Hold on to Me (2 page)

Mitch eyed his cell phone on the counter, willing it to buzz, but it just sat there, cold and dark against the granite, mocking him with every look. He hadn’t talked to Simone this morning, and for reasons he couldn’t explain, he needed to know she was okay. She’d been in meetings all day, and her plane had landed in SFO—how pathetic was it that he tracked her flight?—but she had yet to text him. He knew she was probably just busy, but he couldn’t stop thinking about how distracted she’d sounded on the phone last night. He’d just feel a thousand times better when he saw her and talked to her in person.

He glanced back toward Ryan looking like a stupid, sappy schmuck, and reached for the bottle again. Nerves bunched and rolled through his stomach as he took a long pull. Was that what he looked like when he was thinking about Simone? Shit, could Simone see it? Was that why she’d sounded so off last night? What if she wasn’t ready?

He knew what it was like not to be ready. He was thirty-six years old and was just now at a point where he was willing to take a chance again. Simone knew how he felt about her and Shannon, but in the six months they’d been together, she hadn’t once told him she loved him. Maybe it was too soon after her husband’s death.

“Christ, Mathews.” Ryan turned away from the window. “I can hear you stressing all the way over here. Give it a rest.”

“I’m not stressing.”

One corner of Ryan’s lips curled. “Like an expectant father.”

“Whoa. Back that train up. That’s your department, numbnuts, not mine.”

“You will soon.”

Those nerves kicked up higher. Mitch downed the rest of his beer and glanced back at his phone.
Come on, already…ring!

“She’ll say yes,” Ryan said in a quiet voice.

Mitch wasn’t so sure. “She never does anything I expect her to do.”

“Which is why you love her. Easy-going, brainless hotties don't interest you anymore.”

Mitch frowned again and tossed his empty bottle into the recycle bin under the sink, then reached for another from the fridge. Ryan was right. And when the hell had that happened? He'd be way better off if he could just fall for a submissive, timid woman. But no, he had to go and take a header for a woman who liked to argue until she was blue in the face and was so damn independent he wasn’t sure she’d ever truly need him the way he needed her.

He closed his eyes and drew in a steadying breath. Shit, he was in so far over his head he didn’t know which way was up.

“I sure do like watching someone else being put through the wringer,” Ryan said with a lift in his voice. “It’s a nice change of pace.”

Mitch raked a hand through his too-long hair. “I’m so glad I could entertain you. Now take these kids out of my house. I’ve got things to do before Simone gets here.”

Ryan chuckled and pulled the slider open. “Girls, time to go.”

The girls giggled and ran into the house. As they swept past Ryan and Mitch and grabbed Shannon’s bag in the foyer, Ryan pulled the keys from his pocket and muttered, “Assuming you don’t fuck things up tonight, Mathews, bring Simone over tomorrow morning, and we’ll do brunch to celebrate the end of your bachelorhood.”

If I don’t fuck things up…
And yeah, what if he did?

“Okay,” Mitch managed, walking Ryan to the door, not wanting to think too much about that possibility.

The girls were already standing out front, waiting for Ryan to unlock the car. As soon as Mitch stepped outside, Shannon rushed over and wrapped her arms around Mitch’s waist. “Good luck tonight. Don’t let Mom get all lawyerly with you.”

Shannon’s words eased a place around Mitch’s heart. He knelt down so they were eye to eye. He’d never wanted kids of his own, had never really dated any woman who had kids, but he was crazy about this ten-year-old girl with her wavy red hair and big brown eyes. And every time he thought about being her stepdad, a big ol’ lump formed in his throat. “I’ll do my best to argue our case.”

Shannon grinned and slid her arms around his neck. “She’s gonna love it. She’s such a sucker for anything shiny.”

She smelled liked cotton candy, and her hair was silky soft against his cheek. Mitch closed his arms around her. “I’ll try to remember that. Be good for Ryan and Kate.”

She eased out of his arms, waved, and ran down the path after Julia, who was already waiting in the back of Ryan’s Mercedes.

Mitch pushed to his feet and waved back, feeling oddly nostalgic.

Just nerves
.

