by Mari Carr
At last she saw him. Her eyes shot open and her hands covered her mouth as she let out a scream and stumbled back against the bathroom door.
“Shit. Sorry.” He moved forward, making a conciliatory gesture. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Her hand moved to cover her heart. “You scared the shit out of me!”
He couldn’t help it. The sound of Kelsey swearing made him laugh. He’d bet she never swore, ordinarily. She might be tough, but she was also a lady.
“What’s so funny?”
“You saying shit.”
“Hilarious. That’s what happens when someone scares the…shit out of me. Shit, shit, shit!”
He laughed harder. Before long Kelsey’s mouth twitched and her answering chuckle rewarded him. It sounded warm and melodic and, despite her recent outburst, pleasantly ladylike.
It felt nice, laughing with her. “You should have seen your face.”
“You should have seen yours. What were you doing, just standing there like that?”
KD hadn’t blushed since he was fifteen and hadn’t been able to hide an inconvenient erection from Heather Winchester, his high school crush. “Ahh…I was, well…when a man sees a woman who looks like you, dressed like that”—he used a hand to encompass her form from head to toe—”staring is kind of involuntary.”
She gasped, suddenly realizing how uncovered she was. She crossed an arm over her breasts and used the other to pull the robe farther down her legs. “You were spying on me?”
“No, dammit. I hung around to let you know you got a message on your machine. Stanley’s not coming.”
She frowned in confusion. “Do you mean Stefan’s not coming?”
“Whatever his name is,” KD muttered. Whatever his name is was a complete idiot.
“Did he say why?”
“Something’s come up, he said.”
“Oh.”
Her blush was telling. She thought it as lame a fob off as he had, and she’d just been humiliated in front of him. In her robe.
“Hey, I’m sure something did come up.”
“Sure. Something more important than me.”
“Aw. That can’t be right.”
But if it wasn’t more important than her, the guy would be here, wouldn’t he?
KD had the strong urge to step forward and gather her in his arms. Just to reassure her. Bad idea. Reassurance wasn’t the only thing on his mind and he couldn’t trust himself. Besides, she wasn’t likely to welcome such an act from him.
“Well, that’s a waste of a couple of rib fillet steaks, isn’t it?” Kelsey said, a little too brightly.
“The man’s a fool.”
She gave him a small smile of appreciation. “Thanks for saying that.”
He just shrugged, struggling for words that didn’t take the conversation to sexual areas. Why don’t you let me show you what a fool I think he is? I’d appreciate a woman like you more than he does. Let me take you to bed, for Crissakes.
“Well, I’d better go,” he said instead, proud he’d managed to get the words out.
But she went and ruined all his good intentions.
“Unless…you’d like to stay and eat with me?”
*
She’d taken leave of her senses, obviously. She must have left them in the car. Why on earth had she asked KD to stay for dinner?
Kelsey sat across from him at the small outdoor table on her back verandah, the warm twilight air creating the kind of intimate atmosphere that only those close to each other usually shared. The wooden table seemed an inadequate and easily surmountable barrier between them. Funny, when she’d been sitting across from Stefan at lunch this very day, she hadn’t been required to fight the insane urge to swipe their crockery off the surface, scramble on all fours atop the table and shove her tongue down his throat.
She had been fighting an ever-growing, frighteningly powerful sexual attraction to KD since the second she’d opened her front door to him almost a week ago. So why had she gone and consumed two glasses of Chardonnay—something sure to dull her sense of propriety and possibly get her into serious trouble if she couldn’t change the sexual orientation of her thoughts?
Because she’d been stood up and it depressed her, that’s why.
She had hastily changed into denim cutoff shorts and a perfectly boring white tank top. Then she’d put the steaks on the grill and opened the wine she had planned to share with Stefan while KD went to get cleaned up. Evidently, he’d stuck his head under the bathroom tap enough to wash his face and get most of the dust out of his thick auburn hair.
She liked the color, she decided as she stole a surreptitious glance at him. He wasn’t quite a redhead, not traditionally dark. His hair wasn’t straight, but wasn’t exactly curly either. Shaggy might be the word, with a little length so it brushed his collar. Up close, the faintest remnants of freckling could be seen across a nose a little too long and broad to be considered aristocratic. On the whole, he might not be considered a handsome man—at least, not in the traditional way that Stefan was handsome. But he had those sparkling blue eyes, a stunning contrast to his unique coloring, and a killer smile that promised satisfaction in the most elemental way.
And that body, of course. Muscles hard and rough-hewn from traditional manual labor, not gym workouts, in a long, lean and thrilling package.
“So do you have family here in Holly Hill?”
