Recommended Soundtrack: Skinny / Pegasus Bridge

KPOV

Caroline let out a long whistle when I led her through the back door and into the mansion. I switched on the lights, not wanting to lead her through a dark house.

"It's more impressive on the inside than the outside," she said, running her palm across a Roman style column as she passed it.

"If you thought the shed was ritzy..." I trailed off as she laughed. The sound tinkled and echoed off the walls.

"Thank you for letting me stay here," she said, her eyes lingering on the Rembrandt I'd straightened out just minutes ago. She slowed down a little to admire it before skipping to catch up to me. I was already at the foot of the stairs. "But shouldn't you ask your wife if it's alright?"

I stopped. Since she was two steps behind me she had to catch herself quicker so that she wouldn't slam her face into my ass.

"I'm not married," I said, or more like barked out. It sounded harsher than I had intended.

"Oh, sorry. I just assumed- big house and all," she waved her hands around, gesturing to the general vicinity.

There was nothing I could really say. I had told her I wasn't married, there was no need to add to that.

I gave her a curt nod before turning around, taking a second to gather my thoughts and starting up the stairs again. She was right behind me, albeit about a step further than before.

I led her to one of the guest bedrooms, opening the door and gesturing for her to go inside. As she did, I turned on the lights.

There were two guest bedrooms in the house, and they were hardly ever used. Whenever my siblings stayed for a night or more, they had their own rooms assigned to them. I had made this home to offer them a home, to keep the family united. At a certain point, I was planning on having someone else join, someone who would make this place less lonely for me. But apparently, plans had changed.

"Nice," Caroline said, pulling me from my thoughts. She had dropped her knapsack on one of the armchairs by the fire place and was toeing her Chucks off, gazing mischievously at the bed.

Before I could register her intentions, she bounded towards the bed. She leaped, twirled in the air and landed on her back on the mattress with a soft thud, her arms outstretched.

"Wow," she said, popping her head up. She adjusted herself so that she was leaning back in her elbows, her feet swinging off the end of the bed. "This is the softest bed I've ever jumped on," she wiggled

around. "It's like a cloud."

I was gaping at her. How old was she?

"Twenty-two," she called out, scooting back onto the bed and getting under the covers. Had I said that out loud?

I was slightly disappointed when I couldn't see her legs anymore, but almost equally thankful. All her movement was making her shirt ride up to the point where I could almost make out what was under it. Almost.

I cleared my throat and resisted the urge to adjust myself. Get out, now.

"I'm heading off the bed. My room is right across the hall, in case you need anything."

"Okay," she said, finally finishing her wiggling around under the covers and dropping her head onto the pillows.

"Okay," I said, walking toward the door, which was no more than two steps away since I hadn't really walked that far into the room. I switched off the light and was about to walk out the door when she

called out from the bed.

"Goodnight, Nik," she said and then yawned loudly.

I looked over my shoulder at her. Her eyes were already closed.

"Goodnight, Caroline," I said, shutting the door behind me.

I was up by seven, as per usual. No matter how late I went to bed, I never woke up late.

I was halfway through my shower when I remembered what had happened the night before.

"Shit," I mumbled and proceeded to speed through the rest of my shower and shave.

After leaving Caroline sleeping in the guest room last night, my mind had begun to wander.

I just let a stranger into my house. She knows where I sleep. She could be a con artist. What's in her knapsack? Who walks around pant-less?

So I had locked my door and gone to sleep.

Now, I pulled on a pair of pants and one of my many Henley's before walking out into the hallway. Her door was still closed, and I couldn't hear any noise coming from the rest of the house.

I knocked on her door lightly. If she was awake she would answer, or it would at least give her fair warning that I was coming in. I waited a few seconds and then pushed the door open.

The curtains were drawn and the lights were still off so it was fairly dark in the room. With the little light coming from the hallway, I could make out Caroline still in bed, her body tangled with the covers and her hair thrown wildly over the pillows. Should I wake her? No, she's probably tired.

Deciding I wouldn't disturb her, I gently closed the door and padded down to the kitchen to make myself breakfast.

I sliced a pineapple, toasted and buttered bread, scrambled eggs and made coffee.

I took my breakfast into the office, setting it on a side table and turned on the news. I booted up my laptop while eating pineapple slices.

By eight thirty I had gotten through a decent amount of paperwork and had finished breakfast. I took my plates and mug to the kitchen to rinse them out and deposit them in the dishwasher. Before heading back to the office I swung by the guest room where Caroline was still slumbering. She had shifted, throwing the duvet completely off. When I caught sight of her panties, which I could now see because her shirt was bunched up around her waist, I quickly moved out of the room and desperately attempted to put that image out of my mind.

By nine-thirty I was able to get in contact with the owner of the two paintings that still hadn't arrived at the museum and ascertained that they would arrive on schedule. I went up to check on Caroline again, barely sticking my head in the room. She had turned on her side, her back facing me, as well as her butt. Before I could decide whether I liked the view or not, I closed the door and went back down.

