wasn’t there yet? She’d cried out that she loved him a short time ago. The memory caused Mitch’s heart to inflate despite all his efforts to contain it. She’d screamed it in the throes of an intense orgasm. How much stock could he put in it? After all, they’d only just seen each other again after a two-year separation, during which she’d been involved with Ty Butler. How could she be certain of her feelings for Mitch? What if she was confused?
What if she changed her mind and went back to Ty?
The very notion made Mitch ill. The thought of losing her now was too horrific to contemplate. Mitch was forced to face the truth: he was in love with Hayley Bryant. Whether Hayley’s emotions were genuine or not, Mitch’s were. It was one thing he didn’t have to think through or analyze to the nth degree. He’d been head over heels for the woman in his arms since her first day on the job at the offices of Wood and Markham, and he’d been tying himself in knots trying to ignore those emotions every day since.
“Mitch?”
Hayley’s sleepy murmur broke into Mitch’s thoughts. “I thought you were asleep.”
“Hmm, I was.” She snuggled closer to him so her breasts meshed nicely to his chest. She placed a light kiss to his pulse point that made his blood leap against her lips. “What were you lying awake thinking about?”
“You,” he said.
She let out an indelicate snort. “Yeah, right.”
Mitch rolled his eyes. At last he had the correct romantic answer for one of those thorny questions women tended to ask, and Hayley didn’t believe him. “It’s true. Do you remember what you wore the first day you came to work for me?”
“Something sedate and professional looking, I imagine,” she sighed. “I wanted to make a good impression.”
“It was a black suit, totally shapeless. You had your hair pulled back in this severe bun. You looked like a girl playing dress-up in her mother’s Sunday church clothes.”
Hayley shoved at his chest peevishly. “Thanks very much.”
“Then after a few weeks, you started arriving in these different outfits, all range of colors,” Mitch went on, recalling that time with a mix of fondness and an acute ache reminiscent of the sexual frustration he’d suffered at the time. He’d responded to her when she’d worn the ugly black suit on day one. When the real Hayley started to emerge, he’d barely been able to keep his physical reactions in check. “Light blue, pink, red. You smiled more and wore unusual shoes—high, high heels on these tiny feet. You left your hair out. It was like watching a flower bloom right before my eyes.” Mitch brushed his lips over her temple, and she trembled against him. “I was enthralled by you.”
She drew back and met his gaze. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Every day I saw you and couldn’t touch you was a torment. But when you weren’t there it was worse. I was grouchy and impossible to work with because I hadn’t gotten my Hayley fix.”
Hayley propped her head on one hand and studied his face. “Sometimes I thought I saw you watching me. I felt your gaze, like the electricity in the air. But by the time I turned around you were always wrapped up in something, totally oblivious to me.”
Mitch’s lips quirked. The very notion was preposterous. “I was never oblivious to you.”
She traced the line of his jaw with her fingers. “I wondered so many times if I was imagining our attraction, even though every instinct I had told me you wanted me. You’re so good at hiding how you feel.”
“I think I’m losing the ability to do that,” Mitch admitted. “Ever since I saw you again I’ve been acting like a lunatic.”
Her touch trailed over his cheekbone, up to the tender swelling around his left eye. Mitch stifled a wince as she stroked the spot where a bruise would surely form come morning. “Did you really get into a fistfight with Ty?”
Mitch grunted unhappily. “He deserved it.”
“You started
What if she changed her mind and went back to Ty?
The very notion made Mitch ill. The thought of losing her now was too horrific to contemplate. Mitch was forced to face the truth: he was in love with Hayley Bryant. Whether Hayley’s emotions were genuine or not, Mitch’s were. It was one thing he didn’t have to think through or analyze to the nth degree. He’d been head over heels for the woman in his arms since her first day on the job at the offices of Wood and Markham, and he’d been tying himself in knots trying to ignore those emotions every day since.
“Mitch?”
Hayley’s sleepy murmur broke into Mitch’s thoughts. “I thought you were asleep.”
“Hmm, I was.” She snuggled closer to him so her breasts meshed nicely to his chest. She placed a light kiss to his pulse point that made his blood leap against her lips. “What were you lying awake thinking about?”
“You,” he said.
She let out an indelicate snort. “Yeah, right.”
Mitch rolled his eyes. At last he had the correct romantic answer for one of those thorny questions women tended to ask, and Hayley didn’t believe him. “It’s true. Do you remember what you wore the first day you came to work for me?”
“Something sedate and professional looking, I imagine,” she sighed. “I wanted to make a good impression.”
“It was a black suit, totally shapeless. You had your hair pulled back in this severe bun. You looked like a girl playing dress-up in her mother’s Sunday church clothes.”
Hayley shoved at his chest peevishly. “Thanks very much.”
“Then after a few weeks, you started arriving in these different outfits, all range of colors,” Mitch went on, recalling that time with a mix of fondness and an acute ache reminiscent of the sexual frustration he’d suffered at the time. He’d responded to her when she’d worn the ugly black suit on day one. When the real Hayley started to emerge, he’d barely been able to keep his physical reactions in check. “Light blue, pink, red. You smiled more and wore unusual shoes—high, high heels on these tiny feet. You left your hair out. It was like watching a flower bloom right before my eyes.” Mitch brushed his lips over her temple, and she trembled against him. “I was enthralled by you.”
She drew back and met his gaze. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Every day I saw you and couldn’t touch you was a torment. But when you weren’t there it was worse. I was grouchy and impossible to work with because I hadn’t gotten my Hayley fix.”
Hayley propped her head on one hand and studied his face. “Sometimes I thought I saw you watching me. I felt your gaze, like the electricity in the air. But by the time I turned around you were always wrapped up in something, totally oblivious to me.”
Mitch’s lips quirked. The very notion was preposterous. “I was never oblivious to you.”
She traced the line of his jaw with her fingers. “I wondered so many times if I was imagining our attraction, even though every instinct I had told me you wanted me. You’re so good at hiding how you feel.”
“I think I’m losing the ability to do that,” Mitch admitted. “Ever since I saw you again I’ve been acting like a lunatic.”
Her touch trailed over his cheekbone, up to the tender swelling around his left eye. Mitch stifled a wince as she stroked the spot where a bruise would surely form come morning. “Did you really get into a fistfight with Ty?”
Mitch grunted unhappily. “He deserved it.”
“You started
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