Do Opposites Attract? (7 page)

When she woke the following morning, Brianna could still feel the heat of Mitch’s lips on her mouth and the hardness of his body against the softness of her own. With a groan of pure exasperation, she threw off the sheets and climbed out of bed. Why oh why did she have to fall in lust with the one man who had no intention of following up on the spark between them? She hated this tense, aching feeling that she could only guess was sexual frustration. It was totally alien to her. She was used to turning down what was being offered, not being turned down.

As she sat having breakfast with a few of the team, she realised it wasn’t only her body that had become sensitised to Mitch. It was also her mind. Whenever his name was mentioned, she felt the quickening of her pulse and her eyes automatically scanned for his tall, lean frame. She was acting like a schoolgirl with her first crush, which was frankly ridiculous because she hadn’t indulged in such childishness even when she
had
been a schoolgirl. She’d had no time for crushes. She’d been too busy deciding which males to date and which to ditch.

In her determination not to brood any further on her fixation with Mitch, Brianna went back to the medical tent and offered her help to Stuart and Jane. With no medical training, she was pretty useless, but at least she could wash floors, serve out drinks and give an encouraging smile or two. The gratitude of the patients was humbling.

It was when she returned from refilling the water jug that Jane tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Just to let you know, there’s been a mudslide a few villages down. It caught everyone unawares and I think a lot of the villagers were still in their homes when it hit.’

Brianna’s heart sank into her boots. These poor people, hadn’t they suffered enough already? ‘Oh my God,’ she muttered. ‘Are you going to help?’ When Jane nodded and turned to go, Brianna held her arm. ‘Can I come? I know I’m not much use but—’

‘An extra pair of hands is always useful,’ Jane interrupted. ‘Come on.’

She had never seen so much mud. It was horrific, like something out of a disaster movie. Everywhere she looked was brown and wet. Rescue workers were knee deep in the stuff, only their bright orange vests telling them apart from their surroundings. They dug and dug, some with spades, some with mechanical diggers, some with just their bare hands. Those who’d been lucky enough to be rescued were huddled together in a group. Dirty, shivering, eyes wide with terror. She spotted Mitch at the bottom of the mudslide, hunched over a prostrate body. Grimly she watched as he shook his head at the rescue worker standing next to him. A sheet was pulled over the dead body, and it was stretchered away.

In a daze, Brianna strode up to him. ‘What can I do?’ she asked softly, numbed by the catastrophic scene in front of her.

He turned towards her, eyes like dark, sunken pools. ‘Keep out of the way,’ he replied bluntly.

Brianna flinched. Eyes burning with tears, she stumbled away.

‘Brianna, wait a minute.’ Jane chased behind her. ‘Ignore him. He might work like a machine, but he’s a human being underneath it all. He’s knackered. I think he meant to say, keep away for your own safety.’

‘Maybe.’ She wasn’t so sure. Mitch saw her as a useless upper-class bimbo who was more likely to cause trouble than to help. And with her current track record, she guessed she couldn’t blame him. ‘Jane, I feel so useless. Is there anything I
can
do?’

Jane smiled and gave her a reassuring hug. ‘Come on, lovely, I’ve got just the job for you. See those terrified children standing over there?’ She pointed to a grubby, forlorn-looking group. ‘Alice, one of the WHO team, has gone to get some fresh clothes and towels for them. Why don’t you help her clean them up?’

At the sight of their huge sad brown eyes, Brianna’s heart melted. Plastering a smile on her face, she went to help.

For the next few hours she worked with Alice, helping to clean up the uninjured. She tried to offer comfort and a distraction from the fresh disaster that had befallen the area. No sooner had they ferried one group over to the camp, a fresh huddle would form. It was both heartbreaking and uplifting. The more villagers they tended to, the more had been rescued. She tried not to look at the mounting pile of body bags on the other side of the mudslide. She focused on the living, the well. That was traumatic enough.

Mitch had experienced many bad days in his line of work, but today had to rank with one of the worst. They’d rescued more than were killed, but only just. The saving grace had been that the village buried under the mudslide had been small. Those who’d made it out alive were able to tell them how many people should have been there. He’d worked on much larger mudslides, when they had no hope of knowing how many people had remained buried. That made rescue work really hard, not knowing when to give up. Thankfully, this time, all the villagers had been accounted for, one way or another, by nightfall.

