"I thought you were the hottest thing since Matt Damon."

"Now, there's a tough act to follow."

"In the beginning, you were one of the reasons I went out with Rick." Remembering the early days of her relationship with two men she'd loved, but in very different ways, she smiled. "I didn't know Rick would be the one."

"He was a good man, Alison, and he was crazy about you."

"I know. G.o.d, Drew, I loved him so much. I still miss him."

"Me, too." His gaze met hers with a seriousness that cut. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you after...the accident."

She'd spent the last four years wondering why he'd run away to South Florida, but didn't press him about it. She knew Drew well enough to know he'd had his own demons to slay. From what she'd heard from some of Rick's Navy friends, Drew had spent a lot of months blaming himself. At the time, Alison had been so immersed in her own grief, she hadn't stopped to wonder how the accident had affected the man who'd been looking into Rick's eyes when he'd fallen on that terrible night.

"I wasn't the only one grieving," she said. "It took me a while to realize that."

He looked away. "I should have been there for you."

"You did what you had to do. I don't begrudge you that in any way, Drew. Everyone deals with grief differently. That's okay."

"You know I'm here for you now. Kevin, too."

"Of course I do." Reaching across the table, she squeezed his hand. "And it means a lot to me."

"Me, too."

Alison smiled, but it felt sad on her face. And she knew she was only trying to mask the lingering grief that squeezed her heart every time she thought of Rick. She hadn't wanted to think of him tonight, but even after four years sometimes the grief sneaked up on her. Like an early frost on trees not yet ready to shed their leaves.

Drew raised his gla.s.s in a toast. "It's good to see you smiling, Alison. I've missed that."

She picked up her gla.s.s. "Here's to new beginnings."

"And old friendships rekindled," he said and clinked his gla.s.s against hers.

It was after midnight when Drew parked the truck outside Alison's house. He'd told himself a dozen times during the drive from the restaurant that he wasn't going to tempt fate by walking her to the door. They had mutually agreed to maintain their relationship on a friendship-only basis and he d.a.m.n well intended to abide by that.

But Drew knew the feat was easier said than done. He was attracted to Alison whether he liked it or not. Had been since the moment he'd laid eyes on her six years ago. He might want to keep their relationship on a completely platonic level, but his hormones weren't happy about it.

"Would you like to come in for a quick cup of coffee?" Alison asked, swinging open the truck door. "I've got decaf."

Drew set his hands on the wheel and tried hard to keep his eyes off her legs as she slid off the seat. "Ah, well, I've got an early morning tomorrow."

"Oh. Sure. I understand." She reached for the door. "Well, then, good night."

"I'll walk you halfway up."

"It's not necessary."

Feeling like an idiot for not opening her door and helping her out of the high-clearance truck, he unlatched his own door, crossed around the front of the vehicle and met her on the sidewalk.

"What time will you be here tomorrow to pick up Kevin?" she asked.

She was standing so close, he could smell the sweet scent of her perfume. Drew sucked in a breath, keenly aware of her essence filling his lungs. Aware too that his body was on high alert and if he wasn't careful he was going to do exactly what he'd promised himself he wouldn't.

"Seven o'clock too early?" he asked.

"No, that's fine. We're early birds."

Even though it was dark he could see the hint of moisture on her lips. Her hair shone like luminescent silk beneath the sodium vapor streetlight. He stared at the flyaway wisps, wondering if her hair would be as soft as it looked.

"Mommy! Drew!"

The little voice jerked him from his reverie with all the finesse of a foghorn. Drew and Alison turned simultaneously to see Kimberly and Kevin standing on the front porch, waving. Kevin was wearing his Spider-Man pajamas and an impish grin that stretched from ear to ear.

"What on earth is he doing up?" Alison muttered to herself, glancing down at her watch.

The patter of bare feet punctuated her question. Drew looked up to see Kevin running down the sidewalk like a marathoner about to make the broad jump. "Drew!"

