“It’s not personal,” Mitch said, setting his glass on the table. “Ryan doesn’t keep in contact with any of his old friends, especially any of Annie’s old friends. He wasn’t planning on calling you back, and he’s pretty pissed at me for meeting with you tonight. Things have been…rough for him.”

She could only imagine. But her concern was Kate right now, not Ryan Harrison. She took another sip of wine. “So, Mr. Mathews, why did you want to see me?”

He leaned forward, stared into his beer, seemed to contemplate his words. “Annie was my sister, and I loved her. If there’s a chance this woman, Kate Alexander, is her…well, I just wanted to get your take on it all. You knew Annie before, and you’ve spent more time with Kate than we have.”

She saw the heartache in his eyes, felt the pain. This had to be killing him inside. “You two were close, weren’t you?”

“Very. Oh, she wanted to pummel me on a regular basis when we were growing up, just like any good sister, but yeah, we were tight. I miss her.”

Simone didn’t have any siblings, but she knew all about loss. “And you and Ryan? You’re close too, I take it?”

“The closest. We’ve been friends for years, ever since college. Almost had to kick his ass when I found out he was sleeping with my baby sister.”

Simone laughed, feeling oddly at ease with this man she’d just met. “I bet that made for interesting times.”

“It did. Ryan and I played baseball together in college. We were seniors the year Annie started school. One spring day we’ve got a home game, and I’m out at shortstop, and I glance in the stands between innings and see Annie there. She’s smiling and waving, and I’m like, ‘Cool, she came to a game.’ Then I realize, she’s not smiling and waving at me. She’s making moon eyes at Ryan over on second base. Took me all of like ten seconds to realize what was going on.”

Simone smiled. “Then what happened?”

Mitch frowned, leaned back against the booth. “There wasn’t much I could do during the game except get worked up. I stayed away from Ryan in the dugout so I didn’t lose it. Then ended up getting ejected when I threw one measly little bat at the umpire.”

“You didn’t.”

He cringed. “I did. But in all fairness, the man needed glasses. No way those pitches were strikes.”

She lifted her wine, sipped, felt herself relax for the first time in days. “What happened after, with Ryan?”

“Well, I had plenty of time to get good and pissed. I showered, changed, left, then went back to confront him after the game. Stupid move. I should have done it off campus. When I got back, I saw him and Annie outside the ballpark together. He was kissing her and…I lost it. He needed stitches. And I’m pretty sure the black eye lasted a good week.”

“Nice.”

“Then Coach came out and suspended us both for fighting.”

“Oh, even better,” Simone said, still smiling. “What did Annie say?”

“Annie didn’t speak to me for a month.” He looked into his beer, and the humor faded from his voice when he said, “Thing is, Ryan had a reputation in school for being a player. We both did. When I found out he was seeing her, I was sure he was just using her. I was wrong. In fact, he never looked at another girl after that. He still doesn’t.”

“I’ve seen Ryan at functions. He’s not lacking for female companionship.”

“No, he’s not. But the truth is they come on to him because he’s got money and power now. And I’m pretty sure the only reason he dates is because it takes his mind off the fact he’s alone. In five years there’s never been anyone who’s meant anything to him. I know for a fact he’d gladly give it all up just to have Annie back. That’s why this is killing him. The not knowing, especially.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Mr. Mathews—”

“Mitch.”

The spark in his eyes sent her stomach free floating. “Mitch,” she said slowly, wondering why the hell he was having this effect on her. She was never interested in a client. Or the relative of a client. Clearing her throat, she looked back at her glass and traced the condensation on the stem. “We’ll know more when the tests come back.”

“I know we will. What I’m curious about is your gut reaction.”

Her gut reaction wasn’t always right. She hadn’t trusted her gut since Steve had passed away. She’d been so sure he would beat the cancer, but he hadn’t. “It’s not my job to speculate. It’s my job to deal in facts. And the facts are simple. There’s a very strong chance that Kate is Annie.”

He seemed to ingest that. “Ryan will fight a custody suit. He’s got power behind him.”

And here was the meat of the meeting. Simone’s back tightened. “Well, you can reassure Mr. Harrison that if it comes to that, Kate has power behind her too.”

