She halved a grapefruit, cutting it into segments so that it would be easier to eat, leaving off the sugar in case, like her, he preferred it so. She prepared a salad on two plates ready for the two steaks she would cook once she had prepared everything else. She had already prepared a mandarin cheesecake for tomorrow; she would just have to do another one for the dinner tomorrow—it didn’t take long.

  When Leigh at last looked into the lounge again Piers Sinclair was fast asleep, the blaring television not disturbing him at all. She sat down next to him, leaning forward to turn down the sound. How relaxed and boyish he looked when he was asleep, the lines of cynicism about his mouth and nose completely disappearing. Without his thin well-shaped hand to keep his hair in order it had fallen down over his forehead, giving him a more approachable look. But as Leigh knew, it was only a look.

  She shrugged her shoulders, bringing her knees up under her chin so that she could rest her head on them. She might as well let him sleep; the meal could all wait and there was a particularly good film on the television at the moment. Besides, it was quite nice to just be able to relax and not always be on her guard with him.

  Leigh became so engrossed in the murder plot of the film that she lost all track of time, only coming back to an awareness of her surroundings when the long legs just in view of her eyes flexed and bent as Piers Sinclair woke up. He stretched his arms above his head, his eyes sleepy and a deeper blue as he looked at her.

  ‘Sorry about that.’ He ran his hand through already tousled hair. ‘I didn’t mean to fall asleep.’

  ‘Too many late nights,’ skid Leigh sharply, resentful at being caught with her defences down. With his eyes closed Piers Sinclair had been like a sleeping pussycat, and now he was awake he reminded her of a stalking tiger.

  Piers smiled at her sharpness. ‘Not for the reason you’re implying. I had a job scheduled to be finished by today, and I completed it at five o’clock this morning.’

  ‘I see.’ She stood up, turning off the television. ‘I’ll go and get your meal now. The bathroom is that door over there if you want to freshen up before you eat.’

  ‘Thanks.’ He stood up with a ripple of muscle.

  Leigh moved deftly about the kitchen, taking the grapefruit halves in their bowls out of the refrigerator, and preparing the steaks for cooking before carrying the grapefruit into the lounge and putting them at the two places she had laid at the dining table.

  Piers’ hair was damp and he looked refreshed when he emerged from the bathroom. He sat down opposite her. ‘You didn’t have to go to all this trouble for me.’

  ‘I have to eat too, you know.’

  ‘I’m sure. But I would have been happy with whatever you were originally going to have.’ He put a segment of grapefruit between his firm white teeth, ignoring the sugar bowl and enjoying its firm sharpness.

  Leigh laughed, shaking her head with amusement. ‘I don’t think you would have appreciated it.’

  ‘What was it?’ he asked curiously.

  ‘Baked beans on toast,’ she laughed again.

  He studied her glowing face for a few seconds. ‘You have a lovely smile, you should do it more often.’ His mouth twisted wryly. ‘And I think perhaps you’re right about the baked beans. I only hope I haven’t taken your week’s food away from you. I would hate you to go hungry.’

  Leigh was still blushing at his compliment. ‘We won’t starve, don’t worry. I may be poor, but I don’t usually go hungry. Anyway, I could hardly serve the famous Piers Sinclair anything but the best, now could I?’

  ‘If you say so. Do you think you could cut the witty comments until after we’ve eaten? I’ll get indigestion otherwise.’

  ‘If that’s what you want.’

  ‘It is.’ He studied her under lowered lashes as she reentered the kitchen with the empty bowls. This young girl was a complete enigma to him, one minute seemingly dropping her guard, and the next a mass of prickles.

  Leigh came back with the laden plates and the meal proceeded in silence. Nothing seemed to put this man off; the fact that she didn’t want him here didn’t seem to worry him in the slightest. And why did he keep turning up in her life, unsettling her with his sophisticated handsomeness? She had to admit, to herself at least, that he had the power to make her pulse race even just sitting near her like this. If he should ever kiss her … Kiss her! Of course he would never kiss her. The idea was totally unthinkable. And yet hadn’t she just thought about it!

