hate to do that. He wasn’t going, that’s why we went to his father’s house, but he might have changed his mind and come looking for some other poor unsuspecting female.’ Leigh yawned tiredly. ‘I think I’ll take a shower and try to wake myself up.’
Leigh arrived at her parents’ house just before lunch, thankful that her old Mini hadn’t broken down on the way as it was wont to do. It wasn’t very reliable, but it did get her from A to B, maybe with a few breakdowns on the way, but get her there it did.
She gave her mother the huge bunch of flowers she had collected from a florists on the way, looking about her expectantly. ‘Where is everyone?’
Her mother breathed in the perfume of the flowers appreciatively. ‘You shouldn’t have bought me these, I’ve told you to save your money. But they are lovely.’ She kissed Leigh on the cheek, bending to get a vase out of the cupboard and began arranging the long-stemmed flowers in its length. ‘Your father is at work this morning, Dale is at Janet’s, and Christopher is out with some of his friends, probably deciding how they’re going to win the match this afternoon.’
‘Nice of them all to be here,’ Leigh said teasingly.
‘Well, the thing is, love, that we never know for certain if you’re going to get here—that car of yours is so unreliable. I don’t know why you don’t let your father help you buy a new one.’
‘You know why, Mum. I really had to save hard to buy the Mini, and it’s nice to know I bought it with all my own money. I nearly didn’t get home anyway. I was going away for the weekend with a friend, but it didn’t work out.’ Oh boy, how it hadn’t worked out!
‘Oh well, never mind, perhaps you can go another weekend.’
‘Maybe. Will Chris and Dad be back for lunch?’ She wanted to get off that subject as quickly as possible.
‘They should be.’ Mrs Stanton studied her daughter’s pale tired face. ‘You’re looking a bit peaky, love. Been having too many late nights, or are you working too hard?’
‘A little of both, I think. I’ll be all right with a nice peaceful weekend. I’m supposed to be going out this evening, but I don’t know if I feel like going.’ Leigh had no intention of worrying her mother with the events of the evening before. Perhaps at a later date when she didn’t still feel so raw. Anyway, it was over now, and there was no point in upsetting her mother unnecessarily.
Chris and her father came in at that moment and Leigh rushed over to give her father a hug, which was reciprocated in kind. Leigh, as the youngest child and also the only girl in the family, had been spoilt by her father, although it wasn’t an affection that excluded his sons.
‘Where’s mine?’ Chris teased her before being given the same treatment as his father. He held her away from him. ‘Are you getting skinny, or do my eyes deceive me?’
Leigh laughed at her brother’s candidness. ‘I’m supposed to be thinning in the right places instead of just being straight up and straight down like a beanpole. You’re supposed to notice how attractive I’m becoming, not making remarks about my loss of weight.’
‘Oops! Sorry.’
‘Chris is only teasing you, love,’ said her father, bending down to put on his carpet slippers. ‘It makes me feel old to see you all growing up so fast, although we had to expect that when you wanted to leave home, Leigh.’
‘I didn’t want to, Dad, you know that. But it’s too far for me to travel every day, and you know I would have had to move into town sooner or later. Are you coming to the match this afternoon?’ she asked him.
‘I suppose I’d better come along and see these youngsters get thrashed again,’ he replied, the twinkle in his eyes belying his words.
Her father was proved wrong later that day when Chris and his team beat their opponents four-nil. Leigh predictably cheered them on until she was hoarse, and Dale and Janet turned up to cheer them on too. Dale was the eldest out of the three children at twenty-one, Chris was nineteen and just a year older than Leigh. Dale and Janet were thinking of getting married next year and Leigh knew her parents were pleased at the idea. All the family liked Janet and she and Dale had been going out together since they left school.
‘Are you coming home for Christmas, Leigh?’ her mother asked.
They were all seated around the fire after tea and Leigh was loath to leave the warm, comforting atmosphere.
