Haley paced around the Metropolitan suite of the St. Regis hotel, one of downtown San Francisco's finest. It had been almost two hours since her run in with Nathan Scott. It was then she had seen him at his worst…broken down, moody, uncaring, borderlining violent. He had argued with his father and taken heat from his teammates, the coaching staff, fans and the unrelenting media alike. At the heart of it all, Nathan Scott was his own toughest critic. In her presence, he had paced and vented, releasing the very fury of his frustrations. But Haley hadn't understood, at least not the way Nathan had wanted her to. When he got like that, nothing was good enough. He became a different person, an angry, sullen, bitter man.

The pressure of his life, the pressure to be him was insane. Haley had witnessed that first hand. She had tried to be supportive and give him the benefit of the doubt but his crude behavior made that impossible. Nothing could excuse the monster he could become. It was far worse than the arrogant, aloof person she had first met. The man in that locker room was unrecognizable. His eyes were an evil dark blue, the gestures and words so unfamiliar. For the first time in a long time his temper made Haley think that he could possibly be capable of some of the unthinkable crimes he had been suspected of.

She closed her eyes. Why? Why had he done that? Why had he shown her that side? Why did he have to be such a jerk sometimes? Was he really a Jekyll/Hyde type personality? One side was a sweet, vulnerable, quiet, thoughtful sensitive man. It was the private side of himself he had shared with her, the one that had brought them closer. It was who she thought the real Nathan was. Then he had turned and in an instant she had been left wondering if she even knew the real Nathan at all.

Haley sighed as she contemplated her next move. The following day around one in the afternoon, she and the team were due to fly back to Logan International Airport in Massachusetts. Normally they would leave the arena and fly out immediately or get a local hotel and take off early the next day. On particularly long and grueling away schedules, they would spend the night in the last city and fly back as a team the next afternoon, giving everyone a few extra hours of much needed rest. That had been the plan but after what had transpired, she wasn't so sure. She had half a mind to take off on her own then and there. But where would she go? She was still on a federal undercover assignment. To bail would be nothing short of career suicide. All she would be able to do would be to go back to the Cape. Nathan would soon follow and so would Dan. Lucas, Brooke and Deb would be there as well. And there would be no escape, no privacy.

At that one moment, she loathed Nathan Scott and everything he stood for. She looked around. She stood in the middle of a spacious living room with its fumed oak floors and giant windows with the perfect view of the city. A large gray mohair and silk sectional sofa sat in the midst of everything near the 42 inch plasma TV and area that led to the king sized bed and separate dressing area. It was nicer than anything she had ever stayed in before. But being apart of the Scott entourage had its perks, some that included a gorgeous bathroom with limestone floors, marble vanities and that soaking tub and frosted glass shower, the one with the rainfall shower head. It should have felt like paradise but all it did was make Haley feel like throwing up.

She hated it. She hated it all. The jet setting, and the fame and the money. It wasn't fair. It had probably destroyed his life. If he had simply been a small town used car salesman, maybe he would have been happier. But Dan Scott wouldn't have heard of it. From birth he was destined to be a sports legend, the Nathan Scott. His world had been chosen for him and as shady and mysterious and dangerous as it could often be, Nathan had chosen to remain a part of that world.

Consumed in deep thought, the incessant banging at the door startled her. Haley frowned. She already knew who it was. She had half expected it. After all, that's what men in his position did. They screwed up, treated people any kind of way, behaved badly and still expected everyone to kiss their ass and put up with their crap after the fact. Not Haley. Not that night. She was mad. She had a right to be. And if Nathan Scott had the audacity to show up at her door with another monologue of weak ass excuses and apologies, he was going to get a piece of her mind.

"You have some nerve!" she spewed, opening the door.

His hair and clothes were rumpled, his handsome face tired and worried.

"I need to talk to you."

"Save it, Nathan! I don't have anything to say to you and I'm sure anything you have to say to me right now is not worth hearing."

Shaking, she went to slam the door in his face but he preempted her move and blocked it with his foot.

"Wait."

"What are you gonna do, force your way in? Oh yeah, that does seem to be your theme for the night."

He made a face.

"Look, I guess I deserved that."

"That and a lot more."

"I was a dick earlier tonight."

"That's an understatement."

"Can I please come in? Will you just give me five minutes?"

She folded her arms.

"Why should I?"

He sighed, not knowing what he could say worthy enough to convince her.

"Because we need to talk. I have something to say and I hope you'll listen."

She shook her head and stepped out of the way, allowing him entry.

"What this time, Nate? Let me guess…you screwed up…again. You're sorry. You don't know what got into you. You lost control. You're exhausted and frustrated and you let it get to you and you took it all out on me and you're very sorry and it won't happen again."

"Damn," Nathan chuckled.

