Chapter Thirteen

Cody was startled by the sound of the door unlocking and leapt from the floor where he sat with Sammie building a skyscraper from building blocks. 

"Cody!" Sammie whined as the building crashed to the floor when his foot accidentally kicked it.

"Sorry, Sam," he apologized.  He hated guns, but drew his in case the person at the door was the stalker and stood to the side of the door waiting for it to open.

"Hold it," he said, putting the muzzle of the gun to the back of the man's head.  

"Cody," Donovan sighed.  "You might want to make sure who you're holding a gun to before you make a grave mistake."


"Oops."

"Still, it's nice to know you're protecting my daughter, although shooting her father might be a no-no," he said with a devilish grin.

"Hey, what can I say?  I didn't get much sleep last night."  He shrugged.  "Kept having these bizarre images of a beautiful maiden being ravaged by a savage beast."

Donovan shot him a decidedly hateful look while Minya laughed fully.  "Oh, Cody, you are a riot."

"Yeah," Donovan agreed sarcastically, moving into the apartment in search of his daughter.  "But quite a pervert if you listened in on the speakers."

"WHAT?!" Minya gasped in horror.

"I did not!" Cody assured.  "As soon as I heard your disgusting kissy noises I turned the stupid thing off.  Sheesh."

"Daddy!" Sammie exclaimed, running into his arms.

"Hey, precious," he said, kissing her cheek.  "What have you been up to?"

She frowned.  "Cody knocked down my building."

"Cody!" He said, in mock distress.  "You're grounded."

"Oh, Daddy," she said, giggling.  "You can't ground Cody.  He's a grownup."

He shrugged and cast Cody an amused glance.  "Then I'll fire him."

"Oh no, Daddy," Sammie replied, horrified.  "Cody's my friend."

"Okay," he said, smiling slightly.  "Then I guess we'll keep him."

"Yay!" she cried, hugging him.

"Yay!" Cody repeated with a grin.  "So how'd things go at the theatre?"

Donovan frowned.  "There are a lot of areas that could be a problem.  We'll need to stay sharp."

"Yeah, yeah, but how did the rehearsal go?" he asked again.  "Alex mentioned that Jake and Minya were laughing about the costumes and set and we are all curious to find out more."

"Too bad, Cod," Minya said with a grin.  "I was late and missed my rehearsal time.  We did a quick song with Creed, though.  Jake enjoyed that."

"Man, I miss all the fun."

"If you hurry--" Donovan said, tossing him the car keys "— you can call Jake on his cell and join them for dinner with the band."

"Cool!  You sure?" he asked with a frown.

Donovan nodded.  "Go before I change my mind."  He sat Sammie back down in front of her pile of blocks and found a seat on the nearby chair.

"Gone," he replied and was out the door before Donovan had a chance to sit down.

Minya laughed as she joined him in the chair, sitting across his lap, her legs hanging over the edge of the chair.  "Now, that was a clever way to get rid of him."

He grinned, leaning over her to kiss her lips.  "That's why I'm the boss."

"Mmm..." she murmured against his lips and pulled away.  "Uh-uh, Sammie," she said rolling off his lap and onto the floor and crawled over to sit with the little girl.

Donovan watched with amusement as they built a castle with the blocks, discussing the little princess that would live inside.  His heart ached for his little girl and the love of a mother she never really knew. 

************

Minya hung up the phone as Donovan entered the living room.  "Is she sleeping?"

He nodded.  "She really enjoyed spending the day with you.  Thanks for being so accommodating." 

"Please, I enjoyed every minute.  Even helping her with her bath.  Although I never expected to wind up in a water battle," she said with a grin.

"You started it," he reminded her.

"No way, you did," she argued.

He smiled.  "You argue knowing you're wrong.  Stubborn woman.  So, who was on the phone?"

"Sashka.  I was making sure the dresses and tuxedos would arrive early enough tomorrow to make sure they fit.  She also said your crew his having a blast with the guys from Creed...and Alex and Scott are getting pretty chummy."

"Yes?  So, Sashka doesn't live with you while you're in LA?" he inquired, changing the subject.

"No.  She has an apartment here...always has, LA is her home.  She stays with me whenever we're not in LA, though."   

"I meant to ask you about that yesterday."  He switched on the stereo and quirked a brow when the speakers softly played "Betcha by Golly, Wow" by the Stylistics.


"I'm a romantic at heart," she explained with a shrug.

"Dance with me," he murmured, pulling her into a gentle embrace and moving slowly to the music.

"This is all so unreal," she said softly, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Feels pretty real to me," he replied, pulling her closer.  "What's the deal with you and that hulk, Cobb?"  He felt Minya's chuckle more than he heard it when she buried her face in his shoulder.  "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she said, looking up at him.  "It's just, when you met him, I thought you were going to challenge him to a duel or something.  Man, you looked pissed."

"I'm sure I didn't."

"Oh, yeah.  If you could shoot daggers from those dark eyes, he'd be dead right now."  She smoothed the frown from his brown with lithe fingers.  "Keith and I date from time to time, but it has never been serious.  I've never been serious with anyone; this business doesn't make relationships easy."  She relaxed back against him.  "Ooh, Barry White," she commented as the music changed.

"Mine doesn't either," he replied.

"Your what doesn't either?" she asked with amusement.  

"My job doesn't allow much room for relationships," he explained.

She nodded against his body.  So, the ground rules have been laid, she thought.  No strings; just enjoy each other while there was time.  They danced in silence for a few minutes and the song changed.

"Maybe we should take his advice," Donovan whispered huskily.

"Who's?"

"Marvin Gaye's," he said with a chuckle. 

"Oh...oh!" she said, realizing the song that played was "Let's get it on." 

He lifted her into his arms and smiled sexily as she laughed softly, nuzzling his neck and nibbling the delicate flesh of his earlobe as he carried her to the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind them.

To be continued...