“I don’t believe this,” a gasp ripped through the crowd as all eyes were on center stage.

“Did he just say that he was the one running the party?” another shocked voice replied horrified by Cameron’s announcement.

“This can’t be…” another sound passed over the crowd before silence engulfed the room again.

“Enjoy your evening everyone,” Cameron waved feeling the satisfaction of the moment carry over him. This was phase one in his plan to start taking a move against the Ashfords and this was the first blow he was about to deliver head on to those who had wronged him. Smiling brightly he descended from the stage only to discover Jenna standing near the stairs waiting for him.

“What are you doing Cam?” she questioned bluntly cutting straight to the point with him, “I mean what are you really doing here?”

“Supporting a good cause,” he answered in a smooth fashion not breaking a sweat at her demanding tone, “which is something you all should be happy about. Blake doesn’t seem to be too torn up about it given that she’s not even saying anything about it, so you really shouldn’t worry yourselves about the situation. I say relax and have fun. It’s on me.”

“That’s what we’re worried about,” Hart mouthed catching the glare Cameron gave him before scooting off to join the crowd. Looking to Jenna he frowned again, “I don’t trust that man for anything.”

“Neither do I,” Jenna’s gaze followed Cameron for a moment before she centered in on her father and Thea, “but if I know someone who will have an idea what’s going on, it’s her.”

“Jenna wait,” Hart watched her march through the crowd to confront her father and Thea.

“You,” Jenna addressed Thea gruffly, “you have some talking to do starting now.”

“Jenna, hello,” Douglas smiled at his daughter catching the angry glare behind her eyes, “How are you doing tonight?”

“A little agitated I can see, which is too bad because it’s such a wonderful party,” Thea began slinking in closer to Douglas at Jenna’s accusatory tone, “Clearly some of us aren’t enjoying ourselves as much as others are right now.”

“Cut the crap Thea,” Jenna demanded with an abrasive, cut to the point tone, “I want to know what Cameron is up to and I want to know now!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I don’t believe this,” Blake mouthed her jaw dropping as she looked beyond the crowd to see the face of the man before her, “Seth, how can he be here? I thought that he was in Africa--that he was…”

“I know,” Seth nodded realizing that their answers to all of their questions were about to come to them sooner than they’d planned on now that Zack had spotted them and had started towards them. Seth watched Zack wave and he felt a tiny cringe boil over him at the memory of Blake’s former lover. Somehow whatever was coming, Seth had the feeling that he wasn’t going to like it.

“Blake, Seth,” Zack waved at them cheerfully with a bright grin once he stood before them. “It’s great to see you again.”

“Zack,” Blake stepped back further into Seth’s arms not really sure what to say now that she saw the man she’d thought had left her life forever, “what are you doing here? I mean I thought you were out of the country…”

“I was, but things changed,” he explained his smile fading a bit as his eyes fixed upon hers, “plans changed.”

“Really and what plans were those?” Seth couldn’t help but ask making no attempt to mask his uneasiness with the fact that Zack was back in town.

“Well, I’d heard that Blake was hosting a party and there was no way that I could pass it up,” Zack reached for one of the glasses of champagne from the tray that a nearby waitress was holding, “I mean especially not when it’s for a good cause.”

“Well I’m honored,” Blake recovered with a small smile still feeling a bit uneasy around him, “but I would’ve thought that you would’ve called first to let me know that you’d be coming here. I mean I didn’t send out an invite or anything, yet…”

“Word travels fast around these parts and even in the great unknown,” Zack teased with a small wink before sipping his champagne, “Besides I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to surprise you. Seeing your face just now, well it was well worth the mystery involved in my return.”

“Well that’s nice and all, but…” Blake found herself at a loss still unsure on what to say to Zack. The last time she’d seen him was at Caitlin’s funeral and even then things were, well tense. She’d written that page in her history and closed the book on it, yet seeing him standing before her tonight reminded her of all the mistakes she’d made before now. She cleared her throat again, “So, um, where’s Johanna?”

“Johanna,” he repeated with a glum expression replacing the proud smile he’d been wearing earlier. He finished off his glass of champagne before speaking up again with a solemn expression, “well that’s a totally different story altogether. She’s not here.”

“What do you mean she’s not here? Are she and Cody in Africa?” Blake questioned curiously thinking about Zack’s wife and son.

“No, I’m afraid they aren’t there either. You see the fact to the matter is that shortly after we moved to Africa Jo decided that things weren’t like she’d wanted them to be and she left me taking Cody with her,” Zack revealed with a heavy sigh starting to reveal the truth about his return to Coral Valley.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Well, isn’t that just great,” Diane frowned stepping into the building after just walking in and hearing what was just announced with Cameron being the person that decided to host this whole thing. “You try going to a nice party and all of a sudden you find out that someone like Cameron is hosting the damn thing.”

“Hey, it’s still a nice party,” Ben pointed out wrapping his arm around Diane’s shoulders slowly, taking a look around at all the shocked faces before him. “I guess it’s kind of weird that he did do this, but maybe it won’t be so bad.”

“Honey with Cameron, everything is meant to be bad,” she informed him with a small frown knowing that if there was Cameron there was meant to be trouble. “Just ask everyone in town. Everyone knows that Cameron is a jerk that never wants to do anything peacefully.”

“You never know,” Ben shrugged his shoulders seeing Diane look up at him with her dark eyes as he shrugged his shoulders, knowing that she would never agree with him. “I was just giving him the benefit of the doubt. That’s all honey, I guess I was trying to give him a chance.”

“Believe me, Cameron Stone never needs second chances,” Diane sighed thinking about Cameron and all the things he has done to people around the town. “Cameron doesn’t deserve a chance and neither does anyone in his family.”

“Sometimes some people do deserve second chances,” Ben insisted with a small shake of his head, thinking about the past and all the problems they had before everything had blown up in their faces. “I mean, think about the situations.”

“I didn’t mean that no one deserves a second chance,” she took in a deep breath looking up to see Ben’s blue eyes looking into hers. “I meant his family and him. They have had so many second chances that I don’t think he could ever get a second chance from single person in this room Ben.”

“I know honey,” Ben nodded not trying to continue to look at the brighter side of things. There was always a chance where sure, Cameron could have been trying to be a better person, but maybe it would have never worked with anyone in this town. “It still looks like people are still having a little fun at the party.”

“Well, Cameron is worth spoiling a good time,” Diane pointed out looking around the room worriedly to see if she could spot the one person she knew she didn’t want to see today. “If Cameron is running this thing then that means JT is probably here and if JT is here, I can’t run into him. I know he will want to start some trouble and I am just not up to it today. I swear, this is ridiculous…”

“Don’t worry so much Diane,” Ben hushed placing his hand over her mouth gently seeing the way her eyes looked up to him. He shook his head slowly, removing his hand and pushing a piece of her hair back behind her ear. “So what if he is here? It won’t bother us because we know we are better than him.”

“That still doesn’t mean he won’t try to pull something to get me upset Ben,” Diane frowned thinking about all the times in the past that JT had always upset her. There were so many times where she left a party or a place that was supposed to make her happy and because of JT she left feeling horrible. “If he actually comes face to face with me I don’t know what I will do.”

“Hey, listen to me,” Ben slid his fingers underneath her chin and motioned her to look up at him with her big eyes as he shook his head slowly. “Don’t worry about Cameron and don’t worry at all about JT, I’m here for you right now and I won’t let them hurt you. I promise.”

“I know honey,” she sighed leaning forward and wrapping her arms around him and resting her head against his chest. “I’m glad I have you because with you no one will ever be able to hurt me. I’m so glad I have you here with me right now, I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Well, let’s not think about that right now,” Ben grabbed Diane’s hands in his and led her over towards the dance floor, a wide smile spread out over his features. “Right now, I just want to dance with the one woman I love and that’s you.”

“I would love to dance with you,” Diane felt him pull her close to his body as she rested her head against his chest hearing his heartbeat. This was where she always wanted to be in his arms forever. “I love you so much Ben and I never want to lose you.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

JT stood behind the bar doing a bit of inventory for the night ahead of him. He knew it would be a slow night especially since there was a big party happening just out of town, but still he tried to keep his spirits high and ignore the lowlifes that had gravitated to his work place. Only a few more hours and he would be able to call it quits and enjoy the evening ahead of him. He would cut out early and then spend the rest of his night relaxing at home in his apartment all alone now that Valerie was out at that stupid bash that Blake Ashford was throwing.

“I’m here you can die a happy man now,” Evie’s voice rang out causing him to look up from the books he’d been going through. She stood before him in a short, black mini-skirt and the blue uniform shirt that she’d been given the previous night. Her dark brown hair was tied up loosely in a bun and this time he’d noticed that she’d been wearing sensible shoes.

“Well my beautiful nightmare,” JT closed the book he was reading and stood up straighter to appreciate her more proper attire, “You almost look like you’ve decided to stop being a complainer and you’ve started to be practical overnight.”

