The Prospective Wife (12 page)

‘I’m leaving,’ she corrected with dignity.

He sighed. ‘Drusilla’s going to very disappointed.’

Kat gave a snort of disbelief. ‘Like you care! I was under the impression you went out of your way to disoblige your mother. I suppose you’re relieved to know you’re in full working order?’ she added carelessly.

Another laugh was wrenched from deep in his chest. ‘You have quite a way with words, Kathleen…’

‘Kat.’ The correction was automatic.

‘I prefer Kathleen. I can’t say the subject has been keeping me awake nights.’

‘I thought as much.’

‘But, yes, it’s not unwelcome news.’

‘All part of the recovery process.’ It was a bit late to wheel out the objectivity.

‘I thought you were going to say it was all part of the service.’

Kat winced. Considering her wanton behaviour, this was a perfectly legitimate thing to think.

‘Dream on!’ To her critical ears the retort smacked uncomfortably of adolescent badinage.

‘I’ve nothing against dreamers, but I’ve always thought of myself as more the dynamic action type myself,’ he explained with a mock-heroic pose that poked fun at the image the media liked to lumber him with.

At any other time, his antics might have made her laugh; right now, his boast inspired fear. If he got active on the kissing front again, she’d be a goner!

‘Are you trying to shock me?’ She put on her best heard-it-all, seen-it-all-before expression.

His grin was unapologetic. ‘I think I already have. But then that’s only fair because you don’t always say or do what I’m expecting, either.’ There was a flare of wry amusement in his blue eyes as he looked into her angry and discomposed face. ‘That puts you in a fairly unique category.’

‘Like a freak?’

‘Would I be that unkind?’ Her expression spoke volumes; he grinned. ‘More an enigma, a lovely contradiction. If I promise not to kiss you again will you reconsider?’

‘Why should I believe you?’

‘I get the feeling playing the integrity card won’t work with you…’

Kat fixed a scornful glare on her face. She could hardly remind him that it was her own trustworthiness she was concerned about, not his! She watched with some anxiety as he got slowly to his feet. It was incredibly hard staying where she was when every impulse was telling her to get up and help him. He reached for his cane and it slid to the floor.

Kat leaned across and grabbed it; she held it out to him. ‘Be careful,’ she pleaded.

Matt took the ebony handle. ‘You’ve resigned, remember?’

Her eyes remained on his slim strong fingers curled around the handle. ‘Old habits die hard,’ she admitted, releasing the cane.

‘You need the job, don’t you?’ he stated flatly as she too got up from the floor. ‘And by all accounts you do it well.’

Kat sighed and avoided his eyes. If she stayed she’d be able to wipe the slate clean of her mum’s debts in one fell swoop. She was tempted—there was no use pretending otherwise. The big question was, could she do it and not become another notch in his bedpost?

‘All I’ve done so far is nearly drown myself.’ It wasn’t a record that screamed competence.

Matt watched as she dropped her head forward, ran her fingers roughly through her heavy mane of pale, water-darkened hair, then straightened up and with a flicking motion sent it all swishing damply backwards off her face. He could tell that she had put no more thought into the action than she would washing her hands.

Matt, who had been seduced—sometimes successfully—by experts, found it the single most seductive thing he’d ever seen. Then again, he reflected with a self derisive smile, the way things were heading maybe he’d think the same thing if he saw her washing her hands! Whatever his mother’s intentions had been—and actually he didn’t much care—she’d really put the cat among the pigeons this time!

‘Drusilla’s going to want to know why you decided to throw her generosity back in her face.’

Kat felt a twinge of guilt. ‘I’m no longer sure that Drusilla was being all that generous,’ she grumbled.

‘If you’re worried I’ll want to make up for lost time on the lust front, I could provide myself with some female companionship.’ He watched to see if her reaction to this suggestion was all that he’d hoped—it was. ‘Would that make you feel more comfortable?’

Kat could hardly believe what she was hearing.

‘It’s as simple as that, is it?’ She gazed at this classic example of arrogant manhood in undisguised amazement. At the back of her mind lurked the uncomfortable fact that knowing Matt was sleeping with some willing lovely would make her nights agony.

‘I have a wide circle of friends…many of whom are female.’

