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

Chapter Twenty

It seemed natural they spend Sunday together. At least it did to Brianna, who’d shown no signs of heading home after breakfast. Mitch was surprised to find he had no desire to push her out. It was the first time he’d spent a weekend with a woman yet so far he’d had no urge to reclaim his space. He hadn’t felt irritated when she’d perched where he usually sat on the sofa, and had even enjoyed her commentary on the newspaper she’d been reading. As they strolled back from a relaxing pub lunch, he wondered what it was about her that made her such good, easy company.

‘Come on, show me your stone skimming skills. I’ll wager ten pounds I can do more skips than you.’ Brianna bounded down to the sea, her hair flowing in the wind, cheeks flushed and face alive with laughter.

There was his answer. She was such good company because she was fun. He’d never met anyone so full of life. She made him feel young. He bent down to snatch up a flat stone. ‘You’re on.’

The contest was hard fought and Mitch was more than a little surprised she was so good at skimming stones. ‘Where did you hone your skills then?’ he asked after one particularly good throw had bounced off the sea six times.

‘My parents have a house by a lake in Italy. We used to go there a lot when I was a child, usually with a group of friends who also had children. I was the only girl, so I was determined to beat the boys.’ She eyed up his stone. ‘Go on then, see if you’re man enough to beat a girl.’

Mitch grinned, put his arm back and produced a beauty. They watched it skip ten times before it sunk into the sea. ‘Ten pounds I believe?’

‘Damn you. I bet you wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t riled you.’ Just then her mobile phone rang. ‘Hello? Hi Melanie . . . I’m with Mitch.’ She cast a furtive look at him. ‘Umm, yes, very well. Details later.’ She giggled, blushing slightly, and he had no doubt what was being discussed. Before he had a chance to be put out, she was laughing. ‘Very funny. As it happens we’re not in bed, but it would take us too long to get there so we’ll have to pass. Thanks for asking though. Bye.’

Mitch quirked an eyebrow at her.

‘My friend, Melanie. A crowd of them are going to watch a polo game this afternoon. She was asking if I wanted to go along.’ She grinned. ‘Providing we’d made it out of bed.’

He chose to ignore the fact that these two women were discussing his sex life. ‘Polo?’ he asked instead. ‘Is that really what you do on a Sunday?’

Brianna sighed. Here we go again . Mitch was wearing that look. The one that said she was rich, and he wasn’t. Would he ever forget about her damn money? ‘No, of course it isn’t,’ she retorted sharply.

‘Never?’

She squirmed slightly. ‘Okay, yes we go to polo sometimes. Satisfied?’

‘What do you do when you’re not at polo?’

Relieved they were back onto more neutral ground, Brianna threaded her arm through his. ‘There’s a crowd of us that tend to go round together. Sometimes we go to each other’s houses, sometimes to a party or club.’ When he asked, she named a high profile club in London. ‘What about you?’

‘Very similar,’ he replied dryly.

She elbowed him sharply in the ribs. ‘Come on. This is called conversation. I tell you a bit about me, you tell me a bit about you. You’ll get the hang of it in time.’

He shook his head, laughing softly. ‘I’m not sure I will, but okay. I run along the beach, windsurf, read the newspapers, relax.’

‘That sounds a bit lonely,’ she remarked quietly.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘I’m not lonely. I enjoy my own company. When I’m working, I’m surrounded by people all of the time. When I come home, it’s nice to chill.’

But even when you’re on camp you don’t socialise, Brianna wanted to retort, but she thought better of it.

* * *

It was a lazy Sunday and Brianna was amazed to find it after six o’clock when she finally looked at the time. They were snoozing together on the sofa, having spent most of the afternoon making love. When it came to sex, Mitch had both stamina and a voracious appetite, a very welcome combination in her book.

‘I guess it’s time I hit the road.’ She sat up slowly, uncaring that she was naked. He loved her body. She knew by the way his eyes darkened when he looked at her. It felt incredible to know she had that power over him, physically at least.

‘Have I tired you out?’ He stretched his tall frame across the sofa, arms folded behind his head, his hair flopping messily over his forehead.

God he was beautiful. Not conventionally of course. His face was too rugged for that. But there was so much coiled strength, both in his mind and his body. She hadn’t realised what an aphrodisiac that was. Cocking him a grin, she reached over to run her fingers over the hard planes of his chest. As his taut abdominal muscles quivered, she felt another stirring of desire.

‘Brianna, you need to stop that now, or you won’t be going anywhere.’

Pouting provocatively, she bent to pick up her clothes. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind.

‘Damn you woman, why can’t I get enough of you?’ His voice was harsh, almost angry.

Brianna turned to say something, but her mouth was captured by his and once more she was lost.

* * *

‘I really have to go now,’ she said a little while later as she finally moved off the sofa and started to get dressed.

For a moment his eyes rested heatedly on her chest. ‘I’ll be sorry to see those breasts tucked away, but it’s probably for the best. If we carry on like this I’ll end up hospitalised with clinical exhaustion.’

She was thrilled she had that effect on him but much as she loved the sex, she wanted more. Would he let her in? ‘When was the last time you went to the cinema?’ she asked, shrugging on her shirt.

