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"No You’ve been out raising hell"

She laughed "A little Work has been keepingabout a twist of corporate law that had nearly doubled her billable hours

Matt watched ht on her perfect skin, the way she , telling her story with just the right combination of confidence and humor They would have been the perfect couple Neither overly interested in roood sex and the occasional dinner

Then he thought about his son, how Gabe looked when he sames and toys scattered around the house How the kid was always sticky and happy and pure joy

"Do you ever think about having kids?" he asked

Jade’s eyes widened "Dear God, no Children? Why?"

"I like kids"

"Since when?"

A wo she looked a lot like Jesse, he turned, but it wasn’t her Why would she be here in theher brownies He could see her there, flour on her nose, her blue eyes dancing with amusement

"Matt?" Jade asked, her voice sharp

What the hell was he doing? Not just here, having lunch, but with the lawsuit? He didn’t want to take Gabe away from his mother and he sure as hell didn’t want Jesse destroyed

"I’lared at hiet another chance with me"

Matt didn’t even respond as pulled out his cell phone and dialed Heath’s office His lawyer’s assistant said he was in court and couldn’t be reached

Matt swore and hung up, then made his way to his car and drove the few blocks to Heath’s office He had to stop Jesse fro served He had to destroy the papers, ht

What had he been thinking? That by punishing her now, he could change the past? He couldn’t It was done Yeah, what she’d done had been shitty and he had every right to be pissed at her, but he had to deal with that head-on Not take away her kid He didn’t want to lose her or Gabe He wanted theht He’d never stopped loving her

The realization crashed into him He loved Jesse He’d always loved her Maybe from that first moment, when she’d called his naed his life forever

He drove faster than he should, raced through a yellow light and parked illegally outside of his lawyer’s office The elevator seemed to take forever What if they’d already been sent out? What if he couldn’t take it back? Finally he hurried into the office and found Heath’s assistant

"I need to find out the status of so hient They should not be served"

She took a couple of steps back and nodded, looking wary "U to Jesse Keyes and they’re about our son I don’t want her served Do you get that? I want every copy of those papers given to me personally"

She went on her computer and typed for a couple of seconds "They’re still here"

Relief washed through hiive the to Heath and that won’t be for a couple of hours Can I have theered to your office?"

He didn’t want to wait He wanted to hold them in his hands and know that he was safe That he had a chance tohis only alternative was to take them by force "I want thehtly, as if eager for him to leave

Matt nodded and headed out He reached for his cell phone again, then decided to go straight to the Eastside He could pick up Gabe from his mom’s and take hi to say to Jesse, but he would figure it out She loved hioing to be fine

JESSE KNEW SHE WAS going to throw up Not that itwas the least of it The horror and fear were so big, she couldn’t feel ood thing

She’d come home for lunch on a whi a suit He’d asked if she was Jesse Keyes and then had handed her an envelope Inside ords that

Now she stood in the center of Paula’s kitchen, re-reading, hoping she’d misunderstood She had to He couldn’t have done this to her

"Jesse?"

She looked up and saw Paula looking very worried Without saying anything, Jesse handed over the paper work Paula skiasped and swayed, then passed it to Bill