"Fish. Try again."

As he took a step towards them, something crunched under his feet. The noise drew their attention from the menagerie on the floor.

"Griff!" Chelsie jumped up to greet him. The joy in her voice was unmistakable and he was glad he'd entered in silence. She'd had no time to think, so her spontaneous gesture had been genuine. A warm yet alien feeling flooded his heart. For the first time, Griff felt like he'd come home.

Alix darted around Chelsie's legs and ran into his arms. The child's unconditional love never ceased to amaze him and enabled him to give in return.

"Hi, ladies. How was your day?"

"Eventful."

He nodded. Alix pried herself from his grasp and headed straight for the animals. He stepped forward and again, his foot ground something against the floor. "What's this?" he asked, looking down.

"Nothing important. I just haven't had a chance to clean up yet." Chelsie gnawed on her lower lip before rushing on. "But don't worry. I was with Alix the whole time and she never got near the broken gla.s.s. I'll get it now."

He stopped her run for the closet by grabbing the tail of her shirt "Relax. It was a simple question, not an accusation. I know you'd never let Alix get hurt. But did she break this?"

"An accident." Laughter twinkled in Chelsie's eyes. "The animals wanted to play follow the leader. I'm afraid the rabbit was a bit uncooperative."

The rabbit. Her favorite piece, yet she seemed not to care. "I'll replace it."

"No, you won't. I don't care about these things. Alix had fun. That's all that matters."

His eyes narrowed as he a.s.sessed her sincerity.

"Honest, Griff. Don't make a big deal about this. I never thought a small accident would affect you like this."

You affect me. Who was this woman who never reacted in accordance with the standards set by the women in his past? "Okay. We'll forget it for now."

A brief flash of relief crossed her face. "Good. You hungry? We could order in pizza before you go home."

He glanced across the room. Alix still played contentedly in the center of the carpet. "Pizza sounds good."

Chelsie picked up the phone and placed the order.

"Want to sit?" She flopped down on the couch and waited until he joined her. He groaned, his exhaustion evident in the slouch of his shoulders and the weary expression on his face.

Alix ran to Griff, dumping two animals in his lap. She continued to charge back and forth between her uncle and the pile of crystals she thought of as toys. When Chelsie glanced at the heap in the center of the floor, she decided this activity might take a while. It might take even longer for the memory of Griff and Alix in her apartment to fade, she thought with chagrin.

"What's our game plan for Amanda Sutton's case, partner?" he asked.

"Let's discuss business later." She nodded towards Alix. She couldn't talk about the details of their newest client without revealing all the details of her past, something she wouldn't do without a guarantee of privacy. Now wasn't the time. The coward in her heart, a shadow of her former self, welcomed the delay.

"Okay, the squirt comes first," he said, settling himself on the carpet beside Alix.

Chelsie's heart swelled at the sight of the two people she had come to love frolicking on her living-room floor. Griff and Alix in her apartment created the illusion of a real home, something this place would never be.

Griff glanced up, his gaze locking with hers. "Come join us. We need you."

His words sent a tingle along her spine. She liked that he'd linked them together in something other than a professional capacity. In fact, she enjoyed the notion too much. Maybe the sound pleased her because he'd said "us" without conscious thought.

She sat between them. After a while, Alix laid her head in Chelsie's lap. "I love this squirt," Chelsie whispered. She fingered the dark curls, watching as the little girl's eyes grew heavy and finally closed.

"Peaceful," Griff said.

Chelsie smiled. With Alix around, a moment of silence was rare. "This is nice," she agreed. Too nice. Maybe it was just as well the end had come. At this point, occasional visits might benefit everyone. Alix shouldn't come to rely on her any more than she already did, especially since she'd probably be making herself scarce once Griff understood everything about Chelsie Russell.

As if he read her somber mood, he spoke. "Hey." He tipped her chin upward so her eyes met his. "You are the world's best baby-sitter. And how many women get this kind of practice before they're officially called Mommy?" His lips touched hers before he turned his attention back to the sleeping child.

"Thank you," she murmured.

He turned toward her. "For what?"

For reminding me of my place. "For being so understanding," she said.

He smiled. "I'm an understanding guy."

Hold that thought. Chelsie wished she felt nearly as confident that his words would hold true.

Griff lifted the sleeping child out of her car seat and stifled a yawn. Chelsie followed him into the house. While he got Alix settled in bed, Chelsie waited downstairs. He found her in the den. Her feet were propped on an ottoman and she lounged comfortably on the couch.

"You didn't need to come all the way back with us, but I appreciate the company." He stretched his arms above his head, feeling every muscle that had worked loading boxes that afternoon. "Mrs. Baxter will be back in the morning and I'm hoping this household will resettle itself into a routine."

