Charlie had been sitting in her uncle's bar, catching up with him, for a while when he asked her, "How was your flight, kid?" He had bought her ticket for her, first class, so he was curious.
"You should have seen how full of himself the guy in the seat next to me was," she insisted with a laugh. "Apparently he was some kind of model, which makes sense considering the guy couldn't take a hint if I hit him in the face with it."
"But I bet he was handsome, right?" Asked a voice from behind her that she could easily recognize, since it had been haunting her more than she would like to admit since he had filled her flight with the sound of his own voice. Sure, he was attractive enough, but that was only when he had his mouth shut. And in her experience, from the hours she had spent sitting next to him on the flight, that was never.
Although she was taken off guard by his presence, she didn't miss a beat before turning in her seat to glare over at him as she responded, "Not nearly as much as he seemed to think... What are you doing here, stalking me?"
"Clearly you're the one that's stalking me," he responded as he sat down next to her, uninvited, and leaned over in his seat closer to hers. "You couldn't take your eyes off of me that whole flight."
Miles glared over at his friend, who hadn't so much as shot a glance in his direction since he had shown up. He was evidently too pre-occupied with Charlie, which the bartender thought must be some kind of twisted joke.
"That's only because you were doing everything in your power to capture everyone's attention at all times like an insecure five year-old," she retorted.
Much to her annoyance, a hearty chuckle escaped Bass's lips at that. He finally turned his head to face the bartender and his grin only grew in size as he questioned, "So, did you miss me?"
Charlie looked between the two in surprise. It was just her luck that the guy somehow knew her uncle.
"You've been here for under five minutes and I already want to punch you in the face," Miles responded dryly. "So I'm going to go with no."
"Hey, don't harm the merchandise," the model insisted as he raised his hands up in a sign of innocence.
"What the hell are you doing here, Bass?" Miles grunted out.
"Visiting your sorry ass," the other man insisted. "You should be thrilled to have me here." He couldn't believe that his friend hadn't reacted more excitedly after he had just sat through a long-ass flight, all to come visit him. Although, having the girl next to him who had clearly been in first class for the first time in her life and stuck out like a sore thumb had admittedly made the flight a little more enjoyable.
"Here I was, thinking I was special, and it turns out you just say that to everyone," Charlie commented sarcastically. She turned her gaze back on her uncle as she questioned, "You know this guy?"
Miles nodded his head unenthusiastically before dramatically gesturing to the man sitting beside her as he introduced, "Charlie meet, Bass. My insecure, attention-seeking five year-old."
"The Sebastian Monroe," she corrected in a mocking tone, without turning to look at the man in question. "But I'm lucky enough that I can call him Bass, just because he likes me. And the pleasure is of course all mine for getting to be in the presence of such a perfect specimen. Oh, and have I told you yet about how he's a famous male model? Because he is. He's a model. With cameras and everything. You probably already knew that though, that he's a model I mean. I'm sure you knew that and it's why you were staring at him, because he's a model and so well-known, not because he's making a complete ass out of himself."
Miles let out a laugh at that before grabbing back the drink that an amused looking Bass had decided he was entitled to and reached over the bar to grab while she had been talking.
"What the hell?" Bass complained.
"You're a rich show-off now, you can afford your own drinks," Miles retorted. "Besides, I'm not paying for you to sit here and hit on my niece."
"Fine, charge me," the model responded. "But give me that back."
Miles reluctantly handed the bottle back over and Bass took a long swig before turning his attention back over to Charlie.
He had spent the whole flight incessantly talking about himself and hitting on her, no matter how much she had attempted to ignore him. She was looking for a little revenge and after the day she'd had she could use a little entertainment. She was stuck with him, since he seemed to have no intention of leaving and there was no way that she was going to do so for his benefit, so she decided that messing with him was as appealing of an option as any.
She shot her uncle a look out of the corner of her eye before turning back to him with her dimples on full display as she gave him an exaggerated version of what she assumed he had become used to that gave him such an off-putting personality. She placed her elbow on the bar-top and let her chin rest on the palm of her hand, leaning a little closer to him, as she stared at him in an over the top awe and told him, "You know, I've never met a real model before. What's it like? I bet that someone like me couldn't even begin to understand your life, right?"
Bass let out a laugh at that and turned to his amused looking friend as he commented, "It's a wonder I didn't figure out that she's related to you earlier with an attitude like that."
"So, where does a rich model like you stay?" She continued her act. "I bet it's somewhere fancy, isn't it? I would probably be so intimidated walking into your hotel."
"Actually, I'm staying on your uncle's couch," he informed her.
Her face fell into an annoyed look and she accidentally slipped out of her act as she argued, "No, you're not. That's where I'm staying."
"Looks like we'll be sharing a bed after all then," he responded with a wide smirk. "That's very forward of you, Charlotte, finding out where I'm staying and insisting on the same place."
She scowled at that.
"You showed up unannounced," Miles pointed out. "The couch is already reserved in her name."
"Looks like you're double-booked then," Bass countered. "Because I've got a permanent reservation there for whenever I'm in town, remember?"
"I am not sleeping on the floor," Charlie insisted angrily. She still didn't understand why he was too stubborn to just find a hotel room somewhere.
"Sorry. I have seniority over you," he told her condescendingly. "I'm taking the couch... But feel free to join me."
"You are not sleeping on the couch," she argued.
"Fine, then we'll both sleep on the floor," Bass offered, thinking that it was quite the chivalrous offer.
She glared over at him for a moment and hesitated before she reluctantly agreed, "Fine. But you have to stay on the other side of the room from me."
Charlie looked over to try to check if he was asleep yet, for what felt like the hundredth time. If he would just fall asleep, then she could take the couch.
When she checked again, she found him looking back at her. He seemed to be checking the same thing.
Fine, if he wanted to play, then she would play. There was no way in hell she was letting him take that couch. It was rightfully hers and knowing that he was intending to take it from her only made her more determined to outlast him.
She set her head back down, pretending to be trying to fall asleep, but her head shot back up when she heard him him moving. Apparently he had given up on waiting and was under the impression that she was just going to let him go take the couch after she had stayed up for hours, waiting to do the same thing.
"You have got to be kidding me," she insisted as she rose to her feet herself. "You're not taking that couch while I'm still awake."
He glared over at her and then reluctantly sat down in front of the floor with his back to the couch. "Fine, then hurry up and fall asleep."
She stopped where she was, standing next to him in front of the couch, and responded, "I'm not sleeping until you do so, if I were you, I'd just give up."
"I don't think so," he told her.
She frowned, then sat down on the floor next to him, ready to wait him out.
When Miles woke up the next morning, he was curious to see who would have won possession of his couch. He'd gone to bed while they had still been arguing, but his bet was on Charlie. However, when he turned into his living room he had definitely not been expecting to find Charlie and Bass asleep on the floor, half sitting up, in front of the couch. She had her arms wrapped around one of his and her chin was resting on his shoulder as his head leaned on top of hers.
Miles wasn't sure how they had wound up like that, but he did know that he was going to leave them that way for as long as he could. After all, he'd rather have the peace and quiet for as long as it would last him, than have to listen to the inevitable racket they would make once they woke up.
A/N: Please read and review! A great big (belated) happy birthday goes out to KimberlyHavey! I hope you liked the story. :)