Having showered off most of the grime of the day, Mitch made his way back to his tent. He was used to feeling tired, it was something that never left him when he was on site. Today though, the exhaustion was physical as well as mental. Pulling victims out of the mud had been a thankless task, one that had strained at every muscle and sinew. He stopped for a moment, rolling his shoulders to release some of the tension. That was when he caught sight of a slender female figure with her back against a tree. Her face was lit up by the amber glow of a cigarette. It was a face of great beauty, but tonight it held a hint of fragility. Of course the sensible course of action was to walk by and go straight to his tent.

Right now he didn’t feel like being sensible.

‘They can kill you.’

Brianna’s head shot up. ‘So I hear,’ she replied in her cultured voice.

He wanted to dislike it, as he wanted to dislike her, but there was something about the posh husky tones that sent a shiver up his spine. ‘I didn’t have you down as a smoker.’

She smiled slightly. ‘I’m not. At least not unless I’m very drunk, or emotionally overwrought.’

He leant back against the tree next to her. Close, but not touching. ‘Well, unless you’ve snuck into my tent and pilfered my whisky supply, I guess it’s the latter that’s led you to nicotine tonight?’

‘Umm, but I wouldn’t mind indulging in some of the former right now.’ She took a long, deep drag. ‘I don’t know how you do it.’

‘Watching you smoke?’ he asked, deliberately misunderstanding her. ‘It’s hard, especially as I used to smoke and had a devil of a job giving it up.’

She smiled, as he’d hoped she would. ‘I won’t offer you one then.’ She watched as the smoke trailed up from the end of the cigarette. ‘But that isn’t what I meant, as I think you know.’

‘It’s part of life,’ he replied simply.

‘But doesn’t it make you sad, or angry, seeing so much death?’

‘I used to get angry, on the battlefield. When I saw the body bags build because of a pointless war, it really got to me. This is just nature doing her thing. It’s tough on those caught up in it, but then life is tough.’ He gave her a sideways glance.

‘At least it is for most people. That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?’ Temper rippled through her, mixing with the sadness and anger he saw in her eyes.

‘Yes,’ he agreed, keeping his voice deliberately calm. He sensed she wanted to fight, but tonight he didn’t fancy being her punchbag. ‘Most people do have a tougher life than yours.’

‘You don’t know anything about my life. How can you stand there in judgement?’ He raised an eyebrow, daring her to continue. The temper fled as quickly as it had arrived and she sighed. ‘Okay, you’re right, I have had it easy.’

‘I didn’t say your life was easy,’ he qualified. ‘But I don’t think it has been tough.’

‘My first car was a Porsche,’ she admitted.

Mitch felt his lips curve upwards. ‘Impressive. How long did it last?’

‘Two days. I crashed it into a ditch going round a corner too fast. I was grounded for a week.’ She caught his grin and smiled. ‘What was your first car?’

Mitch settled further back against the tree. ‘Owned or borrowed?’ he countered.

‘Let’s go for borrowed.’

‘A Ford Capri, when I was twelve.’

‘I take it the owners didn’t realise you’d borrowed it?’ He just grinned, a flash of white teeth in the moonlight. ‘Did you give it back?’

Mitch thought back to the Capri that had landed in the ditch, mangled by a tree. He and his two mates had been lucky to get out of it alive. ‘I crashed it. I don’t think the owners would have thanked me for returning it.’

‘At last, we’ve found something in common. We’re both bad drivers.’

The laugh whooshed out of him. It had been so long since he’d had a really proper laugh, he was surprised his body still remembered how to do it. ‘In my defence, lady, I was only twelve and couldn’t reach the damn brake pedal.’

She conceded his point. ‘Hey, this is fun.’

‘What is?’

‘You and me actually having a conversation.’ Her grin was infectious and he found his muscles starting to relax. ‘My first birthday party was held in the Savoy,’ she continued. ‘For my eighth we took ten of my friends to Disneyland Paris.’ She cocked a look at him. ‘What about you?’

‘Birthday parties were for sissies.’

‘Aw, come on, you must have had at least one.’

Instantly his muscles tensed again. This was not a topic he wanted to discuss tonight. Or any night. ‘Let’s just say my mother wasn’t one for making too much fuss.’ He pushed his body off the tree and moved to stand in front of her. ‘You did well today,’ he told her, quickly changing the subject.

‘You mean I kept out of your way?’

He saw the teasing light in her eyes and smiled. ‘I guess I was a bit curt.’

‘A bit, but then again, nothing I haven’t seen before.’

