Jake cast her a quick glance. "What kind of fantasy?"

"You know, the kind where I meet the man who fathered my children after a long time apart and sparks fly and we suddenly realize we belong together and live happily ever after."

"Did you really expect that to happen?"

"No, but as I was driving here I kind of hoped it might. Of course, it took about two seconds with Justin to realize that wasn't going to happen." She shifted her gaze and stared out the window into the darkness of the night. "But eventually I'll find my happily-ever-after, not just for my girls, but also for myself. I don't want to live alone like my mother did for all her life. I want somebody to share both the good times and the bad times with me. I want a soul mate."

"It's not going to be easy, finding a man who will not only want to be with you but will also want to be an instant father to three little girls."

"I know I'm a package deal. n.o.body ever told me life would be easy," she replied. "It doesn't have to happen today or next week or even next year, but eventually I'll find a man who wants to be a part of my life and my children's lives."

"At this point I think we can both agree that it isn't going to be Justin," he said drily.

"We definitely can agree on that," she replied with a small laugh.

By this time they had reached the ranch, and all three of the girls had fallen sound asleep in their car seats.

Jake managed to place Casey over Grace's good shoulder and then he carried both Bonnie and Abby in his arms. He looked so right with a sleeping little girl in each arm as they climbed the stairs. He laid each of them in the crib with a gentleness that touched her heart.

He stepped to the back to the doorway as she covered each child and touched each sleeping face with love. Then, together, she and Jake went back down the stairs.

"How about some coffee?" he asked.

"Sounds good," she agreed. As she followed behind him toward the kitchen, she tried to tamp down the emotions that pressed tight in her chest where he was concerned.

Jake Johnson was getting to her, inching his way into her heart in a way that could only lead to heartbreak. She moved her shoulder beneath the sling, unsurprised by the sharp pain that was her reply.

Not yet. She wasn't ready to take off from here tomorrow, but maybe by the next day she could load up her daughters and head back home. In the meantime she just needed to guard her heart the best she could from Jake.

They lingered over coffee in the living room, continuing their conversation about everything and nothing. They talked about favorite foods and books read, about the antics of the girls and the fact that Bonnie would probably be the first of the three to walk.

"Abby is too content wherever she sits to walk too quickly. Casey is too shy to be the first one to explore the world of being upright. Bonnie is definitely my adventurous little soul," she said.

"She's a corker," he agreed with an easy smile.

"She definitely likes you."

"They all seem to like people," he replied.

"I think it's because from the time they were two months old they've been in day care. They're used to seeing new people all the time."

Jake drained the last of the coffee from his cup. "We should probably go to bed. I imagine the girls are early risers."

"They are," she agreed, reluctant to call an end to what had been a wonderful evening. She stood and together she and Jake carried their coffee cups to the kitchen.

She wasn't sure exactly how it happened, but as they both reached to set their cups in the sink, her face was suddenly too close to his. His breath felt warm on her cheek and his eyes flared dark with a desire that was unmistakable.

They both straightened, and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she should step away from him, gain some needed distance, but her feet refused to obey her mental command.

He was going to kiss her. She saw his intent shimmering in his eyes, and as sure as she knew he was going to kiss her she also knew she wasn't going to stop him.

She'd never wanted a kiss as much as she wanted his at this very moment. When he dipped his head she met him halfway, rising up on her tiptoes.

His mouth touched hers softly...tentatively at first, as if unsure of his own intent or his welcome. She opened her mouth and he took the welcome, deepening the kiss with a searing intensity that shot thrilling sensations through her body.

It lasted only a minute and then he stumbled back from her, his midnight-blue eyes still blazing with desire. "That was a mistake." His voice was deep, almost gravelly as his gaze lingered on her mouth.

"I agree." The words whispered from her with a sigh of longing.

"I want to do it again." The words sounded as if they'd been pulled from the very depths of him.

"Oh, Jake, I want you to."

The words were barely out of her mouth before his lips silenced her once again. Hot and greedy, his lips plied hers and she melted against him as well as her sling would allow.

His arms wound around her gently, as if he remembered her shoulder and didn't want to hurt her, yet needed her as close to him as possible. And she wanted to be that close.

His tongue swirled with hers, demanding a response that she gave eagerly. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew this was wrong, so very wrong. This wasn't a man she should be kissing, this wasn't a man she should be wanting. But that didn't stop her from doing either.

His mouth finally left hers and trailed a blaze of hunger down the side of her throat. She dropped her head back with her eyes closed, dizzied by his scent and by his very touch.

He kissed her just behind one of her ears. "Stop," he murmured against the sensitive skin. "We have to stop this." He slowly dropped his arms from around her and once again stepped back, this time his eyes dark and unreadable. "I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened."

"I know, but I wanted it as much as you did," she admitted, her voice slightly shaky with the emotions still raging through her. She still wanted him, she thought.

