"Mase Smith you sly fox! Your back!" Grant Morris said clapping me on the back. He was my little sister's husband but the guy was okay. He treated her right and cared for their nine month old daughter. That's all that mattered. "Welcome back to South Beach. Niks inside. Just put Beth down for a nap. Maybe you can convince her to go to sleep with her. She doesn't need to be to active this close after giving birth." Grant said his eyes full of worry when he spoke my sisters name.

I nodded. "Yeah I'll talk to her. It's dangerous for her." Grant pulled his phone from his pocket as it began to ring. His brown eyes looked tired and his matching hair was messy and unkept. He had been working overtime. I felt bad for the guy.

Go on. I mouthed. He smiled and reluctantly took the call. I headed inside. My sister Nikole was walking down the stairs wobbling a little.

I rushed to her. She hugged me drowsily. "Mase! I'm so glad your here!" She said her voice cracking with pain. I lifted her up and gently carried her back upstairs.

We had almost lost her just a month ago. She had a weak heart and went into a coma for at least a week. Finally she had been cleared and brought back home but the horror of knowing she might not live was still fresh in everyone's minds.

I sat her down on the bed and whispered gently to her "Go to sleep Nik. Grant will take care of Beth." She started to protest but I just covered her up and kissed her forehead. She smiled and said "Its good to see you again Mase." Then she was asleep.

I closed the door only to hear Beth crying across the hall. Sighing I picked her up and carried her with me outside. She was an adorable little thing. Her eyes were still closed from her nap but when they were open they were a beautiful hazel with gold around their irises. Her brown hair had been pulled back with a scrunch and her blue dress fell down to her knees.

I caught Grant who asked me if I could watch Beth for him while he went to run an errand. I agreed and grabbed her things. He knew where to find me.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

I pulled into my brother's house. Techniqually it was our dad's but he let us stay whenever we wanted. Right now Rush was out in Paris. He'd be back this coming weekend. Thank god his wife went with him. Rush was loyal to her but she could care less about loyalty to him.

Beth was curled up in my arms when I opened the door and dropped my things in the house. She began to wriggle so I set her down on the floor where she began to crawl to the couch. She could walk she just didnt like to. maybe I could break her of that.

Lifting her up I sat her on the couch and walked to the end. Holding out my hands I said "Come on Beth sweetheart. Come to Uncle Mase." She grinned and slowly got to her bare feet. I readied myself to lung for her if she started to fall. She took it a step at a time but made it to me giggling. I laughed and lifted her up. She clung to my hands.

I hugged her and said "Come on Beth. Lets go get some ice cream." I walked into the kitchen and quickly set up Beth's playpen. I set her down in it and searched the icebox. I pulled out a tub of chocolate ice cream. I got a scoop for Beth and added a sprinkle or two then grabbed a spoon from her bag. I sat it down in front of her. She laughed and started eating.

I gave a low chuckle at her enthusiasm.

CRASH!

My head jerked to the level above us. What was that? I looked down at Beth who was still happily eating her ice cream. She wasn't going to be crawling around anytime soon unless I let her out. I hurried to the stairs and bound up them. Half way up I heard a phone ringing. Someone was up here?

Glass was scattered all around me. I had fallen when I was trying to clean the windows and I had taken a glass shelf down with me. My phone was still ringing and my legs and hands hurt from their impact with the floor. My shirt and cut off jean shorts were ripped in several places. I'd have to clean this mess up.

The door flew open to the den as I reached for my phone. A man stood before me, his brown hair messy but clean, dark eyes that were bright with fear and kindness, and his face was chiseled with all male structure. The guy looked like a fucking model. And here I was a simple house assistant who had nothing special. My body was never anything special.

His eyes scanned over me and the glass around me. In two long strides be was kneeling infont of me asking "Are you alright? What happened?" He had a Southern drawl. I nodded and said "Yeah I'm okay. I fell trying to clean the windows and I knocked the shelf down when I fell. I... I'm sorry. I didnt know anyone was still here." The agency was so going to fire me when they found out about this.

His eyes trailed down to my legs "Your bleeding."

