Kalina refused to turn around, but couldn’t stop her body’s response when Micah stepped into her line of vision, all but capsizing it like a turbulent wave on a blast of sensual air.
“Good evening, Major Rose,” he said with a hard edge to his voice, one that Kalina immediately picked up on. The two men exchanged strained greetings, and she watched how Micah eyed Major Rose with cool appraisal before turning his full attention to her. The hard lines on his face softened when he asked, “And how have you been, Kalina?”
She doubted that he really cared. She wasn’t surprised he was at this function, but she was surprised he had deliberately sought her out, and there was no doubt in her mind he’d done so. Any other man who’d done what he had done would be avoiding her like the plague. But not Dr. Micah Westmoreland. The man had courage of steel, but in this case he had just used it foolishly. He was depending on her cultured upbringing to stop her from making a scene, and he was right about her. She had too much pride and dignity to cause a commotion tonight, although she’d gone off on him the last time they had seen each other. She still intended to let him know exactly how she felt by cutting him to the core, letting it be obvious that he was the last person she wanted to be around.
“I’m fine, and now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I’ll continue to make my rounds. I just arrived, and there are a number of others I want to say hello to.”
She needed to get away from Micah, and quick. He looked stunning in his tux, which was probably why so many women in the room were straining their necks to get a glimpse of him. Even her legs were shaky from being this close to him. She suddenly felt hot, and the cold champagne she’d taken a sip of wasn’t relieving the slow burn gathering in her throat.
“I plan to mingle, myself,” Micah said, reaching out and taking her arm. “I might as well join you since there’s a matter we need to discuss.”
She fought the urge to glare up at him and tell him they had nothing to discuss. She didn’t want to snatch her arm away from him because they were already getting attention, probably from those who’d heard what happened between them two years ago. Unfortunately, the gossip mill was alive and well, especially when it came to Micah Westmoreland. She had heard about him long before she’d met him. It wasn’t that he’d been the type of man who’d gone around hitting on women. The problem was that women just tended to place him on their wish list.
“Fine, let’s talk,” she said, deciding that if Micah thought he was up to such a thing with her, then she was ready.
Fighting her intense desire to smack that grin right off his face, she glanced over at Major Rose and smiled apologetically. “If you will excuse me, it seems Dr. Westmoreland and I have a few things to discuss. And I haven’t decided just where I’ll be going on vacation, but I’ll let you know. I think it would be fun if you were to join me.” She ignored the feel of Micah’s hand tightening on her arm.
Major Rose nodded and gave her a rakish look. “Wonderful. I will await word on your plans, Kalina.”
Before she could respond, Micah’s hand tightened on her arm even more as he led her away.
“Don’t count on Major Rose joining you anywhere,” Micah all but growled, leaning close to Kalina’s ear while leading her across the ballroom floor toward an exit. He had checked earlier and the French doors opened onto the outside garden. It was massive and far away from the ball, so no one could hear the dressing-down he was certain Kalina was about to give him.
She glared at him. “And don’t count on him doing otherwise. You don’t own me, Micah. Last I looked, there’s nothing of yours on my body.”
“Then look again, sweetheart. Everything of mine is written all over that body of yours. I branded you. Nothing has changed.”
They came to a stop in front of what was the hotel’s replica of the White House’s prized rose garden. He was glad no one was around. No prying eyes or overeager ears. The last time she’d had her say he hadn’t managed to get in a single word for dodging all the insults and accusations she’d been throwing at him. That wouldn’t be the case this time. He had a lot to say and he intended for her to hear all of it.
“Nothing’s changed? How dare you impose your presence on me after what you did,” she snarled, transforming from a sophisticated lady to a roaring lioness. He liked seeing her shed all that formality and cultural adeptness and get downright nasty. He especially liked that alteration in the bedroom.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “And what exactly did I do, other than to spend two months of what I consider the best time of my life with you, Kalina?”
He watched her stiffen her spine when she said, “And I’m supposed to believe that? Are you going to stand here and lie to my face, Micah? Deny that you weren’t in cahoots with my father to keep me away from Beijing, using any means necessary? I wasn’t needed in Sydney.”
“I don’t deny that I fully agreed with your father that Beijing was the last place you needed to be, but I never agreed to keep you out of China.”
He could tell she didn’t want to hear the truth. She’d heard it all before but still refused to listen. Or to believe it. “And it wasn’t that you weren’t needed in Sydney,” he added, remembering how they’d been sent there to combat the possible outbreak of a deadly virus. “You and I worked hard to keep the bird-flu epidemic from spreading to Australia, so it wasn’t just sex, sex and more sex for us, Kalina. We worked our asses off, or have you forgotten?”
He knew his statement threw her for a second, made her remember. Yes, they might have shared a bed every night for those two months, but their daytime hours weren’t all fun and games. No one except certain members of the Australian government had been aware that their presence in the country had been for anything other than pleasure.
And regardless of what she’d thought, she had been needed there. He had needed her. They had worked well together and had combated a contagious disease. He had already spent a year in Beijing and had needed to leave when his time was up. Depression had started to set in with the sight of people dying right before his eyes, mostly children. It had been so frustrating to work nonstop trying unsuccessfully to find a cure before things could get worse.
Kalina had wanted to go to Beijing and get right in the thick of things. He could just imagine how she would have operated. She was not only a great epidemiologist, she was also a compassionate one, especially when there was any type of outbreak. He could see her getting attached to the people—especially the children—to the point where she would have put their well-being before her own.
That, and that alone, was the reason he had agreed with her father, but at no time had he plotted to have an affair with her to keep her in Sydney. He was well aware that all her hostility was because she believed otherwise. And for two years he had let her think the worst, mainly because she had refused to listen to anything he had to say. It was apparent now that she was still refusing to listen.
“Have you finished talking, Micah?”
Her question brought his attention back to the present. “No, not by a long shot. But I can’t say it all tonight. I need to see you tomorrow. I know you’ll be in town for the next couple of days and so will I. Let’s do lunch. Even better, let’s spend that time together to clear things up between us.”
“Clear things up between us?” Kalina sneered in an angry whisper as red-hot fury tore through her. She was convinced that Micah had lost his ever-loving mind. Did he honestly think she would want to spend a single minute in his presence? Even being here now with him was stretching her to the limit. Where was a good glass of champagne when she wanted it? Nothing would make her happier right now than to toss a whole freakin’ glass full in his face.
“I think I need to explain a few things to you, Micah. There’s really nothing to clear up. Evidently you think I’m a woman that a man can treat any kind of way. Well, I have news for you. I won’t take it. I don’t need you any more than you need me. I don’t