***A/N:- Hello! Ok, wow, haven't updated or done anything much on this or any other story for four years! Blimey. Ok, so, here's an update…if anyone is still reading!***

CHAPTER TWELVE

Nina stood in Glen's arms, both of them swaying to the music rather than actually dancing. She rested her cheek on his chest and sighed with contentment. This was the life, she thought. First a lovely meal, then some wine, now some dancing with a handsome man...and no interruptions. A cough just behind her made Glen stiffen and she looked back to see who it was, almost groaning when she saw Mark standing there grinning at them.

Glen managed to contain his irritation, with difficulty. "Hey Mark, I thought...um...I thought you wouldn't be here until tomorrow. Is anyone else here?"

Mark cocked his head and smiled wider. "Trying to get in some uninterrupted hours, were you? Sorry, but I'm not the only one here."

"Please tell me Shawn isn't here!"

Mark chuckled at that. "No, he won't arrive until tomorrow night with most of the others. Actually I had similar thoughts to you."

"You did?" Glen asked, frowning. "With whom?"

"No-one you'd know...just one of the office staff who was going to be here early. I asked her to dinner," Mark explained, wiggling his eyebrows.

Glen shook his head. "Poor girl," he murmured.

"Why do you say that?" Nina asked, raising her eyebrows when he grinned and Mark chuckled.

"Just that when Mark asks a girl to dinner, it usually means in his hotel room and that she won't be leaving before daylight."

"And that's a bad thing because...?" Nina prompted, looking from one of them to the other.

"Because once they leave, they'll never see him again," Glen explained.

"Oh. Why not?" she asked, looking just at Mark now who looked slightly uncomfortable.

"I just lose interest I suppose," he said slowly, shrugging.

"And that's probably because the girl just gives in straight away," she said, "One day you'll meet someone who won't fall for your charms, and then where will you be?"

"Like that'll ever happen," Glen said. "Girls fall at his feet like flies. Though God knows why…look at him!"

Nina laughed as Mark gave Glen an offended look. "I can't help that I'm so damn hot women can't resist me! And anyway, why would I want someone for longer than one night? I shudder at the thought of being tied down."

"Sure you do," Glen said, smiling as Mark rolled his eyes and walked away. He shook his head as he watched him go and then smiled down at Nina. "He would love to find someone to spend more time with. He says this line about being tied down, but he wants it."

"Really? I thought being tied down was the worst thing that could happen to most men."

"Not to some of us," he murmured, and Nina looked up to see him staring down at her with such emotion in his eyes that she blushed. "Some of us would think of it as the end of the rainbow, with the right woman."

She caught her breath. "Really?"

"Really." He pulled her back into his embrace and kissed the top of her head. "Maybe the right woman is closer than any of us ever realized."

Nina smiled and closed her eyes. She didn't want to say anything to break the spell, and she just wondered if it wasn't just the newness of intimacy talking. It was way too soon for him to know how he really felt about her, but she couldn't help hoping that he really did feel something stronger than just lust. For now, she decided, she would content herself with just being close to him and having the freedom to touch him whenever she felt like it.

Later that evening they made their way back upstairs and went to bed early, with no intention of sleeping for some time.

Nina swatted at the noise, her sleep muddled mind thinking it was the alarm going off. A deep chuckle made her crack an eyelid and she frowned as she saw Glen leaning over her.

"What is that noise?" she mumbled, opening the other eye and frowning again as she realized it was knocking.

"The door," Glen clarified as he pulled some shorts on. He glanced at the clock and frowned at the hour. "It's only 7 am, who the hell would be knocking at this time of the...oh," he said as he reached the door and pulled it open to reveal Mark standing there.

"Morning," Mark muttered, looking angry.

"Morning. You do realize the time?" Glen asked him, confused. Mark never got up this early if he could help it.

"Yes," Mark replied, pushing into the room and throwing himself into a chair. "I couldn't sleep last night."

Glen smiled. "I thought you had a hot date last night? That usually means you don't sleep."

"Yeah, well...maybe hot date isn't the right term for what happened last night," the older man mumbled, running a hand across his head and glaring at Nina. "It's all her fault anyway. She jinxed me."

"I did?" Nina asked, still snuggled under the covers and irritated with being woken up so early. "How?"

"You said one day some girl wouldn't fall for my charms, that's how!" he growled.

"Are you telling us that this date of yours didn't fall at your feet?" Glen asked with a grin.

"She didn't even let me kiss her more than once!"

