Passion makes idiots of the cleverest men, and makes the biggest idiots clever. – Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Zak woke up way to early the next day. Well too early for him. After he got back to the room he went to bed, not that it did much good because he tossed and turned for hours. But today was a new day, even though it was another gloomy day in Miami.

Getting out of bed he decided to do something he hadn't done in a few days, he was going to hit the gym. It was rather early so the fitness room was mostly empty except for a few people. Zak shoved his ear buds in his ears and turned his music up on his phone. For the next couple of hours he lifted weights and did some speed walking on the treadmill. He loved working out. It cleared his head and gave him a chance to focus on the problems at hand.

After a great workout he was sure of two things. He had to apologize to Ana, hell he would beg if he had too. Then he would start over. Actually get to know her properly and she would get to know him. He knew people like her didn't come along often in your life, but when they did you had to seize the opportunity and keep them in your life. He just had to get her to talk to him first.

Feeling great after working out and knowing what he had to do he hurried back to his room to shower and to give Nick a call to see when he would be coming into town. He quickly showered. Once out of the bath, Zak heard his phone ringing in the other room. Hoping it might be Ana calling him; he quickly wrapped a towel around his waist and hurried to his phone. But it wasn't Ana, it was Mark.

-"Hey Mark." Zak answered.

-"Zak, you're up early. I wasn't sure I should call, but this was too important to wait." Mark sounded out of breath.

-"Why don't I like where this is going?"

-"One gossip site wrote an article on you. It's all over the internet, and a morning show is talking about it!"

-"Wait, what?" Zak looked up at his reflection in the mirror he was standing in front of. He watched his skin tone slowly turn sheet white.

-"The article was written by TMZ but Good Morning America had a small blurb about it in their pop news."

-"Holy fuck ..." Zak ran his hand through his hair.

-"My phone has been ringing nonstop with reporters asking me to confirm it. I am sending you an email now; it has the link to the article and a link to the show you missed this morning."

Zak was already powering up his laptop.

-"What should I tell them, Zak?" Mark asked quietly.

-"Ana knows ... she knows we are married ... But keep putting it off if you can." Zak hated publicity like this. He wasn't a big movie star or anything like that. He could still go to the store without being hassled by paparazzi's and he liked it that way. He worked very hard at keeping his private life ... private.

-"I can try but you know keeping quiet isn't always the best thing."

-"Yeah I know. Thanks Mark."

Zak hung up and found the email in his box that Mark had sent. He clicked on the website and when the site came up there was a large picture he remembered taking as a promotion picture for his show, underneath was the article.

Today all the women of the paranormal community mourn the loss of sexy stud man Zak Bagans. The ghost hunting bachelor was snatched off the market on Sunday evening by an unknown woman. The lucky lady named Anastasia Campbell is a Florida native. Not much more is known about the mystery woman, but we will share more when it becomes available. Zak was married at the "Little White Chapel" in Las Vegas. The newlywed couple then went to the posh Hampton Inn to celebrate their nuptials. We contacted Zak's agent and he would not confirm or deny anything.

Zak himself has been silent about the event. The Las Vegas native seems to have disappeared from the Sin City. His popular twitter account has not had any activity since the wedding. Zak is famous for his TV show, ghost Adventures and he has made great strides in the paranormal community. The show Ghost Adventures airs every Friday night. The popular ghost hunter usually has a live active twitter feed during the show airing, everyone is curious to see if he will be present at tonight's live feed with his new wife.

Zak leaned back in his chair and sighed. They knew about Ana. He would bet by tonight they will have a mountain of new information about her, including the fact that she was supposed to marry another man. He went back to the email and clicked on the link to the morning show. Pressing play a perky blonde woman was smiling at the camera, she was sitting at a table with three other cohosts.

-"So how many of you believe in ghost?" She asked with a giant smile.

The other cohosts all had little comments to make and the camera went back to the blonde.

-"Well according to TMZ the hottest ghost hunter on the market, is off the market." She paused dramatically. "That's right, founder and host of the show Ghost Adventures, Zak Bagans is married. The ceremony happened on Sunday in Las Vegas. Not much is known about the new Mrs. Bagans. Her name is Anastasia. But I am sure we will find out more soon, and we shall relay the information." She grinned and moved on to the next celebrity gossip.

Now he knew for sure that he would have to talk to Ana, because he was sure some paparazzi's were on their way now to come and capture her picture and get any dirt they could find on her.