‘Try and stop me,’ she grinned. ‘You know I love Christmas at home. Karen is probably going home too, but if she isn’t can I bring her here?’
‘Of course you can. One more at Christmas makes no difference, we always have plenty of food and drink. And you know Karen is always welcome here. Especially by Christopher,’ her mother added teasingly, laughing at her son’s red face. ‘Sorry, love, I was only playing.’
‘You have to get used to being ribbed like this, I’m afraid, son,’ grinned his father. ‘Dale’s had to put with it in his time, from you mainly, I might add, so now it’s your turn.’
Leigh finally made a move, standing up in preparation for leaving. She glanced at her watch. If she left now she would just have time to drive home and change for the party. ‘I’ll have to go now, but I’ll be home again in the week or next weekend. I’ll telephone and let you know for sure.’
‘Now you know this is still your home, Leigh, and you’re welcome at any time,’ gently scolded her mother. ‘You don’t need to telephone first, there’s always someone at home.’
‘Okay, Mum.’ She hugged her mother tightly, knowing that she didn’t like her living away from home and missed her terribly. As the only two females in the family the two of them had always been very close. ‘And no loading me up with food and things this time.’
‘That’ll be the day your mother doesn’t do that!’ scoffed her father. ‘She thinks you starve yourself at that flat.’
His wife looked at him reproachfully. ‘I’ve only cooked an apple pie and a chocolate sponge, and you know they’re your favourites,’ she said to her daughter.
‘You spoil me, Mum. I’ll put pounds on if you carry on doing this. But you know I can’t resist your cooking.’
‘I have to make sure that you have some solid food inside you. I’m sure you don’t feed yourself properly.’
‘I do, Mum, it’s just that I don’t like cooking very much. Anyway, I’m not that thin.’
‘Well, take them anyway.’ Her mother packed the cake and pie into a tin and gave them to Leigh. ‘Now take care of yourself driving in the dark. You know how your dad and I worry about you.’
‘I’ll be careful,’ she promised.
It took Leigh longer than usual to start the car and she breathed a deep sigh of relief when at last the engine fired into life. She was afraid her mother was right, she would have to get a different car in the near future.
The car was being very temperamental on the way home and she wasn’t altogether surprised when five miles from her flat it came to a grinding halt. Swearing and cursing to herself, she jumped out of the car and began poking about under the bonnet, not that she knew anything about engines, but perhaps if she moved a few things about it might start again.
After five minutes she realised that she wasn’t going to be successful, and locking up the car decided to walk to the nearest garage and get professional help. Not that she thought anyone would want to steal her car, it simply wasn’t worth it. And the garage bill would probably cost more than the car was worth.
She trudged wearily along the darkened road, refusing the offers of a lift that she received. She didn’t have far to go now, and she wouldn’t have accepted any of them anyway.
Yet another car passed by and Leigh moved swiftly to the side of the road as the powerful car swished past her at great speed. Roadhog! she fumed silently, looking up with some surprise as the car came to a screeching halt some way down the road, and began reversing towards her. Leigh stepped back again on to the side of the road as the car drew up beside her.
The window moved down by the press of a button, the driver leaning over to speak to her. ‘Can I be of any assistance?’ asked a familiar deep masculine voice.
Oh no! Leigh just didn’t believe it! Her luck seemed to have run out on her this evening. ‘Do you make a habit of picking up young girls, Mr Sinclair?’ she asked icily.
Silence. She heard his sharp intake of breath before he answered. ‘Not as a rule, Miss Stanton.’ So he actually remembered her name! ‘But you seem to be in some sort of trouble, and I thought an offer of help wouldn’t come amiss. Needless to say, I didn’t realise it was you when I stopped.’
‘And now you do?’
‘My offer of help still stands.’ He flicked open the door from the inside, leaning over her to press the button to close the window after she had seated herself next to him. Instantly Leigh became aware of his warm male-smelling, body, and the nearness of his thigh to her own. He turned in his seat to look at her, switching on the interior light so that he could see her better. ‘Would it be too much to ask what you’re doing wandering about on a deserted road at seven o’clock in the evening? Don’t tell me it’s a repeat of last night? You surely didn’t change your mind again when it actually came to the point?’
