Alex felt her relent to him, she was driving him mad with running her fingers along the back on his neck and his head. He moved his hands around her hips and made a surprising discovery that he couldn't keep to himself, "You are not wearing any under ware?" he asked as he pulled away from their kiss.

     Jocelynn looked down at the floor blushing, "You can't with this dress, it is backless."

     Alex spun her around, he hadn't noticed that the whole evening that her dress was backless. He looked at the slop of her back tracing up it from the small of her back with his finger. When his hand made it to her middle of her back he lifted his hand up to brush her hair over her right shoulder as he knelt his head to kiss her neck. But he paused and first kissed the tattoos that had been hidden by her hair. He then kissed along her left shoulder and neck and his left arm wrapped around her abdomen holding her tight to him. His right hand settled on her waist.

     "Well at least you have an excuse," He whispered in her ear as his finger tightened on her waist and started to inch up the bottom of her dress. He could feel her heart beat through her chest matching up with the pace of his own. He felt himself once again turn to that painful granite state, all from just their heartbeats beating in-sync. His breath would catch ever time she gasped with each of his kisses. He ran his left hand up her abdomen to in between her breast, she arched her back against him, moving her bottom against him was nearly his undoing. Until...

     The necklace she wore, touched his fingers. And Nick popped back into the picture without even being there. Alex quickly backed off of her and leaned his back up against the wall opposite her. He could hardly breath, he could hardly see either. Everything to him in the elevator seemed a haze, he blinked his eyes till they went back to normal, then hit the button on the control panel for the floor that his room was on.

     Joce turned around quickly once she felt Alex's body move away from hers, she had felt an instant feeling of fear and anger and confusion roll from his body into hers. And immediately she realized why, she brought her hand to the necklace that Nick had given to her, as she looked down at the ground as the elevator started to moved. She felt his gaze on her without even having to see it, she felt them burning into her, compelling her to raise her eyes to her. They locked eyes, and Alex felt her own confusion flow through his own body.

     The elevator was silent as the two rode it up. When the elevator door opened Alex quickly popped his head out and saw that there was no one out there. He grabbed Joce by the hand and yanked her down the hall to his room which was only 2 doors over. He had his card for the door out before they made it there, he swiped it and opened the door and nearly pushed her in before he made it into the room as well. He closed the door and took off his leather jacket, then sat on the foot of the bed. Joce sat on the dresser right in front of him, looking once again at the ground.

     "Fuck this, we will talk later." he muttered at he grabbed for her, pulling her onto his lap so she straddled him.

     "Alex, wait." She said as she tried to push herself off of him, but Alex only grabbed onto her tighter. "Alex, no, this isn't right." The minute the words slipped out of her mouth he released his hands from her waist and grabbed her the wrists tightly.

     "Why, then? Why is this not right?" He demanded threw gritted teeth trying to make eye contact with her "What, is it because of Nick? Is that why he gave you the necklace?"

     Joce whipped her head up and looked him square in the eye. She could feel his anger, but hers was becoming even stronger, "Don't you dare bring Nick into this, Alexander." She snapped at him. "This is between you and me, it has nothing to do with him!"

     "This has EVERYTHING to do with him, you and ME! Especially if you slept with one of my best friends."

     "No it does not! I don't know where you got the idea in your head about Nick and I that last night but NOTHING HAPPENED! And if you don't believe me, then why are you holding me still?"

     Alex was struck by her last words, inside he knew that nothing had happened between her and Nick. But his pride wouldn't let him get over it, "I don't know what to believe," He relented as he let go of her wrists and shifted her off his lap on to the bed. He stood up and walked across the room to the mini fridge and grabbed himself a bottle of water.

     He turned to face her, and suddenly he felt like shit, seeing her rubbing her wrists. He walked to her and fell to the floor in front of her he laid his head in her lap. "Joce, I don't know what it is that is making me loose my control. It's just that when I saw you yesterday morning I wanted to kill Nick for even mentioning your name. Your right this isn't right, this isn't fair to you. If it's Nick you want, then fine. I am sorry, Jocelynn. I am." He sighed as he kissed her wrists.

     Joce pulled her wrists away from his hands and pulled his head up to look at her. She slid off the bed to sit next to him. "Alex, what makes you think I want to be with Nick much less that I have already had sex with him?" She asked.

     "Because the two of you are always all over each other. I mean, you flirt with each other constantly, you sat together at dinner, he gave you that necklace. And this morning I saw you leave his hotel room wearing his sweater."

     "Nick and I are just friends. That is all, that is what he and I were talking about when you found us in the bathroom last night. He asked if we could be friends and for a hug. As for the necklace, I dunno why he gave it to me. I told him that he didn't have to buy me anything, but that was his decision. And since he and I are friends, I don't see the problem with me accepting."

     Alex just looked at her for a moment, he could feel the sincerity in her voice. "So then, I guess I have been acting like a jack-ass for no reason, huh?"

     "Yuppers. Last night it was too late for me to drive home and be safe. Plus I was pretty plastered still, we were lucky we got back here in one piece. I have no intention of drinking again. I forgot what a hangover felt like till this morning."They both laughed, "The only reason I was wearing his sweater is because it was cold out and I didn't have my coat, I left it in my car. Look Alex, I would really like for us to be friends. And to move past this."

     "Yea, me too. But if we are going to be just friends, we will need to um, not be so close. I cannot help but want to throw your right on the bed right now."

     Joce looked up at Alex with just her eyes and smiled, "Well, we never agreed to what kind of friends we could be."

     "But just friends, though?"

     "Alex, I live in Wyoming, you live in California. I am tied here with my job and my son. You will be traveling, on TV, award shows. A relationship between us wouldn't really work. Hell I am still trying to figure out how to explain this whole thing of the single to my ex. I don't want to drag you into my world, you would have to deal with my ex-husband and all the drama that more then likely would arise, and I have Drogyn, he needs me more."

     Alex nodded his head in agreement, "Your right. You are tied to responsibility just as much as I am. But still.." He leaned closer to her and kissed her. "I would love for this to last more then just tonight. And I will do anything to make that possible."

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Nick laid in his bed staring at the ceiling, there was nothing good on TV, and when he tried to call Joce's cellphone he got her voice mail. Figuring that she was in bed for the night decided to not leave a message. Swinging his legs over the side of his bed he walked over the the balcony of his room. It was cold tonight, but he didn't care, he just took in the landscape. He had his whole life had a connection to the ocean  but now that he stood out looking at the mountains surrounding him he felt a different kind of peace. One even more relaxed, here there was no pressure.

     Smiling to himself he thought about the future, he could see himself on a ranch somewhere in the mountains. Living there with a wife, and children. The thought of Jocelynn and him slipped back into his head, he could just envision her playing outside with 2 children and her tummy swollen with another on the way. Nick turned back into the room, closing the door behind him. 'Joce and I are meant for each other,' he thought as he left his hotel room. He made his way out of the hotel to where groups 5 rented vehicles sat. Just as he started to open the door of the car he noticed a blue car sitting a couple yards away. Nick spun away from the Escalade and looked toward the direction of Alex's room, where he saw the light on, and the shadows of two people.

    Nick jumped into the vehicle and quickly pulled out of the parking area and took to the direction of the only place he could remember, the Cowboy bar. Right now he could use a stiff drink and a warm body.