“I’m just trying to get this torture over with sooner rather than later,” she let out a small groan thinking about the night of dishes ahead of her, “We have a deal though, right? You get me to work tonight and then we call it even, yes?”

“I’ll think about it,” JT shrugged watching her start to circle around the bar to head to work, “Not so fast. Have a seat. I’d like to speak with you.”

“I don’t need another lecture so if you’re going to rag on me about last night,” she groaned inwardly rolling her eyes at him.

“Nope, no lectures here,” he raised his hands in the air, “I was just merely giving you a few minutes to be off your feet before you get to those nasty, dirty dishes back there, but if you’d rather…”

“No, no,” she shook her head at him before sliding onto the stool in front of the bar, “I think I can wait a few minutes before delving into all that fun that’s waiting for me.”

“Somehow I knew you’d say that,” he laughed lightly reaching for a glass and pouring her a ginger ale. “Here you go. It’s on the house.”

“In that case, why don’t you make it something stronger,” she wiggled her brow at him suggestively before leaning over the counter just a bit.

“No way,” he shook his head firmly, “You’re still under the age limit and I’m not going to wind up in jail for serving to you. Nice try though.”

“Hey, what is it with you,” she frowned slightly leaning back in her seat, “Do you just thrive on being a party pooper or something? I mean is that what your deal is?”

“My deal is that my job is simple. I do what is asked of me and I do it well,” he replied standing up taller and reaching for a rag to wipe the bar, “It serves it’s purpose and I serve mine in not serving you.”

“You are absolutely no fun,” she groaned inwardly, “It’s amazing that you have such a following here with all the waitresses given that I haven’t seen anything to get worked up about since I first met you.”

“That’s not what you were thinking the night that you kissed me,” JT challenged with a tiny wink, “After all, I think you got more of a thrill out of that kiss than you did reaching into my pocket and stealing my wallet.”

“Only in your dreams,” she muttered with an icy scowl. She leaned in closer to him, her dark eyes narrowing ever so slightly, “I wouldn’t get a rise out of you even if you paid me to.”

“Well in that case, I think we know where we stand with one another,” he shrugged stepping away from the bar and motioning to the clock overhead, “Break’s over.”

“Good because I was just about done with you anyways,” she snubbed her nose at him before moving into the kitchen area and slamming the door behind her exit.

“She likes me,” JT laughed lightly reaching for the buttons on the television to reveal the news story about the party that Cameron was hosting tonight. While JT had been invited seeing all of the Coral Valley citizens on his television screen made him only even more thankful that he hadn’t gone. Reaching for the buttons once more he settled in on sports vowing to find a way to make the evening pass him by without all the petty nonsense that the rest of this small town got into.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Well, that was awkward if I do say so myself,” Kellen cleared his throat uneasily seeing the faces of all the men around him. He looked to Kipp before offering up a small smile. “Hey Kipp, did you know he was the one doing this whole thing?”

“No, if I did I wouldn’t have come or let Heather come,” Kipp pointed out with a small frown feeling Kellen wrap his arm around his shoulders. “Where does he get off doing this? He knows that everyone in this town hates him so why would he ruin the party by saying he did this whole thing?”

“I don’t know,” Guy stated shaking his head at the very thought of Cameron even being at this party and even caring about all the people at the party. “My guess is that he just wanted more attention. More attention from everyone who hated him in town to shove this in their faces.”

“I don’t know,” Gabe shrugged his shoulders, probably being the one that knew the least about this whole situation. Cameron he knew was a bad guy, but there was really nothing Cameron did to hurt him personally. “I mean, maybe he was actually trying to get people to like him.”

“Oh, honey,” Kellen hushed Gabe’s try at making Cameron sound like a better man. “I have known Cameron basically since I was probably twelve years old and I know myself, Cameron doesn’t care what other people think about him.”

“He will do anything to slap something right in your face,” Kipp informed Gabe feeling a bit angered by what was going on with Cameron. “I just have to wonder what the hell is going on in that man’s mind.”

“I don’t know,” Guy took in a deep breath, analyzing everything that happened over the last few minutes. He knew from what Avery told him that Cameron was a very bad man and to have a party thrown for all the people in the town to have fun seemed really weird at the first sound of it. “Cameron is probably trying to make people think he is a good person or something like that.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Cameron has some good moments you know. Like you should have seen him with my brother who was a complete jerk. There was this one point in time when my brother was killed that…” Kellen paused knowing that he shouldn’t go on with that topic any further after everything that he knew. “All I can really say is that he changed things for a lot of people. Made it better for everyone and what he did was kind of good in a way. I won’t really say what it was, but it really was.”

“Okay,” Kipp looked up at Kellen knowing Kellen hadn’t told him the story about Cameron and what happened with his brother. “What happened that made him look so good Kelly? I mean really, there has been nothing that he has done right in this world.”

“He’s not really a bad brother,” Kellen tried to point out a good quality about Cameron before thinking it over and shaking his head slowly. “No matter how many good things you put with Cameron though, they can never take over all the bad things he has done in life.”

“Yeah, you can say that again,” Guy took in a deep sigh seeing the people around them start to dance again as he looked up at Gabe and then over towards Kellen. “We are right in the middle of the dance floor and we really aren’t dancing you know.”

“Hey, I’m done with Cameron,” Kellen grabbed Kipp’s hands in his again, ready to start dancing with the group again. “He may be a dickhead and all, but he sure does put on a real good party. With great music and everything, so let’s not keep this on our mind--let’s just dance.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kyle rounded the corner of the dim hallway wondering where in the world Sarah had drifted off to. After he’d said his good-byes to Heather, he’d gone off in search of Sarah, yet he’d come up empty handed. It wasn’t like Sarah to just disappear, yet as he stood in the shadows of the hallway beyond the outskirts of the party, he was beginning to wonder if his date had ditched him.

“This just figures,” Kyle threw his hands up in the air before letting out a frustrated sigh. He heard the sound of a woman passing by, but much to his dismay it wasn’t Sarah. He stood still for a moment reaching into his pocket for his cell phone in the hopes of tracking her down that way, but before he could dial he felt a pair of soft hands slide over his eyes covering them.

“Fancy my meeting you here in a dark corner,” a sultry voice slurred as he took in a familiar scent of exotic perfume, “Of course now that I found you I think it’s long past time I had my way with you.”

“Only if you allow me the chance to make the first move,” Kyle couldn’t help but tease back bringing his fingers up over the slender wrist near his cheek. He grazed the skin gently before smiling, “And given that we’re in a crowded party, I think that the first move would probably be best suited for the corner where we’ll have a little privacy for a while.”

“Sounds tempting, but what ever would your girlfriend say,” the voice teased as Kyle ran his hand gently over the underside of the arm that wrapped around him.

“She wouldn’t be happy, but I’m sure that after a little while alone with you, I would be,” Kyle blurted out spinning around to find Heather standing before him. He let out a small breath seeing the way her eyes widened at his comment.

“Kyle,” she spoke his name with a small gasp, “what would Sarah think if she could hear you right now accepting propositions in the hallway?”

“Who says that I wasn’t convinced that it was Sarah I was speaking with?” he countered with the first hints of a warm smile knowing full well whom he‘d been speaking with from the moment she‘d covered his eyes, “I mean I could have very well been expecting to meet her for a rendezvous here you know.”

“Ah yes, my sister would no doubt have found a way to spin you into her web of lust so that she could snag you into a little dark corner where she could ravage you senseless,” Heather wrinkled her nose at the thought before a smile touched over her lips, “Only I’ve intercepted that little moment of passion play now that your lady love isn’t here to fulfill your wishes.”

“Who said that my wishes were about her?” Kyle couldn’t help but flirting wondering why in the hell he’d suddenly taken to teasing Heather. Sure, they’d been friends forever, yet they’d kept things on that level for years. Even after they’d been reunited in Coral Valley, he hadn’t felt the need to be so blatant and welcoming to her, yet he was warming up to the idea of having her around again.

“Oh do I detect trouble in paradise?” Heather arched a curious brow, “Something I should know about?”

“No, not unless it involves your wanting to lay an offer out the table that would entice me to make a move towards that corner for a while,” Kyle couldn’t help but suggest amused by the way the color seemed to pour out over her face, “My, my have I done the unthinkable? Have I caused you to blush Heather?”

“Hardly,” she rolled her eyes at him while bringing her hand up to her cheek to hide the warmth that had spread over it.

“Oh I think it’s far from beyond hardly,” Kyle reached out to remove her fingers from her face to reveal to him the soft flush that had overtaken her skin, “I’d say I’ve achieved an impossible goal here tonight in getting a reaction out of you. I’m honored to be the one to get a rise out of you.”

“From the expression on your face, I’m guessing that I’m not the only one who is getting a rise out of this situation,” she blurted out feeling her face grow hotter at the images that statement had conjured up in her mind. How she’d found herself speaking in such tones with Kyle was beyond her, but judging by his expression, he too must’ve painted a picture of her words in his mind.

“Would you like to take a step closer and find out for yourself?” he replied in a suggestive tone not to be outdone by his worthy opponent in this game of flirting, “You might find yourself pleasantly surprised over on this side of the hallway if you play your cards right.”