Man, he needed to see Simone. To hold her and kiss her and lose himself in her sexy scent. Then everything would be good again.

Ryan clamped a hand on Mitch’s shoulder, then slipped on his sunglasses and moved down a step. “You should get a haircut. Women don’t like the scruffy look. And maybe shave for a change. You are trying to make a good impression, you know.”

Mitch tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and shot Ryan a look. “I’m not taking advice about women from you.”

“Why not? I’m two for two on the whole proposal/marriage thing since your sister married me again. And zero divorces. You won’t find better stats than that.”

“Get the hell off my property. And don’t lock my sister up in handcuffs,” Mitch called as Ryan made his way down the front walk. “That’s just freakin’ wrong.”

Ryan chuckled. “Good luck, buddy.”

The girls waved wildly from the backseat while Ryan climbed into the car and started the ignition. And as they pulled away from the curb and headed down the street, Mitch had the strangest sensation that a small part of his heart was going right along with them.

Alone, all those nerves came slamming back. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath.

She had to say yes. She just had to.

Because he wasn’t sure what he’d do if her answer was no.

CHAPTER TWO

S
imone cut the engine of her Volvo outside Mitch’s house in Pacifica and gripped the steering wheel. Panic made it hard to think—hard to breathe, for that matter—but she needed to keep it together and stay calm. It was the only way she was going to get through this.

After freaking out in her car, she’d finally relaxed enough to think through the steps she needed to complete. First and foremost was getting to Shannon. Common sense told her it had been ten years. If the “
they
” Steve had run from were really interested in finding her, they'd have tracked her down six months ago when she'd foolishly let the cameras catch her face during Kate and Ryan's press conference.

That had been a stupid move on her part. Though she’d known Kate’s amnesia case was unique and that taking her on as a client would generate a little interest, she hadn’t expected the firestorm that had erupted in the press when reporters had discovered that pharmaceutical tycoon Ryan Harrison’s dead wife was really alive. Simone had known her face had been caught on camera—Ryan had been, after all, one of San Francisco’s most eligible bachelor’s— but no one had recognized her, and when weeks went by with zero threat or so much as an inquiry directed her way, she’d dropped her guard.

She wasn’t dropping it now, though. Yes, she had time—no one was coming after her right this minute, were they?—but that didn’t mean they weren’t on their way. She’d already put her and Shannon’s lives in jeopardy. She couldn’t jeopardize Mitch’s too.

Mitch
…

Her eyes slid closed. A few hours ago, she'd been so excited, ready to take a chance and start over with him. Now…

Now that was nothing but a wasted dream. She didn’t know where she was headed yet, but she knew she had to get out of San Francisco. But just the thought of leaving caused her stomach to churn, made her chest cinch down tight, and sent a pounding ache straight behind her eyes.

She dropped her head against the steering wheel and focused on breathing. In and out. One breath at a time. And for a fleeting moment, she thought about telling Mitch a half-truth. That the “
they
” coming after her were disgruntled past clients, set on revenge. Only… She knew she could never do that. She’d never be able to live with herself if something happened to him because of Steve’s past. And she was going to have a hard enough time keeping Shannon safe as it was.

Dammit
… She’d known… She’d known not to get involved with anyone.

And damn Steve not only for dying on her, but for putting her in the middle of this nightmare to begin with.

Tears she wasn’t going to let fall—not yet—burned behind her eyes. She had to stay focused on what to do next. Only when she knew Shannon was safe...then she’d let the emotions in.

She drew in a ragged breath, lifted her head, and peered across the lawn with its big trees toward Mitch’s craftsman-style house. Lights burned in the front windows, and some kind of muffled music echoed from inside. Shannon had stayed with him while Simone had been in Washington, DC on business, and she’d known from the phone calls during the week that the two had had a ball together.

Her chest tightened even more. Someday, hopefully, she’d make him understand. But right now she just needed to make this as quick and painless as possible. The less he knew, the better off he’d be.

Like you?