There was no missing the scorn in his voice. ‘Is that Gavin’s explanation of yesterday?’ she asked angrily.
Piers Sinclair’s mouth tightened. ‘I haven’t seen Gavin since we left him last night. I stayed at my apartment in town after I left you. Satisfied?’
‘You don’t owe me any explanations, Mr Sinclair. And if you really want to know what I’m doing here I can quite easily explain that. My car has broken down a couple of miles down the road and I was looking for a garage.’
‘You drive?’
‘Well, I didn’t push it here, if that’s what you mean,’ Leigh said tartly. He probably thought her incapable of driving a car.
‘Okay, cut the witty comments.’ He backed the car up and turned it round in a gateway. ‘Is your car very far back?’
‘A mile or two, but I have no idea what’s actually wrong with it.’
‘Women rarely do.’
‘And that is a typical male patronising comment, Mr Sinclair. Just because you were a racing driver and know how a car works, that doesn’t mean everyone has to. I might be quite knowledgeable on some subjects you know very little about.’
‘I’m sure you are. Now tell me how we get to your car, I don’t remember seeing it as I drove along.’
Leigh almost missed seeing her car herself, having pushed it to the side of the road out of the way of other traffic. Thank goodness it hadn’t been a big car or she would have just had to leave it standing on the road.
Piers Sinclair got swiftly out of the car, putting his hand out wordlessly for the car keys, before lifting up the bonnet of her old battered Mini. After a few minutes he slammed the bonnet back down and climbed into the car. Leigh stifled a chuckle at his imposing figure sitting so incongruously in her tiny car. It still wouldn’t start and she tried hard to hide her smug smile at his inability to find the trouble. That would teach him to be so sure of himself all the time!
He got out of her car without a word and began looking through the boot of his own car. A second later he came back, a large petrol container in his hand. ‘Didn’t you bother to check the petrol gauge, or are you in the habit of letting it run dry?’
Leigh blushed a fiery red. ‘I … er … I didn’t think. I’m so used to it breaking down that I didn’t think about checking the petrol.’ She moved nervously from one foot to the other. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said dully.
‘Don’t apologise to me.’ He wiped his oily hands un-caringly down his dark trousers. ‘I’m not the one who walked two miles for nothing.’
‘No. I am.’ She felt so embarrassed. And she had thought him sure of himself! She shouldn’t have been so smug. ‘Please … please don’t make your clothes dirty because of my stupidity. Here,’ she handed him a clean handkerchief from the pocket of her jeans.
‘What’s the matter?’ he asked softly. ‘Are you frightened I might send you the cleaning bill?’
‘You can if you like,’ she smiled at him cheekily. ‘Although whether or not I can pay it is a different matter.’
She saw a flash of white teeth as he smiled in the darkness. ‘Another broke student, huh?’
‘I’d hardly call Gavin that,’ she scoffed.
‘Is that why you went out with him? Because he has money?’ His voice had hardened to anger.
Leigh stiffened. ‘I didn’t know your son had money. I went out with him because I liked him. I don’t have to take your insults, Mr Sinclair. Yesterday you accused me of being …’ she hesitated. ‘Well, you know what you accused me of. And now you as much as call me a gold-digger. Have you quite finished insulting me, or do you have something else to say?’
‘Nothing else for the moment.’ He handed back her car keys. ‘It should be all right now, but I should have it checked over all the same, just to be on the safe side.’
‘Is the car worth it?’
‘Not really.’
‘Thanks very much!’ She marched over to her own car. ‘We can’t all afford flashy cars.’