The little boy was heading straight for him, but Alison intercepted him by grasping his arms and swinging him around to face her. "My goodness, you're in a hurry," she said, wrestling him into her arms and giving him a smacking kiss. "What on earth are you doing out of bed at this hour, young man?"

"I don't know, Mommy. I just woke up, and I was thirsty so Aunt Kimberly brought me some water and then when she was reading that Harry Potter book to me, we saw Drew's truck through the window, and I remembered I didn't get to show him my Zoomer 57 Skyeagle." He squirmed in Alison's arms and turned to look at Drew. "You wanna see it now, Drew?"

There was no way Drew could have witnessed the moment and said no. He didn't know a d.a.m.n thing about kids, had never been around them in his life. All he knew was that this child was precious and sweet, and Drew wanted more than anything to make him happy.

Remembering a television commercial he'd seen for the popular toy, he asked, "You got the Mach II replica or the Screamer?"

Kevin loosened his arms and slid from Alison's grasp. "I got the Mach II."

Drew tried to look impressed. "You put it together yourself?"

"Mostly, but Mommy helped. I mean, she helped a little."

Alison looked from boy to man as if they were speaking a foreign language. "I don't know a Screamer from a Mach II."

Drew grinned. "It's a guy thing."

She smiled back, then turned her attention to her son. "It's late, kiddo, so don't keep him too long, okay? Show him your Zoomer 57 Skyeagle and then I want you in bed."

"'Kay." Darting over to Drew, Kevin took his hand and tugged him toward the house. "C'mon!"

Walking toward them from the porch with her purse slung over her shoulder, Kimberly knelt and reached out to her nephew. "Kiss for your aunt first, big guy. I've got to go home."

Without missing a beat, Kevin dropped Drew's hand, dashed over to Kimberly and kissed her in the general vicinity of her mouth. "Next time we'll stay up late and watch scary movies," he said.

"Sure we will." Smiling, Kimberly winked at Alison.

"I hope we didn't keep you up too late," Alison said to her sister.

"You didn't." Turning to Drew, Kimberly stuck out her hand. "It was nice meeting you."

Since Kevin already had a hold of his right hand, Drew took her hand with his left. "Likewise."

"Don't forget what I said."

"I wouldn't dare."

He caught Alison's look and was relieved when Kevin pulled him toward the house. He wasn't sure how Alison would feel about her protective older sister threatening him with bodily harm, but the thought made him smile nonetheless. He supposed Kimberly didn't understand that he and Alison were just friends.

As Kevin chattered and tugged him through the front door and then toward his bedroom, Drew a.s.sured himself that since he and Alison had made it clear where they stood, he didn't have anything to worry about. A quick look at the toy. A cup of coffee. Then he was out of there.

No problem.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

Alison poured decaf into two cups and set them on a tray. Down the hall, she could hear Kevin chattering and the occasional response from Drew. She could also hear laughter, adult male and child. A sound she hadn't heard much of in recent years.

It should have been a comfort having Drew in for coffee after a lovely dinner, but Alison was anything but comfortable. She couldn't quite put her finger on the squirrelly feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she knew it revolved around Drew. It had been a long time since she'd had a male visitor. And even though she and Drew had mutually agreed to maintain a friend-only relationship, she couldn't ignore the sharp zing of nerves.

The kiss they'd shared earlier in the day had left an indelible mark. Throughout the afternoon, she'd found her mind going repeatedly back to that fleeting moment. The way his eyes had darkened when he looked at her. The gentleness with which he'd touched her. And the kiss... Oh, G.o.d, the kiss.

The instant his mouth had come down on hers Alison's world had spun right off its axis. Her body had reacted with a power that stunned her. Long-denied needs had wakened with a vengeance. Needs she'd thought she would never again feel in her lifetime. Needs she wasn't prepared for. How was it that she could go for four years without so much as a stray thought about a relationship or a kiss or any of the things that went along with having a man around, and then suddenly find herself thinking of little else?

