Next chapter!

Please note that I posted the wrong ninth chapter yesterday. I fixed it today so you should read that one first so you don't get confused! Sorry for the mix up.

Chapter 12

Then he felt a gentle touch on his arm and heard her soft voice. "One last chance, Shawn. That's it."

He didn't dare to open his eyes fearing that he was only dreaming. But then he felt her petite hand cupping his cheek and he dared to open his eyes a little to see that she was still standing in front of him. Happy that she decided to stay he engulfed her into a bone crushing hug. When they parted he took her hand and led her back to the house.

When they reached the kitchen he reluctantly let go of her hand. "So…uh maybe we should sit down this could take a while." He motioned to the couch in the living room. "You want to drink something?"

"A water, please." She said while sitting down on the couch.

A few seconds later Shawn returned with two glasses of water and handed her one.

"How about we just cut the point? What happened, Shawn?" She asked looking intently at him.

"I guess I'll start at the beginning." He sighed not sure how to explain everything to her. "Eight years ago I was still traveling around the country. I was at a gas station on the outskirts of Denver when I saw a man threatening two older men. He wanted their car and they refused to give it to him. I snuck up behind the thug, knocked him over, we got into a fight. Long story short: I shot him in the arm and the police took him into custody. Turned out that the men I helped were Mike Riley and his butler Theodore Brooks. I was invited to dinner as an acknowledgment of Mike's gratitude. We talked over dinner and he asked me what I was up to. I told him that I was traveling around and kind of between jobs and he offered me to stay here for a while and that he could give me a job at one of his hotels. I was really low on money at the time and it seemed like a good opportunity so I stayed. I started out as a member of the housekeeping staff at his hotel here in Denver and worked my way up the job ladder. After a good one and a half year he asked me to become a member of a sort of think tank that was supposed to help reorganize and modernize the company. He wanted his hotels to appeal to a younger target group and I had some good ideas since I've seen so many different hotels and motels on my travels. He liked my ideas and made me his personal assistant. We were a great team." He smiled at the memories that flashed before his eyes.

"How long did you stay?" Juliet asked.

"Three years." He said in a small voice.

"Why did you leave? It seems like you liked living here."

He hesitated for a moment. "I loved this place. For the first time in a long time it felt like I had a home to come back to. But… things happened. You know that Theodore is Kate's father, right? So she grew up here. Mike paid for her education and introduced her to some important people of the fashion world when she started out as a model. She met this guy, James, at a fashion show. They immediately hit it off, they married and one year after they met she gave birth to Ashley. That was one month after I arrived here. They kept living here and we were like a big family. Then James was diagnosed with cancer. It didn't look good from the very beginning because it already spread from his lungs to his liver and his kidneys. He tried everything, you know. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, he was put on a trial for a new medicine that could cure cancer in the future. Nothing helped. He died after one year of fighting against this damn disease." Shawn swallowed hard.

"We were all devastated. He did everything to prolong the time he had left with his family. And in the end all his fighting was for nothing and he lost." He was holding back his tears now. Juliet reached over to lay her hand above his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I couldn't stay afterwards. I couldn't stand staying here, living with the pain. So I did what I was best at: I bailed. This whole thing triggered something in my mind I guess. I realized how short life could be and that even though you should make the most of it you should always remember where you come from, so I went back to Santa Barbara and I guess you know the rest of the story."

Juliet nodded slowly. "Why did you come back now?"

"Teddy called. He said Mike was rushed into the hospital because his condition got worse. He was diagnosed with cancer two years ago but he was treated and everything seemed fine. But it was back again and worse than before. I visited him in the hospital and we spent the whole day talking and laughing. Just like old times. We got the call the same night. He died of multiple organ failure. His body just couldn't take it anymore." He took a deep breath before continuing. "He left me basically everything. His houses, his company, his money. He gave Kate and Teddy parts of his fortune as well. He always cared deeply for them and wanted them to have a good life."

"Why didn't you just call and explain this to us. We were so worried, Shawn."

"I just wanted to forget. I tried to shut myself off and forget the world around me and everything that had happened. I thought it would be easier to not talk to anyone. I didn't realize that I would hurt you. I didn't really care about anything or anyone around me at first. I was so selfish, Jules. I'm so, so deeply sorry for treating you like this. You don't deserve this." He said in a low voice, looking to the floor not daring to look into her eyes.

"And then when I was finally ready to move on everyone expected me to lead the company. I didn't know a thing about managing an international company, so how was I supposed to just do it? I had to catch up on a lot of work and found my self working 24/7. I just didn't have the time and nerve to contact one of you. But in the past few days everything calmed down a little and I finally have some free time." He finished. "I think that's about it."

