"You are now Natalie Greves," Gus said, handing her a driver's license.

She had dyed her hair brown, and Lawson had emailed her picture to Gus earlier that day. It now appeared on the license she held in her hand."Isn't this illegal?" she asked as Gus handed her some credit cards.

"Shooting at someone isn't illegal?" Lawson demanded, taking her license and looking at it. Greves. His real last name.

"Ass," he muttered to Gus. His friend smirked back.

"So, I hear that you're coming to Miami with us," Gus said to her.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were coming too."

"Sure. You'll get a chance to meet all of us. Get involved with this one," he said, gesturing to Lawson, "and you get the rest of us," Gus patted Lawson on the shoulder.

"Involved?"

"Aren't you..." Gus started.

"Gus, why don't you get home and pack. I'm sure you haven't started yet, knowing you. And don't forget your tux," Lawson said, pushing him out the door and closed it behind him.

"What does he mean by involved?"

"I had to tell them you're my girlfriend. How else would I explain bringing you? Do you want me to tell everyone you're hiding from some gun wielding accountants?"

"I think you have your own purposes."

"Maybe I do," he said with a smile. "But I told you. I'll behave," he said, holding up his hands.

"How are you going to explain us being boyfriend and girlfriend if you don't kiss me?"

"You can always ask for one," he grinned.

"So, you're refusing to kiss me until I ask for one."

"That was the deal," he said, walking into the bedroom.

"You're a strong man," she said, crossing her arms as he pulled out a duffel bag and started shoving clothes in them.

"Stronger than you think."

"Really?" she asked, flattered that he'd admit to having a hard time not kissing her.

"I could only get us one room with one bed," he said, stepping in front of her.

"You can sleep on the couch."

"No couch," he answered, stepping closer to her so they were almost touching.

"I hope you like the floor," she said with a smile.

"You'd put me on the floor?" he asked, offended.

"In a heartbeat."

"Talk about hard to get," he muttered walking over to the closet.

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

It seemed like she held her breath the whole flight from San Francisco to Miami. Flying made her nervous. She'd only flown a couple of times out of necessity. Lawson looked like he'd done it a million times and laughed at her when she gripped the armrests when they took off.

When they were about to land he offered his hand, but she shook her head no. She soon regretted it and held onto the armrests again with him grinning at her again.

"Law!" a pretty young girl with black curly hair came running over towards them as they came through the gate.

Lawson grinned, dropped his bags and picked the girl up in a big bear hug, spinning her around. He groaned in delight,"I missed you, peanut!" he said, kissing her enthusiastically on the cheek.

Jade stepped next to him and eyed the girl. She was maybe sixteen and stunningly beautiful. She looked up at Lawson with such love in her face.

"So, dad, where's Gus?" the girl asked, eying Jade watching them.

"Dad?!" Jade asked shocked.

"She likes to cause trouble. Don't you, peanut?" Lawson said with a grin, hugging her again.

"Don't worry, I call all of 'The Boys' dad," the girl said grinning.

"The Boys?"

"I'll explain that later. Nikki this is Natalie."

"Hi," Nikki said, shaking her hand.

"Here comes her real old man," Lawson said with a smile as they were joined by another stunning specimen of the male gender.

"Hey, Kyle," Lawson said, hugging him in one of those male hugs where they pound each other on the back.

"Good to see you, Law," Kyle answered, looking at Jade curiously.

"This is Natalie, who I told you about."

"Nice to meet you, Natalie," Kyle said, shaking her hand.

"You too," she answered, gawking at the hot Italian. He was no "old man". Jade would have on first instinct thought that he was, at the most, twenty, if she hadn't known that he had a teenage daughter.

"Again, where's Gus?" Nikki asked.

"He had to catch a later flight. Work ran late."

"Man," Nikki whined.

"Don't worry, he's coming," Kyle said, kissing her on the head.

