Early Sunday morning found Lee standing in the kitchen, staring out the window, having completely forgotten the cup of coffee he had made for himself.
He had slept fitfully, when he was finally able to sleep. He couldn't get Ashley out of his mind.
Maybe he should have just taken her to bed instead of slowing things down as he had the night before.
He had spent most of the night trying to figure out why he had acted the way he had. It was only just beginning to occur to him that this girl was different.
He didn't want her to be just another one-night stand, not just another physical encounter that he could forget about the next morning.
He enjoyed her company, liked just being with her, liked her. The realization hit him heavily, as though someone had punched him.
He really liked her. This was a whole new emotion for Lee, he had never been serious about any girl.
He wasn't sure what to do, and was totally lost in his thoughts when Ashley walked into the kitchen, still looking tousled from sleep, rubbing her eyes.
"Morning." She mumbled as she walked past him and reached for the coffee pot.
It was obvious that she had suffered through a sleepless night as well. Was he the cause of that, he wondered to himself?
"Good morning beautiful." He answered, giving her a slow, lazy smile. She avoided his eyes,
grabbed her coffee and headed to the lounge room without saying another word.
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Ashley had barely slept at all that night, and was not in the mood to contend with Lee and his little games.
Somewhere around four in the morning she had made up her mind to treat him as nothing more than a housemate.
She knew it would be difficult as there was no denying the physical attraction between them, but she was not going to become his plaything.
He could go and find himself a bimbo at his beloved club to fill that role, she refused to allow herself to be used for his amusement.
She would concentrate on building her business back up again, and then she would find her own place and try to forget that those gorgeous green eyes had ever existed.
She had come downstairs determined that he wouldn't be able to detract from her resolve, and it had all started unraveling as soon as he smiled at her.
She couldn't get out of the kitchen fast enough.
She sat quietly drinking her coffee, feeling thoroughly miserable when she heard Lee's mobile ring.
A few minutes later, Maverick rushed into the lounge room looking for her.
"Morning Ashley." He greeted her. "Would you mind keeping an eye on Darry for me for a little while?
A couple of our new trainees have managed to land themselves in hot water." He didn't look impressed.
"Sure Mav, I didn't have any plans today anyway." She told him.
He smiled gratefully and headed towards the front door, Lee hot on his heels, leaving her alone in the still quiet house.
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Maddie woke to sunlight streaming in through the window in Maverick's room.
She glanced at the clock. It was eleven in the morning. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept this late.
She rolled over to reach for Maverick, only to find that she was alone in the bed.
A single red rose lay on the pillow beside her with a note explaining that he and Lee had been called in to deal with an emergency
situation with some of their trainees.
She smiled to herself, almost blushing as she remembered their shared passion from the night before and earlier that morning.
She didn't really feel up to facing the inevitable lecture she knew would be waiting for her from Karen,
so she pulled on her jeans and T-Shirt from the night before and went downstairs, hoping that she would find Ashley was still at home.