He pushed back hard against the last thought even as something inside him went molten. She was barely looking at him. He didn’t want to risk scaring her off because he got so caught up in his fantasies, he raced ahead of her. And then there was the boyfriend to deal with. Michael didn’t cheat, but after spending the day and evening with Amanda’s family, he was more sure than ever that Ethan was the wrong guy for her. If he was the right guy, he’d be there celebrating with her family instead of leaving her alone with unscrupulous gym owners who were having fantasies of hot nights and happily ever after.
How the hell had that happened?
It wasn’t that he’d been averse to settling down. He’d always assumed he would. He’d just never given it any serious thought before. It had been something far into the future, when the gym was stable and he was ready. Meeting Amanda changed everything.
“Would you like another drink?” he asked, repeating his earlier question.
He’d be happy to sit and talk for as long as she wanted, but he could tell by her slightly panicked expression she’d push to go home. She’d looked like she was ready to bolt since Becca brought up the idea of him taking her home. If he had any sense, the thought would disturb him—her eagerness to get away from him—but he’d started to see it as something else. He knew she wasn’t as unaffected by him as she liked to pretend. There had to be another reason she didn’t want to be alone with him.
He couldn’t help but believe her eagerness to get away had something to do with feelings she didn’t want to face. At least that’s the story he was sticking with, and with Becca’s help, he’d make sure she faced them. Even if she didn’t end up with him—it bothered him to even think it—she deserved someone who really valued her. Who loved her for who she was and not who they wanted her to be. She deserved better than Ethan.
“I’m ready to go if you are. Or I could just grab a cab.” He could see her hanging onto the idea like a life raft.
“Don’t be silly. I’ll take you.”
He dropped some cash for a tip on the table and stood, waiting for her to get to her feet. She walked in front of him and he let his hand hover over the small of her back. He wanted to touch her, to feel the warmth of her skin through her shirt but he was afraid if he pushed her, she’d be out the door and in a cab before he could catch his breath.
He stayed close enough to breathe in the clean floral scent she wore. Hell, when she stopped short on the way to the door to wait for a group in front of them to clear out, he had to catch himself before he sniffed her hair.Nothing said creepy like hair sniffing.
They made the short walk across the lot to his truck, and he hurried to open the passenger door for her, trying hard to ignore the way her soft faded jeans stretched over the gentle curve of her ass as she climbed inside.
Grateful for the chill in the air so he could get a grip on his out-of-control libido, he circled around to his side of the truck. By the time he climbed behind the wheel, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t embarrass himself by begging her to ditch Ethan and come home with him—for the moment at least.
“Where to?” He’d imagined the kind of place Amanda shared with her sister—another first for him—but he hadn’t gotten stalkerish enough to find her address.
“Take the bypass across town to Second.”
She glanced over at him and even in the dim light of the cab, he felt her gaze on him like a tangible thing. When they stopped at the light, he turned to her and searched her face, grateful when she didn’t look away. He couldn’t begin to figure out what was going on in her beautiful head, but the more time they spent together, the more certain he became that whatever this was, this thing he felt between them, wasn’t one-sided. She felt it too, which left the question of what about the boyfriend?
If Ethan wasn’t in the picture and representing one of Michael’s biggest clients, it would be the easiest thing in the world to reach across the seat and take Amanda’s hand in his, to tangle his fingers with hers and trace circles on her soft skin with his fingertips until he heard her breath hitch in her throat. But Ethan was a client and Amanda’s worthless boyfriend, and regardless of how sure Michael was that the other man was all wrong for her, as long as he was in the picture there wasn’t room for anything else. Regardless of how much he wanted it.
Following Amanda’s directions, he pulled the truck in front of a pretty Victorian. The smart thing to do would be to wait in the truck until she got inside and then head home with his fistful of good intentions to a cold shower. His sisters never accused him of being smart.
