to drive home and change for the party. ‘I’ll have to go now, but I’ll be home again in the week or next weekend. I’ll telephone and let you know for sure.’
‘Now you know this is still your home, Leigh, and you’re welcome at any time,’ gently scolded her mother. ‘You don’t need to telephone first, there’s always someone at home.’
‘Okay, Mum.’ She hugged her mother tightly, knowing that she didn’t like her living away from home and missed her terribly. As the only two females in the family the two of them had always been very close. ‘And no loading me up with food and things this time.’
‘That’ll be the day your mother doesn’t do that!’ scoffed her father. ‘She thinks you starve yourself at that flat.’
His wife looked at him reproachfully. ‘I’ve only cooked an apple pie and a chocolate sponge, and you know they’re your favourites,’ she said to her daughter.
‘You spoil me, Mum. I’ll put pounds on if you carry on doing this. But you know I can’t resist your cooking.’
‘I have to make sure that you have some solid food inside you. I’m sure you don’t feed yourself properly.’
‘I do, Mum, it’s just that I don’t like cooking very much. Anyway, I’m not that thin.’
‘Well, take them anyway.’ Her mother packed the cake and pie into a tin and gave them to Leigh. ‘Now take care of yourself driving in the dark. You know how your dad and I worry about you.’
‘I’ll be careful,’ she promised.
It took Leigh longer than usual to start the car and she breathed a deep sigh of relief when at last the engine fired into life. She was afraid her mother was right, she would have to get a different car in the near future.
The car was being very temperamental on the way home and she wasn’t altogether surprised when five miles from her flat it came to a grinding halt. Swearing and cursing to herself, she jumped out of the car and began poking about under the bonnet, not that she knew anything about engines, but perhaps if she moved a few things about it might start again.
After five minutes she realised that she wasn’t going to be successful, and locking up the car decided to walk to the nearest garage and get professional help. Not that she thought anyone would want to steal her car, it simply wasn’t worth it. And the garage bill would probably cost more than the car was worth.
She trudged wearily along the darkened road, refusing the offers of a lift that she received. She didn’t have far to go now, and she wouldn’t have accepted any of them anyway.
Yet another car passed by and Leigh moved swiftly to the side of the road as the powerful car swished past her at great speed. Roadhog! she fumed silently, looking up with some surprise as the car came to a screeching halt some way down the road, and began reversing towards her. Leigh stepped back again on to the side of the road as the car drew up beside her.
The window moved down by the press of a button, the driver leaning over to speak to her. ‘Can I be of any assistance?’ asked a familiar deep masculine voice.
Oh no! Leigh just didn’t believe it! Her luck seemed to have run out on her this evening. ‘Do you make a habit of picking up young girls, Mr Sinclair?’ she asked icily.
Silence. She heard his sharp intake of breath before he answered. ‘Not as a rule, Miss Stanton.’ So he actually remembered her name! ‘But you seem to be in some sort of trouble, and I thought an offer of help wouldn’t come amiss. Needless to say, I didn’t realise it was you when I stopped.’
‘And now you do?’
‘My offer of help still stands.’ He flicked open the door from the inside, leaning over her to press the button to close the window after she had seated herself next to him. Instantly Leigh became aware of his warm male-smelling, body, and the nearness of his thigh to her own. He turned in his seat to look at her, switching on the interior light so that he could see her better. ‘Would it be too much to ask what you’re doing wandering about on a deserted road at seven o’clock in the evening? Don’t tell me it’s a repeat of last night? You surely didn’t change your mind again when it actually came to the point?’
There was no missing the scorn in his voice. ‘Is that Gavin’s explanation of yesterday?’ she asked angrily.
Piers Sinclair’s mouth tightened. ‘I haven’t seen Gavin since we left him last night. I stayed at my apartment in town after I left you. Satisfied?’
‘You don’t owe me any explanations, Mr Sinclair. And if you really want to know what I’m doing here I can quite easily explain that. My car has broken down a couple of miles down the road and I was looking for a garage.’
‘You drive?’
‘Well, I didn’t push it here, if that’s what you mean,’ Leigh said tartly. He probably thought her incapable of driving a car.
‘Okay, cut the witty comments.’ He backed the car up and turned it round in a gateway. ‘Is your car very far back?’
‘A mile or two, but I have no idea what’s actually wrong with it.’
‘Women rarely do.’
‘And that is a typical male patronising comment, Mr Sinclair. Just because you were a racing driver and know how a car works, that doesn’t mean everyone has to. I might be quite knowledgeable on some subjects you know very little about.’
‘I’m sure you are. Now tell me how we get to your car, I don’t remember seeing it as I drove along.’
Leigh almost missed seeing her car herself, having pushed it to the side of the road out of the way of other traffic. Thank goodness it hadn’t been a big car or she would have just had to leave it standing on the road.
Piers Sinclair got swiftly out of the car, putting his hand out wordlessly for the car keys, before lifting up the bonnet of her old battered Mini. After a few minutes he slammed the bonnet back down and climbed into the car. Leigh stifled a chuckle at his imposing figure sitting so incongruously in her tiny car. It still wouldn’t start and she tried hard to hide her smug smile at his inability to find the trouble. That would teach him to be so sure of himself all the time!
He got out of her car without a word and began looking through the boot of his own car. A second later he came back, a large petrol container in his hand. ‘Didn’t you bother to check the petrol gauge, or are you in the habit of letting it run dry?’
Leigh blushed a fiery red. ‘I … er … I didn’t think. I’m so used to it breaking down that I didn’t think about checking the petrol.’ She moved nervously from one foot to the other. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said dully.
‘Don’t apologise to me.’ He wiped his oily hands un-caringly down his dark trousers. ‘I’m not the one who walked two miles for nothing.’
‘No. I am.’ She felt so embarrassed. And she had thought him sure of himself! She shouldn’t have been so smug. ‘Please … please don’t make your clothes dirty because of my stupidity. Here,’ she handed him a clean handkerchief from the pocket of her jeans.
‘What’s the matter?’ he asked softly. ‘Are you frightened I might send you the cleaning
