FIVE
IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE to drift off into a relaxed sleep after the day’s events—events that had upsettingly culminated in Hal’s shocking fall. Kit thanked her lucky stars that he hadn’t injured himself more, but she was still anxious to have the nurse check him over when she visited tomorrow. She prayed the woman wouldn’t think she hadn’t done her job properly because she’d left Hal unsupervised and in doing so proved herself incompetent. The last thing Kit wanted was to have her report back to Hal’s sister with the suggestion that she hire someone else. It would be the first black mark on her unblemished record with the agency if she did.
Unable to banish the worry and doubt that plagued her, she thumped the luxurious feather pillow she’d been resting her head on and turned over onto her side. Her mind raced on. More than anything else she wanted Hal Treverne to see that she was the very best at what she did, and for him to realise that she was totally dedicated to helping aid his recovery.
Is that all you want him to see? That you’re competent and good at what you do?
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake.’
Once more Kit sat up and drove her fingers restlessly through her hair. The provoking question her mind had mocked her with was hardly conducive to her getting much sleep at all that night if she decided to explore it, she realised. Yet she couldn’t deny that the man disturbed her. He made her more aware of her femininity than any other man had ever done before...especially when he kissed her!
The fact that he had a broken leg and was irritable and frustrated by his resultant immobility didn’t make Kit any less aware of the man’s undoubted charisma and sex appeal. But then, when she recalled that Hal had told her at the interview that he might need to call on her for company at night if he couldn’t sleep, her heart skipped an anxious beat. People were apt to let their guard down more during the night-time hours. What would they talk about? Kit wouldn’t dream of betraying any confidences he might share, but at the same time she hoped he wouldn’t expect her to reveal any of her own. She’d never been at all easy talking about her past, and whenever it arose she’d developed a strategy of automatically glossing over the details and then acting as if it was hardly of any consequence.
‘The past is in the past and that’s where it should stay,’ she’d comment, endeavouring for a blithe, cheery tone.
Would Hal Treverne break her cover and intuit that her guard was as strong as a portcullis slamming down to keep out the enemy if he should veer into that particular territory? And would he wonder why she was so reluctant to talk about it? Only tonight he’d vowed to talk to her about what had made her ‘so eminently sensible’ she recalled. His resolution had made her understandably anxious at the idea of even briefly having to revisit the circumstances and events that had shaped her. To discuss her past with him might threaten to open a can of worms that wouldn’t easily be closed... It could also undo the self-confidence she’d built up over the past few years since working for the agency. It might even destroy it completely.
Making an abrupt decision to deal with whatever should transpire and not allow it to make her flustered, Kit resignedly combed her fingers through her freed mane of silken copper hair once again and lay back down. Deciding to draw upon the sheer determination and pragmatism she usually utilised to get her through life’s challenges, she promised herself she would have a far less troubling day tomorrow, come what may. And on that reassuring note she finally allowed her eyes to drift closed...
* * *
The surprising realisation that hit Hal on opening his eyes the next morning was that for the first time since the accident he had astonishingly experienced an unbroken night’s sleep. He’d slept through the night without waking even once. Barely able to believe it, he sat upright, bemusedly scrubbed his hand round his studded jaw and then pushed back the duvet. Yes, he’d taken two strong painkillers before retiring, but they had never worked as effectively before.
Had his redheaded guardian angel put some kind of spell on him? Glancing down at his injured leg, he saw that even the swelling on his damaged knee had diminished a little. That stupid fall of his last night hadn’t hurt him at all. But it had acted as a warning to him not to refuse Kit’s help when he needed it all because he was striving to be so damn independent! From now on he would endeavour to be more sensible. His swift recovery so that he could return to his busy life depended on it.
Although he had a bevy of reliable people working for him, he wouldn’t be happy until he was back at the helm overseeing things and feeling satisfied that everything was being done properly and to the high standards he expected.
A short while after he had washed and dressed there was a knock on the door and his intention to be sensible was immediately put to the test as Kit came in, pushing his wheelchair. This morning she was wearing mouth-wateringly fitted blue jeans that hugged her slender hips and thighs as though paying devoted homage to her arresting contours and what looked to be a large-sized man’s red and white check flannel shirt, encircled by a shiny red belt that showed off her ridiculously small waist. Once again her wavy auburn hair was threatening to tumble free from the topknot that never seemed quite able to secure it.
Hal stared. He couldn’t help it. A bolt of white-hot heat shot through him at the thought of taking down that fiery hair, unbuttoning the ridiculous man’s shirt she wore, freeing her breasts from her bra and kissing them until his lips and body were on fire from the sea of blissful pleasure that he would no doubt be drowning in...
‘Good morning.’ She smiled.
Feeling somewhat dazed by his heated reaction at seeing her again, Hal continued to make a personal inventory of her assets as though noticing them for the very first time. Her eyes were as blue as the brightest delphiniums that Mother Nature could devise, and her rosy cheeks and full red lips would surely tempt even the most devout monk to rethink his vows. Kissing them would be like tasting the sweetest ripe cherries he could imagine.
‘Henry...are you all right?’
The most exquisite little frown he had ever seen puckered Kit’s smooth alabaster brow. She must have put a spell on him. He had a creative mind, but never before in his entire romantic history to date had he thought of a woman’s frown as being ‘exquisite’. He sat on the edge of the vast king-sized bed, with his injured leg stretched out in front of him and resting on a footstool, and right then life felt surprisingly good. If this was what this incredible woman could do for him—make him feel happy to be alive in the midst of what he had previously deemed a disaster—then he’d be an absolute idiot to let her go.
At last he managed to convey his pleasure at seeing her to his lips. Shaping them into a pleased smile, he said, ‘I’m absolutely fine. In fact I’ve never felt better.’
‘I take it you’re being sardonic?’ Again Kit frowned, but this time the gesture was undoubtedly more perturbed.
‘Not at all. I slept like a baby last night. Consequently I feel on top of the world.’
‘Must have been those painkillers that you took.’
‘Maybe.’ With his smile still intact, Hal nonchalantly shrugged his big shoulders.
With a bemused sigh Kit manoeuvred the wheelchair a little closer towards him. ‘Anyway...I thought I’d wheel you into the kitchen for breakfast this morning and save the wear and tear on your legs. Especially after that fall you had last night. You can use your crutches later, after you’ve seen the nurse and when you’ve rested up a bit.’
Even though her concerned declaration made Hal feel more like an eighty-year-old than a young, fit man
