“Because my sister made me,” I reply immediately and grin. “Childish, I suppose.”

“She made you?” He raises a brow and looks down at me. “What would the punishment be if you refused?”

“Refusing was never an option,” I say without thinking. “And Van isn’t the type to hand out punishments.”

No, she was on the receiving end of punishments for too long to dole them out.

We stand in silence again. It’s true that I came because of Van, but I came for me, too. I’m woman enough to admit it.

I needed a break. And maybe I needed to step back and take stock of things.

“I don’t know what I need,” I say, surprising both of us. “But I do know that I’m here because my sister isn’t strong enough to be here herself yet.”

I look up into the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen and into an ocean of questions. Before he can press for more, I smile and back away.

“If I’m going to make it to a lecture in an hour, I’d better get back to shower and get ready.”

“You look beautiful,” he replies and I think he means it. I wrinkle my nose.

“I’ve been running,” I remind him. “See you later.”

And with that, I run away, from the sexy man standing at the edge of the water and the troubling thoughts he’s stirred up in my head.

Damn him.

Chapter Two

~Simon~

“Okay, now take a deep breath.” I’m sitting on the edge of the stage, watching the women in the room. Some are seated at their tables with their heads down. Some are lying on the floor.

The room is silent, periodically broken by sniffles and soft sobs.

Today’s exercise is always a difficult one, for them and for me.

“You are magnificent women,” I say softly. “You are precious, just like the baby in the basket. You wouldn’t hurt that baby. You would comfort her. Hold her gently. Say sweet words to her.

“So why then, do you abuse yourself as an adult? I want you to take another deep breath, and then sit up carefully. Today has been an emotional one. I never said this journey was going to be an easy one.”

I smile as the room of women sit up and open their eyes, pinning them to me. Some are full of hurt and pain, and it twists my gut. This is the hardest day of the first week, and I save it for toward the end of the week. It’s a lot to take in, and it’s quite emotional. We will have a short lecture tomorrow, and then they’ll have the weekend to reflect and enjoy some time on their own.

My eyes find Charly, as they’ve come to do often over the past five days. She’s good at hiding her feelings behind her happy hazel eyes and smug smirk, but now she looks a bit haunted, and that’s my fault.

“I want you to take the rest of the evening to yourselves. I know I usually encourage you to have dinner together and to talk about the day, and if you want to do that, go for it. But, if you’d rather take time in your rooms to meditate, write in your journals, or just be calm, I encourage that as well.

“You did beautifully today, and I promise you that the pain you feel today is just a stepping stone to where you’re going to be a week from now, or even a year from now. Thank you for being brave and for walking through this journey with me. Have a lovely evening.”

The room typically erupts into chatter and laughter at the end of the day as the attendees gather their things and leave for dinner, but tonight the room is quiet. I stand and make myself available to anyone who wants to offer me a hug, or ask a question. Before long the room is empty. Todd approaches to take my mic from my ear.

“Today was intense,” he says quietly.

I nod. “It always is.” I don’t know how many times I tried using these same techniques with my ex-wife, trying to help her, to get through to her. But I never could, and it led to our eventual divorce.

So if it helps even one person at these seminars, it’s worth every difficult moment.

“I never get used to it,” he replies and stows the sound equipment away for tomorrow. “You’re changing their lives, you know.”

“No, mate, they’re changing their own lives; I’m just giving them the tools.” I clap him on the shoulder. “I’m not going to dinner tonight. I’m going to spend some time alone.”

“I figured,” he replies with a nod. Todd’s been my friend since childhood and part of my team since the beginning. He knows me well, maybe better than anyone else.

“Have a good night.”

“You as well,” he says as I walk away. I return to my room to file my notes and pull out tomorrow’s file. I toss it on the table and pull my shirt over my head on my way to the shower. I need to wash today off of me.

Rather than dwell on Amy and our horrible past, my mind wanders to a beautiful brunette.

Charly intrigues me. She’s stunning, yes, but there’s something else there that pulls at me. Her hazel eyes hide plenty, I think.

Then again, I could be an idiot and there’s nothing there at all except a pretty woman and my wishful thinking. Although, what I’m wishing for, I have no idea because she’s a client and I don’t do relationships, so it would do me well to simply forget about her altogether.

The part that surprises me the most is that a woman hasn’t turned my head in years. Not like this. I’ve had moments with pretty girls that ended mutually satisfyingly, but I didn’t want to get to know them. Yes, I know that I sound like a sod for saying that, but it doesn’t make it any less true.

Yet, despite my better judgement, I want to get to know Charly, not just in a professional way, and that’s startling. I’ve mentored thousands of women, and I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve wanted to kiss one so badly it makes me sweat.