"I'm going to the precinct to see if they've gotten any information on

the license plate I called in. Maybe we've made some headway finding that scum."

There wasn't a hint of a smile I on his face, in his voice.

"I want this to be over for you." He said it as if he meant that to include everything. A chill of a different nature passed over her. He regretted last night.

She could tell.

IL Caitlin searched for something else to talk about.

Everything that had happened between them was too new, too shaky, like

a freshly painted wall whose color had yet to set.She thought of Jake."What about Celia?"He raised a brow.Where had that come from?"What about Celia?" he asked cautiously.Why was he taking that tone with her?As if he didn't trust her.As if they were strangers and she had stumbled onto hallowed ground."What are you going to do about the custody issue?"He wished she wouldn't concern herself with that.He'd been an idiot to mention it to her."I already told you.. ." impatience drummed through Caitlin with long, bony fingers.

What he had told her was that he didn't have the money to take care of

the matter properly.

That wasn't a plan, that was a problem.

A problem she wanted to help with.

"I could call my lawyer."

Sensing his displeasure, Caitlin picked up speed.

"He's very good and he might-" Graham shook his head.

This had to be done his way.

"Caitlin, I don't want your lawyer."

When she opened her mouth to protest, he cut her off.

"And I don't want your money," he told her sharply, "if that's what you

were going to offer next."

He was trying to push her away.

Why?

What was wrong with him?

"How'about a course in humility?"

Graham merely looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Down-scaling your pride."

Caitlin looked at him pointedly.

"If you're not careful, it'll make you lose Jake."

"lxt me worry about Jake."

Caitlin sighed.

There was no reasoning with him right now.

He probably felt uncertain about what had happened between them and

that was coloring everything.

Gray had always had a tendency to study something from every angle,

looking for the flaw.

"All right, but I'm here if you need me."

She glanced at her watch and stifled a yelp.

She hadn't realized it was this late.

"But not for long."

Quickly she slid off the stool.

The nightgown fluttered down around her.

"I've got to get ready."

He looked at the plate she'd left almost untouched.

"What about breakfast?"She forced a broad smile to her lips as she ducked out."It was delicious."Yeah, right.Graham rose, her plate in his hand."Cait," he called after her.Her hand on the jamb, she looked in."Yes?""That nightgown you're wearing. Is it one of yours?"He felt as if he was tripping over his own tongue.He shouldn't have said anything."I mean, from the store."This time her broad smile was genuine."Yes."Graham nodded, turning his back to her as he cleared off her plate.What was left of her breakfast slid into the garbage."You must get a lot of repeat business," he muttered, barely audible.Caitlin bit back a laugh.Maybe things were brighter than they seemed."Yes, I do. I'll be back in a minute," she promised.The sound of her laughter, light, airy, wafted back to him from the hall.

He was in over his head, he thought grimly, and he was going to have to swim for shore.

Fast.

Thirty minutes later, when they drove up the block where the shop was

located, Caitlin suddenly leaned forward, squinting at the building.

The lights were on.

Had Kerry forgotten to turn them off last night?

Or was someone inside the shop?

The thought pushed its way forward, unsettling the happy feeling she'd

been nursing.

She turned toward Graham.

"It's early."

He parked the car.

Graham understood what she was saying.

"Why don't you wait in the car?" he suggested, getting out.

"Alone?"

He had to be kidding.

Caitlin was out of the car half a beat after he was, joining him on the

sidewalk.

"I don't think so."

He walked in first, mentally cursing the bell that went off announcing

his entrance.

At the sound, Kerry popped up from behind the counter like bread

ejecting out of a toaster.