To Love and Protect. Сьюзен Мэллери

      “I know. She’s amazing. Maggie told me when I was here before that Sophia is one of their best volunteers. She showed up three months ago and started helping.”

      Liz tucked Natasha closer and tickled her tummy. “How’s my best girl? Can you laugh for me?”

      Natasha gave a little squeal and kicked her feet.

      David glanced at his watch. “I need to head back to my office.”

      Liz returned her attention to him. “Thank you so much for stopping by. I know it was weird and a lot to ask, but I’m really grateful.”

      “Not a problem. I’m glad I had the chance to meet her.” He touched the baby’s bare foot. “When do you get official custody?”

      “I’ll be allowed to take her back and forth to the hotel with me starting tomorrow. All the legal stuff happens after that.”

      “So you’ll be missing her tonight.”

      “Probably.”

      “How about a distraction? We could have dinner.”

      Liz sighed. “I would love to but I can’t promise that I’ll be perfect company. I may be a little on edge about the adoption. Is that okay?”

      Since thoughts of her had kept him up most of the previous night, he didn’t see the problem.

      “Sure. Maybe I can take your mind off things.”

      He’d meant the statement casually, thinking more of conversation than bed, but at his words her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed.

      Instantly heat cranked up in his body. Blood flowed fast and south.

      She cleared her throat. “That would, um, be terrific.”

      “I was going to offer to cook, but maybe we should go out.” Safer for both of them to be in public, he thought.

      “You cook?” She sounded surprised.

      “Very well. In fact, I do a lot of things well.”

      Their gazes locked. Need grew until it filled the massive room and threatened to push them out of control. David wanted her with a desperation that stunned him. Had there been even a hint of privacy and time, he would have gone to her right then.

      But there wasn’t either and Liz held a baby in her arms. Definitely a clue to back off.

      “We should go out,” he said at the same moment she told him, “I’ll come to your place.”

      The words hung in the air.

      What he wanted to do and what he should do battled within him.

      He took a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and scribbled down a phone number.

      “Call me at the office,” he said as he tucked the paper into her purse. “If you want to go out, I know some great places. If you want to stay in, I’ll cook.”

      Then giving in, because he didn’t have a choice, he leaned close and pressed his mouth to hers.

      Their lips clung in a kiss that was both sweet and passionate. He could taste her and the promise of what could be between them. He wanted to pull her close and touch her everywhere. He wanted to push his tongue into her mouth to discover what made her moan and squirm and surrender. He wanted a lot of things.

      Instead he straightened.

      “Call me,” he said as he brushed his fingers across the baby’s cheek and smiled at the two of them.

      “I will,” Liz promised.

      He walked out, pleased to notice that she’d been more than a little breathless when she spoke.

      David arrived back at his office in time for the weekly briefing where ongoing cases were brought up to date and potential problems were discussed.

      He collected the files he would need and headed for the conference room. As he walked, he pushed thoughts of Liz out of his head. No way did he want to be distracted by her, even though she was the best kind of distraction he knew.

      Forty-five minutes later, most of his staff had filled him in on what was happening in Russia and the other former Soviet countries. Ainsley Johnson spoke last.

      “Another child has been taken from an orphanage,” she said, sounded determined but weary. “This makes fifteen in the past twelve months.”

      David flipped to his file on the black market baby ring. While he didn’t have jurisdiction to investigate on Russian soil, the theory was that many of the babies were making their way to the States.

      “They’re all the same,” she continued. “The babies are all healthy, too young for official adoption, and just vanish from their cribs. They’re between two and eight weeks old, both boys and girls.” She shook her head. “That’s the end of the pattern. Different orphanages have been hit at different times. No one on the staff suddenly goes missing, no one has extra money. Outsiders are carefully screened. So who’s doing it?”

      David noticed she didn’t ask why. There was no need; the motive was clear. Money.

      He thought about Natasha and how the baby had looked in Liz’s arms. He wouldn’t want anything to happen to either one of them.

      “None of the babies taken were up for adoption?” he asked.

      Ainsley shook her head. “Technically they would be as they got older, but none had gotten very far in the process. No potential parents had arrived to visit, if that’s what you mean.”

      He gave her the name of a couple of contacts. “They might know something.”

      “Thanks, boss.”

      They concluded the meeting and David headed back to his office. As he went, he wondered about the babies who had been kidnapped. Were desperate couples paying for children they couldn’t get any other way?

      From that thought it was a short trip to Liz-land where he quickly got lost in the memory of their brief kiss. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had it so bad. There was definite chemistry between them.

      Torn between what he wanted and what he knew was the right thing to do, he briefly considered withdrawing his offer to cook. He had a feeling if she showed up at his place that night, they weren’t going to get to dinner.

      “This is so stupid,” Liz said as she brushed the tears from her cheeks.

      “You will be back tomorrow, yes?” Sophia said as they walked toward the stairs.

      “I know. It’s just that I’m here and I want to take her with me. I hate the thought of her spending another night here. She’s all alone.”

      The teenager stared at her. “You love the baby?”

      Liz sniffed, then nodded. “More than I can say.” Pain inside of her grew. “I keep telling myself it’s just for a few more hours. Then I can take her with me and we never have to be apart.”

      At the front of the orphanage, Liz paused and looked up at the gray building.

      “She’s okay here, isn’t she?” she asked desperately. “She won’t think I’ve abandoned her?”

      Sophia’s big eyes remained solemn. “She will be here in the morning. Soon you take her to America and give her a good life. So many people come and take babies for a better life. Is right, yes?”

      “I hope so.”

      Sophia offered a slight smile, then waited with Liz for the cab she’d called. Liz had thought about going back to the hotel to freshen up, but suddenly she couldn’t wait to get to David’s place.

      She handed Sophia a piece of paper with David’s address, which she got when she’d phoned him a while ago. The teenager gave it and other instructions to the cabdriver.