Page 51 of Do Opposites Attract?

‘Mitch, you’re looking very handsome. Do you want to come in for a moment? I’m just putting on the finishing touches.’ She leaned into him and kissed him slowly, lingeringly on the lips.

‘If you keep that up, you’ll be starting from scratch again.’ Putting his hands onto her hips he regretfully pushed her away. She wore a deep green silk number, which caressed her body and brought out the beauty of her eyes.

Laughing, Brianna caught him by the hand and led him back up the stairs to her apartment. ‘Why don’t you pour yourself a drink while I find the right necklace to go with this dress.’

It was his cue to reveal a stunning diamond and emerald necklace from his pocket. At least that’s what happened in the movies. Of course he’d arrived with nothing. Even if he had thought to have brought something, he couldn’t have afforded the jewellery a woman like her desired, or deserved. Damn it, what the hell was he doing here, dressed up in an off the peg, ten-year-old tuxedo? He didn’t belong, and if he ever thought he would, he was deluding himself. With a grunt of frustration he stalked into the kitchen and, ignoring the bottle of champagne in the ice bucket, grabbed himself a bottle of beer from the fridge.

That was where Brianna found him a few minutes later. Propped up against the breakfast bar, his face like thunder, drinking beer from the bottle.

‘How do I look?’ she asked softly.

He glanced up from the floor, his eyes slowly taking in the full appearance. A dramatic single emerald glinted around her neck and matching earrings dangled from her lobes. He didn’t dare think who’d given them to her. Ignoring the sharp twinge of jealousy he concentrated instead on drinking in the rest of her. Her hair was now piled on top in a casual fashion, with loose tendrils flowing down her neck. On her feet were dainty silver sandals.

‘You look far too good for the likes of me.’ Confusion clouded her eyes and he inwardly cursed.Thatwas the best compliment he could come up with? Frustrated with himself he swigged again at his beer. ‘I should have brought you something,’ he told her flatly.

‘Why?’

‘Isn’t that what men usually do when they take a beautiful woman to a ball?’ His tone was belligerent and he knew thathe was wrong to take his self-directed anger out on her. Damn, he was coming to care for her too much, and it hurt. It hurt to know she could never be his. That he couldn’t give her what she needed. A woman like her simply didn’t belong with somebody like him.

‘I don’t want flowers or tokens, Mitch. I’ve had men bring me both, but nothing has given me as much pleasure as the look in your eyes when I opened the door.’

‘What look was that?’

‘The look that told me you wanted to devour me, right on the doorstep.’ She smiled softly, knowingly at him.

She was a woman who knew exactly the effect she had on a man. And on this man in particular. With a sigh he clasped her by the shoulders and buried his face in her neck, taking in a lungful of her perfume. It was clearly concocted for its ability to bewitch men. ‘I did,’ he replied at last. ‘And I still do. God you smell good.’

She chuckled. ‘I should do, it cost me enough.’

Mitch drew back and looked at her. ‘I’m still sorry I didn’t bring you anything.’

Her eyes seemed to mist over. ‘Mitch, if I’d wanted a man who brought me chocolates and flowers, I wouldn’t have started seeing you.’ Gently she touched his cheek. ‘I want you, Mitch, just exactly as you are.’

As Mitch drove to the hotel he was very conscious that his glamorous date should have been arriving in a luxurious limousine, not an old four-wheel drive with windsurfing gear sprawled across the back seat. Brianna though, looked totally unperturbed. He had to hand it to her. It didn’t seem to matter whether she was on camp with Medic SOS, dressed up to the nines in her glamorous apartment, or curled up on his sofa. She looked comfortable wherever she was.

* * *

Since arriving at the ball, Brianna had barely had time to think. It had been a whirlwind of activity, with so many last minute details to check on. She’d lost sight of Mitch the moment they’d crossed the floor into the vast ballroom. Now she was anxious to find him. However as she set off to hunt him down, she was besieged by Melanie and a crowd of their friends, including Henry and Frederick. Kisses were exchanged, compliments on their respective outfits given and received.

‘Brianna, darling, who is the hot-looking man over there, talking to the man from the hotel?’

Brianna followed Clarissa’s gaze and smiled to herself. That was where Mitch had disappeared to, obviously checking out the sound levels on the microphone. He did look incredibly gorgeous, even to her biased eyes. The black tuxedo emphasised his tall, athletic build, and the white shirt brought out his tan. For once his chin was freshly shaved, showing the strength of his jaw and the sharpness of his cheekbones.

‘Hot-looking? He’s wearing an off the shelf tux for crying out loud,’ Henry interjected dismissively.

‘Umm, but he’s filling it out rather well,’ added Sophie, another member of the crowd Brianna had gone round with since school.

‘That is Mitch McBride, Chief Medical Officer at Medic SOS and my lover,’ Brianna announced proudly, laughing delightedly when several pairs of eyes jerked round to look at her.

‘So, that’s Mitch,’ Melanie said quietly, her eyes on the man in question.

‘Hang on a minute, Brianna. What did you say?’ Sophie almost screeched. ‘Crikey, you’re a dark horse. How long has this been going on? Why didn’t you tell us?’

Brianna held up her hands. ‘Hey, calm down, one question at a time. It’s been going on since I went out to South America. Ididn’t tell you because it’s early days and I wasn’t sure whether it was going to come to anything.’

Sophie swung round to Melanie. ‘Did you know about this?’ she asked accusingly.

Melanie smiled. ‘Guilty, your honour. And before you ask, I didn’t say anything because it wasn’t my secret to tell. Added to which, I had been hoping to pair Brie up with Frederick, though now I’ve seen Mitch, I think I can see why she’s so hooked. No offence, Frederick,’ she added quickly.

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