‘There’s only his housekeeper and her husband.’ Leigh poured the hot milk into the cups. ‘But he ought to let them know he’s all right.’ She picked up two of the cups and carried them through to the lounge, handing one to Piers and one to her father. ‘Would you like to telephone Mr and Mrs Nichols, Piers? They’re probably worried about you.’

  ‘You could be right, although they’ll probably have guessed I’ve been delayed by the weather. Is it all right if I use your telephone?’ he asked politely.

  ‘Of course,’ approved her father. ‘But we insist you stay here for the night. It’s much too late to drive again in this weather.’

  Leigh looked at her father with horror. How could he do this to her? Didn’t they realise that the last thing she wanted was to spend any more time in this man’s company? Goodness, her self-respect was in shreds already without any more of his set-downs!

  ‘I couldn’t possibly do that,’ Piers thanked him politely, standing up with a ripple of pure muscle. ‘Although it’s very kind of you to offer.’

  ‘It isn’t kind at all,’ dismissed her mother. ‘We’re always pleased to meet Leigh’s friends, and Leigh explained that you don’t have to rush home to anyone. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. One more over Christmas doesn’t make any difference to us.’

  Piers’ eyes flickered momentarily over Leigh’s flushed face and she could only guess at his thoughts. He probably imagined that she wanted him to stay and had deliberately told her mother that he would be alone over Christmas. How wrong could he be? He seemed to consider for a moment before finally coming to a decision. ‘Well, if you’re sure I won’t be an inconvenience, I would be very grateful. You’re right, it is a lousy night for driving.’

  Her father smiled with pleasure. ‘Of course we’re sure. You go and make that telephone call, and I’ll get the two women to make you up a bed. It will be nice for Leigh to have you here over Christmas.’

  Piers smiled slightly, as if very much doubting this unsuspecting man’s words. ‘I hope you’re right,’ he said enigmatically. ‘I sincerely hope you’re right.’

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ‘WHAT did he mean by that?’

  Leigh wished she knew how to answer her mother’s question without being untruthful. She decided the best thing to do was be evasive. ‘Piers was only joking, he knows I’ll love having him here over the holidays. You really don’t mind?’ she asked anxiously.

  Her mother laughed lightly, smoothing her dress down as she stood up. ‘Don’t be silly, darling. He’s absolutely fascinating.’

  ‘Not too old?’ Leigh asked curiously. This wasn’t the way she had visualised her parents reacting to Piers. She had to admit that she had thought they would instantly disapprove of him, but she was being proved wrong. Their behaviour towards him was evidence of that; they obviously liked what they saw.

  ‘Not if you don’t think so, dear. Now come along, we have to get some linen down from your bedroom and make Piers a bed up on the sofa. We can pull it out to its full width to give him more room.’

  Piers was still on the telephone when they walked through the hall, although Leigh could have sworn he was laughing at her as she passed him. It didn’t take long for them to make up the bed on the extended sofa and by the time Piers came back into the lounge they were ready to go to bed.

  ‘Leigh will bring you down some of my pyjamas,’ offered her father. ‘Although they may be too wide and a little too short,’ he grinned at the other man.

  Piers returned his smile. ‘That’s okay. I have some clothes in the car, I’ll just go and get them.’

  ‘Fine. We’ll see you in the morning, then. And don’t make too much noise when you come up to bed, Leigh.’

  Before she had the chance to say anything she heard Piers speak for her. ‘I won’t keep her long,’ he promised. ‘We’ve both had a long day.’

  Leigh kissed her parents goodnight and sat nervously by the fire to wait for Piers’ return. He let himself quietly back into the room, dropping his case down into a chair before coming to stand in front of her, legs astride challengingly. ‘You can just sit there for a suitable amount of time,’ he said coldly. ‘Or you can give me the kiss your parents expect us to be sharing at this moment. Which is it to be?’ he asked harshly.

  Leigh’s hands fluttered nervously and she kept her lashes lowered, all too much aware of his muscular thighs. ‘I—I don’t know. Which would—would you prefer me to do?’