An involuntary smile spread across his face and he watched as it was mirrored across her own. His body stirred. God, he was losing himself in those dancing green eyes. They were dazzling him, sucking him in. Instinctively he placed his hands on her shoulders. But as he bent his head towards hers, he suddenly stopped.
You’re playing with fire, McBride.

Swiftly he pulled back, thrusting his hands deeply into his pockets. ‘Goodnight, Brianna.’

Watching Mitch’s retreating back, Brianna played out the scene again in her mind. She knew the predatory look that entered a man’s eyes when they were about to pounce. She’d seen it in Mitch’s eyes, just before he’d broken away. Why was he so determined not to get close to her?

Feeling restless, her head full of questions, Brianna wandered back to her tent. If ever there was a time she needed a chat with her best friend, this was it. Pulling the clunky satellite phone from her bag, she dialled Melanie’s number.

‘Brie? Wow, hey there.’

Instantly a smile tugged at her lips. ‘Hey yourself. What are you doing? It must be, what, afternoon with you?’

‘Pardon? Blimey, you sound like you’re in a toilet. Speak up girl.’

‘I said what are you up to?’ The signal was pretty scratchy but the tenuous contact with home was worth the frustration of trying to hear.

‘I’m shopping. What do you expect me to be doing? More to the point, what are
you
doing?’

Brianna gave her friend a quick rundown of the last two days, and though she tried to keep her voice neutral when she spoke of Mitch, Melanie’s gossip radar was far too sensitive. Even thousands of miles away. And with a poor signal.

‘So this Mitch you keep mentioning. Do I take it he’s a bit of a hunk?’

‘My God, how can you tell that?’

‘Because your voice goes all husky when you mention his name. So, dish the dirt. Have you kissed?’

‘Sort of.’

‘What did you say?
Sort of
?’

‘Yes, okay, we’ve definitely kissed. It was … amazing, magical.’

‘And?’

‘And he doesn’t want it to go any further. He doesn’t want anything to distract him from his job, apparently.’

‘Do you believe him?’

Wasn’t that the million dollar question. ‘No, I don’t think I do. He seems pretty good at closing off all his emotions and focusing on the issue at hand. I think it’s to do with my money.’ Men fell into two main camps when it came to her wealth. The confident charmers were attracted to it. The shier, hesitant men were overawed by it. Mitch didn’t fit into either camp, but the very fact he’d mentioned it several times, proved it was an issue.

‘Well, the days are ticking by, sweetie. What are you going to do? Leave it, or go after him?’

Brianna took a nanosecond to make up her mind. ‘Go after him,’ she replied decisively. ‘I guess it will come down to who’s the more determined to get their way.’

Melanie let out a long, lusty laugh. ‘Well, watch out Mitch McBride, whoever you are. You don’t know what’s about to hit you.’

Following a good night’s sleep, Brianna woke the next morning fresh and alert. Something she hadn’t thought possible when she’d gone out for a smoke the previous night, all keyed up by the grimness of the day. The unexpected banter with Mitch had obviously succeeded in unwinding her, as she’d drifted off to sleep with absolutely no trouble.

Peeking her head cautiously out of the tent, she was pleased to find the sun was shining for once. With a bit of luck the weather was breaking, which would allow the area to start the difficult job of getting back on its feet again. It was just the morning to try out a swim in the lake.

Quickly she slipped on a T-shirt and trousers and after grabbing a towel, she headed off towards the clearing. The birds chattered and the sun shone through the trees. It was hard to believe that only yesterday they’d been rescuing people from a horrific mudslide. The calm water of the lake glistened, positively inviting her to take a dip. Carefully she scrutinised the surface. No crocodiles, at least none she could see. And no people either. After stripping off her clothes she ran stark naked into the cool water, letting out a gasp as she went under. Invigorating was certainly a word that came to mind. So did flipping freezing. She swam quickly at first, warming up her muscles. Then she floated on her back, drinking in the rays from the sun.

As Mitch drew up to the lake, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He’d swum here every morning with nothing to disturb him apart from the wildlife. Today it appeared the lake was already taken. As he zeroed in on the body floating serenely on its back, he drew in a sharp breath. Brianna. And what a sight she was. She looked like a mermaid, the water gently cascading over her sun-kissed body.

His body responded instantly, pulsing into life, and he groaned. He should go. God knows, there was enough sexual tension between them without her catching him gawping at her like a randy teenager. With a sigh of frustration he turned to walk away.

‘Don’t go on my account.’

