Seduced by Metsy Hingle Read Free Book Online

heartening to gain the little girl’s trust, to help her sort through her confusion and pain at her mother’s death. Of course, Michael’s love and attention had made her job easier by far.
    Michael.
    Amanda cursed herself for thinking of him again. It was pointless to think about him.
    Instead she focused on Summer’s smiling face, and her heartstrings tugged once more. She was going to miss the child. But there was nothing she could do. And considering the outcome of her last encounter with Michael, perhaps it was for the best. She certainly couldn’t risk another evening like the previous Friday’s.
    Amanda touched her lips, recalling all too vividly how that evening had ended. Longing, hot and demanding, flickered through her as she remembered the feel of Michael’s lips, the warmth of his breath, the hardness of his body against her own. Squeezing her eyes shut, she fought back a groan as she recalled her own wanton response.
    â€œAmanda?”
    She tensed at the sound of Michael’s voice. She wasn’t ready to face him—not yet, not when the memory of his kiss was so fresh.
    â€œThe secretary did say four-thirty, didn’t she?”
    Attempting to school her expression, Amanda turned around slowly. “Yes. Please, come in.”
    When he closed the door and stepped inside, the room seemed somehow smaller. “You can sit down, if you’d like.” She gestured toward the chair across from her desk.
    He cut across the room in swift, easy strides, stopping in front of her. “I tried to reach you all weekend,” he said softly, his eyes searching hers.
    â€œI know. I got your messages.” All five messages. And because the temptation to pick up the telephone and talk to him had been so strong, she had deliberately spent her weekend working in the garden and stalking the city’s shopping centers. She’d tried on clothes she neither needed nor wanted only to return home empty-handed and exhausted. When the calls had persisted, she had taken herself off to a movie.
    â€œWhy didn’t you return my calls?”
    Amanda met his questioning gaze. “I thought it best not to.”
    â€œBetter for whom?” he asked, frowning.
    â€œFor me. And possibly for you, too.”
    â€œYou’re wrong,” he said, a slight edge in his voice. “On both counts. There’s something good between us, Amanda, and you know it. What are you so afraid of?”
    You, she wanted to shout. The things you make me feel, the things you make me want. The risks you make me want to take.
    Instead she simply said, “I told you before, my reasons for not going out with you are personal. I have no desire to explain those reasons to you and I doubt that you’d understand them even if I did. The problem is me, Michael—not you. But, believe me, I’m serious when I tell you you’re wasting your time. There can’t ever be anything between us.”
    â€œWhat about last Friday?” he demanded. “Are you going to tell me it didn’t mean anything to you? That it was nothing?”
    â€œLast Friday was very special.” For a few short hours she had been able to put the past and its painful scars behind her. But despite the explosive chemistry and her growing feelings for him, Michael was still a man with a child—a child very much in need of a mother. She wouldn’t take a chance on being used again.
    â€œI had a lovely time, but it was still a mistake. A relationship with you would mean too many complications and I don’t want or need any more complications in my life. Please accept that.”
    â€œI can’t.” His jaw clenched; a muscle ticked angrily in his cheek. “And I’m not going to let you accept it, either. I won’t let you throw us away, Amanda.”
    Amanda tipped up her chin. “You don’t have a choice. I have no intention of going out with you again and now that