"Brenda called," she sang. "She called and she's on her way to take me to school. And-" she paused dramatically before making the most monumental of announcements "-she's bringing one of her dogs with her. The little one. Her name is Muffin and I get to hold her in the car!"

As Maggie spoke, she raced toward Ashley and threw herself at her. Automatically Ashley reached for her daughter, pulling her into her arms. But two days in bed and general weakness from the flu had sucked up all her strength. She staggered slightly and felt herself start to slip.

From the corner of her eye Ashley caught a blur of movement. Suddenly a strong arm encircled her waist, holding her upright. She found herself leaning against Jeff. She had a brief impression of heat and formidable muscles even as he led her to a chair by the table and eased her onto the seat. And then he was back in his chair with a speed that left her wondering if she'd imagined the whole thing.

Except that the left side of her burned from where she'd pressed against him, and she could almost feel his arm around her waist. She shivered slightly. Not from cold, but from… Ashley frowned. She wasn't sure what. Awareness? Because she was suddenly very aware of the man sitting across from her. He didn't seem as much the cold, mysterious stranger this morning.

Maggie shifted on her lap. "Do you think Muffin will like me?"

"How could she not?" Ashley asked. "You're an adorable little girl."

Her daughter beamed with delight. Before she could speak again, there was a loud rap at the front door, followed by the sound of steps on the entryway. "It's me," a woman called. "Brace yourself, Jeff. I have a dog with me."

Her announcement was unnecessary. A bundle of fur careened around the corner and skittered into the kitchen. The creature was small-maybe seven or eight pounds of multicolored hair and big, brown eyes. At the sight of the animal, Maggie scrambled off Ashley's lap and dropped to her knees. The little dog beelined for the child and sniffed her outstretched fingers, then licked the tips and jumped against Maggie, yipping and licking and wiggling with delight.

"Muffin loves kids," Brenda said as she walked into the kitchen. "But then you probably guessed that." She looked at Ashley. "You seem better."

"I feel better, thanks." Ashley smiled, feeling slightly awkward. While she'd never met Brenda before yesterday, the woman was an employee of Ritter/Rankin Security. What must she think of Jeff bringing a fellow worker into his house and caring for her and her child while she was ill? She felt as if she had to explain the situation, but she didn't know what to say about it.

Brenda handed Jeff a folder. "I'd better get this little one to her preschool," she said. "See you at the office."

He took the folder. "Thanks, Brenda. I appreciate this."

She grinned. "Remember this the next time I request an assignment."

"Yeah, right."

Brenda rolled her eyes, then collected her dog.

Maggie scrambled to her feet. "Bye, Mommy. See you when I'm done with school."

They hugged briefly, then Ashley waved as her daughter headed for the front door. "Have a good day," she called after her.

As the front door closed, bread popped out of the toaster. Ashley started to get up but Jeff motioned her back into her seat.

"You're still recovering," he told her. "Until yesterday morning I didn't even know I had a toaster. But that doesn't mean I don't know how to use it."

He rose and put the two pieces of toast onto a plate. Butter and jam already sat on the table. He set the plate in front of her, then poured her a mug of coffee. "Milk, sugar?"

"Black is fine," she said, slightly confused by his solicitousness.

He set the mug by her left hand, then resumed his seat. "Eat," he said, pointing at the food.

Cautiously she reached for the butter and picked up a piece of toast. This was all too strange. What was she doing in this man's house? Although based on the fact that she'd already spent two nights here, it seemed a little late to be asking questions.

"I spoke with Maggie's teacher yesterday afternoon," Jeff said when she began to eat. "I was told she didn't seem to be suffering any ill effects from being in a strange place."

"Cathy spoke with you?" The preschool had a strict policy of dealing only with parents or legal guardians.

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "Why wouldn't she?"

A simple enough question. Jeff was the kind of man who got what he wanted. That much was obvious from the way he'd brought her and Maggie here, despite her protestations and concerns.

"I'm glad Maggie is doing well," she said in an effort to avoid his question.

"She is. Last night we had spaghetti and salad for dinner. She had a Pop-Tart for dessert."

