generally schedule appointments between one-thirty and five. Is there any particular time that would be best for you?”
“The later, the better. Summer’s in after-school care here at Saint Margaret’s. I usually pick her up a little before six.”
“Suppose I make Summer my last appointment at, say, five o’clock on Wednesdays and Fridays. That way, she and I will be finished just before you get here and then the two of us can meet.”
“You need to see her twice a week?” Michael asked.
“I’d like to, at least at the start. We can always adjust the length and number of sessions later, depending on her progress.” She paused. “Is that all right with you?”
“Yeah, I guess so. As long as you understand that these therapy sessions are just a trial thing. I mean, if they upset Summer or she doesn’t seem to be responding, then they stop—regardless of what Sister Mary Grace does.”
“I understand.”
After jotting down the time and date in his appointment book, Michael slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket.
Maybe Amanda Bennett really would be able to help, he told himself. Heaven knew, he hadn’t been successful in erasing that haunted look that came into Summer’s eyes whenever she spoke of her mother or asked questions about her father and his family.
“Well, then, if you don’t have any other questions, I’ll see you next week.” Amanda stood and held out her hand.
Standing, Michael clasped her fingers in his. He paused and took in her lovely face, the graceful line of her neck, the way the yellow-and-white suit skimmed her full curves. Something stirred inside him that had nothing to do with her being a psychologist and everything to do with her being a woman and him being a man.
When he brought his gaze back to her face, her eyes had warmed to the color of sherry. A tiny sound escaped her lips before she pulled her hand free.
Michael hesitated, feeling a sudden reluctance to leave. “You know, despite my feelings about Summer being in therapy, I really do appreciate your helping her.” He flashed her a smile and before he realized it, he said, “In fact, if you’ll allow me to, I’d like to take you to dinner tonight to thank you. That is, if you’re free.”
“No, I’m not,” she lied.
“Sure. I understand.” He paused. “What about tomorrow?”
“Sorry, I can’t.”
“This weekend?” he persisted.
Turning away from the glimmer of interest in his eyes and her own foolish urge to accept, Amanda picked up the folder she’d placed on the table and clutched it to her. “I appreciate the offer, but I make it a rule never to mix business with pleasure. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my next appointment should be waiting.”
Moving past him, Amanda hurried out the door, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. The last thing she needed or wanted was a man like Michael Grayson. There was no room in her life for any man who came as part of a package deal—even one as appealing as Michael. Recalling the flicker of heat she had experienced when their eyes had met, Amanda squashed her traitorous thoughts. She’d learned her lesson the hard way. And she had no intention of repeating past mistakes.
Two
“This isn’t working, Amanda.” Michael paced the length of the small school office. “It’s been almost two months and Summer’s still having the same problems. I’m pulling her out of the therapy program.”
Amanda’s heart lurched as she stared at Michael’s stiff back. Despite all her silent lectures and resolutions not to become involved, both the man and the child had become important to her. “Michael, you can’t do that. Not now. Not when she’s starting to make progress.”
He spun around, pinning her with steely blue eyes. “Progress? You call going into another trance in the middle of class ‘progress’? We’re right back where we started.”
“She’s had a minor setback. That’s all. And I’ve already explained to you and Sister Mary Grace what happened.”
“I know,” he said, his voice weary. “But Summer can’t keep tuning the world out every time she gets upset about something.”
“She won’t,” Amanda assured him. “Try to understand. A confrontation with a teacher can be traumatic for any seven-year-old, but given one with Summer’s background... Meditating was her way of dealing with the situation.”
At his silence, Amanda pressed on. “Give it a little more time. Let me work with her—at least until the end of the school term. Two more months, that’s all I’m asking for. That isn’t very long.”
“It is to me.”
His eyes caught hers and held. Amanda saw clearly how much frustration their relationship and the restraints she’d placed on it had caused him. Had caused them both, she admitted.
In two short months Michael Grayson had managed to confuse her, tempt her, and make her question her resolve not to become involved with him. The fact that she’d agreed to meet him this evening after the rest of the staff had gone instead of waiting until the next day was only proof of just how involved she had become.
Knowing that she had broken her own rule and allowed their innocent conferences to become something more only added to her dismay.
“No, Amanda. I don’t see any point in putting Summer...or us through any more of these sessions.” He shoved his thick black hair away from his eyes. It fell stubbornly across his brow once again. “It’s just not worth it.”
The words were hard-edged—like the man himself, Amanda thought, studying the strong lines of his face, the firm set of his jaw.
She tried again. “What about Summer? Have you thought about how this is going to affect her?”
“Of course I have,” he said, his voice gruff. “She’s always been my first concern.”
It was true, Amanda acknowledged silently. His devotion to his niece had been one of the things that had attracted her to him.
“Believe me, if the therapy was working, I’d stick with it regardless of how I felt about you. But it isn’t. And seeing you, being with you week after week, trying to keep things between us on a professional level has been hell. I’m used to going after what I want, Amanda.” His gaze slid from her eyes to her lips. “And I want you.”
“Michael, don’t.”
“Don’t what? Tell you that even when I’m not with you, I think about you? The way you look. The way you smell.”
Amanda closed her eyes a moment and tried to slow the thudding of her heart.
“It’s true. And I’m tired of you making excuses to keep me at arm’s length.”
“I’m not making excuses. I’m your niece’s doctor.”
Michael placed his hands flat on her desk and leaned forward, crowding her, filling her entire line of vision. “You’re also a woman. There’s no reason for us not to see each other if we want to.”
“Michael, please. I’ve already explained. It would be unethical for us to...to become involved.”
“You think we’re not already involved?” he asked, his voice incredulous. “Are you going to deny that there’s something between us? That you haven’t felt this...this chemistry growing between us, pulling us together?”
Unable to deny his accusations, Amanda remained silent. It was true. She was attracted to him, had been from the moment she’d glimpsed the kind, caring man hidden behind the rough-edged persona he presented to the world. It was the gentle Michael who had somehow managed to sneak beneath her