“Has anything happened between the two of you since you went home?”
“Just a kiss,” she said, the memory of it flushing her cheeks like a schoolgirl. Given her amnesia, it was like having her first kiss all over again.
“A kiss is something. If he didn’t like you, I doubt he’d bother kissing you.”
“But nothing has happened since then.”
Gwen took a sip of her drink and shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about that. He might be concerned about your recovery. Or preoccupied with his company. But let me ask you a question. Do you want something to happen?”
Cynthia frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’ve sort of inherited Will by default. Yes, you were technically with him for years, chose to be with him, but to the new you, he’s a stranger. What if you just ran into Will on the street? Would you be attracted to him?”
Cynthia tried to imagine crossing paths with Will in an alternate universe where they’d never met. Perhaps she dropped something and he stopped to pick it up for her. The Will in her mind smiled and she found herself immediately drawn into the blue-gray eyes that watched her. The powerful aura that surrounded him was hard to resist, even in her fantasy. His strong build, his confident stride, the way he moved so gracefully yet with commanding purpose.
A pool of longing settled low in her belly and made her squirm uncomfortably in her seat. It was just like the memory of their kiss. Yes, she was attracted to Will. She couldn’t remember their past, but her taste in men had certainly not changed since the accident, even if everything else had.
The question was whether she could allow herself to fall for him. He’d told her to think about it. And she had. She wanted to give them a second chance, but she didn’t trust herself. She had no idea what she was capable of. She didn’t want to hurt Will again. Letting this relationship and its baggage go might be better for everyone concerned. But it was difficult to ignore a man like Will.
“I think under any circumstances he’d be pretty hard to resist,” she conceded.
“Then why are you fighting it? The hard work is done. You’ve already landed one of the most eligible men in Manhattan. Regardless of the past, I see no reason why you shouldn’t allow yourself to indulge in this relationship.”
Cynthia could think of a dozen reasons why she shouldn’t be with Will and only one reason why she should. Unfortunately, that one reason had the tendency to trump all her good sense.
She wanted him. Badly.
And whether she should or not, she was going to try her damnedest to build a new relationship and keep him.
* * *
George Dempsey sat across from Will, the large mahogany conference-room table scattered with paperwork. The lawyers had prepared everything they needed for the product collaboration on the e-reader; the finer details just needed to get ironed out.
Unfortunately, Will could tell they wouldn’t get very far today. His almost-father-in-law had more pressing issues on his mind.
“I’m worried about Cynthia,” he said, staring blankly at a contract.
“The doctors say she’s healing well.”
“I’m not worried about her face,” George grumbled, tossing down the page. “I’m worried about her head. Pauline tells me she’s not going back to the ad agency, but she still refuses to work for me.”
“I don’t think she’s passionate about electronics like you are. She never has been. Why would that change now?”
“Maybe because everything else has. She’s doodling dresses all day. I feel like I don’t even know my own daughter anymore.”
“That’s only fair. She doesn’t know you, either.”
George’s brow furrowed in irritation. “Don’t make light of this. I’m worried about her emotional health. And, frankly, I’m worried about this wedding.”
Alarm bells suddenly sounded in Will’s head. As far as he knew, no one but Cynthia and Alex knew about their breakup. They were toying with the idea of trying again, but nothing was set in stone. Their kiss in the park had been everything he imagined it would be and more, but it worried him. They had the potential of moving too quickly, crashing and burning before the ink on the e-reader deal had dried. He’d taken a step back and tried to distance himself the past few days. He ordered her a present to be delivered to the apartment and hoped to take her out to dinner tonight, but he couldn’t predict the future. The paperwork on the table didn’t mean a damn if George thought the relationship was in jeopardy. “She’s been through a lot. A May wedding might be too soon. She could need more time to adjust.”