“You’ll be the death of yourself if you keep talking that way,” Heather shook her head at him wiggling her finger in his general direction, “My sister would no doubt cut out your tongue for speaking such sinful propositions to me.”

“Cut out my tongue eh?” Kyle laughed lightly knowing that Sarah would probably get an unsavory rise out of his speaking with Heather, but it was harmless fun.

“That’s right,” Heather nodded, her green eyes fixed upon him as she took a step towards him, “and that would be a true tragedy given that I’m well aware just how talented that tongue of yours really is when you put your mind towards using it. It would be a tragic blow to your ego there should she dare to do the unthinkable and take that from you.”

“It would leave you missing my words no doubt,” Kyle stepped in closer to her, “and then I would be afraid that you would be able to one up me in our little conversations.”

“I could one up you now quite easily and I’m sure you’d rather enjoy it with or without the usage of your tongue,” Heather matched his movement inching in closer to him, “Although as I said before Sarah would find a way to make you suffer greatly for it though.”

“And here I thought you were trying to warm me up to the idea of running away with you, yet you stand here trying to terrify me,” Kyle shook his head at her before making a small tsking sound, “That’s not a very good way to start something in the area of seduction.”

“I’m merely providing you with the consequences that could be associated with such actions should you decide to act upon them,” Heather reached out to tease her finger over his suit jacket once again, “I think it’s important to lay out the odds ahead of the time.”

“Hmm,” he murmured his eyes perusing her thoroughly before he issued her a sly grin, “and just what would the consequences be of my asking you to dance?”

“Well given that your date is missing in action and mine is conveniently absent from the moment, I do believe that it is within the rules of proper etiquette for two friends to share a dance,” she shrugged her shoulders before tossing her long, wavy hair back behind her shoulders, “as long as we both have good intentions going into it.”

“Oh I intend for it to be good,” he reached for her hand taking it in his, “Very good.”

“In that case,” Heather winked at him feeling a playfulness about her, “Lead the way Kyle because I’m about to make you far more uncomfortable than you can imagine. By the time we’re done dancing with one another, I’m going to make you wish that you were single again.”

“I’m already there with that one,” Kyle replied under his breath watching her step out in front of him. She stopped tilting her head back to glance up at him with a curious expression.

“What did you just say?” she asked spinning around to face him once again once they‘d made their way to the edge of the dance floor.

“I said, ‘By the time this dance is over, I’ll be the one having you wishing that I was still on the market’,” he explained snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her into his arms.

“That shouldn’t be hard for us Kyle because I’ve honestly never stopped wishing for that,” she revealed sliding her arms around his shoulders as the music started. They began to dance each daring the other to push the envelope on just how far the dance would wind up taking them now that they’d both been estranged at the party from their respective dates for the evening. As much as Heather hated to admit it, her night was decidedly looking up more than she ever could’ve hoped for and judging by the smile on Kyle’s face she had the feeling he was in the same boat as her right about now.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sarah walked into one of the rooms down the dark hallway as she tried to get a good reception on her phone and this room seemed to be the only one that worked. She had to call back the hospital to find out what was really going on with her and if she was lucky, she wouldn’t be pregnant after all.

“Please pick up,” Sarah begged after dialing the phone number to the hospital and listening to the ring going constantly. Hopefully they would pick up and end the helpless pounding in her heart that seemed to never stop since the moment she found out she could possibly be pregnant. A woman from the front desk answered as she felt her throat go dry. “Hello, this is Sarah Marx and I am calling because I was supposed to get test results back from a pregnancy test, but when you called my phone had died.”

“Oh yes, Ms. Marx,” the woman began brightly as Sarah listened to her carefully hearing the woman take a pause, telling Sarah that she was getting her papers. “Sarah Marx, congratulations you are pregnant and from what it seems the pregnancy is going along just fine.”

“I’m pregnant?” Sarah’s heart fell at the thought after hearing the woman congratulate her brightly. Yet did the woman on the other end know that this would ruin her whole relationship with Kyle if the results turned out to swing the other way. “Are you sure?”

“We are absolutely sure,” the woman informed her with a bit of confidence in her tone as she continued, “these test are the closest thing to being right you can have. Just so you know, you should probably have your first check up very soon. Congratulations and I hope you have a wonderful day.”

“Thanks,” Sarah hung up her phone feeling her throat go even more dry if that was even possible. She placed her hand on her stomach, rubbing her hand up and down slowly before shaking her head slowly. “Now all I have to find out is who the father is.”

She wanted to keep Kyle more than anything, but Blake was right. If Kyle found out this baby wasn't his, then there was no doubt that Kyle would leave her.

“I’m not going to lose you Kyle, not now. I can’t let you slip out of my life now that I have a firm grip on you,” Sarah whispered to herself determined to make sure that Kyle would be the one to think he was the father if it was the last thing she did. “I can’t let you know I’m pregnant. Not yet.”

“Pregnant?” Sarah heard a voice behind her as she turned around and came face to face with Diego. She saw the look in his dark eyes as he stepped forward and caressed her cheek gently. “Sarah, you’re pregnant?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Listen, I’m really not up for some loser talking to me right now,” Cori tried to get Nate to leave her alone, she saw his green eyes looking into hers as she shook her head slowly. “Listen Nolan…”

“It’s Nate,” Nate fixed it for her seeing her nod slowly as he saw her dark eyes looking into his. He nodded over towards the dance floor and offered up an innocent smile. “Just one dance, that’s all I want.”

“I don’t feel like dancing right now,” Cori informed him with a small shake of her head, thinking of all the reasons she wouldn’t want to be dancing with someone like this Nate person. “Anyways, you are so far from being someone I would want to dance with.”

“Please wait a second,” Nate begged seeing her about to walk away before turning back to face him again. He offered up a small shrug of his shoulders before looking into her dark eyes carefully. “You don’t even know me and if you dance you might get to and you might like me.”

“I highly doubt it,” Cori looked over Nate’s appearance, seeing his green eyes looking into hers. His shoulder length hair was nice and he looked very clean, but she could just tell he wasn’t her type at all. “Listen, I really like someone Nate and I really don’t feel like trying to move on with someone else.”

“Is the someone else with another person?” Nate questioned eagerly throwing his hands up in the air before shrugging his shoulders and thinking about everything carefully. “If he is, I can show you that I am a better guy. Please, just give me a chance.”

“Nate, this is a little ridiculous,” Cori pointed out folding her arms out In front of her chest before shaking her head slowly. “I mean you don’t even know me and now you are begging me to give you a chance.”

“At least a dance,” Nate whispered seeing her watch him carefully as he looked down towards the ground and shrugged his shoulders. “Listen, I don’t know what it is, but when I saw you there was something I felt. Something that I have never felt seeing another woman. You are just so beautiful and you look like you could at least need a person to hang out with tonight. I could be that man that is here for a part time or I could be here all night for you. It’s up to you.”

“Listen Nate, that’s real flattering, but I’m really not interested,” Cori repeated once more before looking around the room to see a woman by herself. “Look, go with her she is someone who needs a man, not me.”

“No, she doesn’t make me feel the way I do when I see you,” Nate whispered seeing Cori roll her eyes at him before looking over towards the clock in the corner of the room. “Cori please, can I just have one dance and then I will leave you alone.”

“I told you Nate, I don’t want to dance,” Cori stated with a small scowl seeing the way that Nate took a step back from her. She threw her hands up in the air angrily before motioning him to go away. “Now just leave me alone.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“It doesn’t look like she is feeling the same thing towards him,” Mindy pointed out seeing the look of hurt and disappointment behind Nate’s eyes as he shook his head slowly while talking to this woman. “I think he is getting rejected.”

“Well, when I said he got a lot of dates,” Hunt began with a deep sigh thinking back to what his very close friend was like when they were younger. “He got more dates than I did, but he got rejected more too. He asked everyone in the school and usually the ones that were at the cheese museum that day agreed to going out with him.”

“Really?” Mindy questioned eyeing over Nate as he continued to talk to the blonde before him and he folded his arms out in front of his chest. “How long did his relationships last?”

“As far as I can remember?” Hunt thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and offering up a small laugh. “A couple of days at the most. The least I think was about twenty minutes. I don’t think he could ever keep a steady relationship. The only time he did, he found the woman he thought he loved cheating on him. That had to really suck.”

“Poor kid,” Mindy frowned looking over towards the waiter’s suit that he threw over in the corner before running off to talk to the one woman. “What made him reach this moment?”

“I really don’t know,” Hunt thought things over for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and thinking back to what could have put Nate in this place. “He was an amazing soccer play, that was one sport I could never play. Soccer was that one sport he had over me and I think he had a scholarship, I just don’t think he ever took the opportunity.”

“Well, he is still a good kid,” Mindy pointed out seeing Hunt nod agreeing with what she said about his long time friend. A song started over the speakers as she clapped her hands together. “Oh, it’s unchained melody, I love this song. It is the best.”

