Free Forever After by Karen Rose Smith Page B

eyes.  But what could he offer her?  She wanted a lot more than he was willing to give.
    He stood.  "I'd better go.  We want different things."
    She didn't speak.  She didn't try to change his mind.  She just gazed at him with those wide aquamarine eyes.  He couldn't handle the disappointment glistening there so he walked to the door and let himself out.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Tuesday afternoon, Seth sat in his office, thinking about the weekend.  Whenever he closed his eyes, he vividly recalled Darcy's face, the petal softness of her skin, the feel of her in his arms, under his fingers, under his lips.  So he'd closed his eyes as little as possible in the past few days with the obvious result--he was tired, edgy, and about as patient as a bear.  When he snapped at Vic's paralegal for the third time in one morning, Seth knew he couldn't be as pragmatic about Darcy as he'd thought he could be.
    He'd tried to forget about her.  He really had.  He'd gone to Vic's for dinner on Sunday.  Peg fed him until he couldn't breathe.  Her two boys had run him ragged all afternoon.  And still always there had been Darcy's words in the shadows of his mind.  I want to get to know you, share with you...
     He didn't know if he knew how to share.  He didn't know if he wanted to try.
    But he'd never met anyone like Darcy.  He'd never met a woman who made him want to consider more than a surface relationship.  Sex hadn't led to intimacy in the past.  It had led to a fulfillment of needs.  Obviously, Darcy wouldn't consider sex without intimacy.  She had to know up front marriage wasn't in the cards.  Marriage!  Hell, why was he thinking about marriage?
    Because that's what women like Darcy wanted.  And that was the one thing he wasn't prepared to give.  He'd seen too many brutal divorces, beginning with his parents.  Nope, men and women weren't meant to spend lifetimes together.
    He thought of Vic and Peg and qualified his thought.  Most men and women weren't meant to spend a lifetime together.  The odds of a marriage lasting were less than fifty percent.  And when it broke apart...  He'd seen the devastation first hand.  Huh uh.  Marriage was definitely out of the question.
    Could Darcy accept grabbing the moment?  He should stay away from her and let her find some settled man who could give her a home, kids, stability, a gold band. 
    Maybe after Saturday night, she didn't want to see him again.  There was the Brad Winston complication.  But the man still hadn't called and Seth didn't live his life on "might be-s."  He wanted Darcy.  He was going to lay the facts out in front of her and let her make the decision.  Black and white.  They'd see each other or they wouldn't.  Cut and dried.  Logic had always served him well.  Darcy was no exception.
    He pushed his chair away from his desk.  Maybe after he went to the garage, he could get some work done.
    ***
    Pushing her hair high on her forehead with the heel of her hand, Darcy reviewed her appointments for tomorrow morning.  She was still having difficulty concentrating and her distraction annoyed her.  She kept telling herself to forget about Seth, but she wasn't taking her own advice.  Spinning to face the pegboard on the wall in back of the desk, she flipped an ignition key from a hook.  She needed to keep her hands busy and maybe her brain would follow.  When she heard the side door open, she turned...and stood immobilized while all of her womanly senses kicked into overdrive.
    Seth stepped into the garage and adjusted his eyes to the dimmer light.  Darcy could feel her cheeks flush as he annihilated the distance between them in a few long strides.  "Let's go into your office and talk."
    Darcy tried to put her armor in place but it was difficult when she looked into his eyes.  "We don't have anything to talk about.  You sounded sure about what you want and don't want."
    Seth walked behind the counter, firmly took her arm, and led her toward her