Compromising between what he ought to do and what he wanted to do, he slid the truck into park but left it running as he climbed out and hurried to the passenger side. Amanda was already out of the truck with the door closed behind her by the time he made it to her side, so he simply fell into step and followed her to the front door. She was so quiet; for a minute he worried she’d go inside and close him out without saying a word. She stopped instead with her hand on the doorknob and turned to face him, her eyes shining in the porch light, the shadows cutting angles across her face.
She was so beautiful. She stole his breath, and he fisted his hands at his sides to keep from reaching for her. If this were a date, this was the place where he’d close the distance between them, sliding a hand up to cup her head before he gave in to the pleasure of tasting her lips for the first time. If this was a date, he’d pull her into his arms and kiss her until she melted against him, softening his edges with her warmth while they lost themselves in each other. If this was a date, he’d struggle to let go of her because loving Amanda was too important to rush.
Thank goodness this wasn’t a date.
They stood for a moment, simply watching each other as if the weight of everything he wanted but couldn’t have hung in the air between them. He searched her face and for a moment she seemed frozen—caught between want and can’t as clearly as he was. He saw the heat in her eyes, but he didn’t have to ask to know that a woman like Amanda wouldn’t cheat. And she wouldn’t respect him for pushing the issue, but that didn’t mean he could just walk away.
“If things change,” he said, pinning her with his gaze, “I want a chance with you.”
Her breath hitched in her throat as he closed the distance between them. He felt her tremble as he pressed his lips to her cheek in a kiss that could have been brotherly if he didn’t want her so damn much. He stepped back before things spiraled out of control and he crossed lines he couldn’t uncross. Waiting until she closed the door behind her, he turned and walked back to his truck, still feeling her gaze on him every step he took.
AMANDA WANDERED AROUND THE GALLERY, focusing on the art on the walls instead of the door. It wasn’t difficult. Taylor had outdone herself this time. She’d known her cousin had talent but the paintings gracing the walls of the gallery were brilliant. A mixture of possible and potential, Taylor somehow managed to distill individual moments to show the transformative passage of time. Losing herself in the stories her cousin’s paintings told kept her mind off the fact that despite his promise to be on time, Ethan still hadn’t made an appearance at the opening.
It shouldn’t be this difficult. Something this important to her ought to at least garner the pretense of interest from him. He planned the crazy Eco Challenge thing and not only did she get behind it because it was important to him, she roped her brother and sister into helping. Expecting him to spend the afternoon at a gallery opening and maybe an early dinner with her family didn’t compare to six weekends’ worth of events, not to mention the endurance survival weekend with its fifty-mile hike and two nights sleeping on the ground.
It was becoming harder to ignore the imbalance in their relationship and over the past couple of weeks, she’d started to seriously question why she was trying so hard. When she first met him, he seemed so good on paper—good job, ambitious, polite, handsome—he hit all the boyfriend touchstones. The reality was shaping up to be something else entirely.
He wanted her. She’d never doubted that, but it was always on his terms. And while she was being honest with herself, what kind of future could she possibly have with a man who couldn’t stand her family, even after they went out of their way to help him? They did it for her, but the end result was the same. Ethan got what he wanted and he never had to put himself out for it. Hell, at this point, he wasn’t even competing in the challenge thing he’d orchestrated.
A hand brushed her arm and she whirled around, feeling slightly guilty for assuming the worst about Ethan. With his injured leg, it was bound to take him longer to get around. But when she looked up, it wasn’t Ethan’s blue eyes that met hers. It was Michael’s dark ones. He took half a step back and she realized some of what she was feeling must have shown in her expression. She tried to soften her face to something more neutral, but honestly, coming face-to-face with the man who’d wormed his way into her dreams wasn’t helping her mood or her conscience.
When he took her home the night before, she’d been struck by how much she wanted him to kiss her. Even after he said he wouldn’t, a part of her still longed for it. It was the same part that watched him walk back to his truck and drive away. The same part that could still feel the brush of his lips against her cheek in a platonic move that had absolutely no business carrying so much heat.
“You okay?” he asked, a crease marking his brow.
