Master of Her Virtue - By Miranda Lee Page 0,41

would put an end to her thinking well of him. But she wouldn’t have it, lashing into him verbally with a fiery passion which had been as telling as it had been irresistible.

Hence his promise to call her today. A stupid promise, since there was no future for them. Even if she’d been older and more experienced, she lived on the other side of the world.

But there was no going back on his word, Leo accepted with a resigned sigh as he drew his phone out of his jacket pocket. Still, he resolved to keep the conversation short and swift. He would not, he vowed, say or do anything foolish or selfish. He would encourage her to move on with her life and to forget all about him.

* * *

Violet had just decided to give up on her shopping expedition and have a bite to eat when her phone rang. The possibility that it was Leo sent her pulse-rate galloping and her fingers fumbling for the phone.

‘Damn and blast,’ she muttered when she dropped the darn thing back into the bottom of her roomy handbag, panic setting in at the prospect of his hanging up prematurely. If it was Leo, that was.

Please, God, don’t let it be Mum!

She didn’t dare take any extra time looking at the caller ID, sweeping the phone up to her ear straight away.

‘Hello,’ she answered, sounding way too breathless. Very annoying, since she’d planned to play it cool if he did actually ring.

‘It’s Leo, Violet.’

‘Oh, I’m so glad you called,’ she said straight away. So much for her playing it cool!

‘I promised I would,’ Leo replied somewhat stiffly.

‘Yes, yes, I know. But I thought... Oh, it doesn’t matter what I thought now. I presume you’re already at the airport?’

‘Yes. But my flight doesn’t take off for another hour.’ Leo immediately wished he hadn’t told her that. Now he had no excuse to keep this call short.

‘That’s great. Gives you plenty of time to talk to me, then. I’m out shopping for clothes but I’m due coffee and a sandwich. I was heading into a café when you rang. Please don’t hang up. I have to stop talking to give the girl my order at the counter.’

Leo smothered a sigh as he realised he had no intention of hanging up. It seemed Violet was as irresistible on the end of a phone as she was in bed!

‘I’m back,’ she said thirty seconds later. ‘Are you still there?’

‘Of course. So, have you bought a whole new wardrobe yet?’ He recalled that was one of her other New Year resolutions.

‘To be honest, I haven’t bought a thing. I don’t think I have any fashion sense.’

‘Rubbish. You looked fantastic last night.’

Violet was relieved that he couldn’t see her blush of pleasure. ‘Thank you, but I didn’t actually choose that dress. A sales girl suggested it.’

‘Then go back to that sales girl and ask her for help.’

‘What a good idea.’

‘My ideas usually are. And, yes, I’m egotistical as well as a heartless cad.’

Her soft laugh did things to Leo which threatened all his resolves where Violet was concerned.

‘You’re nothing of the kind,’ she said.

‘Henry might not agree with you after last night,’ he said ruefully.

Violet’s mouth dropped open in shock. ‘Oh, my God, you didn’t tell him the truth, did you?’

‘No, but I had to come up with some reason why I didn’t get in till three. He was still awake, as I predicted. So I said I sent you home in a taxi after the show, then went into the casino to one of their bars, where I was picked up by this stunningly sexy tourist who invited me back to her room for a while.’

‘Heavens! Couldn’t you have just said you stayed for a gamble on the tables?’

‘No. Henry knows I don’t gamble with my money.’

‘But movie making is a gamble,’ Violet pointed out. Very intelligently, Leo thought.

‘True,’ he agreed. ‘But it’s not the same kind of gambling. Casino gambling is all a matter of luck and chance, with the odds stacked in the house’s favour. With movie making you can increase your chances of a win if the screenplay ticks all the right commercial boxes. That way, you reduce the risk of total failure and put the odds in your favour. Unfortunately, when I chose my last project, I let my emotions rule my head—a mistake I won’t make again.’

Even as he said those words, Leo feared he was in danger of doing exactly that. Not with