Mimi opened the fridge and pulled out three bottles of water. She slammed the door and upon turning around found Brady standing right behind her. "Dammit, Brady. You almost made me jump out of my skin."

"Hmm. It would probably be a definite improvement if you did," he commented sarcastically.

The absolute nerve of this man! Mimi had never met anyone so maddening in her entire life. "Are you always this obnoxious or are you making a special effort today?"

"Oh, come off it. I can see that you’re trying to insult me, but I know you like me. I can see your tail wagging," Brady replied sardonically.

"Oooo! Don’t you realize that there are enough people to hate in this world without you putting in so much effort to give us another?" Mimi fumed. She wished Brady would back up. He was standing so close to her that she felt like she could barely think. He smelled so good…She was also wishing that she had turned the light on when she came in the kitchen. She was acutely aware of the fact that she was standing in the dark with Brady Black and that she was wearing nothing more than silken pajama shorts and a matching top, and that Brady was wearing only a tank top and a pair of sweats. She couldn’t let him know – she couldn’t let him see how insanely attracted she was to him. He’d probably make fun of her and trash her for it.

"You don’t hate me, do you Mimi?" Brady smiled as he softly said the words, taking a stab in the dark and hoping that this was indeed Mimi.

"So you finally figured out who I was, huh? Great work, Sherlock," Mimi replied. She tried to take a small step backwards to greaten the distance between them, but found that she was trapped between the counter and Brady. She turned and placed the bottles of water behind her on the counter – they were starting to make her arms cold. She faced Brady again.

"What’s the matter, Mimi? Scared of something?" Brady said lowly. Gentle moonlight filtered into the room, and Mimi could clearly see the darkening of Brady’s eyes.

Scared of you! Mimi’s mind screamed. Scared of this! Her breath began to quicken, a sound that was not lost on Brady.

"You know, I would ask you how old you are now, but I’d be afraid that you couldn’t count that high," Brady smirked as he placed his hands on the counter on either side of Mimi, effectively trapping her.

"Brady, growing up you were always arrogant and obnoxious. Now I see that you’re just the opposite – obnoxious and arrogant," Mimi snarled back and placed her hands on his chest to push him away. Brady grabbed her hands and held them in place. "Looking for an excuse to touch me?"

"Oh, please. You’re such an egomaniac, Brady." Mimi released her hands from Brady’s grip. She’d actually liked having them there – enjoyed Brady’s roughened skin on her own, the sensation of someone like him holding her hands on a chest as muscular as his…

Mimi brushed past him and tried to leave the kitchen. "Hey," Brady called after her, "If I said anything offensive, I want you to know that it was purely intentional."

Mimi whirled to face him. "You don’t have to say anything. You offend me just by being in the room."

Brady had crossed the room to where Mimi stood and lowered his face to be level with hers. "You know, anyone who told you to just ‘be yourself’ couldn’t have given you worse advice."

That was it! Mimi had had enough. She reared her arm back to slap him. Right before her hand made contact with his face, Brady grabbed her by the wrist. They stood there for a moment, the room silent except for the sound of them both breathing a bit harder than normal. Brady pulled Mimi’s wrist over to his mouth and placed a butterfly kiss in the hollow of it. Mimi felt like she was going to melt into the floor. She grabbed onto his arm with her free hand to prevent herself from falling. She was pressed completely against him.

Brady couldn’t believe what he had just done. It hadn’t seemed like Mimi was all that interested, and here he was kissing her wrist. She was just so damned irresistible with that fiery little spirit of hers. Then he looked down at her, clinging onto him as if her life depended on it, her breath coming out in ragged bursts. Brady placed his free arm around Mimi’s waist and hoisted her body up so that they were at eye level. Her face hovered millimeters away from his. They continued to look at one another, saying nothing. Suddenly Brady descended to Mimi’s lips, kissing her like he intended to devour her. Mimi had never felt anything so intensely passionate in her life. Her blood was still boiling from the heated argument with Brady, and now him kissing her like this…Mimi felt like she was on fire. The feelings threatened to completely overwhelm her.

Brady released Mimi’s arm and she wound it around his neck, desperately trying to pull him closer to her. Brady had never been so instantly aroused in his life. First the argument had his adrenaline going, and now this kiss…Brady roughly picked Mimi up and placed her on the counter without breaking their intense liplock. Mimi wound her legs around Brady’s waist, still trying to get closer to him. She started running her hands across Brady’s chest, wanting to know what the contours of his body felt like. He was so beautiful, so masculine…

Brady had placed his hands in Mimi’s hair and was holding her head, delving in and out of her mouth with his tongue, licking her lips, teasing her…"Brady," Mimi whimpered.

Her soft moan only served to up the heat in Brady’s body. She was so incredibly sexy. He forcibly pulled back on Mimi’s hair to allow himself access to her neck. He started trailing kisses down her neck and to her shoulders, going back up again, retracing his steps. He wanted to taste her, to know what her skin would feel like against his lips. Mimi pulled his face back up to again taste his lips, to feel them crushed against her own.

Brady moved his hands down Mimi’s back and on his way down discovered that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Brady moaned deeply within his throat at the thought of her wearing nothing but the wisp of silk between them. His hands slipped under her top to caress the skin on her back. She was so unbelievably soft. Mimi gasped when Brady’s hands touched her bare skin. She had an unexplainable but desperate need to know what his skin would feel like under her fingertips. Mimi started tugging at Brady’s tank top and he stopped to help her pull it off. Brady threw it aside and resumed kissing her. Mimi marveled at the various planes and angles all along Brady’s chest and back and ran her hands all over his torso.

