Disclaimer: I don't own them except for the kids!

Wanted: Someone Who Cares, Part 2

Thad knocked on the front door if the Winner home the next morning. He laced his fingers behind his head as he waited for it to open. He smiled when it did. "Hello, Penny. I didn't expect you to open the door. But I must say, you look more inviting then Reshid."

A flush tinted her cheeks as she let him in the house. "I was waiting for you. I saw your car pull up," she replied as she shut the door behind him. "I have to tell Quatre that I'll be out today."

"I'll come with you since there's always good food at the Winner's breakfast table. I'll just snag a muffin," he said as he followed her down the hall towards the back of the house. He watched as her loose braid swung back and forth across the brown suede shirt she wore. He thought back to his brother's words from the night before. He had noticed her prettiness, but didn't want to admit it to himself. He sighed as he followed her into the sunny breakfast room.

His teasing remark caused the pink stain on her cheeks to remain. She avoided Vaughn's watchful eyes as she went over to Quatre. "I'm going with Thad to the studio. I might be late…again."

"That's all right, dear," Quatre said, smiling as he patted his young second cousin's hand. He glanced over at Thad, who was picking up one of the muffins from the sideboard. "Thad, I'm trusting you to take good care of her while she's with you."

"I will," Thad replied as he picked up a second apple cinnamon muffin from the china platter. He smiled at the older man as she walked over to him. "You ready?"

"Yes, let's go. I can't wait to get started," she answered, smiling up at him.

"Damn, that smile of hers," he thought as he nodded his head at her. "Well, lets go. Quatre, Vaughn, Cathy," he said giving them a brief smile before they left the room.

Quatre arched one brow at the oldest Merquise son as he left the room. He had dismissed the feeling last night, but now…he was definitely going to pay attention. He glanced over at his son, who was also watching Penny and Thad with interest. "So, he's noticed too. I hope he doesn't get himself into trouble…again."

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Penny looked up again from the music sheet she was toying with. He was sitting across from her on the other couch. Her gaze flickered down to his hands as he tightened the strings on her guitar. They had caught her attention last night too. Just watching them run along the strings made her insides feel weightless. "Stop that," she berated herself, her eyes going back to the paper on her lap. She sighed softly as she pushed off her sandals and curled her legs under her and rested the notebook back on her lap.

Glimpsing up at her, he noted the expression on her face as she tapped the pencil against her lips and sighing again. "Going all right over there?" he asked, smiling at her.

"It's going all right. Writing has always frustrated me a little bit, but I'll be ok," she said, as she gave him a fleeting smile of her own before returning to her work.

Grinning, Thad shook his head and looked back down at what he was doing. "She looked cute with that harried look on her face. Her frustration makes her eyes sparkle and her cheeks turn red like they did this morning," he thought, remembering his comment that had made color darken her ivory cheeks. And she had tried to make sure he didn't see it by turning away, but he had, and it brought some satisfaction that he could make her blush so becomingly like that. Keeping his head lowered, he raised his eyes enough to watch her. She was chewing on the end of her pencil and strumming the notebook on her lap. "Need a break?" he asked.

Her head popped up at the sound of his voice. There was an amused look on his face. "I guess. I am a little hungry to tell you the truth."

"No problem. It's two o'clock and I'm pretty hungry as well."

Putting down the notebook on the table between them, she stood up and stretched her arms over her head and rose up on her toes. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "So where to?"

He almost missed her question since his eyes had unerringly traveled over her body as she arched her back. Her raised arms had caused her shirt to show a ribbon of flesh between it and those low-rise jeans she was wearing. Shaking his head from the momentary distraction, he stood up as well. He hoped she didn't notice his lapse in response. "I usually go home for lunch. Would you like to go there?"

"Sure. I wouldn't mind," she replied as she slid her feet back into her sandals and followed him out of the room. She felt his hand settle on her back as they walked out. The warmth of it made her insides jump and she found that she liked his touch. Too much. "Stop it! Remember Anthony, the guy that loves you back home! The ring on your finger makes you almost as good as his fiancée!" her thoughts snapped at her as she slid into the seat of his car.