“What’s so great about it?” Hunt listened carefully seeing Mindy shrug her shoulders before placing her hands on his chest gently. “It sounds like any normal slow song to me.”

“It goes to one my favorite movies ever,” Mindy informed him seeing the way he thought about all of her favorite movies and she could tell that he couldn’t place it right. “The movie ghost.”

“Oh yeah, that movie,” Hunt nodded slowly before thinking about the whole plot of that movie. “I never understood why you liked that move so much. Why do you like that movie? Every time you see that movie it makes you cry.”

“It shows that love can even last until the grave, that’s why,” Mindy pointed out placing her hands over his chest softly and thinking about everything that went on in that movie. “He dies because of some jerk does something stupid and he goes out trying to protect her to show her that he loves her.”

“But he leaves her at the end,” Hunt pointed out with a small shake of his head thinking about all the things that happened in that movie that led the main character to leaving. “I would at least leave another person to protect her.”

“Good point,” Mindy agreed seeing Hunt’s eyes looking out towards the dance floor before nodding towards that direction. “How about we make a moment of our own and dance to this very song?”

“That sounds great,” Mindy nodded slowly following him out to the dance floor and feeling him pull her close as he held her left hand in his right hand. “I love being in your arms.”

“Well, I just love being with you,” Hunt whispered pressing his lips up against hers before pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. “I love you forever and always Mindy Carmichael.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Well look what we have here,” Richard stepped up to Russ and Avery, a bright smile on his face, “Princess I didn’t think I’d be seeing you here.”

“You know how we can’t resist a party,” Avery smiled up at her father feeling a moment of nervousness sweep over her. She hadn’t seen her father in a while and the idea of facing him now after she’d been on the brink of so many personal and professional failures had her on edge, “When did you get back into town?”

“I was only gone for a short trip,” Richard explained sensing something troubling her. He glanced over at Russ and smiled politely, “May I steal her for a dance.”

“Of course she’s all yours,” Russell nodded watching Avery move with her father onto the dance floor as a waltz played.

“So what’s on your mind? Really on your mind sweetheart,” Richard questioned cutting straight to the point with his daughter.

“What makes you think something is on my mind,” she questioned trying to deflect any of his inquiries, “We’re at a beautiful party and it’s really something incredible…”

“True, yet I can see that something’s troubling you,” he glanced over at Russ and Judy who were now dancing with one another, “Is something wrong between you and Russ?”

“No,” Avery shook her head guilt tugging at her insides, “Nothing is wrong with Russ. It’s just…”

“Different having him back?” Richard questioned searching her eyes for a moment, “I know that you thought you’d lost him…”

“And the mere fact that he’s back again is a miracle. It’s like nothing has changed, yet…” she trailed off her worries consuming her.

“Everything is different,” he nodded understanding where she was coming from, “A lot has happened to all of us in our family and I know it’s not going to be an easy road to recovery for any of us.”

“I know,” she nodded tears threatening to overtake her.

“Avery, honey what is it?” Richard’s tone softened a bit, “What’s really going on here?”

“I just…I mean I’m so happy, yet,” she paused knowing that she should stay strong and keep from telling her father the truth about everything, but the weight on her shoulders was becoming unbearable, “Brant gave me divorce papers last night and he’s granting me my freedom.”

“Well, that is a surprise,” Richard paused for a moment, “I’d thought that he was in some kind of state where he was catatonic…”

“He was faking it and Russ was right all along,” she revealed painfully, “Brant had been playing this situation up in the hopes that I would change my mind about our relationship and reevaluate being with Russ again.”

“Why that son of a…” Richard’s eyes flickered with immediate anger.

“Daddy, he couldn’t help it,” Avery tried to defend Brant, “He was just hoping to hold onto his dream and I can’t blame him for that, yet…”

“Avery, sweetheart I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but after everything he’s pulled lately in trying to fix things so that he would be named Erin’s father and now this,” Richard sighed heavily, “I’m afraid I don’t see what it is about him that would make you want to keep holding on.”

“He has another side to him--a side that not many people see, yet…” she shook her head before leaning in closer to her father in their dance, “It doesn’t matter now. I think my days of interacting with him are pretty much over.”

“Avery, if you need me to help you with the divorce--to get you out of this without your being taken to the cleaners,” Richard began again worried about his daughter.

“It’s not necessary. Like I said Brant drew up the papers and they were pretty fair. All of this seemed pretty reasonable until this morning when he decided that since we couldn’t cut it together as husband and wife, he didn’t want me representing BBK anymore,” Avery finally confessed with an exaggerated sigh, “He fired me this morning saying it was for the best.”

“What? Why that ungrateful son of a bitch! After everything you and I have both done to help him and his company, this is the biggest insult of them all. When I get my hands on him, I’m going to…”

“No daddy,” she shook her head at him, “I can’t let you get involved in this. I’m the one who got myself into this mess and I’m the one who is going to have to find my way out of it. I will take care of Brant and even if it means I have a new place where I’ll be working, I’m not going to let him take my pride away from me. I know I wasn’t a perfect wife to him--far from it actually, but I’m not about to let him take my dignity from me in the process of our falling apart.”

“You shouldn’t have to princess,” Richard added holding her closer to him as he tried to offer support to his daughter in any way he knew how even if he felt like it wasn’t really doing much for her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So how are you holding up Russ?” Judy questioned noting the way he’d kept a look out on Richard and Avery out of the corner of his eye, “It must feel good to be back in the land of the living again.”

“Better than you can imagine,” he nodded his green eyes returning to hers again, “although a lot has changed since I’ve been gone.”

“But a lot of things are still very much the same,” Judy smiled up at him, “and I was well aware of that the moment that I spotted you and Avery with one another. You can see just how strong your love still is.”

“I’m hoping so,” he let out a small nervous laugh, “especially considering that we’ve been through so much to get to this point together.”

“And you’ve got a lot ahead of you especially with that beautiful little girl of yours,” Judy added with a small smile, “She needs you both now more than ever.”

“I know that,” he nodded in response twirling her around the dance floor, “but I just think about what’s ahead for her. I mean between Brooke and my, well my background in having Nicholas as a…”

Judy saw the way his words came to an end as it was clear he was still upset about learning of his parentage. She squeezed his arm gently, “Trust me. It will get easier as it goes on. Besides, don’t think because of those two that Erin will have anything to worry about. Despite the fact that Brooke is a horrible person, she had two amazing children and fortunately neither one of them picked up anything from her.”

“I know I wasn’t the only one she hurt over the years,” Russ added his green eyes fixed on her, “Not only did she murder Avery and my first child, but I also know that she did some things to keep us apart. She drugged me that night at the Ashford party. She’s the one who placed me in bed with Heather and set me up and from what I’ve heard I’m starting to believe that wasn’t the first time…”

“Russ, what are you…” Judy eyed him curiously sensing something that he wasn’t saying.

“Let’s just say that I wouldn’t ever mention this to Avery given that I wouldn’t want her to have to endure anymore of this with Brooke, but that night she tossed me in bed with Heather, well it wasn’t her first attempt at something like that,” he paused wondering if he should tell her what else he’d learned before he’d been swept away from Coral Valley, “Back when you and Richard were together, she did the same thing to him.”

“What?” Judy’s jaw practically dropped, “No, that can’t be. I mean she couldn’t have…”

“I had proof in my hand that she did, which would explain why he did what he did in ending your relationship,” Russell continued to reveal to her, “and if I had that proof now, then…”

“No,” Judy shook her head silencing his confession, “I mean I believe you, but I think it’s best that this never leaves us. If Avery thinks for a second that she’s here because her mother drugged Richard and…”

“I know,” Russell nodded solemnly, “It’s like everyone keeps telling me about my father. It’s not important how I got here, but rather it’s what I do with what I have in front of me.”

“I think that’s honestly the best way of looking at it,” Judy glanced over at Richard with a poignant smile before turning to Russ again, “Brooke stole a great many years from the both of us with those we love, but at least now we can reclaim our lives again and get it back. That’s what really matters.”

“I know and I’m not going to let anyone steal another second from me,” Russ vowed knowing that whatever came next, he wouldn’t let go of the future that he’d worked so very hard to obtain in his life.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Wait a second, are you saying that Johanna just up and left you?” Blake’s eyes widened in surprise thinking about the woman that had become the first step in her and Zack’s alienation from one another.

“That’s right,” Zack nodded with a heavy sigh, “Things just didn’t work out like she’d hoped for them to and I guess she was ready to finally let go of the past. We tried to work it out for Cody at first once we both saw that we weren’t happy together, but ultimately they are back in Seattle and they don’t plan on coming out this way.”

“So then I take it you’re back in Seattle as well,” Seth piped in breaking his uncharacteristic silence, “as I’m sure you’d like to be close to your son now that his mother is back in the states.”

“Well, as much as I’d like to say that was the case, things didn’t pan out at the hospital like I’d hoped for. Jo is with her parents and I don’t think Seattle is big enough for the both of us. I still plan on seeing Cody, but right now, well there are other things in store for me starting with my returning to my old job at the hospital here,” Zack revealed placing his empty champagne glass on a tray when another waitress passed.

