Now she came to think of it, there were many things he had said or done that, taken collectively, would seem to suggest that he more than cared for her. The trouble was, she had no way of knowing how much he had ‘cared’ for the other women he had had relationships with. So she had to be sensible and not get up false hopes, because even if he ‘cared’, that still didn’t mean they had a future together.
Taking a breath to steady her pulse, she slipped her hand through Joel’s arm. ‘Well, thank you for defending me, though what he said didn’t really bother me.’
‘It bothered me,’ Joel returned grittily, and that pleased her inordinately.
‘Are you always this protective of your lady-friends?’ she quipped lightly, though the answer held more importance for her than he would guess.
Joel paused before one large canvas and studied it so long she was sure he wasn’t going to answer, but then he glanced down at her. ‘I abhor men who speak of women like cattle. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve ever come so close to decking someone before. It would have given me great satisfaction to wipe the grin from his face.’
‘I think he understood that eventually,’ Kathryn murmured wryly.
‘I didn’t mean to embarrass you,’ Joel apologised, running a gentle finger over her still flushed cheek.
She smiled up at him. ‘You didn’t embarrass me. I know it’s probably old-fashioned, but it gave me a comfortable feeling, having a man come to my defence. I wouldn’t want to give up my independence, but sometimes we women do appreciate the male protective instinct.’
Joel laughed, finally relaxing and losing that grim set to his mouth and eyes. ‘You don’t consider it too possessive, then.’
‘It can be, in the wrong circumstances, but you don’t come into that group. You protect women because it’s what a man should do, simply because we cannot always defend ourselves. Speaking for myself, I like that in a man,’ Kathryn responded honestly, then grinned at him. ‘How’s your ego doing?’
‘Stroke it much more, and I’ll be beating my chest like a gorilla. You certainly know how to make a man feel good,’ Joel admitted, his eyes glinting with humour.
‘Practice makes perfect. Not that I didn’t mean what I said, but I have had to stroke a lot of male egos in my life.’
‘Your brothers?’
Kathryn laughed. ‘You got it,’ she gurgled as they sauntered on again.
‘Kathy?’
The sound of her name in an all too familiar voice had Kathryn tensing instantly. The moment she had been expecting any time these past weeks had arrived. Knowing who she would see, she pinned a determinedly cheery smile to her face as she turned.
‘Hello, Nathaniel,’ she greeted her brother, stepping forward to kiss his cheek.
‘I thought it was you,’ Nathaniel Templeton declared, returning the greeting. He was tall, sandy-haired, and built like a prop forward. ‘I didn’t expect to see you here.’
‘Nor I you,’ she said with a faint grimace. Joel had turned, and she could sense him standing at her elbow, watching them. ‘How are you?’ she carried on, but her brother’s attention had been caught by the man at her side. From the expression on his face, it was clear he recognised Joel, and didn’t at all like finding his precious sister in the man’s company. ‘I suppose I’d better make the introductions. Joel, this is my brother Nathaniel. Nat, meet Joel Kendrick.’
Nathaniel reluctantly held out his hand. ‘Kendrick,’ he said curtly, which brought a faint smile to Joel’s lips as he took the proffered hand.
‘I’m pleased to meet you, Nathaniel. Kathryn’s mentioned you several times. You play rugby, I believe?’ he replied smoothly, with all the finesse she knew he was capable of. It would have disarmed a man made of less stern stuff than her brother.
‘How long have you known my sister?’ he demanded, point-blank, and Joel’s brows rose as the gauntlet was well and truly thrown down.
‘Several weeks now,’ he informed him levelly, and Kathryn’s heart sank at the look on her brother’s face.
‘I see.’
Joel smiled mockingly. ‘Do you?’
Nathaniel chose not to respond to that, but instead turned to his sister. ‘You’ve kept this very quiet.’
Her chin went up, and there was a warning light in her eye if he cared to note it. ‘I happen to think a person’s private life is precisely that—private.’