By ten thirty I had answered all pending emails and was working on making sure the sculpture would arrive on time.

At eleven I started worry. Then I smelled something cooking. The maids weren't supposed to be here today…

Caroline was in the kitchen, going from the stove to the fridge to various counters, grabbing, frying and setting. It smelled like bacon. And sausages. And fried eggs.

As I walked further into the kitchen, Caroline looked up, gracing me with one of her sunshine smiles.

"Good morning, Nik!" There was my name again. Dammit. Why had I told her that was my name? I shifted uncomfortably.

"Good morning, Caroline. Although, it is rather later morning."

She shrugged, removing the bacon from the pan and placing it on her rather stacked plate. She also had pancakes. "Still morning nonetheless."

She put a placed her plate on a placemat she had left on the island counter. She poured herself a cup of orange juice and sat down, taking a large swing before digging into her breakfast.

I didn't really know what to say, so I just looked.

She had changed. The shirt she was wearing was navy blue and it fit her loosely. It wasn't baggy, it just wasn't form fitting. She had the front of the shirt tucked into the front of her denim shorts. They were short and frayed at the edges.. She wore her Chucks, but seemed to have puts socks on this time.

"Sorry about the mess, and taking your food. I'll clean up and leave some money." She grabbed a bottle of honey and poured a generous amount over her pancakes.

"That won't be necessary," I shook my head. It really wasn't. She had barely used any food. There was enough in the fridge and the pantry to feed a whole army. I didn't even know we had bacon.

"Of course it is," she said through a mouth full of pancake. She reached into her back pocket and slapped something down onto the counter.

A hundred dollar bill.

"I don't need your money, Caroline," I growled, growing irritated.

She rolled her eyes. "I know you don't need it, duh. But my parents didn't raise me to be a mooch," she shrugged, dismissing the subject. "Just take the money."

Frustrated, I turned and went back into the office, leaving her money on the counter.

Who the hell was she? She was sleeping in sheds, but had a hundred dollar bill in her

pocket? What was it with her? Didn't he realize she was my guest? As in she wouldn't have to pay for her stay.

I felt slightly insulted.

I was still pacing back and forth, thinking of all things Caroline, when Caroline came into the room,

her knapsack slung over her shoulder.

"You're leaving?" I asked. But it wasn't really a question. Of course she was leaving, did you think she was going to stay?

She nodded. "Yeah, I don't want to overstay my welcome. And I have places I need to go anyways."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

Huh? "What do you mean you don't know where you're going?"

She chuckled. "The answer is in the question."

I opened my mouth to say something but then closed it again, not having anything to say. Did she seriously not know where she was going?

"Will you be staying in town for some time?" I asked.

She scrunched up her nose in a down right adorable way. "No, I don't think so. I don't do small towns."

"What's wrong with small towns?"

"They make me stick out like a sore thumb, honestly. Everyone in a small town knows each other, or knows of each other. A new face draws too much attention."

Couldn't argue with her there. I knew all that well enough.

"Okay," she rolled back on her heals, looping her thumbs through her shoulder straps. "I guess this is goodbye."

"I guess so," I answered dryly. There was no point in delaying her any longer.

"Alright, well," she started, walking towards me. I stayed stock still, not knowing what she would do. She lifted herself up onto her tippy toes and placed a soft, sweet kiss on my cheek.

"Goodbye, Nik. Thanks for the hospitality."

Then she whirled around and walked off before I could answer.

"Anytime," I said, but only I could hear.

CAROLINE POV

The book for this week was Hamlet. I hadn't paid much attention when I read it in high school, and it was cheap enough at the used book store, especially when I traded in my copy of A Handmaid's Tale.

I wasn't missing much, I realized. Hamlet was a moody teenager trying to get over his father's death. He sucked at revenge, though. Up until now, he had had at least three open opportunities where he could have killed Claudius but he had chickened out. Pussy.

He was about to wrestle Laertes in Ophelia's open grave when I heard the shed door swing open. I looked up and stared into the eyes of what I swore was the most beautiful man I had ever seen.

"What the bloody hell?" And he had an English accent, too. Hot damn.

I stood up quickly and tried to diffuse the tension, but mostly I was just trying to get a better look at him.

Blue eyes, short, sandy curls and raspberry lips. I'd never seen lips like that.

After pleasantries with Nik had been exchanged and I did a little one-eighty around the shed to try and come up with a plan to get out of this, I found myself pulling on my shoes and heading out the door.

Okay, the main road wasn't far. Hitch-hiking wouldn't be so bad. I had done it before. I was hoping to avoid it for a while and just use buses and trains as my mode of transportation, but there wouldn't be any buses headed through here until the morning…

"Wait!" I turned but continued to walk backwards. Nik was still standing by the shed, looking rather torn. "Where are you going?"

"Places," I answered vaguely. Mostly because I had no clue where my next stop would be but also because I wasn't about to tell a stranger where I was going.

"Do you at least own pants?" That was a silly question. Well, maybe not so silly because I wasn't wearing pants at the moment.

"Of course I do," I said with a snort.