Piers Sinclair moved with a speed that surprised her, gripping her arms so tightly it made her wince with pain. He swung her roughly round to face him, towering darkly above her. ‘You asked my opinion, Miss Stanton, and I gave it. It’s hardly my fault if you didn’t like that opinion. And I was not being patronising when I said that about your car. I genuinely don’t think you should be driving it.’
‘I’ll bear your opinion in mind. Thank you,’ she said in a stilted voice, shaking off his restraining hand. ‘Mr Sinclair, you’re hurting my arm.’
Instantly she was set free, overbalancing slightly at the suddenness of it. ‘Goodnight, Miss Stanton,’ he said curtly.
Leigh didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed that the car started the first time she tried it. Trust that man to be right! She found her dislike of him increasing, although she couldn’t deny that her heart began beating erratically at his slightest touch, and she was always very much aware of him as a man.
No man had the right to be so blatantly sexually attractive, his deep husky voice affecting her senses in a way she didn’t care to admit, not even to herself. Not that he deliberately drew attention to himself, but Leigh knew that no matter where he was he would instantly demand attention and command respect.
But she hated him! Hated him as she had never hated anyone or anything before in her life. How dared he think such things about her morals when he didn’t know the first thing about her!
‘What happened to you? As if I need to ask,’ joked Karen when Leigh finally let herself into the flat. ‘Car break down again?’ she asked sympathetically.
‘As usual,’ grumbled Leigh. ‘I’m sorry I’m so late,’ she glanced at her watch. ‘Give me ten minutes and I’ll be ready.’
‘Don’t worry, Leigh. Keith said he’d call for us on his way and you have another half an hour yet, no need to hurry. How did you get the car started this time? Call a mechanic?’
Leigh grimaced. Piers Sinclair could hardly be called a mechanic. She’d been expecting this question and didn’t like to admit that she had had to accept that man’s help yet again. Why did it have to be him anyway? What had he been doing driving in that area—it was in completely the opposite direction to his home. Perhaps he had been visiting one of the numerous women she felt sure he must have in his life. A man of his obvious masculinity wouldn’t be able to live without some woman to satisfy his bodily needs.
She sighed. Now who was making snap judgments? For all she knew Piers Sinclair might have a steady girl-friend, but she knew there had to be at least one woman in his life. Maybe it was that other racing driver’s wife—or ex-wife, as she was now divorced from her husband. It didn’t say a lot for Piers Sinclair’s morals if that were the case, but then from what Gavin had said about his father he didn’t seem to have any.
‘You’re never going to believe this, Karen, I’m not sure I do myself, but I received an offer of help that I just wasn’t able to refuse. Much as I would have liked to.’
‘You mean—you mean some man forced you to accept his help?’
‘Not just any man—Piers Sinclair.’ The last was said with a grimace.
‘What, again!’
Leigh began stripping off her clothes in preparation for her shower, throwing her discarded clothes on her own single bed. ‘Yes, again. You can imagine how embarrassed I felt, especially when he discovered that all the trouble was that I’d run out of petrol. Just my luck.’
‘Oh no!’ chuckled Karen.
‘Oh yes! You should have seen the smug look on his face. He made me feel positively violent!’
‘You certainly don’t seem to like him very much. I think he sounds absolutely fascinating, from what you’ve said about him.’
‘Mmm.’ Leigh grabbed a towel from the linen cupboard and pushed her hair under her flowered shower cap. ‘Like a panther. Sleek, powerful, and utterly lethal.’
‘Really? That sounds even more interesting.’ Karen gave a satisfied smile to herself.
‘Don’t you believe it. He probably eats little girls like us for breakfast.’
‘What clothes are you wearing this evening?’ Karen decided it was time to change the subject. ‘I’ll get them out for you if you like.’
‘Don’t make yourself late because of me. I can always call a taxi to take me later.’
‘It’s all right, I only have to change now and I’ll be ready. It won’t take me two minutes and it’ll save you time.’
‘Okay, thanks. My velvet trousers and the cream smock top. I don’t feel like wearing anything too smart this evening.’