  ‘That was delicious.’ Piers sat back with satisfaction. ‘I only hope you’ll think the meal I provide for you is as nice.’

  ‘What meal—?’ Leigh had momentarily forgotten his suggestion of dinner. She felt sure he must be teasing her. ‘It doesn’t matter about taking me out. Anyway, I’ve already told you, I’m going home that evening.’ She piled up the dishes and carried them into the kitchen, placing them in the hot water already prepared in the sink. It was already ten-thirty. Karen would be home soon and Piers Sinclair was still here: Leigh had no intention of allowing him to still be here when Karen arrived—there was no telling what construction she would put on such an occurrence.

  ‘And I told you I would take you home—after the meal.’ Without Leigh realising it Piers had entered the kitchen with his cat-like tread, and was now standing a few feet behind her. ‘Do you have a cloth to dry these?’ he indicated the draining plates.

  ‘I beg your pardon?’ Leigh looked at him open-mouthed, feeling sure she must have misheard.

  ‘Do you have a cloth?’ he repeated patiently.

  ‘You’re going to dry the plates?’

  ‘Certainly.’

  She began to laugh, only sobering when she saw his rising anger. ‘I’m sorry,’ she choked, ‘but I really can’t allow you to do that. It just isn’t you.’

  Piers came to stand beside her, leaning back against the cupboard next to the sink. ‘And just what would you say was me?’ he asked huskily, his deceptively sleepy blue eyes passing tantalisingly over her flushed face, lingering on the trembling softness of her mouth in a look that was almost a caress.

  Leigh felt herself drawn towards him, feeling almost as if he had already touched her lips with his own. She broke the force of that look with an effort, feeling slightly breathless at his continuous nearness. ‘I—I—er—I don’t know—’

  ‘Leigh! Leigh, I’m home,’ Karen called from the sitting room. ‘Where are you?’

  Leigh heaved a sigh of relief, vaguely wondering what would have happened next if Karen hadn’t interrupted them so precipitously. She shied away from her conclusion. She hadn’t reached the kitchen door when she was suddenly stopped in her tracks by a restraining hand on her arm.

  Piers was so close she could feel the heat emanating from his body. ‘You may have been saved from answering me now, but there’ll come a time when you won’t be so lucky,’ he whispered close to her ear, his lips brushing the sensitive skin below the rapidly beating pulse in her neck. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’ He straightened away from her, entering the lounge with Leigh hard on his heels.

  ‘Oh!’ Karen looked from one to the other of them in surprise. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said awkwardly. ‘I didn’t expect—’

  ‘You didn’t expect me to still be here,’ Piers finished for her, bending down to pick up his jacket, shrugging it over his shoulders in lazy nonchalance. ‘Don’t worry, I’m just going.’

  ‘You don’t have to leave on my—’ began Karen.

  ‘I’m not,’ he told her firmly, smiling to reassure her. ‘I was going now anyway.’ He quirked an enquiring eyebrow at Leigh. ‘Are you going to see me to the front door?’

  Leigh was still in a daze from that fleeting caress of his lips on her neck. ‘I—I—oh, I suppose so,’ she smiled wanly at Karen. ‘I won’t be a moment.’

  Piers paused at the bottom of the stairs. ‘There’s no need for you to come any further. It’s cold down here.’

  She looked up at him in the comparative gloom of the hallway. ‘You’re very considerate all of a sudden.’

  His teeth gleamed whitely in the darkness, his arms reaching out to grasp hers. ‘I can be, occasionally. Are you sure you have a previous engagement tomorrow? Or are you just putting me off in the only way you know how?’

  ‘Certainly not. If I didn’t want to see you I have only to say so. I don’t have to resort to such devious methods to avoid seeing you.’

  He laughed softly. ‘Having learned from previous experience that it doesn’t work with me.’ Suddenly his dark head swooped down and his lips claimed hers in a kiss so fleeting that she was left wondering if it had happened at all. She stared fixedly at the door he had just closed behind him. Had he really kissed her, or had she imagined that hard caressing mouth on her own? She just didn’t know. Or perhaps she was just too frightened to admit to herself that Piers Sinclair had kissed her, Leigh Stanton.

