Truly Madly Deeply Boxed Set (8 page)

A last-minute hearing in the judge’s chambers had delayed her, so she’d had no time to go home and change clothing. She glanced down and frowned. Obviously, taking off her suit jacket hadn’t been the way to avoid getting soaked. That she couldn’t stay one step ahead of a two year old was more embarrassing than she cared to admit.

The little girl laughed and splashed again. Chelsie chuckled and resigned herself to another long night. Griff might hope to gain sleep from this arrangement, but Chelsie certainly could not. Between her heavy caseload, her volunteer work at the shelter, and her hours with the Stuarts, she had little if any time left for sleep.

Despite all the pain that could result from this arrangement, she wouldn’t give up one second of her time with Alix. Chelsie knelt over the edge of the bathtub and attempted to rinse shampoo out of the squirming child’s hair.

Alix splashed again. Chelsie laughed and splashed back. Why not? Her shirt was already saturated and the little girl loved the water play. After exhausting both herself and Alix, Chelsie attempted to pull her out of the tub, though by the child’s screams of protest, Chelsie was the only one worn out.

“Mrs. Baxter had the right idea. Maybe I should have volunteered for dish-washing detail,” she murmured.

“And here I thought bath time was the highlight of your evening.”

Chelsie whipped around, startled by the sound of Griff’s voice. Her heart fell into a steady staccato rhythm. “I thought you wouldn’t be home until late.”

“And miss spending time with my favorite girl?” The reference definitely referred to Alix, but his gaze lingered on Chelsie much longer than necessary.

His eyes smoldered, heating her body with a glance. No one, including her ex-husband, had ever looked at her quite that way before. She relished the feeling.

Chelsie thought she had given up on romantic fantasies long ago. The first time her husband had hit her, he’d attributed it to a stressful day at work. She’d accepted his apology.

The second time he’d displayed his temper had been over a burned meal. Though she hadn’t understood, she’d believed his promise of nevermore. But she’d never looked at him the same way again.

And he’d never gazed at her as if nothing else in the world mattered. Not in the beginning and certainly not after... in her mind, she saw herself teetering in shock, a large shadow looming over her.

She shuddered at the dark memories she thought she’d banished from her waking hours.

“Hey, you okay? Chelsie!”

Griff s deep familiar voice rescued her from the past. With a gentleness she’d only seen him use on Alix, he brushed her damp bangs out of her eyes.

“You okay?” he asked again, as his fingers trailed down her cheek, lingering for a moment before he pulled back.

“I’m fine.” Her voice quavered, an embarrassing reaction to his caress.

“Forgive me for saying this, but you don’t look fine.” The concern in those hazel-colored eyes touched a place deep inside her. When he dropped his defenses, she felt transported back to the days before her naive belief in happily ever after had been shattered.

“Exhaustion,” she said with a forced smile. “Every once in a while, my schedule catches up with me. I’m okay. You’ve got enough to worry about without adding this stray to your list.”

She swallowed hard, determined to ignore Griff’s furrowed brows and blatant look of disbelief. But the masculine scent of his cologne made ignoring him impossible. The woodsy fragrance heightened her senses. His mere presence obliterated her memory until she almost believed the past didn’t matter.

But it did
. There wasn’t a man out there who’d think otherwise, Griffin Stuart included. Alix was his niece, not his flesh and blood. He would want his own children. Though Chelsie could offer many things, she could never give him that.

Flustered, she glanced down and busied herself closing the baby shampoo and wrestling a rubber duck out of Alix’s playful hands.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked.

“Absolutely.” She’d survived the past five years by making the best of whatever life brought her way. No sense in changing things now. Moments like this were rare. She ought to cherish them. Heaven knew, she wouldn’t have many more in her life.

Ignoring Alix’s thrashing, Chelsie scooped her up and out of the tub, wrapping her in a large bath towel. “Someone looks like a prune,” Chelsie said, tickling the little girl and drying her off at the same time.

“Why don’t I take over? I’m sure she’s worn you out by now.”

“She’s a handful, that’s for sure.”

Alix greeted that pronouncement with a giggle and an aborted attempt to dive back into the tub.

