Chapter 2: Room service…

She went back to her own hotel room and ordered a pizza and a six-pack of beer through room service. She took a shower, happy to discard her work clothes for a much more comfortable pair of yoga pants and t-shirt. She applied much lighter make-up than she would for work – just some powder, mascara and lip gloss, and let her naturally wavy hair air-dry. When the pizza arrived, she threw on a pair of flip-flops and made her way down one floor to Owen's room. Since the hall was empty, she knocked loudly and cheerfully called "Room Service for Mr. Grady." Inside Owen was sitting on the small couch in his room lacing up his tennis shoes, as he'd been getting ready to go to the gym. He smiled immediately recognizing her voice. He popped up and opened the door to see her standing in the hallway holding a six-pack and balancing a box of pizza on her hand. It was also not lost on him that she was dressed so casually. He had never seen her like that and thought she looked amazing.

"You must have the wrong room Little Lady," he said grinning. "I didn't order any room service."

"Oh, well this is a special delivery," she said seductively taking a step closer to him. "But, if you don't want it, I'll just try another room," she followed up teasingly.

"Not a chance," he said still smiling and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "Get in here," he said opening the door up wider so she could walk in. She placed the pizza and beer on the table inside and shed a small purse she had brought with her to carry her room key, phone, and a few other essentials, hanging it on a chair.

"Did I catch you at a bad time? Did you already eat?" she asked a bit panicking as she saw the bottle of water, towel and his room key and wallet on the small end table next to the couch. She put together that he was probably heading to they gym.

"Relax," Owen said resting his hands on her shoulders. "I was going to the gym, but I'd much rather stay here with you. And, I didn't eat yet. I usually eat dinner kind of late. I was going to grab something after my workout, but let's eat now. I'm starving."

He walked over the table and flipped back the top of the pizza box to discover a Hawaiian pizza inside. "Oh honey, you remembered," he said over exaggerating his gratitude. He had told her that was his favorite pizza as they had asked questions of each other while searching for her nephews to try and keep from panicking.

"Of course, I did," she said smiling. "Now let's eat." They sat at the table and clinked their beers in cheers before digging in to the delicious pizza.

"So, what made you skip your meeting?" Owen said smiling. Since he already knew the answer, Claire knew she was being set up, but he was just too cute to resist.

"Well, someone really wise and really good-looking told me that I needed to relax and promised to help me do it, so here I am." Owen was so glad he had convinced her to take the evening off, and helping her relax, whatever that meant, was his mission. When they had finished eating, Claire excused herself to the restroom discreetly grabbing her purse. She wasn't sure what this evening would hold, but she had high hopes, which started with fresh breath. She had tucked her toothbrush in her bag. She found some toothpaste on the sink and quickly brushed her teeth before heading back out into the main room. Owen had cleared the table and moved the remaining beers over the end table next to the couch in front of the TV. He was standing up channel surfing as she approached.

"Here," he said handing her the remote. "I'll be right back. Find something you want to watch, and then sit here," he added pointing to a pillow he'd placed on the floor in front of the couch. Intrigued, Claire just said, "Okay," as he also excused himself to the restroom. He noticed as he was washing his hands that his toothpaste was slightly out of place and realized she had brushed her teeth. The bristles of his toothbrush were still dry, so he knew she'd brought her own. "Of course she did," he thought to himself. "That woman was always prepared." He smiled hoping her fresh breath meant lots of lots of kissing in their future. He quickly brushed his teeth too – as he didn't want to disappoint.

When he returned he found her sitting exactly where he had told her still flipping through the channels. "I have no idea what to put on," she admitted. "I actually can't remember the last time I watched TV." Owen laughed and wasn't surprised. Claire was a self-proclaimed workaholic.

"Let me see," Owen offered reaching back for the remote. He was still standing at this point. He pinged through a few more channels before landing on the movie Dodgeball, which was playing on some cable channel. "This movie is hilarious," Owen said. "You'll love it." He set the remote on the side table then proceeded to sit on the couch right behind placing his legs on either side of her body.

