Blame It On Paris

take off in the middle of the night with the clothes on your back and have to start over.' She made a humorous motion. 'Don't be feeling sorry for me. I'm not suffering. Nothing's long-term catastrophic. I'd just bought a lot for the other apartment, and I didn't take any of it with me, so I'm just having a wee little temporary financial problem. I'm solvent. It's a no-sweat. It's just…I need to have some time to build up again.'

'Why?' Not that he'd been waiting to pounce with that question, but he suddenly had too much energy to sit down. Jet lag had turned his brain to mush, but finally the obvious answer filtered through. 'You left the fiance, didn't you? That's why you're here. That's why your mom-'

She shook her head swiftly, wouldn't give him a chance to finish. 'I'm not coming through with more story until you spill yours. The last I knew, you weren't coming home again. Especially not home to South Bend.'

'Yeah, well, it's your fault I did.'

'My fault?'

He loved the look on her face. Of course, growing up with sisters, he knew how to get a rise out of a female, but Kelly bit so easily.

At least for him. 'I got a call from my father. My mom's sixtieth birthday is coming up. Family wants to do a big shindig, wants me to be part of it. It was his latest excuse to get me to come home.'

'And?'

'And…you annoyed the hell out of me. Making out like I was hiding in Paris. Making out like I didn't have the character to solve my differences with him…instead of believing me, that there is no way in hell to solve our differences with each other.'

'And?'

'And so I'm going to solve the damned problem, come hell or high water. I'll try one more confrontation. One more hash-out with the old man. It won't work. I figure the odds are somewhere around five million to one. But being part of my mom's sixtieth-birthday celebration is a good thing.'

Hell. She gave him a look of such sympathy that he wanted to kick something. He'd wanted her to think it was no big deal, just something he was doing, not a life-altering problem. It had bugged him that she'd criticized him. as if he had total power over a solution, as if it didn't take two to make a mess. Damn, she'd made him feel like a weakling and a coward, both of which had hit big-time.

But now her look of compassion bugged him, too. Go figure.

'I know you won't believe this,' she said gently, 'but I really do know how you feel.'

'About my dad?' She couldn't possibly. And somehow he couldn't sit still, had to move, stretch his legs, prowl around. He touched the Tiffany lamp, the edge of a sweater, checked out the window views.

'No, not about your dad. But… your life is just as much of a train wreck as mine is. Nothing's right. Nothing's easy right now.' She sighed. 'Everybody's mad at me. I swear I can't seem to do anything right, and I'm afraid it's going to be a big blue moon before I can see any light at the end of this particular tunnel.'

He said slowly, carefully. 'It was rough on you. Breaking up with him. You want to tell me about it?'

'Maybe. Not now. But I do want to tell you that he's a nice guy. Will, so don't be thinking otherwise. The screwup and breakup is on me, not him.' She added quickly, hoping to change the subject. 'How long will you stay?'

'Here, this minute? Or here, in South Bend?'

'Both.'

He was willing to answer her, but his head was still back on the ex-fiance. He couldn't help feeling high as a kite that she'd split up with the guy. But he also felt terrible because their making love in Paris had been the catalyst for all the difficult life changes she'd been making. Maybe he wasn't responsible for her being stuck living in this college-type dump, but it felt like his fault.

'Will?'

Yeah. She wanted him to answer the question. 'Well, this is what's playing out so far. My parents know I'm home, but I haven't seen them yet. First, I had to get off the plane, see you, sleep off some jet leg and get my own place to stay so there can't be any argument about my staying with my folks. I've got three sisters. I know I told you that before. The oldest is Martha. We've always fought like cats and dogs, but she's got a studio apartment above her garage, so that's where I shoved my suitcase.'

'That doesn't totally answer my question, handsome.'

'Yeah, well. I don't know how long I'm staying. I can do some work for Yves while I'm here.'

'Will.'

'What?'

'Answer the question.'

'God, you're a pain. I forgot how much. And how nosy.' His teasing made her chuckle, but he couldn't seem to keep his mind on humor. All he could think about was her. How she looked under her jeans, under a bulky sweater. Under his hands.

He also couldn't stop being acutely aware that he hadn't kissed her yet. Or touched her. She had a hint of wariness in her eyes, which he could understand. His coming back created even more complications in her life, and right now. Kel had no way of knowing whether they were going to end up together.

Hell, neither did he.

He cleared his throat. 'The truth is. Kel. I can't give you an absolute about how long I'll be staying. One way or another, I'm determined to come to some kind of terms with my father. I'm staying for however long it takes to do that right.'

He wanted to add. More than anything else, I'm staying for you. He hadn't slept since she'd left Paris. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about her. stop remembering their time together.

But being with her now, those words weren't so easy to say even if they were part of the real truth. Because now he realized she'd come home and torn her whole life apart. The jerk wasn't right for her. Will didn't have to meet the fiance to know he wasn't worth Kelly's little finger. This Jason guy hadn't been there for her when she'd been in trouble in Paris, hadn't been the one she'd called, hadn't been the one she'd asked for money until the paperwork all went through. She was well rid of him.

That's what Will told himself. What he'd believed before seducing her. What he still believed.

But there was a blot on his conscience. Just maybe, if he hadn't entered her life. Kelly wouldn't be in this mess right now.

'Good grief,' Kelly said suddenly, and started to laugh.

'What?' he demanded.

'I don't know… It's just that your life sounds as complicated and awful as mine is right now. And I don't mean that's laughable! But it keeps striking me as ironic that we're in such a similar boat. And…well…this is just so not like Paris.'

'You said it.' He swiped a hand over his face. 'Paris was…a dream.'

'A fantasy,' she murmured. 'A few moments in time when the rest of the world seemed to disappear, and there was just the two of us.'

'It was good,' he said.

'Beyond good.'

'But we both knew it wasn't real.'

She nodded vigorously. 'Absolutely. Neither of us had any crazy expectations.'

'We both knew it couldn't last. That it was just a dream.'

'Totally,' she agreed.

And then he jumped her.

He hadn't intended to. He hadn't known he was going to do it ahead of time, even seconds ahead of time.

It just seemed as if he couldn't survive another second without touching her. Being with her. Getting lost in her.

Her mouth melted under his. heated for his. Her arms roped around his waist, pressing closer to him, a soft, helpless sound vibrating in her throat at his touch.

How was he supposed to resist that?

'Will,' she murmured. 'Close the door.'

He'd forgotten, that fast, that she had a roommate. That they were in this crazy rented room of hers. That there were other people in the universe.