Knight To The Rescue

‘You don’t mean that.’

‘I...I do. I believe Diane and I’ll keep on believing her no matter what you say.’

‘Is that so?’ he muttered nastily. ‘Well, in that case you might as well know. I did screw her. So what?’

Audrey could not contain the gasp of shock at this newly crude and callous Russell. Or the dismay that she’d actually allowed him to...to...

‘You said you loved me,’ she said in a dazed wretched voice. ‘Wanted to marry me...’

‘Yes, well, of course I did,’ Russell retorted caustically. ‘You’re the big boss’s daughter, aren’t you? His only daughter. His only child, in fact. Do I have to spell it out any further?’

A groaning, whimpering sound escaped Audrey’s lips before she could snatch it back. God, why hadn’t she thought of that herself? There she’d been, assuming he was just a compulsive womaniser...

‘You didn’t mean any of it?’ she said in a strangled tone. ‘It was all just...for my money?’

His laugh was cruel. ‘What’s the problem, honey? Did you really think I was bowled over by your beauty and sex appeal? Oh, you’re not that bad-looking once you take off those ghastly clothes you wear. But God, you’ve got no idea how to please a man in bed. Audrey, dear, you’re a bore! I was doing you a big favour even taking you out, let alone giving you a bit, but I suppose you won’t see it that way. I suppose you’re going to run home and tell darling Daddy that one of his big bad reps seduced his prissy little virginal daughter.’

Revulsion had crept over her skin as she listened to the ugly words spew forth. ‘Don’t worry,’ she choked out, and shuddered. ‘I won’t tell Father.’ God, she did have some pride left. Not much. But enough to cling to and stop herself from falling into the despair she could feel hovering at the edges of her mind.

‘Just as bloody well, because if you do and I get the sack I’ll make sure every man in the company and the whole of damned Sydney knows just what a vicious, vindictive bitch you are. And don’t go telling people in the office you broke up with me, sweetheart. Not that they’d believe it. Hell, I can have any bird I want. I just felt sorry for you, that’s all, thought I’d bring you out of your shell a little. You should be grateful for small mercies instead of...’

Russell raved on, but Audrey’s mind was blocked to his cruel and arrogant blusterings. She was thinking bleakly about what happened to girls like herself, girls who were unutterable failures where men and sex were concerned, but who had the lure of money. Girls like her own mother...

She closed her eyes against the agony of truth that blasted into her brain. But along with the agony came fury at a fate which would perversely make a girl wealthy but plain, a girl who more than anything else wanted a family of her own to love and cherish, who had dreamt of it for such a long long time.

Her fingers tightened around her handbag and she was about to sweep sideways out of the booth when someone moved abruptly into her path.

Startled, she glanced up a long long way to encounter a man of about thirty looming over her, an apologetic smile on his extremely attractive mouth. Dazzling white teeth gleamed in a deeply tanned face, intelligent grey eyes flashing beneath thick wavy hair as black as night.

But if she’d been startled by this man’s sudden and very striking appearance, she was more than startled by the words he spoke.

‘Audrey, honey,’ he said in a rich male voice, ‘I just couldn’t wait outside in the car any longer. I know you said you’d handle things but it didn’t feel right to me.’

As he spoke, those expressive grey eyes easily held her own astonished ones, an underlying steeliness compelling her to keep looking at him and say nothing to reveal that he was a perfect stranger to her.

Or was he?

There was something vaguely familiar about him, yet she couldn’t place him. She frowned her confusion. Who on earth was he? How did he know her name? And why was he saying such extraordinary things?

Once he’d finished speaking directly to her, he released her eyes, swinging his gaze over to Russell, who was sitting there with his mouth gaping open in a most unattractive fashion.

‘It’s Russell, isn’t it?’ the stranger went on blithely, shocking Audrey further with his knowledge of Russell’s name. Her lips parted on a gasp, bringing a hard darting glance from the stranger which had them snapping shut again.

‘Sorry about this, old chap,’ came more of his amazing speech, ‘but these things happen. Audrey and I only met last Saturday night but it was love at first sight for both of us. I never believed in such romantic rubbish before, but I’ve had to revise my ideas on the subject, haven’t I, Audrey, my sweet?’

Audrey, my sweet, was now so stunned she just sat there in numbed silence, doe eyes wide, bow-shaped lips pressed tightly shut to stop herself from totally resembling a flapping flounder.

Russell was similarly stunned, but not into silence. ‘Audrey! Who is this man?’ he demanded to know. ‘God, don’t tell me you’ve been seeing someone behind my back!’ His eyes narrowed furiously. ‘Why, you little hypocrite, I’ll—’

‘Audrey, you naughty girl,’ the man cut in in a firm but drily amused voice, ‘you haven’t told him yet, have you?’ His shrug was one of eloquent elegance, drawing Audrey’s eyes to his unconventional but dashing clothes. Loosely fitting black trousers teamed with a black crew-necked jumper, tucked in, a fawn leather belt emphasising his trim hipline.