  ‘Wow!’ breathed Karen when at last Leigh returned to the flat. ‘I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I hope I didn’t come in at an awkward moment?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Leigh replied slowly. ‘I’m just not sure.’

  * * *

  The evening was progressing just as Leigh had known it would, with Chris and Keith constantly vying for Karen’s attention. It was all Leigh could do to keep them from coming to blows. She was glad to be able to escape for a moment when she went into the kitchen to wash the dishes, insisting Karen stay and entertain their guests. Leigh was just glad to get a bit of peace. Let Karen look after them for a few minutes. It was very wearing on the nerves trying to keep two jealous males apart, and Leigh for one was glad to relax.

  She still hadn’t forgotten that fleeting kiss of the evening before. It had been on her mind all day, constantly making her inattentive. She would be in trouble at work if she didn’t get Piers Sinclair out of her mind. But he wasn’t the sort of man that was easily forgotten. He was a sophisticated, cynical man and was only playing with her—he had to be. She could think of no other reason for his interest. He would probably find it very amusing to relate her naïveté to his sophisticated friends, although somehow this didn’t fit in with her impression of him. He might be hard and sometimes cruel, but she didn’t think he would be cruel in that sort of way; there was nothing underhand about him.

  ‘Would you like some help?’ Karen interrupted her thoughts.

  Leigh shook her head. ‘No, thanks. You’d better get back in there before they actually start fighting about you,’ she teased lightly.

  ‘They’re joking most of the time. You shouldn’t take them so seriously—I don’t.’ Karen picked up the drying cloth. ‘And talking about being wanted …’ she trailed off pointedly.

  ‘If you’re going to ask about last night, don’t. I just don’t have any answers for you.’

  ‘But why was Mr Sinclair still here? I mean, I didn’t realise you knew him that well. And it was only yesterday evening you said you hated him. Now surely that can’t be true.’ Karen looked puzzled.

  ‘I think,’ began Leigh slowly, ‘that Piers Sinclair is the sort of man you either love or you hate. And I certainly don’t love him! He’s—oh, he’s so annoying!’ she sighed in exasperation. ‘He knows everything.’

  ‘Everything?’ Karen queried gently.

  ‘Well, you know what I mean. And I find him very annoying. I told him that he couldn’t stay last night because I was going out, but he knew straight away it was only a way to get rid of him. Only it didn’t work—far from it, in fact.’

  ‘Was it such a bad evening? You seemed to be quite friendly when I came in.’

  Leigh chuckled softly. ‘You’re never going to believe this, Karen, but he spent most of the evening sleeping in the chair. The famous Piers Sinclair! I’m sure none of his friends would believe it, and it’s certainly not in keeping with his reputation. It’s also not very flattering to me, when I think about it,’ she finished crossly.

  ‘He was probably tired.’

  ‘Why are you defending him?’

  ‘I’m not. I’m just trying to offer explainations for his behaviour. Don’t be so touchy about him. You haven’t been at all your usual self since you met him.’

  ‘Anyway you’re right, about his being tired,’ Leigh explained when she saw Karen’s raised eyebrow. ‘He was working until five the evening—or rather morning before. An important job that had to be finished by yesterday, he, said.’

  ‘So you did have some conversation, then?’ teased Karen.

  ‘Sure,’ admitted Leigh. ‘But not too much,’ she hastened to add at Karen’s speculative look.

  ‘I’ll bet!’ Karen broke off as the doorbell rang. ‘I wonder who that is?’

  ‘I’ll go and answer it.’ Leigh wiped her hands on the towel on the back of the door, removing her pinafore from over her blue velvet trousers and smoothing down the matching velvet waistcoat. As it was quite warm in the flat she hadn’t bothered with the shirt-blouse she usually wore with this trouser suit, leaving her smooth arms and creamy neck bare.

  She entered the lounge. ‘Oh!’ she gasped as she saw that Keith had let in their visitor. Piers Sinclair stood self-assuredly in the middle of the room.

  ‘Good evening,’ he greeted her, his eyes narrowing appreciatively as they flickered over her appearance. ‘I was just passing and I saw your lights were on.’

  ‘Really?’ Leigh asked sharply.

