Alex was having the nicest dream. It was a clear summer day, the sky above a blue so vivid it hurt the eyes. She sunk into he soft cushions of the lounge and basked in the sun. She was on the beach, the waves were lapping against the shore. A cool breeze soothed her burning skin, and she lifted her face to catch it. As she nestled herself deeper into the lounge the strangest thing happened.
The cushion began to move. With the greatest care, Alex opened one eye, then the other. Just as suspected. The air was chilled, not warm at all. She wasn't at the beach, and her head was definitely not resting on a cushion. It was resting on him... Nick Carter.
A moment of immediate panic quickly subsided. He was a stranger, but, she rationalized, everything was relative. Could you truly call someone a stranger after you spent the night huddled together on the floor? Other than being extremely cantankerous, he had behaved like a gentleman. His scent filled her senses. He smelled like one of the most expensive designer colognes.
With excruciating slowness, Alex tilted her head back to get a better look at him. His chest rose and fell with slow, even breathing. Inch by stealthy inch she slid away from him. He never moved a muscle, and his breathing remained constant. She was just about to roll away off the mattress when an arm shot out and wrapped itself around her waist, hugging her into his body. He mumbled something, swallowed audibly, then sighed before falling back asleep.
Alex stared in disbelief, their faces only inched from each other. She didn't know whether to push away or start slithering all over again. She studied him as she tried to make up her mind. In the light of the day, she could get a better look at him. His hair was blonde, thick and at the moment, a bit unruly. He had pudgy cheeks, a strong jaw, and a full bottom lip.
There was a world-weary look to his face, and she didn't have to wonder how it got there. Sun-creased laugh lines around his eyes must mean he smiled sometimes, though she had yet to see one. She remembered the blue eyes that were hidden beneath lids decorated with the longest, lushest lashes she had ever seen on a man. All in all she had to agree with her first opinion. He was handsome, even with his day old stubble. Within hours, they would be rescued, she was sure of that and this would all be a small interlude that they both would soon forget.
She felt Nick's hand begin to move south. And rested at the base of her spine. She was stone still. She tried to push back on his chest, figuring it was the right thing to do. But she came to a wall of hard muscle. He hand sprawled over his heart. She felt his heart beating, a slow, steady beat. Suddenly he stirred and opened those intriguing blue eyes. He stared at her for a moment.
Nick looked her over, as they were pulled close together, she didn't seem to mind. And honestly neither did he. He felt the sanity softness of her brownish blonde hair in his left hand. He lightly pulled her closer to him letting his grip down just enough for her to escape if she wanted to.
But Alex made no attempt at doing so. She pulled her hand up towards his face, she could feel his heart beating faster. She touched his face and ran her long fingers along his features. Nick's heart was beating at an uncontrollable rate. Hadn't he run away from a girl just like her, he had run away from his marriage to Rachel. Rachel who had dark brown hair and deep whiskey colored eyes. He pulled away from Alex, and stood up.
"Sorry" he mumbled. Alex smiled showing him no hard feelings but at the same time wishing he had kissed her. She thought again. No If he would have kissed her, her whole project would have been ruined. She stood up next to him and felt a little to dizzy. She began to wobble a little and grabbed onto his arm to keep from falling.
"Wow, that was fun, guess I got up to fast." She said as he settled her on a kitchen chair.
She looked into his blue eyes. "I'm not going to lie to you miss, it may be days maybe even weeks before we are rescued." His voice was kind but stern.
She nodded her head. "And I'm not going to lie to you sir, I hate being called miss, I prefer Alex." She leaned back and took a couple breaths of air.
"All right Alex." He smiled.
"And I'm not going to lie to again. I truly wished you would have kissed me just now." She thought she had said it low enough so Nick couldn't hear but she guessed wrong.
Nick faced her, his face full of concern and passion and so many more things Alex couldn't describe. He walked toward her.. "You did?" he asked. She couldn't deny it now. Not after he had heard it.
She shook her head. He leaned down and in one swift motion kissed her. He pulled away quickly and stared wide eyed at her, he moved away stumbling over the trashcan and grabbed his coat. He ran out into the yard and stood the cold rushing over him.
Nick felt his teeth chattering, He didn't know how to feel towards the beautiful girl in the cabin. He just kissed a complete stranger... and loved it.