‘Now isn’t that just like her, Russell?’ he was saying. ‘She does so hate hurting anyone. Look, perhaps you and I should step outside while you say what you have to say. We both know how sensitive Audrey is and perhaps it’s best we have this out man-to-man.’

Russell jumped to his feet, all fluster and bluster. Next to the stranger, he looked puny, which surprised Audrey since Russell was five feet eleven inches tall with quite a good build. But the man next to him must have been at least six-three or -four, his broad-shouldered, stronger frame dwarfing Russell’s shorter, lighter body.

‘There’s no need for that.’ Russell was clearly unhappy with his odds in a fight. ‘I get the picture. Anyway, you’re welcome to her. All the money in the world isn’t worth having to scr—’

The stranger’s left hand shot out and closed over Russell’s left wrist, drawing Audrey’s gaze to the long, strong fingers. Russell winced visibly as they closed tightly.

‘I wouldn’t say another word if I were you,’ their owner warned in a quiet voice that was even more threatening than the loudest roar. ‘I also suggest you take yourself far away from here very quickly, before I forget I’m a gentleman in the presence of a lady.’

Russell began to open his mouth, thought better of it, then snapped it shut. Giving Audrey a savage glance, he extricated himself from the booth and stormed out.

The stranger watched him go, a hard though satisfied smile pulling at his mouth.

‘Who...who are you?’ Audrey blurted out, relieved to at last be able to voice her inner turmoil and confusion. Only satisfaction at seeing Russell so rattled had kept her silent.

His smile softened as he slid into the U-shaped booth opposite her. ‘A friend.’

She leant back against the green leather seat and stared at him. Had they met before? Could he be some business acquaintance of her father’s? No, no, she dismissed immediately. She would never have forgotten this man. ‘I don’t know you,’ she stated firmly, though there was a slight tremor in her voice.

‘Ah, yes. Perfectly true.’ He frowned and stroked his chin for a few seconds, before his face cleared to an expression of dry amusement. ‘Would you believe it if I said I was your guardian angel come to life to save you from a dastardly villain?’

‘You...don’t look at all like an angel,’ she said, smiling at the thought that, dressed all in black, her rescuer looked more like a visitor from the opposite region.

His answering smile was devastatingly attractive and Audrey’s stomach actually fluttered. ‘What about a knight rescuing a fair damsel in distress?’ he suggested, then chuckled.

‘Why is that so funny?’ she asked ingenuously before the penny dropped. Her smile faded immediately. ‘Oh, I see...it’s because I’m hardly a fair damsel...’

‘Good God, Audrey,’ he sighed, clearly exasperated with her. ‘That’s not it at all! It was because my name is Knight. Elliot Knight. Why wouldn’t you qualify as a fair damsel? Hell, you have the most exquisite fair skin, the loveliest big brown eyes and an extremely kissable mouth.’

A startled shock sent her fingers fluttering up to cover her mouth. What did this man want from her, to make him use blatant flattery? Her confusion became total, and it brought bewilderment and panic. ‘I...I don’t know who or what you are, or how you came to know my name and everything, but I...I think I should be getting back to work!’ Audrey picked up her bag and went to stand up.

‘Don’t be such a silly little fool!’ he snapped, his harsh words making her slump back down on the seat, staring at him with wounded eyes.

His sigh was weary. ‘I’m sorry...I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. But damn it all, why go back to that office to a sniggering Diane? It’s nearly four on a Friday afternoon. You’re the boss’s daughter. Give it a miss for the rest of the day. By Monday, your and Russell’s break-up will be last week’s news. Come back to my place for a drink and a sit by the fire, then later I’ll drive you home. Come on, what do you say?’

She blinked over at him. ‘How do you know all those things about me? About Russell? And Diane?’

Quite a few emotions flickered through those fine grey eyes. Frustration. Irritation. Then finally...a weary resignation.

‘I was sitting in the next booth a while back,’ he confessed with reluctance. ‘I overheard your—er—conversation with your boyfriend. He infuriated me so much I decided to teach him a lesson.’

So that was why he’d seemed familiar! Audrey was almost relieved to find a logical explanation for the man’s extraordinary knowledge. But then she realised all he had overheard, and an embarrassed heat flooded her cheeks. ‘Oh, God,’ she cried, and shook her head in shame.

‘You didn’t do anything to be ashamed of, Audrey,’ he said softly. ‘Clearly, you were in love with the man and thought he loved you back. The blame is all his, not yours.’

‘Perhaps,’ she murmured, thinking that such naïveté in a girl who would be twenty-one next week was inexcusable. Hadn’t she long known she was unattractive to men? Why hadn’t she stopped to wonder why Russell would single her out?