Catch

by Kenyon, Toni

  Matt's stomach tied itself in an even tighter knot and he suppressed the urge to vomit.

  He tried hard to compose himself. "Well, that went swimmingly, don't you think?"

  Catherine gave him a wry smile. "Don't beat yourself up Matt. I was expecting it. Everyone I spoke to this morning said she'd react like that. If she's got a drinking problem, as you suspect, it's textbook really. She's just looking for someone to blame. Unfortunately, for you, you're it."

  She stood up and collected the personnel file off his desk. "We're better off without her. For every bad receptionist out there, there are hundreds of good ones to take her place. I'll have the spot filled in a jiffy, don't you worry."

  "Thank you, Catherine. Now I know why we hired you."

  "Yes, well, I don't know how she slipped through my net. I must have been having a bad day." She shrugged. "Never mind, onward and upward and all that. Oh, and Matt..."

  When he looked up Catherine had a strange, knowing look on her face. She said, "I don't usually comment on personal matters..."

  "But - " he smiled " - in my case you'll make an exception." He thought he saw a slight chink in her office armor.

  "Yes, in this case I'll make an exception. I suspect your lady knows exactly the beast she's living with and you won't have to worry about any poisonous remarks coming out of young Gina's mouth."

  He laughed. "It's unlikely she'll be my number one fan now, is it?"

  "Precisely."

  When Catherine left his office Matt felt suddenly drained and very alone. He peered out the window, the view of the ocean calming his jangled nerves. Gina was probably heading home, boiling with rage, to tell Tamsen what had happened.

  The dilemma. Should he call her first and warn her? She was involved. Well, sort of. Wasn't she? Why was he never able to have anything that resembled an uncomplicated relationship? Was he some sort of freak who attracted drama?

  His gut ached. It was always the way. Where the hell was that antacid? He rummaged around in his drawer, certain there was a half-open packet lying around. Nothing like tension to bring on another atrocious acid attack.

  Locating the desired tablets, he popped a couple and tried hard to think about what he should do next. Gina was a loose cannon and he'd just given her a hundred and one reasons to explode shit all over him. No matter which way he looked at the situation, anything he did could be construed as wrong. He was fucked.

  His door burst open and Danni shattered his thoughts. "Whoa, she took that well. Not."

  Matt sighed. "I thought I asked you to stay on reception."

  "Catherine sent me on my way, so I thought you could take me out for the sticky bun you owe me - you know, for covering for the wicked witch from the west."

  "Danni, don't be so frivolous." He was feeling lousy and the post-execution reports weren't helping.

  "What did you do to her? She left with a hiss and a roar - positively toxic."

  "Danni."

  "Come on. You can debrief me down the road. We're better off without her, you know that."

  He did know that. He was just worried about Tamsen.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  "He's a fucking creep. You should be ditching him."

  Gina's bellowing was so out of order. Tamsen had been late for an installation and knew her customer wouldn’t be happy.

  "He's nothing of the sort and I won't be ditching him."

  "But you don't understand. He sacked me."

  "You quit."

  "Only before he had the chance to sack me."

  "Gina, hasn’t it ever occurred to you this is what happens with every job you ever get? Matt and I have nothing to do with it."

  "If you weren't shagging my boss this wouldn't have eventuated." Gina guzzled a glass of wine, then hastily refilled her glass from the cardboard cask on the kitchen bench. The ruby liquid formed a tiny whirlpool in her goblet.

  Tamsen watched her with a mounting feeling of dread. Why didn't Gina simply stick her mouth under the cask tap and save on the washing up? The amount she drank was phenomenal and must be adding to the chaos in her life.

  She told Gina, "Your problem is not the job, nor my boyfriend."

  "Boyfriend, now. We're past the casual fucking stage already, are we?"

  "I'll treat that with the contempt it deserves." Tamsen could have quite happily clobbered her, but pressed on. "Your mother's right, your problems come out of that cask and from those druggie girlfriends you spend all your time with."

