CHAPTER THREE
MITCH’S whole body was buzzing with adrenaline. He’d thrown down the challenge and every nerve was keyed to piano-wire tension, waiting for which way Kathryn would jump. Her gaze had dropped to the ring on her finger.
Take it off, Mitch fiercely willed. If the guy won’t drop everything to look after you at a time of need, he’s not worthy of you.
He was tempted to screw the challenge up another notch, offer to speak to the man himself, make him aware that Kathryn was in serious danger. But that might be tipping the scales which were delicately balanced at the moment. She was not stupid. He’d spelled out what the situation was. The ball was in her court. If she chose to stay with him…well, that choice would be very telling, indeed.
‘I don’t want to interfere with Jeremy’s business,’ she said slowly.
His heart kicked with excitement as she lifted her gaze to his, her eyes returning a challenge that demanded he measure up to his own promises.
‘You claim I’ll be safe with you…’
His groin tingled. It was definitely a sexual challenge. Did she feel the attraction, too? He cocked an eyebrow at her. ‘Are you asking me if I’m a man of honour? If you can spend a night under my roof without my coming onto you?’
Heat whooshed into her cheeks, a sure sign that he’d hit a nerve that was pulsing with vulnerability. He smiled, wondering how tempted she was, though he spoke to dispel her unease.
‘You’re wearing a ring, Kathryn. You can count on my respecting it. Okay?’
The light mockery goaded her into accepting safe refuge with him. ‘Okay,’ she echoed on a long expulsion of obviously held breath. ‘If you don’t mind, I think it will be less fuss all around if I simply stay with you overnight.’
‘Best if you remain in my house tomorrow, as well,’ he pressed. ‘Take a sick day from work. By tomorrow night there should be safeguards in place so you can resume your normal life.’
‘All right,’ she agreed, her beautiful green eyes glittering brightly above the scarlet cheeks.
He’d won, Mitch thought exultantly. She’d moved onto his ground. And she wasn’t married yet. Her agreement could very well mean she was interested in finding out more about him, exploring the territory. Within limitations, Mitch forcefully reminded himself. The ring was still on her finger.
Still, his zest for life and all its challenges zoomed into overdrive. While he was waiting for Ric to call from Gundamurra, he took Kathryn through the scene Gary Chappel had made at the office, learning more about her and how she conducted herself in a crisis situation. Very cool and collected. Definitely not someone to be rolled over in a hurry. Yet she wasn’t so cool with him, Mitch happily reflected.
Was her relationship with Jeremy rock-solid, or could he give it a shake? Was it her own pride insisting on not making a fuss, or couldn’t she count on her fiancé to respond as he should? As much as Mitch wanted to believe the latter, it was clear that Kathryn Ledger was not a panic merchant and might simply be taking what she saw as a pragmatic course. Security was at hand in the person of Mitch Tyler. There was no need to bother her fiancé. The danger would be over by the time Jeremy walked back into her life.
All the same, Mitch couldn’t help feeling elated that she had chosen to spend tonight with him. The thought struck him—If I were her lover, I wouldn’t like this choice one bit. Yes, she was definitely playing with fire, and Mitch privately determined to stir the embers every which way he could, watching how the wind blew.
I’m playing with fire, Kathryn thought, feeling more and more unsettled by her decision to bypass Jeremy tonight and go with Mitch Tyler. It might have seemed a safe and sensible option but it wasn’t. Somehow he was making her question where she was in her life and why, and the answers didn’t feel so right anymore.
When the call came through from Ric Donato, diverting Mitch’s attention from her, she told herself she could still change her mind. Yet as she sat listening to the one-sided conversation, she found herself totally captivated by his handling of the situation.
There was no criticism of Ric’s actions. Mitch projected both sympathy and understanding for what had been done, and the strategy he outlined for involving Victor Chappel as a powerful restraining force on his son sounded good to Kathryn, as did the threat of negative publicity which would automatically accompany legal action if the restraint didn’t hold.
She was particularly touched by the gentle tone he used when he rather hesitantly remarked, ‘Patrick said…this is your Lara…from the old days.’
The old days… Kathryn wondered what the history was—how these men and Lara Chappel were connected, Ric Donato’s enduring caring for her and their empathy for what he felt.
The conversation moved on to Kathryn’s safety with Mitch, relating that her fiancé was away and she’d be spending the night with him. Ric asked to speak with her and she ended up promising him she’d do precisely what was planned. Too late to change her mind now. She felt caught up in a juggernaut of action that had to be followed.
Listening to Mitch elicit the information he needed from Lara Chappel was another fascinating experience—a sharp legal mind at work, yet the cross-examination was done sympathetically. Kathryn wasn’t sure if this manner of his was simply clever or genuinely sincere, but she couldn’t help being impressed by Mitch Tyler’s sensitivity to others’ feelings—his humanity in a field she would have thought was driven by ego.
On the other hand, she was sure he played to win. It was unimaginable that he wouldn’t be a winner—the force of his energy overriding any opposition. If he was representing her in court, she’d have every confidence in his ability to gain whatever outcome was needed. But that was his professional life. What of his private one?
Clearly he couldn’t be living with a woman or he wouldn’t have offered her a room for the night in his home. He had a married sister and was obviously on good terms with her. No friction in his family as there was in Jeremy’s where everyone was hitting off each other, intensely competitive.
She didn’t like their habit of putting each other down. Winning meant too much to them. Though it certainly made them top performers in their fields, which was admirable. And as her mother had said, no doubt Jeremy would make a good provider as a husband.
He’d been very successful as a dealer in a merchant bank, drove a BMW Roadster, wore designer clothes, and his penthouse apartment at Pyrmont was very classy. If this next career step—becoming a partner in a very high profile financial services company—came off, he’d assured Kathryn they’d be set for life, riding high, nothing to worry about.
Except… Mitch Tyler had made her question how much Jeremy really cared about her. She’d justified his priorities in her mind, yet her heart felt oddly torn right now. Looking back over their relationship, hadn’t she been the one to make all the adjustments, all the compromises?
She came from a caring family and it was natural to her to give what was needed, to create and maintain a happy atmosphere. But if something she needed clashed with Jeremy’s ambition, his drive to be number one…would he drop everything to rescue her from a bad situation, as Ric Donato had done for Lara Chappel?
Here she was, staying with Mitch Tyler because she didn’t want to put Jeremy to that test. Because…didn’t she know in her heart he would fail it? Whereas all her instincts were telling her Mitch Tyler wouldn’t. He was like Ric in that sense. Caring with passion. Caring that knew no limits. And Kathryn found herself fiercely wanting to be the object of such caring.
‘Hungry?’ Mitch shot at her from where he stood by the fax machine, waiting for Lara Chappel’s written authorisation to act for her.
She glanced at her watch. Almost seven o’clock. Where had the time gone? ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘What are we going to do about dinner?’
‘I’ve