Part 5 (2/2)

She didn't, really. What was there to talk about? She knew from the moment she took the job at the station that Mitch and her family would never approve. His reaction tonight had come as absolutely no surprise.

”It was just a typical argument. Mitch heard my show for the first time tonight. He wasn't pleased,” Kelsey admitted as she curled up in one corner of the sofa.

”I could tell,” Celia said nodding slowly. ”From what Fred tells me, you and he have a sort of love-hate relations.h.i.+p?”

”I guess you could say that.” Kelsey kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet beneath her. ”Mitch and I have always gotten under each other's skin. I was a pretty rotten kid, and he was the target of a lot of my pranks. Not that he was much better. He was h.e.l.l on wheels himself.”

”Mitch? Our Mitch?”

Kelsey grinned at the disbelief in Celia's voice. ”Yes, nice, dependable, studious Mitch. He was a regular juvenile delinquent. He didn't really straighten up until he was about seventeen.”

”I can't believe it. I mean, I don't know him that well, but from what Fred has said, Mitch seems almost...”

”Conservative? Don't let the brains fool you. He's somehow managed to keep his emotions suppressed, but I imagine they're still churning away somewhere deep inside. He just needs someone to remind him they're there.”

”Volunteering?”

Celia laughed, but Kelsey didn't join in. ”Maybe that's not such a bad idea.” A slow smile spread across her lips.

”I recognize that look. That's a Lady Love face. Let me guess, you feel anything but sisterly toward him, right?” Celia asked as she carried two cups from the kitchen.

Kelsey sighed deeply. ”Celia, I have been incredibly attracted to that man for years. And now, finally, I know he feels the same way. But when he allows himself to give in to those feelings for a moment, he yanks away as if he's committed some crime.”

Celia didn't respond. Kelsey almost regretted taking her into her confidence. She'd never told anyone that she had the slightest interest in Mitch. It had been her secret, a schoolgirl fantasy, for many years. It was the dream she would indulge in while drying her hair or, lately, while bathing. Now that she'd said the words out loud, it was too real.

”You didn't see the way he looked at you when you stormed up the stairs,” Celia said with a gentle smile. ”I thought for a second he was going to grab you and throw you over his shoulder and carry you off or something...it was terribly romantic.”

Kelsey gave her a sour look and stirred her tea. ”If Mitch wanted to throw me anywhere, it wouldn't be over his shoulder...it would be off a bridge.”

Celia sipped her tea silently. She looked like a Ches.h.i.+re cat, full of secrets, sure of what she knew, and Kelsey couldn't resist asking, ”You really mean it? About carrying me off, I mean?”

”He looked like a man in pain, Kelsey.”

Kelsey couldn't stop the little stab of malicious pleasure that thought gave her. There had been plenty of girlish nights when she'd cried into her pillow because Mitch had called her ”little brat” or given her noogies on her head.

”I think the problem is that Mitch is too decent a guy,” Celia continued. ”He's protective of you, wants to keep you safe from the big bad boys who might take advantage of you. And what he's feeling for you now, well, suddenly he's found out maybe he's still one of the big bad boys.”

Kelsey nodded ruefully. Celia wasn't saying anything she didn't already know. Mitch was never going to willingly get involved with her. He was too honorable, too loyal to her parents. He'd accepted the ”big brother” mantle her family had thrust on him and would likely never let himself touch her again. Unless...

”Celia, I've always meant to ask you. How did you ever get Fred to ask you out? The man is so shy.”

”Simple,” Celia answered with a smirk. ”Every time I saw him, I flirted, teased and seduced him without ever letting him know I was doing it.”

”Seduction, hmm? Gee, seems to me I've heard a few things about seduction.”

Celia's eyes lit up as she caught Kelsey's drift. She nodded, a speculative look in her eye.

Kelsey propped her feet up on the coffee table, patting the vacant seat next to her on the sofa so Celia would sit next to her. ”Tell me more.”

And Celia did.

5.

SOMEONE WAS POUNDING.

Kelsey buried her head under her pillow, but it did not block out the noise. She rolled over, groaning in frustration. Opening one bleary eye, she glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine.

The pounding continued. As she came more fully awake, Kelsey realized the noise wasn't coming from next door, or the street. It was coming from her front door. It had to be Mitch. Kelsey rolled out of bed, grabbed her robe and staggered out of her bedroom.

”Do you know what time it is?” she snarled as she yanked the door open.

”Good morning to you, too,” Mitch said as he breezed past her into her apartment. ”Like bagels?”

He looked bright and chipper and Kelsey really wanted to sock him one. ”You know I hate bagels.”

”I know. That's why I brought doughnuts,” he said as he made himself at home at her small cafe-style kitchen table and tore open the bag. Her efficiency kitchen was really not much larger than a closet, and flowed right into the living area. Kelsey had placed the table and chairs as a sort of divider, and his large form dominated the small s.p.a.ce.

”What do you want?” she grumbled.

”Coffee would be nice. Or even milk.”

She knew full well he was stalling. ”I mean, why are you here?”

”I think we need to talk,” he replied. ”I did a lot of thinking last night.”

”Then how come you're up so early?” she asked, shooting him a glare from behind lowered lids. Kelsey plopped onto the sofa, leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

”I never need more than six or seven hours of sleep. Don't you remember?”

Of course she remembered. When they were kids, Mitch had always been the first one awake in the house, which had driven her right up the wall on many Sat.u.r.day mornings when she'd come downstairs to watch Land of the Lost Land of the Lost and he'd already been engrossed in and he'd already been engrossed in Johnny Quest Johnny Quest.

”Right. Mr. Perfect. Now, what do you want?”

Kelsey realized she wasn't being friendly. So much for her conversation with Celia about how to attract or, more accurately, seduce, Mitch. Right now she just wanted to shove him back down the stairs, get a little more sleep and face him later in the day, after she'd at least had a chance to brush her teeth.

”I came to apologize.”

Kelsey opened her eyes and sat up straight. ”So...apologize.”

”I'm trying to,” Mitch said ruefully. ”It's not easy.”

”I'm sure you're not in the habit of having to admit you were wrong.”

Mitch helped himself to a powdered sugar doughnut. ”That's not why I'm having a problem. I wasn't wrong. I still believe everything I said to you last night. I'm just apologizing for ambus.h.i.+ng you and for taking advantage of the situation.”

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