“Hey. You forgot your shoes. Oh well.” He shut the refrigerator, then picked up the beer he’d set on the counter.

Funny, he thought as he leaned back against the counter in the quiet kitchen. He felt better. In fact, he felt pretty damn good.

He studied the shoes she’d left on the floor. Sexy, he mused, especially when paired with the professional suit she’d worn. He wondered if it had been a deliberate combination or an impulse.

And wasn’t it a little strange to be thinking about her shoes? But since he was ...Amused at himself, he opened the drawer for a notepad.

They were even? he thought, as he scribbled a note. He wasn’t interested in even.

IN THE MORNING, LAUREL OPTED FOR A SWIM INSTEAD OF A WORKOUT. She told herself she just wanted a change, but had to admit the change made it possible to avoid Parker until she’d figured out what to say. Or if she should say anything.

Probably best to leave it alone, she told herself as she kicked off the side for another lap. Nothing to tell, really. Del’s competitive streak was a mile wide. She’d kissed him, so he’d kissed her back. Double. That was his way. He’d decided to put her in her place—it was just like him.

And that grin? She kicked off harder for another lap. That stupid, smug, superior grin? That was just like him, too. Idiot man. It was ridiculous to believe she had feelings for him. She’d just lost her mind for a minute. Or a decade or so. But who’s counting? she demanded. She was back. She was fine. Situation normal.

When she hit the side again, she closed her eyes and let herself sink. After the punishing laps the sensation of weightlessness felt perfect. Just drifting, she thought, just as she was in her personal life. And that was fine, that was good, really. She didn’t need form and function and structure in every area of her life.

It was good to be free to do what she wanted when the workday was done, or like this, before it began. No one to answer to but herself. She didn’t need everything set and settled. She didn’t even want it to be. Del—or the thing with Del—was just a bump on the road. All smoothed out now, she thought. All better.

She skimmed back her hair as she reached for the ladder—then yelped as Parker stepped forward with a towel.

“God, you scared me. I didn’t know you were out here.”

“That makes two of us on the scared me. For a minute I wondered if I’d have to jump in and pull you out.”