“Wait a second,” Blake’s jaw practically dropped. “Did you just say you’re coming back to the hospital?”

“That’s right,” Zack smiled proudly, “It turns out that I made a very good impression on the Chief of Staff while I was out here and since he’s looking to retire I thought I might take a try at getting in the running for filling in his shoes. I know he’s got a potential candidate in mind, but I think I more than qualify for the spot. I phoned in a few favors and it turns out that the administration is more than willing to give me another trial run and see if I’m up for the challenge.”

“So that means you’re going to be around here on a more permanent basis then?” Seth couldn’t help but ask knowing full well that Zack’s return could spell trouble to his future with Blake.

“That’s right,” Zack nodded a flicker of determination in his eyes, “as I said before Jo and I both realized that we wanted different things in our lives. She’s in Seattle getting what she’s always wanted and I’ve come back to town to reclaim what should’ve been mine.”

Blake felt a shiver race over her as Zack’s eyes fixed on her with a look that left no room for question in where his intentions were for her. She let out a tiny sigh before looking to Seth with a worried expression, not knowing how to respond to that.

“Well things have changed quite a bit since you’ve been gone and the longer you spend time in town, the more you’ll see that,” Seth quipped in response taking Blake’s arm in his, “Now if you’ll excuse us, we have a party to get back to.”

“But of course,” Zack nodded watching Seth lead Blake out into the middle of the crowd and away from him. Unable to quell the urge Zack let out a small laugh knowing full well the true meaning of Seth’s retreat. Oh yes the game was still on, but this time Zack vowed that he would find a way to come out on top a winner! Watching Seth and Blake weave their way to the dance floor Zack watched them closely knowing what would soon be on the way.

“Enjoy it while you can Seth because sooner rather than later I will have what’s mine back again,” Zack promised snagging himself another champagne glass before vowing to make sure that the scene was set for the beginning of Seth Alexander’s being wiped out of Blake’s life forever. Oh yes, tonight was the beginning of something wonderful. He could just feel it!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I know it has to be in here somewhere,” Angela stepped into the library knowing full well that she couldn’t have read the blueprints wrong. She’d gone over them time and time again, but everything kept her coming back to this room--to this particular spot and she was positive that the clue she was hoping for was in here. She just had to find it first.

“Where are you?” she questioned moving around the room in search of something that appeared to be out of place--something that might indicate the passageway to the room that lay beyond the four walls that surrounded her, but instead she was left with nothing. She was no further than she’d been upon arriving minutes earlier. It was just a wall with books and…

“Books,” she thought to herself reaching out for various binders hoping that like in the old time movies one would be the key to swinging open the door to lead her to the place where she was certain all the secrets she’d been protected from would be revealed to her. However after trying about thirty different books, she let out a groan of frustration.

“Well that didn’t work,” she frowned tossing her hands up in the air before leaning back to sit on the desk. She placed her hand down on an oversized paperweight carved with an angel to balance herself and she felt the soft rumbling at her feet. Turning to look in the direction of the wall, she spotted the bookshelf swinging open to reveal a thick, oak door.

“Now that’s more like it,” Angela grinned proudly taking a step towards the door fearing that it would be locked. However, much to her delight she found that the knob turned with great ease. There was a small creaking sound.

She glanced over her shoulder making sure no one was watching before putting an end to the waiting. She tugged the door open seeing the darkness within the room. Upon opening the door she took in the fait smell of jasmine and cinnamon and she found herself drawn inside. She took a tentative step forward before stopping herself. She could feel her stomach tied in knots of anticipation and even though the room before her was a complete and total mystery, she felt confident in the fact that tonight would mark the beginning of the end of the secrets that surrounded the vague stories about her mother once and for all.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Oh, this is just wonderful,” Brant grunted leaning back against the wall as he watched Cameron carefully, seeing the way he got off the stage to go talk to a few people. “Something is definitely up with Cameron and I am going to find out what it is.”

“Hey you,” Brant felt a hand on the his shoulders as he quickly turned around to see Don’s light blue eyes widen at his quickness. “Man, don’t pull that karate stuff on me again. Last time I ended up getting kicked in the little Don’s and I don’t need that again.”

“Sorry man, I thought you were someone else,” Brant informed his best friend patting him on the shoulder and letting out a small laugh at the image his friend brought up. “You know you shouldn’t still be mad at me because of that. We were twelve when that happened.”

“It must of hurt because it still scares me to this day,” Don pointed out wrapping his arm around Brant’s shoulders before nodding over towards Cameron and letting out a small sigh. “That’s really weird isn’t it. Never in the whole time I have been in Coral Valley did I think Cameron would pull something off like this.”

“Something isn’t right about it because Cameron would never do something like this,” Brant took in a deep breath eyeing over the room before him and taking in the details he figured he would need. There had to be something in this building that was going to answer his questions about Cameron and his secrets. “I can tell he is up to something, I just know it.”

“Like what?” Don couldn’t help but ask seeing Brant look over at him with a small shrug before going back to eyeing over the dance floor. “Is that a shrug like I don’t know or is it a shrug like I know, but I’m not going to tell you.”

“I don’t know what it is Don,” Brant snapped feeling Don let go of him and take a step back, holding his hands up in the air when Brant let out a small frown. “I didn’t mean to snap at you, but I am trying to figure something out here. I have to find the thing he is hiding from me.”

“Are you like being a private investigator or something like that?” Don questioned with a small laugh, patting Brant on the shoulder and brushing off his suit jacket. “If you are man, I so can help you. If you have a job for me, I will be right on it. So what do you say? You got something for me to do?”

“Yeah,” Brant smiled wickedly looking over at Don before looking back over at Cameron. Brant itched his chin thinking about what he could do to keep Cameron away from the party for a bit and make sure he was preoccupied. “Okay, what I want you to do is come up with a way to make sure that Cameron can’t find me.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Don let out a small groan resting his hands on his waist as he rolled his eyes at the job Brant gave him. “Can’t I have a cool job like searching in the basement or something?”

“Just Don, listen to me,” Brant placed his hands on Don’s shoulders, bringing his right hand up and smacking down on the side of face gently. “I need you to make sure that no one follows me Don. Even if that means keeping Cameron busy.”

“Keeping Cameron busy?” Don saw Brant start to walk away as Don threw his hands up in the air and shook his head slowly. “How in the world am I supposed to do that?”

Before Brant could give him an answer, he was already walking down one of the hallways, not even giving Don an answer or an idea to work with.

“What in the world am I supposed to do?” Don eyed the room over carefully, picking out his choices on what he could do. There really wasn’t much to do at a party with all the guests. Don saw a waiter pass by him as a smile appeared over the corners of his lips. “Okay, I got it.”

Don looked around the room for one of the youngest waiters he could find and finally came to one that looked like he was close to being a teenager. Wanting to make sure that Brant was safely looking around the placing without Cameron on his tail, Don quickly ran over to the kid placing his hand on the kid’s shoulder.

“Hey kid,” Don pulled the waiter back towards the corner of the room pulling his walled out of his pocket. “I will give you ten bucks if you tell that guy over there that the food is poisoned.”

“Do that to Mr. Cameron Stone?” the kid shook his head, looking at Don like he was crazy and eyeing the money over carefully. “Anyways, I would never do anything for just ten dollars.”

“Fine, twenty-five,” Don offered up seeing the kid shake his head before Don’s eyes widened and he threw his hands up in the air. “What would make you do it?”

“Make it fifty and I will do it right away sir,” the waiter answered seeing Don’s blue eyes widened before he frowned, shaking his head slowly as Don pulled out the money and handed it to him. “I’ll be right on it sir.”

“Kids these days,” Don grumbled seeing the young waiter quickly run over to Cameron and tug on his arm gently. Cameron turned around leaning down to hear what the kid had to say as his eyes became wide. Cameron quickly nodded before walking into the kitchen as fast as he could. “There we go, I think I just bought you that time Brant. You should be clear from here on out.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hey, back up the both of you,” Shannon stepped between Jenna and Thea just in time because if she would have a minute later, Jenna probably would have beat Thea down to the ground. “What is going on with the two of you?”

“She obviously knows that Cameron is trying to pull something tonight and she thinks this whole thing is funny,” Jenna pointed out seeing the sarcastic smirk that spread out over Thea’s features. “I want to know what he is doing.”

“We all want sometimes, but most of the time we don’t truly get what it is we really want,” Thea shrugged taking a step back towards the bar and offering up a small smile. “Now if you will excuse me, I actually have some fun I am planning on having here at the party.”

“God, I hate her,” Jenna exclaimed feeling Hart place his hands on her shoulders comfortingly as she ran her hand over her head frustrated by what was going on. With what Cameron had just announced, she knew something bad was going to happen right after. “I can tell that Cameron is up to something.”

“He is always up to something,” Shannon pointed out taking a step forward seeing Jenna’s dark eyes looking up into hers. “I mean really, when Cameron usually has something planned out--it never really works out in the end.”

