Page 50 of Do Opposites Attract?

He felt her relax against him. ‘Sorry, it’s just I know you don’t like being crowded. I don’t want to overstep the mark.’

Mitch stood still, his feelings unsteady. What had he done to deserve this woman? Many times he’d tried to push her away, treated her badly, mainly for his own self-preservation. It scared him to think he was starting to let her in. Back at the camp, he’d repeatedly told himself he didn’t want a relationship. They were messy and he wasn’t cut out for them. Yet here he was, back with Brianna, and feeling a surge of contentment he’d rarely felt before.

‘Brianna, I’m not good with words,’ he told her quietly, knowing it was about time he gave her something back. ‘I’ve always preferred actions. But you need to know I care for you. I like having you around. It’s a new experience for me, having a woman write a letter to me, meet me at the airport.’ He nodded towards the now burning omelette. ‘Try and cook for me. You’ll just have to give me some time to get used to it.’

Brianna ignored the burning eggs and turned to kiss him gently on the lips. ‘Take all the time you need, Mitch. I’mnot going anywhere.’ She went back to turn over the omelette. ‘Except perhaps the local takeaway. Bugger, it’s only the second time I’ve cooked for you, and the second time I’ve burnt it.’

‘At least you know I’m not just turned on by your haute cuisine.’ He gave her a kiss on the back of her neck. ‘I’ll get a takeaway.’

Ten minutes later they were once again enjoying a meal in front of the fire. This time, pizza.

‘Mitch, have you really never had a woman write to you, or meet you at the airport before now?’

He looked up, surprised. ‘Yes. I told you, I don’t do relationships.’ He laughed at himself. ‘At least I haven’t, until now.’

Brianna’s lips twitched. A second later, a broad grin split her face. ‘Does that mean you’re my boyfriend now?’

He drew in a deep breath. Facing gunfire in a war zone was less terrifying than this. ‘Yes. I guess so.’

For a while she didn’t stop grinning. It was so infectious, he found himself shaking his head and grinning back.

‘Have you thought any more about what you’re going to say on Saturday?’ she asked eventually when they’d given up on the pizza. ‘You have remembered you promised to talk at the ball?’

Well, that successfully wiped the smile off his face. ‘Yes, I’ve remembered, but no, I haven’t thought about what I’m going to say. I’ve not had a lot of time.’ He took their plates and went to pile them up in the kitchen.

‘Mitch, can I ask you another favour?’ she called out.

He popped his head back round the door, eyeing her suspiciously. ‘That depends.’

‘During the ball we’re going to hold a date auction. I’ve managed to persuade a few of my friends to put themselves forward as prospective dates, to be taken out by the highest bidder. I’m going to do it as well. Can I put your name down?’

‘What?’

‘It’s just a bit of fun,’ she replied defensively. ‘And all the money goes to Medic SOS.’

Flabbergasted, he leant against the door frame. ‘Let me get this right. You want me to volunteer to have a meal I don’t want, with somebody who’s paid good money for the privilege? You have to be joking.’ He shook his head, baffled by the whole concept. ‘Firstly, I can’t see anyone actuallypayingto have a meal out with me. God knows, I’m not the most scintillating of company. And secondly, why the hell would I want to give up my time to make polite conversation with some rich woman I don’t know? Hell, Brianna, I can’t believe you seriously thought I’d agree to that.’

‘I didn’t, but it was worth a try.’ She fluttered her eyelids. ‘You’ve got no idea how much those ladies would pay for a night out with a sexy doctor.’

He felt a schoolboy flush creep up his neck. ‘I said no,’ he repeated tightly.

‘Okay.’ With a fluid grace she moved off the sofa and draped her arms around his neck. ‘And I can’t say I’m upset. I don’t want to share you with anybody else, anyway. I’ll just put an extra cheque into the pot and grab that date all to myself.’ She kissed him softly on the lips. ‘Come on, Mitch, I’m tired. You must be shattered. Take me to bed.’

‘Now that I will do,’ he muttered gratefully.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Mitch spent Saturday morning wondering what on earth he was going to say in his speech. God only knew why he’d let Brianna talk him into this, he grumbled to himself as he crossed out the words he’d just written. He was no orator. Yes, he’d spoken to large groups a few times, but with a view to training them, not entertaining them. His audiences had been soldiers, or medical students, there to listen and learn. Tonight his audience was a group of rich men and women who’d paid a ridiculous sum of money to be wined and dined. The last thing they wanted was a lecture on how to deal with injuries sustained by fallen debris. A shame because that was what he was good at delivering.

Frustrated, Mitch put down the paper and went to iron his one and only dress shirt. He’d found it lying crumpled at the back of his wardrobe. The last time he’d worn a tuxedo had been at university, the day he’d graduated. He figured tuxes didn’t date much. Having spent what he’d considered at the time to be a small fortune on the thing, he was damned if he was going to buy another one just for tonight. If they didn’t like what he was wearing, tough. Maybe they wouldn’t let him through the door and he could just slope off home and forget all about the stupid speech and meeting Brianna’s crowd of friends.

And there, he thought, in a nutshell, was his real problem. It wasn’t so much the speech, though he wasn’t looking forward to it. It was the knowledge that he was stepping into Brianna’s world now. In the safety of the medical camp, and then back at his place, he’d managed to forget the class gulf that stretched between them. Tonight it was going to flare up in his face again. He was a professional, a doctor. When it came to his work he was confident, some would say brash. But in his personal life he couldn’t shake off the blasted feeling of inadequacy. Oh, he was okay with most people, but Brianna’s crowd weren’t mostpeople. Mitch knew where he’d come from, and was ashamed of it. It didn’t matter how hard he tried to put it at the back of his mind, to tell himself it wasn’t important, he knew he was kidding himself. Itwasimportant. It made him defensive, on edge. Not a good combination for socialising.

Gritting his teeth, he shrugged off his thoughts and finished ironing the shirt. It was just one blasted evening. He could get through it. All he needed to do was remind himself of who he was now, not who he’d been. He was proud of what he was doing and it was probably a damn sight more than the idle rich crowd he’d be mixing with. If he could just get through the evening without making a fool of himself, or of Brianna. That was all he asked.

His journey up to London was uneventful and Mitch was soon ringing on the bell to Brianna’s apartment. He felt awkward, standing there on the pavement, dressed in his finery. It occurred to him he didn’t know the etiquette of picking up a lady to go to a ball, even if she was running it. Should he have brought flowers? Probably. More than likely. Jeez, he was a reasonably good swimmer, but he felt staggeringly out of his depth, in waters with currents he couldn’t begin to understand.

He stewed for a few seconds longer, until Brianna opened the door. Then he had no room in his mind for any other thoughts. Transfixed by the sight of her, he simply stared. It might be a clichéd saying, but she took his breath away.

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