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Mistake number one.

I should be slowly wooing her into I love yous. Mr. Mysterious shouldn’t be spewing them. Yes, I feel so connected to her after making love that I’m sure my heart is hard-wired to hers. But I have to keep remembering her emotions. Her reluctance. Her fears. And stop being an impatient bastard.

After sleepless hours tossing and turning and wishing Lauren’s soft, sweet curves were curled up beside me in slumber, I now have a refined strategy for wooing and winning the skittish, stubborn woman.

“Sorry to hear you didn’t sleep well.” She offers me a consoling smile, then lifts the coffee to her glossy lips and takes a deep drink of her caffeinated heaven.

I smile when she groans. The woman loves her coffee.

“I came in a little early to get started on the focus groups, since we have limited time to complete them. Do you have a few minutes this morning to review some of the action items with me?” she asks.

“Sure. Meet me in my office in five?”

“Thanks.”

Grabbing her cup, she disappears around the corner, heading toward her cubicle. I pour my own cup and mentally review my strategy as I wander back to my office.

A few minutes later, Lauren enters, setting her files and laptop down on the little round table in the corner. “Ready?”

“Can I ask you a question first?”

She shrugs. “Sure.”

I pace closer, lean in, bracing my hands on the little table between us. I wait, watching as she regards me with curiosity. As my stare continues, her regard changes. Awareness creeps in. Wariness follows. Now I have her attention. Suddenly, she isn’t all business. I hold in a smile.

“Remember the woman I told you about the other day at lunch, the divorcée?” I begin.

Lauren looks away but not before I see her face change. Cool. Struggling to collect. A flash of pain.

Oh, sugar… I’ll kiss everything and make it better once you let me.

“What about her?”

I pretend I don’t notice how guarded her voice is. But it’s damn hard to miss.

“I’ve been trying to tell her how I feel about her, how serious I am.” I pause, waiting for her to look my way again with those soulful brown eyes. “It’s not going well.”

She hesitates, like she’s deciding whether to answer. I understand. If she wanted to ask my advice about another man, I’d be weighing her happiness against my need. In this case, I’m convinced those are the same. But if our situations were reversed and I had to watch her pine for another man…I wouldn’t be happy, either.

“Do you really think she’s going to make you happy?” Lauren asks finally. “You’ve never been the sort of man for just one woman.”

“I’ve wanted to be. I was just waiting for this woman. I need to convince her she’s the one.”

“But if she’s been hurt, like you said…”

I nod. I’m pretty sure Tim has shaken Lauren’s confidence as a woman and her belief in a happily ever after. I make a mental note to wallop my old pal upside the head next time we play poker.

“I can almost guarantee she has been.”

“And how long ago was her divorce final?”

I try to be vague. “At least a year.”

“Still, I’ve been divorced for nearly two. And emotionally, the marriage was over shortly after Cass was born. If this woman has only been divorced for a year, then talk of love and marriage is too much too soon.”

With a sigh, I sit in the chair right across from her. I had a feeling she’d say that. I just hope now that she’ll listen to a different perspective.

“I’m trying to respect that. Honestly. But I’ve waited so long… It doesn’t have to be a serious relationship today, and I wouldn’t push so hard, except that she’s shutting me out to everything but casual friendship. I do want to be her friend—but so much more.” I close my eyes. In no way do I have to feign my frustration and heartache. “It’s tearing me up. I don’t know how to coax her into compromise. I don’t know how to convince her that I’ll never hurt her. Ever.”