Master of Her Virtue - By Miranda Lee Page 0,21

not one of those men I warned you about with more money than morals. I don’t seduce sweet young things like you. But perhaps it’s as well I’m flying back to England in the near future, because you are one hell of a wicked temptation. I dare say I might see you again some day. But not too soon, hopefully. I think of myself as a decent man but I’m no saint.’

He whirled away from her and strode off back down the corridor without a backward glance, leaving her staring after him in a state of shock. Just a kiss—her first kiss—and she would have said yes to anything he wanted. Violet trembled at the thought.

Thank heavens he had more control than she had. But even so...

Violet rode the lift down to the foyer in somewhat of a daze, her head whirling with a host of amazing thoughts. He’d wanted to kiss her all night, had he? How thrilling. How utterly, utterly thrilling!

And who knew? Like Leo said, it was possible that she would see him again. He was sure to come visit his father at some stage.

Oh, really? the dampening voice of reality piped up. Like, it only took him eight years to make the trip down under this time. He might not make it for another eight years. You’re dreaming, girl. You’re always dreaming. Be real. Your fantasy lover is flying back to England in a couple of days and the likelihood is you’ll never, ever see him again.

Tears pricked at Violet’s eyes as she made her way through the foyer and out to where Joy’s car was parked in the driveway, ready to leave. Despite blinking madly and saying a bright, ‘Thanks for coming’ as soon as she opened the passenger door, Violet was on the immediate end of a suspicious glance.

‘You are upset,’ Joy said straight away. ‘Tell me what happened.’

Violet thought about confessing all to Joy but only for a split second. Joy was a dear friend but Violet doubted she could possibly understand her feelings at this moment. She’d probably say she had a narrow escape.

‘Nothing happened,’ Violet denied. ‘I’m just tired, Joy. I found having to make conversation with a whole lot of strangers rather stressful. I’m not used to being a social butterfly. Still, actually seeing the fireworks live made it worth the effort.’

‘Were they better than last year?’ Joy asked as she started the engine and drove slowly up the steep driveway.

‘Yes. They were.’

‘We’ll watch them together when we get home. And have a nice mug of hot chocolate.’

Violet cringed inside. She didn’t want to see the fireworks again, or have a nice mug of hot chocolate. She just wanted to crawl into bed and have a good cry.

‘Oh, I forgot,’ Joy said, throwing Violet a breezy smile. ‘Happy New Year, love.’

‘You too,’ Violet returned, her heart lurching a little as she recalled how Leo had said those same words only a few minutes earlier.

‘I’ll bet you’re proud of yourself for going to that party now.’

‘I guess so.’

‘You guess so! I think it was very brave of you, and a great start to your New Year’s resolutions. Now all you have to do is buy a whole new wardrobe, keep up with the new hair and make-up and blokes will be lining up to ask you out. Oh, and start going to a unisex gym. No more of that girls-only place. You’re never going to find a boyfriend there!’

Violet smothered a sigh. ‘You could be right, Joy.’

‘I am right. You listen to me and you’ll be a woman of the world before you can say Jack Robinson.’

‘And what constitutes a woman of the world?’ she asked wearily.

‘You know full well what I’m talking about, Violet Green. You’re the one who said your main aim was to get rid of your virginity before next Christmas.’

‘True.’

‘Difficult to do that without a man.’

‘True again,’ Violet said, her mind filling with the image of one man in particular.

‘With all the after-Christmas sales on, this is the perfect time to buy new clothes,’ Joy rattled on.

Violet wished Joy would stop talking. She felt very tired and rather headachy. She really had drunk a lot of champagne. She was going to have a terrible hangover in the morning.

As for shopping for a new wardrobe.... Violet wasn’t sure about getting herself a new wardrobe any more. Neither did she feel all that enthusiastic about any of her other New Year’s resolutions. Suddenly, none of them seemed to have