Page 8 of Unexpected Union

Maybe he’d stay a day or two and growbored—that was too long a time for him to stay away from work.

For a moment the old bitterness rose. Workwould soon claim his total attention—she knew that firsthand.

“I’m under strict orders to stay away fromwork for three full weeks,” he said wryly.

She looked up at that–meeting his gazeagain. The fluttering in her heart surprised her.

“Whose orders?”

She couldn’t imagine Mitch taking ordersfrom anyone. He was too self-assured, self-confident. Sometimes shehad thought him too arrogant. She’d loved teasing him aboutthat.

“My doctor,” he replied.

“Oh. To recover fully from theaccident?”

He looked away, his expression impassive.“Among other things. So do we agree to stay or fight it outnow?”

She looked away sadly. That’s what they’dcome to? Fighting? She remembered their whirlwind courtship. She’dfelt so cherished, so desired.

“I suppose we could share the place. I mean,if we were staying in the main lodge, we might have ended up withadjacent rooms. So this wouldn’t be much different.”

Even as she said the words, she scrambledaround for another idea. Nothing came to mind. Could they reallyshare?

She felt at a loss. If they agreed to sharea cabin, what else would he expect? To spend time together? Sharetheir vacations?

She’d been looking forward to the solitude.So how could she decide whether to take that next step in severingtheir marriage with her own emotions muddled by Mitch’spresence?

He still had the ability to start her heartracing and she didn’t know how she was going to keep a cool head iffaced with him every day.

Would he try to kiss her again?

Heat flared through her at the memory ofthat kiss. She couldn’t allow that, that would truly muddy thewaters.

“Do we have a deal?” he asked.

“I guess.”

Should she bring up the kiss? No, that wouldattach more importance than it deserved. If staying got to be toomuch, she could always cut short her trip and return home.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad with them bothon neutral territory, so to speak.

“Fine. I have to call the office. I’ll seeyou later.”

She watched as he rose and entered throughthe front door. Had she thought being here would make a difference?Nothing had changed. She should be more surprised he’d lasted thislong without being in touch with his precious office. Obviously heviewed his doctor’s orders to rest meaning a change of venue, notcomplete abstinence from work.

A few moments later she heard the murmur ofhis voice. The whole purpose of coming was to escape the normalroutines of life. To relax and recharge.

But not for Mitch. He still had thatrestless energy, that same inability to stay away from work. It hadbeen that obsession that had ended their marriage.

And made her wary about trusting her heartto another man again.

His inability to reach a balance betweentheir marriage and work had been the cause of her leaving. Evennow, she searched for ways she could have changed things. Nosolution had ever appeared.

The cold, hard, unpalatable fact was Mitchpreferred fighting with the criminal element to spending time withhis wife.

And learning they were having a babyobviously hadn’t changed that.

Chapter Three

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