Chapter 1

I'm very sorry to anybody who read this story 7 months ago when I first posted it but I have kind of re-written it a bit (thanks for the constructive feedback RedTailedHawkens). I got a complete block on the story and also started writing chapters in the wrong order which, I've now learnt, is a BAD idea. But I do have another 6 chapters already written which I should be able to get up over the weekend. This process is very time consuming so it would be good to know if I am wasting my time for any of you who have the time to give some feedback/reviews ...

p.s. the end of chapter one may seem familiar but the rest of the story is more original I promise ...

Zoe heard her phone bleep and looked up from her books. 'Breakfast?' was the one-word message which managed to raise a smile. She gave a slow stretch & tried to work out how many hours she had already done. The exam was at 3.00pm, she had done two hours study already and should manage a further four before she would have to leave. Breakfast was exactly what she needed. 'Coming' she texted and quickly popped into the bathroom to brush her teeth & check her level of dishevellment. Her sleeping attire and study attire had merged into each other several weeks back but he wouldn't mind...

As she shut the door of her apartment and padded bare-foot over to his door, she blessed the day Lavon Hayes had moved in to her apartment building. Her mind flashed back to the day the lift had opened and the six foot five line-backer had emerged and introduced himself. Theirs were the only two apartments on the top floor of the building so she had been pretty nervous about who was moving in to Mrs Adams' old apartment. She had seen leather couches and sports paraphanalia arrive so she knew it was probably male but beyond that was anybody's guess.

That had been twelve months ago and now she could not imagine life without him. The wild house-warming on the roof had broken the ice and the subsequent introduction to the 'Roll Tide', a local sports bar he was running with an old NFL friend, had gradually provided her and her eclectic bunch of fellow medical students with a new regular haunt. Recently, they had taken to catching up over breakfast – where she provided the coffee from her designer coffee maker and Lavon provided a selection of pastries left over from the prior day's bar menu.

Arguably best of all though, he had introduced her to the charms of southern men. Admittedly, she had found his solicitation and friendliness a bit un-nerving at first (being a born and bred New Yorker) but she gradually grew to appreciate the openness and warmth of his friendship and stopped having cynical thoughts about his motives. The novelty of his southern gentleman-like manners had yet to wear off - although she teased him that they were wasted on most New York women.

The door was ajar enough for the smell of freshly made pancakes to waft into the hall. "To what do I owe the honour of pancakes?" she greeted him appreciatively experty backing her way in the door holding the two cups of cappuccino.

"Mornin' Zoe" Lavon called to her looking up from the kitchen. "First day of exams – is it not?".

'That is so sweet Lavon – you shouldn't have, but I'm very glad you did!" she laughed picking one off the plate and beginning to tear at it.

"And how is the study goin' or do I ask?" Lavon inquired carefully handing her the maple syrup in time for her second pancake. He had realised a while ago that Zoe was pretty smart at this medicine stuff but also pretty ambitious and was particularly hard on herself at exam time, expecting only top marks at everything.

"OK, I hope" she sighed "to be honest, and I know I've promised not to mention him again, but it's a little strange not having Justin around. This is probably the first time I have done one of these things without him. He always moved in for the duration of the exams – helped me revise, kept me fed ...".

Lavon did not reply to this. He was hoping that this latest break with Justin was for good and that Zoe had finally emerged from under his shadow and was beginnng to get a life of her own. There was more to his friend than the high flying, dutiful, doctor's wife Justin (and her father) wanted her to be. It had been almost four months now and he was sure he was beginning to see a change in her. He paused the conversation to allow them to finish off the pancakes and pick at some fruit in the fruit bowl. Changing the subject, he inquired if Zoe was thinking of heading to the 'Tide that night after the exam.

"I wasn't planning to but if things don't go well, I may end up there" Zoe replied "Will you be there?"

"I'm not sure – I have to be doin' somethin' tonight" he replied vaguely "but I'm hopin' to call in to lock up. Either ways, if you are there, look out for Wade, it's his first night on an' he may need a friendly face".

"Who's Wade?" Zoe looked puzzled.

"Wade is an old friend of mine from home. He's gonna be staying with me for a couple of weeks to help me with a few things - including steppin' in for Steve while he's off workin'". Lavon explained, as he stood up and started putting their dishes in the dishwasher. Steve was Lavon's partner in the Roll Tide who had recently negotiated a short contract with a southern college to be a guest coach for the first stretch of the football season.

