Diamonds Are Forever - Brooke St. James Page 0,30

She needed his help in life. He wanted to help her. He needed her help in life, too. Uhhhhhh. Her bathroom was small, and if it wasn't so close to everything, he would have been talking to himself, trying to make himself get a grip.

He stared into the mirror, looking into his own eyes and wondering what in the world had come over him. He had dated enough women over the years to know how to pace himself and take things slowly.

But Lucy wasn't even in the same category as other girls. He didn't just want to speed things up with her, he wanted to go full-throttle. He wanted to jump in straight-away, today, and become a part of her life.

He had been interacting with Mac all afternoon, and he knew in his heart that he would be a good father to that boy. He wanted to go back out there and beg Lucy to marry him. He was in love with the way she saw things in life—the way she carried herself—the way she affected those around her. She was innocent and naïve yet wise and totally in control.

He thought about the worlds of woodland creatures she dreamed up in those children's books, and he honestly felt like if he didn’t marry this girl and become a part of everything she had going on, he would never forgive himself for it.

Drew took a deep calming breath, staring at his reflection, and begging himself inwardly to take it easy. He owed it to both of them to take things slowly.

Drew noticed that Lucy was on the telephone when he came back into the living room. She spoke in such a way that he assumed she was talking to her mom. She stared at him when she hung up the phone.

"Don't feel like you have to say 'yes'," was the first thing she said.

"To what?" Drew asked.

"Mom and Jenny have so much extra cookie dough up there that they were wondering if maybe you could take a batch of it over to Aunt Tess and Uncle Billy so they can bake some of it at their house.

"I don't mind at all," Drew said. "Do I need to stay while they cook it, or just drop it off?"

"No, no, nothing like that. Just drop it off."

He looked at Mac. He was a precious, dark-haired boy, and he currently had red cheeks from running around so much. He was settled down now, playing with some trucks.

"Do you want to ride over there with me?" Drew asked.

Mac looked at his mother who shrugged like she was okay with it.

"Yeah, I do. Is it gonna be in your big truck?" Mac asked.

"Yes, it is," Drew said. "Would you like to ride with me?"

Mac nodded, not looking reluctant at all.

"You have to get strapped in," Lucy said.

Drew looked at her. "Does he know how to stay with me when we get out and stuff? Is he going to listen to me? He's not going to run out into the street or anything, is he?"

Lucy looked straight at Mac with a serious, motherly stare when Drew asked that. "Are you going to listen to Mister Drew?"

"Yes ma'am."

And within minutes, Drew was driving down the street with a curious toddler and three pounds of cookie dough. He and Mac talked about fishing on the way to Tess and Billy's house, and the conversation continued when they went inside.

Tess was a painter, and she was working, so Billy was given the job of baking cookies. Drew and Mac stood in the kitchen with him while he scooped the first batch onto a cookie sheet and put it into the oven.

They mentioned fishing at first and then went on to talk about other things. Drew had seen Billy fight lots of times on television and even once in person. It had been a few years since Billy had retired, but Drew was old enough to remember his heyday. He had talked to her whole family earlier, but it was honestly a little surreal to be standing in Billy Castro's kitchen watching him bake cookies.

After a few minutes of conversation, Drew said that he and Mac needed to be going. He was relieved when Mac nodded like he was going to listen to Drew when he said it was time to go.

They had talked so long that Billy was taking the cookies out of the oven just as they were leaving. He asked if Drew could drop a few of the