Part 2

Roy leaned back against the tree behind him, watching the interactions between his daughter and Rachael. They had been only seeing each other for a fortnight, but already he could feel that this woman was different to any other woman he had dated..different in a good way. He chuckled softly as he watched Lian animatedly telling the young woman something that caused them both to burst into laughter, his little girl had instantly taken a shine to the pretty blonde and that spoke volumes to Roy.

A soft sound caused him to look down at the little boy asleep on the rug beside him, and he gently reached out and began to pat the baby on the back...the infant stirred, then settled back into sleep. Roy stopped patting and stroked the babies hair, smiling to himself of the memories the action evoked, Lian had been about the same age when he took her to live with him.

"Your doing a great job there, anyone who can keep him asleep in worth their weight in gold." Rachael said as she approached and sat beside him.

"Worth my weight in gold hey? That's the first time I've been told that, smiling at her, then glancing over at Lian who was pushing another child on the swing.

"She's made a new little friend." Rachael remarked.

"She's always making new friends...She's completely loveable, at trait she didn't inherit from me." Roy joked savoring the closeness of the young women beside him, the scent of her perfume drifting over to him.

"Oh I don't know about that...Seems to me that's one of your main characteristics." she said as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Nice to know there's at least someone who thinks so." he said softly.

She looked up at him and found herself drawn to his gaze, watching his eye's as emotions quickly flashed across their brilliant green depths...sadness?...Desire? A mixture of both.

"I'm sure a lot of people think so." she whispered, mesmerized.

He reached out to brush the side of her face, then slowly ran his hand through her hair, cupping the back of her neck and drawing her towards him, leaning in to kiss her gently...testingly.

She moved in response and he deepened the kiss, both their hearts racing as her placed his other hand on her lower back and pulled her to him.

She slid her hands up over his chest, conscious of the ripple of muscles under his thin shirt..

"Daaad." and indignant voice cut the moment like a knife.

Roy pulled away, "Uh...hi sweetheart." he stammered, looking at his daughter who stood with her hands on her hips.

Rachael felt herself blush, feeling a little silly at being caught out by a five year old.

Lian rolled her eye's, "That's a gross kiss!" she said as she sat down between the two adults.

Roy laughed, "Remember that when you turn eighteen kiddo." he joked.

Rachael reached out and pulled the little girl into a hug. "Any boy that wants to kiss you like that had better make sure your Daddy doesn't own a shotgun first." she laughed.

Lian looked confused, "Daddy has lot's of guns." she replied innocently.

Rachael glanced at Roy who shifted uncomfortably.

"Daddy keeps them locked up so I can't play with them." Lian pouted.

Looking down at the little girl Rachael replied, "I should hope so." her voice sounding uneasy.

Roy watched the two of them, noticing Rachael was now avoiding eye contact with him...He knew he owed her some sort of explanation..Especially if he wanted this relationship to go further, and he was beginning to feel that was definitely something that he wanted, he only hoped Rachael wanted the same thing...and that she'd still want that after he told her about his life. He sighed "They're for my work." he said.

Rachael looked up at him, suddenly realizing how little they knew about each other. She felt uncomfortable at the mention of the guns, but not because she didn't trust Roy..she had felt she could from the moment they first met..but because she had been hurt before and realizing that she was falling in love with a man she hardly knew anything about made her feel vulnerable.

"I guess we had better decide were we'd like to go with this...with us, and if we both want the same thing we'll need to have a long talk." Roy said as he gazed intensely at her.

She held his gaze for a moment, before nodding and looking down at the little girl in her arms, who was looking up at her innocently...She kissed the top of the childs head and Lian broke into a bright smile. Looking at Roy again, unsure if what she was about to say was the best thing for her, but feeling she needed to take a chance, "I think we should have that talk...I have things I need to tell you as well." she said.

end 2