Excerpt

His hand rested on her shoulder and she leaned into the reassuring contact.  “I’m ok.  I promise.”

“You didn’t look fine at dinner.  You looked like your whole world was crashing in around you.”

Grace forced a smile and finally turned to meet his gaze.  His eyes were dark with concern as his hand slid from her shoulder down to grip her fingers.

She pulled her hand away, attempting a laugh.  “When did you get so dramatic, Mike?  Worlds crashing around.  As if.”

“If you weren’t upset, then what are you doing out here in the dark?”

“I didn’t want to intrude.  I should just head home.”

A horse whickered softly in the moonshine.  Mike turned his head towards the sound, smiling a little.  “You shouldn’t worry about intruding.  I’m living here.  You can’t get much more in the way than that.”

“It’s only temporary.”

“Yes, it is.  I’m looking forward to having my own place.”

Grace studied him, glad that the topic of conversation had been diverted away from her.  He’d spent so many years without roots.  Other than Maggie, his cousin-turned-foster parent, he’d never had a home.  It just hadn’t been his way. A home had always seemed to represent a commitment he didn’t want to make.

“It seems funny, thinking of you with your own house, tied to a business.  You’ve never been that type of guy.”

His gray eyes penetrated hers.  “I wasn’t, not for a long time.  Things change.”

“What things?”  She tilted her head curiously.

“It didn’t make sense to roam around without a purpose, looking for something yet not knowing what it was.  I found myself wanting to settle, find a place for me.  Build a business.  Make a home, maybe even have a family.”

And just like that, her world dropped out from under her.  It was like her bones had suddenly turned to jelly and everything got too heavy to move. He watched her quietly, his strong body between her and the house.

She had to escape.

Mike and a house and a family.  Words she never thought she’d ever hear out of his lips. 

Why had it taken him so long to figure it out?  If only he hadn’t taken a decade, things might have been different after all.  A whole can of “what if’s” was opened, the contents spilled out. 

After the long, emotional day she’d had it was too much.  Her eyes burned with tears she tried desperately to hold inside and her mouth twisted. She chewed on her lip to keep it from quivering.

“I’ve gotta go,” she choked out, pushing past him and making a run for her car.  She wrenched open the door and got in, turned the key to the ignition.

Just her luck.  The one thing Mike was looking for now was the very thing she’d never be able to give him.