Her eyes followed his every movement, stirring his body to life. Wanting Chelsie had become as much a part of him as breathing. Fantasy had been easier. Now he knew the feel of her silken skin gliding beneath him.

She smiled. "Routines are easy to fall into." She paused. "Now that Alix is asleep, we need to talk."

"Personally, I can think of other things to do while Alix sleeps." Too much time had pa.s.sed and he couldn't forget the feel of Chelsie in his arms, couldn't stop the need to have her again.

Her eyes glazed over at his words and he knew she was remembering. The memories of that one night seared his mind, heated his body, and made treating her in a casual, non-lover-like manner d.a.m.ned difficult. Daydreams as potent as his seemed awfully real sometimes, especially those involving Chelsie Russell.

He stepped closer and placed an arm on either side of her shoulders. Her tongue darted over her lips, moistening them until they glistened.

"Talk, Griff. This shouldn't wait."

He kissed her mid-sentence, capturing her mouth with his and slipping his tongue through her already parted lips. She raised her hands to his chest in a half-hearted effort to push him away. Her hands lingered, but didn't move. Her scent surrounded him.

He needed more. He nipped lightly at her lower lip. Her hands grasped his shirt and pulled him closer, until he ended up lying on top of her on the couch.

Raising his head, he intended to stop only long enough to straighten their awkward position.

"Griff." Her throaty voice startled him.

"Give us one more night," he said. "We'll talk in the morning, I promise. Whatever it is can wait."

Uncertainty flickered in the depths of her dark eyes. He brushed a kiss over each lid, wanting her to feel gentle persuasion, not pressure. "One more night"

"We never spoke about the last night," she murmured on a soft sigh. Her body turned to liquid beneath his. Victory, which had been so uncertain minutes before, was now within his grasp.

"You talk too much, counselor," he said with a groan. But he recognized the irony in her statement. After their last encounter, he had wanted to talk about why she had fled. At this moment, any discussion on his end would be nothing more than an incoherent jumble. Despite the unsettled state of their relationship, he wanted her again, and he had to trust that she wouldn't run.

"Tomorrow, we'll leave Alix with Mrs. Baxter and you can talk as much as you want." He nibbled on her earlobe. "If you still have the energy."

She tipped her head backwards, baring her slender neck to his hungry gaze. "And I take it you intend to see that I don't?"

"Let's just say I won't be sorry if that's the end result." With the tip of his tongue, he traced a long line from the base of her neck to the sensitive spot behind her ear. She trembled beneath him. He shifted positions until his erection pressed into the juncture of her thighs.

She sucked in a deep breath. "Okay." Her capitulation came out sounding more like a husky groan. "But no matter what, we will talk tomorrow. I'll find the energy."

He laughed aloud. "We'll see about that."

Chelsie knew that she would make sure they spoke no matter what. Tomorrow. For tonight she wanted Griff, wanted this last time to call theirs. The whole day had been perfect. If she could look back on these last twenty-four hours as the time she'd had a family, she might survive what was to come. When he discovered the sordid details of her life, it would change the way he looked at her forever. Besides, he deserved decent memories, too. She wanted him to know she cared, even if she couldn't express her love in words.

She gazed into his dark eyes. "I won't run this time," she promised.

Grat.i.tude for her honesty flickered across his face. Chelsie couldn't offer him much, but he deserved more than she'd given so far. She couldn't expect Griff to understand something she'd kept so carefully hidden from him. But tomorrow, he'd know everything.

"Thank you."

"I shouldn't have left last time."

"Tomorrow," he reminded her. "We'll deal with it tomorrow." Without awaiting a response, he laced his fingers through her hair, cradling her head in his hands and capturing her mouth in a kiss that robbed her of the ability to think, yet heightened her capacity to feel.

The last time had been a slow learning process for them both. This time, their movements were rushed and frantic. The last time had been marked by intimate preliminaries. This time, by unspoken mutual consent, they shed their clothing, desiring nothing more than to be joined as one.

Griff thrust into her, burying himself as deep as her body would allow. Yet despite the physical need that drove them, Chelsie felt an intense rush of sensation flood her heart and her mind. Almost, she thought, as if the most intimate part of her body had a direct channel to her heart. And Griff had penetrated both.

Griff awoke with a start. Chelsie slept curled beside him, her head on his chest. With every breath he took, he inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo. In sleep, she looked more trusting. Yet he felt a barrier had tumbled in the last few hours. In a very real sense, she had given herself to him, heart and soul. The question was, what did he intend to do with the gift?

