Puppy Love

awwww! That was cute, but I'm a confuzzled - did the kiss really happen or was it just a dream? Other than that little question, it was wonderful! Thanks for the pm and I can't wait for the next update! ^_^
 
poor gracie....michael needs to stop blaming himself....
he also needs to realize that he needs someone too....
this is really good....can i get a pm?
thanks....shelley :blush:
 
Morning. :P

Here are 2 more chapters. Thanks for R & R and talk to you soon. Happy Alias Day. :smiley: CJ


Ps: just in case you've been wondering, all the kisses were real...no dream here. :lol:


~Part 13~

He finally convinced Mrs. Smith to go home. After a long conversation with the emergency room physician who assured Michael that Gracie was fine and that they were simply keeping her for observation as a precautionary measure. Later that night, Gracie was finally moved to a private room on the pediatric floor.

They settled in and a nurse delivered a late dinner for Gracie. Michael sat in the room’s lone chair, Gracie snuggled into his arms, and he coaxed a sleepy little angel to eat the macaroni and cheese and take a few sips of apple juice by pretending the spoon and tippy-cup were choo-choo train, She ate a few bites, but refused any more, saying it didn’t taste like the “cheesy pasta” he routinely made for her.

After several renditions of his customized version of the Itsy-Bitsy Gracie, complete with hand motions and silly voices, she fell asleep nestled against his heart, her breathing even and strong.

He sat for a long time, simply holding her in his arms, watching her sleep, a fierce, primal sense of protection moving through him. The doctor had said she was going to be fine, as good as new. Even so, Michael fought the feeling of helplessness pouring through him.

He shifted Gracie in his arms, trying to ease the stiffness from his body. Ever so gently he stood and moved closer to the crib and placed her in it. She whimpered once, but he cooed nonsense words to her and rubbed her back and she settled back into sleep.

He needed to move around, maybe get some coffee to stay awake. He stepped out into the hallway and jammed on the brakes.

Sydney. Dressed in ragged jeans and a gray sweatshirt, hovering at the end of the corridor, her bottom lip held between her teeth. Surprise ripped through him, then anger. How dare she bring her little reporter butt down here to intrude on his private life?

He clenched his hands into fists and stalked closer. “Do you have any sense of decency? Why are you here?”

She shook her head and held up her hands. “I left my tape recorder in your car and I need it back. That’s all, I swear.”

“Your tape recorder?”

He took her elbow and firmly led her away from Gracie’s room. “How did you find me?”

She looked sheepish. “ I…uh, sort of conned it out of your secretary.”

He put his fist on his hips and narrowed his eyes. “Again?”

“I had to. My article is due tomorrow and I can’t complete it without my recorder.”

He sighed, then rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Fine, “ he intoned, digging in his pocket. “Here are the keys.”

Sydney looked at him and cocked her head to the side. “Are you all right? You look like …uh, terrible.”

He palmed the keys. “Gee, thanks.”

She took a few tentative steps nearer and touched his arm. ‘ Is this your “family –situation?’ What happened?”

He clenched his jaw and held up a rigid hand, forcing himself to remember what Sydney was…a reporter.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Beside the interview is over.”

She frowned and shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans. “ Look, I only meant that…no, no you’re right. The interview is over. “ She turned away, then looked back, her mouth pressed into a thin line.

He was being a first-class jerk. “Syd, I’m sorry. It’s been a terrible night.”

She raised a brow. “ I…I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

“I know. “ He said as they stood there facing each other for a few minutes

“I guess I owe you an apology for jumping all over you earlier, “he said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

She looked at him. “ A story? Why would you think that?”

He lifted a shoulder, remembering his fears about keeping Gracie protected from the media.

“You’re a reporter, remember?”

She nodded. “Yeah, okay, I guess I can see why, even though you and I finished our interview. Besides, we’re friends, remember?”

Her smiled had melted his heart, and laughing with her had brought about a warm contentment he’d never experience with a woman before. And her kisses. Man, she’d tasted and felt better than anything.

Damn. He didn’t need this right now. He needed to concentrate on Gracie, not on some reporter who could do a hatchet job on his family. Sydney had already dug around and found out about Gracie. He should just walk away, even though he wanted to pull Sydney close and kiss her again.

His body didn’t seem to get that. He looked around the deserted hall, and in one smooth motion he stepped into an alcove, grabbed her hand and pulled her close until her face was an inch from his.

“No more question. Okay?” he said. She nodded.

And then he kissed her, long and slow and hot, his tongue moving smoothly, slickly into her warm, sweet mouth.

She pressed herself to him, returning his kiss fully. She was warm and soft in his arms, something real and wonderful that, surprisingly, made his relentless anxiety about Gracie temporarily fade away until it was an indistinct lump in a far corner of his brain.

