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A soft sigh punctuated the silence inside the spacious hotel suite. Despite the fact that it was almost pitch-black dark, she was acutely aware of the other queen-sized bed's occupant. Trying hard not to breathe loudly, the dark-haired vixen was having a hell of a time controlling her racing pulse. Her palms were sweaty, too.

Quickly, before she could lose her nerve, she threw aside the thin sheet that covered her legs and slipped out of bed. Four short paces later, she was standing next to his bed and what she did next surprised them both— she lifted the edge of the blanket and slid into bed beside him. "You awake?" she whispered, her breath warm against his ear as her arm snaked around his waist, "I can't sleep."

If the whisper of her voice didn't do it, the feeling of her arm sliding around his waist certainly would have as he let out a yawn, barely allowing his eyes to open to find the room was all but dark before he opened them further. A smile crossed his face as he wrapped his arm around her body and then the other before he whispered in return. "Not at the moment. Is everything alright?" He asked, tightening his grip around her as he hugged her against him.

"Yes," she murmured, and then quickly corrected herself, "I mean... no... I don't know." The warmth of his arms around her excited her in ways she couldn't really explain. Her skin felt too tight, tingling as if it wanted to revolt. She felt completely amped up. She had all day, and the spa treatments and the long soak in the hot tub hadn't really taken the edge off one bit. Chuckling softly, she inched closer to him and pressed her lips to his cheek. "This is better. I was lonely all the way over there."

"Well I'm glad you joined me." A smile crept across his face as he looked down to her. "I got us separate beds, because that's what you wanted. I didn't want to disrespect your wishes. But like I say...I'm glad you came over. Did you have fun today?" One of his hands readjusted the blankets, pulling them up over her shoulders to forbid her from getting cold. "I tried to make this whole trip something special just for you."

She sighed in contentment, closing her eyes, more than willing to lay here in silence and just listen to his voice. She wondered if he even knew how sexy it was, like rich chocolate, oozing with sin. "Today was amazing," she said finally, as if she knew she was expected to reply, "you've been so good to me, Christian. I... wish I could repay you for this..." hesitating, she bit her lip, and then continued with the innuendo she knew he'd have no trouble picking up on, "I want to make it as good for you as it is for me."

He shook his head, leaning down a bit to kiss her forehead. "You don't have to pay me for anything. This is what you needed, what you deserve. You've had a pretty rough few days of late, and the one thing I wanted to do was put a smile on your face, take your mind off everything that's happened. You owe me nothing." He emphasized the last few words of that, tilting her chin up and pressing a kiss to her lips. They had shared a kiss here and there throughout the weekend, but each of them had an electricity to them, that one being no different. "Smile for me?"

She flushed with pleasure, unable to keep herself from grinning. Suddenly, she wished it was brighter in the room, so she could better see the look in his eyes. "If you could do anything you wanted to do right now, what would it be?" Her question came out of the blue, but there was no denying the heat between them.

That brought an equally wide smile to his face, because the answer was obvious. It felt like what they were both wanting at this point. "I think that's probably the easiest question ever to answer. And I know for a fact...." He trailed off, sharing another kiss with her. One arm wrapped around her, the other had worked under the blankets and let its fingertips travel along her thigh. "That we are both wanting the same thing." He leaned in, whispering into her ear and revealing exactly what that was. "Each other."

"You read my mind," she whispered back, running her hand over his washboard abs. Later she might feel guilty about this, but right now she couldn't get enough of the feel of him, the taste of him. Everything about him was driving her insane with desire.

"I am growing more and more fond of the way your mind works." He managed to utter that before pulling her over him and resuming the kisses where they had just left off moments before.

He was an incredible kisser, and they were so much better like this, when they were face to face, inches apart. It was almost as though that one casual invitation for drinks had been somehow orchestrated by a higher power that knew just how compatible they were...



The surroundings were nothing that would stand out in anyone's memory, a small piano bar buried in the heart of New York City. A little nicer than the typical bars patronized by college kids looking to impress one another, a little more upscale as well. Bartender in a vest as he poured drinks before handing them to the waitress, two of them this time. A scotch on the rocks and a cherry whiskey. She had never seen this couple in the bar before.

"I've never been to this place before, so I'm going to apologize now if it turns out to be terrible," mused Christian as he sat in a small booth against the wall across from Kaitlynn Stryfe. Part of him couldn't believe he was here. A simple offer to make a new friend over a social network lead to a chat over both direct messages and then text messages. And with a few moments, he found himself sitting across this gorgeous creature. And it wasn't anything he regretted at all. The waitress placed their drinks down as Christian gave her a wave before she headed off, fully returning his attention to his guest.

She picked up her drink, taking a slow sip before licking the sticky-sweet liquor off her lips. "I'm sure it'll be fine. I've been to some real dives in my time." Her words were casual enough, but her eyes were definitely measuring him. A little hint of a smile hovered at the corners of her lips as she watched him over the rim of her glass before taking another sip. "We should have gone to a night club. Loud music. Bodies moving. Less need for all... this..." she waved her free hand vaguely.

"I'll tell you what. Next time you're in Florida, I'll show you the club I run there. You might like it better. A bit more noise, a lot more people." Glancing over, he pointed to the man playing the piano. "A lot less Steinway." He gestured towards the piano. "Besides this is about you, putting a smile on your face. Getting to know you, which admittedly is something I have wanted to do for some time now, even back in the EWC. Spending time with Kaitlynn Stryfe, one more thing off the bucket list."