Leigh luxuriated in the steaming hot shower, soaping herself all over in the delicious perfumed soap she always used. Her thoughts weren’t as relaxing as they ought to be, though; Piers Sinclair’s arrogant face insisting on invading her mind and conscience. It seemed impossible to think a man she had only met twice in her life had the power to so disturb and disrupt her in this way. But he had! He made the boys she would meet at the party this evening seem juvenile in comparison. She mentally berated herself. Surely a man of his calibre wasn’t worth wasting her time thinking about. Not a man who wasn’t averse to flaunting his affairs in front of his son.
She wrapped the towel around her still damp body and went into the bedroom, smiling gratefully at Karen as she saw her clothes neatly laid out on the bed. Karen was already dressed by this time and she couldn’t help thinking how nice she looked.
‘You look lovely,’ she told her friend. Which in fact she did, her blonde hair styled in bubbly curls that suited her small heart-shaped face. She was wearing a long flower print dress in dark blue and white and it showed off her small dainty figure to perfection. ‘Who’s all this for?’ teased Leigh. ‘Keith?’
Karen coloured prettily. ‘No, although I do like him a lot. Not seriously, though,’ she turned around as she heard the, doorbell ring. ‘That’ll be him now.’
Leigh released her hair from the shower cap, and began cleansing her face before applying fresh make-up to her glowing cheeks. She always felt about ten years old with her face all clean and shiny like this and she smiled cheekily to herself in the mirror.
Karen looked flushed and breathless when she rushed back into the bedroom and Leigh smiled teasingly. ‘What’s happened to you? Has Keith been flirting with you again?’
‘No, it’s—oh dear!’ Karen began to look even more flustered. ‘It’s—Oh, there’s someone in the lounge to see you. It wasn’t Keith at the door at all.’
Leigh frowned. ‘Then who was it?’
‘I don’t know, he didn’t give a name, simply asked to see you.’
‘He?’ Leigh hitched the towel more securely about her and walked into the lounge, her feet padding wetly on the carpet. She came to a halt as she saw her visitor. He was standing with his back towards the room, staring out of the window, but Leigh had no doubts about his identity. No other man she knew had such thick vibrant hair and such broad shoulders.
‘Good evening again, Mr Sinclair,’ she said politely.
Piers Sinclair turned slowly round to face her, his eyes narrowing at the challenge in her own. ‘Good evening, Miss Stanton,’ he returned. His eyes slid insolently over her towel-wrapped body and Leigh clutched protectively at its soft folds. If anything the insolence in his look deepened. ‘Are you in the habit of greeting your visitors in this fashion, or are you trying to start a new trend in clothes?’
‘Oh, come, Mr Sinclair, surely you’re accustomed to seeing women in bath towels. After all, you must have had plenty of opportunity.’
‘Perhaps. But then you aren’t a woman.’
‘I’m sure many of my … friends would hasten to disagree with you.’ For the first time Leigh became aware of the fact that she and this man were in the room alone, Karen, for some reason, having stayed behind in the bedroom. She had probably guessed who it was by now.
‘Don’t pretend experience you simply don’t possess,’ he said coldly, still appraising her through narrowed eyes.
Leigh’s eyes sparkled angrily. ‘And how do you know that? Just because I didn’t sleep with your son it doesn’t mean I haven’t done so with other people.’
‘And have you?’ he demanded harshly.
She turned away, freeing herself from the physical attraction of this man, dressed elegantly in a white dinner jacket that fitted tautly across his shoulders giving them a width Leigh knew owed nothing to artifice. The black trousers he wore moulded against his long muscular legs and she found his appearance breathtaking, even though she knew he was probably aware of the effect he had on the female sex. The deep lines of experience and cynicism on his face were evidence of that. And just look at how poor Karen had reacted!
‘I don’t think that’s any of your business,’ she began coolly, only to. be cut off in mid-sentence by the arrival of Keith. He walked into the room, his usual cheeky grin on his face.