Nothing mattered but how right she felt in his arms and how he wanted her so bad he couldn’t think straight.

He pulled her closer, needing to lose himself in the wonderful way she made him feel.

But she pressed on his chest and pulled away. “Michael. Stop, please.”

He looked at Sydney. She’d pressed a visibly shaking hand to her mouth. She stared at him with wide, studded, dark brown eyes, and he had the insane desire to pull her back into his arms and lose himself in her.

“I’m sorry, “he said. “ I shouldn’t have done that.”

“I can’t be with you…not until you trust me enough to let me in into your life. “She paused and gave him a thoughtful look.” And just so you can rest easy, I’m not out for any kind of story about your…anything in your life, okay?”

He nodded, amazed at her perceptiveness and relieved by her statement.” Thanks.”

“Good bye, Michael.” And then, with a sad smile, she turned and walked away.

He wanted to call her back, craving her company. But he didn’t. As much as he might like to see Sydney again, this was really the best thing that could have happened.

Even though his foolish heart seemed to have other ideas.

TBC


~Part 14~

Sydney stayed up most of the night and somehow managed to pound out the rest of the “Ultimate Bachelor”. Despite Michael and Alice’s disastrous, failed date, Sydney had to racked her brain and scraped together enough details for a decent story, judiciously leaving out that Alice had stomped off, a muddy paw print on her rear end.

All night Sydney had alternately relived her and Michael sizzling kiss and lingered on warm thoughts of Michael…but his refusal to talk about his daughter was a big issue between them. He obviously didn’t trust her enough to confide in her.

“Sydney!” Joe’s voice boomed across the room from his office doorway. “ Get in here.”

Sydney dug the last section of “ The Ultimate Bachelor” out of her briefcase and followed her boss into his office.

She handed him the copy. “Here you go. It’s done.”

Joe tossed the papers down onto his desk. “I’ll read it later. I’ve got bigger things to talk about right now. “He gestured to the chair next to Sydney. “Sit.”

Sydney complied, puzzled by Joe’s dismissal of “The Ultimate Bachelor”, his latest obsession.

“What’s up?”

“Do you know Michael Vaughn has a daughter?”

“Uh, yeah, why?”

“Because we’ve just received an anonymous tip that Michael’s daughter is in the hospital because the nanny was negligent.”

Oh, no. Her suspicions confirmed. That explained Michael’s edginess and the simmering anger she’d thought was perhaps directed at her…until they kissed.

“Really?” She attempted to keep her voice casual, as though she hadn’t seen Michael at the hospital last night, as though she’d hadn’t known for three weeks that Michael had a daughter. Joe would wonder, loudly, why she hadn’t pounced on the story last night, and she really didn’t have a good excuse. She’d been curious, but her journalistic dive had sputtered to a halt when she’d seen how worn-out he’d looked.

She’d been thinking about Michael, not her job.

“Do you know who the kid’s grandmother was?”

“Some former actress named Eleanor Marchand?”

“Apparently Michael adopted his step-sister kid after she was killed in a motorcycle crash. It was big news because of the kid’s grandmother, and of course because of the Vaughn name. It was front-page news, but before anything was printed, Vaughn hushed it all up and almost put one reporter in the hospital, and the furor didn’t died down. But now the kid’s in the hospital and we can be the first one on the story.”

Sydney’s heart sank like a rock and her stomach twisted. This conversation was going to a place she absolutely, positively did not want to go.

“Get over to the hospital and get the details. You know him, which should be to our advantage, right? Use that edge, that inside track. We can scoop this up now before anyone else.”

Problem was, she didn’t want to get the scoop on Michael. She’d promised him she wouldn’t go after any storied about anything connected to him, and she’d meant it. This would hurt him and maybe his daughter, too. No kid deserved that.

She chewed on a thumbnail. “Joe, I don’t think I can…”

“What do you mean?” He blustered. “You’ve been hot to do bigger news, and here’s your chance. This could be your big break, Sydney. Don’t screw this up.”

She couldn’t go after this story. Michael’s angry reaction last night was just a preview of what she’d get if she bothered him this morning, her tape recorder in hand, breaking her promise.

Oh, yes, by the way. Tell me more about your adopted daughter and her dead mother and your negligent nanny so I can put it in the newspaper.

Her stomach tightened. Michael would crucify her for something that sleazy. Sure, she was a reporter and had to set aside personal conflict. But deep down, hounding Michael did bother her. He deserved privacy, especially now, with his daughter in the hospital.

“Well?” Joe insisted. “I don’t have all day.”

She rose, sighing, then pressed a hand to her roiling stomach.

“Okay, okay. I’ll go right over.” A hard lump of apprehension rose in her chest. “But I can tell you right now, Michael Vaughn isn’t going to like this, Joe.”

