Every Breath You Take (Second Opportunities 4)

Kate folded her arms loosely across her chest and regarded him with amusement. you really?”

,” he replied, reaching for theHotel Services folder on the desk.

how much do I owe you for the physician and ambulance?”

,” Mitchell said, flipping to the Room Service section of the handbook.

’t you offer them money so that they’d agree to come out here and treat a dog?”

appealed to their humane instincts.”

see,” Kate replied, pretending she believed his story. is that why they got here so fast, too? I mean, they were here less than ten minutes after you walked into the lobby.”

Mitchell glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was watching him with a knowing little smile, and he had a sudden, impossibly premature impulse to wrap her in his arms and cover that tantalizing mouth with his. That thought made a smile tug at the corner of his own lips as he shrugged and said, got here quickly because it’s a very small island.”

also because you promised them avery big tip?”

Trying to ignore the impulse to laugh, Mitchell focused on the menu. would you like for dinner?”

Kate named the same delicious meal she’d ordered the night before. think I’ll have the sea scallops and a prawn and avocado salad,” she said, bending down to check on the sleeping dog.

you like me to phone room service?” he asked.

, please,” Kate said over her shoulder. anything you like. Ordereverything you like,” she joked, imagining the enormous tip he must have given to entice the ambulance drivers and a physician to race at top speed to the rescue of an injured stray dog.

Max’s nose felt warm to her touch, and his breathing was shallow and a little fast, but the physician had told her to expect this. Behind her, she heard Mitchell pick up the telephone receiver, but a moment later he put it back in the cradle with a sharp clack. Puzzled, Kate glanced over her shoulder and saw him standing beside the phone, holding a piece of lined tablet paper in his hand, his dark brows drawn into a scowl.

A sheet of tablet paper . . .her tablet paper!Her tablet paper with the note she’d written to help the police identify him if she disappeared. can explain,” she said, surging to her feet and walking over to him.

’m dying to hear it,” he said coolly, and handed the note to her.

Kate reacted to the chill in his tone with an intensity that startled her. She didn’t want to insult him or make him think badly of her—not now, not when she was so grateful to him and liked him so much. He hadn’t sounded this curt and unfriendly when she blamed him for the Bloody Mary and dumped it on his shirt. Trying to think of the least offensive explanation she could give him, she reread what she’d written on the note.

’ve gone out to dinner with a man who says his name is Mitchell Wyatt. I met him this afternoon in the Sandbar when I spilled a Bloody Mary on his shirt. The waiter can give you his description.”

Stalling for time, she laid the offensive note back on the desk. ,” she began haltingly, I wasn’t sure what I should wear to dinner, I decided to call you and ask where we were going.” She paused, nervously rubbing her palms against the sides of her pants.

on,” he said brusquely.

when I phoned the hotel operator and asked him to ring your room, he said you weren’t staying here. That made me . . . well . . . uneasy. Possibilities started to occur to me that I hadn’t considered earlier, when I believed you were a guest here and agreed to have dinner with you.”

possibilities?” he demanded.

Kate wanted to be evasive, but that was impossible with his rapier blue gaze pinning hers. were certain things about you that made me think you might be a—” She almost choked on the word. “—gigolo.”

His scowl deepened. what ?”

, just try to look at it from my perspective. You were hanging around a very expensive hotel that you’re not staying at, you’re outrageously handsome, you’re incredibly smooth, you’re totally charming, and you’re avery fast worker—within two or three minutes of meeting me, you askedme to takeyou to dinner.” His expression hadn’t softened a bit, which told Kate two things: He wasn’t flattered by her complimentary remarks about his looks and charm; and he was waiting for an explanation as to why she’d instructed whoever read the note to get a description of him from the waiter.

Raking her hair back off her forehead, she admitted the entire embarrassing truth. was upset at the possibility that I’d been tricked into having dinner with a gigolo, but then I realized you could be a lot worse than a gigolo.”

can’t think of anything more repulsive than being a gigolo.”

, but you could have been worse than ‘repulsive.’ You could have been dangerous. You could have been a murderer who picks up single women in hotels in the islands, kills them, and buries their bodies in the sand . . . or . . . something like that. . . .” Kate trailed off, feeling like a colossal idiot.

you left a note for the authorities to find in case you disappeared?”

Kate nodded miserably.

you wanted to be sure I wouldn’t get away withyour murder?”

Kate was so mortified and so annoyed with herself that she missed the thread of amusement in his deep voice. Unable to hold his gaze, she looked toward Max. didn’t seem quite so idiotic then as it does now.”

For the second time in a few minutes, Mitchell had to fight down the impulse to haul her into his arms. To distract himself, he turned away and picked up the telephone.

Startled by his abrupt move, Kate said, are you calling?”

service,” he said mildly.

that case,” Kate said contritely, may change my order to a large plate of humble pie.”

Mitchell was still grinning when the room service operator answered his call.

Chapter Eight

LEAVINGMITCHELL TOdeal with room service, Kate went into the suite’s luxurious bathroom/dressing room to clean up. Twisting around in front of the full-length mirrors that lined one wall, she brushed at the bits of grass and dirt stuck to the back of her pants, but there was a damp stain on one side that was very noticeable.

Conscious of the passage of time, she walked over to the closet and considered her choices. Holly had helped her pack because the night before Kate was to leave for Anguilla, she’d gotten one of the fierce headaches that had been plaguing her since her father’s death. Holly had chosen outfits that were suitable for a romantic holiday with Evan, and none of them seemed completely appropriate for this particular occasion.