She lay alone and awake in a large comfy bed with blanket and sheet tangled around her.

The bed would have been even comfier if Julian was still in it, too.

But he wasn't. It was Wednesday morning, almost 10:00, and apparently he'd left for work without even a goodbye.

So much for his 'missing her'. One night of passion and he's good to go.

Marti sighed to herself. She should be in class right now, not in the rumpled bed of her former professor.

She got up to use the bathroom. Then she found her bra and underwear from the night before and put them both back on. Her outer clothes she'd have to find in the living room wherever Julian had flung them.

Julian, her mind echoed in a sigh as her body tingled at the memory of his touch. That man gave her goosebumps at times.

Oh, look at that — he'd left one of his button-down shirts draped over a chair by the dresser. Convenient.

Marti held the soft white cloth to her face, breathing in the clean scent of whatever laundry detergent he used.

She slipped it on over her bra and underwear, reveling in its warmth and coziness and pleased with the intimacy of just wearing something of his.

She ventured to the living room to collect the rest of her clothing. She found her things neatly folded on the couch, and Julian had picked up his own discarded clothing too.

Nice to know that he wasn't a slob.

She shook out her jeans and was about to put them on when she heard a rustling of paper from the kitchen.

Maybe Julian was still there after all. Or maybe a burglar had broken in and was reading his newspaper before robbing the place.

She dropped her jeans back on the couch and walked softly on bare feet toward the kitchen. "Hey," she greeted in surprise. "I thought you went to work."

"I took the day off," Julian said with a shrug, eyeing her half-dressed state over his shoulder. "What about you? Don't you have classes today?"

She shook her head, messy curls bouncing. "I took the day off," she mimicked his tone with a smile on her lips.

He had a steaming cup of coffee beside him on the table. Marti reached for it and stole a sip — and immediately regretted it. "Oh — ugh!"

Julian only laughed at her. "I drink it black."

"Yuck!" Marti laughed too, darting to the kitchen sink and cupping a hand under the faucet to get a handful of water and rid her mouth of that bitter taste.

Julian just grinned, turning his attention back to his newspaper.

Marti dried her hand on the hem of the shirt she still wore, then took the newspaper out of his hands and laid it on the table.

She settled herself sideways on his lap, bringing her hands up to cup his face on both sides.

"Good morning," she said solemnly, her thumbs lightly caressing his jaw line.

He smiled softly back at her. "Yes, it is." His arms slipped around her waist as he went in for a kiss.

Marti wound her arms up around his neck and leaned into him. She smiled against his lips. "You do realize we're kind of hugging, right?"

"Yes," he murmured back. "But we're kissing too…and that makes up for the hugging."

She giggled, sitting up straighter to look at him again. "You see? This hugging thing's not so bad."

"Hmm…depends on who's hugging me back."

"What if it's me?" she asked seriously.

He pretended to think it over. "I might be able to get used to that."

She gave a little smirk of triumph, but slid off his lap. "Got anything to eat around here?" she asked with an impish peek into his fridge.

"I had a bagel earlier," he replied, picking up his newspaper again. "I'm afraid you missed your chance to eat it off my plate, though."

"Ooh," Marti scoffed at his bringing up one of her mealtime habits. "Just for that, I'm going to make somebody else hug you."

"What horror," Julian deadpanned, unconcerned.

"By the way…" he offered smoothly in his honeysuckle southern accent, keeping his eyes fixed deliberately on his paper. "You look incredibly sexy in my shirt."

"You want it back?" she teased, making like she was going to undo the buttons going down the front.

"Yes, I do," he readily accepted her challenge, dropping his newspaper onto the table and leaning back in his chair with that smug little look on his face. His gaze traveled down her body and back up again. "Hand it over."

But Marti had an evil streak. She undid the buttons as she sauntered out of the room, and only when she was around the corner and out of his sight did she toss the shirt back to him.

Back in the solitude of the living room, Marti put on yesterday's jeans, t-shirt and hoodie. She hated wearing already-used socks, but had no other option.

She finished tying the laces of her shoes just as her cell phone rang. She poked both hands into her pants pockets and came up empty, but found the phone in her hoodie pocket instead.

"Hello?" She paused. "Whoa, Savannah — slow down. What's going on?"

Having heard the phone ring and Marti's subsequent talking, Julian came into the living room to observe.

He stood before Marti in silence, returning the steady gaze she kept on his face as her cheer squad captain rattled off a long panicked monologue in her ear.

"Yeah," Marti answered briefly into the phone. "No, I'll be there. Give me a few minutes. Promise me you won't do anything until I get there."

She ended the call with a deep sigh, momentarily breaking her visual bond with Julian. "I have to go. Yet another crisis in Cheertown."

He nodded, disappointed. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

It was sweet of him to ask. But she shook her head in the negative. "It's just cheer stuff."

She really didn't care the least bit about a 'cheer crisis' in itself, but the scholarship she got from her place on the squad made it necessary to solve the problem as quickly as possible.

It was probably a good thing Marti had to leave, anyway. She wanted Julian to miss her some more, and how would he do that if she hung around all day?

Marti jammed her phone into her front jeans pocket. "Well…bye," she said with a regretful smile.

"Goodbye," Julian echoed, wishing she wasn't leaving already.

She gazed at him a moment longer, stalling, then turned to the door.

But a hand on her wrist gently tugged her back, and all of a sudden she was in his arms once more.

That was one seductive kiss he gave her, and a mean thing to do when she had to leave.

And then he smiled down at her smugly before letting go with a gentle push toward the door. "Go help your friends."