Recognizing his question for what it was—a conversation starter that might fill the awkward silence—Kelsey was glad for the opportunity to talk. Even about her family. “Not blood family, but Gabby’s always been closer to me than my real sister.” At his questioning look, she explained, “Genevieve is based in London. She’s a freelance travel writer. We don’t see much of each other. My parents are divorced. My mother’s still in Brisbane—that’s where I grew up—with husband number two. My father’s in Sydney with girlfriend number, I’m not sure, five, I think. And I’m here because…”
Kelsey shrugged. How could she explain? After Adam Scalia had made her the unwitting other woman in a triangle she hadn’t known existed and broken her heart in the process, she had lost her way and gotten on a merry-go-round of short, ill-conceived relationships. She could never admit to KD the humiliation of that alcohol-fuelled one-night-stand with a work colleague that had finally prompted her to take a look at her life and change it. Too deeply ashamed of herself, she hadn’t even told Gabby. She had simply changed her job and stopped dating altogether, stopped going out, limited drinking. She had been determined not to sleep with another man on impulse. With another man who wasn’t The One.
“I got sick of the rat race in the city and the opportunity to take over the real-estate practice here came up a couple of years back.” She gave as much of the truth as she was willing to. “This is Gabby’s hometown and I fell in love with it long ago, so it seemed like fate. Especially as I’d just gotten my real-estate license.” You’re babbling, Kelsey.
“How did you meet Gabby, if you’re from Brisbane and she’s from here?”
“Boarding school. Gabby’s parents sent her so she could get the best education and mine sent me…well, because they were getting divorced, I suppose. Made things easier for them with me and Gen not around.”
“Easier for them,” he noted quietly. “Not for you.”
His eyes searched her face and she felt them trail warmth wherever they touched. “I didn’t think so at the time, but who knows? Maybe it was better than being in the house with the two of them fighting like the proverbial cat and dog. And I met Gabby there.” Had she already said that?
She cut off a slice of steak and popped it into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Your mother lives here, and Frank. They’re planning to stay for good, aren’t they?”
“Seems that way. Ma always liked it down this way. It’s sure a lot nicer than the outback mining towns we lived in most of my adolescence.”
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“That’s right. Frank mentioned he used to work in mining.” Kelsey picked up her wine and took a long sip.
“Yeah. Not much excitement in those towns for a teenager, at least I never thought so. I took off as soon as I secured an apprenticeship in Mackay, stayed there until I finished and then”—he made a movement like an aircraft in flight—”I decided to see the some of the world.”
“Have you seen enough of it yet?” Kelsey asked curiously. He sounded just like Genevieve—always looking for the next interesting place to visit, a whole host of new people to meet. No moss gathered on her sister either.
KD just shrugged. “That remains to be seen, I suppose.”
“Ever think of moving here?” Why had she asked that?
His laugh made her regret her question even more. “Oh, my mother would love that, but it’s never appealed. I prefer moving around, anyway.”
All the better not to get tied down, Kelsey deduced. She’d known it already—that he lived like a nomad. He was only staying here now because of Frank’s heart attack. Yet hearing him confirm his intention to leave again as soon as he could had a peculiar effect on her heart. It sank. Suddenly she felt very, very tired.
What had she been thinking? That one look at her and KD might change his mind about settling down with a good woman? Please. She wouldn’t want that anyway. He was so far removed from the type of man she saw as a permanent fixture in her life that it wasn’t funny. And despite tonight’s letdown, she still had Stefan Henley in her sights.
Stefan. Goodness, she’d forgotten all about him.
“That was delicious. Thanks.” KD had finished his steak and was now leaning against the backrest of his chair. She hadn’t finished hers, but she’d had as much as she wanted. Of food. And nothing else was on the menu.
“No problem.” She stood to collect the plates. A wave of dizziness hit and she swayed, clutching the table edge for support.
KD was beside her in a split second, gently easing her back into her chair. Kelsey giggled. “You don’t have to treat me like your grandmother, KD.”
“Believe me, you don’t remind me of anyone’s grandmother. Why don’t you sit and let me clear the table?”
A man—a macho, man’s man at that—who offered to clear the table? She was hardly going to knock back that offer. She spread her hands wide. “Be my guest. I’ll just sit here, have another glass of wine and enjoy the night air.”
She moved to pick up the half-empty bottle, but KD grabbed it first, holding it out of reach. “I think you ought to slow down on this stuff.”
“Why?”
“Because, Miss Simmons.” He smiled. “You’re a little drunk.”
“Oh, that.” Kelsey flopped back in her chair and pushed out a sigh. “I think, since we’ve shared a meal and all now, you should start calling me Kelsey.”
