The Outback Wedding Takeover

CHAPTER TWO

IT WAS like a bolt of electric energy charging into the room. Kathryn felt as though she’d been zapped off the chair she’d been sitting on, her body lifting onto her feet, straightening up, instinctively meeting the force of the man head on, while staring at him in wide-eyed shock.

This was Mitch Tyler?

A barrister?

She’d always thought of barristers as rather lofty and effete academics in fusty wigs, full of their own self-importance. Yet here she was, faced with a dynamic entity who literally bristled with masculinity, so much so her knees felt weak. And her heart was fluttering.

Tall, dark and handsome, but not like Ric Donato. Not like Ric at all. Any woman would call her boss drop-dead gorgeous, but this man didn’t come out of any romantic mould. Power was the only word that came to Kathryn’s dazed mind. He had a strong square jaw, very firmly delineated mouth, a sharp triangular shaped nose, straight black brows, and beneath them, stunning blue eyes that burned straight into Kathryn’s like twin lasers, totally transfixing her.

She stared at him and he stared right back at her. Kathryn couldn’t gather wits enough to say a word. The mutual stare went on so long, she began to wonder if he doubted her identity, though surely his clerk would have told him she was waiting in here where he’d told her to wait.

Mitch was thinking Ric must be mad. He had this woman right under his nose and he ran off with someone else?

She was like Tinkerbell…magic…a pixie face with those wonderful green eyes and the gamine hairstyle, like a flyaway cap of burnished copper, a lovely pouty mouth that was made for kissing, an hourglass figure poured into a curve-hugging green suit, the skirt delectably short enough to show off long, shapely legs…how could Ric be immune to such gut-tugging femininity? Mitch was struggling to remember this was a professional visit.

‘Mr Tyler…?’

Her voice sounded husky, uncertain…and incredibly sexy.

‘Mitch,’ he said forcefully, deciding Kathryn Ledger was not his client and he didn’t have to keep a professional distance. She was here on Ric’s behalf. And Lara Chappel’s. He propelled himself forward, offering his hand. ‘Good to meet you, Kathryn.’ Lovely name. Rolled off his tongue as though he’d been saying it for centuries.

‘Mitch,’ she repeated, looking at him wonderingly as her hand slipped into his.

The top of her head only came up to his chin so her face was tilted up. There were sparkly gold specks around the rim of her green irises like an explosion of fireworks. Her mouth was still slightly parted from having spoken his name and Mitch had to fight the urge to bend down and taste it. Her hand was soft, dainty, and he hung onto it because it was the only touch he could sensibly allow himself at this point. They’d barely met.

‘No trouble coming here?’ he asked, pushing his mind to get back on track—the whole purpose of her presence in his office.

‘No. Thank you for the escorts.’ A swift little smile. ‘They certainly made me feel safe.’

‘Good!’ He smiled back, feeling a wild joy in having protected this woman. And he’d go on protecting her, whatever it took. ‘You’ve brought the photo?’

‘Yes. In my bag.’

She nodded to a many-zippered beige handbag resting by the chair she’d been sitting on. Mitch reluctantly released her hand, freeing her to get the critical photo for him. Losing the physical link made him realise how possessive he was feeling toward Kathryn Ledger—amazingly so. He couldn’t recall any other woman ever having such an impact on him.

He watched her lift the bag onto his desk as he mentally examined the primitive instincts she stirred. Control was second nature to him. Only once in his life had he completely lost it, wanting to beat Jenny’s rapist to a pulp, and he might well have done so if he hadn’t been forcibly restrained.

Control the anger and channel the energy into more effective strategies, Patrick had advised. But this…what he was feeling now with Kathryn Ledger…was completely outside Mitch’s experience and he couldn’t find any control mechanisms for it. His entire body seemed to be buzzing with excitement.

Her left hand moved to open a zipper on the bag. It was like a punch in the heart, seeing the ring on her third finger. A ring with a flashy solitaire diamond. An engagement ring!

She was taken.

Another man had already claimed her as his.

Anger smashed through the shock. It wasn’t right. It couldn’t be right. He’d fight to…

No!

