Luke’s eyes were once again that transparent green of a cat’s. ‘I trust you didn’t let your boyfriend look at those?’ He nodded abruptly in the direction of the diaries that lay spread over the table. ‘After all, my mother may not mind you reading them, but I don’t think she intended them for anyone else’s eyes!’
‘Of course Jeremy hasn’t read them!’ Leonie hurried over to tidy up the diaries, bright wings of guilty colour in her cheeks as she put them back inside the briefcase, seeing all too clearly inside her head the image of Jeremy picking up one of the diaries. But he hadn’t had a chance to actually read anything that was written there. Had he…?
‘You don’t sound too sure…?’ Luke rasped harshly.
Her eyes flashed deeply grey as she raised her head to glare across the room at him. ‘Of course I’m sure,’ she snapped angrily, closing the lid of the briefcase with a decisive click before locking it. ‘Now, as you’ve already pointed out, Luke, it’s getting late, and I don’t think it will be much of a surprise for my parents if I arrive after the party has started!’
Luke continued to look at her speculatively for several long seconds before giving a sharp inclination of his head and turning to abruptly leave the room.
Leonie’s breath left her lungs in a shaky sigh—the first sign she had that she had actually been holding her breath at all!
She had no idea how this happened, how it kept happening, but being around Luke was like being around a keg of dynamite—with no idea when, or if, it was going to explode in her face!
The weekend ahead of her, with Luke as her obvious escort, seemed even less appealing than it had before…
CHAPTER 10
‘TIME to put your best foot forward, Leonie. Oops, sorry, I forgot—at the moment you only have one best foot!’ Luke drawled mockingly as he slid out from behind the driving wheel of his car to stand on her grandfather’s driveway, flexing his tired back muscles as he did so.
Leonie made no effort to open the door on her own side of the vehicle, taking a few seconds to breathe deeply, all the time telling herself to just ignore him, that Luke was deliberately trying to annoy her.
As he had been doing for most of the drive down here. Baiting her more aptly described it, and after three hours of his biting sarcasm she was ready to hit him. Except, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction!
‘Come on, Leonie.’ Luke impatiently opened the door beside her. ‘You said your parents were due to arrive at seven-thirty, which is in fifteen minutes or so, and you still have to go inside and make yourself look beautiful,’ he added derisively.
She bit her lip to stop her sharp retort this time, the stinging pain at least taking her mind off her throbbing ankle after three hours in a car, if it couldn’t stop her rising anger towards Luke.
She wordlessly swung her legs out of the car, her left ankle throbbing painfully as she did so, visibly swollen beneath the support bandage.
Luke’s expression darkened as he looked down at her ankle. ‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me?’ he rasped, going down on his haunches to better inspect her swollen limb, although he wisely didn’t actually touch it.
‘What good would it have done?’ Leonie shrugged dismissively.
Luke’s expression was dark as he looked up at her. ‘I could have stopped the car and helped you onto the back seat for one thing,’ he snapped impatiently. ‘You could have had your foot elevated then.’
She hadn’t thought of that. But, in truth, Luke’s behaviour on the drive here had been so unreasonable, his sarcasm so deeply biting, that her pride wouldn’t have let her ask him to help her even if she had thought of it.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she dismissed, moving to the edge of the car seat in preparation of standing up. ‘You’ll have to move your car down the lane beside the cottage with the others, I’m afraid, so that my parents don’t see them.’ She grimaced, noticing the twitching of curtains inside her grandfather’s cottage as the family obviously waited to surprise her parents.
‘In a minute,’ Luke bit out grimly, bending down to swing her up into his arms.
‘What are you doing?’ Leonie squealed, very conscious of those twitching curtains as Luke cradled her against his chest before straightening to walk towards the front door.
Luke looked down at her with obvious irritation. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Leonie; you know you aren’t able to walk on that ankle!’
No, she probably wasn’t—but she would have given it a good try, rather than have the majority of her close family see her being carried into the cottage by a handsome stranger!
