Knight to the Rescue

by Miranda Lee

  Audrey put down the coffee-cup she’d been clasping like a life-line. ‘Is that so?’ she bit out. ‘Then why in heaven’s name didn’t you warn me? What purpose could you and Father have for leaving me in the dark?’

  Astonishment at being openly confronted widened those cold black eyes. ‘Well, I—er—we didn’t want to hurt you, dear. Besides, Warwick thought it would do you good to get out and about a bit, regardless.’

  ‘You mean to tell me that Father tolerated some gigolo’s seducing me with an eye to the family fortune, in exchange for my having a few dates? How amazing! I’ll have to ask him to explain his reasoning when he gets home. I would have thought he’d be furious that he had such a creep in his employ!’

  ‘Well, of course Warwick didn’t think Russell had actually seduced you, Audrey,’ Lavinia blustered.

  ‘Oh? You mean he believed a man like that would take me out continuously for a few months and not try anything. How flattering!’ She affected a drily amused laugh.

  Lavinia stared at her as though she didn’t recognise her stepdaughter, or her new manner. ‘No...he...I... Well, the fact is, my dear, I told Warwick he hadn’t. Your father came to me expressing concern about you, so I thought it best to soothe his fears. I said that you had confided in me and told me Russell was being a perfect gentleman.’

  Audrey’s heart caught at the knowledge that her father had not been as guilty of negligence concerning her welfare as she had feared. It reaffirmed the hope that he did love her after all.

  But her anger at Lavinia only increased. Oddly enough, it soothed her soul to keep that anger in check, to use its strengthening force to overcome her usual lack of assertion. ‘But why would you do that, Lavinia?’ she questioned relentlessly.

  ‘I...I...’ Her stepmother’s fluster was evidenced in her stammering voice and the high colour in her face. ‘I didn’t want to worry Warwick,’ she blurted out before pulling herself together, tossing her head in a prickly haughtiness. ‘You know what fathers are like. They worry about things like that.’

  Audrey was about to deny knowing any such thing when Lavinia smiled, a slow sly smile that made her skin crawl. ‘But we women know we don’t really mind being made love to by men like Russell,’ she drawled. ‘Wicked men can be very exciting, can’t they? Men like Elliot—’

  ‘Elliot’s not wicked!’ Audrey defended, her composure slipping for a second.

  ‘Isn’t he?’ Lavinia laughed again, only this time, it had a smug tone to it. ‘Quite clearly you don’t really know the man. You certainly haven’t been to bed with him as yet or you wouldn’t be making such a naïve statement.’ She gave her stepdaughter a pitying glance. ‘Let me give you a little tip, dear. Don’t play too hard to get. You’re not that rich.’

  And with this final coup de grâce she swept from the room.

  Audrey sat there, shaking. The bitch! The miserable rotten jealous bitch!

  She was still sitting there a few seconds later, trying to contain her rage and her pain, when the sounds of the grandfather clock bonging eleven drifted through the still swinging kitchen door. Almost simultaneously, the front doorbell rang.

  ‘Oh, no...Elliot,’ she groaned.

  Rather a different reaction from that to his arrival last night, Audrey thought with a despairing bleakness as she levered herself off the stool and moved reluctantly towards the front door. If it weren’t for Lavinia she would tell him she had changed her mind and would learn to drive elsewhere, thereby ending this friendship before it could cause her any more misery. But she just couldn’t bear the thought of her stepmother gloating.

  An idea, however, slipped into Audrey’s mind as she reached for the doorknob, an idea that would eliminate the problem of Lavinia quite effectively. She wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before.

  But, once again, the sight of Elliot stunned her, throwing her mind off-track. Dressed in a navy blue tracksuit, white T-shirt and trainers, he looked even more sexy than he had the previous night. Perhaps it was his unshaven face that gave him such a raw appeal. Or his wind-blown hair, flopping over his forehead. Or maybe it was the looser, more casual clothes, drawing attention to the athletic power of his impressive male body, from his wide shoulders down to his lean hips and long muscular thighs.

  She couldn’t help remembering how it had felt last night with those thighs hard against hers.

