A/N I'm so sorry it took me so long to update this story. Wow, 2 months already, really? Time really flies! Thank you so much for your encouraging reviews and for your patience. I'll try to keep up with it more, I promise. The problem is that I really haven't written down a story-line for this fic so it's really what just comes in mind. I hope you'll like this new chapter. Thanks again! :)

Nate was sitting on the chair at the museum surveillance console panel. He was bored. Ian had sent him to Prague convinced that the mysterious art thief would have stolen in this museum. Actually Nate had come to the same conclusion days before, but he hadn't told Blackpoole immediately hoping that he wasn't going to send him in Europe before his date with Sophie. He knew Ian well and he over tends to panic over nothing. He knew that as soon as he told him about his conclusions, he would have sent him to Prague days early. Nate would have missed the fantastic date he had with a wonderful woman and certainly died of boredom and Ian, well the boss would have kept nagging in his ears telling him he had been wrong and asking why wasn't the thief there yet. No, this thief was meticulous and usually waited at least two weeks before striking again. And she had a soft spot for Degas.

That was his second night at Prague museum. He had checked the security and everything was working perfectly and now he just had to wait for her to come.

A beeping sound went off on a monitor.

"What's that?" he asked at the museum guard sitting next to him.

"Someone just swiped a card in the exhibition room" The guard checked the log list. "It's Miss Benke, the exhibition supervisor."

"Isn't it a bit late to check the gallery? Does she usually work until late?" Nate wondered.

"Not really" the guard simply shrugged. That was her! Nate thought excited.

"I'm going to check it out "

He quickly got up and made his way to the exhibition gallery where the Degas was.

He stealthily turned the corner. There she was! He could see the shadow of feminine figure expertly cutting the alarm wires attached to the painting. She brought the frame down and started cutting to extract the picture.

This was the perfect time. He slowly extracted the gun from his shoulder holster. He didn't like carrying a weapon and he rarely used it, but not all criminals were safe.

"IYS, freeze!" he shouted stepping out from his hiding place gun in his hand.

The thief turned around startled and starred at him.

Nate shocked lowered his weapon. "Sophie" he whispered incredulous.

Sophie quickly let go of the frame and ran away. After he recovered from the shock, he started chasing her. He ran towards the direction she fled, but once he arrived outside the museum she had already disappeared. How could it be possible? Was it really her? Of course she was, he knew it from the way her eyes recognized him. Did he really fall in love with a thief?

Hours later, after he had explained to his angry boss how the thief got away but fortunately the painting was safe, Nate opened the door of his hotel room ready to crash on his bed and wake up later in the afternoon.

"Nate" he heard someone whisper. If he hadn't been so tired and still so stunned about the events that occurred earlier, he would have noticed the figure standing by the window.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her angrily "And how did you get in?"

"It wasn't difficult to convince the receptionist that I had lost my keycard" she shrugged. She tried to approaching him. "Nate, please, let me explain."

He took a step back. "What is there to explain? You're a thief. You're the one I've been chasing in the last months. Tell me : what's stopping me from arresting you right now?"

"Nothing, I guess" she whispered looking down. This isn't going how she imagined. She realized he would have been angry, but she hoped she would have had a chance to set things right.

He sighed frustrated, running a hand through his hair and he started pacing. "Was our meeting casual or did you plan the all thing? Make the dumb IYS agent fall in love you, so you can play him"

She quickly lifted her head up shocked. "Of course not" she told him firmly. "I didn't even know it was you until this evening. I know IYS has been chasing me from some time, but when you told me you worked for an insurance company I didn't make the connection."

"I guess that's supposed to make me feel better." He told her sarcastically. He was hurting. He definitely had feelings for her, but now he didn't know how to react.

"I'm sorry Nate, really, but I can't change the past. The other night was great. I felt something for…"

He stopped her. "Don't. Please don't." He heavily sat down on the edge of the bed, putting his head in his hands.

After a small hesitation, she sat next to him and gently laid a hand on his arm. "What are we going to do now?"

He turned his head and looked at her. In her eyes he could only see the woman he so easily fell in love with. "I don't know" he whispered.

"If you want me to go, leave you alone, I could do that."

"You know my boss wants me to catch you, how am I supposed to handle that?"

"I'm a grifter, it's what I do. "

"Is Sophie Devereaux even your real name?" he suddenly asked. Was anything he knew about her even real?

"It's as real as it can be." She tried to avoid an honest answer.

He gave a small incredulous chuckle. "Of course it is" he took a deep breath and finally looked at her again. "I guess this is it. We'll act like nothing ever happened. Nothing can ever happen. If somebody finds out about it, I could lose my job and with that the right to see my son"

"Of course" Sophie tried not to cry in front of him. She quickly turned her face away and dried her eyes with the tip of her fingers. She got up and went to the door. "So, I guess I'll run and you'll chase" she exclaimed turning around.

"I'll try to cover for you when I'll can, but a colleague of mine, James Sterling, he is after you too and he'll not be as understanding as I am. You've really pissed him off with your stunt in L.A. Be careful"

She gave him a small smile. "I will. Until we'll see each other again" and she walked out of the room.

Nate poured himself a glass of whiskey from the minibar and then stood at the window looking down at the street. He saw her quickly cross the road and disappear in the night. With a quick motion he finished his drink in one big sip and walked away.