  ‘Yes, really.’ Piers unbuttoned his coat, revealing the dark dinner jacket and snowy white shirt he wore beneath. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us, Leigh?’ He looked pointedly at Chris.

  ‘Yes, yes, of course. Chris, this is Piers Sinclair. Mr Sinclair, this is Christopher Stanton, my brother.’

  The two men shook hands while Leigh looked on resentfully. How dare that man come here from one of his women friends! How dare he! Her eyes glittered like twin jewels with her burning anger.

  ‘Hey, Sis, I didn’t know you knew Mr Sinclair,’ admonished Chris. ‘You might have told me. You are the famous racing driver, aren’t you, sir?’

  ‘Ex-racing driver,’ drawled Piers. ‘And please call me Piers. As you’re Leigh’s brother I can hardly address you as Mr Stanton.’

  Leigh blushed at the implied intimacy between the two of them, aware of the speculative looks of the other three. What game was he playing now? Whatever it was she didn’t like it. She swung back her long black hair from her shoulders, aware of the deepening look of the man opposite her. ‘Can I do something for you, Mr Sinclair?’ she asked shortly.

  Piers continued to look at her, his blue eyes mockingly amused at her apparent discomfiture. ‘Not really,’ he said finally. ‘As I said, I was just passing.’

  Still he made no move to leave, and Karen rushed into speech to bridge the gap in the conversation. ‘I was just going to make some coffee,’ she said hurriedly. ‘Would you like some?’

  Piers’ face relaxed into a smile, a charming smile, noted Leigh, and directed at the move susceptible Karen and not at herself. ‘That would be much appreciated, thank you. And as Leigh appears to be struck dumb I think you should take her with you. She looks as if she’s about to explode.’

  Leigh turned on her heel and marched angrily into the kitchen. She was happily banging cups into their saucers by the time Karen appeared. ‘The nerve of the man!’ she predictably exploded. ‘Coming here from one of his women. And checking up on me in this way. Why should I bother to lie to him? How dare he!’

  Karen removed the cup from Leigh’s hand that was in danger of being broken. ‘You don’t know that, Leigh.’ Her eyes became dreamy and distant. ‘I think he’s super.’

  ‘So he is,’ admitted Leigh ungraciously. ‘But he knows it, that’s the trouble.’

  Her friend shook golden curls. ‘I wouldn’t say he was a conceited man. Masterful is the word I would use, very masterful.’

  ‘Bossy,’ muttered Leigh crossly, deliberately putting four spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee.

  ‘They say eavesdroppers never hear any good of themselves,’ remarked a deep voice behind them. ‘It appears that whoever made that statement was correct.’

  Karen spun round guiltily, flushing furiously. She looked from Leigh’s rigid back to Piers Sinclair’s mocking eyes and fled into the lounge.

  Piers shut the door softly behind her, moving quietly to Leigh’s side. ‘Have you added the arsenic to mine yet?’ he whispered huskily against her ear. ‘Or are you hoping I’ll freeze to death under your icy stare?’

  ‘Neither,’ snapped Leigh, emptying the cup intended for him and making up a fresh cup. Her previous action had been purely a childish act, motivated by anger and not good sense. Piers Sinclair would make no bones about showing her up in front of everyone, of that she felt sure. ‘What are you doing here, Mr Sinclair?’

  Piers ran a caressing finger up her soft bare arm, making her shiver with pleasure. ‘You have very soft skin,’ he said huskily. ‘It’s a shame it’s full of prickles.’ He straightened away from her and Leigh felt suddenly cold at the loss of his body heat. ‘As to why I’m here, well, I’ve already explained that away. Have you forgotten you told me you were going out this evening? For all I knew you could have had burglars.’.

  ‘And if there had been?’

  Piers shrugged. ‘There wasn’t.’

  If there had been Leigh had no doubt as to who would have come out of it nursing a painful jaw. She grinned at him, her earlier rancour forgotten for the moment. ‘I doubt if we have anything worth stealing.’ She looked at the shabby but clean room as if to emphasise her point. ‘Besides, Karen lives here too, it could have been her here alone. What would you have done then?’