"You're bored again."

"I am not bored."

"Then it's worse." She marched over to his side and reached out to touch his forehead. "Your fever's back."

"It is not."

"It must be. The only time you've been nice was when you were half dead."

He laughed out loud. "That's not such a nice thing to say, Mrs. Prescott."

Damn, she had hoped he'd forgotten that little slip.

Her lips pursed.

"Not to worry, Julia. I thought it was kinda cute. Though I didn't know you harbored those kinds of

aspirations."

"A real comedian."

"I'm not laughing." Though he did have a big wide smile spread across his face like a banner.

"I only said it because I didn't want you to be left alone in the hospital, and I knew if I wasn't a relative

they'd kick me out."

"Admit it, cupcake, you really do like me."

"I do not!"

"Sure, sure. But just think, you could have said you were my aunt."

She reached out and grabbed the pudding away.

"Now that is mean," he said.

But when she would have left, he caught her wrist. Slowly, he pulled her down to the mattress until she sat on the edge. Taking the dish away from her, he set it aside.

"Just talk to me. For a little while."

He looked so sweet and endearing it was hard to resist. She reminded herself that he looked like a bear.

Sweet and cuddly on the outside, an animal on the inside. Though in truth, he didn't really look like a

bear at all, not like anything a person could cuddle up to. He was more like a sleek, finely honed

predator.

"I can't stay," she said. "Really. Besides, I don't want to take you away from all that important surfing you do on the laptop."

A surprising darkness flared in his eyes, then it was gone just like that.

"I need a break," he said.

For reasons she didn't understand, she believed him. "Okay," she sighed. "But just for a second."

The darkness fled completely, and he whipped out a deck of cards. "I found these in the nightstand."

She smiled despite herself, her mind circling back in time.

"What?" he pressed her.

She shrugged. "When my dad was in town, we used to stay up for hours playing."

"What did you play?"

She glanced over at him. "Go Fish."

Ben laughed strong and deep. "Then Go Fish it is."

With strong expert hands, he dealt.

"You know how to play?" she asked.

"You bet. I'm not bad, either, so guard your pennies, Mrs. P."

Telling herself she could relax just for a few minutes, she pulled a chair up next to the bed. "So we're playing for pennies?" she asked.

He considered her for a second. "No, I think we should play for secrets."

"Secrets, eh? Seems like you're the one who has all the secrets. Aren't you worried about telling them?"

He got a twinkle in his eyes. "I don't plan to lose."

Never one to walk away from a challenge, she said, "We'll see about that. Deal."

He dealt seven cards each, then spread the rest out facedown on the bed. Each of them arranged their cards, then Ben gestured for her to go first.

"Do you have any threes?" she asked.

"No." He grinned. "Go fish."

She picked a card out of the pile, then smiled wickedly. "Got what I wished for." She set a pair of threes

down with a flourish.

Ben grumbled good-naturedly.

The round went fast, Julia relaxing as they made their way through all fifty-two cards. Though she

wasn't nearly as happy when he won.

"Now," he said, rubbing his hands together. "What do I want to know?"

He considered her; and she started to squirm. "No secrets."

"Fine. If you'd rather, we can switch to strip poker."

She perked up and gave him a sultry laugh. "Sounds perfect." But then she froze. Not perfect! Not

anymore!

"No, telling secrets is fine," she responded glumly.

He laughed. "All right, if you'd rather not take off those hideous warm-ups you're wearing, then tell me

what you were like in high school-really like."

She'd rather take off the warm-ups, since she didn't like them a whole lot more than he did. But they were safe and not wild. Which was the point.

"All right. What was I like? Hmmm." She considered. "I was just like I am now-or who I was two

weeks ago."

He settled back against the pillows and looked at her, his smile hitching at the corner. "Nope, I don't think so. I don't think you grabbed anyone's balls when you were a kid. Hell in Heels in training, maybe,

but if I had to guess, I'd say you were"-he tilted his head in consideration, and she felt a very foreign blush creep into her cheeks-"loud-"

She had been.

"Funny."

"Maybe a little." She loved making people laugh.

"Smart."

"I didn't do bad."

"Straight A's."

"I got a B once."