Seductive Stranger

'I've often thought I'd like to have a shot at farming!' David said casually, and she gave him a surprised look.

'Really? You never said so before.'

'Haven't I?' He grinned, eyes teasing. 'Well, it is just one of my many ambitions, of course! I'd like to be an astronaut, too! Do you think it's too late to start the training?'

'Yes,' Prue said, laughing at him because he was playing the fool.

David often did that; he was light- hearted, you shouldn't take him too seriously because he didn't take himself seriously. She had never heard him admit to having any ambitions at all; he wanted to enjoy life, not work at it, and most ambitions necessitated quite a bit of work if you were ever to get anywhere.

'Are the Killanes a big family?' he asked, and she shook her head.

'Lynsey has a brother, Josh—he was the driver we nearly collided with!'

'Yes, so his sister said. I can't actually remember him, the accident is a bit of a blur to me. Does he bear me any grudge? She said he wasn't hurt, but I guess he must have been shaken up.'

'He was a little scathing,' she said shortly.

David eyed her, raising an eyebrow. 'You don't like, him?'

She shrugged, watching David take a sip of water from his glass.

'What sort of fella is he?' he asked, putting the glass back on his bedside table.

'Formidable,' she said drily. 'A tough character, but then he is a Killane, and they're all very sure of themselves.'

'I suppose you knew him when you lived here as a child?'

'I barely remember him, I was too young to have much to do with the Killanes in those days. He seems to have a finger in most pies around here. Even in the hospital, I've noticed, everyone treats him like God, or at least one of God's executives!'

David laughed, then winced as though laughing made his ribs hurt, and Prue gave him a worried look. Maybe she should leave soon? He was probably getting tired. Prue glanced at the clock. The time had flown.

'You know, I can see your hackles from here!' said David, watching her. 'Did he try to push you around, this divine executive?' He was amused, but Prue didn't smile back this time. She wished he would stop talking about Josh.

'He tried!' she said through her teeth.

She couldn't tell David how she felt about Josh Killane, and that gave her a jab of mingled rage and pain because she was deceiving David, something she had never done before! In the past, she would have told David at once if another man made a pass at her, but for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to tell him about Josh. Was she afraid of what David might do ... or afraid of what she herself might betray? David knew her so well!

'But failed?' David grinned teasingly at her. When they were just kids, he had got a lot of fun out of watching her fight anyone who tried to bully her; and not much had changed over the years. Prue was still the one who flared up and fought back; David was the lazy, casual, easy-going one, who took life as it came and seemed to laugh at things that made her furious.

She shrugged. 'Let's just say I don't much care for Mr Josh Killane!'

The bell signalling the end of visiting hour began to ring as she was speaking, and Prue jumped up and made a hurried farewell, relieved that the conversation had been interrupted there.

'I'll see you tomorrow—I'm sorry I can't come back again today, but I don't really like to ask drive my father to drive me here twice a day, and the hire car is still being repaired.'

David grimaced. 'Good grief, I hadn't thought of garage bills! Tell me the worst—how much is it going to cost?'

'Don't worry. The insurance will pay, that's all dealt with,' she said, kissing him goodbye.

That was something else she didn't want to tell him about! Josh had dealt with their car while Prue was in hospital, and when she'd questioned him, Josh had told her not to bother about it, he had seen to all the financial arrangements. Prue had some idea that the hire car company insurance covered the accident, but tomorrow she would insist on finding out the exact position. For the moment, she did not want David getting agitated over it. He might well ask why Josh had taken charge like that. Of course, it was utterly typical of Josh to be thoughtful and efficient, even in the tiniest details; and she ought to be grateful to him for saving her all that trouble, but she found herself resenting that, too, because it was so typical. He took too much on himself!

What had David said . . . feudal? Yes, the word fitted Josh perfectly; he was a feudal overlord from his black Norman head to his black boots.

'Anything I can get you?' she asked David almost pleadingly, out of her feelings of guilt and contrition.

'Sports magazines, anything light to read—a good thriller, maybe!' he said. 'No more fruit, darling! No food of any kind!' She had brought him fruit, chocolate, even some speckled brown free-range eggs from the farm, laid by one of her father's pretty little Bantam hens that morning!

'I'll never be able to eat my way through this lot as it is!' David said, eyeing the collection assembled on top of his locker.