"Lawson! Kyle! Nikki!" a gorgeous blonde woman yelled, running through the airport crowd to them. When she reached them, she hugged and kissed all three of them enthusiastically.

"Where's Gus?" she asked hesitantly, looking at Jade, and back to Lawson.

"He's coming. Next flight," he said, kissing her cheek. "I promise. He's definitely coming, he wouldn't miss it, you know that."

"Is he okay with this? I mean, really okay?"

"You going to not marry Ben if he's not?" Law chuckled.

"Ah...no..." Miranda bit her lip. "But he's okay? You swear?"

"Yes! He's okay. Or he says he is, at any rate, the thousand times we've asked him."

She nodded still biting on her lip.

"Can I introduce my friend now? This is my friend, Natalie, who I told you about."

Miranda blinked, then smiled widely at her."Sorry. Drama," Miranda said with a grimace. "It's nice to meet you, Natalie. And any friend of Law is a friend of mine," the blonde said, hugging her. "I'm Miranda," she said pulling back to look at Jade's  surprised face.

"Oh, the bride!" Jade said, coming back to her senses, as she had been trying to make out where this woman fit into the group.

Lawson had said that his friend who was getting married was Miranda and the groom was Ben. That was about all he had said. And she was still confused as to how she got herself into the mess at work, and now, at how she was feeling for a complete stranger. A bartender at that.

Her family would never approve. He would never fit in to her country club lifestyle and her parents' friends of doctors, lawyers, and financial icons. She smiled at the girl who had accepted her so easily as Lawson's girlfriend. They were only pretending. What harm could that do?

"I still can't believe that!" Miranda said with a laugh. "Me, a bride!"

"Where's Ben, angel?" Kyle asked.

"Driving Mom, Lauren, Kevin, and the kids back to our place. I'm sorry that we don't have room for everyone at the house. We're barely moved in ourselves and the rest of the renovations aren't done for the guest rooms."

"The hotel's fine," Lawson said, "You know us, we're not hard to please."

"I know, but I feel bad sticking you guys there," she said, putting her arm through his.

"Good. You'll owe us one then."

"Only one, sweetie?"

"Well, it is your wedding and all," he said with a smile.

She chuckled and kissed his cheek. "God, I've missed you."

"Me too." He nudged her shoulder with his.

"So, let's get going," Miranda told the group.

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

"So, Natalie, Lawson hasn't told me much about you. How did you guys meet?" Miranda asked at dinner when Lawson had left to go use the bathroom.

They were at a long table with all of Miranda and the groom, Ben's, family and friends, who were scattered about the karaoke bar/restaurant.

"Oh, I sometimes go to the bar he works at."

"Bar?! Is that what he's up to now?" Miranda said with an amused smile.

"Didn't you know?"

"Oh, well. Lawson changes jobs a lot," Miranda said and took a bite of mashed potatoes.

"What else has he done?" Natalie asked curiously.

"A bit of everything."

"Anything interesting?" Natalie asked, intrigued.

"You should ask him."

"Alright, I will," Natalie said, taking a sip of her soda, wondering why it was such a secret where he'd worked in the past.

Later in the evening, they enjoyed the entertainment of the guests singing to the karaoke players.

"Okay, Boys, my wedding request from you is that you sing for me," Miranda said with a smile from the stage.

Jade was surprised when they all cheered "Lawson! Lawson!"

"Why me first?" Lawson complained, pushing back in his chair.

"Because you know the song that I want."

He groaned, but he got up on stage. "It's called Karaoke. I don't need the words for this."

"Or music," she said, holding up a guitar.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, taking it from her.

"Get up here, you jerks, give me some back up," Lawson said into the mike.

Gus and Kyle got up and joined him.

"Not getting out of it," he said with a grin to them.

"So, most of you know the story, so I won't bore you again. But for those of you that don't, the jist of it is that we all call Miranda here, Angel, not only because she's got a face like an angel, but because she's always been like a guardian angel to us. Everything seems to go better having her around. It was Doug who started it, and as you all know, he should be up here with us," he said, paused and cleared his throat.