  ‘Good morning, Birthday Girl,’ he greeted, grey eyes smiling. ‘Nice day, isn’t it? Sun shining. No wind. Sydney at its winter best. I’ve been up since seven, being a good little jogger. Hey...’ He gave her a close look. ‘You don’t look so hot. Are you sure you want your first driving lesson today? I could come back tomorrow.’

  Her mind snapped back to reality, though her heart still pounded away. God, there was no way she would be able to concentrate on learning to drive sitting next to Elliot in the close confines of a car. No way...

  Yet to put him off, to turn round and re-enter that house and face Lavinia’s smug questions, was unthinkable. The idea she’d had a moment ago, that of moving out of home and into a flat of her own, would take time to implement. But at least it would ensure that when Elliot disappeared from the scene—which he ultimately would—Lavinia wouldn’t be around to make nasty cutting remarks.

  Meanwhile, she would have to go with him and put up with his trying to teach her to drive for a few days. Maybe she could look upon it as a trial for her new self, the one who had resolved overnight to take charge of her own life from this day forward.

  ‘No,’ she said tautly. ‘No point in putting off the unpleasant.’

  ‘Is that how you think of me?’ Elliot laughed. ‘As unpleasant?’

  She thought she did splendidly, keeping her expression calm. ‘Not you, Elliot. Learning to drive. I must warn you, though. I might prove unteachable.’

  ‘Never! You’re a very quick learner.’ His eyes flicked over her face and hair with definite satisfaction before dropping to admire her plain peach-coloured shirt. ‘Not only have you very sensibly kept your hair up and your make-up neutral, but you’ve also discovered that more subdued colours suit you much better than brighter ones.’

  Audrey felt herself pinkening with pleasure. She had gone through her wardrobe this morning, tossing aside everything that hit her in the eye. Which hadn’t left her much to choose from. She’d come up with the plain shirt Elliot had just admired and her favourite stone-washed grey jeans, jeans which Elliot was now staring at with a definite frown.

  ‘Those jeans, though,’ he added with a wry grimace. ‘I suggest you leave them in your wardrobe in future when you go out with me.’

  Now Audrey was taken aback. And quite put out. ‘Those jeans’ were the one item of clothing she’d never doubted looked good on her. If she’d been able to wear them everywhere, she would have.

  ‘What’s wrong with them?’ she demanded to know quite crossly. ‘Surely you’re not one of those old-fashioned men who like women in dresses and skirts all the time? I happen to like these jeans and I intend wearing them whenever and wherever I want to!’

  Now it was Elliot’s turn to be taken aback, whether because of her accusing him of being old-fashioned or her standing up for herself Audrey wasn’t sure. But she was fed up with being confused by people telling her what to wear and what not to wear. Perhaps it was her own stupid fault, never having had a mind of her own. But that was going to be a thing of the past. In future she would definitely make her own decisions, in every facet of her life. And if she made mistakes, then tough! At least they would be her mistakes.

  ‘What’s got into you this morning?’

  ‘Nothing,’ she grumped, then sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Elliot. I guess I’m in a bit of a cantakerous mood.’

  ‘No, don’t apologise. It’s great. I love it. It’s just such a surprise to find that sweet shy Audrey has found some real spit and fire. Not to mention the courage of her own convictions for once.’

  ‘Well, that’s a backhanded compliment, if ever there w
as one!’ she huffed.

  ‘God! There’s more of it! Next thing the claws will come out and I’ll be ducking for cover.’

  When she tried to glare at him, she was totally disarmed by his infectious grin. ‘You’re a meanie,’ she accused, though smiling.

  ‘Never!’

  ‘And a bad judge of clothes. These jeans look good on me.’

  ‘Yes,’ he agreed, jaw clenching as his eyes dropped once again to where the stretch denim hugged every curve of her shapely legs and bottom. ‘That’s the problem.’

  His gaze travelled back up, lingering over the thrust of her breasts under the cotton shirt. When his eyes finally lifted to lock with hers, her breath caught in her throat. Elliot wasn’t making any attempt to hide his desire-filled state.

  He really wants me, she thought, thunder-struck.

  His frown was swift and dark as the same thought apparently struck him.