  "Great. So now you're going out with a fucking lawyer you think you're a cut above me, do you?" She added as an afterthought, "And you can leave my slag of a mother out of this as well.

  Tamsen sighed. "Gina, you must be able to see how out of control your life's getting. If you're not drunk you're hung over, or out looking for something to take the edge off. It's not surprising Matt put two and two together. How many days have you had off sick in the last six months?"

  "You would spring to his defense, and after all the years we've been friends. If you were any sort of a friend you'd get rid of him. He's a bastard."

  "Gina, he's not a bastard." Tamsen was getting tired of the argument and began to think Gina would never see sense.

  "Well, if you're not going to dump him you can forget all about our trip to Wellington."

  "What!"

  "You heard me. It's him or me."

  "Gina, don't be ridiculous."

  "I'm not being ridiculous. If you want me to come away with you, you'd better kick him into touch."

  "I won't be blackmailed."

  "Fine, then." She had a look of utter disgust on her face, one Tamsen hadn't seen in a very long time. "You've made your choice. You'd better see if Mr Wonderful will accompany you, 'cos I certainly won't be." Gina stormed out of the kitchen, but not before snatching up the cask of wine Tamsen noted with dismay.

  The kitchen looked like a bomb-site with half-eaten scraps thrown over the bench and red wine dribbled down the cupboard doors and over the floor. No shock there, Gina got nearly as much over the floor and herself as she got down her throat these days. When had it all started going so horribly wrong? They'd been friends for years. Was it something that she'd done, Tamsen wondered. Did it really matter?

  Anger burning in her gut, she set to work cleaning up the mess Gina had left.

  How many of these messes - actual and metaphorical - had she cleaned up? Her own life was beginning to look up, yet here was the same pattern kicking in again - Gina having a crisis, and Tamsen putting her own life on hold to bail her out. Maybe it was time to take a stand.

  "Stuff it." Tamsen addressed the black ball of fluff who was busy licking a hardening blob of peanut butter off the tiled floor. "It's time to look after me."

  The cat looked at her with his huge yellow eyes. "And you, of course."

  Azzie twined himself around her legs, making her think of a quote she'd heard somewhere, something about carrying a cat by the tail and the lesson learned. It all became clear: she would do nothing about Gina. Gina would have to sort out her own problems.

  She took another look at the shambles that was their shared kitchen and decided she hadn't made this mess either and set out for her room with a new lightness of spirit.

  "Come on, Azzie. You and I have got plans to make for the rest of our lives."

  The drive home hadn't eased Matt’s guilt. All reason and logic assured him he'd done the right thing but his insides still howled at him. The afternoon had dragged. Part of him wanted to the day to end so he could see Tamsen and explain; the other part never wanted it to end so he wouldn't have to.

  "Matt, is that you, darling?"

  Shit, Mother. He'd almost forgotten she was still here. If she’d dared to have Angie here again he really would just throw himself off the nearest retaining wall – if he could find one. Why were the gardeners taking so long to finish the job? He made another mental note to get on their case tomorrow. Tamsen had walked into his well-ordered life and everything seemed
to be falling apart.

  "Yes, Mother, it's me."

  He walked through the open door to be assaulted by the tantalizing scent of cooking bacon. His mother appeared in full kitchen regalia, complete with his barbecue apron.

  He couldn't help laughing. "Smells as if you're cooking my favorite."

  "Well, darling, that is if Beef Wellington is still it." She smoothed her hands over the rough surface of the apron. "Things seem to have changed so much it appears I hardly know my son anymore, and he's not willing to share with me what's going on in his life."

  Matt set his features, resolving not to react to anything she had to say. He'd learned the best way to keep her out was to never allow her to see what had got through his defenses.

  Thwarted by his silence, Marguerite said, "So can I assume that you'll be staying home tonight and your dear old mother can have the pleasure of your company? Or are you likely to run off again?"

