British Bachelors: Delicious & Dangerous

‘Well, well, well! I see the walking wounded has returned to the land of the living, looking as disgustingly handsome and fit as ever...despite the broken leg!’

Hal was seriously starting to relax and enjoy Kit’s company, as well as his indisputably delicious meal, when a familiar male voice sent a disagreeable chill down his back. Looking up, he came face to face with the insincere smile of his ex-business partner Simon Rigden.

Simon was wearing his trademark designer suit, and his mid-brown hair was slicked back and as perfectly styled as always. But his over-familiar air and polished appearance weren’t about to make Hal feel remotely friendly or predisposed to let bygones be bygones. The man was a wily snake and he’d be a fool to forget that for a second time. The pity was that he hadn’t recognised it as being the case when they’d first met and he had stupidly made him his partner...

Ignoring the slightly pudgy hand held out before him in greeting, he took his time in touching his linen napkin to his lips, then emitted a weary sigh. ‘If your aim was to ruin my day by appearing like this then you’re wasting your time, Simon. That skiing accident on the Aspen slopes confirmed the realisation I already had about you...of what a conniving, merciless little weasel you are.’

Glancing across the restaurant, Hal saw a couple of similarly dressed businessmen he didn’t know from Adam raise their glasses to him in a presumptuous gesture of acknowledgement. Clearly his one-time friend and business partner had company—and perhaps not so savoury company.

‘Why don’t you just slink back to what I’m sure are your equally disagreeable companions and endeavour to ruin their day instead? I have every confidence you’ll more than succeed.’

Beneath the tan that he liked to keep topped up with frequent trips to the Caribbean and other fashionable hot spots round the world, Simon visibly flushed. But then exerting a little sweat and doing an honest day’s work had never been one of his biggest priorities, Hal recalled. It was one of the reasons he had paid him off—in hindsight far too generously—and brought their partnership to an end. In another era Simon Rigden would have been known as being a reprehensible louche, he was certain.

‘You’re obviously feeling bitter because I won our little bet that I was a better skier than you and that I could beat you on what’s known to be one of the most challenging slopes in the world,’ Simon accused him mockingly. ‘You feel humiliated that you crashed into that snowbank in front of several of your cronies. Everyone knows how much you hate to lose, but you weren’t exactly “Lucky Henry” that day—were you, Hal?’

‘You’d better leave before I signal the maître d’ and have you thrown out for being a nuisance.’

‘And risk having your reckless reputation highlighted once again in the tabloids? Although I’ll concede this restaurant does make an admirable effort to keep out the riff-raff, one or two hacks always manage to sneak under the radar. See any faces you don’t recognise?’

Hal bristled. ‘Why don’t you just get out of my face and leave me and my companion to enjoy our lunch in peace?’

The other man’s gaze swung interestedly across the table to Kit.

‘And who might you be, sweetheart? I must say I’m surprised. I thought our friend’s preference was for voluptuous blondes—not dainty little redheads who look like they come straight out of the Renaissance. But I suppose you must possess one or two sexy little tricks to keep him keen. You’ll certainly need to invent a few more of those if you’re going to keep him happy whilst he’s immobile. I hear it was a particularly bad break, and my guess is his recuperation is going to be a long one. But if his interest starts to wane at any time, sweetheart, you should give me a call.’

His pudgy hand dived into his wallet to extract a business card. He threw it down in front of Kit in a gesture clearly meant to insult. ‘I’ve had my surfeit of blondes lately, and I must admit, I could use a change.’

The look on Hal’s face would have put the fear of God into a man with any modicum of sensitivity.

‘Carry on in that vein, Rigden,’ he warned, ‘and I swear you’ll live to regret it. Now, get out of my sight! You’re not fit to even look at her. In fact you’d better get out of here quick—before I call the police.’

‘It’s all right, Henry. I can deal with this.’ Calmly taking a sip of her orange juice, with both men staring at her in mute fascination, Kit followed up this remark with another confident assertion. ‘I’d rather take my chances in a pool of piranhas than waste even a second of my time on an unsavoury character like you, Mr...er...?’ Coolly she picked up the business card that had been so insultingly flung down in front of her and read the name on it out loud. ‘Mr Simon Rigden.’ Pinning him with a direct and frosty glare, she finished, ‘You can be sure I’ll remember that, if I’m ever interviewed as a witness when Mr Treverne takes you to court on a charge of harassment. One thing’s for sure—it won’t enhance your reputation.’

