he stopped and met her look head-on. "as a matter of fact, i am."

she blinked as though his honesty had taken her by surprise. "do you want to talk about it?"

"i've tried twice, and noelle and her future obviously isn't something you want to discuss with me."

"you're not her father," mary jo snapped.

she couldn't have said anything that would have wounded him more. he considered himself noelle's protector. he loved that baby as if he were her father. he'd brought her into this world and been the first to hold her in his arms. from that moment forward, mack had felt a special bond with noelle, warranted or not.

"right," he said stiffly, and walked past her. once inside, he closed the door. he hung up his clothes, put away his groceries and swallowed a groan of sheer frustration.

not more than five minutes later, his doorbell rang. assuming it was mary jo, mack toyed with the idea of not answering. instead, he walked to the front door and threw it open. he wanted to make sure she understood that he resented the intrusion.

staring at him intently, she stood on the other side with noelle in her arms. "i hate it when you're upset with me."

he left the screen door shut and waited for his heart to stop pounding. "are you ready to talk?" he asked.

she nodded.

mack held open the screen and let her in. he motioned for her to sit down on the sofa and went into the kitchen to make them coffee. he brought out two cups. she ignored hers. he ignored his. mary jo set noelle on the rug, and the six-month-old immediately began crawling toward the coffee table.

despite his dour mood, mack couldn't help smiling. he bent down and scooped the baby into his arms. happy to see him, noelle gurgled with delight. then, remembering why mary jo was in his home, mack sobered and set noelle back on the carpet to crawl about as she pleased. as mary jo had so recently reminded him, he had no rights with regard to this child.

"you...aren't noelle's father," she said again.

he glared at her. she'd already made her point and he could see no reason for her to say it again.

"but i wish you were," she added.

those words removed the sting from her earlier comment. "i do, too," he admitted.

"it's obvious that you love noelle."

he couldn't have made his feelings toward mary jo and her baby any plainer. he loved them both, although so far it'd done him little good.

"i...i spoke with ben and charlotte recently," she continued. "they talked to olivia, who recommended that i file for child support. apparently it doesn't matter whether david has a job or not. they said it was important that i register with the state."

he wondered if mary jo would accept that advice. when they'd last spoken, she'd been dead set against taking any action, certain david would follow through on his threat.

"according to charlotte, olivia has lots of experience in these cases and she said david would be forced to own up to his responsibility."

"but you're afraid he'll ask for joint custody of noelle once the support request goes through?" mack believed that was a scare tactic.

"that's what people keep telling me, linc included. i hate it when everyone seems to think they know what's best for me and noelle." her voice quavered slightly.

mack found himself wrestling with indecision, but he'd done too much of that in the past. he had to hold fast to his convictions.

"you want what's best for noelle, yet you're willing to let david terrorize you."

"i'm afraid he'll find some way of taking noelle away from me," she said, sounding close to panic at the mere thought of it.

"which is playing right into his hands, isn't it? david doesn't want to be part of noelle's life. he couldn't care less about his daughter-or you, for that matter."

"i know," she whispered. she reached down and picked up noelle, who squirmed in her arms, wanting to be put down again. mary jo clung to her baby.

"do you honestly think any judge in the land would consider giving noelle to david?" mack asked incredulously.

"i...don't think so, but it could happen. i can't risk that. i don't need david. i don't want anything to do with him. basically he's saying he wants me to leave him alone, and i'm happy to do that."

"but then you aren't protecting noelle."

"yes, i am," she insisted.

mack walked to the other side of the room. "is he named as noelle's father on the birth certificate?" he turned back and watched her nod reluctantly.

"what if something happened to you?" he asked. "what if, god forbid, you became ill or were seriously injured and unable to care for noelle? who would take her?"

"linc and lori...maybe. i hadn't thought of that."

he wanted to shout that these were the very scenarios that ran through his mind in the middle of the night.

"if you were...gone or incapable of caring for noelle, the state would contact david, because he's noelle's legal father. she would then become his responsibility."

mary jo looked horrified. noelle slid out of her arms and plopped down on her thick diaper, sitting at her mother's feet.

"when ben talked to me, he said he was afraid that if...sometime down the road i got married and my husband wanted to adopt noelle, david would do everything he could to cause problems. he'd use noelle for his own purposes."

mack had thought of that himself. he didn't trust that jerk for a second.

mary jo glanced his way. "i'll never understand how i could've been so blind and stupid. one error in judgment, and look what happened." she swallowed visibly.