"Anyways, he thought this song summed it up how we all feel about her, and one day we sang it to her as a joke... and now we're doomed to sing it to her forever. Thanks, Dougie," he said, looking up at the ceiling.

"So, most of you know it by now, so feel free to join in...It's "How Do You Talk to an Angel" from the old tv show "The Heights".

Jade sat back and smiled awaiting him to sing. She was amused that they were making him sing. It would be fun to see how he sung. She was curious, though, when Miranda handed him a guitar. Was he going to play that as well? Did he even know how?

No one else in the room sang as he suggested, they just listened to Lawson sing, with Kyle and Gus sometimes backing him up as the chorus.

The crowd went wild when they were done, including Jade. She was amazed at how good he was. If she was a record producer she would have signed him up right then and there.

Miranda got up on stage to hug and kiss them each in thanks.

"That was great," Jade said as he sat down next to her.

"Thanks," he said, taking a sip of his water.

"You really have an incredible voice," she said, touching his arm.

"Yeah, thanks. Excuse me," he said, getting up and walking away.

Jade turned to look at him. He had looked upset. He walked out the front door.

She saw Miranda follow quickly after him.

Gus sat down next to her. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I complimented his singing, he said thanks, excused himself and got up and left," Jade said confused.

"Hey," Kyle said, stepping behind him.

"Hey," Gus said, looking to him.

"Doug?" Kyle asked.

"Doug," Gus said, getting up.

"Shit." Kyle looked at the door.

"I'll go talk to him. Keep Natalie company, would ya?" Gus said, patting Kyle's shoulder.

"Who's Doug?" Natalie asked Kyle.

"One of us. He was killed last year about this time," Kyle told her, wiping his eyes absently.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's hard on us all. But Lawson. God...he has a hard time dealing with it." Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose, and Jade saw him sneak an eye wipe again.

"Is there anything I can do? He's been so kind to me."

"Just be there if he wants to talk. He usually doesn't though."

"Why not?"

"Lawson is... how do I put this... sensitive...I guess. Don't tell him I said that. He'd punch my lights out," Kyle said with an affectionate half smile.

"If he's sensitive, doesn't he talk about his feelings?"

"He's a guy," Kyle said lifting an eyebrow and grinned.

His face went back to serious. "Lawson's good at giving other people advice. Handling their problems. We call him The Peacemaker. He can't stand anyone being mad at anyone else or dealing with a problem by themselves. He always intervenes. He tries to make peace and resolve the problem. But his own problems, he doesn't like to deal with them, and doesn't want anyone else to either."

He looked up as Lawson, Gus, and Miranda came back in.

"Everything okay?" Kyle asked, getting up.

"Yeah. Fine," Lawson said, taking his chair.

And everything was fine for the rest of the night. They had a great time talking and laughing with everyone. Lawson's mood had seemed to have been lifted by whatever Gus and Miranda had talked to him about outside. Jade was grateful that he had such supportive friends. She hoped, in time, that he would be willing to confide in her like he did with them.

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

They came back to the hotel late. Lawson put his arm around her in the cab and kept it there until they went into their room.

Jade went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and change into a nightshirt. When she came back out, he was sound asleep on the bed.

"Lawson," she said, shaking his shoulder.

"Hmm," he murmured, not opening his eyes.

"Take off your pants."

"Thought you'd never ask," Lawson said sleepily, a slow, lazy smile appearing on his face.

"Haha. Come on. Take them off and get in bed."

He stood up, his eyes half closed, and unzipped his pants. Jade turned away from him embarrassed and went around to the other side of the bed.

Lawson pulled his pants down. With a subtle glance over to Jade, he saw her fussing with the bedcovers to avoid watching him undress. He hated that she was still so shy around him, but he used her awkwardness to his advantage and quickly unstrapped his gun holster from around his leg. He wrapped it up in his pants, and set it on the chair, next to the bed. Law pulled off his shirt and threw that on the chair as well.

