He rubbed his ribs. “Damn, you hit hard.”
“Here, let me look at it.”
He pushed her hands away when she reached for the hem of his shirt. “What are you, a doctor now too? No way.”
“I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“You already did that.” He shifted out of her reach.
“You’re being a total baby. Just let me have a look.”
He deflected her touch once more.
“Mitch.”
“Simone,” he tossed back, staring at her.
There was just enough light coming from the panty that she could see the intensity in his eyes. “Why won’t you let me touch you?”
“Because you said it wasn’t a good idea. These are your rules, not mine, sweetheart.”
“I don’t—”
“Understand? Yeah. I get that. So let me spell it out for you.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “If you touch me, I’m gonna touch you back, how about that?”
“Oh.” Her skin grew hot. Her hands stilled on her knees. The temperature in the room seemed to jump ten degrees as they stared at each other. Sparks of awareness arced between them.
What was it about him that called to her? It was more than his good looks. More than his silly sense of humor. It was something else. Something she wasn’t ready for.
Long seconds later, he broke the eye contact, then grunted as he pushed himself up from the floor. All long legs and sculpted muscle. “Yeah, you know, I’m just gonna clean up the mess I made.”
She rose, reached out to him. “Mitch—”
He captured her wrist so fast, she didn’t expect it. Heat gathered beneath his fingers, and when he turned to face her, she saw the hunger in his eyes. A hunger that radiated all through her body and lit up her skin like an electrical current had been turned on.
“Okay, here’s the deal, Counselor. I’m crazy about you. In a way I’ve never been crazy about anyone else. Ever. I realize you’re representing my sister. I realize I’m a conflict of interest to you. But if you touch me again, I’m gonna forget all about your irritating ethics and take you right here against the cabinets. No ED drugs needed. And trust me when I say, you will enjoy it. We both will.”
The air choked in her throat. Desire coursed through her body. A desire she hadn’t felt in years. The carefully constructed life she’d created since Steve’s death hovered as if on a precipice.
“Mitch…”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Yeah?”
“Kiss me before I have a chance to say no.”
His mouth was on hers before she even heard him move.
Water beaded on Kate’s skin. Bubbles slid down to pool at her feet. She closed her eyes and drew in the fresh, clean, soapy scent, the same one that lingered close to Ryan’s skin, the one she’d smelled when he’d pressed that muscular body of his against hers last night.
She turned her face under the hot spray in his guest bathroom. After a sleepless night, she was more exhausted than she’d been yesterday. Had he slept in that guest bed recently? She’d been sure she could smell him on her pillow, all but feel him on the sheets.
The muscles in her stomach bunched as she ran the bar of soap down her skin, over her abdomen, imagining his hands doing the same…his lips. A sharp ache pulsed between her thighs. Heat shot straight to her center.
He’d said he wanted her, that he’d been dying to touch her. But that was before they’d discovered her records at the nursing home, before he’d realized what this was all about. Since then, he’d been gentle and caring but somewhat withdrawn. Almost as if he were afraid to get too close.
Her fingers skimmed her breasts, and shards of desire ricocheted through her body. For some crazy reason, she didn’t want him to back off. What she wanted was his hands on her like they’d been before, that sensuous mouth devouring hers, to feel him deep inside her body. That burning ache grew to fiery levels as she imagined him in the shower with her, imagined tracing the hard lines of his body with her fingers. With her tongue.
He was just down the hall. All she had to do was go to him, to ask for his touch. Shaking with need, she braced both hands on the tiled wall of the shower and drew in gulps of air. Technically, he was her husband after all, wasn’t he? That wouldn’t be asking too much.
Common sense seeped in, dampening the fire. Yes, he was her husband, but she didn’t know him. Not in any way that mattered. All she knew was she was wildly attracted to a man she barely knew. That they had some incredible connection she couldn’t comprehend. That she wanted him with a passion she hadn’t experienced before.
Would wild sex solve any of her problems? Would it make her remember a life that seemed foreign to her? Would it help her understand what had happened? Would it make him see her as Kate?
That was the most important question.
She hadn’t missed the fact he had yet to call her that, that he avoided saying her name altogether. She knew when he looked at her, he saw Annie. He didn’t see the woman she was now. Would sex change that?
Probably not. But, oh, it would be good. And it would crush the pulsing ache she felt now and whenever he was close.
The sharp knock at the bathroom door brought her head up. She flipped off the water and ran unsteady hands over her hair, squeezing out the moisture to run down her body. “Um…just a minute.”
“Coffee’s done,” Ryan said through the closed door. “Breakfast is almost ready.”
He was just on the other side of the door, in her bedroom. She had but to flip the lock and he could be here with her, right now. Had he read her mind?
Shaking, she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a plush white towel from the rack, then wrapped it around her body. Her breasts tingled. Warmth pooled in her abdomen. On a deep breath, she forced herself to relax. “Okay. I’ll, um, be right down.”
“Do you need anything?”
Yes. You. Now.
She swallowed the words before they could slip out of her mouth. “Um, no. I’m fine.”
“Okay. Don’t take too long.”
When his footfalls fell silent, she dropped to sit on the closed toilet lid. A smart woman would recognize she was in over her head and get the hell out of his house. But of course, she wasn’t going to do that. She was going to stay here and suffer until she worked through these insane desires.
Or until she jumped his bones. Either way, she was screwed.
She put the thought out of her mind, slipped on jeans and a T-shirt. Then she brushed on mascara in the hope it would hide that tired look in her eyes, and slicked on some pale lipstick. Glancing at her reflection, she couldn’t do anything but frown. Her curly hair was a mass of wetness, but she didn’t want to take the time to dry it. She needed coffee and a good dose of reality more than a dry head.
She made her way into the kitchen and found Ryan standing at the stove with his back to her. That fire built again, heat careening through her veins as she watched him. He was barefoot, wearing loose-fitting, faded jeans and a light blue T-shirt stretched seductively across wide, toned shoulders. His blond hair was still damp at the edges from his shower, and her fingers itched to tangle in it like they had yesterday.
Oh, man. If she didn’t get in control of this wild need, she was in for big trouble.
Clearing her throat, she stepped into the room. “Smells good. I didn’t know you cooked.”
Ryan turned at the sound of her voice, and heat arced between them. A heat she saw from the way his eyes darkened, he felt too.
He looked away quickly, but not before her breasts tingled all over again.
“Coffee’s over there.” He gestured with the spatula in his hand.
She poured a steamy cup of coffee, drew in a deep whiff of the enticing brew. Prayed it would settle this impossible hunger inside her. But something told her this hunger would only be sated one way.