Ben kissed Lane and nudged her over so he could join her in the bed. He lay next to her holding her in his arms kissing her, being kissed, when a ringing coming from the other room disrupted them. Lane groaned, "That's my phone. I need to get it." She reluctantly pulled away and got up. She looked at the clock next to the bed; it was 7:45. She hoped Pauli wasn't naked in the next room as she opened the door. She grabbed her phone from the bedside table it wasn't a number she recognized. "Hello?"

"Lane, it's Maggie. I hope I didn't wake you. I'm in Chicago and have some time between planes. I just wanted to check on Jeff. Any update?" Lane looked at Ben and mouthed Maggie.

Ben rolled onto his back and plumped the pillows behind him as he watched Lane. She had answered the phone and was walking back toward him as she talked. She was gorgeous even with no make-up and with bed hair and she had the most amazing legs. Five months ago, he'd introduced Lane to his grandparents who were visiting from Italy. When Ben had told them that he and Lane were just friends, his grandfather had said "Just friends, ha! You'd be a fool to let that beautiful red haired woman get away." Nonno was a smart man. Ben didn’t intend to let her get away.

"No, you didn't wake me. He's doing fine. I imagine he'll be released today, maybe tomorrow. I'm going to let Jeff tell you the whole story. He's looking forward to having you here. You know how boys are, all macho, but when they're hurt or sick, they like to have their mommies there." She laughed. “I'll be waiting for you when you get in. Did you check luggage? Call me when you land and I'll be sure I'm at the curb when you get out. I don't know if Ben will be with me or not. He's had some business come up here in Saint Louis." She laughed again, "Sure, I'll tell him."

She clicked off, and looked at Ben. "Maggie says she can't thank you enough for your help." She climbed back into bed. "She thinks that Jeff would have died if you, Liz, Blake, and Tanner hadn't gotten involved." She snuggled into him and put her head on his shoulder. "It's a pretty scary thought. Do you think they'd have killed Jeff after they moved their drugs?" He ran his fingers through her hair and bent to kiss the top of her head.

"I hate to speculate what they'd have done.”  He kissed her and whispered, “As much as I wish we could stay in bed, Pauli is going to be back soon. You need to get up and be showered before he gets back. He's seen as much of your nearly naked body as I have and I don't want him see any more.”

Lane laughed as she got up. "Okay, I'll grab my things and get into the shower. You guard the door, won't you? I promise I won't come out until I'm decent."

Ben sat on the bed he'd slept in and turned on the TV. He surfed though the channels looking for local news wondering if there would be anything about the drug bust. He suspected that they might be withholding the information to allow the sheriff in Nebraska to bust the meth house.

He heard the door open and heard Pauli pause before he entered the room "I'm back. Is everyone decent?"

"You idiot, come in. Lane's in the shower in here. Go into the other room, get your shower, and get dressed. I've laid out my clothes on the bed; you're welcome to anything else in the suitcase. What time do you need to be at the hospital today?"

"I'm not on duty until tonight. Are you and Lane heading back to KC today or are you going to wait until her friend's son is released?"

Ben followed Pauli into the other room and closed first Lane's door and then his adjoining door.  "I imagine it will depend on what the doctors have to say about Jeff's condition today. You could come to the hospital with us have a look and tell us what you think. You might like to meet Jeff anyway. Since you seem to have the same taste in women."

Lane always did some of her best thinking in the shower. She was washing her hair, thinking about how things had changed in the last 24 hours. Yesterday morning, she certainly didn't think that she'd be lying in bed kissing Ben this morning. They'd run into one of his ex-girl-friends at his father's restaurant, Bellini's, about six months ago. Her name was Liza. Lane guessed her to be in her early 30's. She was a beautiful woman who was about five feet six inches tall, had long brown hair and big brown eyes. She was a former KC Chiefs cheerleader who was now a Psychologist. Ben had smiled, introduced Lane as his "friend" and told Liza it was nice to see her again as he put his hand in the small of Lane's back and guided her into the private dining are called The Board Room where the family ate. Lane thought at the time, that Liza would have fallen back into Ben's arms in a heartbeat if only he'd given her the slightest sign that he was interested. After they sat, she'd asked Ben about Liza. He said they'd dated for a while a couple of years ago. She asked him that night why he'd never been married. He said he couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life with any of the women he'd dated.

She dressed as she mused. She knew Ben had dated a number of women, and she knew him to be monogamous. Serially monogamous is how she'd say it. She on the other hand, hadn't dated much. When the kids were younger, she hadn't dated because she didn't want to take a chance of messing up their lives any more than the divorce had done already. Of course, that hadn't been her idea. And, even though it took years of therapy to convince her, it hadn't been her fault either. Her husband, Phillip had discovered, or come to grips with the fact that he was gay. Either way, it really had nothing to do with her. It was all about Phillip. Just as Gus’s infidelity was all about Gus, not about her. But, the two experiences still made her, perhaps less than trusting where men were concerned.

Still, she'd moved three years ago and she'd met Ben they had become friends. And, even though neither of them called the time they spent together dating, they did spend every Saturday night together. They talked together on the phone several times a week. When either of them was out of town during their Saturday night, they'd get together as soon as everyone was back. That was, unless it was on Ben's Friday night date night. As far as Lane knew, in all of the time she'd known him he had never had a free Friday night until three nights ago. So now what, she wondered.

She wondered if Pauli had returned and if the guys were dressed and ready to go. She wondered if she should pack or if they'd be staying another night. She was supposed to be back at work on Wednesday, so no matter what she'd have to head back to KC Tuesday. Lane knocked on the door between their rooms.

Pauli opened the door. "Ben's in the shower. You can come in if you're not worried about being accused of flirting with me."

She laughed. "I'll just sit over there in that chair and read. That should be safe."

She walked toward the chair as Pauli sat on the sofa. Who knows what possessed her, she picked up the throw pillow from the chair and threw it at him. They both laughed, but he left the pillow next to him where it had fallen. Ben came out of the bathroom completely dressed.

"I was thinking we could grab some breakfast before you need to meet Maggie at the airport.” He walked to Lane and bent to kiss her but paused to whisper in her ear "I could get used to waking up this way, you know." Then he brushed his lips across hers.

He looked at Pauli. "Wasn't that pillow in the chair earlier?"

Both Lane and Pauli looked at him with all the innocence they could muster. "I think it might have been." Pauli said.

Lane looked at the Bellini men. "Maggie gets in at 9:45. So, we only have about an hour. Shall we try the hotel restaurant? It's only a few minutes from here to the airport and we could wait until she calls to leave."