“Oh, for God’s sake!” Boyd, contemplating her extreme agitation, suddenly relented. He reached out and drew her against his chest as if she were still a child, allowing her to stand until she was quiet within the half circle of his arms.
“Here, let’s get you home,” he murmured, somehow preventing his hands from sliding all over her perfect body. A body he wanted to cover like a man sought to cover the body of the woman he desired.
To Leona’s ears, he sounded near defeated. That was so unlike Boyd—but he kept a supportive arm around her. It was a measure of his very real affection for her, she thought gratefully. Affection was allowed. The family would allow affection.
Boyd must have been on the same wavelength because he asked in a very dry voice, “Anyone for a cup of tea?”
She fell into line. “I don’t drink tea.”
“Neither do I.”
“I know.” She dared to look up at him, seeking some measure of reassurance. “Was kissing me a game?” If he said yes, she thought she might die.
“If it was a game, it’s one I’m not sure I know the rules to,” he said grimly.
“Sometimes I’m afraid, Boyd.” She tried to explain herself. Without her mother, with a largely “absent” father, she had become used to keeping things in. It was all right to worship Boyd. He was the supernova in the family. She was part of the clan certainly, but still fairly low in the pecking order. For her and Boyd to become romantically involved would cause huge problems. She could even lose her job. Would Bea allow it? She badly needed time to consider the magnitude of what had just happened. Both of them had responded so passionately they might have been trying to make up for lost time. Would the force grow, the desperation?
“Poor baby!” Boyd murmured, as though all too aware of her fears. He was suppressing urges so intense he didn’t know how he was able to withstand them. “Come on.” He used his normal persuasive voice. “Home.” He bent to give her a leg up onto the Arabian mare, who was standing so quietly she might have been listening in on their conversation. Then, when Leona was in the saddle, he turned away to whistle up his bay, who was lightly grazing several feet away.
The secrets of the heart, he thought. It was time to bring a few of them out into the open. His feelings for Leona, the strong bond they had always shared, was stored in his blood.
CHAPTER THREE
“GOSH, THERE YOU ARE! I’ve been searching for you everywhere.” Robbie, looking almost distraught, rushed down the corridor of the west wing towards her. “Been riding?” He glanced down at her clothes.
“You know I love to ride,” Leona answered, trying to gauge his mood. “What time did you get here?”
“Oh, about an hour ago,” he said. “I had hoped we could have a game of tennis.”
“I don’t see why not.” Leona lifted her wrist and glanced at her watch. It would be daylight for hours yet. Besides, physical exertion might dampen her flaming passions. “Is everything okay?” She stared directly into his dark eyes. Should she warn him that Boyd planned to have a little chat with him? Perhaps not yet.
“It is now.” He shrugged cheerfully. “You know I’m lost at Brooklands without you.”
“Even so, you seem off balance.”
“I’m fine, Leo,” he said, now faintly testy. “I had the great misfortune to run—literally—into Tonya. That woman is the very devil. Jinty is in wonderful spirits. She gave me a great big hug. If I didn’t know better I’d have thought I was her favourite nephew. Rupe, needless to say, was overjoyed to see me again. Where’s Boyd? Never sighted him.”
“He came riding with me,” Leona said, deliberately offhand though it took a huge effort. She continued on her way down the picture-lined gallery towards her room.
“Did he now!” Robbie exclaimed, following her up. “The relationship growing, is it?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” She kept on walking.
“Despite the fact you’re Boyd’s marmalade kitten?”
She had to laugh at such a fanciful description. “I always thought of myself as the stray duckling.”
“Ah, Leo, sweetie, you yearn for his good graces,” Robbie said, loudly sighing. “So do I, for that matter. Black tie tonight?”
“You know it is.”
“I bet you’ve brought something exquisite to wear.” How beautiful Leo was, Robbie thought proudly. Glorious hair, glorious skin, glorious eyes—a romantic dream.
“Nothing else like it in the world,” she joked. In fact she had brought two beautiful evening dresses with her. You know who for. “I tell you what. Let me have a quick shower after that gallop. Get into your gear and I’ll meet you at the courts in around twenty minutes.”
“You’re an angel.” He hugged her, an inbred Latin style in all his movements. “Shall I ask Simon and his girlfriend to join us? I think Simon is planning on announcing their engagement quite soon.” Simon was one of the Blanchard cousins, also working for the firm.
“Good idea. Emma is so nice.”
“And her family own a nice big sheep station,” Robbie pointed out waspishly. “Let’s not put that little fact aside.”
“Ah, well, money usually marries money,” Leona said.
“And power begets power. How enviable it all is! And a very good idea, I suppose. These days women get half of what a guy has if they split up, so why then shouldn’t women bring a dowry with them like the old days? Rupe is madly pushing poor old Chloe at Boyd.”
“Robbie,” Leona reproved too sharply but she couldn’t help herself.
“Leona,” he responded heavily. “You have to remember there’s always tremendous pressure on people with lots of money to keep up. They have huge overheads. Houses, cars, planes, yachts, skillions of employees. To old Rupe’s eyes it would be utterly right to push Boyd and Chloe together. She’s a nice girl. Bit dim but everyone likes her. Even me and I’m vaguely anti-women. After all, two fortunes are better than one. It’s not marrying for money at all. It’s plain common sense.”
“Then maybe I shouldn’t point out that Annalise quite likes you,” she put in lightly. Annalise was one of the clan, an intelligent, graceful young woman, still at university.
“Does she really?” Robbie’s lean cheeks flushed with colour.
Leona smiled at him.
“I’d never be allowed to court Annalise,” he said gloomily. “I’m the peasant in your midst.”
“Oh, don’t start that phoney inferiority stuff again,” she warned him. “It’s all a pretence. Even I can see you’re an attractive guy. There’s no reason why you couldn’t ask Annalise out. I’m sure she’d accept.”
Robbie, for answer, suddenly
