Now, with the call made and the succinct advice given, Saffron had a decision to make: Try to quietly get dressed and leave or stay and face up to having slept with a man she barely knew. Either way, she'd end up feeling terrible.

Why had she let this happen? She knew better. She'd seen this kind of thing with her mother, with Patsy even, and she'd scolded her Mum for such thoughtless, reckless behavior. Now she was the one having it off as if it was something she just normally did each day - like brushing her teeth. Patsy would certainly approve and even applaud this debauchery, which made Saff all the more ashamed of what she'd done, even though she honestly couldn't remember anything after falling asleep - no, passing out - in the cab with Jack.

"Morning, Gorgeous," Jack murmured groggily, his voice even sexier than usual. Saffron felt him tenderly plant a kiss on the side of her neck, which sent shivers through her.

"Good morning," she replied stiffly, trying to concentrate on the travel poster tacked to the wall opposite her side of the bed. The brightly colored words MONTSERRAT BARCELONA-ESPANA offered her something to focus on besides the warm, naked male body pressed against her.

"You okay?" Jack asked, still half-asleep.

"Fine," Saffron said, knowing she sounded brusque and standoffish. She didn't like this, but felt it necessary if she wanted to salvage any shred of personal pride.

"That's obvious," Jack sighed, rolling onto his back. "I'd ask if it was good for you, but I'm afraid of the answer."

This bit of critical sarcasm angered her, mostly because she knew she'd fully invited it on herself. She glared at Jack over her bare shoulder, her hazel eyes shooting daggers at him.

"How dare you!" she snapped. "You get me passed-out drunk, bring me back to your flat, have it off with me and now you're going on about how I should appreciate what's happened? Are you mad?" Turning away from him again, she mumbled "Selfish, arrogant man…"

"I didn't exactly pour all that champagne down your throat. You seemed to be pretty damn handy at draining those bottles," Jack shot back.

Well, I've seen experts in action, Saff couldn't help thinking.

"And hey," he added, leaning over her shoulder so he was speaking right into her ear, "I don't like you hinting that I took advantage of you last night. I'm a lot of things but a jerk who nails a woman when she's hammered isn't one of them!"

With that, Jack left the bed, angrily tossing the covers over Saffron's head. Pushing them off, she sat up, gathered the sheet about her body and watched as Jack, who'd already gotten into his briefs, yanked on his Levi's. His back was turned to her and, furious as she wanted to be, she couldn't keep from admiring his slim, strong physique.

"Jack, wait…" she began, her voice suddenly soft and halting. "I'm… I'm sorry."

"Yeah, right," he scoffed, pulling on his shirt.

"I am," Saffron said. She felt foolish and embarrassed for having accused him of doing something so awful. "Whatever happened… I let it go on. It's my fault for being reckless."

Jack faced her again, sitting down on the bed next to her. Saffron couldn't bring herself to look at him. She traced the pattern of the sheet with her left index finger, forcing her eyes to follow it.

"What do you mean, 'fault'?" he asked, his brow knitted unhappily. "Why does it have to be anyone's 'fault'? Why is our having sex such a terrible thing?" Then Jack sat quietly for a moment. "Hell, I'm not even sure we did anything."

Saff glanced at him, her eyes wide with surprise.

"How's that?" she asked, her voice somewhat hollow.

Jack's green gaze met hers. He scratched at his chest hair.

"Do you remember anything about last night? Because - and this is in no way any kind of reflection on you, Saffron - I sure as hell can't."

Saff now had a splitting headache. All she wanted was to sleep, something she knew wasn't going to happen.

"But you had the driver bring us here," she said, trying to recall anything about the cab ride from the airport. "I heard you mention some address… when I fell asleep."

Jack just looked at her, a little smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.

"Passed out, I mean," Saff corrected. Jack snickered at this and Saffron had to smile, although she didn't feel like it.

"Well," Jack sighed, looking around the room, "whatever happened - or didn't - we must have had a hell of a good time doing it. Or not doing it."

He and Saffron both looked to the Chinese lantern where Saff's bra dangled precariously.

"I can't imagine how that got all the way up there," Saffron said, truly confused.

"You think that's strange?" Jack told her. "I've never even seen that lantern before."