DISCLAIMER: I'm not making money. I don't own these characters. The events are mine, because I thought of them. You can archive this if, by some chance, you want to. Just e-mail and let me know so I can keep track of it. Feedback is good. Very good for a brand new writer. If you hate it, fine, let me know, but don't be rude about it. Just tell me what you didn't like about it. Mail feedback to Kaylana123@yahoo.com. My fire extinguisher is ready.

They lay curled up next to one another as people usually do after their previous activities. He was lying on his back and she was curled up against him. Her head was nestled in that soft spot between his shoulder and chest, her leg was tossed casually over his and her hand was busy tracing languorous circles across his chest. He had his arm around her almost protectively, but definitely warmly.

She smiled to herself as she mentally retraced the past week. It had all started on Valentine's day. She had been moping around feeling sorry for herself and remembering past Valentine's Days. Ones where she wasn't alone. She had gone to bed early that night. Most likely cried herself to sleep. The next morning she woke up with a rose next to her bed. And a note. A rose? And a note? Her mind was reeling. Who would have sent it to her. Then her mind stopped doing cartwheels and the thinky part kicked in. Read the note.

She propped herself up on one elbow and reached for the note. Her hand surprised her and found the rose first. It was a beautiful blood red rose that was barely opening. She sighed dreamily as she inhaled it's sweet perfumed scent. She gently lay it beside her and picked up the note.

"Happy Valentine's Day," it said. "A favor is asked of you, oh goddess of computing. Hack here and there, I need a little information. If you'd be as kind as to help me ..." She smiled to herself. She recognized the messy handwriting. How sweet of him ... Of course she'd help. A little challenge would ease her mind. She laughed at the fact that he had asked for help. He hardly needed it, or maybe he did.

She got out of bed and padded down the hall to the bathroom. All things in good time, and a shower was top priority now. After her shower she went back to her room and put on her uniform blue jeans and t-shirt. If she was going to spend a long day at the computer, she might as well be comfortable. She paused as she was pulling her curly brown hair into a pony tail and smelled her rose again. That simple little gesture had truly made her day.

An hour or so later the two of them were sitting back to back at two networked computers. He wouldn't tell her what trouble he was in this time, said he didn't want her to get drug into it. He had asked for help simply because of the time frame. He had to leave by Saturday to do whatever he was going to do, and he needed to learn as much as he could before then.

They spent the whole week "borrowing" files from different web pages and organizations. Often times they were up until impossibly late hours without even noticing it. They ate together and they talked as they worked. More often than not, they laughed as they talked. They developed a fondness for each other and something akin to a craving for each other's company. If you spend a week with someone, working in close quaters, that tends to happen. She had also noticed a growing attraction that she had hoped, was mutual.

They managed to finish their work early Friday morning. Early Friday morning, means somewhere around 2 or 3 am. He smiled and proclaimed his thanks to her in every way he could think of. He even promised her dinner that night. So they parted and slept. And she had wonderfully stressful dreams while she tried to figure out if the dinner was as friends, or, hope against hope, more.

Despite the lack of sleep she woke up early the next morning. She had a rather distinct feeling in the pit of her stomach. Butterflies. She hadn't had butterflies like this since she had been to Dreamnails with someone that was working his way from the front of her mind to the back. Someone else was replacing him.

She ate breakfast with everyone else and he was nowhere to be found. She did her best to hide her disappointment. She spent most of the day alone. Catching up on her reading and spending time with her pet.

That evening she dumped the contents of her closet onto her bed and argued with herself over what to wear. Knowing him, it would probably be someplace nice. She eventually settled on a soft blue dress with spaghetti straps that was about knee length, if not a little shorter. She fussed with her hair and makeup for quite a while, not being used to dressing up often. As she stood in front of her mirror she smiled and acknowledged that the final product was worth the effort. She jumped when someone knocked on her door.

He was wearing a simple, yet extremely handsome suit. But in her mind, he looked incredibly handsome in anything. He smiled and produced a single white rose for her from his jacket. She laughed and took his arm.

They ate at a nice little steak house in town. He seemed to know most of the people there and they got the best service ever. Their closeness had not faded with a day's absence and she was glad. They talked and laughed the entire time.

They returned home late that night and she debated on how to thank him for such a wonderful time. She finally settled on a hug and a kiss on the cheek. That seemed safe. When she went to hug him he startled her by returning it tightly. The kiss on the cheek was forgotten as they both realized that they needed contact. She smiled coyly at him and tentavily kissed him. Just a slight brushing of lips. He responded better than she had hoped by pulling her closer and returning the kiss, only much more pasionately.

One thing led to another and, for modesty's sake, we'll skip ahead to current events.

"You have to leave tomorrow don't you?" she asked quietly as she continued to trace circles on his chest. "When will you be back?"

"Don' know Katie," he replied as he pulled her closer. "But I'll hurry. Tha' I promise."

She smiled and nuzzled closer to him. A week ago, she never would have believed that she, the trademark bookworm and computer geek, would be with him, the suave, dashing, mysterious thief. Maybe Logan had been right when he first met Pete. Maybe she did have a thing for "bad" boys. She laughed at that. All the "bad" boys that she knew were soft and cuddly inside. Especially this one ...