A slow smile spread across his face. And that damn dimple winked at her. “I like you, Counselor.”

He liked baseball. He was sexy as hell. And she’d gone way too long without. She shouldn’t care what Mitch Mathews thought of her, but she did. Dammit, she really did.

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, his hand so close to hers, if he moved just a fraction of an inch, they’d be touching. But she didn’t need to touch him to feel the heat rolling off him in waves. The same heat was rolling off her. “I’d like to take you out to dinner. In a real restaurant.”

For a split second, she was tempted to say yes. Then reality settled in. “I don’t think that’s a wise idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m you sis—” She stopped herself just in time, but she saw the way his brows lifted in optimism.

“Kate’s attorney,” she corrected, hating that a part of her now hoped Kate turned out not to be Annie. It would make this…what was happening between them…a whole lot easier. “It would be unethical to have a personal relationship with you.”

“Is that what we’re doing here, Counselor? Starting a personal relationship?”

Big red warning flags went off in her mind. The way he was watching her, the sinister smile, those sexy eyes. If she wasn’t careful, she’d get herself disbarred.

“I think it’s time for me to go, Mr. Mathews.”

He didn’t try to stop her as she reached for her purse. And she was thankful the lust was gone from his voice when he asked, “So you think we’ll find out tomorrow?”

“I’m hopeful, yes. But it might be as late as next week.” As she pushed out of the booth, he was right there, reaching for her arm, helping her up. Tingles rushed over her skin where they touched, and she looked up into mesmerizing green eyes. Eyes any woman could get lost in without much effort.

“So maybe tomorrow I’ll be calling you for that dinner.”

Heat slid through her veins, warming her from the inside out. She fought it though, working for that professionalism she’d perfected over the years. She held out her hand. “Perhaps. Thank you for the drink, Mr. Mathews.”

“Mitch,” he said with that damn sexy, lopsided grin, caressing her hand in both of his, giving her just a taste of what it would feel like to be caressed elsewhere by those big, masculine fingers.

“Mitch,” she heard herself repeat.

She swallowed hard as she let go and exited the restaurant, telling herself the whole time no matter what happened tomorrow, Mitch Mathews was a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer. The question was, what would her answer be next time?

* * *

Kate sat at her desk Tuesday afternoon, trying to edit a piece about geoscientists working in conjunction with the Peace Corp. Easing back in her chair, she glanced out the window toward the bay. The article wasn’t enough to hold her interest.

Not today.

With a huff, she tossed the article on her desk, unable to read anymore. It was more sociological and political fluff than out-and-out science.

Not that she’d be able to read it even if it was the most compelling article on the planet. She scrubbed her hands over her face and tried to calm her frazzled nerves. She was sitting on pins and needles waiting for word from Simone, wondering what Ryan Harrison was doing and thinking.

Her pounding head signaled a need for caffeine.

She rose, headed to the lounge where she poured herself a thick mug of black goo, then took a big drink. It tasted awful, but if it would help her headache, she didn’t care.

She slipped into her office without looking up and closed the door softly behind her. When she turned, she was surprised to see Simone standing behind her desk, looking out across the bay.

“Nice view,” Simone said.

“Hi. I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“I know. We need to chat.”

Oh, man. Something in her gut signaled this wasn’t good. On a deep breath that did nothing for her now frantic nerves, Kate wove around her desk and sat.

Simone sat across from her. “Okay, first of all, I need to share something with you. I had drinks last night with Mitch Mathews.”

Kate’s brow lifted. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Simone straightened. “It wasn’t personal. I mean, okay, it could be personal. He called, I think, to talk about you, but there was a spark there. Nothing happened but…I’m only telling you this because I’m your attorney, and I want you to know you come first. I told him flat out that I wasn’t going to see him again unless the test results came back negative. And I won’t.”

Kate didn’t know what to make of that news. “Wow. You believe in being blunt.”

“It’s the only way to get the point across. I like Mitch, but he’s not the first man I’ve met that I like. I just didn’t want you to hear this from him later or for it to come up out of context.”

“I like Mitch too,” Kate said. “What I know of him so far. He seems like a nice man. If you’d told me you had drinks with Ryan, well, I think I’d have a problem with that. He hates my guts.”