‘Who would drop everything, including their knickers, if you whistle?’ She looked him up and down with a contemptuous smile, then her defiant expression slowly faded, leaving a shade of fear in its place. You bet they would! He really was in a class of his own, the sort of man women didn’t say no to! It was mortifying to realise she had to class herself amongst their number.

Matt’s eyes sparkled with barely subdued laughter.

‘That’s a very coarse thing for a
nice
girl to say,’ he announced gravely.

Despite his tone Kat didn’t think he looked particularly offended by her vulgarity; she, on the other hand, was horrified by her display of cattiness.

He might just as well have said I’m boring; I bet none of those girls in his little—pardon,
big
—black book are nice.

‘Who said I’m
nice?
’ she snapped belligerently.

‘I expect my mother will when she eventually rings.’

Kat picked up her tee-shirt from where she’d dropped it. ‘Some days in the hospital I would see dozens of patients. It never occurred to me that looking after one patient…’

‘Client.’

She received the correction in much the spirit it had been offered and ground her teeth.

‘It didn’t occur to me that one individual
client
could be more labour-intensive than all of them put together!’ In her ignorance, she’d actually thought it would be a luxury not to have to worry about the next appointment. She had been looking forward to the prospect of giving her one patient the benefit of her undivided attention… She hadn’t reckoned on it being
this
undivided, though!

‘So you turned up here thinking you were on to a cushy number and I came here thinking I was going to get some peace and quiet. We were both wrong.’

‘I’m not afraid of hard work!’ she countered, bristling furiously at the implication she was work-shy.

‘Great!’ he cut back swiftly. ‘Stay, because I have it on good authority that I’m
very
hard work.’

‘Do you ever give up?’ she wondered wearily.

‘Not when I want something, and I want you…to rehabilitate me.’

Kat was uncomfortably aware of the dew of sweat that had broken out over her entire body. She had no doubt whatever that the pause had been deliberate and, like a fool, she obliged him by falling for the bait.

She cleared her dry throat. ‘I think that’s beyond my capabilities,’ she told him hoarsely. ‘I think your best bet is Drusilla coming up with a wife who can keep you in line.’

‘Are you applying for the job?’

Was he doing a little carrot-dangling, or did he just enjoy seeing her squirm?

Although she’d been displaying the intellectual capacity of a donkey just lately, the particular carrot he was mockingly dangling held no appeal. Matt Devlin might be the most attractive man she’d ever met, she might be filled with lustful cravings every time she thought about him, she might have fallen for him big-time—but she couldn’t think of many more alarming fates for a girl than to be married to him. For starters, he wouldn’t be faithful. Hadn’t he already made his opinion of fidelity quite clear? She resolutely ignored the tiny voice of dissent in some distant corner of her mind that inconveniently pointed out it might also be a wildly exciting fate.

‘I’ve no objection to being kept in line by the right woman,’ he announced. ‘Only I’d prefer to pick my own.’ He stood there oozing male virility, looking so much like the embodiment of all her dreams that she felt like weeping.

She coaxed her lips into a superior smile. ‘Men always think it was
their
idea,’ she sniffed.

‘You terrify me!’

Not half as much as you do me. ‘Don’t give up hope. I’m sure there’s a poor deluded soul somewhere out there for you.’ She made the possibility sound extremely remote.

Her venom didn’t seem to bother him. ‘So you think we all have a soul mate out there?’

His question took her aback. ‘Most people I know seem to think they have several,’ she responded, hiding her discomfort behind a caustic tongue. When she actually reviewed the alarming proportion of her married friends who had already split up, she came to the conclusion her cynicism was actually pretty well founded. ‘I suppose they’re working on the theory that if they try often enough they might eventually strike it lucky.’

‘Do I detect a note of cynicism…?’

‘What did you expect, a hopeless romantic?’ she challenged. ‘If you want one of those I know several…’

All of whom would take one look at him and… Of course! Why didn’t I think of that earlier? she wondered as she was hit by a neat solution to her present dilemma. And perhaps I can call it progress that I’m willing to admit I have a problem.

She made an attempt to look at her problem—all six feet four of him—objectively, and felt a stab of sexual awareness so strong she couldn’t breathe for several seconds.

