Chapter Eleven* Moni heard the shower running and rolled over in bed. She saw the clothes set out on the bed and remembered that Adam and Jason had a signing scheduled for this afternoon. 'Shit' I ought to get up and get going, so I can make myself look presentable at least.' Sliding out of bed with a throbbing headache, she retrieved some Advil from her hygiene bag. Reaching for the refrigerator door handle, she was startled by Adam's arms wrapping around her waist. "Hi. How do you feel?" he inquired as she turned to look at him. "So-so. The nap did me some good, but I have a slight headache." "I'm sorry if I was even close to being responsible for that." "It's ok. Nothing a little aspirin won't cure." "Do you feel up to accompanying me this afternoon?" "If you want me to." "I want you to." "Well, let me take this and then get ready. I don't want to embarrass you by standing out like a sore thumb." As she popped in the pill and took a sip of water Adam assured her, "You are not going to embarrass me. It may be the other way around." "Why do you say that?" "You still aren't familiar with our gimmick, it's a little goofy." "I can see Jay has it in him. But you've been serious as a heart attack since I met you." "Well it'll be a huge surprise then." He smiled as she wriggled out of his hold and dug out her clothes. He helplessly gawked at her as she calmly rid herself of her clothes in his presence once again. "How can you do that?" he asked finally. "What? This? Here? In front of you?" He just nodded. "Well, you learn to lose some of your privacy idiosyncrasies when you share 6 showers and 8 stalls with 30 or 40 other females during boot camp." "Oh. Well tell whoever rigged that bathroom, that I said Thanks!" She blushed at his hidden compliment and strode past him to the bathroom. He couldn't resist the urge to reach out and trail his hand along her leg as she moved past him.

When she emerged a few minutes later with a towel wrapped around her, wet curly hair falling over her shoulders and her skin almost calling out an invitation to him, he thought he was going to miss the signing all together. "You better hurry up. I was under the impression Marines had a thing for punctuality?" "How would you know-you didn't even know what I was until I told you!" But taking his advice to heart, she went through her routine with a sense of urgency. Once she had finished, it felt she was going to melt under the slow burn of his stare. Finally, he held out his hand and asked, "Ready?" "As I'll ever be." She answered as she took his hand. He laced his fingers with hers as they shut off the lights and locked the door behind them.