Mitch shook his head clear of the crazy surge of testosterone, enforcing reason. Kathryn Ledger had willingly given herself to someone else. Someone she obviously wanted to marry. Her choice was made. And, of course, Ric had respected it. She wasn’t available to him any more than she was available to Mitch.

Checkmate!

He had to back off.

Never mind that it felt wrong.

She had come to him for help. Nothing more. He had to get his mind focused on the job and forget everything else.

Kathryn was trying desperately to get herself together. It didn’t help that her hand was still tingling from Mitch Tyler’s touch, that her legs felt shaky, and she could barely concentrate on opening her bag and extracting the telling photograph. She felt as though she’d been knocked completely out of kilter.

For a moment there, she’d even been wondering what it might be like if Mitch Tyler kissed her. Jeremy—her partner for the past year!—had been totally blotted out of her mind. The reason for being here in these legal chambers had been lost, too. It was as though she’d been caught up in some magnetic force-field that shut out everything else but the man holding her hand, and she was still quivering inside from the unbelievably strong tug of his attraction.

Her fingers closed over the photograph and she took a deep breath before turning to hand it to him. It was a relief that his gaze instantly fastened on the image of Lara and Gary Chappel, giving her more time to recover her composure. Better still when he stepped away from her, moving around to the other side of his desk, putting considerable distance between them, enough distance to ease the tightness in her chest.

‘Thank you,’ he said, flicking a look at her as he gestured to the chair she’d vacated. ‘Please sit down again.’

She grabbed her bag off the desk and gratefully retreated even further, settling herself before risking another glance at him. He’d sat down, too, occupying the big leather chair behind his desk, studying the photograph she’d given him, his straight black brows lowered in a frown.

His dark hair was also straight, very thick and cut short in graduated layers to stay neat. He had neat ears, as well, almost no lobes like her own, but curved around the top, not pointy. He wouldn’t have been teased about having pixie ears when he was a kid. She couldn’t imagine anyone ever teasing Mitch Tyler. One look from those powerful blue eyes…

A convulsive little shiver ran down her spine. He had to be dynamite in a courtroom. She wondered how Ric had come to know him. They looked to be about the same age—mid-thirties—yet she couldn’t see how their lives would have touched. As far as she knew, her boss had not gone through university. Maybe somewhere in his years as a photo-journalist he’d sought legal assistance. Whatever…Ric Donato trusted this man and Kathryn could see why he would. In any kind of fight, she’d want Mitch Tyler on her side.

He jackknifed forward, picked up the telephone from his desk, made a call, still frowning as he waited for a response which came within a few moments. ‘Patrick, it’s Mitch. Have you heard from Ric today?’

The reply must have been negative because he quickly ran on, ‘I think he’s heading your way. Took Johnny’s plane out. If you hear from him would you please let me know?’

Another pause, a grimace, then, ‘He left me with a problem and I’d appreciate more instructions. If he calls you, tell him to call me. Okay?’

Phone down. He knew Johnny Ellis, too, Kathryn thought, and all three men were obviously connected to this Patrick whom Mitch had just called.

‘Ric didn’t tell me where he was going,’ she offered.

The laser-sharp eyes bored into hers again. ‘He wouldn’t. Not in these circumstances. Fill me in on the whole story, Kathryn, as much as you know.’

His gaze alone seemed to be picking at her brain. Kathryn felt constrained to remember every little detail in case it was vitally important. ‘You know Ric’s business,’ she started.

‘Brokering photographs to all forms of media around the world,’ he rapped out, tapping the one he’d now laid on the desk in front of him. ‘This one was e-mailed in?’

‘Yes. Taken at the airport. Dated yesterday. We were checking through the computer file this morning…’

‘What time was it when Ric saw this?’

‘About nine-thirty. Normally we don’t deal in shots that might cause people problems. I was about to delete this one when Ric stopped me. He asked me to print it, give him a copy, put five more copies in the office safe and buy the copyright from the photographer so no-one else could print it. He said he didn’t care how much it cost…just get it.’

Mitch nodded thoughtfully. ‘Did you acquire the copyright?’

