Whirlwind by Charlotte Lamb Read Free Book Online

geraniums to the grimy facade, but nothing would make the Old Britannia look anything but what it was—a working man's pub once haunted by sailors in the days when London's river was crowded with ships, but now fallen like the river on hard times.
    As they halted outside the swing doors, Anna was amazed to see Patti giggling. 'I never thought you'd ever be jealous of me!' she laughed and Anna went red.
    'That wasn't what I meant! Look, I'm trying to warn you about him. The man's only got one thing on his mind, and I don't mean a kiss at the door when he takes you home. He plays adult games, and he means to get what he wants, he plays very rough. Don't accept any more lifts from him.' She paused, frowning at Patti. 'Unless, of course, that's OK with you. At least I've warned you.'
    Patti looked as if she had been dipped in boiling oil.
    'What did he ... ' she began, then broke off, biting her lip.
    'How old are you?' Anna asked her wearily.
    Patti took the question at face value. 'Nineteen . . . nearly.'
    Even younger than Anna had imagined, and she made a face. 'Well, use your imagination to fill in the gaps. I don't want to give a lecture on the subject, but you're lucky it was me who went on with him last night, not you.'
    About to walk into the pub, she stopped, a new idea coming into her head. 'By the way, how did you meet him in the first place?'
    'I . . . my father introduced us,' Patti stammered, still obviously very embarrassed. 'Well, not exactly that—but he was with my father when I came along and . . . '
    'Your father?' Anna stared at her. 'So it wasn't at the theatre? I got the idea that Laird had something to do with the management.'
    Patti looked confused. 'Well, in a way . . . '
    in a way, what?'
    'He . . . didn't tell you?'
    'Tell me what?' demanded Anna, becoming even more irritated.
    'He's one of the backers,' Patti said in a low voice. 'Don't tell anyone, will you?'
    'Oh, no!' Anna exclaimed, her face appalled. 'He's backing the play? Our play?' If Laird Montgomery was one of the backers, there was no way she was going to be able to avoid him if she saw him at the theatre—or pretend they had never met! Not only could he walk in and out of the theatre as he chose, it might make her life very difficult if he was hostile to her.
    'But you won't tell anyone, will you?' Patti said hurriedly. 'He doesn't want people to know. He has a phobia about getting his name in the newspapers, and he's afraid a gossip column would pick this up, and people would start hanging around the theatre, to pester him.'
    'By people you mean journalists?'
    'Yes.'
    'A debatable point,' Anna said, grimacing.
    Patti laughed uncertainly, too keen to get her message home to find that very funny. 'You won't tell anyone, promise, Anna?'
    'Not a living soul,' Anna said absently. 'You know, I never have seen his name in a newspaper, now you mention it, and it's unusual enough, heaven knows. In fact, I'd still suspect he invented it if I hadn't seen the name of his company on that building.'
    'What building?' asked Patti, looking understandably bewildered.
    Anna gave her a dry look. 'The office block where he took me last night—you won't believe this, but he has a penthouse suite on the top of his company headquarters, just the perfect spot for a little candlelit dinner and seduction.'
    Patti's lips parted and she stared, blushing. Anna could see she was at last beginning to get the point, so she didn't dwell on it any further. If Patti accepted a lift from him again, she would at least be doing it with her eyes open.
    'Well, let's go and find the others,' she said, pushing open the swing doors of the pub, and at once hearing her name chorused by the rest of the cast who were sitting around two tables in a corner.
    'There you are! Hurry up, we're ordering—shepherd's pie or curry?'
    'Shepherd's pie,' Anna and Patti said in harmony, and the landlord grinned and asked what they'd like to drink before vanishing.
    It was only as she was