Gracious Lady. Carole Mortimer

able to see who he was in the darkness; she would have recognised him instantly if it had been daylight–his harsh good looks, blond hair shot through with silver, ice-cold blue eyes, photographed often in the newspapers. But now that she knew he was Maximilian Grant she felt even less inclined to get in the car with him! If she hadn’t been able to see him well enough to recognise him, maybe if she could evade spending any more time in his company he wouldn’t recognise her when he saw her again either. When. Because they would meet again. And in very different circumstances. If only——

      The car that had fast been approaching from the opposite direction suddenly dazzled her with its headlights. Oh, God, so much for her being in the darkness and so unrecognisable; her hair now, she knew, would appear like a red flame in the bright lights. Completely distinctive. Unforgettable. The other car was stopping too now; not one ‘gallant knight’ wanting to help a ‘lady in distress’, but two! But she couldn’t see this second driver any better than she had Maximilian Grant, could just make out a bulky outline seated behind the wheel of the car.

      ‘Sophie, I’m sorry.’ But she recognised the male voice only too well this time. Brian! He had come back for her after all. ‘I behaved like a fool before.’ He had switched off the engine of his car, got out of the car, and was crossing the road towards her now. ‘I got all the way home before I realised how stupidly I had——’

      ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she cut in hastily, moving forward to grasp hold of his arm and stop him before he could reach the side of Maximilian Grant’s car. ‘What matters is that you’re here now. Get back in your car and I’ll join you in a minute. I just have to thank this kind gentleman for stopping, and then I’ll be right with you.’ She had turned Brian in the direction of his car as she spoke, pushing him towards it now.

      And he didn’t want to be pushed! ‘But——’

      ‘Wait in the car, Brian,’ she instructed tautly, anxious the two men shouldn’t meet. Then it would be all over for her.

      ‘But–but——’ Again he did a good impression of a stalled engine.

      ‘I said wait in the car, Brian.’ Her near-desperation was barely controlled this time.

      ‘All right, all right!’ He shrugged off her hands, as if he didn’t know what all the fuss was about anyway. ‘God, I only came back to apologise,’ he could be heard muttering as he returned to his car. ‘Women!’ he added disgustedly as he climbed in behind the wheel, slamming the door behind him.

      He had better not drive off again now! Because if he did, the next time she saw him she would strangle him, Ally’s brother or not!

      ‘Your lover appears to be still somewhat irate,’ Maximilian Grant drawled mockingly from the interior of his car. ‘Are you sure you want to go with him?’

      The arrogant——! ‘Brian isn’t my lover,’ she told him indignantly–and then wondered why she was bothering. She was just prolonging the conversation, and increasing the possibility of recognition when they met again; she should just have thanked him politely for stopping, and made a dignified exit.

      He was looking up at her in the darkness now; she could almost feel that penetrating gaze on her. No wonder he was so successful in business, if the power in his eyes could be felt under these circumstances; it must be quite wilting for business associates to feel the full force of those icy blue eyes upon them.

      ‘No?’ he drawled sceptically in reply to her claim. ‘I gathered from the conversation between the two of you just now that your walking alone along this road at this time of the night is the result of a lovers’ tiff,’ he added harshly, having continued determinedly on when Sophie opened her mouth to protest once again at this description of Brian’s role in her life; she hadn’t even seen Brian for years until tonight–that had been partly why his behaviour earlier had so outraged her! ‘I would give serious thought,’ Maximilian Grant told her grimly, ‘as to whether or not you want to continue a relationship with a man who threw you out of his car in the middle of nowhere at half-past twelve at night!’

      Sophie gasped indignantly. ‘He didn’t throw me out, I made him stop the car and let me out! And if I hadn’t been defending——’ She broke off with a self-consciously indrawn breath as she realised what she had been about to say.

      ‘Nevertheless, one presumes he gave you reason for such an action, and the result was totally irresponsible–on the part of both of you, it would seem,’ Maximilian Grant rasped critically.

      She winced at his use of the word ‘irresponsible’. The last thing she wanted this man to think her was irresponsible.

      ‘You could have lost a lot more than your “honour” wandering around deserted roads this time of night,’ he warned impatiently, showing her immediately that he had drawn his own conclusions about what she had been about to claim she was defending earlier. And as it happened he was completely wrong; she would have had no trouble ‘defending her honour’ with Brian, and certainly wouldn’t have ended up walking back because of it! ‘I would suggest that in future, you choose your friends a little more carefully,’ he added harshly.

      It sounded more like an order than a suggestion, actually, but as it appeared to be his parting comment, he putting the car into gear now and driving off with smooth efficiency, Sophie didn’t particularly care how it sounded. She was just glad he had finally left. She could breathe again now, felt as if she had been hyperventilating since the moment the man had revealed his identity as Maximilian Grant. ‘Of all the cars in all the world’; not quite the original quote, but it was apt. So very apt!

      ‘Sophie, could we get moving now?’ Brian had wound his car window down to prompt impatiently. ‘I know it’s the weekend tomorrow, but I still have to go to work, and it’s late——’

      ‘Well, lucky old you!’ she ground out furiously as she marched across the road to wrench open the passenger door–such a gentleman to get out and open the door for her, she didn’t think!—and got in beside him. ‘Thanks to you I–oh, never mind.’ She glared across the width of the car at him. ‘Just drive, will you?’ She hunched down in her seat. ‘I’m no more anxious to spend any more time in your company than you are in mine!’ She scowled unseeingly ahead of her.

      ‘I didn’t say—— Oh, all right,’ Brian sighed wearily as the fierceness of her glowering glare was turned on him. ‘But it seems to me you’re making an awful fuss about this whole business,’ he muttered to himself as he accelerated the car forward. ‘I made a mistake. I’ve apologised. I don’t know why we can’t just forget the whole incident,’ he added in a disgruntled voice.

      That was the whole point; he had no idea that she would probably not be allowed to forget it! Aunt Millie, waiting up for her at home, wasn’t likely to let her forget it in a hurry. And to her mind, much more significantly, there was Maximilian Grant…

      ‘Ally is going to kill me,’ Brian sighed wearily as Sophie didn’t confirm or deny his previous suggestion.

      Remembering the fiery temper of her friend from childhood, Sophie wouldn’t be in the least surprised! ‘It’s no more than you deserve,’ she told Brian now, although her tension had already started to diminish. ‘I should just let Ally have you,’ she added teasingly. ‘But I won’t!’ She gave a rueful smile now at the thought of it. ‘It would be a little like throwing you to the lions!’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t actually see any reason why Ally has to know about this at all.’ The fewer people who knew anything about tonight, the better; too many people knew about it already as far as she was concerned.

      ‘Thanks!’ Brian said with obvious relief for the reprieve–his gratitude having the effect of making Sophie feel somewhat guilty now, when she was just as anxious that the incident should be kept between the two of them. ‘My sister can be a real nag when she wants to be.’ He frowned at the thought.

      Talking of nags …she had better start thinking of what she was going to say to Aunt Millie when she got back!

      Sophie fell silent again