‘Yes. After Ric left. Which he did as soon as I’d printed out his copy. He took it with him. I didn’t know what he was going to do. He simply said he and Lara Chappel…Lara Seymour…went way back and she wouldn’t want that photo published. I felt…’ She hesitated, wondering if she should colour the facts with her feelings or not.

‘Tell me,’ Mitch encouraged.

She sighed. ‘All this was out of character. That photo got to him personally. In a big way. It wasn’t normal business, if you know what I mean.’

It evoked a wry little smile. ‘I guess we all have moments that aren’t…normal.’

A flood of heat whooshed up her neck and scorched her cheeks. Kathryn couldn’t remember the last time she had blushed. She was thirty years old, a successful career woman, adept at handling all sorts of people and situations. Yet here was embarrassing proof of how abnormal her reaction was to this man. Was it horribly obvious that he’d put her in such a spin, even her blood temperature was affected?

Stick to the facts, girl, she berated herself. Best to steer right away from feelings, because she was in a high state of confusion about her own.

‘It was just past eleven when Ric called me from his car,’ she went on briskly. ‘He said he was heading back to the office, should be there in ten minutes. He had Lara Chappel with him and he needed my help. He instructed me to tell my secretary I’d be away for a couple of hours at a business meeting with a magazine editor—nothing unusual about that—and meet him in the basement car park with my bag and car keys.’

‘You didn’t question what help Ric wanted?’

Kathryn shrugged. ‘He’s my boss.’

‘How did he sound?’

‘Very much in command.’

Mitch Tyler nodded. ‘Ric has worked in war zones. He’d keep his head.’

Kathryn didn’t know if Mitch was reassuring her or himself. Certainly the familiar way he spoke of Ric’s past suggested a long and close friendship.

‘So you were there waiting for him when he drove into the basement car park,’ he prompted.

‘Yes. Ric said they’d been followed by a grey sedan—male driver wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses—bound to be hanging around outside since there was no entry to the private car park without an official identification card. He wanted me to drive him and Lara Chappel to Bankstown Airport. They got into my car and scrunched down in their seats while I drove out, and they stayed down until I could assure them we weren’t being followed by the pursuit vehicle.’

‘Did Lara Chappel say anything to you?’

‘Not until we arrived at the airport. She simply did whatever Ric told her to.’

‘How did she appear to you? Her reactions to what was going on?’

Kathryn paused, wanting to be accurate in her impressions. ‘Nervous, frightened, distracted,’ she answered slowly.

Mitch cocked his head to one side, a musing expression on his face. ‘Did it occur to you that you could be accused of assisting in an unlawful abduction?’

Kathryn was shocked into protesting. ‘It was a getaway, not an abduction. Lara Chappel was willingly following Ric’s lead.’

He leaned forward and tapped the photograph on the desk. ‘Ric might have used this for leverage.’

‘He wouldn’t do that.’

The blue eyes glittered mockingly. ‘How can you tell what a man will do…when he wants a woman very badly?’

His gaze slid down to her mouth and Kathryn found herself holding her breath while her heart skittered, reacting to what felt like a simmering passion aimed directly at her. Was he just projecting what he thought Ric might feel toward Lara Chappel? Was a clever barrister a brilliant actor, as well? But why target her like this? It felt really personal. And terribly unsettling.

‘It wasn’t like that,’ she burst out in an urgent need to defend herself. ‘It was obvious that Lara Chappel trusted him. She was with him willingly, anxious to make good her escape. Once we arrived at the airport, she thanked me very sincerely for my help. And I noticed she wasn’t wearing any rings.’

It reminded Kathryn of the ring she was wearing herself—the ring proclaiming she’d agreed to marry Jeremy Haynes. Her gaze dropped to the flashy solitaire diamond he’d chosen for her and she told herself once again it was a measure of how much he valued her, not a status symbol of how much he was worth. Of course, money was useful. Life was a lot easier with it than without it. But sometimes…

She twisted the ring around on her finger, wishing it was an emerald, something more personal to her. Jeremy knew she loved green. Yet she couldn’t very well argue against his romantic declaration that ‘Diamonds are forever.’ She heaved a rueful sigh and raised her gaze to the man who was stirring all sorts of troubling confusion in her.