"You know by now that there's no future here with Justin. There's also no future for you here with me." He jammed his hands in his pockets, as if afraid of where they might wander if left somehow untethered.

"To be honest, I wasn't looking for any kind of a future. I was just in the moment and looking forward to the next. I'm a big girl, Jake, and you've made it very clear to me what your desire is about being alone for the rest of your life. I just thought maybe you didn't want to be alone tonight." She felt the burn of a blush fill her cheeks. She had never said anything so forward to a man before, but she'd also never felt this way about a man before.

The blaze was back in his eyes and she wanted to fall into that dark fire and just for one night feel like a s.e.xy woman, not like a schoolteacher with triplets. It was a foolish desire, but at the moment she wouldn't mind a little bit of foolishness with him.

"There's no question that there's something between us, Grace, some crazy physical attraction that has been there since the minute I laid eyes on you. But because we're adults we aren't going to follow through on it. It would only complicate what's already a pretty good mess."

She knew he was right. Now that the heat of the moment was pa.s.sing, rational thought was returning. "I know you're right. You and I together would just be plain stupid. I just got carried away in the moment."

He offered her a small smile. "We both did. And now I think it's definitely time we say good-night." He didn't wait for her response but turned on his heels and left the kitchen.

Grace wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or glad at the way things had turned out. On the one hand, she knew that Jake would never be more than a one-night stand-the second in her life and another one with unwanted consequences. Although she wouldn't have wound up pregnant, she had a feeling it would have been impossible to keep her heart uninvolved.

On the other hand, she knew it would have been a night to remember when she was back home by herself and with that whisper of loneliness that sometimes struck her.

She turned off the kitchen light and then climbed the stairs and went directly into the room where the triplets were sleeping. She wanted to be the best possible mother she could be for them, but that didn't stop her needs and wants as a woman.

She'd told him the truth when she'd said she wanted somebody to share her life, a soul mate who would grow old with her and watch their grandchildren grow.

As she left the triplets' bedroom she glanced down the long hallway to the very end where she knew the master suite was located. Was Jake in bed now thinking about what might have happened? What could have happened if he hadn't stopped it?

Was he in bed still feeling the burn that filled her stomach, that ached deep inside her? She knew with a woman's certainty that if she walked down that hallway and opened the door to his bedroom they'd wind up in his bed making love.

Her feet actually took three steps in that direction before she stopped herself and instead turned and went into her own guest room.

At least this room didn't smell of his scent-that of a wonderfully clean male combined with a woodsy undertone. She'd cracked open the sliding door that led to the balcony earlier in the day and the slight breeze blowing through brought with it the scent of fresh gra.s.s, evening dew and country flowers.

She undressed and changed into her nightgown, then put the sling back on. She was going to try to sleep in it, although usually when she woke up in the mornings she discovered she'd taken it off at some point in the night.

As she placed her cell phone on the dresser, she realized she hadn't heard anything from Natalie that day. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or bad.

Grace got into bed, feeling as if it had been a lifetime ago that she had loaded the girls into her car to leave Wichita. She'd had such hope in her heart that she'd come away from here with a father for the girls, a father who would love and emotionally support them as they flourished and grew.

She knew now that wasn't going to happen. If Justin wasn't the kind of stable, mature man he needed to be by the age of thirty-five, she didn't see it happening ever. She suspected Justin had a drinking problem, and that only added to the many reasons she knew he'd never be the man she wanted in her daughters' lives.

Maybe someday she would find somebody to love her, to love them, and he would take on the role of a good and loving stepfather. Grace hoped if that ever happened it might be enough for the girls.

There was no way of knowing for sure, but her gut instinct told her that Justin hadn't had anything to do with whoever had shot at her. She was willing to believe the sheriff's speculation that a drifter had set up camp in the woods and in some deluded thinking had seen her walking around as a threat to his little temporary home.

Justin had been a mistake, and she was more than a little half-crazy for his brother. She squeezed her eyes closed, seeking sleep rather than thoughts of Jake.

Although her shoulder was still sore, it was less so than it had been. She was hoping that by the day after tomorrow at the very latest she could head home. She just needed to get back to her ordinary life, raising her children and enjoying the summer before fall came and she had to return to work.

With a deep sigh she closed her eyes, knowing she needed to get some sleep in order to have the energy to deal with her daughters and anything else that might come up the next day.

She wasn't sure what awakened her...a noise...a whisper of breath on the side of her face? For a sleepy, half-conscious moment she thought it was Jake who had come to her room to finish what they'd started earlier in the night.

She came fully awake and immediately a cloth was shoved in her mouth, preventing her from releasing the scream that instantly leapt to her lips.

Somebody jumped on top of her, although in the dark it was impossible to tell who it was. What was going on? She couldn't make sense of it. She only knew pure unadulterated terror as gloved hands wrapped around her neck and began to squeeze.

With one arm in her sling and her legs trapped beneath the sheets, she was nearly helpless in any effort to fight back. She flailed her good arm, trying to make contact with the face of the attacker.

