Steve woke up first. He was still facing the wall, but when he tried to move he could feel her nestled against him. He lifted his right arm and saw hers draped over his waist, she was still sound asleep. He slowly got up and moved her arm back down to where he had been laying, "Mission accomplished." he sighed. He stood over the bed looking down on her, agonizing over her image, "God she's beautiful." he thought, and in the same moment scolded himself, "Stop!"
He found a message on the IPad from Kono, explaining that they had found Powers and were going to try and weed out Wo Fat through him. That he should sit tight because it looked like things were beginning to come together. She also said that Danny would call him later when and if they received a return call from Wo Fat. Steve was about to reply but his thoughts were disrupted by Lexi rolling over on her stomach in his bed, exposing her bikini tan line from the shorts that rode up her thigh, just enough to drive him insane. He had to get out of that room.
He put on a pair of Chin's board shorts and ran down to the beach, not stopping until he hit the water and dove in. He swam as hard as he could out toward the open water, kicking and reaching with deep strokes into the oncoming waves, pushing himself to go faster and harder, hoping somewhere in-between he could shake her off. He finally stopped, looking back toward the shore and the house beyond. He treaded water for a few minutes before giving up and heading back. It was useless, she was everywhere and there was no escaping it. She was forced into his life and now here he was trying to force her out. The timing was bad, he told himself. Their situation was all wrong. But the one thing that he couldn't argue with was the way he felt being around her. It felt good. It felt familiar. It felt genuine, no mistake about it. He scolded himself again when he began thinking of how good it would feel to explore that body, "You have a job to do. Wo Fat is on the prowl, if anything you need to stay focused so nothing happens to her." he stood up in the surf and saw her standing on the beach, "You need to stay focused," he told himself over and over.
She made it to the beach just as he was coming out of the water. She suddenly felt the heat of the morning as he walked towards her. His body was firm from his sculpted shoulders all the way down to his six-pack that disappeared as a v inside his shorts that sat low on his waist. She admired that he was muscular and trim, he looked natural and strong. That body wasn't even his best attribute, she thought to herself, "that face," she felt her heart stutter when he smiled. Her imagination took over and as he walked toward her, she fantasized him wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in for a kiss. She turned her eyes away from him a little to quickly as he came upon her. She felt like she had been caught staring, and it made her blush, as if he could read her thoughts.
"Avoid her at all costs," he thought walking up to her. "Why does she have to look so fucking good in the morning." he almost felt angry with her for making him feel this way. "Hey." he said casually, walking past her toward the house. "Did Keha come by yet?"
She turned and followed him, "No, I don't think so." She double stepped to keep up with him. "How was your swim?"
"Fine." he replied, keeping it short.
Something was wrong, she thought, she tried to think if she had said something the night before that might have upset him. She couldn't think of anything and finally came to the conclusion it was because she had slept in his bed. She was annoyed with herself when she woke and was still there. She had taken advantage of the situation, but she had fallen back asleep almost instantly after they talked. It must have been uncomfortable for him. She was right in that aspect, but not for the reasons that she thought. She remembered waking up just before dawn and feeling him next to her. She had contemplated going back to her bed then, but she couldn't bring herself to move away from him. Instead she carefully moved closer, only inches away. She tried to remember what made her do that, but when the smile crossed her face she couldn't argue the fact that he just made her feel safe.
She tried to keep up his pace toward the house. He didn't look back at her or engage in any conversation. "Oh god," she thought, scolding herself, "He must be really upset." Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but as she watched him stop at the picnic table and glance back at her, his expression wasn't angry. He only took her in for a second and then turned away. She was pleasantly surprised, it wasn't an angry look, she wasn't sure exactly how to read it. She was relieved though; the last thing she wanted was to make their situation unpleasant. She respected him too much for that. He was a good man, she thought. She only wished their circumstances for meeting would have been different. They would have got along very well, she thought. In another life.