‘Touché,’ Hal murmured beneath his breath.

‘You little—’ Flushing, the businessman abruptly turned on his heel and promptly left the restaurant, not even troubling to return to his companions and explain the reason he was leaving.

Given the looks of resignation on their faces, Hal deduced they weren’t at all surprised by his sudden exit. Some people just had a knack for self-sabotage...

Immediately returning his gaze to the much more pleasing sight of his Titian-haired companion, he asked, ‘What made you do that?’

‘You mean cut him down to size and stand up for myself?’

‘Yes.’

Kit’s blue eyes flashed. ‘Let’s just say I’ve had plenty of experience in dealing with men like him. My mother brought men like Simon Rigden home with monotonous and painful regularity in her search for the man of her dreams. Needless to say it was a fruitless and soul-destroying exercise. Unfailingly, her dreams turned into a nightmare. She wasn’t the best judge of men. And when each of those men took what they wanted and then abandoned her—which they did, without exception—I was the one left to pick up the pieces and try and convince her that what didn’t kill her would make her stronger. Except that it never did...’ Her gaze looked far away for a moment. ‘Make her stronger, I mean...’

‘That must have left some scars on you,’ Hal remarked, expressing the compassion he was feeling that she’d endured such a horrendous experience. It explained a lot about why she was so guarded and self-contained, so determined to protect herself from similar predators.

Grimacing, Kit gave a brief shake of her head. Her blue eyes were like the most intense moonlit stars they were so bright.

‘Scars heal...but unfortunately memories don’t. But you were right...that Rigden chap really is a weasel. What decent, right-minded man would mock a friend because he had lost a bet and suffered serious injury? It’s clear he doesn’t have any principles. It’s none of my business, and I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but I’d steer clear of him in the future, if I were you.’

‘Trust me. I will. I only wish I’d known the low-life was going to be dining here today—I would have suggested we went somewhere else. He keeps trying to rile me because he’s still mad that I broke off our partnership.’

‘So he’s your ex-business partner? If you don’t mind my asking, what on earth made you go into business with someone like him?’

‘Ever heard the saying that a salesman can always be sold to?’ Shrugging his shoulders, Hal was still pained to admit he’d been so gullible. ‘I was in my early twenties when he approached me, having heard about the success I’d been having, and I was eager to prove to my father that I could do even better. So when Simon offered me what sounded like a good deal at the time I suppose I let down my usual guard and fell for his convincing spiel. He was an experienced businessman in the industry that interested me the most, and his record of success was impressive.’

He gave a wry grimace.

‘Anyway, getting back to the skiing incident, when I saw him on the slopes at Aspen the only reason I agreed to his stupid bet was because I was certain I could beat him. I’d never lost a similar challenge before. But the truth is I was an egotistical idiot and I paid the price. I should have just walked away. But I want to sincerely apologise for Rigden’s insulting you, Kit. If I were back on my feet he would have been the one who was immobilised.’

The comment clearly perturbed her.

‘I can understand the impulse, but I abhor violence. It doesn’t solve anything in my view. Doesn’t the fact that there are so many wars in the world tell you that? It would be much better to talk things out or simply just ignore him. That would wound him more.’

An amused quirk lifted a corner of his lips. ‘Well, the fact that you made it clear you weren’t interested and then warned him what might happen if he continued to make a nuisance of himself was more than enough to see him off. You were quite formidable in your defence of me, Kit. I’m seriously impressed. The only other person who would have been quite so protective is my sister Sam.’

Giving him a captivating smile, Kit picked up the pristine silver cutlery she had laid at the side of her dinner plate ‘I’ll take that as a compliment. But now I think we should finish eating our meal before it gets cold, don’t you?’

‘I can always get the waiter to bring us fresh food if need be.’

‘And waste all that money you’re paying for what we’ve got already? No chance!’