“Like you said, usually,” Jenna whispered seeing Shannon’s dark eyes look down towards the ground before shrugging her shoulders. “I just want to know what he is up to now. He is never happy with leaving people alone he always has to start something like that.”

“Cameron isn’t happy with himself sweetheart,” Hart pointed out wrapping his arms around her waist gently before pressing a small kiss against her cheek. “He always has to hurt people for pleasure because he doesn’t know what else he can do.”

“Sometimes I just get tired of it,” Jenna rolled her eyes thinking about everything that Cameron had done to the people of Coral Valley in the past. Jenna took another look at Shannon, noticing that Don wasn’t with her as she frowned at that thought. “Shannon, where is your husband?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Shannon glanced around the room to see if she could see Don anywhere. Usually he would stand out in a crowd, but right now she couldn’t spot him at all. “I left him to try and go find my brother, but at this moment I haven’t been able to see either one of them.”

“You know Don, he is probably enjoying the party,” Hart pointed out with a small laugh knowing that his close friend was a really party guy that enjoyed having a good time. “If you find him, I’m sure you would have good time. He gets the party going sometimes.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Shannon let out small laugh before looking behind her and shrugging her shoulders, “I guess I should probably go see if I can find him. I will talk to you two later.”

“See you later Shannon,” Hart waved seeing Jenna look back at him like he had done something wrong as he held his hands up in the air after Shannon left. “What did I do?”

“That was weird,” Jenna informed him looking back at Shannon who was now walking around the dance floor to see if she could find Don. “When it comes to Shannon, you really don’t like her and you just talked to her like she was your friend.”

“Well, she is Don’s wife,” Hart rolled his eyes letting out a long breath knowing that yes, he didn’t really like Shannon, but if she was going to be one of his best friend’s wives then he had to get along with her. “I’m just trying to make peace for Don, that’s all I’m doing with Shannon. Kind of like most people wish Cameron would do, make peace for once.”

“I can’t believe Cameron lately,” Jenna looked around the room for Cameron, seeing no sign of him as she offered up a small shrug. “I can just feel that he is up to something I want to know what it is.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I need to take a breather,” Guy informed Kellen in a deep breath seeing him nod as Gabe followed Guy over towards the drinks table. “Man, Kellen never stops--it’s like his batteries never run out and he is always jumpy.”

“He may be jumpy,” Gabe smiled patting Guy on the back as he looked back at Kellen and Kipp dancing together, “but I can tell you like hanging out with him. He has this brightness about him that can just make you smile without him really doing anything.”

“Yeah, he does,” Guy agreed taking a sip of his drink before turning back around to watch Kellen do a spin before letting out a small laugh. “Him and Kipp look really happy together, don’t you think?”

“Of course,” Gabe nodded quickly wrapping his arm around Guy’s shoulders before shaking his head slowly and thinking about the way Kipp acted with Kellen. “I don’t think anything could break that couple apart. They seem strong and they don’t seem like they could let go of each other.”

“I think Kellen is dead in love with Kipp,” Guy pointed out seeing Gabe agree with him as a smile appeared over the corners of his lips when he saw Kellen give Kipp a small kiss. “You can just tell and it is so cute the way they are together.”

“I’m glad for them,” Gabe gave Guy a small squeeze before pressing a small kiss up against his cheek and seeing Guy’s blue eyes look into his. “Like Kipp though, I am happy to be in a relationship too because the one I love is just like Kellen and treats me so good.”

“You are the one that treats me so good Gabe,” Guy shook his head, not going to accept that answer because he knew that Gabe was the one that stayed on track the whole time during their relationship. “You should know that by now, I owe you everything.”

“Honey, you know you don’t owe me anything,” Gabe leaned forward wrapping his arms around Guy’s shoulders, giving Guy a small kiss on the cheek before closing his eyes. “Nothing could ruin my day with you tonight.”

“You might want to take a second thought on that,” Guy cleared his throat uneasily looking towards the door seeing one of the many woman he didn’t expect to see. Guy pulled back from Gabe pointing over towards the door, seeing Gabe turn around and Guy knew that he wasn’t happy when all the color drained from his face. “That can’t be good.”

“What is she doing here?” Gabe let out a small scowl seeing Noelle standing in the doorway, looking around the party as Gabe shook his head slowly. “I know her, she is only here to start trouble and if she wants to start trouble with me I will bring it right back.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Diego,” Sarah frowned seeing the way that his dark eyes looked into hers as his fingers caressed her skin gently. Sarah felt a guilt building up in the pit of her stomach as she wondered if Diego truly heard everything. Hoping that he didn’t, she reached up and pushed his hand away from her. “No Diego.”

“No what?” Diego saw her turn away from him as he took a step forward, feeling his heart hammering in his chest from the feeling of happiness. “Sarah, are you saying you aren’t pregnant.”

“I am pregnant Diego,” Sarah answered truthfully turning to face him, seeing the smile that appeared over his lips as she shook her head. “I meant you aren’t the baby’s father Diego. Kyle is, he is the one that got me pregnant. Not you.”

“Kyle is the one that got you pregnant?” Diego questioned Sarah, not believing the words she was telling him as he took a step closer to her. “Somehow I don’t believe you. How long have you been pregnant?”

“I don’t know,” she let out a long breath thinking about the phone call she had just gotten and how much she begged it wasn’t real, she knew it was. “All I know is that I am pregnant.”

“Sarah, this baby is just as likely of being mine,” Diego pointed out seeing her shake her head quickly and stepping away from him. “You know and so do I Sarah, that baby could be mine. It is most likely mine over Kyle’s and you know it.”

“No, I don’t know it,” Sarah snapped throwing her hands up in the air and shaking her head slowly as she thought about the whole situation. “This baby has to be Kyle’s because Kyle is the one that I love Diego, not you. You were never the one that I loved, I was mad at Kyle so I slept with you. Don’t you get that?”

“I know that’s a lie,” Diego felt her words hit him hard as he shot her a begging look, reaching out to push her back as he offered up a small smile. “You said you loved me Sarah and you just don’t go around telling everyone that.”

“I was wrong, I love Kyle,” Sarah restated seeing the way that Diego’s dark eyes were looking into hers. She pulled away from him once again, making sure Diego shut the door as she threw her hands up in the air angrily. “Diego, I want to be with Kyle. This baby has to be his because there is nothing else I want in my future other than him. It has to be his.”

“Who was the last one you slept with Sarah and when did you start having the feeling of you being pregnant?” Diego wanted to know every little thing about this whole pregnancy as he took another step closer to her. “You know that it could be mine, I just need to know.”

“It’s not yours Diego because I slept with Kyle last,” Sarah tried to lie seeing the way that Diego still didn’t seem to believe her as she threw her hands up in the air walking over towards the corner of the room. “Fine, I’m pregnant and I don’t know who the father is. Does that make you happy Diego?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Admit it,” Heather slurred hugging Kyle closer to her. She felt him spin her around the dance floor before she sank into his chest with a wide grin, “You’re having a great time aren’t you?”

“My night is dramatically improving,” he nodded flashing her a small smile before dropping his hands on around her slender waist, “You are good for my ego here.”

“I can be good for a lot more than that if you’re willing,” she replied in a sultry tone, her green eyes glazed over with desire.

Kyle felt her brush in against him, moving her hips decidedly against his and he felt his body tighten up upon the contact. She shimmied her hips again to the music before spinning in his arms. He watched her wiggle away from him only to back up into him, rubbing her bottom against his now achingly swelled…

“Okay Heather,” Kyle dipped his fingers in over her hip curving in over the softness of her just enough to spin her in his arms. She giggled wildly tossing her arms around his shoulders again in a reckless movement.

“Oh Kyle, you are good,” Heather’s eyes were glossy, pupils were wide, and her mouth curved in the shape of an ‘O’ as she laughed lightly. She slid one hand down to his abdomen, fingering the smooth ripples that carried over his body. He tensed up again seeing her suddenly take on an expression that shifted from amusement to that of sin. Her eyes were sending him signals that he’d picked up on the other night, only now they were more blatant.

“Do you remember when we were younger?” she questioned teasing her nails over his chest lightly, “When you used to let me sneak into your bedroom to be with you?”

“How could I forget?” Kyle nodded trying to stay cool now that he’d found a way to take his playing with Heather to another surprising level. When they’d first started flirting with one another, he’d told himself that they were just doing their usual banter--playing a game that was harmless, but now he could see lust burning behind her eyes, or was that wishful thinking on his part? At this point with her grinding into him, he wasn’t quite sure.

“I always loved that about you,” she cooed, her palm flattening over his chest and sliding in beneath his jacket, “You just had this way about you that always made me feel so at ease even when I wasn’t at ease with myself. You saw past all of the silly things in me and really enjoyed my company for the sake of having me around.”

“How could I not when you always made life so very interesting,” he replied with a thoughtful expression keeping his eyes closely on hers, “Although I’m starting to wonder if maybe I should’ve toned it down earlier tonight when we had sex or should I say Sex on the Beach because I think you’re drunk.”

