He sighed as he watched Cheri tuck Hallie into bed and kiss her goodnight. It wasn't her job to be taking care of Hallie, it was Kat's job and she was out at dinner with some guy from her past. Everytime that guy had been around, he had seen the way the two looked at each other. There was something between them and it was rather noticeable everytime they met. When he became too restless to watch over the little one, he quickly departed from the room and demanded that Star run him into town to find her.

@#$%

The sound of quiet conversations hummed in the background and he took a drink of water. He watched her take a bite of food and his hand finally found hers. Her eyes met his and he expected her to withdraw from him, but she just let him touch her. Their fingers slowly laced together and he let his thumb begin a gentle caress on her wrist. When the steward approached their table, he looked up and saw the phone with him.

He rolled his eyes and asked "Who needs whom?"

The man cleared his throat and said "Miss, it is your mother."

Her touch became cold and she asked "My mother?"

The steward nodded and rested the phone on their table before departing. He removed his hand and let her take the call while he finished his meal. When she hung up, he looked at her and saw frustration settling in. Now was as good of time as any and he took her hand back in his. Once he had her attention completely, he took a deep breath and called the waitress over.

When she arrived at the table, he said "We're ready for the dessert."

The woman nodded and disappeared into the kitchen while she asked "Dessert?"

He shrugged and said "I know you'll like it."

She rolled her eyes and said You're overdoing a dinner between two friends."�

The sound of those words felt somewhat good and he said "I want it to be a dinner you won't forget."

Their fingers were laced together once more and she asked "Mind if I ask you something?"

He shook his head and said "Go ahead. This is your night after all."

She took a deep breath and asked "Are you doing this because of your break-up with Ash or is there another reason behind this?"

He knew that would eventually pop up and he said "I'm not doing this because of Ash. She's not really that much a problem to deal with anymore. I'm doing this to give us a chance to catch up on things and talk without having other people interrupt us."

PGS