Metsy Hingle - Seduced

“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.

“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 defenses.

“I’ve got news for you, sweetheart. Whether you admit it or not, we’re involved. And as for those ethics you’re so worried about, it’s not a problem anymore. Because as of right now, you’re no longer Summer’s doctor.”

Amanda swallowed. Perhaps it was best this way. If she would no longer be working with Summer, she would no longer be forced to see Michael. And if she didn’t see him, talk to him, maybe these...these feelings he had awakened in her would wane.

Striving for some emotional distance, she tried to make her voice cool. “Very well, then. But if you change your mind and decide you want Summer to see another psychologist, there are several I can recommend.” She reached for her Rolodex file.

Michael caught her wrist. “Dammit, Amanda. Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said? I’m not interested in another psychologist.”

Amanda stared into his stormy eyes and tried to ignore the effect of his nearness.

“What happened with Summer today is only part of the reason I’m calling the therapy quits. The other reason is us. I want there to be an ‘us.’

“I’m through playing games. Either we see each other as two consenting adults, or we don’t see each other at all.” Releasing her wrist, he cupped her chin, forcing her to look at him. “What’s it going to be? Yes or no?”

The word no stuck in her throat, lingered on the tip of her tongue.

She couldn’t say it.

She did want to see Michael, to be with him. She’d been drawn to him from the start, had been surprised by the strength of that initial attraction. Even now, she couldn’t explain it. Since her disastrous marriage to Adam, few men had been able to make her pulse race.

Michael Grayson had.

And somewhere along the way those innocent coffees they had shared after her sessions with Summer had turned into something more...something that both frightened and excited her at the same time. Somewhere along the way, she had grown to care for him.

She looked at his handsome face and silently chastised herself. How had she ever believed she could work with him, be with him, and keep her emotional distance? Hadn’t she already proved she was a sucker for his type—a man who came as part of a package deal?

“Well, Amanda?” Michael’s eyes searched hers.

She couldn’t risk another mistake. The last one had cost her far too much. “I’m sorry, Michael. I can’t.”

An odd expression—something that resembled panic—crossed his face; but it disappeared so quickly, Amanda wondered if she’d imagined it.