Alexis sat on the beach and read a novel. She rarely had any spare time for pleasure reading so sitting down with a mystery novel in such a lovely setting was something she really enjoyed. She'd been doing some thinking about what had happened so far since they'd been holed up at the beach house.

Julian had been inside the house using the computer there to find out more information on Shawn's so-called business that he used as a front for his real profession which hopefully would tie all the players together. She watched him work and thought in a different life…maybe he'd be a cop or a federal agent.

When she brought it up, he'd chuckled.

"I was something much more dangerous," he said, "An investigative reporter when I was Derek Wells, a normal man in a normal profession."

She looked over his shoulder.

"I rather liked him. He swooped him and saved a little boy's life and he was charming and very sexy…"

"Alexis…"

She patted him on the shoulder.

"No…Julian. It was your choice to lead a double life. Is it my fault that I liked one better than the other?"

"Derek was me…parts of me anyway. I rather enjoyed being him most of the time."

She walked away from him.

"No he was just a part you played," she said, "while you played me, played my daughter and well…if you hadn't saved Danny's life…"

She didn't need to finish. He got the message. He didn't hold it against her like he would with most. Her fierce protectiveness of her family including children was a huge part of what had attracted him.

They had been there since two days ago mostly lying low which meant sticking around the house or on the beach in case anybody came looking for them. They'd headed into town for food shopping and to pick up some clothes. Julian had produced some cash. Alexis didn't ask questions.

Alexis had hit the beach, mostly lying in the sand in a suit she had bought at a store along with some other clothes or swimming in the ocean which had been refreshing after sitting in the sun. Sometimes Julian would come down and join her and he looked as great as he always did, keeping himself in fighting shape marred only where the bullet had grazed his skin during their getaway.

He'd never been shy about showing off his body. She'd never been shy about looking at it.

She didn't think much about her fiancé who no doubt was out there looking for her rather than awaiting the ransom note. They kept careful watch where they stayed but deemed it unlikely that anyone would find them right away. Julian had worked hard to leave a false trail of them heading to NYC and had friends helping him do that up there.

In the meantime, they relaxed a little, they ate great food that they cooked up including on the barbecue. They talked but mostly about their plan of action and any information either had uncovered, ideas they had…strictly business.

Very little that was personal. Alexis had made that clear up front and when she'd said goodnight to him the first day.

"I'm sticking to business with you," she said, "Everything else is off limits understand?"

Julian paused putting down his beer that he'd been drinking.

"I can't promise that Alexis but I will give you some space…for now."

She just rolled her eyes, thinking his alpha male tricks wouldn't work on her and went to serve herself some of that decadent dark chocolate cake that had looked so inviting in the bakery window.

Studies said most women preferred chocolate to sex. Alexis wouldn't go that far but she enjoyed a good dose of it. So she had brought herself a big piece of it on a plate, enjoying it on the sofa.

Each succulent bite, washed down by some wine. He glanced at her seeing a smile on her face.

"What you thinking about?"

She ate another bite of cake.

"My ex-husband…Jax and how much I miss him."

Julian had heard about Jax mostly from Carly who'd been with him. Not much about his marriage to Alexis except it hadn't lasted long.

"You still friendly with him?"

"Best friends. He'd have warned me about you."

His mouth quirked.

"Would you have listened?"

She snorted.

"Probably not…"

She got up and headed back to the kitchen and he watched her go in jeans and a long sleeve large sweater she'd nabbed from a closet.

"He liked Shawn…back when they and Sonny worked together to save PC from Jerry Jax."

He'd heard about and read about it in his newspapers' archives. She had been Jerry's hostage and had been willing to give up her freedom and most likely her life to save others. But she didn't mention part of that episode.

"I guess he would have been happy for me since he thought he was quite the hero…"

"Even a villain can do something good once in a while," he said, "Just ask me."

She put the book down when he walked towards her wearing that damn swimsuit that didn't leave much to the imagination and carrying a towel. He sat down in the sand next to her close to the surf.

"So you hear from your friend?"

He looked out into the surf at the sailboats in the distance.

"Not yet…but he's very busy and rather eclectic."

She sipped from a water bottle.

"Hopefully he can help us…so we can go back to our lives."

"Might take a while. Shawn's not going to give up and we still don't know who ordered that hit."

"Your friend can't tell us?"

"He's not sure."

"You don't seem like the guy who'd attracted many friends like that. Confidence isn't one of your problems as we've seen with the ladies."