If she’d hoped that would rein him in, she was disappointed. Her brother ignored it and took her arm. ‘Excuse us a moment,’ he said to Joel, then drew her to one side. ‘Are you crazy?’ he demanded once they were out of earshot. ‘Dad’s going to blow a gasket when he finds out!’
Kathryn tugged her hand free, angry flags of colour burning her cheeks. ‘Only if you tell him!’ she whispered back angrily. ‘This is none of your business, Nat, or Dad’s.’
‘Of course it is! That man’s little better than a gigolo! What are you thinking of?’
That description of Joel turned her cheeks white with rage. ‘Don’t you ever call him that again, do you hear me?’ she ordered, spitting mad, but Nathaniel had the hide of a rhinoceros.
‘Are you sleeping with him?’ he demanded to know next, and it made her so furious she was shaking with it.
‘You have no right to ask that!’
‘My God, you are!’ he exclaimed in horrified disbelief.
Green eyes glittered with angry tears. She had known it was going to be like this! ‘Whether I am or not is my business. Stay out of it.’
‘You know I can’t do that,’ her brother said predictably, yet in a softer tone, his expression turning to one of concern. ‘How can I simply close my eyes to this, when I know damn well you’re making a terrible mistake?’
That was what she had always been afraid of. The cat was out of the bag, and her family cared for her too much to put it back again. She stiffened her spine and looked him in the eye.
‘Then I guess you’re going to have to do what you have to do. Don’t expect me to thank you for it,’ she told him stolidly, and, without another word, turned and walked away.
She walked past Joel, too, wanting to put some distance between herself and her brother, so didn’t see the long, assessing look the two men exchanged before Joel came after her.
‘Hey, where’s the fire?’ he teased lightly, though his eyes were watchful on her averted face.
Kathryn came to a standstill and sighed heavily. ‘Sorry. I’m just…’ She waved her hand for want of a word to describe exactly how she felt.
Placing his hands on her shoulders, Joel turned her to face him. ‘What did he say to you?’ he asked gently, tipping his head this way and that until he caught her eye, then holding her gaze resolutely. ‘What did he say, Kathryn?’
‘About what I expected,’ she snapped. ‘The game’s up. As you know, he was appalled to see me with you. Quicker than you can say it, the whole family will know. You’ll be able to hear the chorus of disapproval from the moon!’
‘Hmm, I detected a definite frost in the air. I hope you told him to mind his own business?’
‘I did, but I might as well have saved myself the trouble. He won’t listen,’ she replied glumly. A pall had come over the evening which had started so brightly.
‘You’re a grown woman, free to make your own choices.’
Kathryn laughed with scant humour. ‘I’m his little sister and you’re the Big Bad Wolf. If the roles were reversed, would you leave me in your clutches?’ she asked him, and he frowned, then grimaced.
‘Probably not,’ he admitted wryly. ‘So, what are you going to do?’
‘Nothing. I’m certainly not about to give you up!’ Kathryn declared forcefully, bringing a smile to his lips.
‘You’re not, eh?’
Tipping her head up, Kathryn smiled defiantly. ‘Stubbornness runs in the family. Nobody can make me do anything I don’t want to do. I knew what I was taking on by getting involved with you, Joel. I knew my family would cry foul. But
I was prepared for that because I wanted to be with you.’
That confession brought a faint frown to his forehead. ‘It isn’t going to be easy, is it?’
Her smile grew rueful. ‘I thought I’d have more time with you before the flak started to fly.’
‘Perhaps we should call it quits, Kathryn. I’m not worth alienating your family over,’ he told her with unfamiliar sombreness, and her heart lodged in her throat.
‘Do you want me to go?’ she challenged him, and after a significant pause Joel shook his head.
‘I suppose I ought to do the decent thing, but I’m not ready to end this yet. I want you too damned much.’
Kathryn’s lips curved into a wide smile. ‘Then I’ll stay.’
‘It’s as simple as that?’
‘Of course. I’m a simple woman. I know what I want, and I’m willing to pay the price for it. My family will be upset, but it won’t last.’ How true that was. When this affair was over, and she was hurting as they would no doubt expect her to be, then they would be the first to rally round to comfort her.