"Is he here now?" whispered Zoe loudly looking over at the door to Lavon's spare room and realising for the first time that it was shut. Checking the rest of the room for signs of change, she noticed for the first time a pink leather jacket thrown over the side of the sofa and a pair of sparkly flip-flops abandoned on the floor.

Seeing where her eyes were wandering, Lavon laughed – "I think he may have some company .." and then laughed again when he saw Zoe's incredulous expression.

"But, how long has he been in New York?" said Zoe, still looking shocked.

"He flew in Wednesday, so I guess two days not including jet lag" worked out Lavon.

"Wade has his problems" he offered by way of explanation "but charmin' the ladies is not one of them.." he whispered, enjoying Zoe's horrified reaction.

"But you will like him Zoe" Lavon declared with a grin "All the ladies like Wade eventually ..." and he gave a loud laugh.

Zoe decided not to comment any further. The last 'friend' Lavon had let stay for a few weeks had eaten him out of house and home and spent his days stretched on the couch playing Call of Duty. Continuously. He was the younger brother of a friend and was supposed to be in the city looking for both a job and his own apartment. Lavon had eventually asked him to move on when greeted every evening by clouds of smoke that didn't smell very legal.

"Well," she suggested putting away the last item and taking a final glimpse at the offensive jacket on the sofa "I'm not sure what he was 'charmin'' last night but my guess is that she is the furthest thing from a 'lady'".

Lavon snorted but quickly set Zoe straight "Wade is a good guy Zoe! – be nice to him if you see him tonight!".

"Sure" replied Zoe with her sweetest and most insincere smile and then sighed miserably - "I have to get back to my books". "Well, good luck for today" wished Lavon. 'Thanks" Zoe replied gloomily, heading towards the door, "I may need it..."

X X X

Zoe was good at what she did. She had a natural flair for medicine, was popular with her fellow residents and doctors, and usually managed to put the work in and stay level-headed for exams. As she sat with some of her friends that night in a booth in the bar nursing a glass of wine, she once again tried to figure out what had gone wrong.

'Justin' was the conclusion she was coming to. Having dated him for most of her residency and with him being two years ahead of her, she had not realised how much confidence he gave her. This was the first set of exams she had sat without him supporting her and she was feeling a bit lost. But I can do this decided Zoe determinedly. I do not need Justin to pass an exam. She could have done without his 'good luck' text this morning. Although probably well meaning, it had distracted her for the rest of the afternoon.

The wine wasn't helping either she decided, looking down at the empty glass and deciding that something stronger may be needed to help her take the edge off the day.

She confirmed with her two best friends, Shelley and Rose, that they were sticking to beer and made her way up to the bar to order a round. Still lost in her own thoughts, she glanced around to see who was working that night. Pete was on, as was Danny. Both were good guys and popular with the customers without being over-friendly. They didn't spot her slide onto a bar-stool but she knew she would be well looked after once she was seen.

Zoe heard laughter down the other end of the bar and watched cynically as a blonde customer flirted outrageously with Danny. No, that wasn't Danny – who was it? Whoever it was, they seemed quite content to be flirted with - and to give it back in buckets. The girl was virtually melting on the bar. Oh no, she realised, groaned inwardly, this must be Lavon's new room-mate, the one she had promised to be nice to.

She didn't have time to look again before Pete called out "Hi Zoe – be with you in two seconds" as he looked up between orders and caught her eye with a smile.

At the mention of her name the new guy looked up and saying something to his latest conquest started heading down the bar towards her.

Zoe had concluded a long time ago that good-looking guys came in several categories. Some were obviously good-looking, others you needed to meet and talk to first. Some knew they were good-looking, some didn't. Some were good-looking but not sexy – some were sexy but not conventionally good-looking. She admitted unashamedly to having a type – the smartly dressed, good-looking type who were career driven and liked their girl to make an effort when they met. The type focused on the future and family – and guaranteed to have beautiful, like-minded children. She understood that this was not everyone's idea of sexy - but it was to her.

What was coming towards her was the furthest thing from her type. Tall, well built, with an athletic yet somehow graceful gait, this guy was oozing sex appeal and was only too aware of it. He had dirty blonde hair and wore a loose t-shirt over well-worn jeans - she couldn't imagine 'focus' or 'career' being words he used frequently.

"Hi, I'm Wade, Lavon's friend" he greeted her with a warm, open smile which single-handedly seemed to move his rating from 9.5 to 11 in one swift, devastating second. Recovering, Zoe remembered the pink leather jacket and the fact that this was the latest jerk taking advantage of her friend's open hospitality – it was going to take more than a killer smile to get her to warm to this cowboy.

