The corners of his mouth turned up. The smile transformed him, making him handsome and approachable. It also made her heart beat just a little faster and her breathing increase.

The flu, she told herself. A physical manifestation of her virus. Nothing more.

"Thank you," she said, pushing herself to her feet and swaying slightly before she gained her balance. "I'm very grateful for your assistance."

"You're welcome."

There was a plus to all this, she thought. If Jeff turned out to be a nice guy in disguise, maybe she could convince him not to fire her from her cleaning job. Then in a few short days, she could return to her regular life and pretend none of this had happened.

The security-soldier business paid better than she'd realized, Ashley thought thirty minutes later when Jeff pulled into the driveway of a two-story glass-and-wood house more than halfway up Queen Anne Hill. The view through clouds and light rain was impressive, with Lake Union down below and the west side of the city visible across the water. She could only imagine how beautiful it would be when the weather was nice.

"Is this yours?" Maggie asked excitedly from the back seat of the luxury car. "It's so big and pretty. Do you have kittens? There's lots of room for them. If you wanted to get one, I'd help you take very good care of it."

"Ever hopeful," Ashley murmured. "Maggie is desperate for a kitten."

"I've noticed."

On their way over from the shelter Maggie had talked about kittens and her school and how nice everyone at the shelter had been. It gave the adults a break from having to make conversation. Ashley, for one, was grateful.

"Where's your 'partment?" Maggie asked as they waited for the garage door to open. "Is it up high? Mommy and me live on the top floor and sometimes it's fun to look out at the city or watch when the storms come. And in the summer when it's hot, we open all the windows, 'cause no one can climb in when we're up so high."