Serenity settled over Shannon as she wandered around the room. Her fingers feathered over the patina finish of an armoire and traced the carved design on its top. A picture on the matching bureau caught her eye. The framed photo of a little girl with laughing brown eyes and a dimple flashing in her left cheek could only be Mandy.

As she held the picture, the loss Geoff must have felt seeped through Shannon. Her miscarriage devastated her. How much worse it must be to lose a child you held in your arms and grew to know. Shannon forced her mind from melancholy thoughts and returned the picture to the bureau. She came into Geoff's room to capture the joy of being near him, not to mourn the past.

With eager fingers, Shannon lifted one of Geoff's shirts from the back of a chair and held it to her face. The masculine scent of his body filled her nostrils. Shannon sank onto the bed, clutching the shirt against her.

Oh, Geoff, I wish you were here. I wish you were making love with me right now. Shannon slipped open the buttons on her skirt, imagining how Geoff's eyes would smolder with desire. She tossed her skirt aside and shimmied out of her tank top. Geoff would caress her with his eyes and his hands, and lay her on the bed, trailing kisses over her face and down her body, nibbling and caressing until she ached for sweet release.

Shannon shook off her heated imaginings. Her fantasies about Geoff were becoming more and more frequent. After this week, would she be free to love Geoff as she longed to? She wrapped Geoff's shirt around her and curled up on the bed. Surrounded by sensations of Geoff, Shannon yawned. Soon she was fast asleep.

Geoff found Shannon in his bed when he arrived home. Love tightened his chest as he gazed at her. Even in repose her body called to his. Geoff smoothed an errant curl back from her cheek. Shannon snuggled against his hand, sighing with contentment. Geoff eased away from her and sank into the chair by the bed.

For a long while Geoff simply watched Shannon sleep. He wished he had been home when she arrived; wished they could have spent the day together. After the concert, Geoff zipped his keyboard into the case and wheeled it to the airport. A friend flew him home as exhaustion finally caught up with Geoff and he dozed off.

The previous week at M's had been intense as Geoff sought healing among the children. He had immersed himself in the children's programs, forcing himself to take a young man's hand as he balanced atop a horse for the first time. To sit next to a little girl and swirl red paint and blue paint together as chubby fingers created a childish masterpiece.

Sometimes being with the children produced an ache in his heart, but most of the time a new hope glowed inside. Mandy would want him to laugh again and love other children. However, doubts still remained. Could he love Amelia as she deserved to be loved? As a parent should love a child?

Now, as Geoff stared at Shannon lying in his bed, delight drove away his exhaustion. The cloud of her hair lay in brazen invitation across the green linens. Physically, Geoff wanted her with a hard desperation. Emotionally, she tied him in knots.

Geoff had agreed to go back on the road for a number of reasons. He owed Zach another chance at the big time. The money and publicity would benefit M's Playground. His music once again demanded a release. Yet music was only part of his life now. Zach didn't want to see that. He insisted Geoff's playboy image was key to the band's appeal. Geoff adamantly refused to play that role. He was not that person any more.

Who had Shannon become? Were his friends' warnings that Shannon wanted only his money still valid? What did love mean to her? His mind refused to function when she was near. So Geoff hesitated. His body didn't hesitate. Every nerve hummed with energy.

This all-consuming emotion was scary stuff for a kid who had never known love. For a father who had poured his heart and soul into making life memorable for a daughter snatched away before she blossomed. Could Geoff live if Shannon walked away? The pain of that thought seemed worse than the risk.

Geoff lifted a fistful of Shannon's hair to his face and inhaled its fragrance. This was what he wanted. To come home to Shannon in his bed. To love her. To build a life together. She was his music; his lifeblood. She made him complete. Geoff stripped off his clothes and eased his body down beside Shannon.