I followed his gaze and stifled a groan. A large cut run up my thigh. It didnt look deep though. He held out his hand and said "Come on. I dont know where Rush keeps the first aid but I have one in my duffle bag. Your gonna need stitches."

I hesitated but I took his hand. He helped me up and guided me downstairs. He walked me into the bathroom and left to get his first aid kit. Blood streamed down my leg. All of a sudden the door cracked open and a little girl slowly walked in stumbling just a little. She started to fell and I reached out to catch her.

Her eyes were beautiful. I had never seen anything like them before. They were rich hazel with gold around the irises. She had brown hair that was barely long enough to be pulled back by the blue scrunch in her hair. I lifted her into my lap so she didnt get any blood on her blue sundress. Was this his daughter?

I bounced her on my good leg as I reached for a towel to wipe away the chocolate ice cream around her mouth. The man opened the door and stopped when he seen me with the little girl. She turned to him and reached out. "Ucle Mase" She said.

He knelt down again and gently took her. He set her in the tub and cleaned everything potentially dangerous away from her before he turned his attention to me. "Is your name Mase?" I asked.

He smiled as he doused a rag with alchohol. "Yeah. Mase Smith. I'm watching Beth for my brother-in-law while my sister sleeps and he runs an errand." He said as he took one of my hands and held the rag to my leg. I hissed and gripped his hand tightly.

He took the rag away and grabbed his phone and some self adhesive bandages from his bag. He dialed a number and began wrapping my thigh.

"Liz. Hey are you free at the moment? I need you to watch Beth till Grant gets back. I'm at Rush's place. How fast can you get here? That's great. Please hurry. It's an emergency." He hung up and finished bandaging my thigh then lifted beth up and helped me to the door. Mase grabbed a bag from the kitchen and opened the front door.

I locked the door front door just as Lizzy Adilin pulled up. She hurried to us when she seen the woman gripping my shoulder for support and her thigh bandaged. "Kia what happened?" The woman, Kia, smiled weakly and started explaining.

When she was finished Liz took Beth from me and set her bag in the back seat. I gave her Beth's carseat and said to Liz "Call Grant and tell him you have Beth and that an emergency came up on my end." She nodded and watched us as I pulled my truck out of the driveway and drove towards the ER.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

I never realized how far the emergency room was from Rush's place. It seemed like it took forever. Half way there I spoke up "Is Kia a nickname or your real name?"

"It's just a nickname. It's really Kiara. Kiara Michaels." She said. Her long brown hair was bleached at the ends. It hang low around her shoulders. Clear down to her lower back. Her bright blue eyes were round and her eye lashes framed her cheeks perfectly when she closed them. Her lips were full with a shine but no lip gloss. Her shirt was a silvery tank top that fit her snuggly. Her cut off jean shirts framed her long legs.

She was an angel. But the way she held herself said it all. She didnt know she was beautiful. I sighed and asked "Hows your leg? Is it hurting you?"

"Just a little. But it's fine."

I started to say otherwise but the ER came into view. I pulled into the lot and climbed down from the truck. When Kiara started to climb down I grabbed her waist and lifted her up. She made a startled sound as she went up in the air. I sat her down and helped her inside. I filled out her form and thankfully they got us back sooner when they seen the bandages on her leg seeping blood.

I held her hand as the nurse stitched up her leg. I bought her a soda while we waited for her prescription pain meds. All together we were there for the rest of the day. As I drove Kiara home my phone began to ring. I looked at the screen. My gut twisted. Claire Alexander my neighbor was calling. I glanced over at Kiara. She wasn't looking. I quickly declined the call and the screen went black.

Then it rang again. I started to decline it until I seen it was Grant. I answered and put it on speaker.

"Hey Liz told us what happened. Is everything okay?" In the background I heard Nik and Liz. They were concerned for Kiara. I couldn't blame then. The woman was a goddess.

"Yeah everything's good. We just got out of the ER. I'm taking her home. I'm staying with her tonight to make sure the stitches stay in place and she doesn't overwork herself till her leg heals a little." I said turning into her apartment complex.

Kiara squeaked and laughter erupt from the other side of the phone. Kiara quicky said an apology and clicked off.