Matter of Trust

Matter of Trust

Lois Edmonds

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 Lois Edmonds

Cover image by Neils Photography

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter One

Crunch!

The shocking sounds of folding metal and breaking glass brought Sandy back to the present with a sickening lurch of her chest against the seatbelt - and an even more sickening lurch of her heart when she saw the cause of the noise.

Oh, no!

She had run her beloved old MG into a very new, very expensive-looking black sports car! Well, serve them right, she thought, for stopping so quickly - then she saw the red warning lights of the train crossing and the barriers that were coming down in front of the sleek sports car.

No… she admonished herself, it serves you right - it was your fault for not concentrating on your driving!

All these thoughts flashed through her mind in a split second, closely followed in the next by - oh, dear, I'm in trouble now - as the driver's door on the black car was flung wide open and a man unfolded himself from the low seat with a deliberate slowness that just reeked of barely contained anger.

I had better meet him face to face, Sandy decided, and not hide in the relative safety of the MG - not that it afforded very much protection, as she had the soft top down to better enjoy the early spring sunshine. She opened the door with shaking hands and waited anxiously behind it, as he strode purposefully towards her.

Sandy may have been scared, she may have been shocked, but she still couldn't help being distracted by the fine figure of the man hell bent on giving her a piece of his mind. He was tall, powerfully built, with broad shoulders and long legs encased in tight black denim jeans. As he stopped in front of her, she dragged her admiring gaze up to meet his and was immediately assaulted by eyes the colour of dark melted chocolate.

Except at the moment they were more like iced black coffee and her heart quailed at the fury in them!

Why on earth don't you look where you're going? He lunged into an angry tirade. Are you deaf - and blind? He pointed to the flashing lights and warning bells still clamouring close to them.

I - I'm so sorry, I know - it was my fault - Sandy stammered in the face of his onslaught.

Too damned right it was your fault! He turned away in disgust to look at the back of his car to inspect the damage.

Sandy came gingerly around the car door to look at the front of the MG. Her heart sank as she saw the broken headlight and deep dent in the bumper. She then glanced at the sleek expensive black sports car, to find - thankfully - it had fared much better, with hardly a scratch in its immaculately polished rear end.

Sandy swallowed nervously and looked around. Thank goodness, the crossing was in a quiet country lane and there were no other witnesses to her embarrassment.

Then it occurred to her - there was no one around to rescue her either!

She jumped as the train suddenly whistled past with a loud whoosh, rendering all conversation impossible. Then the barriers lifted, the bells ceased their insistent noise, and the quiet leafy lane returned to its sleepy deafening silence.

Sandy swallowed nervously. Please, let me have your name and address, and I will contact my insurance company to have the damage repaired -

He was still staring at his damaged bumper, running his hand lovingly over the tiny scratches, and he turned to her as she spoke. His brown eyes swept over her pinched face, taking in the worried frown, the scared green eyes, and the white knuckles of her small clenched hands.

He sighed and was much calmer as he replied. No, really, there is no need. The damage is very slight - . He looked at her closely. Are you okay? You have gone very pale...

Sandy shook her head, suddenly very close to tears. I - don't know -

In an instant his hands gripped her upper arms and guided her carefully into her car seat. He crouched down beside her and looked at her with concern.

Here, let me see - He started moving his hands to inspect her arms and neck, and checking under her thick blonde fall of hair for any sign of injury.

If Sandy wasn't sure about being okay before, she certainly wasn't okay now! The touch of his firm, gentle fingers probing the tender skin of her neck sent an electric thrill though her body and took her breath away. Her heart was hammering, not from reaction to the accident, but from pure excitement as his deft fingers explored her thoroughly.

Heavens, this gorgeous man was making her think of things quite out of place in public - and in broad daylight too.

Really, I'm fine… She had to stop the inspection before she made a fool of herself, either by bursting into tears or kissing him!

Are you sure? His deep and gravelly voice was full of concern and the tears rose closer to the surface.

She nodded vigorously and managed to reply firmly. Yes, I'm perfectly fine, thank you.

He sighed and sat back on his haunches. That didn't make Sandy feel any better, as she now had a wonderful view of the muscles of his thighs - and the bulge in his tight fitting jeans.

He seemed reassured at last and much to Sandy's relief, he stood up and leaned on the door.

Look, let’s just forget about insurance companies. After all, your lovely old MG has come off much worse than my car. Besides - He looked at his watch with a frown. I really must go; I'm late for an appointment. He leaned towards her slightly. Now, are you really okay? Can I safely leave you?

Yes, please, don't worry. I will be fine. Don't hang around on my account. She gave him a tremulous smile, partly due to the delayed reaction of the accident, but mostly as a result of his close - much too close - observation.

Well, if you are sure… He stood up to his full towering height and looked down at her, speaking with an abruptness that took Sandy by surprise. For goodness sake young lady, just watch where you are going in future, will you? And keep your silly head focused on the road before you kill someone! With that, he strode back to his car and folded himself back into the seat with one smooth action. He gunned the motor, and sped off down the lane. Man and car were out of sight in moments.

Oh, the insufferable, arrogant - prig!

Sandy's earlier emotional reactions to him were washed away in a tide of indignation and pure irritation. How dare he lecture her!

Then a little voice inside was telling her, well he has a point, you weren't watching the road at all…

In fact, her mind had been focused on another man entirely – or to be more exact, the distinct lack of a man in her life.