* * *

Kit was deeply reflective on their return to the apartment. The appearance of Simon Rigden at the restaurant had given her a graphic insight into Hal’s regret about going into partnership with such a man. ‘A salesman can always be sold to,’ he’d said drolly. One thing was certain: she was sure he’d never be sold to by such a merciless shark again.

Walking beside him over to the couch, where he carefully lowered himself onto the firm leather seats and handed her his walking aids, Kit noticed that he looked particularly tired—as if the outing had been more of a strain than he wanted to let on. Not only had it been his first visit to a restaurant since his accident but, along with negotiating the challenge of appearing in public again when he wasn’t as fit as he wanted to be, he had been confronted by the one person who was guaranteed to raise his stress levels... Kit hoped it wouldn’t set his recovery back in any way.

Intermingled with those thoughts was the memory of telling Hal about her mother and her history of failed relationships due to her poor choice of men. Would she have revealed something so personal if Simon Rigden hadn’t presented himself at their table to mock him?

‘I’m going to relax for a while. Why don’t you take the opportunity to do the same?’

Hal broke into her reverie with a beguiling smile. Was the man aware that if that smile were flashed up on a cinema screen it would have every woman and girl in the vicinity aching with longing for an opportunity to be intimately acquainted with him? Her body warmed helplessly. For Kit it was a new experience to be so acutely aware of a man...to the point where almost every other thought in her head evaporated when he directed that chameleon golden-eyed glance at her.

‘Later on this evening I thought we could watch a couple of movies together and afterwards have a talk about them?’

He settled back against the plumped-up cushions on the couch with his hands behind his head, which had the disconcerting result of drawing her gaze to the impressive muscular chest so lovingly hugged by his black cashmere sweater.

Her mouth nervously dried as he added, ‘Are you up for that? And don’t you dare tell me it’s what I’m paying you for.’

‘I’d love to do that...watch a couple of movies with you, I mean. But I think that I’ll pass on your suggestion to relax. I know that Mrs Baker has been in today to clean the house, but I’d like to check if there’s anything else that needs doing and if we need any supplies from the supermarket. If you’re resting, it would be a good opportunity. I know you probably won’t like me for saying it, but you’re not paying me to be idle. Besides, I like to keep busy and do what I can to make things a little easier for my clients. Talking of which...’ Kit couldn’t resist smiling ‘...I’d like to ice that leg for you at some point and check that everything’s okay.’

‘Everything’s fine.’ Hal moved his hands from behind his head to drive his fingers a tad irritably through his dark hair. ‘I’d tell you if it wasn’t...Nurse Blessington.’

Kit feigned a disapproving look. ‘I don’t profess to be a nurse, but I know what has to be done and how to do it, so I don’t mind if you think I’m a little bossy. Anyway, you should rest now. Just behave yourself while I’m gone,’ she chided, ‘and don’t do anything you shouldn’t.’

‘Really?’ he mocked. The devastating glint in his eye made her legs turn to mush. ‘Like what, for instance?’

Flustered, she hurried across to the door and opened it. ‘Oh, I don’t know... Abseiling out of the window, perhaps? One thing’s for sure: if there’s any mischief to be found you’re just the man to find it...intrepid thrill-seeker that you are!’

His delighted laughter followed her all the way down the hall and into the kitchen...

CHAPTER SEVEN

AT HAL’S INVITATION, Kit sat next to him on the couch as they watched the first film, making sure to leave a decent amount of space between them. But he had dimmed the lights, and even though the film’s story was engrossing she couldn’t relax because of her heightened awareness of everything about him.

Not that he had to rely on anything external to enhance his undoubted appeal, but did he have to wear such a provocatively arresting aftershave? The scent was seriously taunting her and after having experienced his kiss in the bathroom—albeit a too brief one—she could hardly think about much else other than sex! The thrill of his unexpected caress had seriously excited her, and it didn’t help that she hadn’t known a man’s touch since the only other man she had gone to bed with had turned out to be a liar and a cheat.

The celibacy she’d imposed on herself since that episode had never backfired on her in such a disturbing and inconvenient way before. It surely wasn’t the brightest idea she’d ever had to lust after her boss, even though Hal Treverne was pretty impossible to resist!

