‘I’ can believe that.’ A smile touched the corners of Sebastian’s mouth as he enjoyed her flaring temper. Kate knew what he was implying and she was furious. Did he not realise that she worked? That Terry and she were merely flatmates? She would not lower herself to explain. It might do him good to think she had a relationship with Terry. She tossed her head back as she spun away from him and marched over to her dressing-table, throwing herself down heavily on the chair. It creaked in protest. She glared at his reflection in the mirror.
‘I’d rather be on my own,’ she told him aloofly as she picked up a hairbrush and made a desultory attempt at brushing her damp hair. She hoped that her cold attitude was coolly dismissive but Sebastian remained impassive.
‘Quite the Greta Garbo, aren’t we?’ he mocked, his generous mouth widening still further while her mouth thinned to a grim line. He folded his arms across his muscular chest, his stance warning her that he had no intention of leaving. She knew how stubborn Sebastian could be.
‘Shut up, Sebastian. Shut up and get out,’ Kate shouted, unable to stand his presence any longer. His taunting smile only reflected his lack of understanding. He raked his fingers through his hair and shook his head, tutting softly at her outburst.
‘Now that’s not very polite, is it?’ he teased. ‘I see your manners haven’t improved. Clare was right—you should have gone to a finishing school.’
But Kate was in no mood to be taunted. She was determined to wipe the smile from his arrogant face.
‘Clare still managed to get rid of me,’ she turned to remind him. She hoped the jibe would hit home. But her sense of victory was quickly squashed. For a moment there was a flicker of annoyance on his face but then he grinned, his eyes bright with humour.
‘Of course! It was the wicked stepmother,’ he said dramatically, laughing as he raised his hand to his forehead, as he were part of a Victorian melodrama.
‘Well, it was, wasn’t it?’ she said coolly, trying to ignore his mocking attitude and the obvious amusement she was affording him.
‘Yes, my mother did suggest you should go away for a while. It was a sensible decision in the circumstances,’ he said, his voice taking on another edge. His tone warned her that he had totally agreed with that decision. So, he was as much to blame as Clare, perhaps even more so. Kate tried to suffocate the flush of discomfort she was feeling. She rallied, suddenly wanting to turn the tables on him.
‘And what circumstances were they?’ she asked, her eyes bright with a challenging gleam.
Sebastian sighed loudly and shook his head. He viewed her like an adult looking at a disobedient child. He sunk his hands deep into his trousers pockets, till the material of his trousers was stretched across his flat stomach.
‘Why, Kate, do you insist on making life difficult?’ he growled, his jaw tensing with annoyance. ‘Aren’t there enough problems in the world without you adding to them?’ he continued. His tone was weary, as if she were still a besotted schoolgirl in total awe of him.
‘Problems? Doesn’t that just sum it up? In your eyes I was a problem, so you all decided to ship me off to school,’ Kate retorted, flicking her hair back from her shoulders as she stood up to face him. ‘But naughty Kate wouldn’t do as she was told,’ she taunted. How, in reality, she had hated going away, leaving him and her family and friends. The same sense of hurt and betrayal still gnawed away at her, despite the fact that it had been almost two years ago. He had remained here, at home, while she had become the outcast, struggling to prove to him that she was an equal.
‘It wasn’t like that, Kate, and you know it,’ Sebastian reminded her, his voice dangerously quiet and his features softening.
‘Wasn’t it?’ she returned, wrinkling her nose in an expression of scorn as she moved closer to him, her body aching for a response, even if all she got was an arousal of his wrath.
‘No,’ he cut in sharply. ‘You were getting out of hand—surely you remember?’ His eyes searched her face for some trace of understanding.
‘I remember all right, Sebastian,’ she answered. She remembered the pathetic lengths she had gone to in order to secure his attention in the past. That fateful evening had made her realise how foolish she had been, and it was branded on her mind, her heart and her soul forever. ‘I remember it very well.’ She moved closer, still hoping she could make him weaken, but not understanding why. ‘A kiss in the dark, that’s all. Wasn’t it, Sebastian?’ she goaded, watching the streak of colour that highlighted his cheeks as his gaze fell on her heaving breasts as they rose from the cover of the towel.
‘For goodness’ sake, Kate, grow up!’ he barked, his dark eyes turning to pools of black ink.
‘Wasn’t that the problem—that I did grow up?’ she taunted, her head tilted back, her eyes ablaze with defiance. Now his face was white with anger, his jaw tight and hard like granite. His eyes trapped hers with a piercing light that almost seared into the depths of her soul. Kate was frozen to the spot, her heart beating furiously. But she refused to drop her gaze. She stared up at him defiantly. She had grown up a great deal in the past eighteen months, working in a busy office, often forced to take on extra responsibilities, and now this was her chance to prove it. Sebastian remained silent, and for a fleeting moment Kate thought she caught a flicker of interest in his expression, but it disappeared so quickly that she decided she had imagined it. The stillness only heightened the increasingly tense atmosphere and she waited silently, trying to force a response from him. Suddenly he turned on his heel and marched away, the slamming of the door confirming that he had gone. Kate sank in disbelief on to her bed. What on earth had possessed her to act in that way? She threw herself back on to the soft pillows in frustration. Why did she always have to react to him? Her own words came back into her mind to taunt her: ‘A kiss in the dark.’
How well she remembered it! It had been her eighteenth birthday—the house had been filled with family and friends for the celebration. Kate had known Sebastian would come, even though she had seen little of him over the last few months. She’d known he would be there that night. Her heart had flipped every time she’d heard the doorbell ring then sank again when it wasn’t him. Finally he had arrived. She could see it now, like watching a film on the screen. She had raced to the door, flinging herself into his arms.
‘Sebastian, I knew you’d come,’ she cried. Her arms clung around his neck and she rejoiced in the intoxicating aroma of him that enveloped her whole body.
‘Kate.’ His tone was abrupt, almost curt, and he pushed her firmly away from him. It was as if she had been slapped, the pain was so real. She stepped away, bewildered; she was eighteen now, a young woman. She had made so much effort tonight, dressing with so much care, in a dress which she knew perhaps was a little too sophisticated for her but she had seen his other girlfriends wear such designs. He had disentangled himself from her as if embarrassed, and Kate felt her blood turn to ice as he introduced her to his stunning companion, who had just stepped into the house.
‘Kate, this is Louisa.’ His arm wrapped around the woman’s slender waist and he drew her up against him.
Kate gave a bitter smile at the memory. How shocked she had been—totally stunned. She had truly believed it was only a matter of time before Sebastian would confess his love for her. Unbidden tears now pricked her eyes and she rolled over on the bed, unable to stop their salty flow at the memory of that fateful night. She had gone outside in the garden until finally Sebastian had come in search of her. She had been cold, but her body had been shivering more with anticipation than the night air.
‘Kate, you’ll catch your death in that flimsy thing,’ he had laughed, pulling her gently against his warm chest, and Kate had allowed her head to fall against him, listening to the steady thud of his strong heart, breathing in the very essence of him.
‘Do you like my dress?’ she whispered, raising her doe eyes to look at him. He looked at her, smiling, and nodded.
‘Quite the young lady,’ he said, but she