She gathered her wits ruthlessly and gave herself a sharp mental shake. Desperate measures were definitely called for! He was right about one thing. She did need this job. It was being the latest in long line of sexual conquests she didn’t need. If he hadn’t been temporarily unattached and making up for lost time he wouldn’t look twice at her, she decided, wrinkling her nose as she concentrated on the details of her plan.

If she introduced Matt to the sort of girl who actually liked her men arrogant, opinionated and conceited, he wouldn’t have the time or inclination to taunt her and she could do her job, get paid and get out!

‘I’ll stay…on conditions…’

‘I’ve told you, Blondie…’

‘No
Blondies!
’ she bellowed, planting her hands on her hips and glaring up at him.

Her stance drew attention to the slenderness of her waist and the undulating nature of the rest of her figure. Matt repressed a sigh…
Pure poetry,
whether static or in motion.

‘A mere slip of the tongue, Kathleen,’ he soothed. ‘When I said no kissing, I meant it…’ His mock meekness vanished as he continued, ‘Unless, of course, you kiss me first. Then a bloke would be obliged to respond, don’t you think…?’ There was a wolfish gleam in his eyes as he adopted an innocent tone to appeal to her judgement.

Two darker spots stood out amidst the delicate wild rose tint of her smooth cheeks. So he was relying on her lack of willpower. And the awful part was his confidence might not be unjustified. The sooner she got him together with Emma, the better!

If Emma’s ex-husband had been
half
as bad as she made out then Emma definitely liked her men mean, nasty and with an over-inflated idea of their own importance. If it wasn’t for the fact that at their last meeting Emma had announced to a slightly shocked Kat that it was her firm intention to lose no time making up for the fact her ex-husband had up to that point been her only lover, Kat wouldn’t have dreamt of throwing them together.

‘I’ve got a friend who is a better swimmer than me.’ And then some. No male with red blood could watch Emma dive into a pool and not be wildly impressed by her athletic prowess, not to mention her supple streamlined body, Kat decided miserably.

‘That’s no great recommendation.’

‘She’s dived…dove…whatever—’ she finished up in a grammatical tangle ‘—competitively at international level.’

Matt’s sable brows shot up at her enthusiasm to sell the other woman. ‘Actually, all we need is someone who can stay afloat. At a pinch, you’ll do, so long as we stay in the shallows.’

‘No!’ Kat exclaimed, unable to disguise her panic. There was no way she was going to strip down to what amounted to her undies in the same room as Matt ever again. There was such a thing as asking for trouble! ‘If I told her what to do would you be willing for her to supervise your activities in here?’

‘What makes you think this friend of yours will automatically want to take me on?’

Kat allowed her eyes to dwell for a painful moment on the damp skin of Matt’s sleek powerful torso before she raised them to his strikingly handsome face.

‘Oh, she’ll take you on, all right,’ she said dully.

‘I didn’t think you were
that
freaked out,’ he murmured, a furrow of concern appearing in his brow. ‘I’m not sure avoiding the issue is going to solve anything. You really ought to face your fears.’

Not likely!
she thought, developing a sudden and intense interest in her toes. Some fears were best avoided altogether!

‘Those are my terms—take it or leave it.’

His magnificent shoulders lifted; he gave her a languid smile. ‘You’re the boss.’

Kat discovered she was intensely suspicious of his easy capitulation. Maybe paranoia was catching, she mused. ‘And don’t you forget it,’ she replied gruffly.

‘HE’S got a great body!’ Emma reflected with a predatory little purr.

Kat, who had been coping remarkably well up to this point with the success of her plan, felt her fixed smile slip.

She
knew his body, not Emma. She knew it, if not intimately, then better than most casual acquaintances. When she worked on his injured soft tissue and freshly knitted bones, she managed to retain a satisfactory degree of objectivity. The same couldn’t be said for the occasions when their hands accidentally brushed, or her knee made contact with his. She had obsessed for hours after over the illicit thrill of such incidents.

Kat’s conscience was giving her trouble. It would be a pretty calculating, selfish act if I took advantage of a friend’s fragile emotional state and pushed her into Matt’s arms just because I can’t trust myself! I must have been off my head to even think about it! Kat’s tense shoulders relaxed; she felt a whole lot better having ditched the crazy idea.