Page 59 of Do Opposites Attract?

‘Ah, so you do remember your first conquest. I understand she was quite taken with you for a while. Thankfully her family found out, didn’t they, Simon?’ Henry cast his eyes over to his friend, who looked slightly embarrassed, but nodded. ‘You see Catherine is Simon’s aunt. She is the sister of Simon’s father. Thankfully he was able to explain to his sister who you really were. A chancer, preying on a rich old lady.’ Henry stared deliberately over at Brianna. ‘It looks like your tastes have improved, though your methods are probably still very similar.’

One minute Mitch was grasping her waist, the next he was grasping Henry’s shirt collar and yanking him towards the pool. Henry tried to push away but Mitch was far too strong for him. Stunned by the speed and violence of the action, nobody interfered as Mitch took his right arm back and thrust it into Henry’s jaw with brutal force, sending him flying into the pool.

Mitch waited for a few seconds to see Henry bob up to the surface, spluttering. Then he turned back to the now hushed crowd. ‘Entertainment over.’ His voice was as cold and flat as the expression on his face. Without a backward glance at anyone, including Brianna, he picked up his T-shirt and shorts and strode off towards his car.

Brianna stood frozen to the spot, her mind blank.

‘You see, Brianna,’ Henry was yelling at her from the pool, holding his jaw. ‘That’s the real nature of the man you’re sleeping with. He’s a bloody thug.’

His words acted like a bucket of cold water on her, clearing her senses. Livid with anger, she walked to the edge of the pool. ‘What the hell did you expect, spouting all those lies at him? And what sort of idiot do you take me for? Do you really think I’m stupid enough to be hoodwinked by a man who only wants me for my money?’ She looked pityingly at the man now struggling out of the pool, the man who had once been her friend. ‘I chased after Mitch, you fool, not him after me.’

She felt her friend’s arms pulling her back, but Brianna just shrugged them off. ‘I’ve got to get to Mitch,’ she cried, desperate to reach him before he drove off.

Suddenly she was running as if her life depended on it. She ignored the pain in her bare feet as she ran across the gravel to where she could see Mitch’s car, the engine running. Panting, she banged on the passenger window. ‘Mitch, let me in.’

The door unlocked and she dived inside. Though her instinct was to wrap her arms around him and apologise, she stopped as soon as she saw the bleak look on his face. Anger, pain, humiliation all vied with each other. There was no warmth when he looked at her, nothing to indicate that any show of sorrow or compassion on her side would be gratefully received. ‘Are you okay?’ she settled on, not daring to touch him.

‘I’ve just been accused of conning rich women out of their money by one of your friends. Why wouldn’t I be all right?’ His voice was so tight she wondered how it had squeezed past his vocal cords.

‘He’s no friend of mine, not any more. Look, I’m sorry he said the things he did. I know none of it is true—’

‘Do you?’ Mitch interjected harshly.

She frowned. ‘Of course I do.’

‘How do you know?’ He snapped the words out as he put the car into gear and crunched down the driveway.

‘I know you, Mitch. You’re honest and you’re proud. There is no way you would prey on rich women.’

He laughed, a bitter sound that had her shivering despite the warmth of the evening. ‘You don’t know me, Brianna. You don’t know me at all.’

Brianna gazed at the harsh, rugged face she had come to love. She wanted to beg him to let her get to know him. To tell her about his past, open up to her. Sadly anger shimmered round him like a shield, one she didn’t dare try and penetrate. This was his dangerous side back in action. She had a feeling Henry had been lucky to escape with a single punch. The best thing she could do was keep quiet and hope the drive home would calm him down.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

As Mitch drove, the white-hot anger continued to fester inside him. It was only a lifetime of learning how to handle his temper and hide his emotions that gave him the necessary calm to drive Brianna home. Catherine. It had been a long time since he’d heard her name, over fifteen years. And it still hurt.

As he neared Brianna’s house, he glanced in her direction. Her face was pale, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the road ahead. His heart squeezed. He had become terrifyingly attached to her, as he feared he would. Over the years, since Catherine, he’d sometimes wondered if he was actually capable of caring for anybody. At least now, looking at Brianna, he knew he was. It was small comfort. Deep in his heart he’d been living an illusion, a fantasy that, despite everything he’d told himself to the contrary, there was a chance for them both. A chance for a future together. That had just blown up in his face.

He pulled up outside her house and turned off the engine.

‘Are you coming in?’ she asked quietly.

He shook his head, fearing if he allowed himself to speak he would give in to the temptation to say yes.

‘I see,’ she replied coolly, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears she was clearly determined not to allow to fall. ‘Is that not tonight, thanks, or not ever again, because it sounds a lot like the latter?’

Mitch let out a deep sigh. He hated this part, the part when he had to say goodbye. God knows, he’d gone through the routine enough times, though with Brianna he’d come closer than ever to thinking of a future with both of them in it. This time it was going to hurt like hell. ‘Brianna, you and I both know it’s time for us to go our separate ways. We had fun, like we said we would. But now it’s over.’

‘Why? Are you really going to let the words of a spoilt, immature twit come between us?’

Mitch almost smiled. He couldn’t have described Henry better himself. ‘His methods are crass, but you can’t deny the truth behind them. We don’t belong together, Brianna. We don’t fit. It’s not just our backgrounds, though that alone would be enough. It’s also what we want out of life. I warned you right at the start, I’m not cut out for relationships. You want marriage, a family. I’m not capable of giving you that. It’s time for us to call it a day before we get in too deep and one of us gets hurt.’

Brianna let out a bitter laugh. ‘It’s too late for that. I love you.’ Her voice grew softer and was on the verge of breaking. ‘I’ve damn well fallen head over heels in love with you.’

He felt as if a hand had opened up his chest and clutched at his heart. How could she love him? She didn’t even know him. If she knew the truth about him, where he’d come from, she wouldn’t love him. ‘Then you’re a fool,’ he replied, his tone deliberately harsh.

Brianna recoiled, but not for long. Soon her eyes flashed back at him. ‘No, Mitch. If you’re turning down what we have between us, then you’re the fool.’

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