Page 76 of Do Opposites Attract?

Tears ran freely down her cheeks and she half sobbed, half laughed. ‘Oh my, you’ve really turned my waterworks on now.’ She patted at her face with a tissue. ‘But what a lovely thing to say, thank you.’

‘I don’t say anything I don’t mean, but please can we change the subject now. You know how rubbish I am with this emotional stuff.’

She smiled. ‘Okay then. Let’s start with your answers to these. How did you feel when you graduated, why did you choose to join the army and why aren’t you married yet?’

Roaring with laughter, and feeling as if some of the weight had lifted from his heart, Mitch settled back into the sofa and started to talk to Catherine. Just as he’d done so often, many years ago.

* * *

Two hours and several whiskies later, he’d brought Catherine up to date with his life story.

‘I’m so proud of you, Mitch. Look at you, at what you’ve achieved. You save lives.’ She took another tissue and dried her eyes. ‘I always knew you would turn into something special.’

He looked at her sceptically. ‘What, even when you first found me squatting in your house?’

She chuckled. ‘Yes, even then. That’s why I didn’t throw you out.’ Putting the tissue back into her pocket, she assessed him carefully. ‘Now, tell me why you aren’t married to that gorgeous lady who’s responsible for getting us back together.’

Mitch, who’d been taking another sip of whisky, swallowed it back too quickly, making him cough. ‘Brianna?’ he croaked.

‘Of course, Brianna. She’s smart, beautiful and with a heart of gold. Why haven’t you snapped her up yet?’

‘I’m not sure what Brianna has told you, but we’re just friends,’ he replied carefully, feeling as if he was walking through a verbal minefield. ‘Work colleagues, actually. Of course she’s been fantastic since the accident. It was her who arranged for a private air ambulance to get me back to England. She saved my life.’

‘I know all about that, dear. Brianna and I have become firm friends since she first came to see me. We’ve talked about many things, including how much she loves you.’

Once more Mitch had cause to nearly choke on his whisky. ‘She might have thought she did, a while ago.’ He shook his head, his chest tightening painfully as he thought of how he’d left things. ‘But not anymore. As I said, we’re just friends. She’s seeing some other guy now. Rich bloke, son of an Earl, apparently.’ He stopped, aware bitterness had crept into his voice.

‘Jealous?’

He winced. Shouldn’t the last fifteen years have dulled her senses, made her less astute? ‘It doesn’t really matter whether I’m jealous or not. The fact is she’s moved on. She’s better off with Frederick. He’s more her type.’

‘And what exactly is her type then?’

Mitch scowled into the bottom of his glass. ‘Charming, well-bred, rich, perfect manners. You know the sort of man.’ It hurt to think of her with someone like that. It really hurt.

Catherine shook her head at him. ‘You silly boy, that’s not her type at all. That’s just what you think she likes. I have to say, much as I love you, none of the attributes you’ve just mentioned come to mind when I think of you. But Brianna loves you anyway. What I’m interested in is do you love her?’

Mitch wanted to palm Catherine off with a trite reply about caring for Brianna, as a friend, but he knew she’d see straight through it. ‘The truth is, I don’t really know. I’ve never been in love. I don’t know what it should feel like. All I know is I miss her. Every time I think of her, I feel a deep ache inside me. When I eat, I want to have her sitting opposite me, her eyes filled with laughter. When I walk by the coast, I remember how good it felt to walk with her, to hold her hand. When I go to sleep, and when I wake up, I feel lost because she’s not there.’

‘Then you are in love.’

He exhaled slowly. ‘Yes, I guess I am. For all the good it will do me.’ He turned to Catherine, trying to get her to understand. ‘Whatever I feel, nothing will ever come of it.’

She frowned. ‘Why ever not? You love her and she loves you. I know she does.’

Mitch snorted. ‘Did Brianna forget to tell you that she’s Brianna Worthington? Sole heir of a multimillion pound business?’

‘And why should that make any difference?’

‘Do you honestly think someone like me belongs with someone like her? You and I both know exactly where I come from. Brianna doesn’t. I’d rather we kept it that way.’ Angry at the way the conversation had headed, Mitch leapt to his feet and began to pace.

‘She wouldn’t care, Mitch. You know that.’

‘Maybe, maybe not. But we’ll never know because nobody is going to tell her.’ He glanced back over at Catherine. When he’d arrived her eyes had shone with happiness. Now she looked sad and hurt. God, what was wrong with him that he continued to upset the people he cared for the most?

He sighed. ‘I’m sorry I shouted. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. Brianna and I stopped being lovers a while ago, before my accident. I knew it was better that way, for both of us. It hurts now, but in time she’ll marry someone who deserves her.’ He shook his head at her when she tried to talk. ‘No, please, respect my views on this. I couldn’t live with myself if I saddled her to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of who I am now, of what I do, of what I’ve achieved. But it doesn’t take away what I was. Brianna and I, we’re from two different worlds. I’ve tried to mix in her world.’ He thought back to the auction at the ball and to him punching Henry into the swimming pool. ‘It didn’t work.’

‘But could she live in yours?’ Catherine replied softly.

---