Horrified, Haley chucked one of the throw pillows from the sofa at him.

"You think this is funny?"

"No. Hell no. It's just that everything you said…well, I was gonna say it."

She rolled her eyes.

"And how did I know that? Because you're so predictable and it's getting really old."

"Look, Hales…" he reached out for her.

"Don't touch me," she jerked away.

"Okay. Look, I'm sorry. Don't be pissed, okay? I know I have no right to say that to you. I know you have every right to be mad at me but I am sorry. What happened back there was not your fault and that guy back there…that wasn't me."

"You know the weird thing is, I get it. I'm with you all the time and I see what you go through on a daily basis with my own eyes. It's tough, Nathan. Honestly sometimes I don't know how you do it. I do understand or at least I try to understand as much as I can but you just lost it back there. It's like you're a different person. You say that guy wasn't you? Well, I don't know who the hell he was but I don't ever want to see him again."

"You won't," he replied quietly.

He stepped in closer and she felt her knees go weak as he looked at her. Dammitt! It wasn't supposed to happen like that. She was mad and she wanted to remain that way for a very long time. It was her right. And he had no right to just breeze in there with his good looks and sexy voice, lame ass speech and little boy lost charm and change her mind in a matter of seconds. But that's exactly what was happening. And by gosh it was starting to work.

"Nathan…" she pulled away.

"Haley, I was a jerk again. I messed up big time. I told you I'm sorry because I am. Please."

"It's just a stupid game, Nathan."

He looked away for a moment.

"Sometimes I wish that's all it was."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying it's complicated. It's a lot of stuff involved. I can't get into that with you, not now, maybe not ever."

She swallowed hard.

"You know it's never gonna work if you don't talk to me."

"I know. Believe me, you don't even want to get involved with everything. I'm protecting you."

"Nathan…"

"Look, all that isn't important right now."

She decided to back off for the time being. Pressuring him at an inappropriate time would only backfire.

"What is then?"

He shrugged.

"You. Us. The way we feel about each other. It was going good between us."

"It was. Then you had to go and mess it all up. God, Nathan, you more than messed up. You hurt me…again. And you frightened me."

"I didn't mean to."

"But you did. Look, I can't handle you when you're like that. It scares me."

He hung his head.

"Don't you think it scares me too? I don't want to be that guy but sometimes things just happen and it's like I can't help it. I just lose myself. I lose control just like you said."

Haley shuddered at his admission. She loved it when he was real and honest and vulnerable like that with her. But she had also seen that other side. Just exactly how far did he take things when he lost it? Had Daunte Johnston and Nathan's own wife, Asher, been two of the unlucky to find out?

"I want to be there for you but I can't unless you let me in. And I can't be afraid of you, Nathan."

"You don't have to be. I'd never do anything to hurt you."

"Nathan…"

"Hales, this is hard for me. All of it. I already told you. And I'm so used to dealing with it in my own way by myself. I haven't had too many people in my life like you and now it's like I'm driving you away, even though I don't mean to. What I did was wrong. I know that and I'm trying to be better but sometimes I'm gonna slip and fall. It just feels like you'll be somebody there to give me a hand and help me up when that happens. That's pretty cool because I never had it before and I don't want to lose it now."

She felt tears forming in her eyes and she desperately tried to stop them.

"You can't do these things and be this way and just expect me to forgive you because of some speech. It's not fair and it's too hard."

He gently cupped her face in his hands.

"You said you didn't know who that guy was earlier…well, I don't know him either and neither of us wants to know him. It's me, Haley. I mean, I don't know how to do this. It sucks to admit it but I get scared too. Every ounce of pride I have left tells me to just say fuck it and walk away and pretend I don't care about you and keep living my life the way I was. But my heart won't let me…it knows its wrong."

She felt her heart flutter.

"Then what's right?"

He looked right in her eyes.

"You," he leaned in for a kiss. "This."

They kissed some more with his hands pressed in the small of her back, gently kneading her body through her white tank top and the baby blue zip up jacket she wore over it.

"Nathan…" she pulled away, unsure of what was next.

He kept looking at her. Those eyes were staring a hole into the core of her very soul as his hands gently massaged her back. Haley looked at the floor, at the ceiling, at the chairs...anywhere but the pair of mesmerizing blue eyes that were upon her. She didn't dare look at him…she couldn't. Butterflies churned in the pit of her stomach as with one gesture, Nathan tilted her face to his and their eyes locked. He paralyzed her with his glance before moving his lips in again. The kiss started off slow and gentle then grew more passionate. Quickly Haley lost all inhibitions and any sense of reality. It was a split second decision, one that she gave little thought to. It was the decision that could cost her everything but at that second, that one fleeting moment, it just felt like the right thing to do. She slid one arm around his neck while using the other to carefully, inconspicuously disassemble the electronic wiring device that had been latched to her bra. She placed it securely in the pocket of the jacket before taking it off and placing it across one of the chairs, all the while with him never suspecting a thing.

