Captivation

Captivation Part 10

"I'm not." Jared snorted. He wasn't baiting her exactly. He was just making sure she knew that he was not easily conned. He might have softened toward her after dropping her home all that time ago but after what he'd heard today he wasn't about to be swayed into feeling sorry for her.

Douglas shook his head at his friend's deliberate attempt to brush the situation aside. "Right. So what's with the cracks about her father and wanting front of house tasks." Douglas and Jared had been good friends for years. He knew Jared to be a fair man. So his current attitude toward Caitlin just did not make sense.

Jared shrugged. "She probably did. I mean, washing up, who's going to see her do that?" The woman looked sweet. She pretended to be sweet. But by all accounts she was stuck-up.

Douglas looked at his friend in utter astonishment. There was no way they were talking about the same woman. "She isn't expecting people to..."

"Come on Doug. She's not doing it for anything other than brownie points!" Jared pronounced with certain conviction.

Douglas shook his head. "You've got her all wrong."

"If you say so." Grumbled Jared.

"What is it about her that rubs you up the wrong way? Douglas asked as they walked out of the kitchen. By the tense set of Jared's shoulders and the terse way he responded suggested he was battling an inner demon where Caitlin was concerned. For a man known for his charm, and his easy way with women, the fact Jared was snipping at Caitlin suggested all was not well.

"Everything." Snapped Jared without hesitation.

This time Douglas snorted in disbelief. "Pity." He threw his friend a scathing look, "If you took the time to get to know her you'd like her." That was the truth. The woman had a good sense of humour. She did not take herself too seriously. She seemed pretty laid back. All the qualities that both men liked. So why Doug was able to see these characteristics in Caitlin while Jared appeared to be totally oblivious to her positive virtues.

"Yeah." Jared agreed with heavy sarcasm.

Just then Caitlin materialized. Caitlin stepped past them as they headed for the van. She said nothing. Just turned sideways to let them get by then stepped into the kitchen. She kept her chin up and figured she probably looked like a snooty cow mincing past them with her nose in the air. But as far as she was concerned, that man did not warrant any courtesy from her. She knew her father would not be pleased to see her being so rude, but her father wasn't here to see her!

Outside Jared shook his head with suppressed exasperation as he watched her disappear. Then he looked over at Douglas and said, "Since when have I gone for high maintenance?"

Douglas hooted with laughter. "Are you serious? When haven't you? And for the record she isn't." Douglas told his friend.

"What, now you are best friends?" Jared taunted. "Can I be your best man at your wedding? Please?" Jared taunted knowing his friend would ignore the teasing.

"Yeah sure. If she'll have me!" Douglas shrugged, taking the questions for what they were. Nothing more than Jared teasing. "I like talking with her." Doug put the box in the van and shrugged again. "I like her. She doesn't seem to see my scars." That scored heaps of brownie points as far as both men were concerned. "She's easy to talk to. And she's interesting."

Jared heard the sincerity in Douglas' description and for a few moments he was seriously tempted to believe Douglas. Then he shrugged, "She's reeled you in. Watch yourself mate." He grinned and a teasing light danced in his eyes as he tacked on. "Or I'll go buy that tux?"

Just then Caitlin reappeared. Douglas flicked a look across at Jared and wasn't surprised to see Jared tense up. Douglas kept his eyes on his friend, wondering whether Jared would remember he was a gentleman. Jared bit down on his automatic comment. He waited for Caitlin to pass them. The two men loaded the van then walked back to the kitchen in silence.

When the two men returned Caitlin was wiping down the sink. She ignored Jared. That was a bit like a red rag to a bull. He was speaking before he'd thought about it. "Don't you think you're over doing it a bit?"

It took Caitlin a second to realise he was talking to her. She had been very successful at tuning him out, and ignoring the fact that he and Douglas had re-entered the kitchen. It was his derisive snort that had her looking over her shoulder, "I beg your pardon?" She turned to face him, wondering why it was that she found this man intriguing and annoying in equal measure. He'd been rude, perhaps that was it, or perhaps it was the fact that he was drop dead gorgeous. Pity his character was so flawed. It was such a disappointment to find that he was shallow and dense!

Jared shook his head as he watched various emotions flit through her eyes. "This condescension? Your effort at addressing menial tasks? Or are you hoping the monthly newsletter will let everyone know you deigned to dirty your hands?" He knew he was being rude. But he figured the only way to get through that wall of self-importance, was to be blunt. He doubted anything would penetrate her haughty exterior.

"Jared!" Douglas warned, his eyes narrowed with intent, but his friend ignored him and the warning. Douglas was tempted to drag Jared away by the scruff of his shirt.

Caitlin pursed her lips, squared her shoulders, and glared. "I don't understand your need for vitriol! Why are you using me for target practice, Mr..."

"Calling it as I see it." Came the cool response. "Can't you take the truth?" Jared interrupted without any compunction. If she thought simply pleading her case, with a good measure of wounded innocence in her eyes was going to get anywhere with him, she was about to learn the hard way that it wouldn't. Her strategies might work on the insipid men who usually surrounded her, but he was not of their ilk.

"Not your kind. No." She tossed the dishcloth against the tap, turned threw Jared a haughty look and then without another word left the two men in the kitchen. Oh, he was so exasperating. So infantile. So irritating. And unfortunately so difficult to get out of her brain.

"You want to tell me what that was about?" Douglas frowned at his friend. Douglas watched Caitlin disappear from view and wondered why she hadn't simply walloped his friend. It was what Jared deserved.

"She's got you fooled. Had me fooled too. I even apologised to the bloody woman after the last time we met." Jared watched the door swing to a stop. "She practically dictated to them what she would and wouldn't do when she got here. Lisa stood up to her. And Mrs De Souza took no notice of our Miss Caitlin high and mighty Fonseca's demands."

They two men followed Caitlin to the door she had used to leave the room earlier. Douglas frowned, puzzled by what Jared was saying. What Douglas was hearing about Caitlin simply did not gel with what he knew about her. And what he knew had been learnt first hand. He was a good judge of character, and in his view Caitlin was nothing like the image Jared was conjuring. But that was probably down to the fact that Douglas came to his conclusions based on his engagement with Caitlin whereas it would appear that Jared had reached his conclusions based on what he had heard. So Douglas decided to prompt his friend to reconsider, "You sure?"

"Anne told me." Jared replied instantly as he pushed open the door and stepped into the next room.

"And..."

"And Lisa confirmed it." Jared interrupted flatly as he held the door open for Douglas.

Douglas was starting to make sense of events. Looked like Caitlin had a few enemies around. Douglas wondered why his friend hadn't seen through the lines he'd been fed. Douglas stopped in front of Jared. With pointed censure Douglas reminded his friend, "And that would be the same Lisa who told you Caitlin had placed you on her list of eligible men. Right?" Douglas reminded his friend.

Jared tried not to be obvious when he skirted the dance floor in the main hall. Jared tried to ignore that comment. But it kept niggling at the back of his mind. Jared subconsciously scanned the room. No sign of her. He wasn't sure why he was looking for her. It wasn't as if he was going to ask her to dance. Or even interested in her. The Hall was cleared for the party, though there were more adults than children present. The disc jockey was playing current hits, and the floor quickly had quickly filled with small and large bodies. Jared being taller than most of the people present scanned the crowd. There was no sign of her.