At 24, Sandy was happy with her life and career, except for the fact she had no one special man in her life to share it. Sure, there were plenty of boyfriends to socialise with, go to parties with, but they were just that - friends. No romance, no one to set her heart racing. Certainly no one she had been tempted to go to bed with. Along with her long fair hair and luminous skin, the coolness she adopted with hopeful guys that had earned her the nickname of ‘the Ice Queen’. The reputation served her well – too well – and very few young men tried their luck these days.

That's why, she thought with a wry smile, I am one of that endangered species - a virgin - at my age!

Only once, in her university days, had she come close…with David. Thinking of him could still affect her, she realised. He had been studying Politics and she so loved listening to his long intelligible ramblings about the state of the world and how he was going to put it right. So idealistic, so fervent... so romantic…

She had treasured the afternoons she had spent helping him write his long essays - after all, she loved to write, it was all she had ever wanted to do. He was so attentive, so affectionate, and she was sure she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

Strangely, he wasn't very demanding when it came to the sexual side of their relationship, content just to cuddle and kiss her. It was only because of Sandy's urgings that they were drifting closer and closer to taking that irrevocable step of making love for the first time. She concluded that his lack of passion was because he was so single-minded about his studies. Besides, she reasoned, they had the rest of their lives to make love and it would be all the sweeter for the waiting.

Until that rainy Sunday when she finished her English course work earlier than expected and decided to pay David a surprise visit. As she neared his room, she could hear two voices. David's - and a female voice she recognised as that of her roommate and best friend, Lisa.

'David, just when are you going to tell her -" Sandy stopped just before her hand reached the door handle at the sound of Lisa's plea.

I can't love, not yet. You know how important these final dissertations are. David's voice was low, cajoling.

Lisa had tears in her voice now. I can't bear it when I think of you together…

David's reply was scathing. Come on, you know I can't stand to be near her. It takes all my time to even kiss her!

I know, I know, so you keep saying, but I still can help being jealous – she talks about you all the time, making plans for her future with you...

Lisa, sweetheart, there is nothing to be jealous of, believe me! The only thing that keeps me going is the good final marks I'm going to get - because of how well she writes! I'll dump her as soon as the paper is finished, I promise! There were the unmistakeable sounds of them kissing, and Sandy was paralysed with shock and humiliation.

Her David - and Lisa!

He didn't love her, he was just using her.

All the time she had spent with him, loving him, kissing him… and he loved someone else all along - her best friend! It was all a lie. All he wanted was her writing ability. How could he do that? How could Lisa share a room with her, listen to Sandy's innermost secrets about David and how she felt about him… her wanting to make love to him…her plans to be with him forever.

Did they laugh about her when they were together? Compare notes?

Sandy felt sick. Somehow, she found her way back to her room and sank on to her bed in a storm of tears. She felt humiliated, used and betrayed, by both of them. How long had this been going on? Had he ever felt anything for her, or had it always been a sham, cooked up by both David and Lisa? Her lovely, romantic David was a myth; a cold, calculating front designed to take advantage of her skills without any thought of the hurt he would cause her.

Sandy had faced up to David and Lisa, and taken cold comfort from their embarrassment - and his mediocre final marks. Somehow she managed to focus with grim determination on her own studies, and passed with honours.

But part of her was never the same. Her naivety was lost, her capacity to love, to trust, was irrevocably altered. From that time, Sandy never found a man that quite measured up.

There was always something that held her back from giving herself fully, trustingly, exclusively to another. She was never going to be used like that again. Behind her cool facade was an impenetrable defence against the David’s of this world and so far it had worked very well.

Too well.

So, that’s why you are a frustrated virgin, her inner voice berated her. Surely, somewhere out there is a man who will push all the right buttons - who will be worthy of trusting, of loving?

Suddenly the tall dark stranger with the slightly bent sports car flashed before her eyes, and she sat upright in her car seat. She could recall with absolute clarity the brown eyes, the thigh muscles, the deep voice, and the feel of his hands on her neck. Warm, gentle hands that still made her shiver at the thought of them.

Come on, girl! She remonstrated herself. You are never likely to see him again, so don't waste your time day dreaming - that was how you 'bumped' into him in the first place!

With a deep sigh, she got out of the car and spent a few minutes picking up the broken pieces of headlight off the road. Putting the fragments safely in the boot to dispose of later, she looked at her watch.

She had better get a move on, or she would be late for her appointment with Mr Joshua 'Methuselah' Brennan.

Joshua…he sounded positively ancient. A crusty old academic completely absorbed in his life work of digging up Roman archaeological sites in Britain and Europe. Sandy's employer, Connell Publishers, had assigned her to co-write Mr Brennan's latest book on Roman Sites in Britain. She had been employed as a technical writer for Connell's since leaving university, working her way up to Senior Writer for their technical and non-fiction department. Despite her youth, she was gaining a reputation for her skill in turning the driest, most complex of subjects into fascinating and readable prose, and a number of eminent academics now specifically requested her services for their weighty tomes. She just hoped the old archaeologist was of the same mind.

She checked the front of her precious car again, and sighed deeply.

She had scrimped and saved for two years to afford the car of her dreams. Her father had spent all his working life restoring and repairing vintage sports cars, and Sandy shared his love for them unequivocally. As a child, she spent many happy hours in his workshop, at first just handing him tools or polishing the chrome bits until they shone, but as she grew older he taught her to how to build, service and repair the engine, even to weld and panel beat the bodywork, of all types of sports car. From an early age