Joel shook his head, as if he didn’t understand her at all. ‘You’re an extraordinary woman.’
She laughed that off. ‘I’m not extraordinary at all.’ She was simply a woman who loved him. ‘And don’t imagine you’re going to get off lightly. Pressure will be brought to bear. Just wait and see.’
‘I think I can handle your family,’ Joel said confidently, and she wasn’t about to disabuse him. He would find out that the Templeton clan, separately and together, made a formidable fighting machine.
‘Right,’ she agreed dryly.
‘I’m not about to give you up without a fight either.’
She laughed. ‘That, I can safely say, you will get. It won’t be pretty. In fact, it will get downright dirty. Do you think I’m worth it? You could cut and run to the next woman down the line, you know.’ Though she made light of it, it was all too true. It would be oh, so easy for him to walk away.
‘I could, but right now the only woman I can see is you. You’re the only woman I want in my life, so I guess I’ll just have to take my chances with your family.’
‘I guess we’re stuck with each other, then.’
‘Looks like it,’ Joel agreed.
Suddenly Kathryn wished they were somewhere else. Somewhere she could kiss him and not cause a minor scandal. ‘I don’t know about you, but I think I’ve had enough art for one evening.’
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Joel concurred, turning them towards the archway that would eventually take them to the entrance. ‘Do you want to go somewhere for dinner?’
‘To tell you the truth, I’d much rather go home. We can order something in if we’re hungry,’ Kathryn declared, and the look he gave her held a decided glint.
‘Or, if we’re not, I’m sure we can think of something to do to pass the time,’ he drawled seductively, setting her nerves alight.
‘Just what I was thinking myself,’ she said with a grin.
Outside the gallery, Joel hailed a passing taxi and gave the driver his address. She didn’t argue. Wherever he was, was where she wanted to be. Maybe her time with Joel was going to be short, but one thing she did know: it was never going to be dull.
CHAPTER NINE
KATHRYN was in her kitchen preparing dinner on Thursday evening when she heard the front door shut with some force. Her eyes widened in surprise. She knew it was Joel, for she had arranged for him to come to her house tonight. She had had to travel for a consultation, and so had decided to cook dinner here for a change. Her surprise came from his being so early—almost an hour before he was expected—and, for another thing, he had not come straight through to find her and kiss her as he usually did.
Popping the salad she had been tossing back into the refrigerator, she wiped her hands on a towel and went off in search of him. Joel was in her sitting room in the process of pouring himself a drink. As she watched, he downed half of it in one go, giving every impression that he had really needed it. He studied the remaining half of the golden liquid broodingly.
‘Bad day?’ she queried consolingly, and he glanced round, for once not smiling when he saw her.
‘A hell of a bad day,’ he confirmed with a grimace, using his free hand to loosen his tie and unfasten the top buttons of his shirt. The jacket of his suit was draped haphazardly over a chair, looking for all the world as if it had been tossed there.
Kathryn went into the room and retrieved his jacket, laying it out properly so it didn’t crease. ‘Care to talk about it?’ she offered, going to him and deftly removing the tie altogether.
‘I’m just about all talked out,’ he said tiredly, flexing his shoulders as if they were still tense.
‘Difficult meeting?’ she tried again, feeling as if she was attempting to get blood out of a stone.
His laugh was wry. ‘Several difficult meetings,’ he revealed with a heavy sigh. ‘You warned me, so it’s my own fault for not taking it seriously enough. You’re quite within your rights to say I told you so.’
Light dawned. ‘Oh, no!’ she groaned.
‘Oh, yes,’ Joel confirmed sardonically, finishing his drink and setting the glass aside.
The meetings Joel had had, had been with her brothers. She had expected it—the only surprise being that they had waited until today.
She sought clarification with a sinking heart. ‘Which ones?’
‘All of them.’ He grimaced, then shook his head and laughed. ‘My God, they were good. They could grill for England.’
‘Lord, I’m sorry,’ Kathryn apologised, thinking she would have a word or two to say herself when she ran into the four of them again.