‘Leonie!’ Her grandfather opened the cottage door, frowning his concern. ‘Luke…?’ he realised belatedly. ‘What on earth—?’
‘A sprained ankle,’ Luke explained economically. ‘Do you think we could come inside, Leo?’ he drawled wryly. ‘She may appear small, but I can assure you your granddaughter weighs a lot more than she looks!’
Luke… Leo… Of course, these two men had met before, when Luke had been researching the possibility of writing a screenplay of her grandfather’s exploits during the war! She had completely forgotten that fact during these last few hours of being subjected to Luke’s biting sarcasm…
As for Luke’s remarks about her weight…! ‘You’re the one who insisted on carrying me,’ she snapped irritably.
Luke’s eyes gleamed with laughter as he looked briefly down at her. ‘Over the threshold, too,’ he taunted even as he stepped into her grandfather’s cottage.
‘Very funny,’ Leonie muttered, that embarrassed colour back in her cheeks.
‘Where shall I put her?’ Luke turned to her grandfather.
Just as if she were a sack of potatoes, Leonie thought disgruntedly. Why not? Luke seemed to be implying she weighed as much as one!
‘The rest of the family are through here.’ Her slightly dazed grandfather opened the door for them off the hallway that led into his sitting-room.
Ordinarily this was a large, sunny room, extending the full length of the cottage, but with twenty or so family members already congregated there the room looked much smaller. It also brought Leonie, still cradled in Luke’s arms, straight into the midst of her obviously already curious family!
Not that Luke seemed at all thrown by the twenty pairs of eyes suddenly levelled on him, heading straight for the sofa in front of the window, bending slightly before lowering Leonie onto its length.
He straightened with obvious relief at having relinquished his burden, turning to shake her grandfather’s hand. ‘It’s good to see you again,’ he told the older man warmly.
‘And you.’ Her grandfather still looked slightly dazed by the unexpected visitor who had accompanied Leonie.
‘Luke very kindly offered to drive me down here when I sprained my ankle,’ Leonie put in lightly, her gaze steadily meeting Luke’s as he turned to give her a mocking glance.
‘Kind’ didn’t quite describe the way he had behaved towards her on the drive down here—and they both knew it! But she could hardly say that, could she? Besides, whatever his behaviour, Luke had driven her here, and that was the important thing.
‘Mummy and Daddy haven’t arrived yet, have they?’ She frowned worriedly.
‘Er—no, not yet.’ Her grandfather still seemed dazed. ‘You mentioned that you and Luke had met, Leonie, but you didn’t say—didn’t say—well—’ He looked lost for words.
Luke chuckled softly at the older man’s obvious discomfort. ‘Don’t worry about it, Leo.’ He squeezed the other man’s shoulder reassuringly. ‘I’ll explain later. In the meantime, Leonie and I need to change our clothes before the guests of honour arrive…?’
‘Of course.’ Her grandfather seemed relieved to have something positive to focus on. ‘Can you manage the stairs, Leonie?’
‘Only if I carry her,’ Luke answered dryly before Leonie had chance to make a reply. ‘Which I’m quite happy to do,’ he added derisively.
Which, at this precise moment, Leonie wa
s quite happy to let him do, too! Her family seemed to have got over their surprise, chatting amongst themselves now in lowered tones. Although, as she knew from experience, they wouldn’t be able to contain their curiosity for much longer. In fact, she could see her great-uncle Tom, the widower of one of her grandfather’s younger sisters, already on his way over here. No doubt he had been chosen by the tacit agreement of the rest of the family to find out what he could about Leonie’s friend.
‘We’ll need the bags from the car,’ she reminded Luke as he swung her back up into his arms. ‘Hello, Uncle Tom, I’ll see you in a few minutes,’ she called over Luke’s shoulder as he turned to leave the room. ‘I’ll introduce you to everyone later,’ she told Luke firmly as he seemed to hesitate.
His face was expressionless as he paused in the hallway to look down at her. ‘Would you prefer me to leave? I could always come back tomorrow and drive you back to London?’
