Master of Her Virtue - By Miranda Lee Page 0,49
confuse her. ‘So my being a virgin did turn you on,’ she repeated firmly.
He laughed. ‘Oh, all right. If you insist. Your being a virgin turned me on. Big-time.’
‘I’m not a virgin any longer, Leo,’ she pointed out to him, struggling to contain a growing anger.
‘No. But I’m still your first lover.’
‘And do you expect me not to date anyone else between now and Easter?’
She heard him suck in sharply, his shocked reaction soothing her distress.
‘After all,’ she went on before he could say another word, ‘it was you who advised me not to embrace exclusivity. You said I was to try different things, which I presumed to mean different lovers.’
‘I can’t order you to wait for me, Violet,’ he bit out. ‘All I can do is ask you to.’
‘If I do that, then I will want to tell other people about my relationship with you. Joy especially. She’ll wonder why I’m not out there dating, like I said I would this year. Then there’s my family. I promised my mother to go home at Easter. I’ll need a damned good reason not to. Last but not least, there’s Henry...’
‘Not Henry,’ Leo snapped. ‘The others you can tell, but not Henry.’
‘Why? Are you still ashamed of sleeping with me?’
‘I was never ashamed, Violet.’
‘Guilty, then.’
‘You don’t understand.’
‘Then explain it to me.’
‘I thought I had. Henry would not approve of us. It would make your situation untenable at work if you told him we’d become lovers.’
As much as it annoyed her, Violet could see Leo was right. ‘Okay. I won’t tell Henry. But I’m going to tell Joy at some stage, and then closer to Easter I’ll tell my family that I can’t come home because I’ve met a handsome movie producer who’s taking me to Paris for a romantic getaway.’
‘And will you tell them that I’m a forty-year-old divorcee?’
‘Yes. Why not?’
‘They won’t approve.’
‘I don’t care if they approve or not. It’s my life, Leo, and I intend to live it. No more Shrinking Violet for me.’
He groaned. ‘And you asked me why I wanted you. Hell on earth, girl, it’ll be a darned miracle if I last till Easter without jumping on a plane headed for Sydney. Meanwhile, in an attempt to stop myself going AWOL from location, I’m going to have to talk to you every single day. Or text you endlessly. Or both. Would you mind?’
‘I’ll do my best to stand it.’
‘Sarcasm now. A few days ago you were such a shy little thing.’
‘We all have to grow up some time.’
‘Just not too quickly, my darling. Bye now. Sleep well.’
Violet stared into the dead phone, trying to get her head around Leo calling her his darling. Was she his darling? Or was that just a generic form of endearment that he used with women once he’d ensnared them with his charms? Did he call all his girlfriends darling? His two wives? That Mandy woman?
Possibly. Probably. She shouldn’t let it worry her. But it was difficult not to feel jealous of Leo’s other women. He didn’t have to feel jealous; she hadn’t had any other man. Not that she wanted to: silly to want beer when you could have champagne.
‘Paris in the spring,’ she whispered aloud.
Paris, the city of love, and of fashion. It sent a thrill through Violet just thinking about it.
‘I’ll have to make sure I have some decent clothes by then,’ she told herself aloud. ‘Elegantly fitted garments to highlight my wonderfully toned and buffed body.’
Violet jumped off the bed with a spurt of high energy. She’d get herself signed up with a new gym first thing tomorrow morning, one which had a personal trainer who’d work her flabby butt off. And she’d find a beauty salon to visit regularly, one which did everything, not just hair—facials. Waxing. The works!
‘You certainly had a nice long chat,’ Joy said when she rejoined her friend in the living room.
For one brief moment, Violet contemplated telling Joy everything, but quickly decided the time wasn’t right. Joy had a lot on her mind just now. The last thing she needed was to worry about her. But she would worry, Violet suspected. And she wouldn’t approve. Leo was right about that.
Maybe she’d tell her later. And maybe she wouldn’t. After all, in three months’ time, Joy would most likely have sold the house and moved to America.
‘We had a lot to talk about with the screenplay,’ Violet explained. ‘He wants to ring me again about it after the writer’s made some changes