She pushed the irony in that thought aside, drew in one last breath, then pushed the car door open and crossed the dimly lit street toward his front lawn. Since Mitch usually went in and out through the garage, she knew the front door was locked. Wishing it was open, she lifted her hand to knock, then waited for Shannon’s excited voice to echo through the house.

The only sound that met her ears was a very familiar string melody.

Van Morrison. He was listening to the present she'd given him for his birthday last month. He was listening to the song she’d played when she’d given him his
other
birthday present: her, in the little red leather number she’d promised him months ago.

“These are the Days” slowly played out behind the door, and her heart contracted as she remembered the gleam in his eyes while she’d danced seductively around her bedroom in the ridiculously tight outfit. Followed by the frantic way he’d kissed her when she’d finally gotten close enough for him to grab.

Like a man starved. Like she was his everything. Like he’d never let her go.

She closed her eyes on a wave of emotion that burned everywhere. She wasn’t going to be able to do this. She wasn’t—

The door pulled open. Startled, Simone looked up. A slow and seductive smile spread across Mitch’s rugged face, and in his eyes, a dark, rolling heat brewed. One she knew oh so well.

“Mitch—”

His arm snaked out around her waist and pulled her tight against him. And before she could catch her bearings, he slid his other hand into her hair, then lowered his mouth to hers.

Warmth. Safety. Bliss. She felt herself moving, felt him tugging her inside the house, kicking the door closed, and pressing her back against the hard wood. But all she could focus on was the way he all but devoured her whole with those sweet, tempting, masculine lips.

Desire and need—so much need—bloomed inside her. She opened on reflex, pressed her hands against his warm chest, and groaned when his tongue slid into her mouth. He tasted like wine. Like spice. Like the same damn hunger consuming her. Slowly, he changed the angle of the kiss, stroked his tongue against hers in a languid way, lifted both hands to gently cradle her face as if she were the most precious thing.

Thought fled. Reason disappeared. All she felt in the moment was wanted, desired, cherished.

He eased back slowly and stared down into her eyes. That slow, sexy, wicked smile she loved so much spread back over his lips. “Hi.”

“H-hi.”

He brushed his thumb across her oversensitized cheek. “I missed you.”

She’d missed him too. So much more than she’d realized until this very moment. She swallowed hard, unable to move, to think, to do anything but stare into his fathomless eyes. “I-I see that.”

Gently, he tipped her chin up again, kissed her lips delicately as if she were made of glass, then trailed his tantalizing mouth across her jaw to feather whisper-soft kisses against her earlobe. A shiver raced down her spine, and a moan slid from her lips before she could stop it, followed by her head tipping away, giving him more access.

“Mitch…”

The music in the overhead speakers shifted to the gentle notes of “Someone Like You.” And then they were dancing, turning an easy circle through his entryway, moving smoothly down the hardwood floor toward his great room.

Her hands inched up his chest. His mouth found hers again. He was wearing her favorite black T-shirt and the faded denim jeans he’d worn the first night they’d met, when she’d agreed to have drinks to talk about his sister. Memories spiraled in as his tongue brushed hers again, as his hips pressed against her belly, as his knee slid between her thighs.

“Mitch…”

“God, you taste good,” he murmured against her mouth, continuing to gently move her to the beat of the hypnotic music. He was so damn sexy, so hot, so
hers
, and the way he moved… He took her breath away. “I’ve been looking for someone exactly like you,” he whispered, echoing the song. “Just you.”

Her heart swelled, and she gave herself over to his mouth, his hands, his incredibly wicked touch. Her fingers slid into the silky soft tendrils at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer so she could kiss him deeper. He answered by tightening his arms around her waist until his erection pressed into her belly.

Yes, yes, this. Just this
.

She had the vague impression of candlelight, of flames flickering in the fireplace across the room, but all she could focus on was him. Only him.

The music faded way before she was ready to let it go, and as the song ended and he eased away once more, she saw the pleasure in his eyes, the happiness, and the relief. Relief that she was back and finally in his arms.

Reality spiraled in. A cold slap she wanted to ignore but couldn’t. Her hands trailed down to his biceps, and she swallowed hard, hating what she knew was coming next. After the greeting he’d just given her—after the way she’d reacted—how could she walk away from him?