It might have been her imagination, but Jeff seemed to shudder. She felt herself smile slightly.

"I did not," he continued.

"No real surprise there," she murmured.

A slight upward tilt of the corner of his mouth was his only response. "Then we watched The Little Mermaid on DVD. We'd stopped at Blockbuster on our way home from the sitter's. Maggie was in bed by eight and asleep by 8:10."

Before she could comment, he passed her the folder Brenda had brought him. "Here are your notes from your classes yesterday. If you're not well enough to attend classes tomorrow, I'll have Brenda arrange for someone to sit in for you. Also-" he took a sip of coffee "-I sent someone over to your apartment building to collect more of your belongings. You'll find them stacked in the living room."

She flipped through the notes-typed and in perfect order-then looked at him. She didn't know what to say. The man had completely organized her life, and made it look simple in the process. She thought of how her daughter had been dressed and fed in plenty of time that morning. He'd prepared dinner the previous night and provided entertainment. By comparison, all the men she'd ever known were incredibly incompetent.

"Maggie's father couldn't even find the clean diapers to change her," she said, "and he sure wouldn't be able to get her ready for school. How do you know how to do all this?"

"I had help from Brenda. She's raised four kids of her own and has a couple of grandchildren. Besides, compared to an antiterrorist campaign, running your life is easy."

"It's anything but that for me," she murmured, thinking it was not possible for their worlds to be more different. "Anything else?"

"Yes. Maggie's class is taking a field trip to the zoo next Friday. The permission slip had to be back yesterday for Maggie to go, so I signed it. Is that all right?"

Ashley sighed. "Of course. I'd meant to take care of that last week. I guess with her being sick and everything else that happened, I just forgot. She would have been heartbroken to miss the trip."

She studied her host. He wasn't just physically strong and a little scary, he was also incredibly competent. She needed that in her life right now, and the urge to let him take over and handle everything nearly overwhelmed her. No one had been around to look out for her since she was twelve.

A nice fantasy, she told herself, but one that had no basis in reality. The truth was she was an employee of Jeff Ritter. For reasons that still weren't clear to her, he'd taken her and her daughter and was making them feel very welcome in his beautiful home. But gracious or not, he was a stranger with a past that made her more than a little nervous.

"You've been really terrific," she said, then took a drink of coffee. "I'm feeling a lot better today. I'm sure that I'll be a hundred percent tomorrow and then we'll be out of your hair." She cleared her throat. "Would it be too much trouble to have someone bring my car here?"

Jeff studied her for a long time. As usual, not a flicker of thought or emotion showed in his steel-gray eyes. He could have been planning sixty-seven ways to kill her with household appliances or deciding on a second cup of coffee. She really hoped it was the latter.

She returned the scrutiny, noting the short, blond hair brushed back from his face and the high cheekbones. He was tall, muscled and extremely good-looking. So why did he live alone in this gorgeous house? Was there a former Mrs. Ritter somewhere? Or was Jeff not the marrying kind? She bit her lower lip. As closemouthed and mysterious as he seemed, she could understand his avoiding a long-term commitment. Was there a series of significant girlfriends? And more importantly, why did she care?

Before she could come up with an answer to the question, he spoke.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, but getting over the flu is no reason to rush off."

His voice was low and well modulated. Controlled, she thought. Everything about him was controlled.

"I think it would be better if we left," she told him.

"Why? Do you really want Maggie living in a shelter until your apartment is fixed?"

Of course she didn't. It wasn't anyone's dream of a housing situation, but she didn't have a choice. "Maggie is resilient. She'll be fine."

"Agreed, but I don't see the need to expose her to that. Why not stay here until your housing problem is resolved? There's plenty of room. You won't be in the way."

"But you don't know us. We're not family. I don't understand why you're-"

His pager went off before she could finish her sentence. Jeff glanced at the screen of the tiny machine, then rose to his feet. "I have to leave," he told her. "Try to get plenty of rest so you can build up your strength."

Before she could say anything else, he'd grabbed his suit jacket from its place on the spare chair and left the room. Seconds later she heard a door close as he walked into the garage.