  The charged moment was interrupted by the front door being yanked fully open behind them.

  ‘Audrey! Why are you standing out here with the front door half open? It’s creating a draught and it’s... Oh, it’s you, Elliot,’ Lavinia gushed, pretending to be totally surprised by his presence as she came out on to the front porch. One red-nailed hand clutched her velvet dressing-gown inadequately shut over an obviously naked bosom, the other brushing her long black waves back from her face with primping movements. ‘I didn’t realise you were here. I’ve just got up out of bed.’

  Audrey scrutinised her stepmother’s fully made-up face with newly cynical eyes. She also didn’t miss the exotic perfume wafting from the woman in intoxicating waves. Any other female would know exactly what Lavinia was up to. Audrey hoped Elliot was equally au fait with such blatant womanly wiles.

  Jealousy twisted inside her when she noticed his eyes transfixed on her stepmother’s cleavage, those eyes which a second before had been gleaming at her with undisguised desire. So much for her thinking he wanted her exclusively. He probably looked at a lot of women like that!

  Her glare must have attracted his attention for his eyes slid her way, his expression quickly projecting a measure of exasperation with her. But not a trace of guilt.

  Lavinia’s words came back to haunt her, about Elliot’s being wicked, something she would know if he’d made love to her. Clearly her stepmother had meant sexually wicked. But did that mean he would be an adventurous lover? Imaginative? Inventive? Or that sex for him was a vice, a hedonistic pleasure separated from all caring and feeling, to be indulged in indiscriminately, without morals and conscience.

  Despite what had just happened, Audrey rejected such a concept quite fiercely. No! That couldn’t be so. If that was so he would never have been such a gentleman with her, neither the first day they met nor last night. Certainly not last night when he had been so aroused. A wicked man would have bent her to his will anyway, found some alternative way to satisfy his lust.

  Though relatively inexperienced, Audrey was not a total ignoramus where sex was concerned. Russell himself had suggested such...alternatives...to her on occasions, but she had been repulsed and had refused. Audrey had to admit that she might not be repulsed if Elliot made similar demands. She suspected she would be only too willing, a thought that brought her up with a jolt. Much as she loved Elliot and wanted to make love with him, she would never be prepared to be callously used, to be treated like a whore!

  The word whore sent her gaze back to Lavinia, who was continuing to flirt outrageously with Elliot. ‘You must come to dinner one night, when there are no other guests. We’d love to have you.’

  You mean you’d love to have him, Audrey thought with a mixture of savage anger and outright panic. Dear God, please don’t let that happen. Not that. Anything but that...

  ‘Love to,’ Elliot responded suavely. ‘Give me a ring some time and we can co-ordinate dates. Now I must be getting on with teaching madam here to drive. Have you got the keys to the Magna, Audrey?’

  ‘They’re just inside on the hall table.’

  ‘Well, get them, sweet thing. I haven’t got all day.’

  ‘Going out later?’ Audrey heard Lavinia ask as she hurried into the foyer.

  ‘Not out,’ came the reply. ‘I want to listen to the races this afternoon.’

  ‘Oh, you’re a gambler!’ Lavinia sounded delighted. ‘I love people who gamble. They’re so daring.’

  Elliot gave a dry laugh. ‘Really? I’d call them stupid. No, I’m not a gambler. I inherited a share in a racehorse and since I don’t like to be ignorant I’m doing a crash course in punting before I attend her first race next Saturday.’

  Audrey rejoined Elliot where he’d moved down a step or two, away from Lavinia.

  ‘How exciting!’ she was saying. ‘Where are the races next Saturday?’

  ‘Rosehill. I’m taking Audrey,’ he said, and hooked an arm through her elbow.

  Luckily, Audrey was getting rather used to Elliot’s ingenuity and didn’t register any betraying surprise. ‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘I can’t wait.’

  ‘Sorry I can’t invite you and Warwick to come along too, Lavinia,’ Elliot went on. ‘But we’re going to be the guests of some friends of mine in their private box. Maybe another time...’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ Lavinia excused with a stiff smile, but Audrey saw the flash of pique in her eyes. She thanked God Elliot had wangled his way out of that one.

