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Kyle, like her, had always been something of a loner. He had made friends, it was true, but looking back she could see that he had always held them at something of a distance.
Now, while David was welcomed into the heart of the almost exclusively male group, Heather found that she was left on its fringes, forced to make awkward and unwanted conversation with the two other girls present.
One of them was a small blonde mouse of a child, who seemed to have no opinions of her own and who apparently needed to corroborate everything she had to say by appealing to her boyfriend for confirmation.
The other, a tall, striking brunette, appeared to be as bored by the exclusively male conversation as she was herself, and Heather quickly discovered that she was not here with a boyfriend, but her brother.
‘I was staying in tonight and at something of a loose end. When Guy suggested I join him I agreed, forgetting what bores ex-public schoolboys can be at times.’ She made a face. ‘I live and work in London and I’m just home for a few days’ holiday. This isn’t my scene, really. I suspect it isn’t yours, either?’
‘Not really,’ Heather agreed, turning to answer an almost inevitable, ‘Have you known David long?’ from the mousey blonde at her other side.
‘No, I haven’t. He rescued me the other night when my car broke down.’
‘You don’t live locally, then?’ she persisted.
‘Not normally, at the moment I’m staying with a…a friend. Kyle Bennett.’
The blonde’s shocked expression might have been amusing in other circumstances, and Heather could almost have sworn she moved two paces away from her, as though distancing herself from someone carrying some sort of dread disease.
Written large in her expressive and ingenuous blue eyes were the words ‘fast and dangerous’.
How amusing that she of all people, should be so judged! How amusing, and how untrue.
The brunette was obviously made of sterner stuff. Her eyebrows lifted a little, but her only comment was a rather envious one.
‘Kyle Bennett. I’ve heard of him of course, but never actually met him. Are you…old friends?’
‘You could say so.’ Some touch of mischief stopped Heather from explaining too much. ‘I’ve known him since I was…oh, in my early teens.’
‘Really…’
Susie, the little blonde, moved a little closer. ‘Your parents were friends with his or something, then, were they?’
Quite what made her do it Heather didn’t know, perhaps it was the self-confident, irritating air of the men standing behind them, perhaps it was something she had read in Susie’s curious eyes, she didn’t know. She only knew that she was as appalled as Susie looked when, instead of explaining, she said carelessly instead, ‘Oh, no, I’ve never met Kyle’s family. We…lived together for quite some time, but he left and we’d rather lost touch until quite recently.’
Strictly speaking, it was the truth, but Heather was well aware of the connotation that would be put on her revelations. She was right as well.
Behind her the hum of male voices stilled, and as she turned her head she caught David looking at her with an odd, calculating expression in his eyes.
Claire, the brunette, broke the silence by saying casually, ‘I’d like to meet him. I believe he’s a most interesting man.’
‘Very interesting,’ Heather agreed, mentally thanking her for the lifeline. ‘In fact, one of the reasons I’m here now is that I’m shortly to start work for him.’
She could see that none of them believed her. Behind her, one of the men made a soft comment to his companions, and the appreciative male laughter it caused made the back of her neck burn scarlet with temper and mortification.
The evening couldn’t end too quickly for her after that, and when, at half-past ten David suggested that they leave, she was all too happy to comply.
She caught one of the suggestive leers his friends gave him, but ignored it, following him out into the crisp, icy coldness of the winter night.
It had been warm inside the pub, and she shivered as she waited for him to unlock the Land Rover door.
They seemed to have been travelling for an awfully long time, she realised half an hour later. Surely it hadn’t taken them this long to reach the pub?
Just as she was about to comment, she saw a crop of buildings ahead of them and expelled her breath in relief. Until then she hadn’t known that she was actually feeling tense, but now she recognised that Kyle’s warning had taken root and had grown rapidly as she’d listened to the men’s conversation.
Her relief was short-lived, however, as she realised that the outline of the buildings was unfamiliar to her.
‘David…?’