“Proof that not only do children understand everything, they live up to our expectations,” Chelsie murmured.

“Amen. Must have learned those tricks from her daddy. Jared knew how to con me into letting him do just about anything.”

Chelsie smiled, grateful that he’d spoken of his brother with fondness and not despair. Griff had devoted his life to Alix, but deserved to move beyond the boundaries imposed by his grief.

“Sounds like you were the typical big brother.”

“More like the typical father.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “But now’s not the time to get into those stories. Wouldn’t want to bore you,” he said. “Pajamas and bedtime, squirt.”

Alix ran for her bedroom, losing the towel halfway down the hall. Griff followed, his deep laugh resonating as he walked.

Chelsie drained the water from the tub and wiped her hands on a towel. She knew for certain she wouldn’t be bored. She couldn’t help but be curious about Griff s long-standing relationships, Jared and Ryan included. Along with his commitment to Alix, they showed his ability to sustain healthy friendships and maintain emotional bonds, something she hadn’t encountered in a man before.

But she also understood the importance of respecting a person’s private space. By acknowledging Griff’s right to privacy, she hoped to ensure her own. Chelsie shut off the bathroom light. If she were smart, she’d join Mrs. Baxter downstairs.

With a knowing sigh, she turned and walked toward Alix’s room. Her brain cells must be in short supply this evening. Watching Alix snuggle against Griff as he tucked her into bed was definitely a stupid move, one she’d promised herself not to repeat.

C
helsie didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. The scent of lilacs permeated the air, making Griff painfully aware of her presence. He placed Alix in her crib and covered her with her favorite blanket.

“Puppy,” she said, jumping up and demanding a white ball of fur that lay on the floor. Griff retrieved the stuffed animal and coaxed Alix back into the crib.

All the while, he sensed Chelsie’s intense scrutiny.

He drew himself up and leaned against the crib rail, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the door. Chelsie met his gaze and a feeling of
déjà vu
crept over him. He found himself unable to look away. Like a recurring dream, he felt as if they were replaying her first night in the house. She drew a deep breath and exhaled, the action culminating in a soft sigh. Unwilling to let her see the effect she had on him, he turned toward his niece.

He bent over and kissed Alix good night, offering a silent prayer that for once she’d sleep without torment. He turned and walked toward the door where Chelsie waited, but she didn’t notice him. Her pupils had dilated and she seemed distracted by her own thoughts.

He’d caught a glimpse of that shaken expression before. Chelsie’s lost-little-girl look hit him hard. Not for the first time, he questioned what painful memories drew her out of the present and into the past. At times like this, she looked like anyone but the strong attorney who fought for the rights of others. Who fought for Chelsie?

She met his gaze suddenly and turned away. Though Chelsie ignored him, he couldn’t do the same. He’d noticed she still wore the wet silk tank that molded against her breasts. He nearly choked on a groan. Scanning the room, he reached for her jacket.

He touched her shoulder. Without a word, she turned to him. Tears not only shimmered in her dark eyes, but dripped down her face. He brushed her satiny skin with his thumb, catching the moisture before it fell.

If he leaned a fraction closer, she would be in his arms. He didn’t think she would resist. She might even welcome the distraction from whatever haunted her. Though sex might be the answer to Griff’s desires, it would do nothing to dispel Chelsie’s pain. Fulfilling his needs would have to wait.

She gave him a shaky smile and wiped the droplets with the back of her hand. “I never react rationally when I’m overtired,” she murmured.

Pretending to accept the explanation, he nodded and held out the suit jacket. She glanced down at her chest and then back at his face. He smiled, but his eyes didn’t follow her gaze. He’d already memorized the sight of her pink nipples beneath the sheer silk.

She rotated and allowed him to help her into the jacket. She’d met his grin with dignity. Though she flushed crimson, she remained silent. He placed a hand on the small of her back and led her out of the room, shutting the door lightly behind them.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He smiled. “No problem.”

They stood in silence.

“I’m sure you’ve got plenty of work waiting at the office,” he finally said.

“More than you can imagine.”

“I’ll let you get to it, then.”

She nodded, but didn’t make a move to leave.

“I’m sorry I was late. I certainly didn’t mean to hold you up.”

