Chapter 2

"What are you doing?!" she snapped at him, her face turning from its usual neutral shade into a furious red.

"I'm sorry!"

He looked up at her, confused. What have I done wrong now?"

"Why are you stripping here?"

"No, I mean…" he said sheepishly, "Why am I doing it in the first place?"

She stepped towards him, her eyes full of anger and worry. "Don't you think that's a little creepy?" she asked.

She was trying to be gentle, but the accusation was still there.

"I'm sorry. I just got used to doing this way back home," he answered. It wasn't exactly true, but he couldn't tell her what kind of life he had.

"The bathroom's over there. I think there is an extra towel in the drawer."

Her voice softened as she pointed to a small cabinet adjacent to the dresser. "If you need help ... just ask."

He smiled faintly, then headed towards the door.

"Oh yeah, I should look for clothes. I think Uncle left some shirts here."

As she rummaged through the closet, she shook her head.

"I can't believe I'm letting the criminal stay in my house!"

Her mind ran over all the possible ways of getting rid of him.

"Don't worry. He'll leave tomorrow."

That was the important part– convincing him to leave once the sun rose.

Once she found a shirt and a pair of pants, she went downstairs to put them on the couch.

And there he was: walking around the living room.

The upper part of his torso is toned and defined, with broad shoulders. His musculature made it impossible not to look at him when he moved.

She felt heat rising from her stomach towards her cheeks. She quickly tried to avert her gaze.

He didn't seem to notice it, however.

Or at least he didn't appear bothered by it. As soon as he spotted the folded pile of clothes, he grinned and grabbed it before disappearing through the door.

She stood frozen there, looking after him until his silhouette disappeared out the front door.

For about half an hour, she stared at the abandoned things he had placed next to the couch cushions.

"Are you okay, Alice?"

She looked up, startled out of the trance she'd fallen into again. "Oh..yes. Yes, I'm fine," she lied.

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

"Yeah," she said softly. It was late at night, the only light coming from the moon shining in through the windows of her living room. "I will."

He nodded. "Goodnight."

Then, he started to lie on the couch, stretching out his legs with a satisfied sigh.

"What are you doing? You don't have to"

But he cut her off before she could say more. "It's comfortable, and besides," he added, smiling lazily at her, "You seemed tired, and I wanted to make sure you were getting enough rest."

"But we have lots of guestrooms here."

"I'll guard your house."

"While you're sleeping?"

"Yes, I can do both."

She shook her head in disbelief, still staring at his face.

His expression was almost hypnotic as he stared at her, smiling and waiting for her to respond.

She didn't know why, but she could feel herself slowly relaxing under his scrutiny. She sighed.

"Fine," she said quietly, "Go ahead."

"Don't worry. I don't shoot good girls in their sleep."

Despite everything inside of her urging her to turn away, she couldn't help but chuckle at his remark. "Goodnight, Vince," she called, before heading upstairs.

****

"Argh! No... No..."

She groaned as her alarm clock blared a loud screech at 6:30 in the morning.

She pulled an arm over her head to try and silence it, but the shrill shrieking persisted, even when she covered her ears with her hands. She cursed under her breath before throwing the duvet off herself and hopping out of bed.

As soon as she was fully clothed, she stumbled towards the bathroom door and opened it.

She yawned as she stepped into the hallway.

"Oh, the party girl is already awake!" her grandma said.

"Grandma?" she mumbled, half asleep yet. "What're you doing up so early?"

"What? Can't I visit my lovely granddaughter?" asked the old woman.

She patted her cheek affectionately. "I missed you."

Alice smiled sleepily. "It's okay, Grandma."

"Ah, but what about your boyfriend? Why didn't you tell us that you already had one?"

"What? I didn't have one."

"What are you talking about? Did you two fight, that's why you let him sleep on the couch?"

And when the realization hit her, she hurried downstairs.

She almost slipped on the last step but caught herself with her hand on the railing.

When she got down to the dining room, there stood Vince, laughing with her grandfather.

Her grandfather looked surprised as he saw her appear. The latter gave him a tired smile and shook his head.

"My lovely granddaughter is here. Why don't you sit so you can eat breakfast?" suggested her grandfather.

"No, I'm just going to grab some coffee," said Alice as she started walking towards the kitchen.

"Are you sure? Vince made chicken noodle soup for your hangover."

"Nope. Coffee will help me wake up."

Vince grinned as he watched her leave.

He turned back around to the old couple. "Didn't expect that you'd let her get away with that kind of behavior."

"Granny, it's all right. If that would make my woman happy, then I'll indulge her every once in a while."

Alice came back from the kitchen and put down her mug on the table. She sat next to her grandpa. They looked confusedly at her, as she seemed oddly subdued.

"My dear, why don't you sit next to Vince?" offered her grandfather.

"Huh?" she answered distractedly, still staring at her cup of coffee instead of directly at anyone or anything else.

"Don't be shy. I know you wanted to sit next to your boyfriend too."

Alice wanted to protest. On the other hand, how could she argue with her grandpa?

So, she sat next to Vince, who shot her a smile as warm as the rising sun. She smiled back as if the gesture meant nothing and stared at her coffee again.

But her attention was quickly caught by her grandma.

"So, why didn't you humor us with your love story?"