Mark sighed heavily as he tossed down his bag, closing the hotel room door behind him. What in interesting day it had been. The big man felt himself grinning at the thought of the brunette hiding out in his house.

"Cassie, Cassie…" He mumbled and sat down on the bed. "Don't make a fool out of me little girl." Since he'd gotten on the plane in Houston the tiniest bit of nagging had gotten to him. What did he really know about this woman? Not much that was for sure and with the way she avoided questions, it seemed like she preferred it that way.

Mark fell backward and lay there for a long moment staring at the ceiling. It was going to be a long night. It was already edging close to five in the evening and before he could come back and pass out for the night, he had an autograph signing. At least he didn't have to go far for that, it was in the hotel. He'd had to duck through a back entrance to avoid the line of fans.

Rolling over onto his stomach, Mark reached for the phone and began pressing buttons. When the answering machine picked up he grimaced.

"Cassie? You there? Pick up its Mark." There was a long silence. "Cassie? Darlin, pick up."

"Hello?" Her voice was raspy when she finally answered.

"Hey darlin." Suddenly, the big man couldn't keep from smiling. "Did I wake ya?"

"Yeah…" She yawned. "But that's alright. It was getting sort of weird here."

"Weird? What do you mean weird?"

"It's nothing. I'm just not used to being here yet…" She muttered.

"Yet huh?" He chuckled. "I take it you're planning on stayin a while then."

"Well, seeing as how I don't have any transportation…" She laughed and let her words trail off.

"There's a garage full of transportation if you really need to get out that bad. Until the good sheriff calls ya and gives ya the all clear, I'd stay put though." Jesus, did he just give her permission to use his vehicles? Mark could have slapped himself.

"It's alright big guy, my leg's not up to shifting right now anyway." Mark nodded into the phone.

"I suppose not."

"So you're at the hotel then?" She asked and Mark found himself smiling bigger. He'd been afraid the conversation would be one-sided.

"Yeah, gotta get to a signing here shortly. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'm alright. Got a trusty bottle of pain killers and a huge house to snoop through." She laughed. "It'll keep me busy until you get back."

"Go on ahead darlin, I got nothing to hide." He wanted to bite his tongue as soon as he said it. He didn't know anything about this woman. What the hell was he thinking giving her free reign like that? Just as he was about to speak again, he heard her yawn from the other end of the line. "Why don't you take some more meds and get some sleep. You sound like you could use it."

"Yeah probably." She muttered stifling another yawn.

"I'll give you a call when I get to Portland tomorrow."

"Sure thing."

"You gonna be there?" His voice was more hopeful than he'd wanted it to be.

"Should be." Well, it wasn't as definite as he'd have liked but it was a start.

"Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow then." He sighed and rolled onto his back on the bed. It was too comfortable. Mark could feel himself beginning to nod off and sat up.

"You know it kiddo." She laughed. "Later." Then she was gone.

Mark stared at the receiver in his hand for a long moment before he returned it to the cradle. "Kiddo…" He muttered and stood up, stretching his long muscular frame until the kinks of flights and rental cars were just dim memories and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "Ah Christ." He muttered at his lateness and turned, heading for the door.


A rustling sound jolted Cassie awake in the big guest room. She sat bolt upright and immediately regretted it. It started her leg to throbbing but she didn't make a sound. Cassie was sure she'd heard something.

The rustling sounded again followed by footsteps near the living room. Cassie eased herself down to the floor and made her way toward the door, cursing her protesting leg silently as she did.

There was no mistaking it. Someone was in the house. Cassie's stomach dropped. As her heart began pounding out of her chest, the brunette made a quick survey of the room for anything that could be used as a weapon. Short of bashing the intruder over the head with a DVD case, there wasn't much.

"Shit, shit, shit…" She muttered easing the door open for a better look. The footsteps were more distinct without the inch and a half of wood to muffle them. Cassie held her breath.

Damn it. She'd be so hopeful that it was just her sleep-addled brain playing tricks on her.

The brunette poked her head out into the hallway and caught the edge of a shadow moving around near the entrance to the kitchen. The thought of it made her heart pound so hard it felt as if it would jump straight out of her chest.

How could he have found her there? There was no way he could've gotten past the gates! Then again, she'd thought Texas was going to be different. It wasn't. He'd managed to find her here too. When she'd seen that truck sitting outside her property she'd known for sure.

Truth be told, there wasn't any place safe for her anymore. If he'd proven one thing above and beyond all others, it was that he'd never stop looking for her. Never.

Stop it. She thought to herself and took a deep breath. There was no way he could get into Mark's fortress of a house and if she was going to do anything, it had to be soon before whoever it was out there realized she was there.

With the though fresh in her mind, Cassie edged the door open as slowly as she possibly could. The last thing she needed was an errant squeak giving her away. Luckily, the door was on her side and didn't make a sound.

Creeping into the hallway, Cassie glanced toward where she'd seen the shadow. She couldn't see it anymore but there was still excess noise so she tiptoed in the other direction heading straight for Mark's office. If there was a weapon in the house, she rationalized; he'd want it in easy reach.

She turned out to be very, very right.

"Holy shit…" She muttered as she closed the door quietly behind her. Two of the four walls were hung floor to ceiling in weaponry. She let her eyes roam over the swords, and maces, and battle-axes, and mourning stars, freely. It was an armory that would've made any medieval warlord salivate.