"What are you doing?" she asked turning slightly to look back at him. "Relaxing you," he responded and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Ah, a massage," she thought to herself.

"Oh, well this is a good start, Mr. Grady," she said in a flirting tone and turned back to face the TV.

"Keep calling me Mr. Grady, and it won't last that long," he leaned down and playfully whispered in her ear. They both laughed, and he proceeded to start rubbing her shoulders while they watched the movie. It felt so good; Claire thought she might literally pass out on the spot. It had been so long since someone had pampered her in any way. Owen's hands were strong but careful, and his touch was firm, but gentle. It was the absolute perfect combination. She praised him to make sure he didn't stop.

"You know, if your career as a raptor trainer goes belly up, you could get a job as a masseuse."

He smiled. "I'll take that into consideration," he added.

Owen continued to rub Claire's shoulders and back as they watched the movie enjoying touching her as much as she enjoyed being touched. "You know, I've been meaning to tell you something," Owen said after a few minutes. "What's that?" Claire said continuing to face forward. "I'm not sure I've mentioned how brave it was for you to let that T-Rex out," he said.

"Yeah, brave, and insane, and kind of stupid," Claire said. "There are so many ways that could have gone wrong."

"I know," Owen said, "But they didn't." Before things got too serious, he followed up with, "And, I'm not ashamed to admit that I was equally terrified and turned on when I saw you running up with that flare with that thing behind you. That was nuts. You're kind of a badass."

Claire laughed. "That's exactly what Zack said about you," she said.

"What?" Owen asked.

"When you were out with the raptors hunting the I-Rex, we were watching you on the iPad. Zack said, and I quote, 'Your boyfriend is a badass.' Not that your ego needs to be inflated," she continued laughing, "but he's right. You were a real hero."

"I like the sound of that," Owen responded gently pausing his hands.

"I'm sure you do," Claire said playfully. "What do you like better, hero or badass?"

"No," not that part," he continued. "The part where he called me your boyfriend."

Claire now looked back at him and up into his eyes. "Oh you do, do you?" she said teasingly. She had now fully turned around and was now crouched on her knees in front of him between his legs. "I like the sound of that too," she said.

They locked eyes and it was over. Their arms wrapped around each other as they crashed into a passionate kiss. Owen pulled Claire up and off the floor onto his lap. They kissed desperately for a few minutes until they finally had to break apart for air leaning their foreheads against each other.

"Hey," Owen said panting, pulling her head back and looking into her eyes. "This night is supposed to be relaxing. Let's take this slow," he said.

"Okay," Claire responded lucky she could even coherently say anything at all. Owen kissed her again – a much slower and consuming kiss now repositioning them on the tiny couch so he was lying over her. They kissed like teenagers for what must have been a half hour, at least. Claire ran her hands through Owen's hair, across his back and up and down his arms. Owen cupped her face with one hand and ran the free one up and down the length of her entire body. Claire had never felt so relaxed in her whole life.

"God you feel good," she whispered in his ear as she ran her fingernails over his biceps. It was more than he could handle, and disregarding his own orders to take things slow, Owen started to pick up the pace again. He couldn't help himself. When his hand grazed over her hip and backside, and she let out a low moan, it fueled him in a way he had not felt in a long time. "Can we move this to the bed," Owen asked against her lips hopefully, as he grew more aware that the small couch just would not do for what he had in mind. "I think we'd be more comfortable."

"You're in charge," she responded. "I'm sorry, what?" Owen said looking stunned. Claire laughed, "You heard me. You're in charge." "Remember you said that," he replied and got up from the couch pulling her hand to drag her up with him.

"I'll be right back," he said and moved to go into the bathroom. "Stand right here, and close your eyes" he said pulling her toward the bottom of the bed." She playfully said "Yes, sir," and did as she was asked as he disappeared into the other room.