"Well, that smile may make all the girls back home swoon - but it's not going to work on me" she laid out clearly hoping to take a chip out of his cockiness.

Wade looked slightly taken aback but undeterred. Maintaining the smile purely for her benefit, he leaned in close to her "Well if you're not gonna be polite" he drawled slowly, "then I'm not gonna get you your drinks" and with that he turned and made his way back down the bar to where the blonde was still waiting for him expectently.

Zoe barely had time to recover before Pete came to take her order. For some reason, she returned to her table more frutrated and antsy than before.

She had tried to tell Shelley and Rose earlier that the exam hadn't gone well but they had picked up that for once, Zoe Hart might actually only get a B in the exam rather than her usual A and had decided tease her relentlessly. One such teasing session had occured in front of Wade, who was doing the rounds cleaning tables. "Evenin' ladies" he had greeted them as he picked up their empty glasses. Zoe had steadfastly ignored him while her friends had visibly swooned and spent the rest of the evening discussing what they would like to do to the new barman.

Rose and Shelley had thankfully left soon after, while Zoe had decided to stay in the booth and wait for Lavon to come and lock up and walk her home. She drifted off into a Martini-fueled daze and only snapped out of it when she realised the room was now empty. She stood up, grabbed her bag and went to stand at the bar hearing somebody still moving around in the store room. A figure emerged backwards carrying a crate of beer. As it turned around she groaned and putting a hand over her eyes, looked down to examine the grains of wood on the bar in some detail. She heard the crate being put down and unloaded and heard the sounds of the final clean up and the last of the dishwashers being put on. When she heard silence for longer than she expected, she looked up only to find Wade standing a few feet in front of her, one hand leaning on the bar - staring at her with a bemused grin on his face.

"You waitin' for me?" he inquired ernestly - laughing at the filthy glare he got as response.

"Where's Lavon?" Zoe asked confused.

"He's held up" Wade replied "so I'm locking up" he continued, casually grabbing the set of keys from where he had left them on the bar and opening the hatch to let himself out. Zoe said nothing and didn't move as Wade approached her...

"We have to go now" he explained patiently, grinning at her obvious frustration with the situation. "I'd offer to give you a walk home" he continued his grin widening "but I wouldn't want you gettin' any ideas ..."

X X X

As chat up lines go, Wade was aiming for irritation rather than any actual success – but in an uncharacteristic underestimation of his charms, here he was two seconds later playing tonsil hockey with the rude, sarcastic, uptight New York princess with - and this was his justification for submitting to the make out session in the first place - the face of an angel. And possibly the body of one too he was beginning to conclude, as his hands began to appreciate the curves they were feeling underneath her jacket that he had just successfully unzipped.

The sound of kissing and increasingly heavy breathing was interupted by Wade's phone ringing in his jeans pocket. The noise seemed to stop Zoe in her tracks and she slowly extracted herself from Wade's lips, chest and neck looking at each hand as she did so - as if it had personally betrayed her. Wade watched her retraction with amusement and taking out his phone glanced at the missed call – Lavon. He wondered how things had gone for him at the hospital. Looking up at Zoe again, he was reminded of something Lavon had said that morning – that he Wade would 'meet Zoe at breakfast' the next day...?

"Hey" he called to Zoe slightly concerned by a scary thought that had just occurred to him. Zoe looked up from re-zipping her jacket expressionless. "You and Lavon?" Wade stated questioningly. Zoe responded with a blank stare.

"You two aren't ...you know " he paused, hoping she'd understand.

Zoe took a few moments to comprehend what he was implying "No, we're just friends" she exclaimed horrified, realising what he was saying, "How could you just ..." she exclaimed "if you thought ..." "how could you do what you just ..." she accused him angrily.

"Hey sweetheart, I don't remember havin' much say in the matter" Wade reasoned with a grin. "But I'm sure glad to hear that you're single" he continued, beginning to approach her again with a lascivious smile forming on his face.

"No" Zoe said firmly, backing away towards the door "This never happened. I just ..., I was ... I, I need to go ...".

"Whatever the lady wants" he responded bemused "but seriously Zoe, at least let me walk you home – it's late and it's dark out there" he reasoned.

"I promise not to let you jump me the whole way home " he couldn't resist adding with a grin.

"Thanks, but I'd feel alot safer on my own" Zoe retorted turning and quickly exited the door.

Wade sighed at her stupidity and returned to locking up.