by Leslie Kelly
“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, 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 hell. 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 that’s all, then we’ll have a terrific, lifelong friendship.”
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 friendship 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 sexy. 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, 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 sexual knowledge.
Kelsey had already met with Jack, the station manager, about the problem. He’d hired another security guard to assist Edgar, the regular security guy, particularly during her shift. 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.
“Yes,” she said, “but they all will be bringing significant others, and since I don’t have one, I feel I’ll be a target for any single guy who wants to cash in on some of Lady Love’s knowledge.”
“So you do realize that some of the attention you’re getting is not positive?”
“Of course I do,” she answered, shifting her gaze uncomfortably.
Kelsey didn’t want to be dishonest, but she also didn’t want Mitch any more worried than he already was. She couldn’t tell him everything that was going on.
“Look Mitch,” she finally said, “we disagree about what I do. But I have no argument with you about the fact that I’ve put myself in a position where I might draw unwanted admirers.”
“Well, I guess we’re getting somewhere,” Mitch murmured.
He really didn’t want to go. Mitch didn’t care for college functions anymore, neither the boring faculty ones, nor the raucous student ones. And the Halloween ball, usually held at a downtown hotel, was traditionally a combination of both.
But Kelsey needed him. He couldn’t refuse. And it absolutely would not be a date. He’d be simply a stand-in for Nathan, he decided, a male body to run interference between Kelsey and any overzealous fan.
“All right, I’ll come. But don’t try to put me in costume.”
“You have to wear a costume! They’re not letting anybody in who’s not in costume.”
Mitch rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders in resignation. “I suppose I could come up with something, though I have no idea how, since the party’s next week and I’m absolutely swamped with work.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing,” she assured him. “You’re doing me a big favor by coming, so I will take care of your costume. I’m sure we’ve got something at the station that will fit you. As a matter of fact, I seem to remember seeing a biker outfit, lots of black leather and chains…”
“Oh, no, no leather.” Mitch held his hands up in protest. “I am sure I’ll be seeing colleagues and perhaps even former students at this party. Nothing too outrageous, please? Just traditional Halloween fare? A sheet with two holes might work.”
“Or it could be a sheet with twenty holes,” she replied, “and you could go around
saying, ‘I got a rock.’”
Her reference came to mind instantly, and he laughed. “That’s me, Charlie Brown…and, hey, I see a definite resemblance between you and Lucy.”
“Ha, ha, very funny. I wasn’t that bad, was I?”
“Kels, you want the truth, or you want me to lie?” he asked with mock sincerity.
“Maybe we’d better just forget I asked.”
“Good idea,” he said.
“Anyway, I thought maybe you saw me as the little red-haired girl.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Me the big, goofy male pining away for the beautiful unattainable girl.”
“I’m not unattainable, Mitch,” she said softly.
She lowered her lashes, casting him a sultry glance, and Mitch took a step back. “Knock it off.” He pointed a finger at her. “Friends, remember?”
She gave a deep, exaggerated sigh and stretched like a cat. “Oh, well, can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Mitch watched the sinuous movement of her body, and was hit in the stomach with another rush of excitement. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Mitch, stop throwing out openings like that one if you don’t want me to come back at you with some very specific suggestions.”
Her words brought lots of specific suggestions to his head, and he closed his eyes to picture them. Kelsey in a white negligee, Kelsey in the bath, Kelsey in his arms…Kelsey everywhere!
When he finally opened his eyes, he saw her staring at him intently. Their eyes locked for a moment, then she slowly smiled at him, challenging him to tell her what was on his mind.
“You really are very wicked, Kelsey Logan.”
“Maybe that’s why you like me so much,” she retorted.
Kelsey broke the stare and walked toward the door. “I really need to get out of here. If I’ve got two costumes to plan, I’d better get started.”
“I appreciate your help,” he said, following her to the door.
“Anytime, friend,” she said, “anytime.”
7
“SO, HAVE YOU GOT ANY IDEA what to dress up as?”
Kelsey glanced at Celia and then continued chopping vegetables. She’d invited the other woman over for dinner. Fred had been working so many hours that Celia hadn’t been around the brownstone too much lately. Kelsey missed her.
Plus, she knew Celia was very skilled at sewing.
Celia tossed Kelsey a freshly washed cucumber and started rinsing some lettuce. The two had decided on big salads and worked assembly-line fashion in Kelsey’s small kitchen.
“Not a clue,” Kelsey said, sighing. “You’re the one who can sew. What do you think?”
“I don’t know,” Celia answered as she turned off the tap water. “Depends on what you’re after. Scary? Funny? Outrageous?”
“I suppose,” Kelsey responded, “that Lady Love ought to show up in something a little outrageous, probably a little sexy.”
“A little sexy?”
“Okay, okay, a lot sexy!”
Celia nodded. “We can do that. What about Mitch?”
“I have no idea,” Kelsey said. “He doesn’t want anything too flamboyant, so I guess my Adam and Eve idea with suitably placed fig leaves is out.”
Kelsey loaded up two plates with salad and fresh vinaigrette, grated some Italian cheese and handed one plate to Celia. Pouring two glasses of Chablis, she offered one to her guest and sat down with her at the kitchen table.
Celia took a few bites of her salad. “I can picture Adam and Eve. Hmm, do they make fig leaves big enough?”
Kelsey feigned indignation. “Celia, I’m not that big!”
“I didn’t mean for you,” Celia replied, dangling her fork off the end of her fingers and giving Kelsey a sly look.
Kelsey caught her drift and laughed. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t know about that.”
