Living Together

‘She may be,’ he agreed tautly. ‘But I’m not likely to do that when I have this thing about you, now am I?’

Helen recoiled as if he had hit her. ‘I’m sorry,’ she choked.

Leon sighed, running a hand through the thickness of his hair. ‘No, I’m the one who should be apologising. It’s just—oh God, it’s hell looking at you and knowing I can’t have you!’

‘You see, Leon, you see what it would be like,’ she said.

‘No! No, it wouldn’t be like that, I swear it. It’s just the uncertainty, the not knowing whether you’re going to agree. Let’s get out of here,’ he said restlessly. ‘Let’s go and see my parents.’

‘But won’t they—won’t they think it odd if I visit with you?’ Her violet eyes were troubled. ‘Won’t they think there’s something between us, something serious, I mean?’

‘Instead of just my lust?’ he taunted. ‘No, they won’t think that. You’ll enjoy it, Helen. They live on the edge of the New Forest. All the new foals are about this time of year, and my mother encourages them at every opportunity.’

‘Well…I would like to see the foals.’

Leon grinned. ‘I won’t tell them that was your only inducement!’ His humour deepened at her consternation. ‘Don’t worry, if I told my mother you would have a friend for life. She loves it

down there. They moved there five years ago when my father retired.’

‘What work did he used to do?’

‘He owned a law firm.’

‘Shouldn’t you have carried on the family business?’ asked Helen.

’Instead of becoming a disreputable actor?’ he smiled. ‘My father’s description, not mine. He was deeply shocked when I decided to take up acting as a profession. To him it isn’t work, it’s just grown-ups playing games. I suppose in a way he’s right, but I enjoy my work. I’m just not the type to sit behind a desk or in a courtroom all day. Dad sold the firm when he retired and now he and my mother are enjoying life for the first time in years, relaxing, travelling, just enjoying being with each other.’

‘They sound nice,’ Helen said wistfully.

‘I think so. What about your own parents?’

‘They were killed six years ago, Jenny’s parents too. It was Christmas, they’d all been out to a party together, although my father made sure he wasn’t over the limit for driving—he never was. But he might just as well have got drunk and enjoyed himself. A young boy, stoned out of his mind, drove through the crash barrier on the motorway and hit them head-on. They didn’t stand a chance. Jenny’s mother lived for two days after the accident and then she died too. I suppose that it’s because of the tragedy we shared so young that Jenny and I have always been close.’

‘Apparently you weren’t close enough two years ago for her to stop you making the biggest mistake of your life,’ said Leon. ‘Why didn’t she stop you?’

‘She was away on a business trip with Brent at the time. I was going to surprise her with it when she got home. I certainly did that,’ she said bitterly. ‘She hadn’t been home two hours when I arrived at the flat in a state of hysteria.’

‘Some homecoming,’ he said dryly.

‘Yes.’

Leon looked at his watch. ‘If we leave now we can be at my parents’ in time for lunch.’ He changed the subject on to something less painful for her.

‘You give them a ring while I change.’

’You really will come with me?’

‘As long as you’re sure they’ll accept that we’re only friends.’

‘Oh, I couldn’t ask them to accept that,’ he teased. ‘I don’t have female friends. Besides, they’ll only have to see the way I look at you to know I want you as more than a friend.’

If he looked at her the way he was right now she could quite well believe it. The warmth in his tawny eyes for her made her blush. ‘Then don’t look at me,’ she advised, and hurried into the bedroom before he could reply.

She chose a bottle-green dress, a shirtwaister, shaped at the waist with a narrow belt in the same colour green. The colour made her hair appear blacker, her eyes more violet, and she knew she looked attractive. The look in Leon’s eyes echoed that sentiment as he slowly appraised her.

He opened the car door for her. ‘You’re asking a lot when you say I shouldn’t look at you. The way you look at the moment I can hardly take my eyes off you.’

Helen made a show of settling herself in her seat as a ‘way of not answering him. ‘Did your parents mind?’ she asked once they were on their way. ‘My being with you, I mean.’