Powering down the laptop he called Nick who was going to land at 6pm. Nick had also called Billy to come and join them since most of their equipment was in Vegas. Nick had a few things but it was all for personal use. Billy would bring all the equipment they used on the show, but he wouldn't arrive until tomorrow morning. Zak then text Aaron for him to call when he woke up. He knew Aaron rarely woke up before 2-3pm.

Minutes later his phone rang, it would seem Aaron was also up early this morning.

-"Dude, I text you loads of times yesterday what were you up too?" Aaron said right away.

-"Ana and I went to that haunted house of hers."

Zak heard light chatter in the background.

-"Sweet. I take it things went good for you." Aaron said with a hint of humor.

-"Errr ... what do you mean?"

-"Ana didn't come home; I figured you two you know ..."

-"Wait ... Ana didn't go home?"

-"Well no, Cathy talked to her around 1:30 I think it was, and she waited for her for a while, but she never came ..." Aaron hesitated, "she isn't with you?"

-"No!" Zak shot up from his seat and quickly went to his suitcase to grab some clothes. "We ... things went to hell last night. I told her we were married, she freaked out and took off."

-"Shit." Aaron mumbled. He then heard Aaron telling someone what he had just said. He then heard some rustling around and Cathy's panic voice came on the line.

-"Where the hell is Ana?" Cathy almost screamed in the phone.

Zak moved the phone from his ear.

-"I don't know I assumed she went home ..."

-"She didn't! Oh my god, what did you tell her?"

-"Just that we were married." He really didn't want to go into details with Cathy on what happened. "Where do you think she might be?"

-"I don't know ... I'll check her mom's house." The line went dead.

Zak found Ana's number and tried to give her a call, but it didn't even ring, it went straight to voicemail. He then sent her a text practically begging her to call him when she received it. He then got dressed and headed out.

I blinked a few times. I groaned and stretched. My neck was killing me. Guess that is what you get for sleeping on the couch all night. I slowly sat up and let my eyes roam the small, familiar living room when my eyes rested on a small note that was neatly folded on the coffee table. I grabbed the note.

Ana, you were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to wake you. I got called into work to fill in for the morning show. I will be out late, turn your phone on so I can call you, we need to get together and discuss our future. I love you. Justin.

I felt a small flood of relief wash over me. That meant I didn't have to face Justin just yet. That was definitely good. Last night I had put off talking even though Justin was very confused as to why I turned up at his doorstep in the middle of the night. I didn't really want to answer his hundreds of questions that I probably had no answers too. At least not yet.

It wasn't unusual for Justin to be called into work to fill in for a reporter. He was only a field journalist but he was slowly moving up the chain and he was so well liked by people that he often filled in at the desk when other news anchor couldn't be there. Miami had a morning show that started after the big national morning show ended. Justin's career as a reporter had really kicked off a few months after we started dating. He had a big interview with my stepfather, who was Florida's senator, and he was renowned for not ever giving interviews, but after I talked to him he agreed to let Justin interview him. So the fact that Justin had gotten it was quite ground breaking for his career. Since that day he had been slowly rising. One day he probably would be a TV anchor on one of those big news networks.

I got up and went to the bedroom that Justin and I had shared and found my closet full of clothes. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a pretty black lace tank top. The front had ruffles. It had a V neckline with an open back. I hurried to the shower.

When done, I went to the kitchen to look for something to eat. I popped some toast in and while they cooked I went and got my phone but of course the damn thing was dead. I was terrible at remembering to charge it. Once the phone was plugged in and my toast smeared with my favorite jelly I sat down and let my mind wander. Justin had not questioned me at all after I showing up at his door step in the middle of the night, but this was technically my apartment as well. I had paid half the rent for the month after all. Once inside Justin had sat with me for a bit on the couch, he had only been comforting.

-"What's wrong Ana, and don't tell me nothing, I've known you for to long. I know that look you have now." He had said.

-"I just got some ... unexpected news. I'm in shock."

-"Well was it good or bad news?"

-"I don't know yet ..."

He had nodded and he gave me a quick hug.

-"You can have the bed tonight, I'll take the couch." He offered. But I refused, telling him I would probably watch TV for a bit.

I had turned the TV on after he left, but with my luck they were playing Ghost Adventures reruns. Even though Zak and the crew were running around madly after creepy sounds, I paid no attention to the events. All I could think was that I was married to that man. Why couldn't I remember something as special as my own wedding? I wasn't so upset about the fact that was married. I could deal with that, I mean that was fixable.

What I couldn't look past was the fact that he lied. He had not only withheld information from me but he had lied since he got here. He was not my friend; he had no interest in me. I was an idiot for thinking he was interested in me. But he had somehow implicated my best friend! Why did Cathy lie to me? Was her getting a piece of Aaron that important to her that she actually was willing to throw away our friendship?

I sighed and finished the last piece of my toasts at the same moment I heard the locks to the door being unlocked. I guess Justin was home earlier than he expected. I had hoped I would have been gone before he got back, but as the door opened Ariel walked in.

-"Ariel?" I asked confused, seeing my friend standing in the door.

-"Oh, Ana!" She gasped surprise to see me. "I - I ... what are you doing here?" Her voice squeaked.

-"I do live here till the end of the month ..."

-"Well yeah!" Ariel laughed lightly. "Of course you do! I meant I thought you and Justin were on a break ..."

She nervously played with the keys. Ariel was a pretty woman. She had long blonde hair that reached her waist and she always dressed impeccably. But it helped that she owned a women's clothing store. She was one of those girls that you loved to hate if you didn't know her. She was perfect. From her perfect tan that she bought, to her perfect size D breasts that somehow seemed to always be perky, not that I was looking.

-"What are you doing here?" I asked setting my plate in the sink.

-"I ... uhhh ... I came to clean."

-"Clean?"

-"Yeah, Justin is an awful housekeeper you know that, and after you left he just needed a little help, so he asked, I couldn't say no ... you're not mad are you?"

I furrowed my brow at her response. I didn't really picture Ariel cleaning up Justin's dirty dishes and socks. But she and he had been friends for a long time...

-"Of course not." I said lightly.

She smiled brightly.

-"Well since your here ... I will go." She said hesitantly.

-"No, no stay." I insisted. "We haven't talked in so long."

She nodded and put her purse by the door. We both sat on the couch together.

-"I haven't seen you since Vegas. Well I saw you at your mom's dinner, but not for long, you were so busy with that guy. What is the deal with you and that guy?"

-"Zak?" I recalled the dinner which seemed like it was ages ago. "Nothing ..."

-"Well he is a yummy piece of eye candy."

I nodded agreeing. Zak certainly was that. But as time passed I just felt … strange being with Ariel. Like I should keep my guard up. I used to confide in her and Cathy all the time, but now I wondered if I could trust her as well. My curiosity was getting the better of me though, and I needed to know if she also knew about my marriage to Zak.

-"Have you talked to Cathy at all recently?" I asked casually.

-"Yeah, last night, she was looking for you. Are you two arguing or something?" She asked.

-"Something like that …"

-"Is it because you are back with Justin?" She asked carefully. "Because I know she never liked him to begin with."

-"I'm not back with Justin … why would you say that?"

-"I just assumed since you were here … and Justin usually texts me in the morning and he didn't today …" But she stopped short like she had not meant to say those words.

-"We're not back together. I don't want to be with Justin that is one thing I am sure of."

She nodded but seemed confused.

-"I don't understand you. You have a hot guy like Justin wanting to marry you, just the way that you are. He obviously cares about you, so why are you willing to throw that away?"

I sighed, not really willing to do this Ariel. I got up to retrieve my phone; I probably had a hundred messages from Cathy. But Ariel took my actions of getting up as me running away. She stood and followed me to the kitchen.

-"Ana, your mom had planned this whole amazing wedding and you just took off without a word! Everyone was worried sick, they would have called the police if I had not contacted them. You need to stop running away from everything."

-"I am not running! I just don't want to marry someone I don't love, is that so damn wrong? We aren't in the 1800's anymore, my task isn't to marry well and to stay home and have babies! I just want someone who will accept me for me, and Justin doesn't."

Ariel shrugged.

-"Well whatever your loss, because someone is going to snatch him up and that's when you will regret your missed opportunity." She replied back with a snarky tone. At the same time she looked at her phone and quickly answered. She then gave me her best annoyed look. "Yeah, she is with me Cathy … No am not surprise that she just took off without warnings, she seems to be doing that a lot lately."

I rolled my eyes and started to scroll through my phone and all the messages. Most of them were from Cathy. There was one from Zak, asking me to call him. I stared at my screen for several moments as Ariel's chatter faded in the background and I found myself recalling our passionate kiss last night …

Just then my phone vibrated in my hand. I let my eyes refocus on the phone, and as if he had sensed my thoughts, Zak was calling me. I debated ignoring it but as I glanced up at Ariel still ranting about my foolish behavior, the thoughts of discussing my wedding that I didn't remember was much more appealing.