‘The door was open,’ he explained. ‘Hello, kitten,’ he hugged her to him before suddenly becoming aware of the other person in the room. He looked expectantly at Leigh.
Leigh felt sorry for Keith. If Piers Sinclair had looked down his arrogant nose at her like that she would have wanted to run away and hide; as it was she had no other choice but to introduce them. ‘Keith, this is Mr Sinclair, Gavin’s father. Mr Sinclair, Keith Manders.’ She watched as the two of them shook hands, neither of them altogether sure of the purpose of the other’s visit.
Karen must have heard Keith arrive because she came hurriedly out of the bedroom, taking hold of Keith’s arm and giving them all a shy smile. ‘Shall we wait for you, Leigh, or will you follow later?’ She looked pointedly at Piers Sinclair.
Leigh started visibly. She had no wish to be left on her own with this man. But she could hardly delay Keith and Karen any longer as it was already quite late. ‘You two go ahead,’ she told them, trying hard not to show how nervous she actually felt. In a group of people Piers Sinclair made her feel nervous; what would she feel like when she was left alone with him in the flat? ‘I’ll probably be along later, but if I’m not you’ll know I’ve decided to have an early night.’
She looked nervously at her silent companion after Karen and Keith had left, noting his disapproving look. ‘What’s wrong now?’ she sighed wearily as she sat down. ‘I can tell by the look on your face that I’ve done something else you don’t approve of.’
His dark eyebrows rose haughtily. ‘I wouldn’t have thought my approval mattered to you particularly, Miss Stanton. But if you would really like to know the reason for my displeasure it’s because I didn’t like the way that young man walked in here as if he owned the place and acted as if it was perfectly normal for him to see you dressed only in a towel!’
Leigh glared at him defiantly. ‘Perhaps it is normal for him! He’s a very good friend of mine.’ Which in fact he was, the two of them becoming firm friends from the time Leigh first moved to London. And it was perfectly normal for him to see women in a state of undress, because he was training to be a doctor. The sight of a half-naked body was no novelty to Keith and Leigh knew it; unfortunately Piers Sinclair didn’t. And she certainly wasn’t going to tell him! Let him think what he liked.
Piers Sinclair stepped forward into the light, gripping her arm tightly, his long slender fingers digging painfully into her soft skin. Leigh felt tears of pain and frustration well up in her eyes and she looked up pleadingly into his harsh face, feeling at a distinct disadvantage in her bare feet and dressed only in a towel. If he only knew it she felt much more nervous of him dressed like this than she ever would of Keith.
‘Please,’ she begged at last, trying to pry his fingers loose, unable to look away from the glittering anger in his eyes. ‘Please—you’re hurting me.’
‘I’ll do more than that if you don’t explain that young man’s familiarity,’ he told her between clenched teeth.
Leigh’s eyes opened wide with surprise as he jerked her close against him, and she felt him tense with an emotion she didn’t understand. He was so close to her that the hard length of his thigh touched her own bare legs and his soft breath caressed her hair. ‘Keith is a—a friend,’ she said breathlessly.
Piers Sinclair pulled her even closer against the lean hard length of his body, his grip on her arm tightening. ‘How much of a friend?’
‘Just a friend.’ She felt his hold on her wrist loosen and she thankfully pulled herself away from the drugging sensation of his body, rubbing her arm as the blood began to flow through to her hand again. ‘You didn’t have to hurt me. Are you usually this violent?’
‘Not usually, no.’ His face relaxed and he studied her with intent eyes. ‘Only when something is important to me.’
‘And does my virginity fall into that category?’ she couldn’t resist asking.
Piers Sinclair sat down, calmly taking a cigarette from his gold case, offering her one before igniting it with his matching lighter after her refusal. ‘Strangely enough,’ he said huskily, ‘it does. You’re only a child, and much too young to run about with the crowd Gavin mixes with.’
‘And he isn’t?’
