Grand Passion

product of my imagination.”
    Max watched the road. “So do I.”
    Cleo turned to him with an expression of intrigued speculation. “Hey, you don't suppose Adrian is the stalker, after all, do you? Maybe his jealousy has gotten the better of him. Maybe he's trying to punish me because I got published and he didn't.”
    Max shook his head with grim certainly. “No. It's obvious Adrian only recently found out that you'd published The Mirror . The incidents started over a month ago. He'd never have been able to keep his jealousy under wraps this long.”
    Cleo lounged back in the seat. “I'm not so sure about that. Maybe he knew all along and just pretended that he didn't.”
    Max took one hand off the wheel and reached out briefly to touch her leg. “We'll find out who's trying to scare you, Cleo.”
    “I hope so.”
    Max put his hand back on the wheel and drove in silence for a while. There was less than a mile to go until they reached the inn. He and Cleo would be home soon.
    Home .
    In spite of his concern about the incidents that had been plaguing Cleo, Max was aware of the pleasant sense of anticipation that was simmering deep inside him.
    For the first time in his life he felt like he belonged somewhere. Best of all, he had a woman who wanted him, a woman who had waited her whole life for him.
    “What are you thinking about, Max?” Cleo asked softly.
    “I was wondering if Ben took care of that dripping shower head in two-sixteen.”
    Cleo smiled.
    The early darkness of a winter night was descending on the coast. Heavy clouds overhead promised more rain before dawn. Max drove around the last bend in the road and saw the lights of Robbins' Nest Inn blazing in the distance.
    “Cleo?”
    “Hmmm?” Cleo was studying the mostly empty parking lot with an innkeeper's professional frown of concern.
    “I want us to have a baby.”
    She jerked her gaze away from the lot. “A what?”
    “A baby.” A baby would make everything more secure, Max thought. It would be another bond linking him to Cleo and her friends.
    “Why?”
    Max hesitated. “Why does anyone want a baby?”
    “There are a lot of reasons why someone might want a baby. Not all of them are good reasons. Why do you want one?”
    “Is this a test?” Max asked.
    “Probably.”
    He felt the tension in his jaw as he searched for a way to put his certainty into words. “It's time.” He concentrated. “I'm going to be thirty-five next month. I've got a secure income from the investments I've made over the past few years. I've got a stable life-style now that I'm working for you. And I've got you.”
    “I'm not sure those reasons are good enough,” Cleo said quietly.
    Fear surged through him. His fingers clenched around the steering wheel. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
    Cleo bristled. “Having a baby is a major decision. There are a lot of things to consider. We're talking about a serious commitment.”
    “You and I have already made a serious commitment.”
    “I know, but still…”
    “What's the risk?” Max asked swiftly, sensing a weak point. “Are you afraid I'm going to walk out on you in a year or so, the way Sylvia's husband did to her and Sammy?”
    Cleo turned her head to gaze at him with perceptive eyes. “No.” Her voice was very soft and very certain. “No, I don't think you would walk out on your family.”
    “You think I'd make a lousy father, is that it? Look, I know a man with my kind of background probably doesn't seem like a good bet as a father. But I think I could handle the basics. You once told me you didn't have to jump out of a plane in order to figure out what it would do to your insides.”
    “What do you think are the basics of fatherhood?” Cleo asked with genuine curiosity.
    Max flashed her a quick glance. “Being there. Sticking around to do the job.”
    “Where did you learn that?” Cleo asked.
    “From my own father,” Max said roughly.
    “He spent a lot of time with you?”
    “No,” Max said. “I never met him. He left before I was born.”
    “Oh.” There was a wealth of understanding in her voice.
    “My strategy for being a father is to do just the opposite of everything that was done to me when I was growing up.”
    Cleo touched his thigh. “Max, I think you'd make a terrific father.”
    Relief washed over him. He had pushed hard and won again. “You do?”
    “Yes.” She gazed through the windshield at the warm lights of the inn. “I do.”
    “Then it's