Joel, perversely, had started to relax. Taking her hand, he dropped down into a chair and pulled her onto his lap. ‘Hell, don’t be. They were there because they care about you, and that’s something I approve of—though, given a choice, I’d rather not have been on the receiving end of it.’
‘What did they say?’ she asked curiously.
Unconsciously, Joel’s hand began to run caressingly along her stocking-clad thigh. ‘First they suggested I get out of your life. When I said I couldn’t do that, they demanded to know what my intentions were. Which, as I told them, is my business. We circled around that for a while, then they told me what they would do to me if I should hurt you. The methods of my demise were inventive, to say the least.’
Kathryn had gone from dismay to seething by this time. ‘Oh, I could strangle all of them!’
‘Janet thought it was highly amusing,’ he went on, referring to his secretary. ‘She wasn’t eavesdropping, but the walls are thin and voices were raised. She thinks it’s long past time I got my comeuppance. I have to admit, the Templeton boys are just the men to do it, too.’
She frowned at him in perplexity, for, on the whole, he was taking this very well. ‘How can you laugh about it?’
‘Because they all wanted to grind my face into the dirt. I liked them,’ Joel admitted, surprising her.
‘Well, I hate them!’ she snapped, so angry she could spit nails. Why couldn’t they just leave well enough alone?
‘No, you don’t,’ Joel corrected immediately. ‘You love them as much as they love you.’
‘Maybe I do,’ she retorted in a disgruntled tone. ‘I just wish they’d stop interfering in my life.’ They had no idea what they were doing. OK, Joel had taken it well so far, but he had to draw the line somewhere, and what if they pushed him over it? How much longer would he consider their affair worth it with four angry men breathing fire down his neck? Damn them, they could ruin everything and bring about what they were trying to avoid.
‘Trust me, it will never happen. You’ll always be their little sister. They’ll always look out for you. Try to protect you from the Big Bad Wolves of this world.’
‘Whilst I accept that, they have to be made to understand that I don’t need protecting from you,’ Kathryn insisted, frowning heavily. There was a sinking feel
ing in her stomach that time was running out.
Joel cupped his hand about her cheek and turned her head until she was looking at him. ‘Do you want to know what the really crazy thing is?’ he asked with a self-mocking smile. ‘I don’t want to see you get hurt either.’
‘Don’t be silly.’ She rushed to reassure him. ‘You won’t hurt me.’
Rather than smiling, Joel’s expression was sober as he looked deeply into her eyes. ‘Won’t I? I’m beginning to wonder. For one thing, sweetheart, you’re nowhere near as hard-boiled as you’d like me to believe.’
She tensed immediately, alarm signals going off in her head. ‘What are you suggesting?’ she asked uneasily. If he had somehow guessed her secret…
‘Only that if everyone is doing their best to ensure you won’t get hurt, then that means you can be. I’d hate to be the cause of it. Maybe your brothers are right. Maybe I should get out of your life,’ he mused broodingly, and Kathryn’s body felt a jolt of panic.
‘Don’t you dare walk out on me, Joel Kendrick. I’d never forgive you,’ she declared hotly.
He frowned at her vehemence. ‘I’m thinking of you, Kathryn. What would be best for you. I’m bad news.’
‘Not to me you’re not!’ she insisted, and he smiled faintly.
‘You shouldn’t try and stop me doing the right thing. I haven’t had such a noble feeling in years.’
She sniffed. ‘Personally, I think nobility is highly overrated.’ Especially if it meant she could lose him.
‘All the same,’ he went on with a sigh, ‘I don’t know how long I can continue to keep you away from the press.’
Her brows rose. ‘You mean you have something to do with the fact I haven’t had my picture splashed across the tabloids?’ She had been relieved to discover her presence in Joel’s life wasn’t news, but puzzled all the same. Now she knew why.
Blue eyes quartered her face, as if he was memorising it. ‘I found I had a dislike of the idea of seeing you in print under some sensation-seeking banner. So far as I’m concerned, you’re not for public consumption. I have no intention of sharing you with half the country, so I’ve simply been exercising more discretion.’
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