Unfortunately, Cassie had no idea how to use any of them so she kept looking.

Shuffling her way past a wall dominated by a bookshelf, Cassie threw open the doors of a massive oak armoire and gasped. Yep, she was in Texas all right. And Texans really seemed to like guns.

"Oh hell yes…" Cassie chuckled as she pulled a shotgun from its place inside. A quick scan of the rest of the interior revealed rows and rows of boxes full of rounds. "Well what does this damn thing take?" She mumbled and scanned her memory banks for any cowboy movies she could think of. Nothing sprang to mind. "Don't suppose it looks any different unloaded." She surmised and closed the armoire before working her way back to the hallway.

It was silent. Maybe the perp had decided to leave? Cassie didn't think so as she held the gun like she'd seen in all the movies and made her way toward the living room watching for any sign of life.

"Who the fuck are you?" A woman's voice barked behind her. Immediately, Cassie spun around and pointed.

"Who the fuck are YOU?" She sputtered. Not her best line but as she stared at the statuesque blonde before her it was all she could come up with.

"I'm Mark's girlfriend." She said placing her hands on her hips as she stared at Cassie. The words hit her like a truck. His girlfriend? He hadn't said a damn word about a girlfriend. Suddenly Cassie felt more foolish than she ever had in her life. "Now, I'm going to ask you one more time." The blonde continued. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

Her house! Oh Gods, it was worse than it ever should have been! Not only did she go out on a "date" with an attached man but he was so attached that she lived with him. Lived with him!

Cassie dropped the shotgun to the floor and leaned it against the wall. This was so bad…so very, very bad. "Look…uh…"

"Kristy." The woman filled in the blank as she stared at her with murder in her eyes.

"Yeah…look Kristy, Mark brought me here but he never mentioned anyone else living here. I'm really sorry." She shifted her weight self-consciously and winced on her injured leg. Funny how much it hurt now that the adrenaline had retreated. "I'll just get my things and call a cab."

Cassie didn't give her time to respond. Instead, she hobbled in a circle and made a dash for her room. "You don't mean anything you know." Kristy called behind her. It gave Cassie pause.

"What are you talking about?" She asked turning her head in the blonde's direction.

"You…don't…" Kristy began walking toward her with her arms folded. "…Mean anything." Well that was painfully obvious already. Cassie suddenly felt like the biggest schmuck in the world. Why hadn't she asked if he was seeing anyone?

"Look, he brought me here because he witnessed a bike accident I was in and he was nice enough to give me a lift to the hospital. That's all." Cassie muttered dejectedly. She didn't owe that blonde bitch anything but for some reason; the guilt took all the fight out of her.

"That doesn't tell me why you're in my house." Shit. The last thing Cassie needed was someone like her getting wind of what really happened.

"I was sort of out of it after they stitched my leg up. He brought me back here because he doesn't know where I live." Kristy chuckled condescendingly and leaned a shoulder against the wall.

"That's so like Mark." She smiled and trained her blue eyes on Cassie. It made her terribly uncomfortable as she ran a hand through her frazzled, after sleep hair. "He's always one to take in strays."

Cassie choked on a vicious retort. This woman had every right to be angry. Lord knows if Cassie had been in her shoes she'd have already beaten her ass. Then again looking at Kristy, she didn't appear to have ever broken a nail let alone gotten into a fight. The sneers and snide comments must have been as personal as she got. Funny, Mark didn't strike her as the type to go for trophies.

Immediately, she squashed that line of thinking and headed into the bedroom. After grabbing her jacket and vest under Kristy's watchful gaze, she hobbled out into the living room. The blonde followed her.

"What's with all the bags?" Cassie asked before she could help herself. Sitting by the front door was a pile of luggage the size of Mount Everest.

"I don't think our business concerns you." Kristy said from behind her. Ugh, our business… It made Cassie's stomach turn but she managed to snatch her prescription bottle off the table without gagging.

"No, I don't suppose it does." Cassie muttered and stood for a moment, looking around. Kristy was quick to help her.

"The phone's in the kitchen. You can get the cab company's number from information." Mercifully the woman must have been happy with the damage she'd done and disappeared back down the hallway.

Cassie sat down heavily on a stool at the counter and yanked the phone off the wall.

"Well…it was fun while it lasted." She sighed and dialed the operator.

After the longest twenty minutes she could ever remember, the cab arrived by the gate and Cassie went to meet it. Shutting the door behind her, she glanced back up the driveway and had to stifle a groan. How could she have been so reckless? A man with a live in girlfriend… Son of a bitch!

"Where to?" The cabbie asked and broke her out of her self-loathing.

"Do you know where the nearest mechanic is?"

"Sure thing. It's just west of town." He said congenially, glancing back in his rearview mirror. For a cab driver, he was quite cheerful and the smiling gray eyes she could see from her seat were just what she needed at the moment.

"Do they work on motorcycles?"

"You're looking for Ray's." He laughed. Cassie nodded to herself. Apparently everyone did know everyone around here. It was refreshing after living like a gypsy for so long.

"That'd be the guy." She laughed back. "Can ya take me there?"

"Sure thing darlin." He said and before Cassie could say another word, they were on the road.