CHAPTER 12  

Sadie woke up the next day with the mother of all headaches. There was a note from Liz on the television. 
 
Sade: 
 
Skiing with Dan. Heard you come in late night last night and figured you’d want to sleep. 
Catch ya later. 
 
Liz 
 
Sadie scanned the words. Then, she crumbled the paper and tossed it in the trash. They must have left damn early, she reasoned. She hadn’t even heard them. Usually, she was a very light sleeper and a pin dropping could wake her up. Further proof, she decided, that she just didn’t have the alcohol tolerance that she used to. 
 
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Sadie shuffled to the window. It was awfully bright outside. Even with the heavy snow on the ground, it shouldn’t be THAT bright this early in the morning. Curious, she pushed aside the heavy drapes. 
 
Dazzling light flooded the room turning everything in its path a harsh shade of yellowish-white. Sadie shrieked, slammed her eyes shut and shoved the curtains back into place. Only then did she think to look at the clock.  
 
It said: Noon. 
 
Noon. Holy shit. 
 
She hadn’t slept till noon since college! 
 
Although considering she’d eaten breakfast around 3 am and staggered home at 4, maybe it really wasn’t all that late. And if she was going to look at it that way, she hadn’t flirted with a guy the way she flirted with JC since college either. 
 
JC. 
 
She sucked in an unsteady breath. 
 
She had spent the evening flirting, drinking and hanging out with JC fucking Chasez. Hot, sexy, charismatic JC. The guy that made women wet themselves with one glance. SHE had hung out with him, gotten drunk with him and eaten at IHOP with him. 
 
And, in retrospect, he was a lot more human than she ever imagined. 
 
Which just succeeded in making him sexier. 
 
Sadie sighed. She needed a shower. She felt gross and her head was an absolute mess. She had JC on the brain. And he hadn’t even KISSED her. This was out of control. She needed to get a grip. She grabbed clean towels from the rack. 
 
The steam of the shower did wonders. Scrubbing her hair, shaving her legs, soaping up with her favorite body wash all made the dull pounding headache a little more bearable and the thoughts of JC a little more…well…bearable also? As bearable as they could be, she guessed. After all, she had touched him. Her fingertips were still burning with the memory. He had hot, satiny skin.…on his abs, his hands, his face. It had been delicious just to FEEL.  
 
Sadie closed her eyes. As the water ran over her, she saw him clearly again. Standing in the halo of the neon lights, her hands clasped tightly to his chest, the flicker of a smile gracing those perfect lips. And those EYES…those limpid pools of endless blue. She would have drown in them willingly if he had let her…they were so warm and inviting and gentle… 
 
But he’d pushed her away. He’d driven her home. 
 
He’d SAID it was because she was drunk. 
 
But, in the light of the actual sun, Sadie had to wonder if that was the REAL reason. 
 
Perturbed now, she shut off the shower, dried herself with the towel and then wrapped up in the hotel-issue cotton robe that hung on the back of the bathroom door. Wiping the steam off the mirror, she combed quickly through her wavy, dark hair. She studied her reflection. By the light of day, she was ordinary looking…not at all the kind of girl who could attract and hold the attention of JC Chasez. Not a sober JC Chasez anyway. Maybe bathed in neon and high on alcohol she could make herself a memorable evening. But HOLD him? Not likely. Not her. Not an ordinary, struggling, wanna-be… 
 
Writer. 
 
Oh God. Oh God Oh God Oh God. 
 
She’d TOLD him. 
 
The comb clattered to the counter as Sadie covered her mouth with both hands. 
 
She’d TOLD him what she did. That she was a porn-goddess. Well, EROTICA goddess, but men were not the type to pick up on the subtle difference between gratuitous and non-gratuitous intercourse. Sex was sex to them…people getting off. But HE now knew that she… 
 
Her forehead hit the mirror. 
 
Well…if he called, she’d know why. 
 
Porn goddess. 
 
Shit. 
 
Sadie slunk out of the bathroom. 
 
The TV remote was sitting on her nightstand. Not bothering to dress, she shucked the robe, tossed it to the floor and crawled back under the covers, pulling the sheets to her chin. She flipped the little black box on. It was set to the obligatory resort channel, so she began channel-surfing. Nothing. Nothing. Cheesy soap operas. Bad talk shows. Supermarket Sweep… 
 
Not wanting to face the day, she opted for Supermarket Sweep. 
 
And no sooner had they gotten to the bonus round when she heard a knock at the door. 
 
“Housekeeping!” a muffled voice sang. Sadie groaned. 
 
“Come back later!” she yelled. 
 
“Clean towels,” the voice said. 
 
Sadie bit back her anger. 
 
“Come back LATER!” she yelled again. 
 
“But you NEED clean towels, don’t you?” 
 
The voice’s pitch changed. The tone had change. Sadie sat up. 
 
Grabbing the robe and tossing it over her shoulders, she stormed over and threw open the door. 
 
There stood JC with 5 clean towels and a rose. 
 
In retrospect, Sadie realized it might have been a better idea to TIE the robe first... 
 

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