‘Gavin is a boy and quite able to make his own decisions, rightly or wrongly.’
‘So you’re a male chauvinist, Mr Sinclair,’ she taunted softly. ‘How quaint in this day and age! Don’t you realise this is the time of equality?’
He took the ashtray from her outstretched hand, placing it on the arm of his chair. ‘Not for a child like you. You have to grow up a lot more before you can think of flaunting your independence, and going to college won’t help you one little bit. It’s too much like being at school. What are you training to be anyway?’
‘A professional layabout?’ she queried sweetly.
‘There’s no need to be sarcastic,’ he rebuked softly.
‘I’m sorry, I thought that was the answer you were expecting.’ She was beginning to feel slightly cold and was unable to suppress a shiver.
He stood up. ‘I’m sorry, you must be getting cold. If you would like to go and dress I’ll wait here for you.’
‘What for?’ she asked rudely.
‘Just go and dress like a good girl,’ he said impatiently.
Leigh needed no second bidding. It didn’t take her long to don the wine-coloured velvet trousers and fine lawn smock-top, brushing her hair back until it was a glistening black cloud about her slim shoulders. She quickly applied a light make-up before putting on her shoes, the extra height giving her more confidence. She left the bedroom feeling more able to stand up to this domineering man.
‘Very nice,’ he said approvingly. ‘You’re a very beautiful girl.’
‘I am?’
‘Yes, you are, if you weren’t so damned obstinate all the time.’ He put his hand inside his jacket pocket and pulled out the handkerchief he hadn’t bothered to use when she had given it to him earlier to wipe his oily hands. ‘Yours, I believe.’
Leigh took the handkerchief out of his proffered hand, staring at it as if she had never seen it before. ‘You came here just to bring this back to me?’
‘Disappointed?’ he asked softly.
‘No, of course not!’ Leigh denied vehemently, maybe too vehemently. ‘It just seems strange for you to bring back a little thing like this. I didn’t expect you to return it.’
‘I didn’t say that was the reason I came here. I came to see if you had arrived home safely.’
‘You did? Whatever for?’
‘I felt responsible for you. You’re the type of helpless female that needs protecting from herself, and as your parents don’t seem to give a damn—–’
‘Now you have gone too far!’ Leigh stood angrily in front of him, her eyes almost spitting her dislike of him. ‘My parents care for me very much, in fact it was as I was returning from visiting them that my car broke down. I can assure you that no one could worry more about me than my mother and father do.’
‘They have a very funny way of showing it, letting a kid like you live in London and mix with the crowd you do.’ He saw her face colour up. ‘Unless of course they don’t know about your so-called friends,’ he guessed shrewdly. ‘Could that be the case?’
Leigh studied her painted fingernails, avoiding his gaze, which was much too penetrating for comfort. ‘There’s nothing to know. They know I have quite a few friends in London, and they’re only too pleased that I’ve made these friends so easily.’
‘But you haven’t told them that most of these kids sleep around and a lot of them experiment with drugs. Have you?’
His tone demanded an answer. ‘No,’ she agreed reluctantly. ‘But they know I have more sense than to get involved in any one of those scenes. I’ve seen drug addicts and the state they’ve been reduced to, and let me tell you that nothing would induce me to take drugs. What is it with you anyway? You should be telling Gavin all this, not me.’
‘Gavin is perfectly capable of taking care of himself,’ he told her coldly. ‘Like you, he’s seen drug addicts. That’s the one thing I know he would never become involved in.’
‘Okay, okay,’ she said resignedly. ‘Now you know that I’ve arrived home safely you can go on to your engagement. I wouldn’t like the lady to be kept waiting.’
‘I’m not answerable to anyone for my movements, young lady, and at the moment I’m perfectly comfortable where I am.’
‘Well, I’m not! I’m supposed to be going out, not trying to humour you.’
Piers stood up. ‘Very well, I’ll take you out.’ He straightened one snowy white cuff.
‘To the party? You’ll give me a lift?’
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