Jessica Hart: No Mistaking Love

© 1992

KATE would have known him anywhere.

The same dark, ruthless looks, the same unreadable eyes, the same hard expression illuminated by a swift, disconcerting smile. She hadn't seen him for ten years but there was no mistaking him. Luke Hardman. The first man who had ever kissed her.

He was standing on the far side of the room, watching the crowds pushing their way to the theatre bar. It was something in the way he stood that had first caught Kate's eye, a sort of callous assurance in the way he held himself that set him apart from the rest. The dark severity of his dinner-jacket suited his steely looks, Kate decided, remembering a time when he would have scorned to wear anything other than a leather jacket. He would never have been near a theatre in those days either; perhaps he had changed more than she thought.

His face was too harsh to be really handsome, but there was a dangerous attraction about him. Kate wasn't the only woman who had noticed him. She watched a girl catch his eye and send him a provocative smile, but he merely looked through her, not bothering to hide his bored indifference. No, Kate thought, Luke Hardman hadn't changed that much.

She turned slightly so that she could watch his reflection in the mirrors lining the bar. She didn't want him to catch her staring-although it was hardly likely that he would notice her now, any more than he had ten years ago.

`Sorry, this is the best I could do.' Serena appeared suddenly at Kate's elbow and handed her a warm gin and tonic. A sliver of lemon floated listlessly in the glass. `We should have ordered them before the interval.'

When Kate only murmured thanks absently Serena followed the direction of her gaze. `He's rather gorgeous, isn't he?'

'Who?'

`The man you're staring at in the mirror!' She glanced over her shoulder at Luke. `He's even better in the flesh.'

`I haven't been staring,' Kate said, but was unable to prevent a betraying flush. She fished the lemon out of the glass and sucked it thoughtfully as her eyes went back to Luke. `Actually, I think I recognise him.'

`Oh?' Serena looked at him with renewed interest. `Who is he?'

'Just someone from the village,' Kate said as casually as she could. `I haven't seen him since I was sixteen.'

`How come you never introduced me when I came to stay?' Serena demanded, pretending to be aggrieved. `I've always liked that "mad, bad and dangerous to know" type!'

Kate laughed. `I wouldn't have dared introduce anyone to Luke Hardman! He was much older than me; I hardly knew him. But I always noticed him. He was different from the other boys in the village.' She paused. `He used to make me nervous.'

`You? Nervous?' Serena looked at her friend in astonishment. `I've known you since we first went to boarding-school, Kate, and I don't think I've ever seen you nervous. You wouldn't be Kate if you weren't calm, cool and collected at all times!'

`I wasn't with Luke. He had eyes that could look right through you. I could never decide whether he frightened or fascinated me-a bit of both, I think.' Kate gave an embarrassed laugh. `I used to go all gauche and tongue-tied if he was around. All it took was a sight of him crossing the road, and my heart would start jumping around-classic adolescent stuff!' she finished, ignoring the way her heart had leapt when she had first seen Luke tonight.

Serena was grinning. `Kate, how sweet! I never knew you had a crush on anyone.'

`It wasn't a crush, exactly,' Kate said in an attempt to salvage her pride. `I didn't even like him. He was rude and unpleasant and he never cared what anyone thought of him.'

`He sounds irresistible!' said Serena. `Why don't you go over and say hello?'

'No!' said Kate, too quickly. `I mean, he wouldn't remember me.'

`I don't see why not.'

`I'm not exactly the memorable type, am I?' Kate contemplated her reflection with resignation. She had grown out of a plain and gawky adolescence into a quietly attractive girl, but she had long accepted that she was never going to be wildly beautiful. Only her unusual eyes, a deep tawny gold, gave any indication that there was more to Kate than her habitual air of cool poise suggested.

`Well, I don't know,' Serena said loyally. `You don't stand out in a crowd, but you've got the sort of face that lingers in the memory, even though you can't quite work out why. Anyway, if you remember him so well there's a good chance he remembers you too.'

Kate shook her head, amused despite herself. `I've got a better reason to remember him. What girl ever forgets her first kiss?'

'Kate!' Serena shrieked, so that everyone turned and stared at them. Even Luke glanced in their direction. Kate turned hastily so that her face was hidden from his view.

'Sshh!'

`Sorry,' Serena whispered, going to the other extreme. `Honestly, Kate, you are a dark horse! Did he really kiss you? How romantic!'

`It wasn't romantic at all,' Kate said with some astringency.

`Well, tell me what happened, then,' Serena said eagerly.

Kate sighed. She should never have mentioned that wretched kiss. Serena would insist on hearing the whole story now!

`Do you remember that hot summer after we did our 0 levels?' When Serena nodded she went on. `I went home as usual, but Veronique was in France that year and I didn't have any company. All the other kids in the village used to avoid me because I lived in the manor and went to public school, and that meant that I was a snob. Worse, my mother was French and a bit flighty!' Kate gave a wry smile. It was easy not to mind now, but at the time it had hurt.

`Anyway, in the end I latched on to a girl called Anne who lived a couple of miles away. I didn't like her all that much, but she was better than nobody. She had a sister called Helen.'

Kate paused, remembering Helen and that long, hot summer.

`Well?' Serena prompted.

`Helen was having a fling with Luke Hardman,' Kate continued, almost reluctantly. `Having a bit of rough, she used to call it,' she remembered with distaste. `Her parents would have been furious if they'd found out, so Anne and I used to be roped in as alibis. Helen would pretend to come riding with us. We'd go down to the woods so she could meet Luke, and then Anne and I would be sent off for a couple of hours.'

Kate could still remember the frisson she had felt when Luke had smiled up at Helen, the look on his face as he'd pulled her off her horse. There had been an earthy sexuality about them that had made Kate uncomfortably aware of her own innocence. Luke had never even noticed she was there.

`Helen was all over him,' she continued. `But she'd come back and sneer at him behind his back because he didn't hold his knife properly or something equally stupid. I hated that.'

`She sounds a bitch,' Serena said frankly. `Did Luke know what she was like?'

Kate shrugged. `You could never tell what Luke thought, but he found out soon enough. We were due to go riding one day and meet Luke down in the woods as usual, when Helen strolled in and said she wasn't coming, she'd been invited to the south of France and the men were more sophisticated down there. I asked her if she was going to tell Luke and she just laughed and said we should let him wait, he'd get the message soon enough. I'll never forget the way she laughed.'

`What did you do?'

`Anne was all for doing as Helen said, but I couldn't let him sit there and wait. It sounds stupid, but I hated the thought of him being humiliated. It would be like watching a tiger doing tricks. So I went down to the woods by myself and told him Helen wasn't coming.'