Abruptly he halted. A twig snapped underfoot as he slowly turned round, the sound echoing across the still lake. Still except for the few gentle ripples that surrounded Brianna who was now treading water, a teasing smile on her face. Hell, she looked like a siren, set to seduce the hapless sailor. Or in his case, swimmer.

‘Come and join me.’

‘Thanks, I’ll wait,’ he replied tersely.

Feeling foolish, he sat on the ground. To leave now would give the impression he was embarrassed, or worse, scared. No way was he was going to give her the satisfaction of mocking him about running away. Determinedly he drew up his legs, rested his chin on his knees and watched as she finished her swim. He knew she was naked. Even from a distance he could make out the full curve of her breasts. He wasn’t going to look away when she came out, he decided. She should be the one embarrassed, not him.

At last she emerged from the water, and he stared straight at her. It was an image that would stay in his mind for a very long time. Her body was magnificent. With a confidence that only the truly beautiful exuded, she walked easily onto the shore, her body glistening in the sun. Arousal shot through his system, so sharp, it was painful.

‘Would you mind passing me my towel?’ She stood in front of him, a wet, dripping picture of perfection.

‘God, Brianna.’ He grabbed at the towel near his feet and shoved it at her. ‘Damn you.’ With a strangled oath he stood and dragged her to him, his mouth coming down roughly on hers.

Brianna let out a low moan as Mitch plundered her mouth and for the second time in as many days, he lost his control. Never a man who made love with finesse or gentleness, his hands wandered roughly up and down her body, moulding her closer and closer to him. One minute they were standing, the next he’d manoeuvred her to the ground and was lying on top of her. God she felt so bloody good, so soft, so smooth where he was hard and rough.

The contrast set off alarm bells in him and he leapt off her, rolling to his side, his chest heaving in time with his ragged breaths.

‘What the hell am I doing?’ he asked out loud, disgusted at himself. He had to be out of his mind. She was making him go out of his mind.

‘Pretty well, I thought,’ Brianna replied on a laugh.

He didn’t know whether to be angry or amused. She was playing with him, damn her, much like a sleek aristocratic cat toys with a poor dumb mouse. But the knowledge didn’t make his body ache any less. He was so sorely tempted to give in and let her play, despite the complications it would bring. But people like him and Brianna were never meant to mix, not on any intimate level. She wasn’t from his world. He didn’t even know which rules she played by.

He sat up, thrusting a hand through his hair, his movements jerky. ‘This is wrong, on so many levels,’ he muttered darkly.

‘Why?’

‘You really need me to tell you? We’re out in the open where anyone could see us. There are people suffering agonies of injury and death all around us. Your mother is patron of the charity I work for. Saints alive, do I really need to go on?’ Of course there were also the things she didn’t know about him. The things that would make someone like her run like blazes if she ever found out. He sighed and got to his feet, reaching for the abandoned towel. ‘Here, dry yourself off, get dressed and get the hell out of here.’

Brianna couldn’t argue with Mitch’s first two objections, but she wanted to clear up the third. ‘You don’t really think my mother cares who I sleep with, do you? I’m a grown woman. As long as I’m happy, she’s happy. I mean, it’s not as if you’re going to lure me down the aisle, is it?’

His head shot round. ‘Damn right.’

The words were said with such feeling she had to laugh. ‘Well, at least we’ve got that clear.’ She tugged on her T-shirt and the trusty canvas trousers she’d been living in these last few days. They would be going in the bin as soon as she got home. ‘I’m just saying, another time, another place.’ She twitched her shoulders in a careless shrug, though inside she felt anything but casual. The intensity of their kiss had shaken her to the core. She enjoyed sex, but what she’d just experienced with Mitch had staggered her. If she’d had her way, they would still be making love to each other now.

But it seemed Mitch was calling the shots. And he’d turned his back on her and was pulling off his shirt as he marched towards the lake. She had a brief, stunning view of his broad, tanned back before he dived into the water.

Brianna found the day long and hard. Where had all these injured people come from? They lined the walls of the tents, waiting patiently to be seen. The nurses were run off their feet, triaging the injured, making sure those who were worst off were seen first by Mitch or Stuart.

Occasionally she caught glimpses of Mitch, stethoscope round his neck, a calm, authoritative air firmly on his shoulders. He was called out several times, only to return with a casualty on a stretcher, who was then rushed straight into the area where they operated. Breaks were few and far between. How did the team cope with such full-on days? How did doctors like Mitch cope with such a never-ending stream of critical, life or death decisions to be made? She thought how she would have spent the day had she been at home. Flitting round the shops, lunching with friends. A glance at her watch told her it was nearly nine o’clock at night. Heck, no wonder she felt exhausted. She’d never spent so long on her feet. Nor had she ever spent so much time helping others, she thought with a rush of shame. Not that she’d been much help here.

