He watched her at work, thinking about how much better they were at being friends than romantically involved. For one thing, he didn’t have to worry about making time for two in his crazy life. For another, there were no expectations on him.

“You just missed Emma Harris, by the way,” she said. “She came in to use the treadmill.”

His heart gave a little kick at her name. “How did she do?”

“Great. One mph for ten minutes.”

Considering the first time he’d seen Emma, she’d gotten winded just sitting up in bed, she’d come a long way. Not that she’d agree. “Did you remind her she’s up from last week?”

“Of course. But she wants to be running like she used to.” Kelly was chopping up fruits and veggies. “I also told her she’s lucky to be upright and breathing, but she wants more. I mean, most would’ve given up after having their doctors tell them they were going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of their life.”

Emma wasn’t the type to accept anything. She’d come so far, and was resilient as hell, and Simon loved that about her. Loved being a part of her recovery, and as he watched Kelly work, he thought about how much he missed being here full-time. But until either his dad got back on his feet or he agreed to trust Simon enough to find someone else to run Armstrong Properties, this was his life for now, and lonely as he sometimes got, it was why he couldn’t entertain the thought of a relationship right now. If he’d learned one thing from his past relationships, it was that he didn’t have enough of himself to give. “That fat sparkling diamond that’s wearing you is blinding.”

Kelly sent him a dreamy grin and flashed the ring. “I know, right? Scott’s got great taste.”

“Well, he asked you to marry him, so yeah he does.”

Kelly’s grin widened. “Thanks. It’s ridiculous how giddy I am, but I can’t seem to stop smiling.”

He smiled at her, genuinely thrilled she’d found the love of her life. She deserved it. “If I was marrying the girl of my dreams, I’d be smiling too.”

“Hey, you could’ve chased after me when I dumped you,” she said.

Simon shook his head, knowing she’d been right. He hadn’t been the one for Kelly. He adored her, maybe even loved her, but he was not in love with her. Never would be. “You did the right thing, breaking my heart.”

Kelly’s look at Simon was more than a little regretful. “I didn’t break your heart. I did think mine was broken for a bit, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for how it went down.”

“Don’t be.” And he meant it. She’d been unable to handle him taking care of his dad twenty-four, seven; they’d literally never seen each other, and he’d never blamed her. She deserved better. “I’m happy for you, Kel.”

“And I want to be happy for you too. But you haven’t even made time to meet anyone, much less date since—”

“Don’t start.”

“You deserve love too, Simon.”

Maybe. But not right now with his dad needing him as much as he did. It wasn’t fair to a woman, and he wouldn’t put someone else through it only to possibly hurt her in the end too. Even as Simon thought this, his brain flashed him a picture of Emma smiling at him, eyes shining. Yes, he wanted her. More than he’d like to admit. But she’d been through enough, he wouldn’t add to it. “It’s just a busy time—”

Kelly turned on the blender and drowned him out, and he laughed. He got it. She didn’t want to hear the excuses anymore. Hell, he was tired of making them.

She turned off the blender, poured the frothy, peachy concoction into a large glass, and handed it to him. “Drink. And you do realize you’ve been saying you’re too busy for a life through two relationships now. Me, and then Maggie. And now you’ve given me half your patients so you can work your fingers to the bone keeping your dad’s business afloat—even though being in an office is slowly killing you.”

All true. But there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. He was just starting to come around to the realization that his dad might not get any better than he was right now. Which meant Simon needed to plan for that and make some hard changes. Not ready to talk about it, he sipped from the glass, then looked at it. “Why does this taste like magic and rainbows?”

“Because I’m magic and rainbows.” She turned to the counter, where she also prepared and served on-the-go healthy bites. Two minutes later he had a plate of food in front of him as well. He didn’t even realize that he was hungry until he’d practically licked his plate.

Kelly watched him solemnly. “You’re a good guy, Simon. You make sure your employees are taken care of. Your friends. Your dad. Your cousin. You make sure all of us are okay, but you forget the most important person—yourself.”

Not wanting to get into it, Simon stood. He took care of his own dishes, then hugged her. “Thank you.”

“You mean ‘thank you, now butt the hell out.’”

“Yes,” he said, making her laugh as he left to hit the gym in the back for twenty minutes. It was the only “me” time he was going to get today. Maybe tomorrow too.

AFTER A QUICK shower, Simon finally headed home. It was eight o’clock at night and he was already dreaming about bed.

But once inside the building, he hesitated and pressed an ear to his front door. No yelling. That was good. He could hear the TV. Also good. Alison had things under control. So he kept going, drawn up the stairs by a woman he shouldn’t be thinking about, much less want. On the second floor, he paused in front of Emma’s door, but he had no business fraternizing with a patient, even if they had become friends. He knew she’d been busy the past few days interviewing for jobs. He hoped she’d had some luck. She deserved some good luck for a change, though he’d never met anyone who could take the bad hand she’d been dealt and come out swinging as she had. She was a fighter, and damn, that was attractive.

Too attractive. That wasn’t his professional opinion, it was his very human one. But he was good at pushing aside unproductive thoughts, and thinking about Emma Harris in a not-professional way was extremely unproductive.

So he kept climbing, taking the nearly hidden back set of stairs to the third floor, the attic that spanned the length of the entire building. At the very far end of the attic, in a deep, dark corner that few even knew existed, was another set of stairs, steeper and more than a bit rickety. He’d long ago put up a sign to keep people safe.