Nik looked around, glancing inside the shed before looking back at me. "You forgot your blanket!"

"That was in the shed when I got there. You're a pretty lousy shed owner if you don't know what's in your own shed."

"Caroline!" He called out. I was pretty far now, but I could see his mouth move as he said something. I didn't hear it though. Then he was jogging towards me. He looked hot when he was jogging. His arms were slightly flexed so I could see how toned they were. Yum.

"You can stay, if you want to that is," he offered.

"You're letting me stay in your shed?"

"What? No, I meant inside the house."

"Uh, gee, I don't know." It was a big house. And he was a stranger. I was basically asking to get raped. Or murdered.

"Listen, it's past three in the morning. And we're a long walk away from town so you probably won't find another place for at least another one to two hours. You'd probably fall asleep in the forest first."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Of course I knew all this.

"It's not that bad."

He swallowed, his eyes going blank. He stayed silent for a second before composing himself and continuing to speak. "Okay, well. I have plenty of rooms in the house. You can spend the night and leave tomorrow if you wish."

Who was this guy?

First of all, how had he found me? I hadn't made any noise when I snuck into the shed and had managed to stay there for a few hours. What had he been doing wandering around the side of his house at three in the morning? Obviously he wasn't just doing a routine maintenance check of his shed because he didn't even know he owned that blanket.

I could feel the exhaustion starting to weigh down on me, though. I hadn't had a good night's sleep in the last three nights and I desperately needed to lay down. I sent a quick prayer up and hoped that this guy wasn't bad news.

"Fine," I said, and started walking towards the house, Nik trailing behind me.

He stopped by the shed to flip some switch that turned off all of the garden lights. So that was what had given me away. Damn.

He led me through the back and up to a guest room.

The mansion was gor-ge-ous. It was almost completely white with Roman style columns and high ceilings. The floor was marble and some other stone I couldn't name, but it was beautiful. There were framed paintings on almost every wall. I recognized a Rembrandt I had seen in a brochure for the Louvre. This was obviously a replica, but it was breath taking all the same.

When I asked about a wife, which I honestly assumed he had one because seriously he was a catch and who live in a house his big with no one to share it with, he got all serious. His face went blank and his eyes got dark and he dismissed the subject and lead me to the guest bedroom.

And to the softest bed ever.

He regarded me carefully when I jumped on the bed, but that was to be expected. What adult still jumped on beds? Me, that's who.

We exchanged our goodnights and he closed the door, leaving me in the dark.

This was seriously awesome. The pillows were amazingly soft and the bed...wow, the bed. I closed my eyes, thinking of blue eyes and sandy curls as I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, tangled in the sheets, I had never felt so rested. I looked over at the clock on the fireplace mantle and realized it was just past ten thirty. Almost eight hours of sleep, not bad. I wanted to just snuggle back in under to covers but decided against it.

I got out of bed and found that there was a shower in the room. I quickly showered and got dressed, throwing my hair up into a pony tail and heading down to find something to eat. I would have to get rid of these twists soon. They were cool looking and stuff but they could be a little annoying.

The kitchen was a dream come true. State of the art appliances and stainless steel all over the place.

The fridge was stocked and so was the pantry. I bit my lip, deciding whether to go for a conservative breakfast or to have a hearty one. I didn't know when the next time I would get to eat would be, so I decided on a hearty breakfast. I could always leave some money so that I wouldn't feel like a freeloader.

As I was finishing, Nik came into the kitchen, practically salivating over my bacon. I smiled and greeted him and sat down to eat. And then we got into an arguement about me paying for my stay.

Seriously, if he didn't want me to pay for my stay he might as well have left me in the shed.

Then he left, which pissed me off a little. But whatever, it was his house.

I cleaned up the kitchen, leaving everything as I found it. I left the hundred dollar bill on the counter though.

I went up to my room and made the bed that I had left a mess. Seriously, how much did I move around at night?

A quick check I had of everything in my bag let me know I wasn't missing anything and that my camera was safely wrapped and tucked in there. Alright, time to go.

I went downstairs and looked around for Nik because it would probably be bad manners to just disappear.

After a bit of exploring I found him pacing in a room that looked to be some sort of office or study or something. He looked up. He had probably been running his hand through his hair a lot because his hair was mussed. Hmm, it almost looked like sex hair.

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I don't want to overstay my welcome. And I have places I need to go anyways."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

Here we go. This was always an issue. I tried for people not to catch me like this because then they asked too many questions. Questions I really don't have answers to.

He asked me if I was staying in town. Nope, that wasn't happening. No way, no how.

"Okay, I guess this is goodbye."

"I guess so," he answered, his voice and expression giving nothing away. It reminded me of the look on his face when he had said he wasn't married. He looked so lonely.

Before I could change my mind, I walked over to him, got up on my tippy toes and placed a kiss to his cheek.

"Goodbye, Nik. Thanks for the hospitality." I spun on my heel and walked out, not waiting for him to answer. I was out the front door and down the driveway in no time.

I didn't look back. I never did.

...should I continue?

(Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing)