She knew that tone. She wouldn't be winning this discussion.

He turned her toward the door. "It's your birthday. You're getting out of the house."

Shari went upstairs to finish getting dressed. She was looking forward to the day. Her mom was just finishing her makeup. "Good morning, honey. Happy birthday."

Shari stopped to give her a hug. "Thanks, mom."

Her mom gave her a knowing smile. "Have a good time today." Shari couldn't help the small blush. "I will."

When she went downstairs half an hour later carrying her gym bag, Marcus stood by the front door talking with Josh. He held out his hand when he saw her. "Ready?"

"Yes."

He stopped her at the door after Josh had stepped out on the porch.

"If something doesn't feel right, what do you do?"

"Press the panic button."

"Before you try and figure out what it is that bothers you."

"I remember."

"Good. You can leave the rest of the worrying to me. Luke and I have it covered. Deal?"

She squeezed his hand. "Deal."

"Then let's get out of here."

She followed him around the house to the driveway.

"You're in front with me," Marcus directed. "Josh and Luke are in the back."

It felt strange being back in a car. Marcus noticed her tension as they drove along the winding roads toward town. "We're fine. That's Craig in the truck in front of us."

The trip took only ten minutes. Marcus took Josh and Luke to the hospital first, then drove on to the gym. He waited until Craig parked, got out and scanned the area, then signaled it was clear before he shut off the engine. "We'll go in the back entrance. Stay close." Shari nodded. He circled the car and opened her door.

Marcus paused on the basketball court when Sharijoined him from the women's locker room. She had dressed in black shorts and a burgundy T-shirt. Her tennis shoes were so white they had to be brand new. She had ball.

pulled her hair back in a ponyl;ail and it bounced as she walked. "We've got the court to ourselves?" "For the next hour and an half."

"I wondered." She set her bag down on the bleachers next to his and crossed the gym floor to join him.

"This is a basketball." He bounced it to make his point. She bit back a cluick grin. "I think I remember that part." "lemember free throws?" "Just give me the ball."

He tossed it to her and she caught it with a clean slap.

She dribbled twice, then sent it in a clean arc toward the hoop. It was short, coming off the front of the rim, but her shot was good form. Marcus scooped the ball up and with one hand tossed it back to her. "You've played before."

"Ages ago."

She set herself, dribbled twice, and sent up another free throw that hit the backboard and went slightly right.

By the time he had fed her back the ball a dozen times, she had found the basket. "You're a bit too much of a perfectionist. You wince every time you miss."

"I bet you rarely miss free throws."

"Not often," Marcus agreed, "but then I rarely get to shoot them. The family doesn't often call fouls."

"Enough shooting. I want to burn some ener. Let's actually play." "One-on-one?"

"You don't play girls?"

"Just making sure your ego can handle getting beat." He tossed her the He was between her and the basket and she came right at him, cutting right as soon as he committed himself to come toward her. No one would mistake the determination on her face. He moved to cut her off and she spun back out to the top of the key. It was a good percentage shot, and she took it, sending up an arc to the basket.

He blocked her shot.

"I see you don't give freebies." She had chased down the ball first, stood dribbling just outside the three-point line.

"Do you want one?"

"Not particularly."

She came in on the baseline, her shot missed, and Marcus recovered it. The basketball was warm, rough in his hand. His first shot hit nothing but net. "What do you want to play to?"

"Twenty-one."

He tried to purposely miss often enough to give her a chance.

"You could at least cheat without making it obvious," she remarked without heat, having chased down one of his misses.

Her shirt was damp with sweat, her breathing rapid. "Want to take a break?"

"Not till the game is over."

He was three baskets away from putting the game away; there was no use leaving her in misery. He put up the next three shots as soon as he touched the ball, made sure they were flawless, hitting nothing but net.

She stood back with her hands on her hips and watched the last one go in. "Ouch."

"I've been playing a long time," he commiserated.

"I would have never guessed," she replied dryly. She sat down on the bench, picked up a towel, and offered him one.

He took a seat beside her, watching her mop her face. "Thanks for playing. You're a good sport."

"I enjoyed it." She tipped her head to glance at him. "Even if you are a poor winner."

"A what?" he asked, laughing.

"You should be celebrating the victory. You finally beat me at something."

"Since it's your birthday. I'm being kind. I'll wait to gloat until later." "Thanks."

He glanced at the clock on the wall. "We've got another half hour before we pick up Josh."

"Good, I can take a shower."

He nudged her white shoes. "Those need breaking in."

She raised one foot. "I bought them because I had this great New Year's resolution to start running. You can tell how far that idea got."

"You need a running partner to get you in the habit. I go most days I'm home to jog the hiking trails on Roosevelt Island."

"Really?"

"l could probably be talked into buying the coffee if you'd like to join me."

"lun? Early in the morning?" I-Ie buried a grin. "Yes." "That's brutal."

"You might enjoy it."

"Or I can decide I won't and not bother to try"

"Somehow that doesn't sound like you."

"That's exactly how Josh got me to try skydiving. You'll have to try another tactic."

"Don't worry I'll come up with one."

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to keep asking until I agree?'" "Who? Me?"

She got up with a laugh and tossed her towel at him. "I'm going to go take that shower."

Shari came out of the locker room, shuffling her gym bag, towel, and tennis shoes and trying to get everything to fit inside the bag. She collided with Marcus, saw the gun in his hand, and froze.

"What happened?" He was propelling her back down the hall and toward the alcove.

"I'm fine." She stammered the words because it was obvious something was wrong. Marcus was tense, terse, and hustling her out of the hallway "Then why-" His eyes closed and he took a deep breath, then he shook his head and reached around the gym bag to the pager clipped on her belt. He shut off the panic button. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." "I'm sorry! I didn't mean- "

He kissed her hard, stopping the apology Shari went from being panic stricken to being unable to think bliss in the blink of an eye. This was absolutely heaven. She felt her heart leap in delight and recognized joy Her hands came up to curl around his forearms and she leaned in against him.

He pulled back half an inch to breathe again. "I do not mind false alarms. Don't get the wrong idea. I was just too far away"

She blinked, still rolling with the shock of that delightful, unexpected kiss. He had such alive brown eyes; she found them absolutely fascinating.

She could feel him breathing. She should be feeling embarrassed, but being held in the shelter of his arms was absolutely wonderful. She looked ruefully at the fact but for the gym bag squashed between them, there was no space separating them. She could feel the blush starting. "You're not anymore."

He looked at her for a moment, then dropped the gym bag to the floor. "Come here," he said softly He gave her a moment to decide and then pulled her close.

This kiss lasted long enough for her to close her eyes and get lost in the wonder of it.

Marcus ended the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. She felt his silent chuckle. "Should I apologize, or just say happy birthday?"

"It is my birthday."

They stood that way, silent, sharing the moment. Shari had no desire at all to come back to reality and deal with what had just happened.

He finally eased back half a step. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time, but I apologize for the timing, and the circumstances."

He was apologizing. She wanted to slap him for that, but he sounded so chagrined she decided to be magnanimous and not take it like the insult it felt like. She glanced around at the potted plants and empty chairs in the alcove. "A public place. You could have chosen worse. And Marcus...I don't kiss and tell."

"Get that look off your face. I enjoyed kissing you tremendously, and if you keeping scowling at me I'm going to do it again." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, gave her a brief hug, and tugged her ponytail. "And I'm grateful you'll keep this quiet. I'm the one with the active family grapevine."

She relaxed. "Come on-I top that. I've got mom. Your family is still learning compared to her."

"I'll grant you that one." He turned her toward the hallway. "We need to go meet Josh or he is going to be worried."

She didn't want this moment to end. "Can we talk tonight?" "Are you going to pretend not to be tired at midnight?" "I haven't been hiding the yawns," she said, chagrined.

He gave a small smile as he brushed back her bangs. "Not very well." "Then I'll take a nap."

He laughed. "If you're up, we'll talk," he promised, to her delight.

Thirteen.

T.

hey picked up Josh and Luke at the hospital. Shari was grateful when Marcus engaged Josh in a conversation about how the physical therapy had gone, what the schedule was for the next week. She wasn't sure she could hold a coherent conversation at the moment.

She thought about the kiss, absently touched her lip. Just thinking about it made her heart warm. What had it meant to Marcus? He had been reacting to the emotions of the moment; she had felt that in the kiss. But it went a lot deeper as a possibility of what might come. The ride back to the house was too short; she needed time to think before she accidentally said the wrong thing. Would he feel she was ducking him if she retreated upstairs for a while? At least she had a powerful distraction to get her through her first birthday without her father and Carl. Marcus pulled around the house and parked. Josh and Luke got out of the car.

"Shari." Marcus paused her as she would have opened the car door. "Hold on a second."

She looked over at him and was puzzled as he reached around to the backseat, and retrieved a small white bakery box.