Take a Chance on Me(37)

He rubbed slow circles over her leg, the touch soothing and platonic. “I understand.”

For some inexplicable reason, those two little words made her breathe more easily. “So that’s how I ended up almost married.”

His fingers stilled, squeezed a little. “Do you regret climbing out the window?”

Her teeth clenched. The truth, regardless of how it made her sound: “No, I don’t. And you know what’s really terrible?”

His slow, methodical stroking started again. “What?”

Real. No more hiding. No more denying to the outside world what she felt on the inside. “I’ve never been so relieved in my whole life. It was the first time since before my dad died I felt free. Do you know what I mean?”

With his gaze thoughtful, he studied her, the tilt of his head and jut of his jaw highlighting his masculinity. “Yeah, actually, I do.”

“I don’t know why, but I like being here.” She nibbled her bottom lip. “With you. You’re helping me remember who I used to be.”

“And who did you used to be?”

New tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know. Not really. That girl seems like a dream just out of my grasp, but here, I keep getting hints. I miss her.”

“Tell me what you miss about her,” Mitch said, those golden eyes boring into her.

“I was, I don’t know.” She waved an arm. “Wild and impulsive. I’d do anything on a dare, and I wasn’t ever afraid.”

“Maybe that’s why you’re here? Why you’re not ready to go home?”

She blinked and one tear slid down her cheek. “I don’t want to go back because I don’t have a choice. I want to go home on my terms, not because my car broke down and I’m helpless to fix it.”

“And after? When that’s no longer keeping you here?” Mitch’s hand still stroked over her skin, but the corners of his mouth tightened.


She wiped the wet track from her cheek. “I don’t know, I’ll figure that out when the time comes.”

“So we’ll take it day by day.” He squeezed her knee. “But I don’t want you to leave. You’re helping me, too.”

“How?”

“I thought I was content, but since you came along I realized I was just numb. I thought they were the same thing, but they’re not.”

“Maybe we’re not bad for each other after all?”

Another smile, so sinful that her heart stopped. “I don’t know the answer to that, I guess time will tell. In the end, like most things, it will probably be a little bit of both.”

She met his gaze. “Do you want to tell me why you’re not a lawyer anymore?”

“Not really.” That shuttered, closed-off look slid over his features.

More than anything, she wanted to pry, but something stopped her. Just because she’d confessed didn’t mean he’d automatically reciprocate. “All right.”

He released his hold on her leg and shook his head, almost as though exasperated. “Christ.”

“What?”

With another shake of his head, he shifted on the bed, fidgeting more in the last minute than he had the entire time she’d known him. “I’m afraid.”

The idea that he’d be afraid shocked her. “Of what?” He viciously raked his fingers through his hair. “I like the way you look at me. I’m not ready for that to change.”

What could have happened three years ago to cause this much distress? She swallowed, her pulse hammering in her throat. “You don’t have to tell me.”

His chest expanded as he took a breath and slowly exhaled. “I know, but I think I want you to know the truth more.”

Maybe it was better not to know. She folded her hands in her lap. “It’s up to you.”

He stared at a spot over her shoulder. “I was indicted for embezzlement.”





Chapter Ten



“Y-you what?” Maddie sputtered, green eyes wide.

“I was indicted for embezzlement,” Mitch said, in a remarkably calm voice. He supposed it was better than being an axe murderer.

She reared back. Her auburn brows drew together. “That can’t be right. You’re not a criminal.”

He might not have been caught, but he’d committed illegal acts—criminal acts that he’d be disbarred for if discovered. “I was never convicted. The case against me was dropped before I went to trial.”

Her face smoothed over, relaxing. “So you were cleared?” “Not exactly.” He sighed, a deep, weary sound. God, he wanted to avoid this topic. He had avoided it for three years, but Maddie had made that impossible the second she’d told him her story and hadn’t asked for anything in return. “The evidence disappeared.”

“How?”

After one day, he cared what she thought and it scared the shit out of him. It’d been twenty-four-f*cking hours and she’d twisted him up in knots. That he didn’t want to destroy her heroic illusions made him more determined to carry on. “When I graduated law school, my father landed me a job at one of the top law practices in Chicago. His lifelong friend was a senior partner there. My dad and Thomas Cromwell both grew up poor, and they clawed their way up out of the trenches. Their shared background bonded them like brothers. I grew up calling him Uncle Thomas, and he was part of the family. He gave me the highest recommendation. He worked in the corporate division of the firm, and I was under his tutelage for two years until it was discovered that I had a knack for criminal law and was moved.”