Chelsie shrugged and fiddled with the buttons on her lapel. “I’m here for Alix.”

Not you
. The unspoken words lingered in the air. He didn’t believe her, and the realization startled him. As an attorney, he recognized the many ways open to a client determined not only to withhold information, but to remain detached from the surrounding proceedings.

Chelsie exhibited classic symptoms. She couldn’t meet his gaze. She fiddled with unimportant tasks and any object in the vicinity of her hands. She reiterated her point
ad nauseam. It’s a temporary arrangement. I’m here for Alix. We’re here for our niece.
How many times would she repeat the refrain? As many as it took for her to believe the words herself.

Just a week ago, Griff would have used her own defenses against her, jumping on his belief in her eagerness to end the arrangement and abandon them both before Alix was ready.

Now he saw all too clearly that Chelsie fought her own inner battles that had nothing to do with him. Did that mean he had forgiven her past mistakes? Decided she had nothing in common with Deidre and his mother? On those points, he’d reserve judgment.

She closed the last button on her suit, hiding all evidence of the beautiful body beneath. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

He nodded.

She walked away, then stopped to glance back at him. “Tomorrow’s no good. It’s my sleep-over night at the shelter.”

He clamped down on his disappointment. “The next day, then.”

She nodded and rushed down the hall.

Griff leaned against the wall and groaned. Bad enough the sexual attraction grew with each passing day. But did Chelsie Russell have to tug at his already battered heart? He hadn’t a clue how to kill his growing feelings. Worse, he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

* * *

Griff eased himself into the worn booth at the diner. “Sorry I’m late. A client wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Ryan shrugged. “Refill. Coffee, black,” he reminded the passing waitress. “And a BLT.”

The woman looked at Griff. He glanced at his watch and shook his head, so she placed her pad in her apron and moved on.

Food would have to wait. “I’m already half an hour late to put Alix into bed and I still have a quick meeting with a client.” He and Ryan always met on Wednesday nights, but since Griff had started his own practice, Ryan had grown used to Griff’s no-shows. “You look exhausted. An all nighter?”

“I spent last night staked out in front of some dive in the ‘Combat Zone’,” Ryan said.

“Boston’s answer to sleaze. What were you doing in a red-light district?”

“Domestic dispute.”

“I thought you didn’t take those kind of cases anymore. Breaking up marriages made you sick, or some such nonsense.” Griff snorted. “If you ask me, anyone who hires you for a case like that is halfway to a divorce already.”

Ryan shook his head. “Still cynical as ever, I see.”

“Like I don’t have a reason,” Griff muttered.

Ryan cocked an eyebrow. “Back to the all-women-are-alike mentality?” he asked.

“Aren’t they?”

“I don’t know. Was your sister-in-law anything like Deidre?”

That gave him pause. In truth, he’d always liked his brother’s wife. Never once during the frequent family dinners and nights he’d shown up unannounced had he ever sensed a similarity between his aloof fiancée and the warm, loving woman his brother had married. Nor had he seen a comparison to his mother, who’d earned the name only by giving birth to two children.

“No,” he reluctantly admitted. “Shannon was unique.”

“She was special, but not unique. Exceptions to every rule,” his friend said with a smug grin.

Were there? Griff couldn’t help thinking of Chelsie. She was Shannon’s sister, and blood counted for something. If the past few weeks were any indication, Chelsie might well be more like her sister than like her wealthy, selfish parents.

Time would tell.

“Maybe you just haven’t found the exception of your own,” Ryan suggested.

Maybe he had and wasn’t ready to accept it. “Don’t you ever get tired of spouting advice?” Griff asked. “Maybe if you didn’t spend every night on surveillance, you’d have a life of your own and could quit worrying about mine.”

Ryan didn’t answer, a rarity in and of itself.

“So what were you doing last night, anyway?” Griff asked.

“Family favor.”

“Your sister?”

“Yeah. For once, I didn’t mind the boredom. I came up empty.” He formed a zero with this thumb and forefinger.

“Guess she appreciates you more now than when we used to tag along after her,” Griff said. “Even Jared grew up to appreciate his pain-in-the-butt older brother.”