(AUTHORS NOTE: (THANKS TO TERRYGYIMAH and A WILLIAMSON FOR REVIEWING! AND TO EVERYONE WHO ARE IS FOLLOWING MY STORY. I LOVE YOU ALL, HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THIS.)

CHAPTER 05

Dinner Date

(takes place the evening of the day in the previous chapter)

He stepped into her apartment, walking up behind her in the kitchen, laughing as she gave a shocked jump before turning her around. "Said I'd pick you up." Morgan muttered as she took hold of his hand, looked at the bandages on two of his knuckles and groaned inwardly. "You did it again, I see."

"The wrench slipped." he shrugged as he held her close, his nose taking in the soft notes of the slightly vanilla scented perfume she wore. He'd always loved that stuff, even when she wore it in high school, he'd find his mouth watering during their Bio class when she wore it, really. "You ready to go?" he asked as she nodded, face heating as his lips gently grazed her neck cautiously. She groaned as she blushed an even brighter shade of pink than she had been before and then gave him a warning cough as she said "We should get going."

"We should." he muttered as he held her gaze a few minutes then pulled her against him. "You look beautiful."

"Do not, Morgan." she muttered, shaking her head as he shook his, argued, "You do." taking her hand, leading her out the door of the apartment, locking it behind them, getting into her car. He adjusted the seat, teasing her for a few moments about being short and she glared, poking out her tongue as she asked, "So.. Other than the buste knuckles, how was your day?"

"I saw Michael earlier. And he tried yet again, to apologize.. he even offered me a job at ELQ." Morgan grumbled as Zara rolled her eyes and said " It pisses me off.. It almost seems like he's purposely trying to rub it in your face." as Morgan nodded a little and then shrugging said "It used to bother me. Doesn't really bother me anymore. I'm content. They can choke on it, honestly." as he flashed a grin at her and turned down the long driveway leading to Molly and Alexis's house.

They'd just gotten out of the car when Molly attacked Morgan and Zara with hugs, squealing as she introduce Morgan to Rafe who promptly said "Sorry about that crap with ..."

"Dude, it's not your problem.. But at least you're not a dick about it." Morgan said as Rafe nodded and then said casually, " So.. Alexis is helping you with your case?"

"Yeah, actually, she got the marriage annulled at exactly 9 am. I got a text from Molly saying and I quote, "You're a free man now, Morgan.. You better do the right thing eventually."

"Yeah, she's pushy.. I like it, it's cute." Rafe said as he smiled at Molly, who stood nearby, whispering to Zara. The door to the lake house opened and Kristina walked out, looking at her half brother.

"You.. What the hell happened to you? I go back to Yale and come home to visit, not only have you gotten into serious trouble gambling online, but you've let a girl come between you and Michael? He's really upset you know that right?"

"Sure he is, K."

"Morgan, he is. It hurts to fight with your younger sibling." Kristina said quietly as she asked, "So that's the girl. She is pretty.. I mean your brother told me..." as Morgan stiffened, growled a little and then said quietly, "That son of a bitch.."

"Morgan.."

"What, K? I'm just supposed to let him keep taking girls from me?" Morgan whispered as Kristina laughed and said "Whoa.. No reason to be jealous.. Michael's not interested in her.. Said she's not his type."

"Meaning she's not a slut." Morgan said as Kristina caught her laughter and said "Let's get inside.. She's pretty, Morgan." hugging her other half brother as she let him lead Zara into the house.

Alexis smiled and hugged the girl she'd sort of thought of as another daughter during her friendship with Molly and then said "And NYU?"

"Didn't work out. I'm going to college here, teaching dance classes at the fitness center."

"I'm sorry.. I know you were really hoping that you'd get to NYU and things would go exactly as you planned them." Alexis said as she hugged the girl and then said "Well? Let's get something to eat, shall we?"

She smiled as she watched Morgan with Zara. Maybe this time, this.. Maybe everything would work out for him. After they'd finished eating, she took him to the side and said quietly, "I've always liked her.. However, this doesn't mean I think you should rush her down to the courthouse." as Morgan laughed a little and then asked, "So, did I sign everything I needed to sign earlier?"

"Mhmm and I delivered it an hour ago. You are officially a free man. Just take your time, Morgan, get your head back on."

"I am." he said as he watched Molly and Zara talking to Kristina, smiled to himself. This time, he wasn't going to rush into things, he wasn't going to do everything wrong like he had with was really starting to fall for her, and he couldn't stop himself. He wanted everything to be perfect when it finally clicked into place for them.