-"Hello?"

-"Ana." Zak said relieved. I closed my eyes for a moment relishing his soft baritone voice saying my name. "Everyone was worried about you."

-"So I heard …" I said as coolly as I could muster.

-"I know you're mad at me, but please, we have to talk." His voice almost sounded desperate.

I turned around and whispered in the phone.

-"I know you want me to sign the papers okay, I'll get it done today I promise."

-"No, that's not it. It's out, a gossip website found our marriage certificate through the public records. It was posted on their site this morning. Even Good Morning America talked about it."

-"What?!" I shouted.

Call my naïve or just plain stupid, but it had never occurred to me that Zak was a person of interest, he was in the public eye and that he getting married would be a hot topic to talk about. I really didn't follow the latest gossip news about celebrities; I found it a waste of time. Frankly I could care less what outfit Lady Gaga was wearing or who was dating who in this week's popular boy band.

But now I was involved in this. Now it was a whole other story.

-"My PR told me about it this morning. He was hoping I'd have a few more days … but those guys, they are good at digging up information." Zak was silent for a moment. "They named you Ana, they are going to start looking into your past. I'm not a big deal celebrity, if it was just a quick Vegas wedding it wouldn't be that much of a story. But they will see you were supposed to get married to another guy the same weekend you married me … that makes for great gossip …" He trailed off.

I was appalled at this. My wedding to Justin had been in the newspaper after all, in the announcements section on Friday. There had been a small blurb about it too, nothing big just that the Senator's step daughter was getting married. It wouldn't take long for any good reporter to see those articles.

-"What do we do?" I whispered.

-"Just come to my hotel and we can talk about it here."

-"Alright …" I said hesitantly.

We hung up. Ariel was still talking to Cathy, so I just headed for the door.

-"Where are you going?" Ariel asked.

-"Something has come up, I got to go."

-"Oh no! No way! You tell me what is going on right now!" She marched towards me with a determined look on her face and the phone still at her ear.

-"Why don't you ask Cathy." I snapped.

-"I did, she won't tell me!"

I could hear Cathy's shrieking voice yelling in Ariel's ear. I grabbed the phone from Ariel.

-"Just leave me alone Cathy! I am so mad at you right now."

-"Please, Ana, I didn't tell you because I didn't believe it at first, but after … I thought it was Zak's job to tell you, not mine. Please don't hate me." She cried.

-"Whatever! If you got married and didn't remember I'd tell you, because that is what friends do! You let me make an idiot of myself with Zak!"

I thrust the phone back into Ariel hands that had a very confused look on her face.

-"Wait … who's married? What?"

But I didn't stay to listen to her. I left the apartment as quick as I could to go meet Zak.

When I arrived at the hotel I realized I didn't have his room number so I made a quick stop at the front desk. Once I got the room number I headed upstairs.

I was feeling extremely nervous to see Zak again. Last night we hadn't left things on the best note, and I wasn't too sure how things would be between us today. I also felt rather foolish for not only thinking there was more between us but that I had said exactly those words, so he knew that I had feelings for him. I came to a stop in front of his door and took a deep breath. I softly knocked and waited.

Moments later Zak opened the door and he was just as beautiful as last night, and I hated him for it. Today he wore black camouflage pants with a plain black t-shirt. He also wore a black baseball hat and he had on his glasses which only added to his charm.

We stared at each other for some time before he let out a small awkward laugh.

-"Come in …" He said moving to the side.

His room was a typical hotel room. It had a large queen size bed, with the traditional large flower patterns. There was a flat screen TV on the wall and a dresser right below it. To the side was a small desk with Zak's laptop resting on the top. Well I assumed it was Zak's. It had a large Ghost Adventures decal on it. There was also a small dining table and a couple of chairs next to the patio door which led to a small balcony overlooking the ocean.

-"Nice view." I commented walking to the patio doors to gaze out.

I felt Zak walk up behind me. I'd had forgotten how much presences he had in a room. I was all too aware of his tall form so close behind me. I could feel his body heat radiating from him. I tried to calm my racing heart but taking deep breaths only made it worse because all I could inhale was his masculine scent. It was making my head spin.

I quickly scooted around him and walked to the dresser. I was trying to get some distance between us so I could think, but this room seemed much smaller all of a sudden. I cleared my throat.

