“I am very definitely in a mood for a party,” he corrected.

Well, maybe he was. After all, it was an opportunity to meet a lot of women, Kay thought bitterly.

Noise and smoke rolled out the door as Mitch opened it. Stix, five inches taller than anyone else, immediately spotted them and bore down as if he’d been waiting just for the two of them to show up. Kay was treated to a bear hug that lingered and a strangely glassy-eyed stare with a hint of sadness. Before she could make sense of that, Stix was swinging a hand in Mitch’s direction. “You damn well better take care of my best girl, hear?”

Obviously, Stix had already had his share of holiday spirits. Kay extricated herself from his abundant affection and glanced around hopelessly at the milling crowd. Dancers had rolled up the rug in the dining room and were gyrating to a primeval beat. The noise level precluded conversation, and most faces were flushed. Most faces were also at least somewhat familiar, more Stix’s crowd than hers, but certainly not strange.

She glanced back at Mitch uncertainly, to find that unreadable stare of his settling in on a roaming blonde. His suit jacket had disappeared with his topcoat, and Stix had pushed a drink into his hand before dissolving into the crowd. Mitch’s eyes darted only momentarily back to hers. “Feel free to have a good time…” He motioned to the crowd.

Hurt pulsed through her for a second and a half, but she had enough pride to stiffen her spine. The roaming blonde cast Mitch another sideways look, and Kay stepped forward. If he wanted a few more notches in his belt, she was about to introduce him to the best notch carver in Moscow. Stephanie had been the busiest girl in high school; on successive Friday nights she’d worked her way through the entire roster of senior class boys. Some ten years later, in a white silk jumpsuit without a damn thing underneath it, she was clearly still ripe and ready.

“Stephanie!” Kay said delightedly.

Grabbing Mitch’s hand, she ignored his startled jolt, and beamed at the sultry blonde. “I haven’t seen you in so long,” she said vibrantly to the other woman. “This is Mitch Cochran. Mitch, Stephanie is one of my oldest…friends…”

Now, she hadn’t meant to hesitate on the word. Neither seemed to notice. Mitch’s eyes were riveted on the pair of nipples poking out of white silk; Stephanie thrust them forward, and Kay catapulted to the bar for a drink.

A grinning man behind the bar served her something or other. She took a sip, and grimaced. Rum. There was probably something more terrible tasting than rum, but she didn’t know what it was.

Roger caught sight of her and dragged her to the floor for a dance. Roger was nice-looking and bearded and soft-eyed, and she’d known him for years. The song was an old Michael Jackson number; no one could resist the primitive rhythm, and Roger could swing his pelvis like a reincarnation of Elvis. Unfortunately, the only thing Kay was in the mood to beat was Stephanie.

Mitch seemed to be getting along fine with her. Just fine. He was leaning over, trying to hear what that itty-bitty voice was saying. Undoubtedly, something priceless. And luckily, those nipples of Stephanie’s weren’t sharp, or she’d be ripping out of that jumpsuit and standing stark naked.

“Kay?” Roger broke into her thoughts. Clearly, he wondered why she wasn’t dancing anymore.

Kay blew him a kiss and maneuvered around the other dancing couples in a beeline for Mitch. She grabbed his arm from behind, smiling brilliantly when both he and Stephanie turned startled stares at her. “The music is terrific, isn’t it?”

Stephanie looked bewildered.

“I saw you were having a good time,” Mitch said flatly. “Don’t interrupt your fun on my account. I don’t dance.”

“I love to dance,” Kay said lightly. “Stephanie, Roger was looking all over for you.” Kay’s eyes skimmed the crowd. If he wanted notches, he could have his notches. But Stephanie wasn’t going to carve them. She hooked an arm around Mitch’s elbow, ignoring his stiffness, leading him inexorably toward a curly-headed brunette in black.

Janet at least had a brain. She was a little flat-chested, but she was presentable, intelligent and had a fantastic sense of humor.

Mitch got the message. Oh, he got the message. She was working hard at pairing him off with some other woman. Anyone but her. She didn’t give a damn.

“Kay always had the silliest sense of humor.” The brunette somewhere way below him giggled.

He glanced down. She was there, all five feet one of her. What was her name? Jane? No, Janet. “Do you want a drink, Janet?” he asked.

“Sure.”

He edged through the crowd and brought back two drinks from the bar. In the distance, he could see the flicker of star-bright silver. A burly man had his arm around Kay’s shoulders; a tall fellow swooped down for a hug. More old lovers, undoubtedly. She was laughing merrily. In her element, entertaining the boys.

“You like baseball?”

Mitch’s head swiveled around. “Football, hockey, basketball.”