“I’m not drunk,” she shook her head feeling the barrette in her hair scratching at her head. She stood up straighter using her free hand to pull it out before discarding it to the floor. Her green eyes tipped up towards him again and she curved her arm around him, her hand tapering off over his bottom, “Not even close to it.”

“Hmm, that’s funny because you sure look drunk to me,” Kyle reached down to capture her hand bringing it up into his before he dipped her on the dance floor. She let out a small smile before twirling around him, taking the time to wrap her leg around his thigh and pulling him closer to her.

“Do I feel drunk,” she challenged pressing further into him, rocking her hips against his body and getting a reaction far greater than he’d wanted to give knowing about how far from sober she obviously was. He wasn’t quite sure how to answer that one, but the sound of her words hinted that he didn’t have to say anything, “Though I have always wondered about one thing Kyle…”

“What’s that?” he asked sliding his fingers down her spine in the hopes of finding a casual way of placing a distance between them, but instead he found his palm settling in over the small of her back.

“Why didn’t we have sex with one another? I mean I know you wanted to--hell, I wanted to and we came oh so close so many times,” she turned a pale shade of crimson before she lowered her voice a bit, “We had so, so many close encounters together back in your bedroom…in your car and…”

“Heather, how many drinks have you had tonight,” he couldn’t help but ask a lump forming in his throat. She wiggled in against him relentlessly and fear shot straight through him. They were in a crowded room and Sarah was nowhere in sight, yet he found himself wishing like hell that he’d given up on Sarah years ago to give Heather a satisfactory answer to the question that was now buzzing on his mind.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged her shoulders and shimmying in closer to him, her body pressed tight against his. She uncurled her fingers, teasing their tips over the streamlined muscle of his torso, down to his abdomen before reaching out for his well toned arms, “but I can assure you that it wasn’t enough for me to forget just how very sexy you are…”

“Heather, I don’t really think that you know what you’re saying right now. I know you were upset about tonight and…” Kyle began again feeling increasingly flustered.

“And I never stopped wishing that you would’ve wanted me instead of Sarah. I mean we had good times together, didn’t we? I thought you really liked me,” Heather curled her lip in a pout, “there was that point in time when I thought you’d given up on Sarah and that maybe we…”

“Heather,” he pressed his thumb over her lips to silence her, immediately wishing that he hadn’t given that the touch of her soft, full lips against the pad of his thumb sent shivers racing through him. In that moment he gazed into her eyes not seeing the woman who’d grown up to be confident and cocky, but rather the girl that he’d spent endless hours with--the sidekick that had taught him a thing or two about who he could become. His finger skimmed over her lips tentatively taking the time to savor her warmth. He caressed her cheek gently before speaking up again, “I wished like hell that you wouldn’t have left like you did. You know that night you ran away, I was out all night looking for you--hoping that I could stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life in running away to the bright lights of Hollywood.”

“I wish you had stopped me because maybe then I wouldn’t be such a mess now,” she let out a groan shaking her head at the thoughts, “I wouldn’t be such damaged goods.”

“You aren’t damaged goods,” he curled his finger underneath her chin forcing her to face him again, “You’re so far from being that it’s killing me to see you think so little of yourself. You know you were never second rate.”

“At least as long as I wasn’t around Sarah, right?” she asked with a sad smile, “I mean I’m okay when she’s not around, but beyond that I’ve always kind of been number two--a huge disappointment to the world around me.”

“No Heather,” he shook his head at her, “You’ve never been a disappointment to me. You’ve never been anything less than wonderful.”

“Oh now who’s the drunk one,” Heather patted his chest with a tiny laugh, “I know you don’t mean that.”

“And why the hell wouldn’t I? I mean here you are with me when Sarah is, hell I don’t know where she is and I think it’s pretty safe to say she’s not interested in finding me,” he confessed wondering what had happened to his date, yet as he spent more time with Heather, he was starting to be less and less concerned with it.

“Just like you were never interested…in…finding…” her green eyes glistened behind her long lashes, “me.”

“Finding you,” he repeated sensing her sadness in the moment. There was just something about her, something about the way she was looking at him speaking about the memories that they’d both pushed aside. Unable to resist the urge to touch her, Kyle teased his fingers into her long, blonde hair watching the way her lips parted in a sigh. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, longing to feel the warmth of him against her.

“I wish you would’ve found me. Oh God, I wish you could’ve changed that for me,” she confessed in a small whisper, a tear teasing down her cheek as Kyle leaned forward cupping her face in his hands. He knew that this was crazy, that this whole talk of the past was nonsense, but as he tipped his head angling it in closer to her, he knew that he was about to fall into that inevitable moment of…

“There you are,” Cameron’s voice shot through the moment like an icy sharp blast of reality. “I’ve been looking for you all over Heather.”

“Cameron,” Heather slurred attempting to stand up straighter, but staggering in the process. She practically fell to the floor until Kyle reached out to her catching her with his arm. “Oh hey…”

“I’ve been looking for you,” Cameron smiled pleasantly at Heather, “There are some people that I’d like you to speak with--people who want to hear more about the business and…”

“She’s busy right now,” Kyle cut Cameron off abruptly, “She’s not going to be able to do it.”

“Oh really, and why is that?” Cameron frowned up at Kyle, knowing full well that Kyle could easily overpower him, but not really bothering to care.

“Because she’s with me. In fact the way I see it, she’s leaving with me tonight too,” Kyle announced seeing Heather’s eyes widen in astonishment.

“I am?” she gulped before looking to Cameron, “But Cameron’s my date tonight.”

“That’s right,” Cameron reached out to take her arm in his offering a gentle tug bringing her in towards him, “and we have people to see.”

“The hell you do,” Kyle sneered unable to contain his anger at the man who’d once hurt Heather. He threw his right fist out sending Cameron falling to the floor with one solid impact of his fist into Cameron’s jaw.

Heather gasped at seeing Cameron fall over onto his behind knocking down a tray of finger foods in the process. She watched him with a curious expression before leaning forward and twisting to the side so that she was bent over halfway in some kind of twisted pretzel position as if she was trying to get a better look from Cameron’s perspective.

“Kyle, why is Cameron on the floor?” she asked attempting to take a step in her hunched over position. She stood upright realizing that her dress was a hindrance to her movement. She reached for the long, flowing skirt and tore at it sending the material down over her knees at the waist.

“That’s it,” Kyle watched her kick away the bottom of her dress sending it flying towards the punch bowl. He noticed her long legs revealed from beneath the tiny black slip she’d had on beneath her dress. The party seemed to grow silent, all eyes upon them as Heather kicked off her shoes, hitting Cameron with one of them in the head before sending the other one directly into one of the speakers on the center of the stage before him and knocking it over.

“Oops,” Heather giggled bringing her hand up over her lips in a muted laugh, “Did I just do that?”

“What in the…?” a few gasps rose from the crowd as Kyle looked around.

“She’s just had a little too much to drink tonight,” Kyle explained to those around them who had taken in the scene, “but don’t worry we’re going home now.”

“No we’re not. We’re going to party,” Heather lunged forward reaching for his jacket. She yanked on the lapels and they too ripped from the coat he was wearing. She gazed down at her hands seeing the material between her fingers and she let out a laugh, “Ooops! My bad!”

“Heather you’re coming with me. I’m taking you home,” Kyle instructed in slow and even words so that she would understand him. “We’re leaving.”

“I don’t want to leave,” she curled her lower lip in protest completely unaware of the fact that she stood half dressed in front of the group of Coral Valley’s elite. He could just hear the sounds of photographers snapping away at their cameras to get a glimpse of the former Mrs. Stone blasted out of her mind. That was all she’d need to deal with in the morning, he realized ignoring her protests and slinging her over his arm in one, swift movement.

“Okay show’s over everyone,” Kyle announced throwing out one quick glare to the men with the cameras before carrying a very much protesting Heather out of the room over his shoulder in the hopes of saving her from embarrassing herself any further than she’d already had. However, as she kicked at his shoulder wiggling and writhing in protest, he realized it was going to be a long walk to privacy for them--one that might prove to be very painful.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“This is just wonderful, I should have known that Cameron was up to something,” Kevin shook his head slowly feeling Ria’s arm tighten around his as he saw Cameron out of the corner of his eyes in the kitchen. “I can’t believe how he always tries to pull stuff like this with everyone.”

“I don’t know what he is up to now,” Ria frowned looking around the room before pulling away from Kevin and motioning him to wait for her. “I will be right back because I am going to try and get some answers for you.”

“Alright,” Kevin leaned back against the wall watching her walk away as he shrugged his shoulders and saw her disappear into the crowd before him. “I’m obviously going to be here because I have nothing else to do.”

Kevin let out a worried sigh as he started thinking back to when Angie had just told him about her letting him go as her bodyguard. For more than fourteen years he had been her body guard and the fact that she didn’t want him to be there for her scared him.

“I can’t just walk away,” Kevin whispered to himself thinking back to the day he promised her the one thing that she was throwing away just like that.