‘Cinema?’ He’d hauled himself off the sofa and was tugging on his jeans, concentrating on the buttons of the fly. ‘I can’t remember. Probably to see The Guns of Navarone .’

Brianna widened her eyes in shock, then threw a sock at him. ‘Very funny, though knowing you it won’t be too wide off the mark. Why don’t you come up during the week and I can show you what normal people do on a night out?’

Her invitation was met with a wall of silence. She couldn’t read his expression, his head was bent, but she saw his fingers falter on the buttons. Damn, she’d pushed him too far.

Wordlessly they finished dressing. Then he walked over to the patio doors and looked out at the rolling waves. ‘Brianna, I just want to get one thing clear. I don’t do relationships. If you want cosy dates, followed by hearts and flowers, you need to go and find somebody else.’

Her heart plummeted and her hands shook slightly as she wrestled the remaining boot onto her foot. ‘Well, you’re certainly honest.’ When she’d finished she stared up at his profile, so aloof, so distant again. What was he so bloody afraid of?

‘I believe in total honesty,’ he replied, turning slightly so she could see his full face. Not that it helped, he was so flaming unreadable. ‘That way nobody gets hurt.’

It’s too late for that . ‘So, if I don’t get hearts and flowers and protestations of love, what do I get?’

‘Heat, passion. You and me, in bed.’

He wasn’t wrong there, but she was starting to wonder if that was enough. Her feelings were running beyond simple lust and into something . . . more. He wasn’t immune to her, she could see that, but he had this big wall around him he didn’t seem to let anyone through. Would he let her in, given time?

‘Mitch, have you ever had a proper relationship with a woman?’

He looked slightly taken aback. ‘Define proper.’

‘You know, a commitment between two people that you’re not going to see anybody else. A relationship where you make plans to see each other again, go on dates, enjoy weekends away.’

He looked back at her through narrowed eyes. ‘No, not in those terms.’

‘Why not? What are you scared of?’ she asked softly, walking up to him and putting her arms around his rigidly set shoulders.

Impatiently he shrugged her off. ‘I’m not scared of anything. I learnt long ago not to rely on anybody else. It’s a philosophy that’s stood me in good stead and I’m not about to start changing it now.’

Hurt that he wouldn’t let her close, Brianna had half a mind to tell him to bugger off. But then she caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes and her heart melted. There was a reason for his aloof nature, his determination not to let anybody into his life. ‘Who hurt you, Mitch?’

He gave her a long, cool stare. ‘Why do you assume somebody has?’

‘Because the man I’ve seen hold a child’s hand as he died, the man who gives up most of his life to care for others, the man I’ve just spent the weekend with, he’s different to the man who’s standing in front of me now. When you’re not consciously thinking about blocking people out, you’re a wonderful, warm person. So something happened in your past that’s made you wary of letting anybody get close to you.’

His eyes were flat, unmoved by her speech. ‘Or maybe I’m just a selfish person who prefers his own company and has no desire to ever share his life with anybody else.’

Exasperated, angry with him for being so cold and herself for caring too much, she bent to pick up her overnight bag. ‘Message received, loud and clear. I’ll let myself out.’

* * *

Mitch watched as Brianna opened the door and slammed it firmly behind her. The sound of finality echoed around him. What was wrong with him that he was pushing this beautiful, vivacious woman out of his house? She’d wanted to go to the cinema with him. Was that such a major crime? Hadn’t he just had one of the most relaxing, most enjoyable weekends he could remember? And hadn’t that been mostly down to her? Before he could think about what he was doing, Mitch thrust open the door and ran down to where Brianna was starting the engine.

‘Brianna, wait.’ As he reached her, the Jaguar purred into life. Cocooned inside, she couldn’t hear him, so he tapped on the driver’s window.

Her head twisted towards him and he received an icy stare.

Undaunted, he tapped again.

Glowering at him, she finally lowered the window. ‘Did I forget something? I’d hate you to be left with a reminder of the weekend you were forced to share your precious company with another person.’

He winced. ‘I guess I deserved that. Look, I’m sorry. I enjoyed this weekend. More than I thought,’ he added wryly. ‘I’m not used to spending time with a woman and still wanting to see her again. You’re a first.’

Brianna rested her hands on the wheel and stared straight ahead.

He ducked down so he could look her in the eye — if she ever bothered to face him. ‘I’m not sure I’m capable of a relationship,’ he told her gruffly. ‘But I can’t stand the thought of not seeing you again.’

Time seemed to stand still as he waited for her reply. He was aware of the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands fisted at his side. Of how much her answer mattered to him.

Magically, she tilted her face towards him and curved her lips into a smile. To his astonishment, she then reached up and placed a hand on either side of his face and gave him a long, drugging kiss, which had the tension washing straight out of him.

‘Okay, Mitch, we’ll take it slow. Wednesday night. Meet me after work. We’ll go to the cinema and share a bag of popcorn. Not too scary for you?’

He grinned a touch sheepishly. ‘I guess it’s a date.’

‘I guess it is.’