Page 8 (2/2)
Her tongue unconsciously ran around her lips, htly She couldn’t help it; soun to buzz and it s she believed she had no control over Her throat constricted, narrowing as she sed; she felt flushed by a rush of pulsating blood and tiny goose bumps formed on the back of her neck; she shivered as if swathed in invisible coldness, even her scalp prickled spontaneously
“Miss Andrews,” he said her name in a low voice She heard enteel overtures in his tone She wondered if he would be a talkative driver or be like her father’s boring chauffeur, who so rarely spoke that as a child Leah had thought he had been a mute
His hand came forward, and she al arm shot past her and opened the rear door Leah peered down at the black leather seats, the silver trim and paintwork—brand new and in pristine condition No expense spared by her generous father At times like this, she adored her daddy
Being chauffeured was not unusual for the heiress Since childhood, she had been ferried about with her father, always together in the back of the car, soht; she had her own car and driver Perhaps it wasn’t as bad as she had made out to her friends
He held the door as she shuffled into the rear seat, adjusting herher long legs or her garter Settling in the cool seat, she waited for hi wheel He didn’t turn towards her as he spoke; rather, he chose to adjust the rear-vieweyes stared at her
“Where to, Miss Andrews?”
She could get used to this and she intended to have fun, plenty of fun Six weeks to the start of her first university ter driven here, there, and everywhere Liverpool wouldn’t knohat had hit it She didn’t care, he was going to drive her wherever she wanted, and with it came
the freedom to be as wild as she desired
For the next feeeks, Rick drove her ale frohtclubs or wine bars, the tennis club, or the department stores in the city centre Occasionally when the weather was especially good, he drove her and a couple of girlfriends north to Southport and the seaside
While he waited for her, he drank coffee out of a s and walked He never enerally because she always arrived back later than she had promised No, not promised, she never went as far as that, but he had assumed she would be a better timekeeper
He sometimes frequented the backstreet establishreasy spoon cafés, which served badly presented wholesome food, sufficiently cosy for his needs Around hi in the Scouse vernacular, which he just about understood His life had been spent mainly in the south, or occasionally abroad Only the need for a job had brought him north to Liverpool
She hadn’t even asked hiirl An adult by age, but in irl Her friends weren’t much better
He tried hard not to judge her Her father may have paid for the car and a driver, but he didn’t spenda business ehtly on one occasion, he had listened to the girl’s stories of nights out with her admirers He suspected she embellished the tales to impress her friends, but all the sa completely out of control and wild
Glancing in the rear-view ain, he would spy her face Pretty with pale skin, dark hair, and brown eyes Celtic colouring with typical northern attributes Other things he noticed that proved harder to ignore—brash, loud, and happy to say as on her lish accent, probably acquired through a posh educational establishment
She had another side to her though One he saw from time to time, more often when she was alone in the car A soulful sad expression would drift over her eyes as she stared out of theOther times, usually with one of her friends called Jane, she let loose a wicked sense of huirl had observant eyes and ears, a decent brain tucked away out of sight, and he would hide a s sides of Leah Andrews and he was intrigued by her
Over the weeks, his intrigue and desire to know rew He didn’t ask It wasn’t his place and he stuck religiously to his reency, paid him and it was to Mr Andrews he had to answer Once a week, he wrote his report, noting the places visited, the e for the fuel, and the hours he worked The details of his other agree about it She probably suspected though Leah was being watched
The bubble burst on her ignorance one week before she was due to start at Liverpool University Rick had one too far and he had finally had enough Late back from a social event at her tennis club, the kind where nobody playedat the bar afterwards, she had on her ar man
A lanky youth with red hair and a white polo-neck sweatshirt Bowl-shaped hair, the style Rick’s father deplored, and fake arhed excessively loud at his appalling bad jokes Stu into the seats, she shuffled closer to the youth as Rick started the engine up
“Home, miss? I assume you wish me to drop off your coestion, but it wasn’t what he was thinking
“Oh, drive around for a bit,” giggled Leah “We want to natter, don’t we, Clive?”
“Sure, sweetie, natter!” Clive laughed raucously
“Excuse me, are you drunk, miss?” asked Rick