Much as she might feel tempted to accept his offer, she knew she couldn’t do it; it would be the height of bad manners after he had taken the trouble to drive her here.
‘Don’t be silly,’ she dismissed awkwardly. ‘Unless you would rather not stay?’ The thought had suddenly occurred to her. After all, driving her here was one thing, having to fend off the curiosity of her family was something else entirely—and Luke might just have become aware of that himself!
He shrugged. ‘I was actually looking forward to talking to your grandfather again,’ he admitted ruefully. ‘But I don’t want to make things awkward for you.’
‘You aren’t,’ Leonie assured him abruptly. ‘Grandfather usually puts me in the bedroom to the left at the top of the stairs,’ she directed as Luke began their ascent.
Luke quirked darkly mocking brows. ‘He’s probably wondering right now whether he’s expected to “put me” in there with you!’ he drawled.
That thought had already occurred to Leonie. Oh, not in quite the way Luke had put it, but her grandfather probably did wonder what sleeping arrangements he was supposed to expect for the two of them. She would reassure him about that when she returned downstairs too!
‘Possibly,’ she allowed tightly as Luke nudged the door open to the low-ceilinged bedroom and placed her on the bed. ‘Don’t worry, Luke, I’ll sort that out with Grandfather later.’
He looked down at her with amused eyes. ‘I wasn’t worrying, Leonie,’ he assured her huskily, looking pointedly at the double bed she sat on. ‘That certainly looks big enough for the two of us.’
Her cheeks felt as if they were on fire. ‘It may do,’ she snapped. ‘But even if we were—even if we—’
‘Were lovers,’ Luke put in helpfully, his tone mocking.
‘Yes!’ Leonie hissed, glaring up at him. ‘Even if that were the case, there is no way I would expect my grandfather to accept the two of us sleeping together here.’
Luke’s mouth twisted wryly. ‘Believe me, Leonie, if the two of us spent the night in that bed together, we would not be sleeping!’ he drawled with amusement.
In light of what had happened between them at her apartment earlier, Leonie did not find this conversation in the least amusing!
She gave him an irritated frown. ‘Would you mind getting my bag from the car?’
‘Not at all,’ he returned tauntingly, green eyes dark with amusement—at her expense. ‘I’ll move the car, too, while I’m down there. I won’t be long,’ he assured her, having to duck under the low door frame in order to leave the room without hitting his head.
Leonie was glad of the respite from his company, relaxing the tension from her shoulders. She should have stuck to her decision last night not to let Luke drive her here, should never have let him talk her round.
Because she already knew this weekend, with Luke here, was going to be worse—much worse!—than she could ever have envisaged!
* * *
’You don’t look like either of them,’ Luke remarked softly at her side.
‘Sorry?’ Leonie turned to him frowningly, having been watching her parents as they moved around the room talking animatedly to the family that had congregated to help them celebrate their anniversary.
Her parents had arrived half an hour ago, been absolutely astonished—or, at least, they had appeared to be astonished—by this surprise party that had been organised in their honour. They had arrived for the weekend with the thought that they were simply going out to dinner with Leonie and her grandfather to celebrate their anniversary. But the fact that Leonie’s mother had arrived wearing her best black dress made Leonie wonder if her more astute mother was as surprised as she appeared to be…
‘I was just remarking on the fact that if I hadn’t already known you’re adopted, I probably would have been able to guess as much, anyway; you look absolutely nothing like either of your parents,’ Luke said evenly.
It was true that she was adopted. It was also true that not even her colouring, blonde hair and grey eyes, was the same as either of her adoptive parents, her father tall and dark with blue eyes, her mother a petite redhead with brown eyes. But even so…
‘How did you know that I’m adopted?’ Leonie murmured softly, frowning heavily.
‘It was in the book,’ Luke answered dismissively, looking around the room at the other guests. ‘Your book, Leonie,’ he added pointedly, looking down at her now as she still frowned. “’Leo Winston has one son, Richard, and an adopted granddaughter, Leonora.” That’s you, isn’t it?’ he prompted gently.