Nina giggled at his look of shock and then quickly shut up when he glared at her again. "It's not my fault she didn't kiss you," she muttered, tucking the covers securely around her so she could sit up against the headboard, feeling acutely conscious of her undressed state with Mark in the room. "Maybe she didn't like you?"

"She liked me enough to go for a meal with me," Mark replied angrily.

"In your room?" Nina asked, referring to what Glen had said the night before.

"For your information, I took her to a local restaurant and she seemed to be enjoying herself," he said shortly.

"Until when?" Glen prompted with a smile he quickly hid. It was amusing to see Mark flustered about anything.

"Until I got her back to my room."

"Oh?"

Mark looked slightly uncomfortable. "I spun her a line about needing to pick up my cell phone from my room, and then when we got there I…she…well, she acted like I was going to attack her or something! For God's sake, all I did was…" he stopped short and glanced at Nina before mumbling, "never mind."

"Come on buddy, what did you do?" Glen asked sitting near him and yawning.

"Nothing that warranted that sort of behavior!"

Glen couldn't help but chuckle. "What did she do?"

"This!" Mark growled, turning his head to side and pulling his hair apart to show a lump on his scalp.

"How the hell did she do that?" Glen asked.

"Why the hell did she do that?" Nina corrected, frowning. "Why would a woman just attack you without cause?"

"I suppose you think I attacked her?" Mark asked sarcastically. "Typical woman, stick up for your own kind. Well all I did was pull her against me and kiss her and she becomes hysterical!"

"As soon as you kissed her? Wow, you must be a bad kisser," Nina said, grinning at him.

At Mark's furious scowl, Glen turned to Nina and winked. "Why don't you go grab a shower while I talk to Mark?"

Nina smiled at him and nodded. It was obvious Mark wasn't comfortable with her sitting there listening, so she made sure she was securely wrapped in the sheet and shut herself in the bathroom.

"So, Nina had a point, Mark. Did this woman get all hysterical the moment you kissed her?"

"No, she was fine at first. Then things got a little heavier and...she really got to me, you know? A real sweet girl, or so I thought," Mark replied. He sounded totally disgusted with the whole thing. "As soon as it got a bit heavy she started backing off, but hell, she wanted it enough at first!"

Glen frowned. "You didn't try and force her?"

"Of course I didn't!"

"So how did she come to hit you?"

"I got…angry, and grabbed her and called her a tease and she just...damn, she grabbed this big ashtray and hit me with it. Next thing I know she's run out of the room and my head's bleeding." Mark frowned and shrugged awkwardly. "I guess I scared her."

"I guess you did. Who was it anyway? You never did tell me her name."

"Peyton...something. I thought she was just one of the office girls, since she was hanging out with them when I met her. Turns out she works with J.R., although I can't remember seeing her before. Some sort of secretary or something," he mumbled, rubbing his scalp as he spoke. "I don't even know her last name."

Glen's mouth had fallen open when he heard who Mark's latest date had been. "She's J.R.'s Personal Assistant," he corrected. "As for her name...are you sure you really want to know it?"

"What does that mean?"

"Well, buddy, her surname is Ross," Glen said, his lips tilting into a smirk as Mark's eyes widened.

"Ross? As in...J.R? Jim Ross? But…she isn't his daughter or anything…"

"She's his niece."

Mark put a big hand over his eyes and sank down onto the nearby couch. "God."

"No good asking him for help," Glen murmured on a chuckle. "I always knew that the way you treat women would come back to bite you on the ass one day. I guess today is that day. Once J.R. hears what you tried to do…"

"Yeah, thanks for the reminder," Mark growled, cutting him off. "He's gonna be pissed."

Glen thought that was an understatement, but Nina coming out of the bathroom stopped him from voicing that opinion. He smiled at her and she gave a shy smile back. For a few seconds he wondered why she seemed shy, and then realized it was because Mark was watching her curiously, his own troubles seemingly forgotten.

"Anyone for coffee?" Nina asked, walking self-consciously into the small kitchen area and starting the coffee going.

"That'd be good, thanks," Mark said, still watching her and Glen intently, his eyes going from one of them to the other.

"Thanks swee…Nina," Glen said, starting to feel like a butterfly on a pin under Mark's gaze.

Mark's eyebrow went up at the stopped endearment. "Everything seems to be going…swimmingly with you two. You know you've started up a lot of gossip with the way you left the barthe other night?"

"Yeah I figured we might have a problem with that," Glen muttered, sitting down. "Is it bad?"

"Not as bad as the mess I've gotten myself into, apparently," he grumbled, frowning. "It's just the guys being the guys, that's all. Some of them think it's cute you and Nina making googly eyes at each other, others are amazed."

