"I'm sure."

He released an exaggerated sigh, then grinned again. "It was worth a try." He stood and wrapped her in a huge bear hug. "I want an invitation to your restaurant's opening night."

"You got it."

He squeezed one a.s.s cheek before he released her. "Dinner's on me anytime you eat here."

"Thanks, Ted."

She gave him a final wave at the back door before she walked out into the mild October night. It was almost two o'clock. She was normally bone tired after her shift. Tonight, she could skip rope. Her new life would start tomorrow when she drove back to Lanville.

Suitcases and boxes of her stuff sat on her bedroom floor at Kelcey's house, ready to toss in her car. She saw no reason why she couldn't take off right now.

The thought of slipping into bed with Griff for an early morning lovemaking session made the decision for her.

Forty-five minutes later, Emma hit the highway that led to Lanville. She pressed the gas pedal, easing her car a few miles over the speed limit. She wanted to get to Griff's house as quickly as possible.

This urgency to see a man was new for her. Men came and went in her life and in her bed. She'd never been seriously involved with anyone, nor had she wanted to be. She liked having a variety of lovers. Or she had in the past. She hadn't thought of s.e.x with another man since she became involved with Griff.

She supposed "involved" was too strong a word to describe what she and Griff had. It was s.e.x. Great s.e.x, amazing s.e.x, but that's all. The fact that she'd known him for three weeks and he still hadn't shown her the master bedroom proved that. He'd given her a tour of his entire home, yet the door to that room remained closed.

She wondered if things would stay the same now that she would be living with him.

The living arrangement with Griff was only temporary. Emma had never lived with a guy, had never thought about living with a guy. A small town like Lanville didn't have a lot of rentals. She would stay with Griff until she could find a place to rent, or perhaps she'd move into Stevens House when it was completed. She could make arrangements with Alaina to live in one of the attic rooms as part of her salary.

Possibilities bounced around in her mind during the hour-long drive to Lanville. She pulled into Griff's driveway shortly after four o'clock. He'd still be asleep, but she doubted if he'd mind her waking him with her mouth on his c.o.c.k.

She used the key he'd given her to unlock the back door. Dropping her purse and heavy tote on the kitchen floor, she slipped off her shoes and tiptoed toward the bedroom. Nightlights throughout the house gave off enough illumination for her to see without turning on an overhead light. The ceiling fan turned lazily over the bed. Griff lay on his side facing the door, the sheet and bedspread pulled up to his waist. His chest rose and fell with his deep, even breaths.

Emma stood by the bed and watched him. Desire didn't tighten her stomach, l.u.s.t didn't urge her to initiate s.e.x. Instead, a strange feeling filled her chest, almost as if her heart was expanding. She cared more about cuddling with Griff than f.u.c.king him.

Something else she'd never experienced with a man.

Rounding the bed, Emma pulled off her clothes and let them fall to the floor. She climbed into bed next to Griff and slid one arm around his waist. She smiled when his fingers entwined with hers.

"Hey," he said, his voice rough from sleep.

She kissed his shoulder. "Go back to sleep."

"'K."

Still smiling, Emma cuddled up as close to him as she could get and closed her eyes.

Emma knew she had a lot of clothes, yet that had never been a problem. Kelcey's house had huge walk-in closets in all the bedrooms. Emma had been able to hang up everything with room to spare.

Of course, she hadn't been sharing a closet with a man...or his wife's ghost.

She stared at the boxes stacked along the wall beneath the rod to her left. All of her precious kitchen appliances were already safely at Stevens House, so she didn't have to worry about finding a place for them here. Her clothes were another matter. She'd managed to shift and restack some of the boxes to give her room to hang some clothes, yet she still had boxes to unpack.

She'd never mentioned that closed door at the end of the hall. Even though this was a temporary situation, she wondered if it was time to ask about the master bedroom.

"Emma?"

"In the bedroom," she called out to Griff.

He appeared in the doorway with a smile on his face. "Hey."

"Hey." She raised her lips for his kiss. "Did you get everything on the list?"

"Yes, ma'am. I do what I'm told."

She patted his cheek. "You're such a good boy."

He turned his head and nipped her palm. "You look perplexed. Problem?"

"More clothes than s.p.a.ce."

"Ah. Typical for a woman." He looked inside the closet. "I can put some of these boxes in the storage shed out back. I'll pick up some Rubbermaid containers this week to keep out the bugs."

Okay, perfect opening. Go for it. "That would be great, but I still need room to hang more of my clothes. Maybe I could put some of them in the master bedroom closet."

A different man suddenly stood before her. One moment Griff smiled at her, the next moment a very angry man scowled at her. "What do you know about the master bedroom closet?"

"I looked in it."

"When the h.e.l.l did you do that?"

"The morning after I spent the first night with you."

Emma had never seen such rage on a person's face. Fists clenched, Griff took several paces away from her. "You had no right," he said, his voice low and controlled. He whirled around to face her. His murderous expression proved his control had disappeared. "You had no right to go in that room! The door stays closed for a reason. No one goes in that room!"

Emma wasn't about to back down from his anger. If she was going to live here, be a part of his life, they had to get everything out in the open. "Your mother cleans it."

"That's beside the point! The door is closed. That means you stay out of that room."

"Why? Are you afraid I'll mess up your shrine to Jana?"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Emma wondered if she'd gone too far. Then she decided she hadn't. Griff had loved his wife. She knew that. But Jana was dead. Griff would never heal if he didn't let her go.

She took two steps closer to him. "Griff, Jana is gone. She's never coming back. You have to accept that."

He pointed a finger right in her face. "Don't tell me what I have to accept. Jana was the love of my life."

"I know that. I know you loved her and still miss her. But she's been gone for almost eleven months."

