Grace and Sands were sitting on the couch; a movie was on, but neither paid much attention to it.  Each of them found that they were lost in their own thoughts; however, unlike the night before, the silence between them wasn't uncomfortable. 

            Sands thought about Grace and the fact that after a few short days, he had grown so very accustomed to her…fond of her.  There was a constant war of pros and cons raging in his mind, and just when he felt he had come up with the right conclusion about her, something else would roll into his mind. 

Why was she so adamant about not calling me Sands?  Why not?  None of the others cared…but she's not like any of them.  Does it matter?  Yes.  Why?  Fuck!  Why can't I figure that part out?

Grace had been thinking about how Sands said he was "different" before.  Has he ever loved anyone?  Did he leave someone behind?  Her mind got the best of her…

"Jeffrey?"

"Yeah?"  He was grateful that the silence had been broken.

"Have you ever been in a relationship?  I mean, one that was more than just physical?"

He chuckled to himself.  "No, Gracie.  The physical works just fine for me."

"Don't you ever get lonely?"

"You're forgetting about the bars – there's lots of them."

Grace cleared her throat.  "Have you ever thought about it?"

"Why?"

Grace felt her face grow flush.  "Just…making conversation.  It seems like you might possibly want someone, but…never mind."

Sands' voice grew soft.  "Gracie, when I asked you earlier about whether or not this was all just…a good time, you told me the truth, didn't you?"

"Yeah."  She sounded so sure, but inside she was panicking.

"Gracie, please don't lie."

"What makes you think I'm lying?  I'm on vacation, you're…intriguing…and an animal that any woman would want to take to bed…and…"  The panic rang out in her voice.  Sands put a hand on her face, causing her rambling to stop.

"I can't, Gracie.  Even if part of me wanted to…"  Part of me does…most of me does…and it shouldn't!  "…I can't live a normal life – especially now."

"Why not?  You said yourself that you'd probably have to leave the…"

"Grace…"

"What happened to Gracie?"  Her voice sounded small.

"You need to understand that I live my life alone.  Look, I…"

"What was last night to you, really?  Not this morning, last night?  Tell me and I'll leave this whole subject alone and we can play the rest of the week out like horny little rabbits…"

"Gra…"

"Please!" she begged.  "If you want to tell me to fuck off, fine, but…"

"Last night…"  Scared the shit out of me.  "…was…it felt good, Gracie…"  I wasn't in control…I don't think it was solely about the sex.  "I'll admit that it wasn't like picking someone out of a crowd, but…"

"No…you don't have to say anything else.  I just, you know, wanted to make sure that we were on the same page."

"You're a terrible liar."

"Yeah, well…"

"You've been taking care of me, don't think that I don't appreciate that.  Don't think that after this week I'll forget about everything you've done for me…but, Gracie, you're being paid to do it, remember?"

The money doesn't matter!  "Does that make me a whore?  Sleeping with you, but being paid off at the end?"

"Fuck, no!  If my life were different, Gracie…but it's not, so there's no use in thinking about it.  We can either spend the next few days like we have been, which both of us could benefit from, or…" 

A frantic knock on the door to the suite interrupted Sands' thoughts.  Relishing in a reason to get up, Grace made her way across the room.  She opened the door without bothering to look through the peephole. 

"Jesus, Grace, you are here," a man's voice said.

Sands heard Grace's breath catch.  "Michael?  Wh…what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Grace.  God, I've been worried sick about you.  You aren't answering your cell, Cassie's worried about you too and…"

"How do you know what Cassie is?" she asked, an eyebrow cocked.

"Well, when I couldn't get a hold of you, I called her and she told me where you were."

Grace backed away from Michael.  "I didn't tell Cassie where I was going.  Nobody knows I'm here.  Michael, what the hell are you doing here?"

Sands picked up on a trace of fear in Grace's voice.  He wasn't quite sure of where he stood with her at the moment, but he knew that he didn't like what he was hearing.  Unsure of what exactly to do at the moment, he simply called out, "Everything all right, Gracie?"

Michael took it upon himself to walk inside the suite.  He looked in the direction of Sands and asked, "Who the hell is that?"

"I'm Agent Sheldon Jeffrey Sands, CIA.  You are?"

"Leaving," Grace said.

Michael was outraged.  "The hell I am."