  Two strong hands firmly grasped her wrists and pulled her effortlessly to her feet. Her chin was gently lifted so that she stared deeply into his dark blue eyes, their expression seductively soft. ‘You already know which I would prefer,’ he said huskily, his warm breath fanning lightly across her face. ‘But the final choice must lie with you.’

  ‘I—I—Oh, Piers!’ she sighed her defeat, launching herself into his arms as she longed to do.

  His lips devoured hers in a kiss that was totally devastating in its attack on her senses, and her mouth parted willingly beneath his mouth’s increasing pressure. Finally he put her away from him to gently kiss her brow. ‘Off you go to bed before I decide to finish what we started earlier this evening.’ He felt her flinch away from him. ‘Now come on, Leigh, we can’t just blot it out of our minds as if it didn’t happen. I know I told you to forget it, but you can’t can you? I know damn well I can’t!’ His lips claimed hers again and Leigh was lost.

  She looked at him shyly. ‘Neither can I,’ she admitted softly, still Unable to meet his eyes. ‘But I—I really must go upstairs now. It’s very late.’

  Piers chuckled softly. ‘Okay, I’ll let you escape.’ He looked at her closely. ‘Do you mind my being here tonight?’

  ‘I—I—Oh, of course not. Mum and Dad are right, it is too late to leave now.’

  ‘But you would have preferred me to leave?’ His eyes became hard and shuttered and he moved away from her.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Leigh admitted simply. ‘I mean, this just isn’t your scene, is it? The family gathered about the hearth and the traditional Christmas lunch. I realise there must be plenty of other places you would rather be. I’m sure that if you just explain to Mum and Dad they will—’

  ‘Be quiet!’ Piers snapped, his grasp tightening painfully about her slim wrists. ‘I’ll leave in the morning, don’t worry. But not for any of the reasons you’ve mentioned, but because you so obviously don’t want me here.’ He dropped her hands abruptly and turning away from her picked up his case before opening it to flick through its contents.

  ‘Piers, I—I didn’t mean it like that. I—’

  ‘Be quiet!’ he repeated. ‘And get out of here before I resort to physical violence.’

  ‘Please! I—’

  ‘Forget it, will you! Now just get out of here!’

  Leigh needed no further telling; one glance at his rigidly held back was enough to warn her not to say any more. She crept quietly into her bedroom, not wanting to wake any of her family. She and Piers had already interrupted the household enough for one night.

  * * *

  It was already nine o’clock when Leigh came downstairs next morning, much later than she had anticipated. Her mother and father were already in the kitchen, the bacon frying merrily in the pan.

  Leigh hugged each of them in turn. ‘Thank you both for my lovely jumper and skirt,’ she twirled around to show them how well the new clothes fitted her. As usual her presents had been at the bottom of her bed. She never ceased to be amazed at how her mother and father managed to creep into her bedroom and leave her presents. They always did it, even now the children were all older, and it was something Leigh loved. The jumper they had bought for her was a soft peach colour and looked lovely with the black skirt that had been with it.

  She looked around her curiously, a dreaded feeling of foreboding in the pit of her stomach. ‘Where’s Piers?’ she asked tremulously, almost afraid of the answer. Please let him not be gone!

  ‘He’s gone out for a walk,’ replied her father, and she breathed an audible sigh of relief. ‘And he says he’s leaving this morning. Did the two of you have an argument after we’d gone to bed last night?’

  ‘Dan!’ scolded his wife. ‘You shouldn’t ask questions like that. It isn’t any of our business.’

  ‘But I only—’

  ‘Dan! If Leigh wanted to tell us about it she would. Now don’t interfere in something that’s personal between Leigh and Piers.’

  ‘It’s all right, Mum,’ sighed Leigh, at least grateful that Piers hadn’t already left. ‘And Dad’s right, we did have an argument. And it was all my fault, I know that.’ She was prevented from saying any more by the entrance of the man they were discussing, looking very attractive in dark brown slacks and a shirt of the same colour worn under a leather jacket. ‘Good morning,’ she greeted him stiffly, cursing herself for not acting more naturally, but she couldn’t for the life of her relax. ‘I hope you slept well.’

