Chapter 23

KATHRYN was grimly reciting, Please be home. Please be home. Please be home…all the way up in the elevator to Jeremy's apartment. She'd deliberately cut her time with Mitch Tyler as short as she could, getting Jeremy to call her once he'd got into a taxi at Mascot Airport so she didn't have to wait until he was actually in residence before Mitch drove her from Woollahra to Pyrmont.

She'd been tense in the car, still disturbed by the powerful attraction of Ric's friend, feeling almost desperate to be distanced from it, get her life back into its normal flow. Here in the elevator, her nerves were literally twitching with dreadful agitation at the thought of being forced to invite Mitch in to wait for her fiancé's arrival. She didn't want any shadow of his presence left behind in the apartment she shared with Jeremy. Bad enough that the two men were going to come face-to-face, making more comparisons inevitable.

At last the elevator halted and opened onto the penthouse floor. She had her key out ready. Just a few more seconds and she could say goodbye to the man accompanying her every step. She pressed the buzzer to alert Jeremy to her arrival then shoved the key in the lock, hoping he would come to the door as it was opened so Mitch would be satisfied about her safety and go. Then she'd be able to relax with everything that was familiar to her instead of feeling hopelessly messed around.

To her immense relief, Jeremy was as eager to see her as she was to see him. As she swung the door wide, he was striding across the penthouse foyer, his handsome face beaming with happy anticipation. He stretched out his arms to wrap her in an exuberant embrace and she rushed in to be wrapped, wanting the comfort of feeling herself loved by him.

'Hey! Have I got news for you, babe!' he crowed triumphantly, hugging her tightly, even swinging her off her feet.

'Um…just a minute, Jeremy. There's someone with me,' she babbled breathlessly.

'Who?' He looked over her head in careless good humour and Kathryn strained against his hold to make one last acknowledgement of Mitch, who was now standing in the doorway, watching her reunion with her fiancé, the blue eyes coolly assessing, his strong face grimly etched.

She had to swallow hard before she got out the words, 'This is…' 'It's okay, Kathryn,' he cut in, apparently not wanting an introduction.

'I can see I'm not needed. I'm off.'

He raised one hand in a brief salute, while using the other to grab the door and close it, making his departure both abrupt and decisive, not even waiting for her to thank him again.

Quick and clean, which was what she'd wanted, Kathryn fiercely told herself, yet that strange hollow feeling attacked her again…like something vital had been ripped out of her.

'Who was that guy?' Jeremy demanded, curiosity piqued enough to forget his own excitement for a moment.

'My protector,' she said wryly. 'What?'

'It's a long story.' Time to concentrate on Jeremy now. She'd left text messages on his mobile phone but apart from the one airport call she'd requested, they hadn't spoken—no communication about his meetings in Melbourne nor the disruption at her own office. She hung her arms around his neck again, telling herself this was the man she loved and stretching her mouth into a big welcoming smile. 'I want to hear your news first.'

He was bursting with it. So much so, he didn't even kiss her. His grin was far too wide for puckering up. 'I got the partnership.' His eyes sparkled with delight in the achievement—bright brown eyes, much warmer than blue. 'I'll be heading up the Sydney branch with two other guys, starting next week.'

'But won't you have to work out your notice at the bank?' They surely wouldn't want to lose such a high-powered and immensely successful dealer so quickly.

'Not in my position,' Jeremy declared with supreme confidence. 'They can't risk my tapping clients from them. Once I tell them I'm leaving, I walk the same day. And that day will be tomorrow.'

'Wow! That's really moving,' she commented appreciatively.

'Up and up. With you at my side, babe.' He tucked her appropriately at his side, an arm curled around her shoulders, walking her into the living room and waving to the bottle of champagne he'd set on the kitchen counter. 'I had the taxi stop at a liquor store. Celebration is definitely in order.'

No strawberries, she thought, and mentally kicked herself for equating Jeremy's victory with Harriet Lowell's visit to Mitch Tyler's home last night.

'You open the bottle. I'll get the glasses,' she offered eagerly, needing some pleasant bubbles in her head. 'And tell me all about your meetings from start to finish.'

Jeremy was only too happy to give her a blow-by-blow description. Kathryn moved into the stainless-steel kitchen while he popped the cork. She placed his prized crystal flute glasses ready for him to do his skilful pouring, then quickly asked, 'What do you want to do for dinner?'

'Oh, just get a couple of pizzas out of the freezer,' he said with a dismissive wave.

Clearly food wasn't important tonight and he wanted her complete attention, no distraction with cooking. Which she always did when cooking was called for. Jeremy was never going to share that with her. It wasn't in his nature to even think of it or want to do so.

On the other hand, on a great provider scale, he was definitely a ten, so she had nothing to complain about. Just because Mitch Tyler…no, she wasn't going to think about how…companionable…it had been with him— sharing the preparation of their meal last night.

She took the pizzas out of the freezer, stripped off their covering, switched on the oven, slid them in, picked up her glass of champagne and focused fully on the man she'd chosen as her future husband. He was glowing; smile, skin, eyes. Clean-cut good looks that any woman would admire, especially when he was full of zappy energy, as he was at the moment, recounting how he'd gone about impressing the other partners in the financial services company he'd targeted.

He wore his dark brown hair in a rather yuppie style, short at the sides, long enough at the top for a natural wave to soften his high forehead and complement the rather acutely angled arch of his eyebrows. Very attractive. Striking. And while his physique was on the slender side, it enabled him to wear fashionable clothes well, which he did with considerable panache.

Kathryn had always felt proud to have him as her partner.

And not just for presentation, either. He was very smart, right on the ball with clever and amusing repartee, and she admired his drive to be the best at what he did. Most women would say she'd hit the jackpot with Jeremy Haynes, and she had. Of course, she had.

So why didn't she want to make love with him tonight? Why was she glad he hadn't kissed her in the foyer, with Mitch Tyler watching? Why was she looking at his mouth and thinking of another man's? She should be listening to him with avid ears. This was their future he was talking about.

A shining future that would support any family they chose to have.

He described the subtle manoeuvres he'd used, how he'd pressed all the right buttons to win over this person and that person, the top-class Melbourne restaurants where he'd been breakfasted, lunched, wined and dined while all the power-brokering had been done.

Quite a comedown having heated up pizza, Kathryn thought as she took them from the oven and sliced them up for easy eating. Still, the Krug champagne certainly upgraded the meal and fuzzed the tensions she'd brought home with her. She encouraged Jeremy to refill her glass, having downed the first faster than she usually would. There was no need to keep her guard up tonight. In fact, there was every need to start feeling some sexual desire where it should be directed.

They moved to the glass dining table which was supported by two blocks of shiny black granite. The black lacquered chairs were some kind of moulded plastic, the seats and backrests curved for comfort but they were hard and cold to sit on. The design was very modern, of course.

They finished the pizza and were still swilling their champagne when Jeremy finally ran out of steam over his doings and asked about hers. 'So tell me who was the guy at the door, and why did he think you needed protection?' he tossed out in a lightly mocking tone, suggesting he couldn't believe the situation to be a serious one. Or if it had been, it was over and done with, hardly worth mentioning.

Kathryn was niggled by his attitude. It reinforced her feeling that his career was far more important than her safety, and okay…she'd put it first, too, but was that right? Goaded by a sense of her own worth, she started with the status of her protector.

'You know the Barrington court case that's been news headlines lately.' He nodded. 'Heard it was settled yesterday.'