Obviously she couldn’t get rid of him easily. If he sensed her need to be alone, he didn’t show it. She hadn’t had a chance to give her future much thought. But perhaps now that she had the time as well as her freedom, she ought to try. “I really don’t know. I need to get away.” The truth surprised her, as much as the fact that she’d spoken the words aloud.
“Anyplace special?”
No place she’d share with him, but she had an idea in mind. Someplace where she could be alone to learn about herself and what she wanted out of life. A place far from Mike and his charismatic influence, she thought. “No destination in mind,” she said, forcing a smile.
“One minute you’re planning a wedding, the next a vacation. You go with the flow. I like that in a woman.”
She couldn’t see pointing out that until now her rigid schedules and plans had ruled her life and kept her sane. She was on a wild free fall now and had no idea where she would land. The thought frightened her. He might like that carefree way of life, but she didn’t.
He closed the gap between them and reached out a hand to touch her shoulder. She shook her head. “I’m okay.” His touch would be her undoing. Both emotionally and physically she wasn’t strong enough to resist him right now. She needed to keep her distance.
“I know.” He lowered his hand to the side. “How will you keep busy?” he asked, as if understanding that she needed a mundane subject change.
“School is out, my column is in reruns and I’d planned on using the summer to write my bo
ok. I can work anywhere with a computer.” She fingered her still damp bangs.
“Maybe someplace with a beach,” she said, thinking aloud.
“Sounds therapeutic.” He spoke as though his mind had escaped elsewhere.
“True. My life has just been thrown a curve. A vacation might get it back on track.”
“Makes sense.”
She nodded.
He offered no response.
An uncomfortable silence surrounded them. She glanced at him, her gaze drawn to the taut muscles in his arm, then the wide expanse of his chest. In her mind, she was back on the floor, Mike’s firm body pressed against hers. This time, her lips tasted bare skin.
He cleared his throat
She blinked and her eyes met his. Amusement etched his features. A wide smile told her she’d been caught. She raised her hands to her flaming cheeks.
The safest move would be to get him out of her apartment. Once he left, he’d be out of her life. And she refused to analyze her feelings on that subject just yet.
She walked past him and headed toward the door. His footsteps sounded behind her. She placed her hand on the doorknob and turned.
“I can take a hint, however subtle.”
She turned toward him. “Good. Then no hard feelings and good night.”
“Get some rest and try not to dwell on anything too upsetting.” He grasped her hand in his, entwined their fingers and caressed her palm with his thumb.
What should have been a casual gesture heated her senses. A flicker of warmth began deep inside and radiated throughout her body. Through sheer force of will, she didn’t pull away.
He brushed her knuckles with his lips. “ ’Night Carly. Sleep tight.”
He might as well have said dream of me, since she doubted she’d do anything else. “ ’Night, Mike.”
She shut the door behind him, knowing in her heart that it was for the last time.
* * *
Mike knew he was taking unfair advantage. He knew Carly wanted to be alone. Yet he sensed deep pain beneath the surface, hurt that went way beyond a broken engagement. And he believed that pain could be traced back in time. Although he couldn’t be the man in her future—he had too many scars of his own and a lifestyle she couldn’t understand or accept—he wanted to be the one to help her heal and move on.
He’d deal with his own pain of losing her later, when he’d pulled his life together and was back wandering the globe on assignment. He knocked and let himself into her father’s office. Roger Wexler rose from his desk. “Good to see you, Mike.”