‘Miss.’ An elderly man in one of the beds called over to her.

Pleased at last that somebody needed something from her, she hurried to his bedside. ‘How can I help?’

He looked uncomfortable. Eyes darting everywhere but at her, he spoke in halting English. ‘Need toilet? Help me?’

She watched as he struggled to pull back the sheets. Nodding, she stood with her arm around his shoulders, acting as a lever as he swung his legs out of the bed.

‘No!’ Tessa rushed up and, none too gently, pushed Brianna out of the way.

‘He needs to go to the toilet,’ Brianna explained with more patience than she was feeling. ‘I was just helping him.’

Tessa gave a stern shake of her head and eased the man back into bed. ‘He mustn’t try and walk.’ Reaching down, she handed the patient a urine bottle from under the bed, speaking to him in fluent Spanish.

When the patient had understood, Tessa took Brianna’s arm in a firm grip and led her away. ‘Didn’t you see the notice on his bed?’ the nurse fumed at her, gesturing to the clipboard. ‘For God’s sake, stop interfering in things you’ve no training in.’

‘What’s going on here?’

Brianna glanced up to see Mitch staring down at them. Just what she needed. It wasn’t enough that she’d been humiliated by the nurse, now she faced a tongue lashing from him, too.

‘I caught Brianna helping a patient out of bed who shouldn’t be walking. It’s time you reminded her she’s only here to observe.’

Several of the team and quite a few patients were now watching with undisguised interest. Beyond embarrassment, Brianna avoided Mitch and glared straight back at the nurse. ‘Thank you, Tessa. I think even someone of my limited capabilities has received that message now.’

She turned and walked out of the ward with as much dignity as she could muster. When she was sure she was out of sight, she ran the rest of the way to her tent and collapsed, crying, onto the bed. Damn the woman for making her feel totally inadequate.

Mitch stood at the entrance of Brianna’s tent, listening to the muffled sobs. ‘Can I come in?’ he asked through the canvas wall.

‘Help yourself,’ came the voice from the other side, followed by a loud sniff. ‘But I’m warning you, there’s no way you can make me feel any more useless than I do already. So if you’ve come to yell at me too, you’re wasting your time.’

Cautiously he walked into her tent. He took one look at the slender figure sitting on the bed and his heart went out to her. It had been one hell of a long day, for all of them. Of course he and the team were used to it. Brianna wasn’t. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her glorious eyes looked utterly miserable. ‘I’m not here to shout,’ he replied gently. ‘I’m here to check you’re okay.’

‘Thank you, I’m fine.’

She looked anything but. With a sigh he sat down next to her on the bed. ‘Tessa didn’t mean to embarrass you like that. She was just concerned for the patient.’

Brianna glared at him. ‘Yes, she was concerned for the patient. But she sure as heck enjoyed humiliating me, too.’

Mitch shook his head. ‘No, Tessa’s not like that.’

‘Are you really so clueless? Tessa fancies you.’

An uncomfortable flush crept up his neck.

‘Yes she does,’ Brianna insisted. ‘Consequently she doesn’t like me. She sees me as a threat.’

Embarrassed, Mitch leapt up off the bed. ‘That’s ridiculous. Tessa doesn’t think of me in that way and I certainly don’t think of her that way.’

‘What about me, Mitch?’ she asked softly. ‘Do you think of me that way?’

Hell’s teeth. This was no longer embarrassing, it was excruciating. He thrust his hands into his pockets. ‘You know I do.’

Instantly the atmosphere in the tent changed. Tension, dark and heavy, mixed with the spark and crackle of sexual chemistry.

‘Then what are you waiting for?’ she whispered.

Mitch tried to take his eyes away from hers, he really did. Somehow they wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t seem to force them to look at the floor, at her chin. God, anywhere but at those dazzling green emeralds that were telling him, quite clearly, what she wanted. ‘We’ve been here before,’ he told her thickly.

‘I believe we’ve solved two of your issues. Nobody can see us here and my mother has nothing to do with you and me.’ Slowly she stood and walked towards him. ‘Of course we are still in the middle of a disaster-stricken area …’ she left the sentence hanging.

Mitch swallowed. Then swallowed again. This stunning beauty was practically offering herself to him on a plate. What the blazes was he meant to do now?