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Prologue

“A driver!” said Leah indignantly “I don’t need a ruddy driver I’ve just spent a month with Mum in Italy and she let me drive myself”

“Watch your language! You should be grateful that I take care of you,” her father snapped back “And I have spoken to your mother,” he added

“Grateful! This is about you not trusting me A driver, you mean a spy, to keep an eye on an to pace about the open space before the fireplace The ancient stone surroundings see her voice far beyond the room

“You have yet to prove to me, Leah, that you can take care of yourself All thatat school” Her father remained in his seat, unperturbed by her outburst “I despair of your behaviour sometimes and this is one way to make sure you don’t come to any harm”

“I don’t need anything fro a different tactic “I’m nearly nineteen”

“Your forthcoe until you are twenty-one and until then you are dependent on my allowance, and if you don’t accept reatly reduced”

Leah’sabout ‘unfair’ and ‘coercion’ and she thought better of it Her lips pressed firether and she stamped out of the room as noisily as possible

Her best friend had a completely different reaction to the news

“You lucky cow,” said Jane, when she met Leah at their favourite pub “A chauffeur!”

“I don’t need one I can driveback another mouthful of wine

“But just think, you can get drunk as much as you like and there will be so the boys,” added Jane with a wry smile “The back seat”

“True, I suppose,” said Leah, seeing a different light on her predica buses or taxis either”

By the ti session ended, Leah had been converted to the idea of having a driver Her i up at the best clubs and bars: the car door would be opened for her and the ads eased out onto the kerb She even overlaid a few popping light bulbs fro cameras to her picture A neardrobe would be required to add to the glaenerally did

She slipped in her agree as her father chewed on his steak and read the newspaper at the same time

“Good,” he said with a nod and then buried his face in the business section “He will start on Monday”

Now Leah had so else to think about over the weekend—a mysterious chauffeur She wondered what he would look like

Chapter One

Shiny black shoes So immaculately polished, even the blue sky above reflected off them They reminded her of soldier’s boots—black leather buffed into mirrors Her eyes tracked upwards and next ca of an undertaker or perhaps a police constable in uniform The black jacket came to his hips and there were no pockets, just a line of buttons done up smartly and a thin tie At least the tie was dark blue and the shirt white, no more black

Leah had to hold her breath as shehi inch Narrow hips, flat belly, and then the delicious broad shoulders Nothing brawny and he had a distinctive neck too She hated the thick bulldog neck found on some beefy men

Finally, she allowed herself to look at his face Dark chocolate hair cropped short, darker than her own, and acco eyelashes Eyes that were almost feminine in nature, as if a hint of mascara had been added to their outline The handsome masculine cheekbones and square forehead saved him from such an inaccurate description

She smiled at him Then re sto—a brand new Mercedes S-class—she had been determined not to be friendly or appreciative of the driver It hadn’t been her decision and though her friends had given her ideas of how she could put the situation to her advantage, she remained piqued about her father’s request No, not a request, an order

The driver’s face didn’t shift in expression, his hands remained clasped behind his back and his feet firer man than she had expected Her father’s chauffeur, a seey face, had been Leah’s role ed a youthful man with handsome features and a tall, lean body