"Where is your stuff? I stopped by your apartment once in a while and all your stuff is gone. Are you moving here entirely?"

"Oh right I forgot. No, I'm not moving here. I'm prepping everything so I can manage the company from Santa Barbara. We have a hotel there and all the stuff from my apartment was moved into the penthouse suite. Apparently the managing board didn't think it was suitable that the boss of a multi billion dollar company lived in an old dry cleaner's salon." He winked at her.

"Wait, did you say multi billion?" She asked her eyes wide in shock.

"Uh yeah. Well so I've been told. I don't even really know what we are doing. I just sign the papers they give me." He chuckled.

Juliet just shook her head in amusement and they fell into silence. Shawn glanced at his watch.

"Are you hungry, too? Because I'm like starving." He smiled at her.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well I never really order in because Rosa normally cooks for us. She's our cook and the good soul of the house. But she has the day off. So either I cook or we try out a random pizza service."

"As much as I would enjoy seeing you in an apron again, I think I'll go with the pizza service." She shot him a devilish smile.

He clapped his hands together and sat up. "Alright pizza it is. I'll order quickly. How about I show you around the house while we wait and we talk afterwards again?" He shot her his trademark smile and offered her a hand.

She took it and he lifted her up from the couch. They headed to the kitchen and Shawn ordered the pizza.

"Okay, our dinner will be here in 30 minutes so I guess we better get started with the house tour." He said and offered her his arm. She linked her arm with him and they started their tour in the kitchen. The kitchen was followed by the living room and the entertainment room with a big screen and a popcorn machine. Then they went to the basement to see the spa area with an indoor swimming pool, hot tub, sauna and massage tables and the gym in the next room. Then they went up the chairs to see one of the five guest rooms and Ashley's playroom.

After that they went down again and headed to the garden. There was one section with a playing area for Ashley and a basketball court. Then there was the guest house in the very back of the garden and the swimming pool with another hot tub and a pool house attached to the terrace.

"Wow. This house and the garden… this is just amazing." Juliet breathed out still slightly taken aback. "Where is your room?"

"What kind of question is that, Detective O'Hara?" He playfully raised an eyebrow.

She just sighed and rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm living in the guest house. I loved living there when I first came here and I still love it." He smiled. "I think I heard the door bell. Must be our pizza. We can go to the guest house to eat if you want." He suggested.

Five minutes later they sat down on the couch in the guest house with their pizza (one half pineapples, the other half tuna). Shawn had taken off his jacket and tie in the meantime and had rolled up his sleeves. They kept themselves busy with small talk and Shawn went through a fit of laughter and nearly choked on his pizza when Juliet mimicked Lassiter's latest outburst at a crime scene.

After they had put their empty pizza boxes away Shawn went to the kitchen to grab two bottles of water and handed her one when he sat back down on the couch.

"So Jules, what have you been up to?" She recognized that the playful tone in his voice had been replaced with a more serious one.

She hesitated which of course didn't go unnoticed by Shawn.

"Jules?"

"Uhm things have been kind of rough at the job. Carlton is grumpier than usual and the Chief took the Rose Murderer case from me and handed it over to the FBI."

"What? Why would she do that? You only had a couple of weeks to work on this case while those douche bags had 10 years and couldn't come up with a single solid lead." He exclaimed angrily.

"Yeah well I couldn't do anything about it." She fell silent again.

"Jules, there's clearly something else bothering you. What's wrong? You can tell me everything." He assured her when he saw her hesitation.

"I uh kind of talked to Declan again." She said her voice barely over a whisper. She looked up to Shawn's face to see it harden, his eyes narrowing her.

"Any particular reason why you would do that?" His voice was filled with bitterness.

Juliet looked at him. Was that jealousy in his eyes? "He called me to apologize. We got to talk a little and he kind of implied that he wanted to get back together."

"And you kindly declined?" Shawn intervened quickly.

"Not exactly. Things might be a little more complicated than I thought."

"What are you talking about, Jules? He went off to Vegas and married a random stripper." He looked at her in disbelief. What the hell was complicated about that? Ditch the sucker and move on.

"I'm kind of…late on my…uh…period." She blushed a little.

"Oh-kay… what exactly is your conception of late?"

"Two weeks." She didn't look at him when she mumbled her answer.

"Two weeks? As in 14 days?" Shawn's eyes grew wide.

She only nodded in response still not looking to the floor.

"Wow. So that means…" He didn't dare to say out loud.

"That means I could be pregnant."

A/N: Reviews are welcome as always! (: