Alexis opened the door to see him standing there with a half disappointed look on his face

"Hi"

Before she could get in another word he interrupted

"I just saw Ned drop her off"

Her, his boundary

"Yeah I guess I should have had Snake call you and tell you Ned was bringing Kristina home"

And yes it was in a smart ass tone

Lorenzo grinned. He was tickled that she found Snake so amusing

"Well are you coming in?"

"I thought... I mean. Yes Id really like to"

"She spent the day in the park so shes completely worn out and shes out like a light" Alexis said closing the door behind him

"You know I dont want to intrude"

"I wouldnt have invited you in if you were"

Knowing what little he did of her, she was being honest she wouldnt have let him in

"Your head, it looks much better" She said placing her long thin fingers at his cheek

"Yeah it will be fine, its hard" he said pulling the palm of her hand to his lips and giving it a gentle kiss

"Im glad youre ok"

"I wasnt until you came last night"

"Dont say that"

"Its the truth. You answered what I had been questioning in a big way"

"And that answer was?"

"That you cared enough to risk getting caught being associated with me. That despite you seeming to be able to cut all ties with me if something went disarray you didnt... you cared for me..."

"I, I" why was this hard to admit out loud? "You knew I cared"

"I knew you did. But I thought you would have nothing to do with me after my incident on the docks yesterday"

He was now shooting himself in the foot

What he was saying made her think twice

Think twice about the whole situation, about everything she had been worrying about since last night

She was biting her lip again

Bad sign

"Um I was actually just about to order dinner? Care to join me?"

She completely changed the subject

She ignored the whole conversation

"I would love to join you but" he said in response though completely suspicious of her quick change of subject

"I havent had Chinese in forever how does that sound? Or theres a great Italian place that delivers..."

"Chinese is fine"

"Anything in particular you want?"

The conversation had disappeared

"You order, Ill eat"

"Ok"

Alexis picked up the phone and started dialing the number

"You know the number by heart?"

He would follow her lead in conversation, the avoidance tactic

"I know the menu by heart"

"Oh yes I forgot what domestic goddess you are!"

Alexis eyes widened at him unable to comment before she had to place the order on the phone

****************

Dinner for two

Whatever the conversation was about before she obviously wanted to forget about

He had no choice

"Just taste it!"

Lorenzo turned up his nose

"Its chicken"

"Are you sure?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"It doesnt look like chicken" he said very seriously

"I would have never guessed you to be such a picky eater!"

"Im not picky. I just like my food to be identifiable! Thats not identifiable!"

"One little taste"

Her eyes were seductively begging

Why did she chose such a thing to get her way about

Lorenzo opened his mouth

Defeated

He chewed

"See chicken"

Sweet victory

"Ok its chicken"

"And its good"

"It is good" he said grinning

She leaned in and kissed him

He only grinned more, this time laughter followed

Alexis reached for his hand

He followed her to the couch

She sat but waited for him to get comfortable before she snuggled in to his arms

She fit to perfection

"Can we finish our conversation we were having earlier?"

He couldnt avoid any longer

"Lets not, lets just..."

"You were completely jovial with me and then your mood changed completely and then you avoided the conversation we were having instantly. Is avoidance your usual tactic? "

Nail on the head

"Look you said it was none of my business what happened. I do care, I do like you... I did want to know if you were ok. I worried to the moment I opened the door" she said defensively

"So now youre willing to put up with what I do when you wanted no part of it before?"

"Do you want to fight about this?"

"No I just want to understand, I just want us to be honest. God Im falling in love with you faster than I thought possible and having this between us..."

"Youre falling in love with me?"

"Yes Alexis"

She stopped the conversation

She was biting her lip again

Lorenzo placed his finger to her mouth trying to find a space in her silence to interject

"Talk to me"

She shook her head

"Dont fall in love with me" she protested seriously

"I cant help it Alexis and besides youre telling me you dont want me to. And that you dont feel the same"

"I cant feel the same!"

It fell out of her mouth, but where did it come from?

"Alexis! God dont say..."

She looked at him, her dark brown eyes where drowned in puddles

"Ive done this before! Ive done this ,and last time I fell in love. I, I can only go so far with you because I know what it feels like. I know what the end of this feels like.... I just wasnt thinking straight about any of this and then last night I told myself I wouldnt get so wrapped up in you. I wouldnt let this go too far!"

The truth of her thoughts in the past 24 hours where filling the blank sheet of paper

And he knew exactly who she was speaking of. The man she now loathed. He just didnt expect her to have this kind of emotion

"Alexis his life is not mine. What happened on the docks yesterday was a misunderstanding..." His words were easily translated in to lies "Alexis I dont handle things like him. Im not him!"

"If you dont, if youre not then why did he have someone send you to the emergency room last night?"

She had figured it out, easy

"Alexis it was a misunderstanding. He thinks Im behind all of his troubles. I tried to erase Corinthos out of my life the second you came in to it because I knew you wouldnt stand to have me associated with him..."