  Matt could almost taste the blood in the back of his mouth from biting his tongue. "That's fine as long as it's only us, Mother."

  "There's no need to use that tone, Matty. Angie's a lovely woman and I still can't see why you've decided that you'd rather spend time with a fish breeder than with her."

  "Who told you about Tamsen?"

  "It doesn't matter who told me. The point is I'm just trying to prevent you from running your life."

  "More like stop me bringing the family name into disrepute."

  "Well, I'd be lying if that wasn't a factor."

  "Mother, do you realize how shallow you sound?"

  "Quite frankly, Matthew, somebody's got to keep an eye out. You seem hell bent on destroying yourself and everything that this family's worked for all these years."

  He could have kicked himself; he'd been sucked in again and now he wasn't able to let it go. "I. Am. Not. Destroying. Myself."

  The knot of tension in his stomach was crippling and the gorgeous cooking smells coming from the kitchen weren't helping. He had a ludicrous desire to laugh. His mother was accusing him of destroying his life and all he could think about was that he hadn't had lunch.

  "I'm not discussing this with you any more, Matty. I don't intend tarnishing our evening. And I'll certainly not be responsible for driving you back into that unsuitable woman's arms two nights in a row."

  Despite the goading he held his tongue, and secretly had some pride in himself for doing so. "I'm assuming we've got at least an hour before dinner so I'll be going downstairs for a quick workout."

  He pecked her unceremoniously on the cheek and shot through to change.

  Matt lay in bed, aware he was grinding another layer of enamel from his molars. His stomach was full, but so was his head and the dual combination was giving him trouble. Tamsen hadn't called all night and he was paralyzed with fear, torn between an urge to ring her and fear of making their situation worse. Though how much worse could it be?

  He had no idea what Gina might have said. He was a lawyer who supposedly dealt with facts, concisely thought things through, and here he was behaving like a lovesick schoolboy. Unable to work out where the land lay with Tamsen because he was too scared to gather the simple facts.

  It was far too late to phone now anyway. He'd just have to continue to stew about it. His specialty. Years of practice.

  He sighed, rolled over onto his stomach and vowed to call her first thing in the morning. Now, if only his head would just shut up and his stomach would settle down he might have a chance of a semi-decent night's sleep.

  Goddess, I'm lost.

  Tamsen closed her journal, sighing heavily. She had a feeling of grief about her today, no doubt aggravated by Gina's noisy all-night drinking binge. The kitchen still looked like a bomb had hit it – well, it had, in the form of Gina. Tamsen had held firm on her decision not to enable Gina by picking up after her.

  But it truly was a difficult thing, only looking after yourself when you were used to mothering another human being.

  Two sharp beeps from his cellphone alerted Matt to the incoming text message. Please let it be Tamsen, he thought. He'd been pretending he was coping with her not returning his call but he wasn't fooling anyone, especially himself. He'd learned recently that if he couldn't be honest with himself then he really didn't have a chance.

  He could have kissed his phone, - she'd agreed to meet him for coffee in just under an hour.

  Thank God he didn’t have to wait any longer; his stomach wouldn't hold out. He'd been through half a packet of antacids already this morning.

  Tamsen sat waiting for Matt in the courtyard garden - early as usual, wanting to soak up its energy. It intrigued her the feeling of tranquility and positive energy this little space had. She was touched and reassured that Matt enjoyed being here too. His home exuded the same harmony, which she found interesting. How could someone who liked being here and had a home that oozed this kind of balanced energy work where he did?

  She sniffed a piece of apple mint from the small herb garden, the fuzzy leaves tickling her nose. The scent of fresh, pungent citrus and mint was overwhelming. It amused her that it was called apple mint when it so reminded her of oranges.

  "Hey. It's nice to find you admiring the fish and enjoying the garden."

  His voice flowed through her, cool and soothing, running down her spine like the water down the small waterfall she'd been watching. She could listen to him all day.