Air.

She needed air.

Her lungs were slowly being depleted of precious oxygen as it was being squeezed from her. She bucked her hips, kicked wildly at the sheets and twisted her head back and forth, trying to break the grip on her throat.

Help! Somebody please help me!

The words screamed in her head but had no way around whatever had been stuffed in her mouth as a gag. She was going to die!

Her babies. Who was going to take care of her babies? As she felt the edges of unconsciousness creeping in, she made one last desperate attempt to help herself. She flung her free arm out and it connected with the bedside lamp. The Tiffany-style light crashed to the floor with a shattering of gla.s.s and an answering cry came from one of the triplets.

Don't hurt my babies, she thought wildly.

The intruder jumped off Grace and ran for the balcony. As the person disappeared over the balcony edge, Grace pulled the gag from her mouth and released a scream.

Chapter 8.

The crash awakened Jake from a wild, s.e.xy dream about Grace. In the dream she'd been in his bed and they had been making love. The cry of one of the girls galvanized him to leave the dream behind, get out of bed and pull on his jeans. But the sound of Grace's scream shot him out of the room and down the hallway toward hers.

As he ran his heart pounded with adrenaline. What on earth would make her scream like that? He entered her room and flipped on the light to see her sitting up, her hand at her throat and utter terror shining wildly from her eyes.

By now all three girls were crying, but Jake's complete attention was focused on the woman in the bed. "What happened?" he asked, feeling as if his heart was about to pound out of his chest.

"Somebody came in...attacked me...he went over the balcony." The words rasped from her as she half stumbled from the bed. "I've got to get to the girls."

"Don't move," Jake replied. She looked as if she was in shock, her legs barely able to hold her up. Her throat was red and angry looking, and as Jake ran to the balcony there was nothing more he wanted to do than rip somebody's head off.

Unfortunately, as he stepped outside on the balcony and looked around, there was n.o.body to see. The night was complete with darkness and barely a sliver of moonlight to faintly illuminate the landscape.

It was easy to tell how the intruder had gotten inside. The balcony could have been accessed by the st.u.r.dy wooden trellis that climbed up the house next to it, a trellis that would no longer exist after he got done with it.

He went back into the bedroom, closed and locked the sliding gla.s.s door, unsurprised to find Grace not there. Even crazy with fear and with her throat burning and raw, her first thought would be to soothe her crying daughters. He spied her cell phone on the dresser and used it to call Sheriff Hicks, then went to where he knew Grace would be.

Sure enough she was in the girls' bedroom, moving from crib to crib in an effort to put the girls back to sleep, and it was working. As she rubbed a back, spoke softly and gave kisses, the girls eventually all settled back to sleep.

It was only when the room was quiet again that she met him in the hallway. He gestured for her to follow him back into the bedroom. There, under the overhead light, he could once again see the angry red ring that decorated her neck.

As he stared at it, she began to shiver, as if the initial shock was wearing off and now that she felt like her daughters didn't need her anymore she was about to fall to pieces.

He opened his arms and she collapsed against him, deep sobs ripping up from someplace deep inside her. He didn't ask any questions. Those would come later. For now he just held her as she trembled almost violently in his arms.

He would kill the person responsible for this. Anger roared through him as he held her tight, her heartbeat frantic against his own.

"Come on, let's go downstairs to wait for Greg," he finally said when some of the trembling had eased. He wanted to get her out of the bedroom where the attack had taken place in case there might be some evidence that could be collected.

"You called him?" she asked as she grabbed her robe. She pulled it around her and they left the bedroom.

"I did. He's on his way." He kept one arm around her as they went down the stairs and then he sat next to her on the sofa, still with an arm around her as she continued to shiver off and on.

"I had the sliding gla.s.s door open a little bit," she said, her voice filled with self-recrimination. "I didn't imagine that anyone could get inside. I didn't think that anyone would want to get inside, to get to me...to try to kill me." Her voice rose slightly with each word. "Why is this happening? Who's doing this to me?"

"Shh, it's all right now," Jake said, but his mind raced. This attack tonight put the shooting incident in a whole new light.

There was no mistaking the fact that somebody had breached the sanct.i.ty of his home in the middle of the night for the sole intent of hurting Grace. They'd climbed up that trellis, crept into her room and wrapped their hands around her throat.

That meant in all probability those shots had been intended specifically for Grace and not the result of some drifter trying to protect a temporary homestead.

Somebody had tried to kill Grace not once, but twice, and Jake had never felt so helpless or so d.a.m.ned angry in his entire life. Thankfully, at that moment Greg Hicks and a couple of his deputies showed up at the door.

Jake and Grace took the lawmen upstairs to the bedroom to explain what had happened. Two deputies stayed behind to begin collecting evidence and processing the scene while Greg, Jake and Grace returned to the living room so Greg could ask Grace some questions.

"Now, tell me exactly what happened," Greg said.