Leaning over the table, hands flat on the surface, he looked at her steadily with those dreamy blue eyes. She went all warm inside, from more than the wine. It would be so easy to tilt her head and offer her lips, urge him to kiss her. So easy and so good and so very, very wrong.
“I’ll be right back.” KD cleared the dishes without a further word and disappeared inside.
Kelsey closed her eyes and rested her head on her crossed arms. What was she doing, thinking about kissing KD? Was she nuts, as well as intoxicated?
“Here, drink this.”
Lifting her head with a start, Kelsey saw a mug of steaming black coffee in front of her and wondered how it had gotten there. “Did I fall asleep?”
“Seems that way.” He took his seat again and drank from his own mug. He surveyed her face with those keen eyes. “Want to talk about why you’re in such a drinking mood?”
She lifted a careless shoulder and sipped her coffee. Black and strong, no sugar. As if he had known how she liked it. Her eyes flicked back to him. “Tell me what it means when a man doesn’t want to be alone with a woman.”
“If it’s with you? He’s gay.”
His unequivocal tone made her laugh.
“You think I’m joking?”
Her gaze strayed back to him. He simply continued to look at her, steady and sure. His question wasn’t rhetorical and Kelsey shook her head. “But Stefan’s not.”
“If that’s true, he’s mighty stupid.”
“Wrong again.” Kelsey leapt to Stefan’s defense. “He has a degree in town planning and a masters in political science. He’s a very intelligent man.”
KD put his mug down and leaned forward to drill her with a hard expression. “A piece of paper isn’t always a good measure of a person’s intelligence, Kelsey.”
It was the first time he had said her name since she had suggested he do so. Kelsey gulped, wishing she had never extended the offer. It sounded bone-shiveringly good on his lips.
“Neither can it be dismissed as a factor.” Although what he said was true—after all, she had no degree and didn’t think herself the lesser for it—she was loath to agree with him so readily. “How about you? Did you ever go to university?”
She hadn’t meant the question to sound like a challenge, but the scornful twist of his lips told her it had come out that way. His eyes turned glacial. “Making comparisons, sugar?”
Kelsey amended her earlier opinion. She wished he would call her by her name. If he called her sugar like that one more time she might dissolve like a spoonful in a hot cup of tea. “Between you and Stefan? Why on earth would I?”
He merely tilted his head slightly until his meaning sank in. Kelsey gasped and all but sputtered, “You don’t think I’m interested in…you?”
“I think you’re interested in something ol’ Stevie doesn’t seem to want to give you.”
“His name,” she enunciated, “is Stefan.”
“Whatever. He’s not sleeping with you and by my reckoning you’re in need of a good, hard—”
“What makes you think Stefan and I aren’t sleeping together?”
“Because if this guy was your lover there’d be no way he’d allow you to have dinner with me. He’d be over here taking advantage of the situation.”
“Taking advantage…no way he’d allow me…” Kelsey didn’t know where to start to argue with such an arrogant, sexist statement. All her soft-edged tipsiness evaporated. Her anger intensified at her inability to express to this Neanderthal what a throwback he was.
She pushed back her chair and stood, this time feeling no dizziness, only determination. “Get out of my house.”
He pushed back his chair and stood, too. “Your imperious, lady-of-the-house thing is hot as hell. Anytime you want me to play at being your footman—”
“I said get out!”
“Alright, alright.” To Kelsey’s mounting rage he actually laughed, the sound soft, melodic and maddeningly sexy. “Anything the lady wants.”
The innuendo hung in the air as he left, making heat that didn’t belong to fury slice through her. As arrogant and rude as she knew him to be, the idea of KD giving her whatever she wanted had more appeal than she felt capable of dealing with. How could she want to sleep with a man she found so reprehensible?
Chemistry, that’s what. Hormones, celibacy and frustration. None of which she would let rule her life.
With a determined sigh, Kelsey scooped up the coffee cups and carried them inside. She had just finished washing them when she heard footsteps in the hall. The distinctive, heavy clunk of KD’s boots.
She turned as he entered the kitchen. His expression taut, his shoulders tense with restraint, he asked, “Have you ever heard the expression, might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Well, I figure this is one of those situations.” He took a few, seemingly casual steps. But there was nothing casual in his heated expression as he drew near. Kelsey’s knees weakened and she clutched the solid steel of the kitchen sink for support. “You hate me enough to slap me right about now, so making you hate me a little bit more isn’t gon
na make much difference, is it?”
She recognized the intent in his eyes a moment before he acted. It wasn’t enough time to stop him. Before she could even gasp, KD hauled her into his arms, crushing her already aching breasts against the hard wall of his chest and covering her mouth with his.
