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Chapter5

I’m not a morning person.I could spend hours in bed drifting in and out of sleep if I were allowed to.And sometimes I could do that.When I was between projects I slept like crazy to make up for the long daysonset.

In case anyone was wondering, action flicks are no joke.You film in the dead of night, at dawn, all day, soaking wet, under water, climbing...you name it, I’ve done it.On almost nosleep.

It took me a couple of days, but now that I was fully in vacation mode, I’d been sleeping later andlater.

And well, after the gymnastics Colt put us through last night and early this morning...well lets just say I wasn’t in a hurry to open my eyes.I was so warm, so comfortable.I might as well have been sleeping on a cloud under the bright blanket ofthesun.

“Hey beautiful?Can you letmeup?”

I heard the voice but I ignored it.Anything that disturbed this type of perfection couldn’t beworthit.

“Annie,” the voice chuckled.“C’mon.”Then there was some wiggling as I was gently moved from my warm pillow to something much lesswonderful.

A realpillow.

My eyes shot open as I realized Colt had been my cloud.I focused just as he disappeared into mybathroom.Whoa.

“Do you want some breakfast?My treat?”he called, the sound of the sink running in thebackground.

My stomach grumbled on command.“Um, sure?”I wasstarving.

He laughed again, appearing in the doorway.“You don’t have to sound so unsure.You either want me to stick around and have some breakfast or you want me to beat it out of here so you can be rid of me.”He shot me ateasinggrin.

I licked my lips as I took in the sight of him.The way his biceps flexed as he dried his hands on the bright white hotel towel, the dip and curve of his abs and hips.Maybe he’d let me eat breakfast right off of hismuscles...

“Breakfast sounds good.”My voice came out as a croak, so I cleared it, hoping it sounded like it came from waking up and not the heat roaring throughmybody.

“Good.I’m having fun.”Hewaited.

“Iamtoo.”

I swear he let out a sigh of relief.“Maybe you’d be up for a little adventure latertoday?”

“What kind of adventure?”I barely knew him.“Adventure” could be code for just aboutanything.

He shrugged his wide shoulders, tossing the towel backward into the bathroom as he started towards me.“The kind that involves a picnic and a waterfall.The concierge told me there’s a really easy hike up to the falls and that they only schedule one party at a time to use thetrailso...”

“We’d have the place all toourselves.”

“This resort is worth every fucking penny.”He jumped back into bed and immediately pulled me onto his chest where I’d so happily been dozing only a few minutes ago.I somehow managed to find the exact same spot in the crook of his arm.It was every bit as comfortable the second timearound.

“What do you like?Coffee or juice?Eggs?”He rattled off the menu we’d both been eating from all week and I told him exactly what Iwanted.

A minute later he ordered from the bedside phone.“Fifteen minutes?”He rested his hand on my hip and pulled me a little bit closer to him.It sent a thrill through me.“Sounds perfect.Thank you Juliana.”He reached back to hang up the phone, his fingers curling into my hip and holding me tight as hedidso.

Then he wrapped his other arm around me and let out a sigh.“This is perfect.What a great way towakeup.”

I burrowed into him and closed my eyes.Perfect.That’s exactly what it was.The kind of perfect I’d wanted my whole life.And here I was giving him a fake name, bending the details of my life, and making sure he understood it was over when my planetookoff.

I was a special kind of crazy to throw awayperfectright from thebeginning.

Ihadthis memory from when I was a kid.I was eight or nine and it was the most beautiful day outside.The sky was bright blue, there were no clouds, and only the faintest cool breeze in the warm air.I could still remember exactly how I felt looking up at that sky.It was like I couldfeelthe colors, taste flavors in the air.Words and thoughts bounced around in my head for the very first time—bouncing with no wheretogo.

So I began to act them out.Words became sentences.Sentences became paragraphs.I made a costume out of a nightgown and crown out ofbobbypins.

I had a storytotell.