‘What do you think, Helen?’ Katy leant over to her desk.
She looked at the other girl blankly. ‘Sorry?’
‘Is it Leon Masters or isn’t it?’ Katy said impatiently.
Helen swallowed hard. ‘It—’
‘Mrs West,’ Mr Walters called her over, ‘this gentleman would like a word with you.’
From the angry inflection in his voice she would say Mr Walters hadn’t recognised Leon. He would certainly have been different in his attitude if he had.
She stood up, selfconscious about the curious stares of the other girls. Sally had already left for her lunch, but Helen had no doubt the other girls would soon tell her of Leon’s visit when she returned to the office.
‘What do you want?’ she demanded of him in an angry whisper. ‘We aren’t supposed to have visitors here.’
Leon looked unperturbed. ‘I came to take you out to lunch, not visit you.’
‘Oh, but—’
‘And don’t say you’ve already been to lunch, because I know you haven’t, I asked your boss. Besides,’ he grinned, ‘Jenny said you never go to lunch before one,’ he looked at his gold wrist-watch, ‘and it’s just that now, so if you’re ready?’
‘Jenny told you where I worked?’
‘I went round to the flat, forgetting you would be at work, and she sent me on here. Now don’t be angry with her, she only told me because I told her I wanted to a
pologise to you.’
Helen scowled. ‘You could have done that over the telephone.’
‘Lunch would be so much nicer. Get your coat,’ he ordered.
‘I will not! I—’
‘Get it, Helen,’ he commanded softly. ‘You surely don’t want to cause a scene here?’
‘I’m not going to cause a scene.’
‘No,’ he smiled, ‘but I am.’
She raised her eyebrows derisively. ‘Over a little office girl?’
‘Over a very beautiful but stubborn woman,’ he corrected. ‘I think I could stand the publicity, can you?’
Helen gave him an angry glare before collecting her lightweight jacket, not looking at anyone as she left with him, embarrassed beyond words.
‘Why did you have to do that?’ she groaned once they were outside. ‘They’ll all be agog with curiosity when I get back.’
Leon took her elbow in a firm grasp. ‘Worry about that later.’
‘It’s all right for you to say that. You—’ She stopped as she saw he was directing her towards a gold-coloured Porsche parked on a double yellow line. ‘Where are you taking me?’
He opened the car door for her. ‘I told you, lunch. Get in, Helen, there’s a good girl. There’s a menacing-looking policeman making his way over here.’
She gave him a sweet smile of sarcasm. ‘I’m sure you could manage to charm your way out of it.’
‘Maybe.’ He pushed her inside the car before going round the other side and getting in himself. ‘But I don’t intend wasting any time trying.’ He manoeuvred the car into the flow of traffic.
‘That remark you made just now,’ Helen said tentatively. ‘What did you mean by it?’