he was getting at. He’d seen it eating away at her the second after they’d made love. Forget what was happening between them. She thought she’d let her client down. “Kate and Ryan are not going to be upset with you over this. You’re allowed to have a life. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She closed her eyes, drew in a breath. Emotions played over her face, but when she opened her eyes again, they were gone. She grabbed her bag and pushed past him into the bedroom. “I’ll talk to Kate about it all when I get back.”
He caught her by the arm. “Stop and look at me.”
She turned dark eyes his way. Eyes that were haunted. Eyes that were guilt-ridden. Eyes that tightened his chest like a drum.
“Don’t throw what’s happening between us away because you’re worried what someone else is going to think,” he said.
“This was a bad idea. It never should have happened, and you know it. As for my going to Seattle, it’s not your call. I’ll be fine. Now, could you please let go of my arm so I can finish packing?”
He felt like she’d just stabbed him through the heart. As he released her, he tried to figure out what the hell was happening. When had he gotten so attached? He never worried about anyone besides family. When had Simone—a woman he barely knew—become as important, if not more, than the people he loved?
His chest stretched even tighter.
Heart thundering, he followed her back into her bedroom. She was zipping her garment bag, her chocolate hair falling across her cheeks. Rain drizzled outside the window, casting an eerie gray light through the room. In her snug skirt and fitted blouse, she couldn’t look more angelic if she tried.
Oh, man. He was so screwed here.
He ran a hand over his face, tried to settle his racing pulse. When she turned to set her bag on the floor, he grasped her arms and drew her close. “I don’t do long term. Casual. That’s as serious as I get. But you, Counselor… With you I don’t want casual.”
“What?” Fear slid into her eyes. The same damn fear he felt but was pushing down. “Are you…?” Her eyes narrowed. “Did that bat hit you in the head? I thought it got you in the stomach.”
He couldn’t help it. He smiled. “No, you hit me over the head. The first time I saw you. The other night—thank God for the other night—I realized I’ve been head over heels for you from the start. Since then I’ve been thinking about the whole deal—marriage, family, kids, a minivan.”
Simone jerked out of his arms and pressed a hand to her belly. “Oh, my God. A minivan? Are you sick? What the hell’s come over you?”
“I don’t know,” he said quietly, watching her stunned reaction. Feeling it himself. He sure the hell hadn’t expected to say that, but now that it was out there, he didn’t want to take it back. “Shocked?”
“Um, yeah. We slept together. Once.”
He dipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “As I recall, you enjoyed it. More than once. Many times more than once.”
“I…” she sputtered, waved her hands. “Mitch, we barely even know each other.”
“So let’s get to know each other. Stay here. Stay safe. As soon as I get back, we’ll focus on nothing but learning what irritates us most about each other.”
She dropped onto the end of the bed. “This is a joke, isn’t it? Please tell me it’s a joke.”
Not the reaction he’d hoped for. Hell, it wasn’t even the conversation he’d planned on having. “No joke. You hooked me, Simone. Basically knocked me on my ass. I’m as shocked as anyone.”
When she didn’t say anything, just stared at him with wide eyes, he scratched the back of his head, feeling like an idiot. “Okay, I can probably do without the minivan. We can negotiate that later.”
“You’re certifiable, you know that?”
He felt himself cracking, and he was a man who never cracked. “Look, I’ve avoided relationships for a long time. For a variety of reasons. And after I watched Ryan go through hell over my sister’s death, I told myself I’d been smart and that relationships weren’t worth it. But now…after everything that’s happened…I don’t know. I just realized life is precious. That you gotta go after the things you want, because they might not be there when you finally pull your head out of your ass and realize they’re important. I don’t want