  "Hi." She looked up. The light - was it playing tricks, or was it his aura she’d glanced upon? She looked into the black wells of his eyes and felt a connection, a sensation so severe and sudden it took her breath away. He was in pain and unsure of himself - she could feel it.

  "I'm not mad at you." She held out her hand, coaxing him closer. She wanted to touch him, to feel the physical manifestation of the dance their emotional bodies had been doing. He took her hand and she sensed him relax.

  "Why is it that when I'm with you everything feels right in the world?" He had a puzzled look on his face.

  Her heart soared just hearing the words. "Probably because it is."

  She realized she'd been waiting for this man for a long time and she'd be damned if she'd let a minx like Gina stuff it up for her. "I've ordered coffee for you," she told him.

  "And some sort of herbal crap for you, I suppose."

  She knew his gentle dig came from a loving place. "You know me, I get a big enough kick out of life without having to resort to chemical enhancement."

  He bent and kissed her. She loved the feel of his lips on hers. She had an instant desire to tear his clothes from him and make love to him, right there in the courtyard. His ability to arouse her at a moment's notice bordered on terrifying.

  "Stop it, you horror." Her words came out in ragged gasps. "I hate the way my body reacts to you sometimes. I feel like a slut."

  He grinned. "I feel like a bit of slut. Want to head home?"

  She felt her temperature rise. All decorum flying out the window, she had a sudden vision of him naked and wanting. What the heck, she was sick of being a good little girl.

  "Hell, yes!"

  The drive back to his home was hideous. He wanted to touch her, rip her clothes off her, take her in every way possible and then some more. He was grateful traffic was light and the journey took no more than twenty minutes. Twenty minutes that could have been a lifetime as far as his dick was concerned.

  They hadn't talked much. He'd expected things to be difficult over Gina - but Tamsen, he discovered, much to his surprise, didn't seem to think he was the problem.

  "Matt, when are these people going to be finished with your driveway?" Tamsen picked her way around a large mound of scoria that had appeared since he left for work that morning.

  "Who knows?" He scratched his head. "Hard to believe that God could've created the world in six days. Good job these guys weren't contracted to Him - " he threw his arms out " – or we'd still all be floating round in space waiting for it to happen."

  She laughed. He loved the sound of her
musical laugh. He noticed he seemed less nervy around Tamsen, and he liked that too. She had an almost unflappable quality he envied.

  "So is your mother likely to be around?"

  Hell. In his haste to get Tamsen home he'd completely forgotten about his mother. What to do? Ah, stuff it. He'd just brazen it. He could bring home whomever he liked.

  "I've no idea." He grinned an evil grin. "We'll just have to front up and see if she's home."

  He pulled her to him; she was soft and compliant in his arms, and wore a fragrance that reminded him of the sea. "Hmm - " he nuzzled into the warm spot behind her ear " - you smell almost nice enough to eat." He tickled her neck with the tip of his tongue and felt an immediate surge of lust when she shivered in response.

  "I love it when you do that."

  "What, this?" He couldn't help doing it again.

  "Yes. That." She rubbed herself up against his rapidly hardening cock, the movement cat-like, her entire body almost wrapping itself around him.

  "Mother’d better be out or we're in serious trouble."

  "Well, we’d best be on our way then." She untangled herself from him and made for the front door. "Unless, of course, you'd rather take me out here?"

  "I'm tempted." The wrap-around skirt she wore exposed a tantalizing glimpse of her milky-white upper thigh every time she walked. She was the most sensual creature. Even her gait was unhurried. Matt had never met anyone who appeared not to be in a hurry to get anywhere, yet was always on time. An intoxicating mixture of paradoxes.

  He found himself fantasizing about tearing her skirt away from that taunting thigh, rolling her in a pile of dirt and fucking her until their combined sweat created a sweet mud bath.

  "Come on, slowcoach." She looked across at him, an evil glint in her eyes. "Stop dreaming about having me outside and let's get in before I'm tempted to tie you naked to the nearest tree."