Part 6 (1/2)
”You mean kissing me?”
”Yeah. Kissing you. It was out of line.”
”Right,” she said in a steely tone. ”Kissing me was a crime against the nation. Are you finished?”
Mitch could tell Kelsey was getting upset as she leaned forward and started tapping her fingers on her knee. She wore her little green robe and looked all rumpled, with her hair puffy and wild, and no makeup. Mitch knew if he closed his eyes he would imagine her lying in her bed, without the robe, beckoning to him.
He forced himself to stop his wandering thoughts. Taking a big bite out of the messy doughnut, he glanced around for a napkin to stall for time.
He was going about this all wrong. His plan was to come up and smooth things over, to start their conversation again, and to try to talk some sense into her. Instead he found himself hip deep in the topic he most wanted to avoid: their kiss. Thinking of that kiss, and of her all sleepy and seductive, had already caused him enough trouble. After he had gotten over his anger at their argument, he'd been able to think of nothing else the previous night.
Mitch had never imagined that one kiss, a first kiss, could start such a flame. He'd burned. Long after she went upstairs, he'd sat in his apartment and done a slow, agonizing burn for her. But he'd mentally doused that fire and decided on a course of action. He would go right back to treating Kelsey like a kid sister, and would never let on that the kiss meant a thing. He'd ignore the fact that he got hard just remembering it.
”Look, let's chalk it up to the heat of the moment and forget about it, okay?” He tried very hard to keep his voice steady and noncommittal. ”It was a kiss. Big deal.”
To Kelsey, it had had been a big deal. But Mitch obviously didn't view it the same way. Kelsey wished she was still in bed and this was all a dream. The day was going from bad to worse, and she'd only been awake for five minutes. Having Mitch angry at himself for kissing her had been bad enough. But having him blow off the whole event as no big deal just plain hurt. been a big deal. But Mitch obviously didn't view it the same way. Kelsey wished she was still in bed and this was all a dream. The day was going from bad to worse, and she'd only been awake for five minutes. Having Mitch angry at himself for kissing her had been bad enough. But having him blow off the whole event as no big deal just plain hurt.
”Fine. Right,” she replied, determined not to let him see how his words affected her. ”As the song goes...'a kiss is just a kiss.' And, hey, look who you're talking to...Lady Love. I should know.”
Mitch's jaw stiffened. ”You wanna explain that?”
”No, Mitch. As I told you last night, I don't have to explain a thing to you,” Kelsey said. ”I am an adult. You are an adult. We happen to live in the same building. What I do for a living has nothing to do with you.”
Mitch nodded slowly. ”I know.”
Kelsey ran a weary hand over her eyes, trying to follow his logic. ”You know? Then why are you here?”
”Just because I know you're right that it's none of my business doesn't mean I like it, or that I won't try to talk you out of it, Kelsey. It simply means I acknowledge the fact that my opinion really doesn't matter to you.”
Mitch wouldn't meet her eye, and Kelsey felt a moment's remorse for some of the things she'd said to him the night before. Mitch did matter...she was beginning to suspect he mattered too much!
”That's not true. Mitch, I respect you. I think you're a very intelligent man and I value your opinion. But, in this case, I don't know that you've formed your thoughts rationally. You heard one show. Give me a chance, please. Listen in a few more times. The show is not what you think it is.”
”And if I listen, and my views don't change?” he asked, arching an eyebrow at her as he waited for her reply.
”I don't know, Mitch,” she said, eyes flas.h.i.+ng as she stood and walked toward him. ”I guess if your views don't change, you have the right to turn the radio off and pretend I'm the weather girl. I'm not going to tell you I'll quit my job because you don't like it.”
Her robe swished around her body as she walked. He couldn't stop staring at the peach flesh of her upper leg, exposed as her robe gapped with each step. She reached the table and stopped right next to him.
”So what you're telling me,” he replied slowly as he let his gaze burn a path up her thigh, across her body and up to her face, ”is that I should give you another chance, listen more, and maybe I'll like what I hear, but if I don't, then I should go take a flying leap. Do I have this right?”