Clearing her throat, she absently curled a long strand of her burnished copper hair round her finger.

‘Are you okay?’

Turning her head at the question, Kit curved her lips in an automatic smile. ‘Yes, I’m fine.’

Her quick-fire reply was hasty and unsure, and the smile that accompanied it was by no means meant to be invitational or provocative, but her companion’s arresting golden eyes darkened visibly in response. He also shifted in his seat, as though suddenly uncomfortable with his position. One thing was immediately clear. He was in no hurry to get back to the film.

‘Is it me or has it got seriously hot in here?’ he commented.

Over the slow and heavy thud of her heartbeat Kit tried her best to think straight. ‘It is quite warm,’ she agreed. ‘Perhaps I should turn the heating down a little?’

‘It won’t make any difference.’

Her companion’s lips shaped a compellingly wry grin that displayed his perfectly even white teeth and once again made Kit think he ought to be in the movies. But right then, in this dimly lit state-of-the-art modern living room, she was very glad that he wasn’t. She had no desire to share him with anyone...let alone the whole world.

‘Well, then, I suppose we’d better just watch the movie.’

Glancing away, she attempted to focus on the large screen facing her instead of on Hal, in a bid to not to be so distracted by him. But he was right. It was hot in here—and it wasn’t just down to the very efficient heating system.

‘Kit?’

‘Yes?’

‘Why don’t you move a little nearer? It’s a big couch and it feels like you’re miles away.’

‘Why do you need me to move nearer? Are you in pain? Shall I get your medication?’

In answer his golden eyes transmitted the kind of simmering heat reserved for burning embers, and the raw, impassioned hunger Kit saw reflected there was impossible to ignore. Her slender thighs, clad in black leggings beneath a matching roomy sweater, clenched defensively together. But in truth she knew she was on a hiding to nothing. A shiver convulsed her slender frame. If she hoped to be able to ride out the merciless electric storm confronting her, then it was already clear she was odds-on to lose.

‘I’m not in pain, but if I was the only thing that would help ease it is you, Kit.’

Her eyes widening, she replied tremulously, ‘Don’t say that—at least not in that way. You hired me to work for you. Nothing else. I would never jeopardise my job by—by...’ Embarrassingly, she ran out of the ability to finish her sentence.

Lifting a wry eyebrow, Hal sighed. It didn’t help Kit’s case that the gesture made him look irresistibly endearing...almost boyish.

‘What you’ve said is true,’ he said. ‘But in the past couple of days I’ve developed feelings for you that go beyond just wanting you to work for me and they won’t go away. I may have a broken leg, but that doesn’t stop me from having the same needs as any other able-bodied red-blooded man.’

Curling her hair behind her ear, Kit knew it was a delaying tactic, but still she asked softly, ‘Exactly what kind of needs are we talking about?’

‘Scoot up next to me and I’ll tell you. Better still, I’ll demonstrate.’

‘No.’

‘Come on. I dare you. I want to try an experiment.’

She wanted to say something...anything. But forming words seemed impossible when her mouth had suddenly gone dry as sand and her tongue didn’t respond in tandem with her brain. Hal Treverne had put her in a dizzying spin and it wasn’t a state she was familiar with. She’d frequently anguished about her mother not having any common sense when it came to men, but where was hers now, when she needed it? Perhaps more than she’d ever needed it before?

Moistening her suddenly dry lips with her tongue, she made herself ask, ‘What kind of experiment are you talking about?’

Hal’s glance was unwaveringly direct.

‘I want to kiss you, Katherine with a K. Properly this time. And I want you to kiss me back. If neither of us enjoy the experience then there’s no harm done. We’ll simply carry on as before. I want to reassure you that there’s no danger of your job being jeopardised. I give you my word on that. You’ll stay until our arrangement naturally comes to an end—when I’m completely mobile again. Agreed?’

The silence that followed this inflammatory statement was deafening.

Hal was gesturing for Kit to move closer, and when she gazed back into his eyes the sight was akin to gazing into a mirage of mesmerising crystal waters after she’d stumbled through a burning hot desert without hope of ever having a drink again.