“Good morning honey,” Angela smiled feeling Kevin’s arms wrap around her waist gently as she continued to try and cook breakfast for the both of them. She felt his lips press in against the side of her neck as she let out a small laugh. “I didn’t expect you to be up this early.”

“Yeah, well the smell of pancakes never keeps me down,” Kevin winked offering up a small smile as he slid his hand in over Angela’s swollen stomach, caressing it gently. “How are you and my little baby girl doing today?”

“I think she is trying to knock me down,” Angela informed him with a small smile leaning back into his chest and looking up at him as he stood behind her. “It feels like she is playing soccer inside of my stomach.”

“Hey, that’s a good thing,” Kevin assured her with a wide smile circling his hand in over the center of her stomach and letting out a small laugh. “That just means my daughter is going to be very athletic.”

“It might kill me sooner or later,” Angela joked seeing Kevin frown as he reached for one of the pancakes on the plate and she smacked his hand away. “What do you think you are doing? You aren’t going to eat until we can all eat together. You can wait a little bit.”

“Oh great, you wake me up with pancakes only to get me to wait for it,” Kevin played with her before smiling and walking over towards the refrigerator and pulling out the orange juice. He walked over towards the phone seeing some of the writing that Angela had done on a piece of paper as he picked it up. “What’s this honey?”

“Cameron called,” Angela informed Kevin finishing up with breakfast and letting out a long sigh as she looked over her shoulder at him when he set the paper down. “He said my dad was getting curious because he hasn’t seen me lately. I’m worried Kevin, what do you think he will do when he finds out I’m carrying your baby.”

“Don’t worry about it Angie,” Kevin hushed reaching out to her and pulling her into his arms softly, grabbing her left hand in his and bringing it up to his lips. He ran his fingers in over the engagement ring he gave her before smiling widely. “Soon it won’t matter because we are going to be one happy family. You will be my beautiful wife and the two of us will share every moment we can with our daughter, I promise.”

“You better keep that promise,” Angela stated with a small smile feeling him kiss her quickly before grabbing the plate of pancakes and the orange juice, motioning her to follow him out onto the deck. “You want to eat outside?”

“It’s a nice day,” Kevin nodded setting the food down on the table and grabbing a pancake, breaking it in half and eating a piece before motioning her to come closer to him. “You actually did a good job with these honey.”

“Really?” Angela questioned with a small laugh taking a bite of the piece he held out in front of her lips. She saw him take another bite before setting it down and pulled her in closer to him. “I did do a good job didn’t I?”

“You really did,” Kevin nodded leaning in closer to her acting as if he was going to kiss her as he shook his head slowly and let out a small laugh. “For the first time that is.”

“You jerk,” Angela pushed him back seeing him laugh and push his curvy, neck length hair back behind his ear. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“I was just playing,” Kevin chuckled fixing his boxers before shrugging his shoulders and moving in closer to her. He grabbed her hand in his before looking into her dark eyes. “You know, my daughter is going to be absolutely beautiful because she will look so much like you.”

“Kevin, I don’t think so,” Angela whispered feeling him press his lips up against hers gently. She felt him pull away from her as she pulling him back and kissed him, running her fingers through his thick hair. “I would actually hope that she looks like you.”

“Honey,” Kevin breathed against her lips feeling her back him up towards the corner of the deck as he fell down into the hammock with her in his arms. “I would think it would be a little weird if she looked just like me because well, I’m a man and that wouldn’t seem right.”

“Kevin,” she hit him in the center of the chest hearing him let out another small laugh as she kissed him again, a small noise erupting from the back of her throat as his tongue met hers. She pulled away from him, circling her fingers around the center of his chest before looking up into his chocolate brown eyes. “Tell me you are going to be here for me Kevin forever.”

“Of course I will,” Kevin pointed out enclosing his fingers with hers as he felt her cuddle in closer to him. He reached his other hand down to caress her stomach gently with the back of his hand. “I will always be here for you and my baby, I have nothing else to live for.”

“Kevin, just promise me,” Angela whispered tightening her grip on his fingers as he watched her carefully, seeing the way she looked up at him worriedly. “Promise me that you will always be here to protect me no matter what.”

“I promise,” Kevin whispered pressing a small kiss against her forehead before holding her closer to him. “I will always be here to protect you.”

“I can’t break that promise,” Kevin let out a small frown thinking of all the reasons why he couldn’t let Angela go by on herself. Kevin had Ria now and he had more things to live for in life, but his daughter wouldn’t have wanted him to just leave her mother like that. “Where is she?”

Kevin looked around the room, feeling his heart beating rapidly as he noticed there was no sign of her. Chris caught his eyes as he stood over towards the corner of the bar and Kevin quickly walked over to him.

“Where is she Chris?” Kevin grabbed Chris’s arm roughly seeing Chris turn around with a drink in his hand as he offered up a small smile. “I want to know where she is and I want to know now.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Whatever it is you’re hiding Cameron, I’m going to find it,” Brant announced triumphantly finding himself at the foot of the entrance to the library he was sure Cameron’s secrets would be buried in. Now that he knew that Cameron was the one pulling all the strings tonight, he was fully prepared to one up him one way or another. Oh yes tonight Cameron Stone was going down and Brant was going to take great liberties in enjoying that particular twist of fate.

“We’ll see who is the one who is laughing at the end of the day tomorrow,” he mouthed under his breath taking one quick look around the hallway before slipping inside the room. Sure, he knew he was taking a risk, but none was greater than the risk he’d be taking if he allowed Cameron to run his company into the ground. It was the last thing he’d had left and he wasn’t about to let anyone especially not someone like Cameron Stone take that way from him.

“I’ll find a way to bury you tonight,” Brant vowed carefully closing the door behind his entrance in the hopes of keeping from being detected from any of the other partygoers. Of course they all seemed to be so absorbed in the night around them that he was positive that they wouldn’t be traveling out this far into the estate, which meant he would have a little more time to work with things.

“Let’s just see what you’re hiding in here,” Brant announced making his way over to the desk where a computer was set up. He sank into the chair ready to hack into Cameron’s computer when he looked up to see a bookshelf in front of him pulled out just enough to reveal a heavy, wooden door that would be otherwise hidden from the rest of the world on most days. It was closed, yet there was something about it that was calling to him--something that had an element of mystery to it that he couldn’t ignore.

“Well, well, well,” Brant felt a smile tickle over the corners of his lips, “It looks like you do have skeletons you want to keep buried.”

Rubbing his hands together Brant tiptoed towards the door taking the time to look around and see if there were any security cameras set up around him just in case Cameron would be popping in anytime soon.

“So far so good,” he reached for the doorknob surprised to feel it pop open beneath his touch. He heard a clicking sound and he felt the door open to reveal a darkened room beyond the main one, “Well, what do we have here?”

Taking a bold step inside Brant reached for his cell phone using the faint light that it provided to guide him through the mysterious new spot in the Estate. He was halfway into the room when he heard a scratching sound from across the way. He spun in the direction of the sound not sure what it was, but before he could use the small light from the first room to carry his vision to what had created the noise, he heard a loud thud.

“No, oh God no!” a voice rang out as Brant felt the same sentiment echo in his mind. “That’s locked from the inside. I already tried to get out and…”

“Get out,” Brant spun around reopening his cell phone again to see the shadow of a woman no more than five feet from him.

“That’s right brilliant one,” she cussed at him, another shuffling sound carrying over the darkness, “Once that door shuts, there’s no way out of here unless someone on the outside opens it. When you came in here, I thought you were going to help me, but you proved useless as most men are…”

“Useless,” Brant huffed feeling an eerie sense of familiarity pass over him, “I’m far from useless I’ll have you know. Why I came in here because…no wait a second. What are you doing in here?”

“Looking for a damned light switch now, which I’d appreciate your giving me a hand unless of course you’d like to just stand there playing with your…” she paused a gruff sound rising from her throat, “toy there.”

“It’s not a toy. It’s a cell phone and…” Brant began feeling a sudden warmth of a glow carry over him. He recognized the familiar perfume in the air before he was blinded by the light that filled the room. He brought his hand up over his face covering his eyes before he heard an impatient groan.

“Okay pretty boy. Why don’t we just cut with the playtime and you just hand me your phone so that I can find a way for us to get out of here while you’re hiding in the corner,” he heard a gruff female voice fill his ears and suddenly there was something more to it--something that…

“Are you listening to me? I don’t want to be stuck in here any longer than I already have and…” she snapped further ready to lash out at him even more. She took a step forward fully prepared to swipe the cell phone from his fingers when he lowered his arm and revealed the pair of familiar brown eyes to her. She let out a small yelp before taking a small step back, her breath catching in the back of her throat. “Brant?”

He blinked two times before speaking up, shock vibrating him to the core. He was at a loss, wondering if he’d lost his mind, but in that moment all he could focus on was the woman in front of him. He took a step forward feeling his hand shaking as he reached out to her no longer able to deny the subject of a great many of his fantasies as she stood right before him, “Angela, is that really you?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

...to be continued...