Fifteen minutes later…

Thad opened the front door for her, his hand unconsciously coming to rest on her back for the second time. The heat of her skin through the shirt made his pulse go up a notch. "Will you calm yourself down? Penny is not available! So don't go getting yourself worked up over her! You can have her as a friend and nothing more! Plus, she's too young for you anyway," his mind nagged him. He pushed open the kitchen door and found his mother, already making Dylan's lunch. "Hi, mom, sorry we're a little late."

"That's all right, dear," Noin replied as she turned around. Her amethyst eyes fell on the girl next to him.

He noticed the direction of her gaze. "Mom, this is Penny Winner. Penny, this is my mom."

"Nice to meet you Missus Merquise," Penny said, smiling.

"A pleasure to meet you too, Penny. But please call me Lu. The missus makes me sound too old," Noin said with a laugh as she wiped her hands on the towel and went over and shook the girl's hand.

Penny smiled. She felt an immediate liking for the older woman. There were few wrinkles over the softly tanned skin and there was vibrancy in those deep amethyst eyes. She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, realizing that Thad was no longer there, but pulling a little boy out of the high chair.

Thad walked back over to where she was. "Penny, this is my son, Dylan."

She fell in love with the little boy on sight. "He looks so adorable, Thad. Hello, Dylan. My name is Penny."

Dylan squirmed in his father's arms as he eyed the woman in front of him. The smile on her face and the sound of her gentle voice made him reach out for her.

She automatically put her arms up when the little cherub practically threw himself into her.

Thad had not expected it, but used to the way his son gravitated towards the women in the family. However, he hadn't let go completely, trapping his arm between his son and her chest. His eyes caught hers. There was no way he could miss the flush racing up her cheeks. He could feel one of his own coming on as he gently and quickly removed his arm. "Sorry."

"That's all right," said Penny, her face feeling hot from the way his arm and hand had brushed against her. Her nerves were sizzling from the unexpected contact. She looked down at the boy in her arms. "You love to be spontaneous don't you?"

Noin laughed at the scene she just witnessed. "Dylan does that a lot. He likes to be held…especially by women. When he hears a woman's voice, he just goes for it."

"I don't mind at all. He's just too cute," answered Penny as she smiled at him. "You're just too cute to resist."

"Takes after his father in that respect. Thad looked like that when he was that age too."

"Mom," Thad sighed.

"Oh don't be embarrassed. You were such a sweetheart then, just like you are now, and just like my grandson," she said as she pressed a kiss on Dylan's pale hair. "I got his lunch started on the counter. I'll leave the three of you alone to have lunch. It was nice meeting you, Penny," she said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too," she replied as she nodded at the older woman as she left the room. She looked back at Thad, who was trying not to blush over his mother's comments. "Embarrassed?"

"I'm too old to be called a sweetheart," he mumbled, bending his head down a little.

She laughed as he rolled his eyes at the same time. "It's a mother's job you know. My mom did it with my siblings and me. It's a mother's prerogative."

He sighed again and looked back up at her. Dylan looked right at home in her arms, smiling and cuddling up against her. "What would you like?"

"Oh, I don't know. Whatever you have is fine," she replied as she walked back over to the high chair and put him in. Walking back over to the counter, where he was quickly finishing up the little boy's lunch, she leaned on the opposite side. She watched his bent head as he placed a sandwich cut into several pieces on a plate, plus two chocolate chip cookies. She reached over and took a cookie out of the jar. "These are good. Your mom make them?"

Thad snorted. "No. Hilde Maxwell made them. My mom tends to burn when she bakes."

Penny closed her eyes as she chewed on the decadent snack. "I feel like I'm in heaven."

He glanced up at her and the knife in his hand became motionless. The look of pure ecstasy on her face as she took another bite of the cookie made him remember the last time he saw that kind of look on a woman's face. The blood in his veins throbbed with remembrance of making love to a woman and that look coming over her face. Julia's face, "DAMMIT! Why does Penny have to look like that? I have a good idea that she's the kind of girl that is not like THAT! What the hell is wrong with you!" he thought harshly as he shook his head to dispel the image of HER with him. To cover up his rioting emotions, he pushed the plate towards her. "Here."

Opening her eyes, she picked up the plate. "I'll make my own lunch," she called over her shoulder as she went over to Dylan and put down the plate.

He shook his head. "No, I'll make it. Keep an eye on him though."

"All right," she agreed as she turned back to the blond haired angel in front of her. In her mind, she could imagine Thad looking like this as a child. "And he grew up to be an extremely handsome man."

