From Out Of The Blue

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“Whoa.” He set his wineglass back down, his expression wary. “Back up a step. You asked me to fix you another drink, and I did. I wasn’t trying to get you drunk so I could take advantage of you. I’ve never done that with a woman.”

“So you say.”

“Is that what this is all about? You were mad at me because I mixed you two drinks and you were mad at yourself because all of a sudden your sex drive kicked into high gear after years of being repressed by life on board an aircraft carrier? That’s why you never read my letter? Is that what you came back here to tell me?”

“Not exactly,” Kate said, but he was too worked up to listen.

“You had me half undressed before you even finished that second drink,” he said. “Remember now?”

Kate’s cheeks burned. “That’s because of the large amounts of alcohol you obviously put in my glass.”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t the alcohol that caused you to let down your hair. It was the adrenaline pumping through your system after that flight from Adak. It was the blizzard and the wind and the snow and the fire in the woodstove. It was all those things combined, but most of all, it was you and me, Kate. You and me. Call it chemistry, call it whatever you want, but you can’t deny it. We were great together.” He took a step closer and startled her by reaching out a hand to brush the hair back from the side of her face. “I can feel that chemistry even now. Can’t you?”

She closed her fingers around his wrist to still his hand, terrified that he’d discover she was wearing a wig. “Mitch, I didn’t come here to explain why I never read your letter. I came because I have something important to talk to you about.”

Rebuffed, he stepped back when she released his hand and gave her a curt nod. “So, talk.”

Kate was riveted by the intensity of his gaze. She knew it was now or never, and she felt a pressure building up within herself that made it hard to breathe. Her heart beat a painful cadence as she struggled to find the right words. So many unknowns loomed ahead of her. She could only hope this one turned out well, both for Hayden’s sake, and for hers.

“You’d better turn the steak first,” she said, taking hold of her glass of wine and damning herself for her cowardice. “This could take awhile.”

CHAPTER FOUR

MITCH REALIZED that they were standing toe-to-toe like dueling partners, which wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he planned this barbecue. The way things were going, she wouldn’t be spending the night up in his loft, and he kind of had his heart set on that scenario. He turned away from her and gave his attention to the food cooking on the grill, fuming inwardly. Damn, but she was hard to read. What was she trying to tell him that was so vital? Was she going to accuse him of putting some kind of date rape drug in her drinks? As he turned the meat, the pager on his belt sounded. He silenced it with a muttered curse.

“Sorry. That’s the boss,” he explained. “Bad timing. I better call Wally and find out what’s up.”

Kate moved to the porch railing to watch the water rush past while he went into the kitchen to retrieve the satellite phone. He carried it back out and dialed, then, while he waited for the call to go through, he poked the steak with the tongs, taking out his frustration on the expensive piece of meat until someone picked up on the other end.

“Hey, boss, what’s up?” He glanced across the creek toward the mountain range while he listened to Wally explain. Four climbers, one injured badly, winds so high on the mountain that nobody else was flying. Mitch’s initial reaction to this was disappointment, then he glanced at Kate. She was standing with her back to him, and her shoulders were set in a militant line. Whatever it was she was working herself up to tell him, it wasn’t going to be pretty. In retrospect, maybe now would be a good time for him to bail.

“We still have a couple hours of good daylight and the Stationair’s ready to rock and roll, right? That’ll be good money, especially if they want a lift into Fairbanks. We have a bank payment due on the plane and another one to buy. Radio them to hang tight, boss, I’m on my way.”

He ended the call and gave Kate what he hoped was an apologetic look. “Four climbers requesting a flight out of base camp, one needs immediate medical attention. Increasing winds are predicted on the mountain through tomorrow, so it’s now or never. A high-risk rescue means great money. It also means we can’t share supper. Sorry about that.”