Do Opposites Attract? (Kathryn Freeman’s Irresistible Romcom Collection #5)

Chapter Eleven

Following a good night’s sleep, Brianna woke the next morning fresh and alert. Something she hadn’t thought possible when she’d gone out for a smoke the previous night, all keyed up by the grimness of the day. The unexpected banter with Mitch had obviously succeeded in unwinding her, as she’d drifted off to sleep with absolutely no trouble.

Peeking her head cautiously out of the tent, she was pleased to find the sun was shining for once. With a bit of luck the weather was breaking, which would allow the area to start the difficult job of getting back on its feet again. It was just the morning to try out a swim in the lake.

Quickly she slipped on a T-shirt and trousers and after grabbing a towel, she headed off towards the clearing. The birds chattered and the sun shone through the trees. It was hard to believe that only yesterday they’d been rescuing people from a horrific mudslide. The calm water of the lake glistened, positively inviting her to take a dip. Carefully she scrutinised the surface. No crocodiles, at least none she could see. And no people either. After stripping off her clothes she ran stark naked into the cool water, letting out a gasp as she went under. Invigorating was certainly a word that came to mind. So did flipping freezing. She swam quickly at first, warming up her muscles. Then she floated on her back, drinking in the rays from the sun.

As Mitch drew up to the lake, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He’d swum here every morning with nothing to disturb him apart from the wildlife. Today it appeared the lake was already taken. As he zeroed in on the body floating serenely on its back, he drew in a sharp breath. Brianna. And what a sight she was. She looked like a mermaid, the water gently cascading over her sun-kissed body.

His body responded instantly, pulsing into life, and he groaned. He should go. God knows, there was enough sexual tension between them without her catching him gawping at her like a randy teenager. With a sigh of frustration he turned to walk away.

‘Don’t go on my account.’

Abruptly he halted. A twig snapped underfoot as he slowly turned round, the sound echoing across the still lake. Still except for the few gentle ripples that surrounded Brianna who was now treading water, a teasing smile on her face. Hell, she looked like a siren, set to seduce the hapless sailor. Or in his case, swimmer.

‘Come and join me.’

‘Thanks, I’ll wait,’ he replied tersely.

Feeling foolish, he sat on the ground. To leave now would give the impression he was embarrassed, or worse, scared. No way was he was going to give her the satisfaction of mocking him about running away. Determinedly he drew up his legs, rested his chin on his knees and watched as she finished her swim. He knew she was naked. Even from a distance he could make out the full curve of her breasts. He wasn’t going to look away when she came out, he decided. She should be the one embarrassed, not him.

At last she emerged from the water, and he stared straight at her. It was an image that would stay in his mind for a very long time. Her body was magnificent. With a confidence that only the truly beautiful exuded, she walked easily onto the shore, her body glistening in the sun. Arousal shot through his system, so sharp, it was painful.

‘Would you mind passing me my towel?’ She stood in front of him, a wet, dripping picture of perfection.

‘God, Brianna.’ He grabbed at the towel near his feet and shoved it at her. ‘Damn you.’ With a strangled oath he stood and dragged her to him, his mouth coming down roughly on hers.

Brianna let out a low moan as Mitch plundered her mouth and for the second time in as many days, he lost his control. Never a man who made love with finesse or gentleness, his hands wandered roughly up and down her body, moulding her closer and closer to him. One minute they were standing, the next he’d manoeuvred her to the ground and was lying on top of her. God she felt so bloody good, so soft, so smooth where he was hard and rough.

The contrast set off alarm bells in him and he leapt off her, rolling to his side, his chest heaving in time with his ragged breaths.

‘What the hell am I doing?’ he asked out loud, disgusted at himself. He had to be out of his mind. She was making him go out of his mind.

‘Pretty well, I thought,’ Brianna replied on a laugh.

He didn’t know whether to be angry or amused. She was playing with him, damn her, much like a sleek aristocratic cat toys with a poor dumb mouse. But the knowledge didn’t make his body ache any less. He was so sorely tempted to give in and let her play, despite the complications it would bring. But people like him and Brianna were never meant to mix, not on any intimate level. She wasn’t from his world. He didn’t even know which rules she played by.

He sat up, thrusting a hand through his hair, his movements jerky. ‘This is wrong, on so many levels,’ he muttered darkly.

‘Why?’

‘You really need me to tell you? We’re out in the open where anyone could see us. There are people suffering agonies of injury and death all around us. Your mother is patron of the charity I work for. Saints alive, do I really need to go on?’ Of course there were also the things she didn’t know about him. The things that would make someone like her run like blazes if she ever found out. He sighed and got to his feet, reaching for the abandoned towel. ‘Here, dry yourself off, get dressed and get the hell out of here.’

Brianna couldn’t argue with Mitch’s first two objections, but she wanted to clear up the third. ‘You don’t really think my mother cares who I sleep with, do you? I’m a grown woman. As long as I’m happy, she’s happy. I mean, it’s not as if you’re going to lure me down the aisle, is it?’

His head shot round. ‘Damn right.’

The words were said with such feeling she had to laugh. ‘Well, at least we’ve got that clear.’ She tugged on her T-shirt and the trusty canvas trousers she’d been living in these last few days. They would be going in the bin as soon as she got home. ‘I’m just saying, another time, another place.’ She twitched her shoulders in a careless shrug, though inside she felt anything but casual. The intensity of their kiss had shaken her to the core. She enjoyed sex, but what she’d just experienced with Mitch had staggered her. If she’d had her way, they would still be making love to each other now.