"But you cant. You cant just get him out of your life. And even I didnt realize this until last night. Its like having the Sonny Corinthos disease and it never goes away!"

Tears flowed down her face

"Alexis what in the hell did he do to you?!?"

He didnt stop to think if the question was too personal

She looked as if someone had just hit her right in the gut

Avoidance again

"This was better when I thought it was going to be about sex, we shouldnt do this. It all too complicated now"

"You dont want this to be about sex!"

"I do, I do" she unconvincingly

Her tears where of sadness, not anger

"Ill walk out right now if you want me to. No one will ever know about us. But honestly I dont think you want me to" he said calmly

She put her face to the palms of her hands

He then tugged at her wrist making her look up to him

"Whatever he did to you, I promise I wont. I promise right now and you dont even have to explain. This is your out clause if I do anything that hurts you..." He paused frustrated "Alexis Im not him"

He wiped the tears that had fallen down her cheeks as she listened intently

She took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together

"Mental case huh?" she questioned letting out a nervous laugh

He leaned in and kissed her and then quickly pulled away

"Yeah, you really are" he said giving a slight shy grin

"Maybe we really shouldnt do this Lorenzo"

"Its to late" he said not having to convince her of it

He could see her chest rise and fall

He kissed her again this time, with passion and without doubt

She kissed back

Lips devouring

Tongues tasting

Leading, leading

He kissed her cheek, then her neck and then pulled her shirt away from her collar bone so he could taste her untasted skin

She made the first move

The first move. The move that would lead to the next that would take them farther than they had gone

Her finger slid down his throat on to his chest until she reached the first button of his shirt

She unbuttoned one and then the next

His chest

His scent

It wasnt about sex

But God was it about sex

"I"ve wanted you so much" she managed to say as he kissed away the last of her tears

"And Ive wanted you, Ive wanted you"

His hands went to her waste circling the button of her jeans

When he did that it made her breathe harder

"I cant wait to see you" he whispered in her ear "I want to know every part of you, memorize you"

He pushed her shirt up revealing her tanned skin

He made a mental note to discuss where she had been to get such tanned skin in all the right places

His hands roamed

His shirt came off

Kisses, that were never satisfying enough

Kisses sweet like candy

"Mama!"

Interrupted

Her little voice echoed throughout the apartment

He pulled away from her

"Im sorry"

He leaned in and kissed her

"Should I go?"

"No... not unless you want to"

He shook his head no

She stood up pulling her shirt back on

He sat on the edge of the couch and watched her until she disappeared in to the other room

Alexis came back out to the living room minutes later. On her hip was a curly headed little girl in pink pjs and toes that seemed to be a miniature version of a certain pair of bare feet he was so fond of

Lorenzo was shocked to see her

Alexis grinned at his face

He didnt realize how he was beaming

She stood there for a second as if she were assessing the situation one last time

"Lorenzo, I would like you to meet Kristina"

"Hello Ms. Kristina"

Kristina giggled burying her face into her mothers neck

Lorenzo appreciated the giggle but wasnt quite sure it was the response he needed to get in order to win both of them over

But Alexis assured him

"Strangely I think secretly that was my first reaction of you too" She said then laughing

"Her eyes" Lorenzo said suddenly

Her eyes, her eyes. God, she begged God that he wouldnt say they looked familiar. That he would say they were beautiful, that they were anything but a reminder of his

"I can see what you looked like as a child through her eyes" he said his face in honest amazement "I mean when you laugh whole heartedly or you blush when I touch you... She has your eyes"

"My eyes? You think so?"

It slipped from her lips

"Without question"

Her heart was racing and she looked at her little girl and then back at Lorenzo grinning

"Thank you"

"For?"

"Saying all of that"

"Its just what I see Alexis"

She reached out placing her hand to his chest

"Let me put her back down"

He shook his head

*************************

She walked back in the living room and he hung up his cell

"Little late for business"

"No business just travel plans"

She looked at him disappointed

He grinned

"I want to take you to Paris"

"What?"

"Remember you told me you loved Paris, let me take you"

"Thats out of the blue"

"It is, but Id still like to take you"

"I cant just leave Kristina and besides are you sure you want to get stuck in a foreign country with a nut job like me?"

"I assumed you would bring Kristina. She will love Paris at night the white lights covering everything up to the top of the Eiffel Tower... and yes I would really like to have a nut job like you there too"

"I hate to be so hesitant it just seems sudden I mean we cant even have a simple date, much less even had the chance to ..."

"Alexis" he said pulling his lips to hers stopping her rambling "I want to make love to you for the first time in Paris. No interruptions, no worries about the real life. Just Paris and my beautiful secret"

He was ridiculously charming

"Say yes"

His eyes where begging

"Yes" slipped from between her lips

He grinned, a happy man

Lorenzo leaned back on the couch pulling her against him where she fit to perfection

She stayed there the rest of the night

End of ch. 7