Brady wanted more than just Mimi’s kisses and her touch – he wanted her surrender. He needed to hear her admit that she wanted this too. "Mimi," he groaned. "Tell me…"

"Tell you what?" Mimi whispered breathlessly.

"Tell me," Brady placed a kiss on her neck, "Tell me you want me."

"What?" Mimi said, some semblance of reason returning to her clouded mind.

Brady continued to kiss Mimi’s neck and shoulder and in between kisses said, "Say it, say that you want me. ‘I want you.’ Just three little words, Mimi."

"Brady," Mimi whispered, her voice laden with desire. She reached up to his neck and pulled his head down so that his ear was next to her mouth. "Go…….to……hell."

Mimi liberated herself from Brady’s grasp and jumped down to the kitchen floor. She started for the door until she remembered the water. She retrieved the water off of the counter, carefully avoiding Brady’s powerful scrutiny. She was afraid that if looked at him she’d jump back into his arms. She left the kitchen and headed back to Belle’s room.

Brady could do nothing but stare after her. So it was going to be a challenge. That was okay. The Blacks adored a challenge. He’d devote his time to making Mimi admit how much she wanted him. He didn’t have any other major summer plans. Brady laughed to himself as he ran his fingers through his short blonde hair. He was definitely fluent in body language, and Mimi’s had been screaming out to him. The current order of business, though, was to get up to a cold shower ASAP.

Mimi came back into Belle’s room to see Belle trying on some different colors of eye shadow on Chloe. "There you are Meems. We were about to send a search party out for you. Where were you?"

"Downstairs. Getting the water." Mimi placed the water on Belle’s desk. Belle got up to grab herself one. "These are kind of warm. Didn’t you get them out of the fridge?"

"Yeah, I did. Sorry about that," Mimi replied.

"Where have you been all this time?" Belle asked her before taking a swig of her water.

"Well, see, I got the water out of the fridge, and then I really had to pee so I went to use the bathroom and then I came back to the kitchen and grabbed the water and brought it up here. That’s probably why it’s a little warm." Mimi was awfully proud of the lie that she’d come up with so quickly.

Chloe glanced up at Mimi. "Are you okay, Mimi? Your face is all flushed."

Nothing wrong. Just suffering from an acute case of Bradyitis, Mimi thought. "No, I feel just fine. Must be a little warm downstairs."

"Well, I think it’s official. The pink definitely goes best with your coloring, Chloe," Belle announced. "You know, I have the cutest shirt that you should try on." Belle went over to her closet and pulled out a pink shirt and handed it to Chloe, then went and sat next to Mimi on the bed. Chloe held it up to her neck and looked in the mirror – envisioning how she would look in it.

"Are you guys busy tomorrow?" she asked.

"Nothing that I know of," Belle said. "Meems?"

"Nope. My schedule is free and clear," Mimi responded as she started to flip through a magazine on Belle’s bed.

"I think I’d like to go shopping tomorrow. Maybe try and find something besides black to wear. What do you guys think?" Chloe questioned.

Belle sat on the bed with a grave expression. "You’re serious, aren’t you Chloe? You’re not just toying with my emotions, are you?"

"Yes, I’m serious," Chloe said.

Belle started jumping up and down on the bed, shrieking, nearly knocking Mimi off. She hopped off and ran over to Chloe, hugging her and continuing to jump up and down. "You’ve made me the happiest person alive!"

Belle ran over to her desk and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "What are you doing, Belle?" Chloe asked.

"She has to draw up her plan of attack. We’re going to have to go and lay sacrifice on the altar at Ballistix," Mimi informed Chloe.

"Quiet, Mimi. I have to make up a list of things to get. We’re talking whole new wardrobe here. The propensities of this undertaking are enormous. I’m going to have to make sure I have it all down on paper, list the order of stores at Salem Place, the route we should take…" Belle’s voice trailed off as she started to think of all the necessary arrangements.

Belle looked at Mimi and Chloe. "You two need to go to bed right now. We have to be up first thing in the morning."

"What do you mean first thing?" Chloe asked warily.

"I mean like by 8:30 or so. This may come as a shock to you Chloe, but some people actually do get up early in the morning on Saturday."

"You lie."

"No, really, I swear. Now go to sleep. We’re going to have a big day in front of us." Belle continued jotting down notes on her piece of paper.

Chloe was excited about this new phase in her life. She thought Dr. Evans’ would have been impressed by her turning this corner. She was ready for color. Tonight had proved to her that she didn’t need to hide behind her black clothing any longer. She was looking forward to buying some clothes that might actually catch a boy’s attention. Especially if the boy in question had big blue eyes and deep dimples. Chloe closed her eyes and remembered what it had been like dancing with Philip Kiriakis, when he had told her she was beautiful…

Mimi snuggled down into her sleeping bag. It was fine with her if Belle wanted them to go to bed. By closing her eyes she could hear Brady’s ragged breathing in her ear, feel his lips on her own, feel his hands on her back, in her hair…Mimi sighed. It might be a little hard sleeping tonight knowing that Brady was only one room down the hall. Mimi lifted one hand to her forehead. She couldn’t imagine what she had been thinking. Mimi had never even been kissed like that, let alone whatever it was that Brady wanted it to lead to. What shocked her the most was how willing she’d been to let it all happen – that nothing inside of her had set off any alarm bells. The only thing that had saved her tonight was her pride. Mimi had always thought she would wait until she was in love to do the things she had done tonight, and the other things she had wanted to do. But…she knew that part of her had loved Brady since she was little. He just never loved her back. Mimi tried to rid herself of that thought and concentrated again on what it had felt like to be in Brady’s arms.