  ‘Come along, Audrey...’ Elliot made a point of guiding her with extra care down the steep steps as though she was some fragile flower that needed gentle handling.

  She threw him a slightly sarcastic look once they reached bottom. ‘Don’t you think you’re overdoing it a bit?’

  ‘Perhaps,’ he agreed, grinning.

  Truly! He was really enjoying himself, playing out this charade. It crossed her mind that Elliot could be right about her not knowing his motives in helping her. Perhaps it wasn’t out of kindness, or pity. Perhaps he was getting a kick out of acting the part of gallant lover. Perhaps he simply enjoyed deception.

  Or perhaps there was some other devious reason she hadn’t yet thought of...

  An uneasy feeling crept over her as she watched him open the passenger door for her, a rather wry smile on his face. He’d said she didn’t really know anything about him and this was becoming more evident every time they met. A racehorse now, for heaven’s sake! What next?

  ‘Audrey? Hop in.’

  She blinked. ‘Where...where are you taking me?’ she asked with a twinge of unexpected alarm.

  ‘Somewhere very isolated where we won’t meet any other cars.’

  ‘Isolated?’ she repeated, swallowing.

  ‘That’s right. You haven’t got your learner’s licence or your L plates yet, and we can’t get them this morning. The Motor Registry Office is closed on a Saturday. That means we’ll have to keep well off the main roads. Still, you won’t be ready for traffic for a while yet, anyway. Come on. Get in. Can’t have you having an accident,’ he whispered to her as she brushed past him to climb into the car. ‘The wicked witch would probably like that.’

  Audrey’s eyes snapped round and up, widening with shock. She glanced agitatedly over Elliot’s shoulder up at the house, but Lavinia had already gone inside.

  ‘OK, so she probably doesn’t want you dead,’ Elliot drawled. ‘But a little mangled she wouldn’t mind.’ He shut the car door with a bang.

  It was a full five minutes before Audrey could speak a word. By then Elliot was behind the wheel of the Magna and well on his way to finding an ‘isolated’ place. Audrey’s thoughts, however, were no longer on Elliot or his motives or even her imminent driving lessons. It was concentrated on the woman who had influenced her life over the past nine years, influenced it not to Audrey’s advantage. Lavinia had picked away at her confidence, undermined her self-esteem, made her feel insecure in her father’s love. Now Elliot seemed to think she might actually wish her physical harm.

  ‘I don’t understand any of this,’ she said agita
tedly. ‘Why does she hate me so?’

  ‘Women like Lavinia don’t hate,’ Elliot pronounced bluntly. ‘That would presuppose a capacity to love. They compete. With every other female that comes within their circle. They want—no, need—to be the centre of attention. They mistakenly think this solely relies on their looks. Lavinia would see any woman as a potential threat, Audrey. You most of all.’

  ‘But...but that doesn’t make sense!’ Audrey blurted out. ‘How could I ever compete with Lavinia’s looks? I mean...I’ll never be as beautiful as she is.’

  ‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that. You looked pretty good to me last night. You’re also young and fresh and innocent. They’re things she can never be again. Besides, there are many types of beauty, Audrey. Admittedly, Lavinia is a very striking woman, but rather flashy. Some men don’t care for that type.’

  ‘You seemed to back at the house,’ she snapped before she could snatch it back.

  Elliot slowed down at an amber light, darting her a sardonic look once the car actually stopped. ‘I’ve been waiting for that, ever since you caught me staring at those eye-popping breasts of hers. Look, I’m a normal male, Audrey, with twenty-twenty vision. But, believe me, I can admire the way Mother Nature has put a woman together, without admiring the woman beneath. I’d much rather go to bed with you, my love, than the likes of your stepmother.’

  Audrey’s heart jumped, a discomfiting heat warming her cheeks. ‘I wish you wouldn’t say things like that,’ she mumbled.

  ‘Why?’

  Annoyance at his insensitivity snapped her eyes his way. ‘Because I...I...’ She shook her head, unable to put the truth into words.

  ‘Because you still want me to make love to you?’ he asked quietly.

  She froze.

  ‘You may as well say it. Or I might think you haven’t decided to take control of your own life after all.’