‘You know him too?’ From the expression on Nessa’s face, it appeared she did and was just as besotted.
‘Comes in here for the occasional meal. A real heartbreaker, that one. Ah, if only I was single again.’ She rolled her eyes and sighed. ‘Mind you, it’s not just looks,’ she said, recovering her composure slightly, ‘he’s helped a lot of people out. You know, sorting out mechanical stuff when they’ve had car trouble. Good with his hands I’m told …’ She winked, making Jodie laugh.
‘Well, if you two are smitten he must be something special.’ Cat raised amused eyebrows as she looked at both of them. ‘I can’t wait to meet him.’
They parted company with their usual hugs and an agreement to meet at the same time, same place, next week. Leaving the coffee shop, Cat made her way through the maze of alleys and pathways between the houses, one of which eventually led to the Tintagel Road and, a half mile beyond, the Menhenik Business Park. A bit of a grand name for a small cluster of mostly one-man businesses, she thought, passing the embossed sign and doubting Jago would have been impressed. Within minutes she had reached Arcadia and was crossing the tarmacked apron where a line of second hand vehicles were displayed. Passing the showroom, with its glass and chrome front and display ofnew expensive motors, she headed around the back towards the service department.
There were several cars in the collection bay outside but her red Mercedes convertible wasn’t among them. A few steps farther around the corner of the building and she reached the automatic doors, which brought her into the reception area. There she found receptionist, Debbie Mason, busy on a call. She looked over the lip of the counter as Cat entered. Her cheeks were pink and her expression indicated she was running out of patience. Excusing herself to the caller, she pulled her features into a tired smile, giving Cat her full attention.
‘If you’re after your keys I think they’re on the board in Tony’s office,’ she said, her hand firmly over the receiver.
‘Difficult customer?’ Cat mouthed.
‘You’d better believe it,’ the plump receptionist mouthed back. She flapped a hand in front of her face to cool herself down and returned to her challenging client with politeness, charm and gritted teeth.
Cat found the Service Manager’s office empty. Stepping inside, she checked the key fobs hanging there but hers was missing. Returning to the reception area, she found Debbie still battling with her customer. Seeing Cat hovering she halted her call again, capping the receiver with her hand once more. ‘Try the service bay, Kieran’s there, he should know where they are,’ she whispered. With a nod of thanks, Cat left her to continue her verbal wrestling match.
Reaching the connecting doors, she pushed through into the service bay, a large hangar-like building. Sunlight streamed in through a bank of windows, which ran along the top of the side and back walls. The whole place reminded Cat of a high-tech Aladdin’s cave with its power ramps, hoists and diagnostic equipment. A red metal multi-drawer storage centre for tools and equipment covered one side of the room, while on theopposite wall extensive racking held new tyres. Although clean and orderly, the whole place smelled of oil and rubber. Sudden movement in the far corner pulled her to an immediate halt. Over in the end bay she saw Kieran leaning into the open boot of one of the cars. She hesitated, about to call out to him, when she remembered the bottom patting incident in Ship2Shore a few evenings ago.
Kieran could be a real pain around women. Although he might think of it as laddish fun, patting women’s derrières wasn’t a joke. Especially when that particular derrière belonged to her. Although he insisted it had been a huge mistake enough was enough and Cat decided it was about time he was taught a lesson. She had been waiting for the right opportunity and the sight of green overalls stretched tightly across his backside presented far too much temptation to be ignored.
Cautiously, she crossed the tiled floor towards the car, the soft soles of her espadrilles making her footfalls almost silent. Stopping a couple of feet behind him, she lined herself up, leant forward and let her hand glide gently across his buttocks.
‘Great butt you have there, Kieran,’ she said, stifling a laugh as she added a firm squeeze before stepping back.
Kieran’s head shot up and she heard a thud followed by a loud curse as it hit the boot lid with a resounding thwack. ‘Argh!’ he snarled as his hand went to the back of his head, cradling the spot where his skull had hit metal.
‘Ha!’ Cat shouted. ‘That will teach you. Not so funny when you’re on the receiving end, is it?’
She stood back, smiling. She’d not only got her own back, she had struck a blow for all those other women he’d decided were fair game for his wandering hands. Still rubbing his head, Kieran uncurled his body from beneath the boot lid and turned to face her. Cat froze.
The man glaring at her was a total stranger. A very handsome stranger. The shock and surprise in his smoky grey eyes quickly faded. He now looked very, very angry. Pushing his untidy dark brown hair back from his face, he glared at her. ‘What the hell did you do that for?’
Cat’s hands went to her mouth in horror as she took a step backwards. ‘Oh no …’ she began, ‘I thought …’
The words died in her throat as the stranger made a grab for her, imprisoning her upper arms in a grip like steel.
‘What?’ he growled, his eyes darkening as he shook her. ‘What did you think, you stupid woman?’
Cat opened her mouth in an attempt to explain. Why hadn’t she noticed before? He was much taller than Kieran; broader too. And from the strength of his grip there were definite muscles underneath those overalls. Hell, how embarrassing. If only he would stop shaking her.
‘Well?’ he demanded, as with a final push he released her and she stumbled back. She managed to grip onto one of the workbenches to steady herself. Her whole body vibrated from the force of his attack. Yes, attack, she told herself. No other word could describe such aggression. How could she have made such an awful mistake? She gradually stilled, leaning against the bench, watching him warily, wondering what he planned to do next. Who was he? She knew all the technicians here as they were frequent visitors to Ship2Shore, but he definitely wasn’t one of them. She had never seen him before and she certainly would have remembered someone with his looks. She closed her eyes and beat out a breath, trying to formulate a sensible answer.
‘I’m afraid I made a huge mistake. I thought you were Kieran,’ she said slowly and carefully, as she opened her eyes and looked at him again. She knew, perhaps, that she should be saying sorry as well, but after being called stupid? Forget it.
‘I see. Your boyfriend is he?’ His dark brows shot up, joined by a hint of mocking amusement in the way he spoke; something she didn’t much like. The ‘stupid woman’ tag had been bad enough but this ridicule made things even worse.
‘Of course not,’ Cat’s response was sharp and snappy. Explanations were wasted on this man. No way would he be prepared to listen to a woman he’d already assessed and found lacking.
‘You shouldn’t even be in here. Can’t you read the signs? It’s off limits to the public. Staff only,’ he said, his abrupt tone matching hers.
‘I came for my car.’ Cat glared at him. ‘Debbie was on a call. She said I could find Kieran in here and he would know where the keys were. Instead, I got you and a load of aggro.’
‘As I said, lady, you shouldn’t be here,’ he fired back at her, ignoring her explanation.
Things were going from bad to worse. Silly woman, derision, and now lady? Damn the man. All she wanted was her car keys and to put as much distance as possible between herself and this rude, arrogant oaf.
‘Listen, I don’t know who you are,’and I care even less,she thought, ‘but you have no right to speak to me in such a—’
