"Hey Tiefenbacher, shall we fall in love and forget the world?" she asked with a quivering voice.

He put down his hand and clenched them tightly as his throat went dry with desire, surveying Jess in her nakedness. Her smooth chocolatey skin was glistening with water, her hair was still dripping wet.

He swallowed the lump of lust clogging his throat as he shuffled his feet. His eyes never leave her face. The animal part of his brain wanted to grab her and push her on the floor. Yet, he controlled himself for he knew his little minx was feeling vulnerable.

When Noah didn't say anything with her standing stark naked in front of him, she felt her face turn red in embarrassment. She stepped backward to hide inside the bathroom, however, Noah pulled her to his arms before she could do so.

"Baby," a deep sigh echoed through his trembling voice as he cradled the back of her head, and whispered in her ear, "I had already fallen in love with you...but it seems like you are not ready to do so."

She shivered at the intensity of his tone and broke into tears, pounding her fists into his chest. She closed her eyes as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, "But why...." she wailed, gripping his shirt.

'Why don't you remember me?', she screamed at the back of her head. The bath already sobered her up, she no longer had the courage to look him in the eyes and asked him why he had forgotten about that night.

Naked Jess just continued sobbing in his chest, and he has no idea what to do. He breathed in the scent of her bath soap, and he became more aware of the smoothness of her skin under his touch.

"Uh, baby, I think you should put on some clothes, or you might get sick." he gently pushed her away from his arms.

She nodded and tried to stifle her sob. She walked to her closet while rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. She grabbed the first shirt on the pile of shirts in her closet - she does not have many choices of shirts since she mostly brought bikinis and beach dresses.

She put on the shirt and grabbed pink checkered boxer shorts from her underwear basket. She was thinking of what to do with her wet hair when Noah came back with the hairdryer in his hands.

"Sit down. Let me dry your hair."

She climbed into bed, sat with her back to him, facing the bedroom window.

The Noah draped a towelette on her shoulder, gathered her wet hair in a towelette, and started blow-drying the end of her hair, slowly working towards the roots.

The warm air from the blowdryer and the gentle hands of Noah handling her hair made her drowsy. Before she knew it, she was already nodding off. She was startled when she heard a throaty laugh from Noah, over the buzzing of the hairdryer.

"Do girls feel sleepy when someone dries their hair?"

"Why? Does your ex-wife fall asleep when you dry her hair?" she asked in a snippy tone. Noah laughed in amusement right after she said those words, and she wanted to kick herself.

Noah gently tugged her hair that made her look up, he dropped a soft kiss at the tip of her nose, and murmured, "You, silly little minx. Don't act like you are jealous after breaking my heart."

She puckered her lips and scrunched her nose, "I didn't break your heart."

He chuckled and dropped her another soft kiss, this time on her pouting lips, "It was Lucille who would always fall asleep whenever I dry her hair."

A smile curled at the corner of her mouth, as she pictured Noah, drying his daughter's hair. Her heart felt warm with the image of them in her head.

"You are a good father, Noah."

"I tried," he said, pride evident in his voice. "But guess what?"

"What?"

He smirked, leaned in, and whispered, "I'm a better lover."

She has the audacity to blush, for his husky voice sent a shiver to her spine and somewhere...down. She unconsciously pressed her legs together.

Noah scoffed, straightened his back and turned off the blowdryer, and put it down on her nightstand. He tagged the edge of her comforter and nudged her to get under the cover. He then pulled the end of the blanket and smoothened them on her chest.

He stared at her breast and grinned, "You are wearing my shirt, minx."

She looked down at the shirt she was wearing, and her face heats up. She didn't check the shirt when she put it on, and with Noah's amused smile, she has a feeling that even if she told him that, he won't believe her.

"Shut up," she murmured, pulling the blanket to her chin to cover the shirt.

He laughed softly and ruffled her hair, "Sweet dreams, minx. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, watching her hide under the blanket.

Since she was biting her lip under the blanket like a moronic teenager, feeling giddy being teased by her crush, she didn't answer and just closed her eyes. She won't dare speak up or Noah would hear the laughter in her voice.

She opened her left eye when she heard Noah's footstep towards the door. She released the breath she was holding in when she saw him exit her bedroom.

When he closed her bedroom door behind him, she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. "What now?" she asked.

The four walls of her room mocked her with silence. The rolling of the waves far below her balcony snorted in disgust, and the moon hovered outside at her window in disdain.

While Noah, trod his way home, with his hands deep in his pocket, shoulders slumped in despair. The moon illuminating the ground he was walking, he sighed thinking, would Jess change her mind if he went begging.