The day he had won the custody hearing, the path of his life had been bleak but certain. His future held nothing except the promise of raising Alix. He had planned to focus on that one ray of sunshine and block out the need for anything more. So what had changed?

Not his past. His brother was gone, taken by an unfair twist of fate. Jared would never willingly have left his only child. Not so for Griff's mother. She, too, was long gone. As Ryan had discovered on Jared's request, she had died an unhappy and lonely woman. Ultimately, she had given up her family in search of an elusive dream that had never materialized. His father had pa.s.sed away a few years back.

Instead of learning from the past, Griff had merely repeated it. Like his mother, his ex-fiancee was a woman short on feelings for anything except cold hard cash. Why had he ever thought Deidre would be different? He hadn't, he realized with a sudden flash of insight Griff had chosen her because she exhibited the same traits as his mother. Because when she left him, too, he could say he'd expected it all along.

Chelsie stirred and he pulled the blanket up around her shoulders. Her naked body snuggled closer into his embrace. Being right offered little comfort in the middle of the night. But for now, with Chelsie beside him, Griff was no longer alone-physically or emotionally.

No woman had ever made him face his past, had ever reached inside him. Chelsie touched the man who wanted love but feared being abandoned. He understood that now. Was he ready to put aside his preconceived notions and past hurts and try again?

d.a.m.ned if he knew. The living-room clock chimed five. At that moment, the only thing he felt sure of was that he didn't want Mrs. Baxter to arrive and find them naked in the den.

He untangled himself from her body and stood. When he lifted her into his arms, her eyelids fluttered open. "Go back to sleep," he whispered, walking towards his bedroom.

She mumbled something unintelligible, then twined her arms around his neck and buried her head on his shoulder. Trust wasn't something she gave easily, either. For the moment, however, she did seem to trust him.

Would her faith last into the waking hours of the morning? He had no answers. When they had their talk, he hoped they'd each do their best not to undermine the progress they'd made-and not to hurt each other in the process.

TEN.

Griff placed a hand on the sheets, only to discover they felt cool to his touch. He didn't panic. Chelsie had promised him she wouldn't run and he believed her.

He started down the long hallway. When he'd bought the house, he'd tried to imbue the place with warmth and felt he had succeeded everywhere except for the kitchen. Even with Alix's high chair and bibs strewn about, the room still felt cold. With a table large enough to seat eight and no feminine knickknacks lying about, the place looked as welcoming as his old bachelor-style apartment.

When he reached the kitchen, he immediately sensed a difference. An old Eagles song drifted towards him, accompanied by soft but slightly off-key humming. Griff paused in the doorway, attempting to understand the comforting feeling that settled around him.

The decor hadn't changed. In fact, the scene that awaited him was similar to the one that greeted him every morning. Alix sat in the high chair, happily shoveling handfuls of food into her mouth while babbling at the same time. Two places were set at the table, and the delicious aroma of pancakes surrounded him, making his mouth water for a hot stack with warm maple syrup and steaming coffee. But instead of Mrs. Baxter helping his niece with her meal and puttering around the kitchen, there was Chelsie.

Between sips of coffee, she wrestled with Alix as the child tried to stuff in more food than her mouth would hold. Chelsie laughed at the little girl, gently chiding her for misbehaving. Yet Chelsie never lost her temper and she never seemed annoyed at being placed in the role of caregiver for her sister's child. If anything, she seemed born to be Alix's surrogate mother.

The emotions roiling inside Griff were too complex to untangle, so he didn't try. Instead, he studied her in silence.

She'd pulled her hair loosely atop her head and stray tendrils fell to frame her face. He had to stifle the urge to sweep her off her feet and back into the bedroom so they could pick up where they'd left off last night.

"Morning," he said, finally.

Chelsie jumped in her seat. "Morning." She turned towards him.

Despite last night's intimacy, or perhaps because of it, a pink flush covered her cheeks. He found her shyness around him a refreshing change from the overly confident women in his past.

"You should have wakened me."

She shook her head. "When you didn't bolt out of bed the first time Alix called you, I figured you needed the sleep."

"Hi, squirt." He sat in the chair nearest his niece.

She held out a sticky hand and offered him a piece of her pancake.

"I'll pa.s.s," he said with a grin.

Chelsie stood and walked over to the stove, returning with a covered plate. "I saved these for you." She poured him a cup of coffee and pushed the bottle of maple syrup towards him.

His mouth watered again. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Though they had agreed to talk, he decided to delay anything personal until later and tackled the subject of work instead. "I was wondering how Amanda took things when you told her you'd filed the restraining order against her ex." He had been too busy with his own caseload and filling in for Mrs. Baxter during the day to discuss every client with Chelsie.

She glanced up from her plate. "I didn't."