Jeff lay on his side watching his sleeping beauty's shoulders rise and fall with each breath she took. He'd been awake for nearly an hour just watching her as she swam in her peaceful slumber. She was lying on her stomach with her arms stretched out under the pillow her head rested on. It was the most serene thing he had ever seen. He remember how she told him about what a poor sleeper she was. Hours of staring at the ceiling, tossing and turn through out the night, waking up at all hour for no particular reason. But staring at her right now all he saw was stillness and tranquility.

His eyes glided over her supreme body wrapped in the plain white sheets that had been torn off the bed the night before. Jeff ran his fingers across her bare back, gently brushing her hair aside. Suddenly something caught his eye. It was a small tattoo on the back of her neck that he had never noticed before. He knew about her other tattoos; the Capricorn sign on her right wrist that you couldn't really see because of those black jelly bracelets she never took off and the hawk on her lower back that she got with her best friend but this one was he didn't know about. It was a name, even worse it was a man's name. The name 'Chris' to be precise in Old English Text. Jeff quickly searched his memory for anyone named Chris that she might have mentioned but nothing came up. He knew she didn't have a brother and her fathers name was Garry, then who was Chris. 'A relative perhaps?' he thought to himself 'but don't you think she would have mentioned them at least once if she has their name tattoo on her.'

As his mind wandered the body beside him began to stir. Emilies slowly opened her eyes, taking a moment to let them adjust to morning lit room. She smiled when she saw Jeff staring down at her. Last night had been everything she had hoped for and then some. Jeff was by far the most amazing lover she had ever known. He was so sweet and tender yet wild and passionate at the same time. She yawned deeply as she stretched her out her arms and legs before propping herself up on her elbows.

"Morning" she smile softly.

"Good morning beautiful" Jeff said as he laid a gentle kiss on her lips "Sleep well?"

"Better then I have in years. I guess you're my perfect sleeping pill."

"That or I just wore you out" Jeff laughed, lunging forward, attacking Emilie sides with kissed and tickles.

"St...st...stop!" she tried to yell through her laughter.

Deciding she had enough Jeff returned to his place on the bed. He wondered if he should questioned her about the tattoo on back of her neck while he let her catch her breathe. In all honesty he was a bit afraid of what that tattoo meant. Was it an ex-boyfriend or a current boyfriend? Was he just a good time on the side? He was on the road a lot; he wasn't always there to see if there was someone else. He had to find out who this guy was or it would slowly drive him crazy.

"Who's Chris?" he finally blurted out, not being able to come up with a better why to ask.

Emilie was a bit stunned. She had almost completely forgotten about the tattoo or the story that went along with it. She ran hand across her neck, her fingers gliding over the black lettering. She pondered the quickest and most painless way to tell him. It was a subject she wasn't very comfortable talking about openly.

"Chris is...He was my boyfriend." She stopped to swallow the pain she felt rising inside. "He died. Three years ago."

Jeff didn't know what to say. He felt guilty for the things he thought earlier. He should have trusted her more, had a little more faith in her but he let his over active imagination get the best of him.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I really don't like to talk about it."

"How did he die?"

She looked into his eyes with deep intensity, trying with everything she had to hold back the tears.

"I REALLY don't like to talk about it." She repeated.

"Its okay I understand."

The tension in the room was unbearable. It was the first time they had ever felt uncomfortable around each other. Jeff hated the fact that he upset her but the idea of her shutting him out was just agonizing. He had to change the subject immaturity.

"Hey" he said wrapping his arms around her waist "Why don't we give Matt and Amy call and get something to eat before we head down to the arena?"

"Okay" she said softly removing herself from Jeff's clutch. She wrapped the sheets around her bare body and got out of the bed. "I'm gonna take a shower."

Jeff let out a deep breath and rested his head back down onto the pillow.

"Hey!" he heard Emilie yell. She popped her head around the wall from the bathroom.

"Wanna join me?" she said with a devilish wink. Before he could even think Jeff jumped out of bed and into the bathroom with Emilie. Maybe he didn't know everything about her but he couldn't dwell on it. They only had a week together and he refused to let anything get in the way.