Julian chuckled at that and she rewarded him with a smile in return. She really had a beautiful one but then she had always been a lovely woman. She sat opposite him on the beach towel right now, wearing a really nice red swimsuit with a sheer wrap over it.

"I don't think you need to go that far."

She sighed at him, shaking her head.

"No I think it's a good thing that you're casual about your affairs," she said, "I envy that."

He frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I've really got to be a lot more careful about whom I enter into relationships with," she said, "Whether it's long-term commitment or a more passing thing…though I'm done with the former."

"Alexis it's not your fault that men like Shawn make the decisions that they make and you shouldn't be too hard on yourself that you didn't see through them earlier. After all, you didn't marry him."

She sighed, looking out at the ocean.

"You interrupted it…I'm not sure what I would have done.

"I'm sure you would have figured it out," Julian said, "You're a smart woman."

She just gave him that look.

"I'm including you with him. A part of me wish those guys shot you."

"Really…you wound me Alexis."

She just tilted her face.

"Don't….start…"

"Okay…but I didn't get shot, they did miss and we're together on a nice beach on a warm day relaxing…"

She reached for her water again.

"While Shawn and a bunch of mobsters are probably looking for us. Or waiting for you to call in a ransom. Have you decided on a number yet?"

He just looked at her intently.

"I haven't decided how much you're worth. It'd have to be a pretty high price to give you up."

She didn't know how to respond to that.

"I'll let them wait a while longer."

She ran her fingers through the warm sand while he moved closer to her. Not much but just enough.

"Maybe a lot longer."

He stroked a tendril of hair out of her face which he loved to do, she noticed. She knew he wanted a response from her…to get her off balance the way he liked. But she didn't let on she even noticed, though her skin tingled, her blood warmed.

Damn him and damn her if she let him play her again.

"Julian…"

His gaze focused on her.

"What…"

She paused picking her words carefully.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what," he asked back.

"Have these relationships with women…these dalliances of yours and then walk away?"

Julian shifted his position on the towel.

"It's not quite like that…the relationships run their course, some more quickly than others."

"I know that…but isn't it ever difficult even with the shorter ones?"

Julian considered her question and he saw the expression on her face that it had been weighing on her mind for some time. He knew that she'd known about his brief flings with both Carly and Olivia earlier on in his return to PC.

"Well sometimes both parties are willing to just enjoy the moment, whether it's meeting someone on a business trip, or an airport layover or at a nightclub."

"Oh so two ships that passed in the night…"

He grimaced.

"More like collided in one case. They were brief and then they were over."

"Hey I'm not judging you. I just wish I was as good at doing that as you have been," she said, "I mean every new man just gravitates to Carly first. It's an unwritten rule in PC so why would you be different?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Unwritten rule?"

"Oh yeah…didn't you read the manual when you got here?"

"No…I don't follow manuals," he said, "I made my own choices for my own reasons."

She nodded.

"Oh I get that…both were women who were very close to your enemy, Sonny. So you used them to get to him."

"Not exactly…"

"Whatever…anyway. I'm just saying sometimes I wish I could be casual like that."

He just looked at her, his eyes not blinking.

"Is that what you really want?"

She shrugged.

"I guess I wanted more than that once," she admitted, "but once again I fell short. Maybe it's time for a change and I should try taking things less seriously with men."

"You think that's going to make you happy?"

She smiled at him, spreading herself out on her towel to face him.

"I'm thinking more along the lines of whether it will be more fun."

He caught the sparkle in her eye and suppressed his smile,

"Okay…well we're a little bit busy now so socializing with others might have to take a back seat for now."

She nodded.

"True…but I've wondered…what it gives me something to think about when I return to PC, how to live that part of my life."

His breath caught in his throat especially when he read her face after she dropped that line of reasoning on him.

"Excuse me?"

She smiled, pulling her hair back off of her face.

"I'm a busy woman anyway, and I think I'm just done with relationships. But it still doesn't mean I don't want to have some fun. Diane, you know her, she's been trying to get me to do that for years. Get out and mingle…hook up with some good looking single man. Just have a good time and not get too emotional about it."

His skin felt warm when she put it that way. She had meant it after all.

"Alexis are you saying what I think you're saying?"

She nodded.

.

"When I get to PC it's going to be the beginning of the rest of my life…"

"So that's your plan?"

She nodded and got on her feet, while he admired the view. She flipped her hair back off her face.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to cool off…"

He watched her as she walked out into the ocean as the waves broke on shore. Damn she'd amazed him once again but he'd seen the weariness on her face too and knew he'd put some of it there.