He waved a hand in the air. “Too bad. No one likes their personal business printed. Just get the dirt.”

The dirt. That sounded pretty ugly. But ugly or not, this was her chance at a promotion. She had to find a way to make this work. And boy, did she have an agonizing choice to make. Do her job well or protect the man who has touched her heart and soul.


~*~

Vaughn was sitting in Gracie’s hospital room with Weiss standing by the door.

“She’s gonna be okay. You should go home and change before she wakes up.” Weiss said, tapping his friend on the shoulder.

“I can’t seem to make myself leave her for more than a few seconds. You know I could have prevented what happened to Gracie.”

“How? She’s a little girl and children fall and hurt themselves, sometimes. You can watch her 24/7.”

“If I hadn’t gone on that stupid date, I would have been home and…”

“And she would have probably been okay this time but what about the other times when you’re not there?”

“I know I’m being silly.” He sighed.” It’s just that it breaks my heart to see her hurt like that.”

“What about you and Sydney?” Weiss asked, concernedly. “What’s going on between you two?”

“I like her a lot and she’d mad at me for hiding the truth about Gracie from her. I want to tell her everything but how can I know for sure she won’t use it against me later.”

“What does your heart say? Do you want to trust her?”

“I have strong feelings for Sydney and I know that if I want her in my life, I’ll have to take a chance and tell her the truth. All of it. “

“It’s about time.” Weiss said as Vaughn shot him a strange look. “What?”

“Mike, I like you like a brother but sometimes you do things that makes me question your IQ. You obviously like this woman and I have a feeling she likes you too. For the last few weeks that you have known her, you’ve been acting like a fool in love…and we’re not talking about simple teenage’ puppy love. I know you very well and I think you’re definitely in love with this woman. So go to her and tell her the truth now before it’s too late.” Weiss said as Vaughn nodded.

A light knock wounded on Gracie’s hospital door.

Michael and Weiss looked at each other and then Michael stood and wearily stretched the kinks of his body, then went to the door and cautiously pulled it open.

To his surprise, Sydney stood on the other side, her lip tugged between her teeth, looking really good in a short-sleeved white sweater and dark-blue jeans.

“Can I come in?” She asked.

“Sydney Bristow meet Eric Weiss.” Michael introduced them as they shook hands.

“Okay, well…I’ll leave you two alone to talk. Sydney it was a pleasure meeting you. Mike, please think about what I said and I’ll stop by the house tomorrow …if that’s okay?”

“Fine. Thanks for stopping by Weiss.”

“Play nice now, kids. “ He teased before leaving them alone to talk.


TBC


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Guess she has to choice between Vaughn & Gracie and her job and house.
And she finally get to meet Gracie :D
Thanks for PM
 
WOW!! That was quite a kiss!!!! :woot:
-But I reallly hope she doesn't do the story!!!! I'm hoping that she just told her boss she would..but isn't going to go through with it!!! :D
-Can't wait to see what is going to happen next!!
Thanks for the pm!!
 
stupid joe...couldn't he have asked someone else to do that story???
but vaughn addmitted to eric that he loved her and was going to tell her the truth...stupid timing lol
that was great
 
ok, i've been gone, but i'm back, i promise :smiley:

i hope she doesn't go after the story. after all, who needs to work when they have a millionaire boyfriend? just wondering. she better not betray his trust, or i'll smack her myself.

the kiss in the car was so well-written. put me in a daydream mode at work, you did!

very much looking forward to the next update, but in the meantime, i'm off to SD :smiley:

thanks for the pm's!
~tracey
 
I honestly don't know where you're gonna go with this, because I see two or three options. And I'm still confused with all three, so I won't write them down.

Um. I love your stories! And I'm so happy Michael is getting over his need to be alone for Gracie's protection.

~Anja
 
PLEASE dont let Syd use anything vaughn tells her in the article, not when he is taking a big risk by telling her! i hope that gracie will be ok!
thanks for the PM
update soon :D
 
oh felgercarb, oh felgercarb, oh felgercarb.....this can't be good
this isn't gonna be pretty...
poor syd....what a way to be stuck between a rock and a hard place
poor vaughn.....he's gonna think he was right not to trust her all along
poor gracie...she shouldn't have to be in the middle of all this...
great chapters!!! can't wait to see what happens!!
thanks for the pm
shelley :blush:
 
i'm glad syd's ok... syd should turn the story down.. it's just not worth it...

i hope she makes the right decision...

thanks for the pm and udpate soon!
 
All I can say is SYD YOU BETTER NOT DO THIS STORY!!! If you do, you will ruin Micheal and Gracie!!! Great update, can't wait for the next chapter :smiley:
 
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