‘Oh, I don’t think it’s that at all—the opposite, in fact.’
‘We’re only friends,’ Helen told her tightly.
Catherine gave her a sideways glance. ‘Leon has never introduced us to any of his girl-friends before.’
That was news to Helen, and it gave her being here an intimacy that simply didn’t exist. ‘We really are only friends,’ she explained hastily. ‘And I’m not being trite. The truth of the matter is I hardly know your son.’
‘Sometimes that isn’t necessary,’ Catherine said gently. ‘I can see Leon cares for you very much.’
He didn’t ‘care’ for her at all—he just wanted her, her body! ‘I think you have the wrong impression, Mrs Masters, there’s really nothing like that between us.’
‘Call me Catherine, please. I have a feeling we’re going to become good friends.’
And Helen had the feeling they were going to be no such thing, even if Leon’s mother didn’t seem to be willing to believe that. She taxed Leon with it on the drive back to London after dinner.
‘Your mother thinks there’s something serious between us,’ she informed him crossly.
He gave her a fleeting glance. ‘But there is. At least, I can’t see anything funny about the situation.’
‘I didn’t mean that and you know it. Apparently I’m the first “girl-friend” you’ve ever introduced to them. Now you must have known that would give them the wrong impression, and you assured me that they wouldn’t think anything like that,’ she added furiously.
‘Are you annoyed with me?’ he enquired calmly.
‘Of course I’m annoyed with you,’ she snapped. ‘Haven’t I just been saying as much?’
‘You’re beautiful when you’re angry,’ he murmured throatily.
Helen gave an impatient sigh. ‘Will you stop changing the subject!’
‘I’m sorry,’ but his warm smile told her he was no such thing, his anger over her ring obviously forgotten. ‘I didn’t tell you because if I had you wouldn’t have gone with me. They liked you, by the way.’
‘I liked them too, but—’
‘Then what are you complaining about?’ he cut in in a bored voice.
‘I’m complaining about the fact that you deceived me, that you—’
‘Shut up, Helen,’ he ordered tersely. ‘I’ve never taken any other woman to meet my parents because I didn’t consider any of them suitable. I knew they would approve of you and so I took you to see them, that was all there was to it.’
‘You—you—’
‘Calm down, Helen. You enjoyed yourself, didn’t you?’
‘Yes,’ she admitted reluctantly.
‘Then that’s all that matters. Besides, it assured my parents that I do occasionally go out with presentable women.’
‘I’m sure all your women are presentable, most of them are beautiful actresses.’
‘Exactly. My parents don’t approve of actresses.’
‘Are you saying they approve of me?’ She couldn’t resist the question.
‘Unquestionably. If my father were thirty years younger he would want you for himself.’
Helen blushed. ‘I didn’t like deceiving them in that way.’
‘Just forget about it,’ Leon said impatiently. ‘You’re the one making it seem more important than it actually was.’