"ben must have urged you to take action for another reason," he said.

mary jo nodded. "he told me that if i were to approach david with relinquishment papers now, he'd probably sign them, which would save us all a lot of trouble down the road. ben also told me that noelle will always be his granddaughter. he's already made provisions for her in his will."

"i wouldn't expect anything less of a man like ben rhodes."

mary jo bit her lip. "i'd want someone else to talk to david, though."

"let me." mack would get david to sign those papers without a problem, and it wouldn't take long, either.

"no...i was thinking i might hire mr. harris to do it. he could deduct his fee from my paycheck."

it seemed she was still considering that action as she spoke. mack took a moment to digest her words.

"so you're willing to approach david? or have someone approach him on your behalf?"

she hesitated. "i...don't know yet."

he stiffened and wanted to tell her that she should inform him when she'd made her decision. until then, he'd rather she didn't torment him with her wishy-washy attitude.

again, mary jo sensed his irritation. "can i change the subject for a moment?" she asked.

he wondered if this was just another delaying tactic, and then with a sigh of resignation nodded for her to continue.

"i had a wonderful time at your parents' house last week."

they'd barely spoken since then. right afterward, mack was on duty for four days straight. once he got back home, he'd tried to talk to mary jo but she'd been unresponsive. he'd more or less ignored her ever since.

"i apologize if my mother embarrassed you," he muttered.

"she didn't," mary jo told him. "i was kind of amused that she assumed we were going to announce our engagement."

mack shoved his hands in his pockets. "amused?" this woman had him so twisted up in knots he didn't know if he was coming or going. he felt he'd done nothing but make a fool of himself over her.

"why are you looking at me like i said something offensive?" mary jo asked. "honestly, mack, you're so prickly these days...."

"the idea of marrying me is a big joke?" he said in a sullen voice.

"i didn't say that!"

"sorry, maybe i need my hearing tested because that's exactly what it sounded like."

"do you love me?" she asked.

mack didn't answer because he didn't want her scoffing at him, didn't want her to disparage his feelings.

"well, i guess that's that," she said after an awkward moment. she reached for noelle.

mack knew if he didn't say something fast, she'd leave. this might be his last opportunity and he didn't want to waste it on resentment or retaliation. "i couldn't have made my feelings for you and noelle any more obvious if i tried. yes, i love you, mary jo. my thoughts haven't been my own from the second i answered your 9-1-1 call last christmas."

once again mary jo bit her lip. "i fell in love before, and i was so stupid and foolish. david-"

"i'm not david!" he flared. "i don't know how much longer it's going to take you to realize i'm nothing like him. what have i ever done to make you think i'd harm you or noelle?"

he was just warming to his subject when mary jo put noelle down and walked over to him.

"i-" he wasn't allowed to finish. mary jo placed her hands on his shoulders and practically forced him to look directly at her.

"i love you, jerome mcafee," she said.

the air rushed from his lungs and mack found himself unable to speak-and not just because she'd used his given name, which was known to very few people.

"did you hear what i said?" she asked.

he couldn't respond, couldn't even manage a nod.

"do you need me to repeat that?"

this time he bobbed his head.

she dropped her hands and gave him the most dazzling smile he'd ever seen. "i love you. noelle loves you, too. we both love you."

feeling completely out of control, it was all he could do to return her smile.

"you could kiss me now if you wanted," mary jo suggested.

mack wanted, all right. he wanted to hold her and kiss her. he gathered her in his arms and his heart seemed about to take flight. lowering his mouth to hers, he felt an incredible surge of emotion. just then, with noelle holding on to his pant leg and mary jo in his arms, he felt as if his whole world had been transformed.

mary jo tasted sweet and wonderful, and one kiss wasn't nearly enough. soon they were kissing each other deeply, intensely. they might have continued kissing and discovering their newly declared feelings if noelle hadn't let out a sudden cry.

reluctantly mary jo broke away and picked up her daughter. "you made me forget about noelle," she whispered as though she had trouble finding her voice.

me, too, he thought, hard as that was to believe.

mack slid his hands down her arms, because he needed to keep touching her.

"i'm glad we finally talked," she said. "i couldn't stand having you upset with me."