Free Borrowed Baby by Marie Ferrarella Page A

even as she rifled through the dresses in her closet, searching for one to wear to the concert. Her old standby would do fine, she decided offhandedly, her mind still on Griff. There was something very endearing about seeing such a big, strapping man looking so lost.
    "Speaking of lost," she murmured to herself, "where's my other shoe?"
    She moved several pairs of shoes around, searching through the bottom of her closet. She didn't have time to play hide-and-seek with an errant shoe. From the condition of her closet floor, it looked as though Alec and Bruce had used this one as one of their battlefields while she had been busy feeding Casie yesterday.
    The shoe turned up under her bed.
    She glanced at her wristwatch. The only way she was going to make it on time was if Vinnie was fifteen minutes late. Knowing Vinnie the way she did, this was not too much to hope for.
    Laying her things out on the bed, Liz looked longingly toward the bathtub. Earlier, she had promised herself a long, luxurious bubble bath. A shower would have to do now. A very quick shower at that. But the trade-off had been well worth it. Every minute she had spent with Casie and Griff had been nothing short of an exciting adventure that left her amused, exasperated and more than a little entertained. Griff was responsible for most of that. And he was to blame for all the emotions that were rioting through her now. There were no two ways about it. The man had her emotions in an utter state of chaos. The message Don't Tread on Me was posted like a banner across his chest, and yet there was something in his eyes that reached out to her. Which was the true signal? She wasn't altogether sure, but she was bound and determined to find out.
    Twenty-three minutes later, she stood showered, dried and dressed. She looked herself over in the mirrored wardrobe door. The dress she wore was a soft rose affair with narrow straps, a low neckline and shimmery beadwork woven throughout, like so many whimsically blinking stars. It fit snugly against her and was slit high up the front for maximum ease of movement. The light from her bedroom lamp played on the beadwork, making it glisten and shine. It was an ethereal effect that made her feel dreamy and exceptionally feminine.
    She wished that Griff could see her in it.
    "Might just make him sit up and take notice." She worked pins strategically into her hair.
    She slipped on one shoe and was just reaching for the other when the doorbell rang.
    Why did Vinnie have to pick tonight to start a new precedent and be on time? She still had her makeup to do and wanted at least five minutes to catch her breath.
    Maybe it wasn't Vinnie.
    Hobbling, Liz moved quickly to the front door, one shoe still in her hand. She yanked the door open. A part of her, a rather large part, was hoping that it was Griff coming to see her on some pretext about the baby. She knew he would never admit to wanting to see her on his own. For some reason, that would be admitting too much.
    But the thin, bearded young man dressed in a tux was definitely not Griff. He lacked about six inches in the shoulder girth, let alone in height.
    She kept her smile in place, trying to hide the disappointment that had absolutely no place being there. "Oh, hi, Vinnie, come on in. I'm almost ready." She closed the door behind him.
    Vinnie glanced down at her one bare foot. "So I see." He strolled into the living room and fastidiously moved his photograph several inches to the left on the piano.
    Liz hurried back toward her bedroom to apply some last-minute makeup.
    Vinnie looked over in her direction. "You know, I'm really disappointed, Liz."
    Liz spared him a glance before disappearing into the room. "Why?"
    "This is probably the first time in my life that I'm on time, and you don't seem to appreciate it."
    "I appreciate everything about you, Vinnie," she called out to him.
    Bracing one hand on the bureau, she slipped on her shoe. One quick check in the mirror told her that