He took the pillow and extra throw blanket from the bed and tossed them on the floor. He laid down and covered himself as best he could as he tried to get comfortable.

"What are you doing?" she asked, sitting up.

"Going to sleep," he grumbled.

"You can get in the bed," she offered shyly.

"We said the floor," he pointed out.

"I can't ask you to sleep on the floor."

"You didn't ask," he said with a yawn. "You told."

"I wasn't serious."

"You want me to sleep with you?" he asked surprised. He'd been looking for signs from her, but though she was friendly enough all night, and hadn't pulled away when he put his arm around her in the cab, he didn't think she wanted anything more than being a friend from him right now.

"If you behave yourself."

It was a start, he thought. He'd take anything he could. And though it'd be hard for him to not touch her, especially being in the same bed with her, Law could do it if it meant that down the road she might be willing to get together.

Jade had responded to his kissing her at his apartment. He hadn't imagined that. She found him to be just as attractive as he found her. If Gus hadn't called when he did, Law was almost certain they would have slept together then. He got up and put the pillow back on the bed. He climbed in and pulled the comforter around him. He turned his back to her. "Night, Jade."

"Night, Lawson," she said with a smile that he was going to keep his word to behave.

There was a light knock on the door. He groaned but got up and went to it. "Who is it?"

"Nikki," was the answer.

"You okay?" he asked, opening the door.

"Need a hug," she said, more of a question to him then a statement for her, and hugged him.

"I love ya, peanut," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"Love ya, too, Dad," she said, and quickly kissed his cheek.

He ruffled her hair, pleased she'd called him that when she wasn't joking around to potential girlfriends. "Get some sleep."

"You going to?"

"I'll try."

"Dad-dad said that he'd take a shift, if you want," Nikki said pointedly looking in Jade's direction.

"Tell him I'm fine."

"Okay. Night."

"Night, peanut," he said and closed the door, making sure it was locked and bolted.

"Everything okay?" Jade asked as he climbed back in.

"Yup," he said, turning off the lamp beside the bed before lying down.

"She's a nice kid."

"Yeah, she is."

"Why is it that she calls you and Gus dad, as well as, her real dad?"

He was quiet a moment, "She doesn't as much as she used to. She uses our names now that she's older."

"But why does she? Most kids call their dad's friends 'uncle', not 'dad'."

"We helped raise her. Kyle and his wife divorced when she was real little. Kyle got joint custody, but he had to work a lot and couldn't watch her all the time. We all pitched in. Nikki wasn't sure sometimes who her real dad was. She called us all dad. We tried getting her to call us by our names, but she'd then called us Daddy Law, Daddy Gus and Daddy Doug. Miranda was Mamaranda. Now, she only calls us that when she's trying to be cute. Or, when she sees us with a girl and wants to see us squirm when she calls us dad in front of our date. She's a character."

"She seems like a good kid. You did a good job," she said, leaning on her elbow to look at him.

"Nah, I was the bad influence on her. That's why she's got the sick sense of humor. Gets it from me," he said, rolling over to turn his back to her. "Night," he told her again.

"Night," she said with a smile.

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

Jade woke to find herself in Lawson's arms. Her head was on his shoulder. One of his arms was under her neck, the other lay lazily over her hip.

She closed her eyes and breathed to calm herself. Why was she reacting in such a way to him? Maybe because she had never slept in the same bed with a man? Maybe because he was so incredibly gorgeous? Maybe because he kissed her in a way that no man had ever done? Maybe because he was being so sweet and kind to her?

Jade put an arm around him and nuzzled her head into Lawson's chest in a soft hug. Thank you, she said in her mind to him.

He responded by kissing her lightly on her forehead. Jade looked up at him, but Lawson was still asleep. She closed her eyes, keeping her arm around him.