How could she possibly ignore the chance that her mirage might turn out to be a genuine vision and that it would save her life if she drank from it?

She reached out her hand to slide it over Hal’s. His skin was silkily smooth and warm, as it always was. But this time she had permission to actively enjoy the experience—not just tend to his practical needs as she normally did.

With a heated, lazy smile he tugged her hand to bring her close into his side. Before Kit even had time to gasp he’d pushed aside the heavy fall of her hair and laid his palm against her nape. Everything tingled. Then he hungrily drew her head towards his. Any opportunity or desire for further conversation disappeared abruptly the instant he touched his lips to hers. The texture of them was like the most seductive velvet and they tasted like nectar.

When Hal’s tongue dived into her mouth and duelled with hers pleasure such as she’d never known before suffused her—a delight so intensely hot and sensual that it was like a tropical storm descending out of a summer sky. Its sudden surprising appearance gave her no chance to find shelter. The only thing she could do was surrender, give herself up to its fierce elemental nature with no thought or concern of where the experience might lead her. Was she brave enough to do that? The more Hal kissed her, the more she wanted to fly into the face of her fear and challenge it.

Then he cupped her breast through her sweater, evoking a ravenous need in her blood that made her feel as if she was losing her mind with no hope of ever thinking straight again...like someone standing too close to a crumbling cliff-edge and dangerously being compelled to jump. Why did she suddenly feel that she would willingly sacrifice her dream of a safe place, a bolthole she could call her own, to travel into the unknown with him?

With a helpless whimper Kit anchored her hands round Hal’s iron-hard biceps, her fingers gripping hard, wishing she had the courage to lift up his sweater so that she might touch him more intimately and press her body into his.

Hal’s head and heart were reeling. He knew what it was like occasionally to drink more than one generous glass of intoxicating red wine at dinner, to have his head spin and his limbs turn to water, but never before had he experienced sensations as dizzyingly seductive and addictive as this! Kit’s ravishing mouth and silken tongue were so sinfully delicious that he knew he could willingly be a slave to her kisses for a very long time indeed, whilst her body... Her body and her scent aroused him more than any other woman’s had ever aroused him before.

The need to take this so-called experiment further was growing more and more demanding. He was so hot and hard that he had to tear his lips away from Kit’s to take a steadying breath and try to calm his escalating need. As he moved his hands up to cup her face Hal’s breath felt no less steady as he stared hungrily down into the incandescent blue eyes that gazed back at him. They looked as stunned and as intoxicated as he was.

‘I want to take you to bed, Kit.’ With a wry smile he added, ‘Let me rephrase that. I need to take you to bed. Our little experiment was more...much more successful than I’d hoped it would be.’

To his surprise, Kit responded with a troubled sigh.

‘We can’t always have what we want or—or need, Hal...and perhaps giving in to our base desires isn’t the best thing to do for either of us. I won’t deny that I find you attractive, but if you seriously think about this you’ll know it isn’t a good idea to take things any further. We’ve already crossed a boundary I vowed never to cross with a client. You’ve been hurt in an accident and forced to take a much slower pace than you’re used to while you recuperate, and I’ve been hired to help you.’

Reaching up, she gently freed his hands from round her face and sat back against the couch’s sumptuous leather upholstery, a shapely leg tucked beneath her.

‘It’s understandable that you’re feeling frustrated and lonely, but I’m not the cure for either of those states—even though you might think I am.’ Visibly blushing she added, ‘Your kiss was lovely, and so are you. But I’d rather you remembered me as a reliable and competent help when you most needed it than some convenient woman you took to bed simply because you were feeling horny.’

As shocked surprise eddied through him Hal hardly knew what to say. Kit had told him he was ‘lovely’ and yet she clearly didn’t trust his motives. A thought that might explain why she was so uneasy about taking things further suddenly struck him.

‘You think I’m just the same as one of those low-lifes who used your mother then abandoned her. That’s it, isn’t it?’ He cursed out loud because he knew it was true.

‘No. Of course I don’t think that!’ Her mouth shaping a painful grimace, Kit folded her arms over her chest and dipped her head. The sudden movement caused her glorious hair to tumble forward onto her shoulders in a riot of silken burnished waves.