But it seemed Mitch was calling the shots. And he’d turned his back on her and was pulling off his shirt as he marched towards the lake. She had a brief, stunning view of his broad, tanned back before he dived into the water.

* * *

Brianna found the day long and hard. Where had all these injured people come from? They lined the walls of the tents, waiting patiently to be seen. The nurses were run off their feet, triaging the injured, making sure those who were worst off were seen first by Mitch or Stuart.

Occasionally she caught glimpses of Mitch, stethoscope round his neck, a calm, authoritative air firmly on his shoulders. He was called out several times, only to return with a casualty on a stretcher, who was then rushed straight into the area where they operated. Breaks were few and far between. How did the team cope with such full-on days? How did doctors like Mitch cope with such a never-ending stream of critical, life or death decisions to be made? She thought how she would have spent the day had she been at home. Flitting round the shops, lunching with friends. A glance at her watch told her it was nearly nine o’clock at night. Heck, no wonder she felt exhausted. She’d never spent so long on her feet. Nor had she ever spent so much time helping others, she thought with a rush of shame. Not that she’d been much help here.

‘Miss.’ An elderly man in one of the beds called over to her.

Pleased at last that somebody needed something from her, she hurried to his bedside. ‘How can I help?’

He looked uncomfortable. Eyes darting everywhere but at her, he spoke in halting English. ‘Need toilet? Help me?’

She watched as he struggled to pull back the sheets. Nodding, she stood with her arm around his shoulders, acting as a lever as he swung his legs out of the bed.

‘No!’ Tessa rushed up and, none too gently, pushed Brianna out of the way.

‘He needs to go to the toilet,’ Brianna explained with more patience than she was feeling. ‘I was just helping him.’

Tessa gave a stern shake of her head and eased the man back into bed. ‘He mustn’t try and walk.’ Reaching down, she handed the patient a urine bottle from under the bed, speaking to him in fluent Spanish.

When the patient had understood, Tessa took Brianna’s arm in a firm grip and led her away. ‘Didn’t you see the notice on his bed?’ the nurse fumed at her, gesturing to the clipboard. ‘For God’s sake, stop interfering in things you’ve no training in.’

‘What’s going on here?’

Brianna glanced up to see Mitch staring down at them. Just what she needed. It wasn’t enough that she’d been humiliated by the nurse, now she faced a tongue lashing from him, too.

‘I caught Brianna helping a patient out of bed who shouldn’t be walking. It’s time you reminded her she’s only here to observe.’

Several of the team and quite a few patients were now watching with undisguised interest. Beyond embarrassment, Brianna avoided Mitch and glared straight back at the nurse. ‘Thank you, Tessa. I think even someone of my limited capabilities has received that message now.’

She turned and walked out of the ward with as much dignity as she could muster. When she was sure she was out of sight, she ran the rest of the way to her tent and collapsed, crying, onto the bed. Damn the woman for making her feel totally inadequate.

* * *

Mitch stood at the entrance of Brianna’s tent, listening to the muffled sobs. ‘Can I come in?’ he asked through the canvas wall.

‘Help yourself,’ came the voice from the other side, followed by a loud sniff. ‘But I’m warning you, there’s no way you can make me feel any more useless than I do already. So if you’ve come to yell at me too, you’re wasting your time.’

Cautiously he walked into her tent. He took one look at the slender figure sitting on the bed and his heart went out to her. It had been one hell of a long day, for all of them. Of course he and the team were used to it. Brianna wasn’t. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her glorious eyes looked utterly miserable. ‘I’m not here to shout,’ he replied gently. ‘I’m here to check you’re okay.’

‘Thank you, I’m fine.’

She looked anything but. With a sigh he sat down next to her on the bed. ‘Tessa didn’t mean to embarrass you like that. She was just concerned for the patient.’

Brianna glared at him. ‘Yes, she was concerned for the patient. But she sure as heck enjoyed humiliating me, too.’

Mitch shook his head. ‘No, Tessa’s not like that.’

‘Are you really so clueless? Tessa fancies you.’

An uncomfortable flush crept up his neck.

‘Yes she does,’ Brianna insisted. ‘Consequently she doesn’t like me. She sees me as a threat.’

Embarrassed, Mitch leapt up off the bed. ‘That’s ridiculous. Tessa doesn’t think of me in that way and I certainly don’t think of her that way.’

‘What about me, Mitch?’ she asked softly. ‘Do you think of me that way?’

Hell’s teeth. This was no longer embarrassing, it was excruciating. He thrust his hands into his pockets. ‘You know I do.’

Instantly the atmosphere in the tent changed. Tension, dark and heavy, mixed with the spark and crackle of sexual chemistry.

‘Then what are you waiting for?’ she whispered.

Mitch tried to take his eyes away from hers, he really did. Somehow they wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t seem to force them to look at the floor, at her chin. God, anywhere but at those dazzling green emeralds that were telling him, quite clearly, what she wanted. ‘We’ve been here before,’ he told her thickly.

‘I believe we’ve solved two of your issues. Nobody can see us here and my mother has nothing to do with you and me.’ Slowly she stood and walked towards him. ‘Of course we are still in the middle of a disaster-stricken area . . .’ she left the sentence hanging.

Mitch swallowed. Then swallowed again. This stunning beauty was practically offering herself to him on a plate. What the blazes was he meant to do now?