He released a bark of laughter that held no humor. "G.o.d, what is it with you and Dax and time frames? Is six months the magic number? Seven? After nine months, everything is supposed to be okay again, is that right? I'm supposed to say 'well, it's been eleven months, so my heart is all healed and I can go on and never think of Jana again'. "

A look of such intense pain crossed his face, it brought a lump to Emma's throat. "I still hurt, Emma. Here." He pointed to his chest. "Deep inside. I know my heart beats and keeps me alive, but I don't feel alive."

She reached out and took one of his hands. "I want to help you, Griff. Please let me."

He jerked his hand away from her. "I don't need your 'help'. We f.u.c.k, Emma. That's all. Don't get the idea that we'll ever have any kind of relationship. That isn't going to happen."

Griff's words hurt much deeper than they should. s.e.x had always been a good time for her. That's all she'd ever wanted from a man-a good time. Yet her feelings for Griff ran deeper than just s.e.x.

For the first time in her life, she thought she might be falling in love. That would be incredibly stupid. She wouldn't get anything from Griff but a broken heart.

"I remember saying I want a good time with you, Griff. I don't remember saying anything about us having a relationship. If you think that's all I'm after, maybe this isn't a good idea after all. I think it would be better if I stayed with Alaina and Rye."

Griff blew out a deep breath. "You can't do that. Kelcey is moving in with them at the end of the month."

"I have three weeks to find a place to live before she arrives."

"Emma, don't. I..." He stopped and lowered his head. His shoulders drooped. Emma could sense the anger draining out of him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did."

"You were being honest, Griff. There's nothing wrong with honesty."

"I could've used more...finesse."

She couldn't argue with that. "Maybe a little."

He ran his hand through his hair. "There's a closet in my office. Let me move some things around and you can hang your clothes in there."

"Griff, if you don't want me here-"

"I do want you here." He clasped both her hands and squeezed them. "I enjoy your company."

And your body. He didn't say the words, but Emma heard them in her head. She'd always been the one who walked away from a man, who decided how long they would be lovers. She didn't know if she liked it this way, with Griff in charge of however long their affair lasted.

She hoped she wasn't setting herself up for heartbreak.

He'd hurt Emma and he hadn't meant to. Griff thought back to their scene in the bedroom while he put away the groceries. Maybe he shouldn't have gotten so angry, but he'd seen red when he learned Emma had gone in the master bedroom. She'd called it a shrine to Jana. He wanted to leave things the way Jana had put them. That didn't make the house a shrine.

At least, he didn't think so.

He could hear the faint sounds of Emma moving around in his office. He'd planned to turn the third bedroom from an office into the nursery, but never got the chance. Part of the remodel would have included Dax's drawings on the wall. He was an incredible artist, able to look at a picture of something once and recreate it perfectly without ever looking at the picture again. Griff knew Dax would've loved doing something special for his niece or nephew.

Ignoring the hollow feeling in the center of his chest that always occurred when he thought of his lost child, Griff placed the empty shopping bags in the pantry. When he heard the thunk of what sounded like a box hitting the floor, he decided he'd better help Emma.

He walked into the room to see her struggling with a large box that had torn at one of the side seams. He rushed forward to take it from her. "Why didn't you call me to help you?"

"It isn't heavy, just awkward."

A bright splash of emerald caught Griff's eye. He set the box on the floor of the closet. "What's in here?"

"My bedspread. It's a queen. Since your bed is only a double, I decided it would be silly to unpack it. Maybe you can get one of those Rubbermaid tubs for it and I'll put it in your shed until I decide what to do with it."

"Sure."

Griff opened the box top to see a thick black bedspread with slashes of emerald, ruby and sapphire in it. It looked exactly like something Emma would buy for herself, and completely opposite of what Jana would have bought. His house was filled with muted pastel colors because that's what his wife had liked. He would've preferred deeper, richer colors, but left the decorating up to her.

The bedspread would look great on the queen-sized bed in the master bedroom.

Forcing that thought from his mind, he closed the top of the box again. "Do you need more than one tub?"

"Maybe." She wiggled her mouth back and forth. "Probably. I'd rather store things in uniform containers than all different sizes of boxes."

"Figure out what you need and I'll pick them up when I go for supplies tomorrow."

"For the restaurant?"

Griff nodded. "I have some things to get while I arrange for a load of lumber to be delivered."

A huge smile spread over her face. She clasped her hands together beneath her chin. "Does that mean y'all are starting on it soon?"

"The foundation will be poured Thursday."

"Can I be there to watch?"

"There's nothing exciting about watching guys pour concrete."

"It'll be exciting for me."

She threw herself in his arms and hugged his neck tightly. Griff wrapped his arms around her. She felt so good against him, so right. "Does this hug mean we're okay again?"

She pulled back and looked in his face. Her fingertips drifted over his cheek, his lips. "Yeah, we're okay again."

She tugged down his head and kissed him. Her kiss was sweet and soft as usual, yet Griff sensed Emma holding back. She'd said they were okay. The sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach made him wonder if that was really true.

Chapter Twelve.

Beverly took two hot pads from a drawer and handed them to Emma. "Will you take the roast out of the oven?"

"Sure."

The Sunday ritual had become something Emma enjoyed very much. The Coleman brothers always had dinner at their parents' house. They would gather after Beverly and Kenneth got home from church, then visit until Beverly served dinner at three o'clock. The meal lasted almost two hours while everyone lingered at the table over dessert and coffee.

Emma set the roasting pan on top of the stove and took off the lid. Her stomach gurgled at the aroma of roasted pork.

Leaning over Emma's shoulder, Beverly peered into the pan. "How does it look?"