Janet shrugged. “What do you do?”

“I’m in geology. You?”

She was a professor at the university. Mathematics. One of his best subjects. They had a few university friends in common, and they battled to keep up a conversation over the noise in the crowded room. But Mitch’s eyes kept straying to Kay.

She was talking to a couple, waving a drink in her hand, but there was a black-haired bastard eyeing her from across the room. Her face was flushed, her eyes overbright, and he saw her finish the drink, make a dreadful face and set the glass down on a table.

It wasn’t like Kay to drink too much. The black-haired creep wandered closer and then zeroed in on her. Kay glanced up and nodded, and Mitch watched them move to the dance floor. The number was fast, and her breasts were moving with tantalizing rhythm to the beat.

“Good heavens!”

Mitch glanced back at Janet, then with a wry look at the half-spilled drink in his hand. “I didn’t spill it on you-”

“No. Someone must have bumped you from behind. It’s so crowded in here…” Her eyes very shyly invited.

Mitch stifled a sigh. “Could I get you another drink?”

“Sure.”

When he came back with Janet’s screwdriver, Kay was still on the dance floor. Her current partner was a tall blond man with a mustache. She obviously knew him well. Very well, from the look of the hug she gave him.

Mitch handed Janet her drink and gave her his warmest smile. “You’ve been at the university how many years?” he questioned.

“Five.”

The music changed to a slow number. The blond tugged Kay close, and for a minute Mitch lost sight of them. There were too many people and too much smoke, and a half-dozen more couples had crowded the floor to dance to the seductive love song.

“Mitch?”

He forced his head back in Janet’s direction. “Sorry?”

“I just asked you-”

Kay had her hands on the blond’s shoulders. No big deal. Then the man’s hands were on her shoulders, which was also no particular big deal. Except the blond’s hands started roaming. Someone cut in front of them, and Mitch couldn’t see.

“Listen,” Janet said politely.

“Just a second, okay?” Mitch murmured. He smiled, handed her his drink and turned around. His smiled died. The blond had just made a terrible mistake, letting his hands roam down to Kay’s hips.

If he ended up alive, he’d be lucky.


***

Kay shifted nervously, trying with body language to communicate to Hal that New Year’s Eve was a festive occasion, that she forgave him ninety times over for the seven scotches he’d already had, and that she wished he’d keep his hands to himself.

When body language failed, she tried a polite “Hal,” to get his attention.

But his head seemed to be drooping over her shoulder.

“Hal,” she repeated cheerfully.

His big blue eyes met hers. “I love you, Kay,” he said groggily. “I loved you in high school. Did you know that?”

“I…no. Listen-”

Long before she could finish the thought, Hal’s roaming hands were whisked off her flesh as if airborne. Startled, Kay jerked up her head to find Mitch’s lethal eyes bearing down on an unsuspecting Hal. She didn’t have a chance to close her mouth before a long, strong body insinuated itself between her and her dancing partner. “Take a real long hike, won’t you, sport?” Mitch tried to make his voice cordial.

“Kay?” Hal’s limpid blue eyes registered total confusion, but already he was two dancing couples distant. Mitch wasn’t exactly moving in slow motion.

Tough, sinewy muscles jammed most intimately against hers, bearing her off into a corner. “Would you like to see that little mustache of his pulled out hair by hair?” Mitch murmured.

“Hal?”

“For two cents, I’d rearrange the knuckles on those busy hands of his.”

“Mitch-”

His lips covered hers. Her arms seemed to be waving around in midair, until she found the material of his shirt to hold on to. She felt the tension of a man who was furious, the tenderness of a man who loved beyond measure and the sheer sexual vibrations of the only man who stirred the same instant, abandoned response in her.

It wasn’t the kiss of a man who had his mind on pursuing other women. Actually, it wasn’t even a nice kiss; that sweet pressure on her lips radiated possessiveness and jealousy and anger…dreadful character traits. Who would have guessed Mitch had such a temper?

Mitch’s lips lifted only when she made a tiny sound at the back of her throat. “Dammit. Did I hurt you?” he growled.

“Not really.”

His mouth homed in on the target. People were staring. They seemed to be smiling as they stared, though. Kay closed her eyes so they would all go away. Mitch was communicating some very intimate things; Mitch had always been very good at communicating very intimate things with kisses. The distant, cold man who’d arrived at her house to escort her to the party had disappeared. The man who was holding her like a tightly wrapped treasure was not at all cool, not at all in control…and Kay’s heart was inexplicably taking off on its own private jet flight. She remembered her fears that he’d want to try out his wings with other women… Well, it was hard to hold on to those fears when he was making it so very clear that a Kay-and-Mitch team was the only thing on his mind.