He was staring at her ring, watching the agitated movement of it around her finger. She instantly stilled her hands and spoke very firmly. ‘If a woman takes off her rings, it’s a very deliberate action, meaning that relationship—her commitment to it—is over. Lara Chappel wanted out of her marriage. I have no doubt of that. Ric wasn’t abducting her. She looked at him as though he was performing a miracle for her.’

‘A miracle…’ Mitch Tyler’s mouth twisted with irony as his gaze flicked up to meet hers. ‘I see you’re engaged to be married, Kathryn.’

‘Yes.’ Why did she feel defiant about that? He wasn’t attacking her on it…was he?

‘When is the happy wedding day?’

‘We haven’t decided yet.’

‘No keen rush to the altar?’

She frowned, uneasy with these personal questions. ‘It depends on work factors.’

‘Your work or his?’

‘I don’t see how this is relevant to the situation that brought me here,’ she flared at him.

‘I assure you it is highly relevant,’ he retorted, making a languid gesture that denied any attack. ‘I’m simply ascertaining how long you want to remain in the position of Ric’s executive assistant. Should your fiancé be happy for you to walk out of it today…’

‘I wouldn’t be happy,’ she cut in emphatically.

‘So you want to keep your job, regardless of any threat Gary Chappel might pose?’

She glared at him. ‘You’re supposed to take care of that.’

‘Ah yes, the miracle worker,’ he drawled. ‘Ric plays knight to the rescue of his fair Lara, and I’m handed the job of slaying the dragon and keeping you safe.’ His eyes beamed hard relentless purpose at her. ‘And I will. I will keep you safe, Kathryn. But the legal moves will take a day or two and I’m just wondering how much your fiancé cares about you and your safety.’ One eyebrow lifted in challenge. ‘As much as Ric, taking his woman right out of reach?’

‘I’m not stupid. I can take care of myself,’ she protested.

‘Not against a man like Gary Chappel,’ came the flat retort. Then more softly, insidiously touching a raw memory, ‘How did you feel when he confronted you in your office?’

She shuddered.

Mitch Tyler instantly pounced on the response. ‘You were frightened.’

‘He was in a rage.’

‘Breathing fire. He not only has a lot of fire-power, Kathryn, but he has no conscience about using it. If Gary Chappel thinks you’re standing in his way…’

The telephone rang. Mitch Tyler snatched up the receiver and listened to the person on the other end of the line.

It was a relief to have his attention withdrawn from her, focused on something else. Kathryn reflected on what he’d said about Gary Chappel, whom she’d found a very scary man, having no regard whatsoever for appropriate or even reasonable behaviour. She’d managed to get rid of him once, but if he stormed into the office again…or came to her home…

A man who had his wife watched and followed…a battered wife…violence toward women…it was beginning to look very ugly to Kathryn. She remembered how he’d repeated her name, committing it to memory for further reference, his contemptuous manner toward her, the sense of threat.

‘Okay. So you’ve agreed to let Lara stay with you. That’s fine but Ric can’t stay, too.’

Mitch’s curt words broke Kathryn’s train of concern, alerting her to a new development.

‘There have already been aggressive moves made by Gary Chappel to recover his wife,’ he continued. ‘I have Ric’s executive assistant, Kathryn Ledger, here in my chambers, a protective move against further harassment in her office. In all fairness, Ric must become an open target for Chappel to pursue. Best if he flies out of the country as soon as possible—I mean tomorrow—get the heat off his Sydney office.’

Yes, Kathryn thought. She certainly didn’t want another encounter with Gary Chappel.

A pause for listening, then, ‘Get them both to call me when they arrive. I’ll talk to Ric first but I also need ammunition from Lara Chappel to make legal moves stick. I have a plan of action in mind but it will only work with Lara’s full co-operation.’

A plan of action… Kathryn breathed more easily. She instinctively had faith in Mitch Tyler’s ability to counter-punch anything. If anyone had the power to take on a problem and beat it, he did. Ric had trusted him with it. She did, too. And now that communication with the escaping couple could be reestablished, everything should be quickly settled.