Nathan smiled at her and kissed her with a sense of urgency and Haley thought she might die from want. What the hell was she doing? What the hell was she thinking? She was an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigations working on the case that would make or break her career. She had been handpicked to infiltrate an elite element of one of basketball's most infamous dynasties and the very man who was the target of her suspicion, had now become the object of her desire.

Suddenly there was no more time for thinking. Haley moaned out loud as they tore at each other's clothing. It had been so long since she had been touched by a man, any man and now that man was the very handsome and sexy Nathan Scott. There was something so forbidden about what they were about to do and it wildly excited her. Haley was a good girl, a wallflower, the ever practical thinker. For one night all that would change. She gave in to passion and Haley's moans only added to Nathan's arousal as he nipped away at the nape off her neck. Her young, tender flesh tasted heavenly in his mouth as she ran her fingers through his unruly mop of hair. Goose pimples covered her skin when he moved down to the crevice between her breasts. Haley had always been so self conscious about her body but all self doubt disappeared as his tongue ran hot circles around the lining of her bra.

She had never been so turned on in her whole life. Nathan just grinned as he eased her down on the sofa. Her long, beautiful hair spread across the material, the dim light of the room casting a romantic, almost angelic glow upon her pretty face. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to plunge deep inside her but he held back. This was not some random groupie, some chance lust filled conquest. It was different. It was so much more than that. It was Haley. He wanted it to be sweet and gentle. He wanted it to be special for both of them. And he wanted to please her more than anything. He pulled the tank over her head, leaving her exposed in the beige lace bra. Nathan had never seen anything more beautiful. He then removed his own shirt, carefully eying her for signs of objection. When he saw there were none, he kissed his way down her flat, tanned stomach. His hands expertly worked their way down to her jeans, where they were removed in a quick second.

"Hales…" he breathed. "I want you."

She licked her lips, her heart fluttering, brown eyes glazed over from delirium and ecstasy.

"I want you, too," she answered softly.

"Are you sure? I want you to be sure. I don't want there to be any regrets."

Haley smiled at him. Had he gone mad? Surely morning would come and with it reality. Everything would change and for Haley the consequences could be dire. But she couldn't allow herself to think about it, to ruin the moment. And whatever happened, she promised herself there would be no regret.

"I've never been more sure," she promised him, taking off her bra to prove it and sealing the deal with a kiss.

The only barrier between them and heaven was the silky material of her underwear. Her body shivered as his calloused fingertips traced over her flesh of her quaking thighs. Softly Haley whimpered as she felt his mouth doing things to her body she had never before experienced. It was delightful and it was all for her. She gave an exhausted and slightly embarrassed grin as he began to undress. She had seen naked men before but Nathan Scott was more beautiful than she could ever have imagined.

Eyes and lips locked, arms and legs tangled, he entered her with tenderness. Their bodies fit together like perfect pieces of a puzzle as they treated each one another as if the other was a special and delicate package marked fragile. Together they made glorious love, pleasing each other in every possible way before climaxing and collapsing in exhausted bliss. Nathan couldn't stop staring at her, couldn't stop stroking the baby soft skin of her face and arms. Haley couldn't even think. And she didn't want to. All she wanted was to enjoy the sensations tingling throughout her body and the sheer beauty of the memory of what had just transpired between them.

"Can we just lay here?" he asked quietly. "I want to hold you."

She nodded and buried her face in his chest. The minutes passed, slowly but surely bringing her back to reality. Immediately Haley realized the potential cost of her actions. The eager, model rookie had acted immorally, unethically, unprofessionally and irresponsibly for the first time in her life. But why had it feel so damned good? Her mission from the beginning had been to get as close to the subject as possible, remaining wired at all times. It was most imperative that the FBI be able to hear every thing that took place. But when it came down to it, she couldn't. That was their moment. It was a real moment. In that room with Nathan was Haley James, not Haley Webb. She couldn't allow something so intimate to be tainted.

And now her very career would be on the line because of it. Haley was convinced that she would be in a mountain of trouble if she didn't explain what had happened to the bug. And the truth, unfortunately, was not an option. But worry gave way to fatigue as her tired eyes fluttered shut. More than anything, she had been convinced of something else and that was Nathan Scott's innocence. There was no way he was guilty, no way he could have done any of the horrible things he was being accused of. It wasn't possible. There had to be a logical explanation for his earlier comments about it being more than a game. He was protecting her and being secretive for a reason. Those tender but strong, loving hands that had just caressed her body could not have committed double murder. Deep in her gut Haley was sure of it. Now she just had to prove it.