She nodded briskly and went back to her desk.

Candace had quickly learned that he disliked the intercom and cheerfully came tohis office door to give him messages.

Candace was a very nice woman. A little formal, perhaps; she'd told him she wasn'tcomfortable calling him by his first name. She lived alone except for two catssince her husband died two years ago. Her three children were grown. She didn'tmind overtime and put up with his moods.

What more could he want?

While he waited for Greenfeld, Dean stood and walked over to one of his windows.

He hadn't seen Jodie since they'd returned from Hawaii. He'd stopped findingexcuses to go to her department to see her. She'd made her position quite clear andhe would respect that.

He'd taken dates out to dinner, to see a play or movie and once to a Cubs game. Atthe end of each evening, though, he'd kissed them good-night at the door and gonehome.

None of them stirred him at all, despite their intelligence, their looks and theirbehavior toward him. The dating scene was really becoming a bore.

He heard Greenfeld greet Candace and turned. "Good to see you, Jacob," he said,walking to the man with his arm outstretched.

"You, too, Dean," Jacob replied with a smile as they shook hands. "Thank you forseeing me."

Dean grinned. "Are you kidding? I was glad to hear from you after all this time.You disappeared after we graduated from college. How've you been?"

Once again Dean immersed himself in business and put all thought of Jodieaway...until later that night when he fell asleep hugging his pillow and dreamed hewas with her.

What was wrong with him anyway? he asked himself, staring out at the lake the nextmorning. When had he ever taken no for an answer when he really wanted something?The truth was, Jodie taking another job in the office had left a big hole in hislife-and it wasn't about sex, although that had been great.

He missed seeing her. He missed the sound of her voice. He missed the delicatescent of her perfume. Even if he never made love to her again, he knew he wouldremember everything about the pleasure of bringing her to a climax, of holding herin his arms afterward.

She'd graduated from college and had not sent him an announcement. He'd sent her agift anyway and received a polite thank-you note that could have been written tohis great-aunt Harriet. If he had a great-aunt Harriet.

He'd hoped that over time she might change her mind and be willing to see himagain, but he realized that he'd be tripping over his gray beard before thathappened.

It was time for drastic action. As his plan began to appear in his head, henodded. He was a man of action, after all. Hadn't she mentioned that he wasaggressive when he wanted something?

Well, he was ready to admit that he wanted her and no one else.

He would wait no longer to get her back in his life, on whatever terms she set.

"Isn't this a beautiful day," Lynette said, stretched out on a blanket in one ofChicago's parks. "I'm so glad we planned this."

Jodie nodded. She had Emily in her lap and was playing with her while Chuck playedcatch with the boys.

"Me, too."

"How's it feel to finally be through with school?"

"A little lost, actually. I don't know what to do with all my spare time."

"Well, it's been a boon for me. Chuck and I have certainly enjoyed your stayingwith the kiddos and giving us some alone time." She grinned. "I feel definitelydecadent sleeping until late in the morning once a week."

"You deserve it."

Suddenly Lynette shouted, "Way to go, Kyle, good one." When she turned back toJodie, she said, "You don't talk about work much anymore. Why is that?"

Jodie shrugged. "Nothing to talk about. I'm learning so much stuff that my head

spins at times, but I'm enjoying it."

"And we're still not going to discuss Dean, are we?"

"There's nothing to discuss. I haven't seen..." Her voice trailed off.

"What's wrong?"

"If I'm not mistaken, that's Dean Logan coming toward us now."

Lynette sat up. "Really? Where?"

Jodie nodded toward the man drawing closer.

"You're kidding me," Lynette said in awe. "He's gorgeous. And you always said he

looked like he should be on Mount Rushmore with his great stone face."

"He could."

"The grin he's wearing could melt rock, honey. And I believe it's directed at

you!""Hi," he said when he reached them. "I thought that was you." He glanced at Lynette and back at Jodie. "Mind if I join you?"

Before Jodie could find her tongue, Lynette scooted over and patted the blanket."We'd be delighted. Wouldn't we, Jodie?" she asked, her eyes wide in mockinginnocence.

He didn't wait for her answer but sat on the blanket.

"What are you doing-" Jodie began to ask when the boys interrupted her.

"Hi!" Kyle said. "Do you know our aunt Jodie? We have sleepovers at her house and

she's-"

"Hush!" Lynette said, gaining Jodie's eternal gratitude for stopping him. Kylewasn't known for his tact or diplomacy.

"Dean, I'd like you to meet my sister, Lynette, and her children." She nodded tothe boys. "Kent and Kyle." Then she looked down to the infant in her arms and said, "This is Emily."

Chuck joined them. "Hi. Chuck Patterson," he said, his hand out.

Dean shook hands. "Dean Logan."

"Ah," was all Chuck said.

"I don't care what rumors Jodie has brought home to you, it isn't true that I eat

young children for breakfast."

"Ooooh, gross!" Kent said with a grin.

Chuck sat down. "Why don't you let me rest for a few minutes, guys? Go toss the

ball between you."

When the two of them moved away, he turned and looked at Lynette in disbelief."Did you see that? They actually minded me. And without argument." He looked atJodie. "Boy, if you ever decide to hire yourself out as a nanny, I can give you a glowing recommendation."

"If you haven't already guessed, Chuck is my brother-in-law."

Chuck reached for the ice chest. "Would you like something to drink? We have

colas, lemonade and water."

"Water sounds great," Dean said.