Yes, that was her. She had completely forgotten that footnote in her book. But obviously Luke hadn’t…
Luke looked at her searchingly. ‘It’s the reason you try so hard, isn’t it? The reason you became a historian,’ he added at her silence. ‘To be like your adoptive grandfather.’
Leonie stared at him. How could he possibly have known that?
Luke smiled at her. ‘Come on, Leonie, let’s get into this party, hmm?’ he encouraged lightly. ‘We could start by having you introduce me to the rest of the family!’
Her ankle was less swollen now, and her grandfather had found an old stick that he used when he went off on his long country rambles, enabling her to manage the stairs easier on her own, and to get about on her own, too.
‘Of course,’ she answered distractedly.
Luke took a firm hold of her arm as he guided her across the room to where several of her relatives stood talking together.
But Leonie was still slightly dazed by Luke’s casual reference to her adoption.
Her parents had discovered very early on in their marriage that her mother was unable to have children, had adopted baby Leonie when she’d been only a few months old—her mother had felt it would be totally dishonest to adopt a son and heir!—but the adoption was a subject that was never discussed amongst the family, her mother seeing her barrenness as some sort of slight on her part, a slight she never allowed to be discussed. By anyone…
Leonie had felt—much to her mother’s displeasure!—when she’d written her grandfather’s biography, that it would be equally dishonest not to mention that fact. But having Luke talk about it so casually had totally thrown Leonie. And that he had guessed so easily, it seemed, the real reason for her chosen career…
But she couldn’t think about that any more at the moment, had to make the introductions for Luke to her eagerly awaiting family. ‘Aunt Trudie, can I introduce you to Luke Richmond? Luke, my great-aunt Trudie, grandfather’s younger sister,’ she added by way of explanation. ‘And this is Uncle Eric. Lastly Uncle Tom.’ She smiled warmly at the great-uncle who had always been her favourite amongst the large family.
’Any friend of Leonie’s…’ Uncle Tom smiled, shaking Luke’s hand warmly, as tall as the younger man, his dark hair showing only traces of silver at his temples, despite his seventy-five years.
‘I’m afraid that until this moment Leonie has told me absolutely nothing about any of you,’ Luke drawled. ‘But I’m very pleased to meet you all,’ he added lightly.
‘Do we hear wedding bells?’ Aunt Trudie twinkled speculatively, a lively seventy-year-old who liked nothing better than matchmaking for the numerous younger members of the family.
But at that moment Leonie very much wished she hadn’t included her in that number, her cheeks blushing fiery-red at her great-aunt’s last comment.
‘Only if they’re pealing for someone else,’ she answered sharply. ‘Luke is—a work colleague,’ she added firmly. ‘Who very kindly offered to drive me here when I hurt my ankle.’
She deliberately didn’t look at Luke, knowing he would be questioning the description of ‘work colleague’. But she had no intention of letting her family believe there was any romantic connection between the two of them; otherwise Aunt Trudie would have them married off before they had chance to protest!
‘That was kind.’ Aunt Trudie beamed approvingly at Luke, blue eyes twinkling merrily. ‘Although I wouldn’t dismiss Luke’s kindness as just that if I were you, Leonie,’ she added archly. ‘After all, it isn’t as if he were just driving you round the corner, now is it?’
No, it wasn’t, Leonie acknowledged irritably. But this familial teasing was the last thing she felt in the mood for when she was still so shaken by Luke’s mention of her adoption. ‘Would you all excuse me?’ she said brightly. ‘I need to check with Grandfather about the cake.’ She didn’t wait for any of them to reply, turning to limp over to where her grandfather stood talking to her parents.
‘Hello, darling.’ Her father put his arm about her shoulders and gave her a warm hug. ‘You all did incredibly well keeping this a secret from your mother and I.’
‘It was Grandfather’s idea.’ She smiled.
‘So kind of you, Leo,’ her mother drawled, reaching up to peck her father-in-law coolly on the cheek.
At best it was a perfunctory kiss, but Leonie knew, and accepted, that its coolness was typical, not selective, of her mother.
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