Jack smiled. “Did he now? I’m glad.”

“I hope someday maybe the two of you…”

“We’re working on it.” He stroked the center of her palm with his thumb. “I’ve been thinking about your aversion to one-night stands. Bottom line, we’re going to have to date like normal adults.”

“You want to date?”

“I told you last night that I’ve gotten used to real relationships. I need a permanent home base now that I have Riley, and it might as well be L.A.” He played with her fingers, filling her with a sweet, aching tension. “By the way, I’m counting this as our first date. That gives me a better chance to score the next time we go out.”

“Subtle.” She shouldn’t have smiled.

“I couldn’t be subtle with you if I tried.” The amusement faded from his eyes. “I want you, April. Every inch of you. I want to see you and touch you. I want to taste you. I want to be inside you. I want it all.”

She finally pulled her hand away. “And then what?”

“We do it all over again.”

“That’s why God made groupies, Jack. Personally, I like a little more structure.”

“April…”

She rose to her feet and headed off to find Riley.

Dean finally managed to cut Blue from the crowd and pull her around the corner into an old cemetery next to the Baptist Church. He drew her toward the shade of the cemetery’s most impressive monument, a sleek black granite plinth belonging to Marshall Garrison. He could see she was nervous but trying to hide it. “How did everybody find out April’s your mother?” she said. “The whole town’s buzzing.”

“We’re not talking about April. We’re talking about what happened yesterday.”

She looked away. “Yeah, what a relief, right? Can you imagine me with a baby?”

Oddly enough, he could. Blue would be a great mother, as fierce a protector as she would be a champion playmate. He pushed the image aside. “I’m talking about your asinine plan to leave town on Monday.”

“Why is it asinine? Nobody thinks it’s asinine for you to leave for training camp next Friday. Why is it okay for you to go but not for me?”

She looked too much like a grown-up. He wanted Miss Muffet back. “Because we’re not done, that’s why,” he said, “and there’s no reason to rush the end of something we’re both enjoying.”

“We’re totally done. I’m a travelin’ girl, and it’s time for me to move on.”

“Fine. You can keep me company when I drive back to Chicago. You’ll like it there.”

She ran her hand over the corner of Marshall’s monument. “Too cold in the fall.”

“No problem. Both my places have fireplaces and furnaces that work just fine. You can move in.”