Taking a deep breath, he quickly made her lunch and his. He watched her interact with Dylan, smiling as his son took to her so easily. Her soft laughter rang in his ears as she dabbed at the child's nose with a napkin, then she leaned forwards and pressed a kiss on his forehead. "Little boys have all the luck. Women can never resist them," he thought with a sigh as he brought over two plates to the table. "I hope you like ham and cheese," he said as he sat down in the chair on the other side of his son.

"It's my favorite," Penny said as she leaned away from the high chair. She took a bite from the sandwich and glanced up at him as he gazed at his son. There was no mistaking the love in his eyes as he looked at Dylan. She looked away again. "Thad?"

"Yes?"

"I don't mean to pry, but where's his mother?"

"She left me."

"Left you? Were you married to her?"

"No, she was my girlfriend for awhile. She up and left one day without a word to me…and I didn't see her for about ten, eleven months. In that time, she gave birth to him…came back and told me to give him the life he deserved because she couldn't."

Penny raised her eyes to him. He was leaning back in his chair and staring out the window. She looked away again. "I see."

"It wasn't like she couldn't afford to. She came from a fairly well off family, but she had been involved with plenty of guys…and there were a lot of stories about her flying around. Her parents didn't want more talk so they sent her away to have Dylan. When she came back, she had to give him up," Thad replied as he turned his head to look at her. "Julia gave me full custody."

Meeting his eyes with hers, she raked her teeth over her lower lip. "Did you love her?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, blocking out the intenseness of hers before opening them again. "I loved her."

"Did she love you?"

"No."

"No?"

"I was as much a prize to her as Chris Maxwell was. It rankled her that my cousin up and married him, but he fooled around with Julia too. Fact of the matter was it was him that took her virginity in the first place. He tended to go after the vestal virgins. However, she did like me well enough, cared about me, but she didn't love me," he replied, staring into her eyes, sinking into the green depths in front of him. "So, once the initial shock of having a child seeped in, I took great pride on being as good a father as I can be. My dad told me to be better than him…and I'm trying. He didn't know of my existence until I was more than a year old since he had been proclaimed "dead." When he came back, he took responsibility and married my mom, but not just for me, because he loved my mom, he just never told her that at the time. And Dylan has so much energy; I don't have time for much else. He's the most important thing to me." He was leaning his elbows on the table, losing himself even more in the glowing green of her eyes.

She didn't know what to say. She didn't even think there were words. Those ice blue eyes were boring into hers. Smiling, she reached across the table and covered his hands with hers. "And you look like you're doing a wonderful job."

The comforting touch of her hands on his brought him out of his trance. Her skin felt so soft and smooth on his. He turned his hands palm up and grasped onto them, and his mouth quirked up into a slight smile. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For listening. I don't usually talk to very many people about this."

A gentle smile touched her lips. "I'm honored that you shared it with me."

Another smile crossed his lips. His thumbs absently began stroking the sides her hand.

Her nerves tingled as shafts of heat raced through them, rendering them useless. They blocked her command to pull her hands away from his touch, to stop staring back into those crystalline eyes, to stop wanting him to look at her like he was. The blood in her veins surged, making her body throb all over. Her heart pounded against her ribs. She was sure he could hear it for the room was silent.

As he rubbed his thumbs against the side of her wrists, he felt the leaping of her pulse under his outstretched fingers. He did let his gaze waver from hers. Strands of her caramel colored hair framed her face, urging him, tempting him to brush them back, and to feel the skin of her cheek against his hand. Petal pink lips were parted ever so slightly, making him feel the need to kiss those tender lips. "Are you INSANE?" his mind screamed at him. He ignored it. The feeling felt so right, he didn't care that it was wrong, that she had someone else, but just for a moment, to feel her mouth against his, would be all he'd ever ask for. He grasped her arms a little more as he started to lean forwards.

"Oh God, he's going to kiss me and I'm going to allow it. I can't believe this, I have Anthony back home," she thought,  too helpless to move, but at the same time, not even wanting to move. Her heart felt like it was going to burst. Penny couldn't break away from the intentness of his as he leaned over a little more as she did.

"This isn't anything important, is it?"

A/N: I'm getting back into the swing of things by leaving a cliffhanger, so it'll leave you waiting for more! XOXO!!