Whirlwind (20 page)

'I love you,' he said again with a husky triumph. 'Oh, Anna…'

Their mouths met, clung, their bodies straining together as if trying to break the bonds that separated them physically so that they could merge and become one. That instant chemical attraction had bedevilled her life ever since she met him outside the theatre; he had knocked her off her feet then and she had never quite recovered her balance. Now she knew she would never be the same again.

'I knew I'd had it when I started thinking it would be fun to marry you,' Laird said a little later, and Anna's lips parted in disbelief. 'I told myself the idea was crazy," he went on, 'but I kept on thinking about it. I didn't think I'd ever be able to trust a woman again, but then I hadn't reckoned with someone like you. You're a one-off. Look at the way you jumped to the conclusion that I'd slept with you that night—I was staggered. I couldn't believe that any girl could be that dumb in the days of sex education in schools.'

'I was never listening,' Anna admitted. 'It all seemed so mechanical and ugly—and pretty silly, too. We used to giggle so much I hardly heard a word the teacher said.'

'I can see you need some more private lessons,' Laird murmured.

'And you were furious about my mistake!' she said hurriedly as he set about giving her a lesson.

'Only because you thought I was capable of such a lowdown trick. I found your innocence rather touching.' He watched her turning pink again, smiling at her tenderly. 'You react to everything with such passion and intensity, I love that, too. You make me feel protective, even when you're yelling at me or slapping me down over my rather blundering attempts to help you. You don't pretend anything. Your feelings show in you face . . . ' He watched Anna bite her lip.

'I'm not sure I like that. I'm supposed to be an actress, able to hide what I'm really feeling!'

'When you're on stage, you can, but you're so sensitive to everything, you change colour a dozen times a second, your eyes are always giving you away.' He took her hands and kissed the palms gently. 'Darling. I love your honesty and your vulnerability, don't ever change.'

'Don't, Laird,' she said in distress, and he looked puzzled. 'Don't begin by laying down conditions,' she stammered, trying to explain. 'I don't know if I will ever change, but if I do I won't be doing it deliberately—we all change, don't we? You can't make rules about it. You may change, too, but that won't mean I'll stop loving you.'

'I've changed a hell of a lot,' he said ruefully. 'Since I met you. You changed me the day I ran into you outside the theatre. That was a world-shaking collision, I haven't been the same since.' He smiled at her teasingly. 'I wanted you the minute I saw you.'

'I wanted you, too,' Anna said in a husky voice.

'Oh, good!' said Laird, his hand sliding, and she caught it between both her own, laughing at him.

'Stop-that, I'm being serious! We still have a lot to work out. My career, for instance!'

'I wouldn't want to interfere with that!'

'I wouldn't let you,' she said simply, and he smiled.

'No, I didn't somehow think you would! It means a lot to you, doesn't it, darling?'

'Until recently, everything.'

His face softened at the way she looked at him. 'So it isn't always going to win against me? Well, I'm glad your career matters! I think Merieth might not have acted the way she did if she hadn't had such an empty life. She wouldn't have a baby in case it ruined her fun, she didn't want a job, so she filled in her life with mindless pleasure. Sex, drink, even drugs—it killed her in the end. It may even have been partly my fault—I gave her too much money, too much freedom. She abused both.'

'It's stupid to blame yourself. We're all responsible for what happens to us, but not for other people. They have to take the responsibility for their own lives. You didn't deliberately hurt Merieth, did you? No, whatever was wrong with her probably began before she even met you.' Anna looked dreamily at him. 'I want children, do you?'

He looked amused. 'Right away, you mean?'

'No, I have too much to cope with at the moment —acting and you, too. But one day!'

His eyes were dark with tenderness. 'Whenever you want to start the process, darling, I'm your man!'

She laughed. 'One-track mind!'

'You've had a pretty tough life, haven't you?' Laird asked her gently. 'No family, no security, no money . . . just the theatre and your dreams. Let me take care of you from now on—I keep offering and you keep turning me down, but this time you'll listen, won't you? You'll take the TV commercial job? It will be quite a nice sum of money, you won't have to worry until the West End run begins.'

She considered him, her eyes half-closed. 'What a very persistent wolf you are!'

'Little pig, little pig, let me in, let me in,' he wheedled, and with a husky little groan Anna put her arms around his neck and stopped arguing.