Part 8 (2/2)
”You do? Tell me, would you?” he said with a self-deprecating smile as he popped a handful of peanuts into his mouth.
”You want me so bad it's killing you.”
Mitch choked, and Kelsey jumped up and pounded him on the back.
”Excuse me?” he said when he'd finally stopped coughing.
”You heard me. There's no harm in admitting an attraction, Mitch. You want me. I know because I feel the same way about you.”
”That's comforting,” he said, an amused grin crossing his face.
”And I finally understand why you have fought the attraction and made every effort to avoid me. I always figured you just saw me as a kid, a brat who used to bug you. But it's a lot deeper than that, right? It's all mixed up in your head, your loyalty to Nathan, your feelings for my parents, your view of yourself as an outsider.”
He stared at her, saying nothing, but Kelsey knew she was right.
”It's okay,” she insisted. ”Now that I know you're not just being a tease, and you have deep reservations about anything happening between us, I can accept your rejections for what they are and not take them personally.”
She sounded so logical again. He really couldn't stand it when she made things that were so very complicated sound so very simple. But Mitch couldn't argue with her. She'd cut through all the extraneous garbage floating around in his head, and leaped straight to the correct conclusion. Then what she'd said sank in.
”Tease? What do you mean by that?”
”Well, aren't men allowed to be called that? I mean, if I were the one who kept grabbing you and kissing you and rubbing all over your body and then running away, that's what I'd be called, right? And isn't that what you've been doing?” she asked matter-of-factly.
”Absolutely not! Besides, it's not the same.”
”Why not? Because I'm a woman?”
”Exactly,” he replied before he could think better of it.
”I'll have you know, Mr. Hotshot Anthropologist Mr. Hotshot Anthropologist, that women can have the same physical sensations as men. You'd think, with all the cultures you've studied, you'd have learned that women have needs, too. When you kiss me, when you touch me and I feel your body pressing into mine, all I can think about is making love with you. And when you walk away, it's frustrating as h.e.l.l. Of course, now that I understand what the problem is, I can let it go. I can wait, Mitch.”
”Wait?”
”Yes,” she nodded. ”Wait for you to come to your senses. But be warned. The next time you start kissing and touching me, you'd better plan to follow through, because I'm not going to let you walk away from me again.”
”You're not going to let me-”
”Nope,” she said, not allowing him to finish.
”Let me get this straight. You think you can just wait, and I'll totally forget my sense of responsibility and loyalty and fall into bed with you?”
”No, of course not. It's not about forgetting anything, it's about recognizing that you're placing too heavy a burden on yourself.”
”A burden. Resisting you is a terrible burden?”
”Uh-huh,” she said happily. ”But like I said, I can wait. We'll just be friends, as we decided last night. Good friends.”
”And if that's all we ever are?”
Kelsey laughed and rolled her eyes as if he'd just made a colossal joke. ”Well, if if that's all, then we'll have a terrific, lifelong friends.h.i.+p.” that's all, then we'll have a terrific, lifelong friends.h.i.+p.”
All he could do was nod. He felt as if he were on a roller coaster, but with Kelsey, he often felt that way. She'd practically challenged him to resist her! For a brief second he considered not resisting her at all, but the impulse was gone in a flash.
Every word he'd said to her about his life and his future was true, and her interpretation was dead-on. She was throwing down a gauntlet, but he had no intention of picking it up. Kelsey Logan was off-limits.
”Okay, Kelsey. No more mixed signals. Let's just concentrate on this friends.h.i.+p thing.”
”All right, Mitch.” Kelsey kept her eyes downcast so he wouldn't spot the excitement she knew sparkled there.
Nodding and looking slightly relieved, Mitch went back to work. Kelsey watched him try to ignore her while he read some newspapers, translating the Chinese figures laboriously. She liked the intensity of his gaze and how his brow furrowed in concentration. A man with brains was incredibly s.e.xy. And Mitch had brains to spare. Of course the fact that he had the looks to match the brains made him that much more devastating.
And now, she greatly feared, he'd gone and tugged on her heartstrings. It was bad enough when she just suffered from a teenage infatuation, then a woman's major physical attraction. Now she wanted more than simply the satisfaction she knew they'd find in bed. She wanted him to care about her, to continue opening up to her about subjects dear to his heart. She liked that he confided in her, liked that he trusted her. Now all she had to do was get him to admit that his reluctance to getting involved with her was misplaced.
”Um, Mitch?”
Mitch glanced up quickly, and she knew he'd been waiting for her to break the silence hanging in the room like a shroud.
”I wonder, if, as my very dear friend friend, you could do me a tremendous favor.”
”What's that?” he asked.
”Go on a date with me. Whoa, whoa,” she continued quickly, holding up her hands in response to his look of suspicion. ”I don't mean a date, date. I need an escort.”
”For what?”
”The station is a big sponsor of the Wilson College Halloween Ball, and I've been asked to appear.”
”Oh, so I'll be escorting Lady Love?”
”Is that such a problem?”
”Look, Kelsey, we've gotten past one major hurdle and agreed to try to get along. Let's not start another argument this soon. You know very well how I feel about your job.”
”Yes, I do,” she admitted, ”and that's why I hoped you'd help me out. This is Lady Love's first appearance in public and, frankly, I'm a little nervous. I could use a friendly face.”
That was completely true. She wasn't ready to admit it to him yet, but Mitch had been right about the fact that she might be drawing attention from some undesirable sources.
Kelsey received a great deal of fan mail at the station. Much of it was complimentary. Some letters were flirtatious, the writers often telling her they'd like to help her with some ”research.” Harmless, really. One writer, who'd written a dozen times, signed his letters ”Knight of Your Life” and sent some truly awful poetry proclaiming she was his sun, moon and stars. That particular poem had gone on to say her eyes shone as brightly as the headlights of cars. Brian had laughed aloud for five solid minutes, but Kelsey was touched by the author's earnest sentiment, if not his skills as a poet. He'd been very faithful: she'd been getting letters from him since her very first week on the air.
But lately some of her mail had been a little disturbing. She had heard from jail inmates, and from men who told her very explicitly how they wanted to help Lady Love enhance her s.e.xual knowledge.
Kelsey had already met with Jack, the station manager, about the problem. He'd hired another security guard to a.s.sist Edgar, the regular security guy, particularly during her s.h.i.+ft. Jack had also offered to have one of them escort her to the Halloween ball, but she'd turned him down. She wasn't ready to allow some sick creeps to dictate how she'd live her life. Neither, however, was she ready to show up at the party alone.
”Won't others from the station be going, as well?” Mitch asked.
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