  ‘Fine, thanks,’ he responded curtly, looking at her only fleetingly. ‘You have some lovely countryside around here,’ he addressed this remark to her father. ‘I walked down as far as the river.’

  Her father chuckled. ‘In that case you have yet to see the best part of the village.’

  Piers raised an enquiring eyebrow. ‘And where is that?’

  ‘At the other end of the village—the pub. I’ll show it to you after lunch. It will give us an excuse to get out of the washing up we help cause,’ he winked at their visitor.

  Piers regretfully shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, but I’ll be leaving this morning. I did explain to Leigh last night.’

  ‘Yes,’ agreed her father. ‘And she’s just been explaining to us, and I think the best thing for you to do would be to put her over your knee and spank her. I’m afraid I neglected that part of her education when she was younger, and now she’s too old for me to do anything about it. You go right ahead, though, it’ll probably do her good.’

  ‘Dad!’ gasped Leigh.

  Piers’ expression lightened and he began to laugh at her indignation. ‘There you are, Leigh, I have your father’s permission now. I’ve already threatened to beat her once,’ he confided.

  ‘I’m not surprised,’ laughed her mother. ‘Leigh has rather a rash temper. Neither her father or I will own up to being responsible for that, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Would you all stop ganging up on me!’ Leigh looked from one to the other of them in exasperation.

  ‘All right, Leigh,’ her mother smiled. ‘Perhaps the two of you would like to go into the lounge and I’ll call you when breakfast is ready.’

  It was so obviously a dismissal that Leigh could do little other than she was told, and so she wordlessly preceded Piers into the adjacent room, her hands twisting nervously together. Without looking up she knew he had discarded his jacket and was now in the process of lighting a cigarette. Oh God! Why didn’t he say something? Anything would be better than this brooding silence, even the cutting edge of his whiplash tongue.

  ‘Will you—will you be staying now?’ she asked hesitantly.

  ‘Can you tell me of any reason why I should?’ his eyes narrowed. ‘No, I thought not.’

  ‘Don’t be like this, Piers,’ she begged.

  ‘Why? Don’t you want me to go?’

  ‘No! You know I don’t,’ she replied tearfully. ‘Why are you doing this to me? Do you enjoy tormenting me?’ The long hours she had spent awake thinking of this man were beginning to show and she sat down before her shaking legs refused to support her any longer, tears of pain and anger cursing down her pale cheeks.

  Piers sat down on his haunches beside her, his face more gentle than she had ever imagined it could be as he wiped the tears away from her cheeks. ‘It seems there are more ways of getting to you other than the beating your father and I were just talking about,’ he cradled her head against his broad shoulder. ‘What brought all that on?’ he asked huskily.

  ‘You did,’ she replied, suddenly angry. ‘You can be so cruel and hurtful.’

  ‘But so can you, little girl. If I may say so you have been anything but polite since we arrived here. What did I do? Besides behave as any other normal healthy male when in such close proximity with a beautiful girl I find attractive. Surely you aren’t going to hold that one interlude against me for ever?’

  Leigh blushed. ‘I wish you wouldn’t keep talking about it. It only embarrasses me.’

  ‘Why? Because you found yourself responding? But you wouldn’t have been normal if you hadn’t, unless of course you absolutely hate me, and I think we’ve proved quite conclusively that that isn’t the case. Good God, Leigh, what’s so wrong with being a normal healthy female with all the natural urges that entails? Or is it something else that embarrasses you?’ his eyes narrowed. ‘Is it the fact that it was me, a contemporary of your father’s, that evoked these feelings? Is that it?’ Piers demanded.

  Leigh shook her head. ‘Don’t be ridiculous! I don’t think of you as a contemporary of Dad’s. I only wish I did.’

  ‘You don’t consider thirty-seven old?’

  ‘Not at all. It upset me that you—well, you were only using me because I happened to be there. Any woman would have done.’

  She flinched at the contempt she could see in his eyes, lowering her head to avoid his gaze. ‘If you hadn’t been there,’ he told her grimly, ‘those feelings wouldn’t have arisen. And as for using you, I—’

  ‘Hi!’ Chris came bursting into the room, a boyish grin on his face. ‘Gosh, Piers! When did you arrive?’