"Chris Irvine for one, I'd bet," Glen said, shaking his head.

"Maybe this will shut him up?" Nina asked as she joined them again.

"Nothing short of removing his tongue would do that," Mark murmured. "If he needs shutting up, I can do that. He's already had a little warning of the sort of gossip I can send his way if he keeps on."

"That's one less thing for me to worry about then," Glen said, smiling as he looked at Mark's sudden frown. "Now if only you could find an easy way to sort your own worries out."

"I'm not worried," Mark protested, trying to look cocky and then narrowing his eyes. "Well, not much anyway."

"Worried about what?" Nina asked curiously. "Is this something to do with your date last night?"

"It's a lot to do with his date last night," Glen cut in before Mark could speak. "You're friends with Peyton aren't you?"

"Peyton Ross was his date?" she asked, her eyes widening. "Peyton isn't the type to attack anyone without cause. What did you do to her?"

Mark didn't like the way she was staring at him accusingly. "I didn't do anything that any normal woman wouldn't have liked! She's frigid!" he snapped.

"Frigid? Oh that's just perfect," Nina said, rolling her eyes. "Have you got any idea how typically male you sound? Next you'll be accusing her of being a lesbian! Obviously you did something wrong, she didn't like it, and now you're going to turn it all around to make it her fault."

"I did nothing wrong, but thanks for your sterling opinion of my character!" he snapped, only calming slightly when Glen frowned at him. He sighed. "Maybe I came on a bit too strong," he grudgingly admitted. "But honestly, I had no idea she'd freak out like that. There's something really wrong with her."

Nina relented and couldn't help but smile at his forlorn expression. "I think she probably reacted the way any virgin would to being grabbed by someone with intent, especially if she wasn't expecting it."

"What?" Mark burst out, leaping to his feet and staring at her as though she'd just told him he'd been kissing an alien.

"Peyton is a little...sheltered, shall we say," Nina told him, grinning at the thunderstruck expression on his face now. "You probably scared her to death."

"Oh God, that's just perfect, a goddamn virgin," Mark muttered as if he was talking about someone with a disease that he could catch. "I can't believe my luck."

Glen frowned. "What's wrong with her being a virgin?"

Mark realized what he was saying and shook his head. "Sorry man, I didn't mean it like that. It's just not something...well, not something I ever want to deal with."

Nina had made the coffee and handed a mug each to the two men. "I expect she'll be eternally grateful for that small blessing," she murmured with a sweet smile. "I can't see the problem myself. Everyone starts out that way after all."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to deal with one of them," Mark grumbled, sipping his coffee. "I prefer my women to know what they're doing. The last thing I want is some juvenile fumbling and then having to take the time to teach them what they're supposed to do."

Nina gave a warm smile for Glen as she sat on his lap with her coffee, wiggling about until she was more comfortable. Glen felt less so, her movements causing the inevitable reaction. He was pleasantly surprised that she felt at ease in front of Mark and didn't mind demonstrating her affection for him in front of the other man. "I would have thought that a man would like all that teaching stuff," she said, settling back against Glen's chest. "Just think, the only touch she'd know would be yours and she'd only know what pleases you. Sort of like a custom made woman."

Mark's eyebrow rose for a second and he gave a small smile. "Doesn't sound so bad when you put it like that."

"I bet," Nina said. "But with your track record, your best bet would be to find someone else and stay away from Peyton."

Mark gave her a surprised look. "You might want to keep your nose out of my business," he said, frowning.

"I might," she agreed with a nod, not fazed by the increasing glare she was receiving. "But I'm not going to keep my nose out of Peyton's business. She's my friend and I don't want to see her hurt."

"Who the hell said I was going to hurt her? As far as I'm concerned last night was the first and last time I'll ever speak to the girl!"

"Except to apologize, of course," Nina said, raising an eyebrow.

Mark slammed his coffee down on the table and stood up. "You know, I like you Nina, you speak your mind and you seem to be good for Glen. But never make the mistake of thinking you can mess with my business," he told her, ignoring Glen's frown this time. "I don't need to apologize for a goddamn thing, but she does. If you're really her friend, you'll make sure she says sorry for trying to smash my skull in. If she doesn't, then I won't be responsible for what I'll do if I see her damn face again."

With that said he slammed out of the room and left Nina sitting with her mouth open.

****Well, there it is…an update finally. Even if nobody reads it I will be happy that I finally updated! Hopefully it won't take another four years for the next one!****