Mitch put the receiver down. Kathryn tensed as his riveting gaze zeroed in on her again. ‘Do you live with your fiancé?’ he asked point-blank.

‘Yes.’

‘He’ll be at home with you tonight?’

She shook her head. ‘He’s in Melbourne on business. He won’t be home until tomorrow evening.’

‘You can’t be on your own, Kathryn. Not with Gary Chappel in a state of raging frustration. Believe me, I know what that man is capable of. Without some restraining force—and I can’t even begin to apply that until tomorrow—he’s a loose cannon.’ He gestured to the phone. ‘Want to call your fiancé? Ask him to fly back to Sydney this evening?’

While he was in the middle of negotiations for his future career in financial services? Calling him away from critical meetings to nurse-maid her? Because of something that had happened through her job? Which didn’t matter as much as his, given that he’d be the main source of financial support when they had children.

‘I don’t want to do that,’ she quickly decided. Jeremy would consider it totally unreasonable.

The blue eyes bored in. ‘Aren’t you more important to him than business?’

‘I can take care of myself,’ she asserted again.

‘You’re a woman…against a man with resources he’ll have no compunction in using to get his own way.’

Jeremy would blame her for getting involved with something that was not really her job, bringing trouble upon herself, messing everything up for him. ‘I can go to a hotel,’ she said, desperately seeking an alternative course.

Mitch Tyler shook his head. ‘If you won’t call your fiancé to come home and stand between you and any threat from Gary Chappel…you stay with me.’

Her heart skipped a beat. ‘Stay…with you?’ She could barely get the words out, her mouth had gone so dry.

‘Ric made me responsible for you. I take that responsibility very seriously.’

‘But…’

‘I have a house in Woollahra. It has a guest suite which my sister and her husband use when they come to Sydney. You will be safe with me, Kathryn.’

He wouldn’t allow anyone to get to her. She was sure of that. But safe with him? When he seemed to be driving stakes through her relationship with Jeremy with everything he said, everything he was?

I need to call Jeremy, she thought. Stop this now.

Yet she knew it would only cause an argument…in Mitch Tyler’s hearing…and he’d be making silent judgements…stirring her up even more…making her wish…

No.

Better that she did stay with him. If she was so strongly attracted to this man, and the attraction remained strong throughout the evening, maybe she shouldn’t be marrying Jeremy Haynes.

Kathryn looked down at the ring on her hand.

And the most troubling thing of all was…she wished she wasn’t wearing it.

CHAPTER THREE

MITCH’S whole body was buzzing with adrenaline. He’d thrown down the challenge and every nerve was keyed to piano-wire tension, waiting for which way Kathryn would jump. Her gaze had dropped to the ring on her finger.

Take it off, Mitch fiercely willed. If the guy won’t drop everything to look after you at a time of need, he’s not worthy of you.

He was tempted to screw the challenge up another notch, offer to speak to the man himself, make him aware that Kathryn was in serious danger. But that might be tipping the scales which were delicately balanced at the moment. She was not stupid. He’d spelled out what the situation was. The ball was in her court. If she chose to stay with him…well, that choice would be very telling, indeed.

‘I don’t want to interfere with Jeremy’s business,’ she said slowly.

His heart kicked with excitement as she lifted her gaze to his, her eyes returning a challenge that demanded he measure up to his own promises.

‘You claim I’ll be safe with you…’

His groin tingled. It was definitely a sexual challenge. Did she feel the attraction, too? He cocked an eyebrow at her. ‘Are you asking me if I’m a man of honour? If you can spend a night under my roof without my coming onto you?’

Heat whooshed into her cheeks, a sure sign that he’d hit a nerve that was pulsing with vulnerability. He smiled, wondering how tempted she was, though he spoke to dispel her unease.

‘You’re wearing a ring, Kathryn. You can count on my respecting it. Okay?’

The light mockery goaded her into accepting safe refuge with him. ‘Okay,’ she echoed on a long expulsion of obviously held breath. ‘If you don’t mind, I think it will be less fuss all around if I simply stay with you overnight.’

‘Best if you remain in my house tomorrow, as well,’ he pressed. ‘Take a sick day from work. By tomorrow night there should be safeguards in place so you can resume your normal life.’