  Piers replied goodnaturedly to her brother, but she knew by the anger in his eyes that their conversation was not at an end. ‘I brought Leigh home last night.’ He put out a hand to the boy standing behind Christopher. ‘You must be Dale.’

  ‘That’s me,’ grinned Dale, returning the handshake. ‘And you must be Piers Sinclair. Chris has been telling me about you. Is that your car parked outside?’ Piers nodded. ‘Could I have a look at it after breakfast, please?’

  ‘Sure,’ Piers replied smoothly. ‘If the weather wasn’t so bad you could drive it too, but as you can see it’s impossible out there at the moment. Your mother has kindly invited me to stay until the weather clears.’

  ‘Great,’ enthused Chris. ‘Will you tell us about some of the races you’ve competed in?’

  ‘Not just now he can’t,’ reproved his mother from the open doorway. ‘Your breakfasts are ready.’

  Without Leigh at first being aware of it Piers effectively shut her out of all his conversations with her family, completely ignoring her where possible. Also he made a great hit with all her family, something she had not expected. In fact, she had been dreading bringing him in the evening before, and now instead of the disapproval she had expected everyone was falling over themselves to please him. As her father had predicted, all four of the men disappeared after the huge Christmas lunch they had consumed, and it didn’t take more than one guess to know where they had gone. Leigh washed the dishes while her mother dried, their silence companionable rather than stilted, although Leigh knew her mother was curious about Piers.

  ‘Have you known Piers long?’ her mother finally asked. It was surprising how all the family had got on to a first name basis with Piers so easily when she herself had only just dropped the formality of calling him Mr Sinclair. And that was only because it seemed slightly ridiculous in the circumstances.

  ‘Not long, about three or four weeks.’

  ‘You seem to—to like him rather a lot.’

  ‘Mmm.’ There was no denying what was so obvious. She just hoped her mother didn’t realise how much she did like him—no, love him. ‘Yes, I do.’

  ‘And he likes you too.’ It was a statement rather than a question. ‘But how did you meet him? I thought you were friendly with his son.’

  ‘I was, but he—’ Leigh hesitated. ‘Gavin tried to force me into a situation that I didn’t want to be in, and Piers—well, Piers got me out of it. In his own way. Although at the time I didn’t like either of them very much.’

  ‘No, I can imagine. But you were all right, weren’t you? I mean, nothing—’

  ‘No,’ Leigh said firmly. ‘Gavin is just a little boy trying to act like a man, whereas Piers—well, Piers is already very much a man. A very attractive one too, isn’t he, Mum?’

  ‘Yes, he is. But I don’t want you to be hurt. As you say, he’s already very much a man, and he—’

  Leigh laughed softly at her mother’s confusion. ‘Put your mind at rest, Mum. Piers calls me an adolescent and treats me like a child most of the time. I don’t think he has any evil designs on me.’ She couldn’t look her mother in the eye when she said this, because the last statement wasn’t exactly true. All right, Piers didn’t plan on anything happening between them, things just seemed to do that of their own accord whenever they met.

  The two of them were sitting watching the television when the men came back to the house, all of them in good humour and bandying jokes back and forth between them. Leigh suddenly found that she had Piers sitting next to her on the sofa, his arm draped casually across her shoulders.

  ‘Miss me?’ he asked softly so that no one else could hear him.

  ‘Was I supposed to?’ she returned shortly.

  Piers removed his arm from across her shoulders as if he had been stung. ‘That sharp little tongue of yours will get you into trouble one day!’

  Leigh wished she could take back her words, but already he was turning away from her and talking to her brothers. She bit her lip tremulously. Why had she been nasty to him yet again? He had only been trying to be nice to her and instantly she was on the defensive. And now they were back to the non-talking state of this morning. And it was all her fault; she was behaving shrewishly. She tried to regain her interest in the programme showing on the television, but found it impossible to concentrate with Piers sitting so close to her, one of his long legs resting lightly against her own, while he seemed totally unaware of her, laughing and joking with Chris and Dale, her father occasionally joining in.