“But you’d like to,” Celia insisted.
“No comment,” Kelsey said, turning her attention to her dinner to avoid dwelling on the picture Celia’s words brought to mind.
They both looked up when they heard a loud banging coming from the front door of the brownstone. “Do you know if Fred was expecting someone?” Kelsey asked.
“No, but maybe he or Mitch forgot their keys.”
“Could be,” Kelsey said, dropping her napkin. As she quickly descended the wooden stairs to the foyer, the knock continued in an almost imperious repetition. Kelsey paused to look through the peephole.
“Oh, great.” She sighed aloud when she recognized the blonde who had been in Mitch’s apartment that night Kelsey had burst in. She hadn’t seen the woman around since, and had begun to hope Mitch wasn’t dating her after all. Kelsey contemplated going back upstairs and not answering, but her good manners won out and she opened the door.
“Well, thank you so much,” the woman said in a brisk voice. “I’ve been knocking for five minutes, and it’s very chilly out here.”
She tried to push past Kelsey to enter the brownstone, but Kelsey blocked her. “Can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Mitch,” the blonde said.
“He’s not here.”
“Well, when will he be back?” The woman was obviously annoyed at being kept standing on the doorstep.
“I have no idea. We don’t exactly keep track of each other’s comings and goings.”
The woman eyed her again, and Kelsey almost wished she’d bothered with a little more makeup and hadn’t pulled her hair into a ponytail while making dinner. This statuesque blonde reeked money, looking every bit as lovely as she had the last time she’d been over. Her knee-length coat was obviously cashmere, and she carried a Gucci bag. Her hair was perfectly in place, and her makeup impeccable.
“Give him this, please,” she said, shoving something toward Kelsey with one leather-glove-clad hand. “It’s his invitation to the Halloween ball. Tell him I am counting on him to come, Kelly.”
“It’s Kelsey.”
“Of course.” The woman offered her an insincere smile. “Kelsey, Mitch’s friend’s sister. He has, of course, told me all about how your family was so kind to him. And how he felt so obligated to rent you a room here to repay them.”
Obligated? Mitch felt obligated? Kelsey began to see red. Just then Mitch’s car swung up the driveway, and the blonde glanced over her shoulder and smiled in relief. They watched him park his car and start toward the house. Some imp of mischief made Kelsey say, “He’s here now, and you can offer the ticket, but I don’t think he needs it.”
“Oh?” the woman asked, raising her eyebrow imperiously. “Why do you say that?”
“Mitch has a date for the ball. He’s going with me. And I’ve already got tickets.”
“You’re not serious!”
“About what?” Mitch asked as he walked up the two steps to the front door of the brownstone.
Amanda turned to him and shrilly announced, “Your little ‘pseudo-sister’ here claims you’re attending the Halloween ball with her.”
“Of course, she’s serious.” He scowled at Amanda in annoyance. Sometimes the woman could be incredibly high-handed, as well as thick-skinned. In spite of what had happened the last time she’d come to his apartment, she still continued to call him every few days. He’d avoided complete rudeness, up to now.
“But you always go with me, Mitch! And Daddy…he was so looking forward to joining us.”
Always could be translated as twice. Mitch had gone with Amanda once, last year, and as a guest of her father’s the year before.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him, too. But as I’ve said, I am going with Kelsey. Her station is sponsoring the event, and she needed an escort.”
Amanda’s face tightened as she tried to smile. Kelsey figured it took a great deal of effort to turn and say, “I’m sorry for doubting you, Kelsey. Of course Mitch would step in and play the gallant escort.”
“Oh, Mitch is nothing if not gallant,” Kelsey said.
“But, Mitch,” Amanda sa
id, “after Kelsey’s finished her duties for her employer, you must join us. Daddy and I will still save you a place at our table.”
Amanda cast another glance at Kelsey. “And if Kelsey wishes to remain at the party after she’s finished working, she’s welcome to sit with us, too.”
“How kind,” Kelsey murmured, feeling like the unwelcome servant invited to a dinner party to make up for a no-show guest.
The woman did not seem to notice her sarcasm and continued. “However, I do insist that you let me plan your costume, Mitch. I thought we could go as Fred and Ginger again, since everyone loved our costumes last year.”
“I’m afraid not. Kelsey is already working on our costumes.”
“Oh, Mitch, don’t be silly,” Amanda replied, undeterred. “It won’t matter what costume you wear to play escort for a brief time for your little friend. Your duties shouldn’t take too long, then you can join me in your top hat and tails. You won’t be chained to Kelsey all night!”
Kelsey figured she ought to have her brain examined for taking the insults that had been flying her way for the past several minutes. “You know, I think I’ll leave you two to sort this out, all right? Celia’s waiting upstairs. Good night, it was lovely seeing you again.”
Not waiting for a reply, she stalked up the stairs, slamming her apartment door behind her.
“My goodness, I hope I didn’t offend her, Mitch.”
“How could you not have offended her?” Anger made his voice tight and hard. “You walked in here, into Kelsey’s home, and started treating her like an unwanted guest, or as if you have some claim to my time, when you know that’s absolutely untrue.”
“Well,” Amanda sputtered, unable to come up with anything else to say. Mitch knew it was pretty stupid to antagonize her. After all, she and her father could easily prevent his books from being required in any class at several colleges.
When he didn’t respond or apologize, Amanda said quietly, “I suppose you’re right. I’m sorry, Mitch. I was a little abrupt with her. I guess I still am proprietorial about you. Silly of me.”
“Maybe you’d better tell Kelsey that next time you see her.”