Kelsey grabbed a glazed doughnut, held it speculatively in front of her face, then looked down to stare at him.
”Yeah, I guess you do.”
Mitch stood very slowly. She had come to stand close to him, nearly between his legs, and he did a slow slide up her body, feeling a crackle of electricity flash in the scant inch that separated them. She had to tilt her head back to maintain their eye contact, and Mitch suddenly had the advantage.
”Kelsey?” he said softly, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
She backed up a tiny step. He followed until again they were nearly touching.
”What?”
”To h.e.l.l with that,” he retorted.
Kelsey watched Mitch drop the half-eaten doughnut on the table, turn and stride out the door.
”Well,” she muttered after he'd gone, ”so much for seduction!”
LATER THAT DAY, after Kelsey had managed another hour of fitful sleep, she went downstairs, carrying a paperback and a tall gla.s.s of iced tea. It was still relatively warm for mid-October, and she meant to enjoy the weather while it lasted. Not wanting to risk another confrontation with Mitch, she was quiet as she slipped through the kitchen to the back door.
Slight hints of yellow tinged leaves on the trees. A smoky smell hung in the air, and Kelsey knew someone was antic.i.p.ating the cold weather with an early season fire. Dragging a lawn chair from the garage, she placed it under a tall shady maple in the backyard. Her long-sleeved cotton s.h.i.+rt and khaki pants were perfectly adequate for warmth. Kelsey breathed deeply, invigorated by the clean, crisp breeze. She would lie here and read her romance novel and not think at all about Mitch.
But she couldn't even open the book. She kept staring at the picture on the cover. The hero was gorgeous, larger than life, but he still wasn't as handsome as her frustrating landlord. As for the heroine...well, Kelsey figured she'd have a really tough time buying blouses that fit.
”Shall we try this again?” came a familiar drawl.
Kelsey jerked her head and dropped the book at the sound of Mitch's voice. He stood right beside her. She hadn't even detected his approach.
”You're quiet as a cat,” she said. ”That's the second time you've done that to me.”
Kelsey watched as Mitch leaned back against the maple tree and stared down at her. Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to slow her rapid pulse. She would play this cool if it killed her. What had Celia said? Flirt, seduce, all without his knowledge. She could do that. After all, she was Lady Love. Kelsey felt like a soap opera diva at the thought.
”Look, we live under the same roof, whether I like it or not,” he finally said. ”And we have to find a way to get along.”
”We already do get along, Mitch. I really don't see the problem.”
”Right. Yeah, well, that's what I came out to say. There's really no problem. As you said, I'm merely your landlord, of absolutely no importance in your life. That fact has finally sunk in. You do your thing, Kelsey, and I'll mind my own business. And as you also said last night, I'm really nothing to you. We'll be acquaintances who nod at each other on the stairs, all right?”
No. No, that was not all right. Acquaintances? How could he say that? Even if Kelsey had never laid eyes on Mitch until she moved to the city, if their childhood lives had never collided, she still felt they were a heck of a long way from mere ”acquaintances.” However, since she'd said much the same thing during their dispute, she couldn't very well disagree with him now. She wished she'd refrained from arguing with him and just continued up the stairs when she'd gotten home last night. But then, if she'd done that, they would never have shared that kiss. And she knew down to her very soul that she would never regret finally being in Mitch's arms.
”Please, don't get the wrong idea,” she said, ”I really didn't mean to offend you earlier. I care what you think, I really do.”
Mitch shrugged. ”It doesn't matter. As far as I'm concerned, it's finished.”
Kelsey watched him turn to leave. Mitch was in such a strange mood, so somber and unemotional. In all the years she'd known him, she had never seen him so...remote.
”I've gotta go,” he said as he walked away.
Mitch managed to reach the house without turning back to look at Kelsey one more time. He refused to let her see that their conversation bothered him in the least. She'd looked so lovely, with a few loose tendrils of hair blowing free, and her angelic face turned toward the sun. But he had to stop thinking of her in that way. There were plenty of beautiful women in Baltimore. As far as he was concerned, Kelsey barely even existed anymore.