Natalie swung round to introduce them to Kip and found his face set in harsh lines of disapproval. Of course, he never missed anything, and he would have had to be blind to miss that!
'This is Kip Forsythe, who is in charge^ of the dam,' she said more firmly than she felt. It was impossible to meet those dark, scathing eyes. He made her feel guilty, as if she was the one at fault. Even so, she introduced them all carefully and Kip was, as ever, completely polite, with a very special smile for Paula which apparently didn't much endear him to Neil.
'We'll get up to our rooms and then perhaps you could brief me, Natalie?' Neil turned away after the terse sentence and Natalie wasn't about to let him get away with it. She felt harassed from all sides and came out fighting.
'I'll brief you all!' He had really rattled her and she was embarrassed and unnerved by Kip's steady gaze. 'There's a very nice lounge here that will just do.' If he thought she was about to go to his room he could think again. She was astonished at her change of heart, but in any case she never had been able to stand treachery and it seemed to her that Paula was heading for heartbreak.
'Really? I thought / was in charge.' Her tone of voice and obvious manoeuvre had not escaped Neil and he turned on her with narrowed eyes.
'Mention it to Father!'
Ray and Paula looked astonished but they said nothing, all following an obviously angry Neil into the hotel. Natalie fought to gain control of her temper and Kip walked slowly down the steps to tower over her, making her feel small and altogether negligible.
'If that was for my benefit then you didn't really need to bother, 'he informed her coldly.
'I don't exactly know what you mean.' Natalie looked up at him with a great deal of challenge in her green eyes although she almost cringed at the scorn.
'You do. We speak the same language, you and I, amazing though it may seem to you, and I don't need, a written explanation to sum up a situation. I now understand your supreme touchiness too. Was he your lover before or after the little blonde?'
Her hand flashed up to strike him, almost without thought, but he was too fast for her, grasping her wrist and holding on. An undignified struggle was not possible right here at the front of the hotel, although it didn't seem to bother Kip. All she could do Was glare at him and she did.
'There are no lovers in my life. I thought you'd fathomed that. How disappointing. I imagined you knew everything.'
Her long green eyes blazed up at him. At that moment she hated all men—Kip too. He said nothing at all, still holding on to her wrist, probing her mind with dark eyes, searching for the truth until she began to drown in the darkness, the hot, bright sunlight forgotten.
'There's trouble coming from that direction,' he informed her curtly after she felt the world begin to give way beneath her feet. 'The little blonde is about to be hurt. I see she wears a ring. His?'
'They're engaged and her name is Paula. Neil was perhaps a little extravagant in greeting me but I've known him a long time. Come to think of it, I'd better go and make my peace with him. I've never pulled the Daddy's girl bit before. He annoyed me.'
'He embarrassed you because I was there,' Kip corrected, looking down at her. Tall, lean and fit, sure of himself as ever, he unnerved her tremendously. 'No man behaves like that without encouragement.'
'You went a good deal further than that...' Natalie began and then stopped in horror, her face flooding with colour.
'There is a difference,' he pointed out scathingly. 'I'm quite free to want you. Bradshaw is engaged.' He let her go and turned away, dismissing her so completely that she cringed. 'Let me know your timetable,' he added coolly. 'I'll be available.'
'Well, I won't be!' There were tears in her eyes and she couldn't work out why. It hurt to have Kip think badly of her. Why was she getting herself into this?
'I'm thinking about the necessity to work with your team, to face the all-seeing eye of the camera.' He turned at his car to hand out this final slap and Natalie swirled away, her skirts flying, heading into the hotel and her own room, humiliation making her tremble all over.
'I think we should invite him to dinner.' Neil dropped his bombshell quietly into the silence at the end of the briefing and Natalie stiffened, near-panic spreading over her.
'I'm sure he won't be free at such short notice. He's a very busy man.'
'Not too busy to be here when we arrived,' Neil pointed out tightly.