She laughed softly, the sound almost bitter with disbelief, "I hardly think hanging out with me is something that people long for, but I appreciate the sentiment. So, is that what we're doing here? Getting to know each other?" She tossed back the rest of her drink, pushing the empty glass away from her, "sorry, that sounded a bit catty, didn't it? I guess I'm a bit rusty on the ‘making friends' thing."

"Listen, believe it or not, that's all I'm looking for here. I can tell you've had a lot to go through lately, with Jenny and Kat and everything else. And I just wanted to be able to say I was able to take your mind off it for a little while, even if it is over a bad rendition of Moon River." He cast his gaze back to the man at the piano for a brief moment. "You seemed like you could use a friend. I decided to apply for the job." He stared down into his glass for a moment. "But I'll drop the pretense for you, if you want. I know what you probably think I'm after. Do I find you to be one of the most devastatingly beautiful women I know? Yes. But I also find you to be someone whom strikes me as not having a lot of places to turn. Some things you can't talk to a spouse about. And I wouldn't trust ¾ of the locker room with the brand name I use for shampoo. All I want tonight, Kitty, is to be there if you want someone there. So yeah, we're getting to know each other. Nowhere else I'd rather be right now."

She sighed, somewhat taken aback at the honesty of his reply, and his accurate summation of her current circumstances. "I..." she paused, finding that she was actually at a loss for words, "I don't know what to say. You're right; I was expecting you to try and get me liquored up and charm me out of these pants, but..." she tossed her head, clearing her hair from her face, "I really could use a friend right now so if you want the job, it's yours." The smile she gave him was sincere, and it lit up her eyes, making them seem almost golden.

"Don't move a muscle, hold it right there." He said before reaching into his pocket, removing his smartphone before aiming and taking a picture of her for a moment and handing it to her as the image showed on the screen. "Look at that. I applied for the job, and I already got paid. You have a beautiful smile; I don't know how often you look at it. But I think it's worthy of admiration by more than just me."

She looked down at the screen, actually blushing at his compliment. "Thanks," she mumbled, handing the phone back to him. "Maybe you should set that as my caller ID picture." The smile on his face made her almost melt; in that one look between them there was suddenly heat flashing through her that she knew wasn't just the blood in her cheeks. Suddenly, her impulse decision to go out with him had taken on a whole other agenda. One that made her want to see him naked, and find out if all the rumors she'd heard about him were true.

A few swipes of his finger on the screen, he looked back up to her. "Excellent idea! But there is one more thing I want to show you, because I just had an idea. Crazy, I know, but bear with me." He began sorting through the phone's menus before finding what he was looking for, showing her what could only be described as a tropical oasis. The image was of a crystal blue surf crashing against the sand. "This is Catalina Island. A place I've been to a few times off the coast of California. Now here comes the crazy. What do you say we head out there for the weekend? Just us? Away from everything. FFW. Twitter. Everything. My treat. I'll even get two bedrooms, just to prove that I'm not here to get you out of those pants. Just you and I, the beach, sun, sand, and we'll leave all the drama here in this piano bar. What do you think?" He slid over in his booth, inviting her to come sit with him by patting the seat. "You want to look at these pictures? I took a bunch of them the last time I was there, it's gorgeous. Perfect for drop dead gorgeous brunettes and their new best friends whose song we met under...is now apparently Under the Yum Yum Tree." Christian's eyes rolled at the choice of music before once more encouraging her to join him.

"Could be worse," she quipped, slipping to her feet with effortless grace before joining him on his side of the booth, "it could be Liberace playing over there. Then we'd be blinded by sequins, too." Looking down at the screen, she was immediately captivated by the views of the blue water and the white sand beaches. "Oh, wow. It looks like... heaven." She hesitated for about a split second, and then found herself grinning, "let's do it," she said recklessly. His offer was much too inviting, especially the thought of leaving Twitter and the rest of the current drama behind, even if it was only for a few days.

Holding the phone in one hand, he flicked through the pictures with his thumb as he glanced from the images to her and back again. "When I get back to the hotel tonight, I'll make the arrangements myself and we'll spend three or four days there, you and I. And I will do everything in my power to make that smile you showed me that I took a picture of a lot brighter." She wasn't the only one feeling the heat in her body rise. There was practically what felt like a fire building as they sat alongside one another. "A few days in paradise never hurt anyone..."

"Paradise," she echoed, looking wistfully at the pictures before leaning her head against his shoulder for a few seconds. The gesture was almost like a hug, somewhat familiar, but without a lot of contact, "are you saying I've lost my smile?" The words were meant as a joke, and she giggled with them, suddenly feeling giddy. It was probably the alcohol, and the fact that she hadn't been eating or sleeping well lately.

"No, we found that earlier. I just want to find a bigger one." He whispered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and hugging her against him. "And if you can't smile in paradise, there's nowhere left."

Contented like the proverbial cat that got the cream, Kitty laid back against the mattress, letting out a theatrical sigh as her eyes drifted closed. "Wow," she murmured, cuddling up against his side, "stick a fork in me. I'm done."

A wide smile drifted across her lips as she looked up to his face, reciting the words still fresh in her mind, "if you can't smile in paradise, there's nowhere left."