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she could no longer deny that her relationship with Drew had, indeed, changed. A very decided shift that would make a platonic relationship extremely difficult. Maybe even impossible. They could claim to be friends until they both turned blue. But there was no denying the hot arc of electricity that jumped between them every time they got within shouting distance.

How was she supposed to handle her attraction to a man who only wanted to be friends? A man who'd once been her husband's best friend? A man who, she suspected, was still dealing with guilt over her husband's death?

The questions weren't tidy ones, and an uncomfortable twinge nipped at her. For years she had identified herself as Rick Myers's widow and Kevin Myers's mother. She had identified herself in those ways for so long, maybe she'd forgotten how to be anything else. Maybe she'd forgotten how to be a woman.

Picking up the tray, she carried it into the living room and set it on the coffee table. As she made her way down the hall toward Kevin's bedroom, she could hear him laughing and digging around in his toy box. Her little boy was hungry for male company, she thought, and a pang of sadness. .h.i.t her squarely in the chest. In the years since Rick had been gone, that was the one thing she hadn't been able to give him.

She stepped into the bedroom to find man and boy sitting on the floor, engaged in a serious conversation about the Mach II versus the Screamer.

"It's all in the engines," Drew said. "The Mach II uses a smaller battery and only has two props."

"You mean propellers?"

"That's right. The Screamer has the special tail prop, too. Makes a difference. Plus, the aerodynamics are different. Look at the wing lines and the elongated flaps." Holding the jet up for Kevin to see, he ran his finger along the wing to the tip. "See that?"

"How do you know so much about planes?"

"I'm a pilot."

"Yeah, but this is a toy."

"Same concept."

"My mommy told me my dad was a pilot."

Drew visibly flinched, then glanced quickly away. From where she stood at the door Alison couldn't see his face, but his body language told her a great deal about what he was feeling. A long moment pa.s.sed and then he looked over at Kevin with such sadness and tenderness that Alison had to blink away unexpected tears. She knew Rick's death had hit Drew hard. It had hit everyone hard. What she hadn't realized was that Drew's wounds were still open and bleeding.

"He was a good pilot," Drew said in a rough voice.

"My mommy has a picture of him. He's wearing a uniform and looks really cool. Mommy says he was a hero. You wanna see it?"

"Ah, no." A breath shuddered out of him. "It's late, and I've got to get going."

Instinct told her this was a good time to break in to the conversation. Alison wasn't exactly sure what was going on inside Drew's head, but whatever it was, it was clear this conversation wasn't one he wanted to have with her son.

Clearing her throat, she stepped into the room. "You, young man," she said to Kevin, "should have been in bed three hours ago."

Two male heads turned toward her, one grinning, the other one wary, and Alison felt her heart melt for both of them.

"Mommy, Drew knows everything about planes!" Relieving Drew of the Zoomer 57 Skyeagle, he jumped to his feet and carried it over to Alison. "He fixed the broken flap. See?"

"What I see is a little boy who's going to have a very hard time getting up in the morning." Taking Kevin by the shoulders, she guided him toward the bed. "Did Drew tell you that you have an early morning tomorrow?"

Kevin and Alison looked at Drew. He shrugged as he got to his feet. "I thought I'd let you tell him," he said to Alison.

She turned down the sheet and quilt. "Under the covers, young man."

"Tell me what?" The little boy scrambled beneath the covers. "I wanna know. Are we gonna go on another plane ride?"

Alison pulled the quilt up to his chin. "Drew is going to take you fishing tomorrow."

"Fishing? Wow! For real?" Kevin popped into a sitting position. "You mean with poles and everything?"

Alison gently pushed him back down. "For real."

Drew walked over to the bed. "My cousin Seth has a fishing boat we can borrow."

"Wowee, a boat! Mommy, did you hear that?"

"I sure did." She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her little boy's forehead, felt her heart swell in her chest with love for him. "But if you don't get some sleep, you're not going to get an early start."

"But I'm not sleepy!"

"That's because you're all excited."

"I could stay up for a little while."