-"So … about this gossip article thing …"

Zak nodded and sat at the desk booting up his laptop.

-"I don't think they will bug us much, but they are curious as to who you are."

-"What does that mean?"

-"Well I'm not an expert on this. Usually I'm left alone, am not a big movie star. But Mark, my PR guy, seems to think that the story itself of … well you know …" He shifted awkwardly in his seat. "You supposed to marry someone else will draw more interest. So I guess we can expect some phone calls for interviews or pictures, I really don't know Ana."

He clicked on a few things and the article popped up. He turned his laptop in my direction.

-"You can't read it from over there …" He stood up and motion for me to sit down in his seat.

I took a few steps and very carefully I sat down, avoiding touching him like he had the plague or something. I turned the laptop back towards me and read the article.

-"Ugh …" I shook my head. "My mother is going to freak out."

Zak chuckled.

-"Well then maybe there is something good that came from all this."

I tried not to laugh at the seriousness of the issue but a small laugh escaped. I kept my eyes on the computer screen not daring to look at Zak.

-"Ana … about last night …"

-"I'm not sure I want to talk about it yet …" I said in a small strangled voice.

But that didn't deter Zak at all. He knelt next to my chair.

-"That's fine, I don't expect you to be totally fine and okay with this, it took me a few days to absorb the shock. Just hear me out …" I felt his hand slip on my lap but I didn't dare look down. "Everything I said and did, I did it because I wanted too, not because I wanted something from you."

I couldn't listen to this right now … With haste I stood up and tried to move away but Zak had anticipated my move and he blocked my way. He slowly moved closer to me until we were so close his chest was touching mine.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, brushing my long hair away from my neck.

I felt myself blush and wanted to deny what Zak just said, I was not beautiful … but he never gave me a chance.

-"I know you've been hurt Ana, but not all guys are like Justin and other creeps you probably have dated… A real man should never harm a woman. Not even if she begs him to, whether it is physically or emotionally." Zak right hand went to my wrist and he very slowly moved his hand up my arm. His large palm leaving a hot trail behind which made me shiver. "If a man loves a woman, how can he bear to harm her?" He asked.

I finally dared to look at this face and I wish I hadn't. I was memorized by his dark blue eyes as he continued to speak.

"It's a man's duty, no … his privilege, to give his woman all the pleasure she can bear. She should be panting and writhing with pleasure." I remained silent, staring at him. I couldn't even begin to form a phrase in my head. Never had anyone spoken words like that to me. His voice turned low and husky as he kept going, his hand stilled when it came up to my collar bone.

"A real man would take all night if need be to make sure his woman was fully satisfied. She should be screaming that she can't endure anymore." My eyes widened. "It should be a man's greatest pleasure to see his woman shuddering in the throes of passion."

I took a deep breath and shifted my weight from one foot to another.

"And he should never, ever harm her …Am I totally wrong on this?"

-"No." I squeaked. My cheeks were flush and my heart was racing.

-"Are you alright?" Zak asked innocently with a small grin curving at his lips.

-"I – I think I should go …" My voice shook.

His hand touched my cheek and with a low growl, he pulled me into his arms and lowered his mouth to mine. He tasted my lips as he skimmed them with his tongue and nibbled them until a small moan escaped my lips. He held me so tightly, his hard chest pressed against my breasts. He smoothed his hands down my back as if trying to learn the exact curve of my spine.

He moved his lips to my neck. I felt my pulse skip a few beats as he nibbled his way down. My breath puffed against his cheek in tiny gasps. I felt myself melting against him. The scents and sounds clouded my brain till I could no longer think.

With a groan, he returned to my mouth and demanded entrance. I opened without hesitation. I felt his arousal growing and pressing against my stomach. As if knowing where my thoughts had gone I felt Zak's hands reach down and press against my butt so my body would be even closer to him. I broke the kiss with a gasp.

At this very moment Zak had never looked more enticing. He was breathing heavy, his gaze was hooded, his lips were swollen from our kissing … Right then I knew I was in big trouble because I couldn't say no to this man … but I didn't need to, at least not today. A very loud, heavy knock came at the door, we both stilled as if frozen.

-"Are you expecting anyone?" I asked breathlessly.

Zak shook his head no. The heavy knock rapped on the door again, whoever it was they were very impatient for us to open up.

A/N:

As always thank you so much everyone for your support, comments, PMs and emails!