I collapse beside Fin, breathless, sweaty and happy. "I need a shower."

"Mmm it's quite sticky in here." Fin wipes his brow while I stare at his damp curls.

The man is magnificent even when he is flushed and perspiring. I know I'm not. I used to have a gym membership and the walls by the elliptical machines were covered in giant mirrors. So I know exactly what I must look like right now.

Fin starts to climb from the bed. "Why don't I just switch on this air conditioner..."

I clutch his arm and pull him back down. "No!"

"Really Millie? You do have it in your window for a reason." Fin laughs.

I'm too embarrassed to look at him, so I cover my eyes with my arm. "I can't afford to pay my portion of the electric bill if it's too high. I only turn on the AC at night and then only if it's brutally hot out."

Fin peels my arm from my face and bites his lip as he looks at me for a minute. "I'll pay it for you."

I want to hide under the covers, but I sit up instead. "No you will not Fin Covington! I don't want your money! That's not what any of this is about for me!"

He sighs. "That's not what I'm saying love." He lies back down and pulls me into his arms again. "I just want to take care of you. And after Friday you'll need to allow me to do that."

Then Fin kisses the top of my head and I feel tears prickle at the corners of my eyes. I do not want to cry right now so I swallow and wipe my face hoping that he thinks I'm just wiping some more sweat away.

My voice sounds thick and strange to my own ears when I begin to speak.

"Fin, I know I'm too proud for my own good sometimes. It's just that you have to understand my parents didn't even pay for my college education. Not because they didn't want to, of course! I mean they were... they are great parents."

Fin nods but doesn't say anything, so I continue to ramble.

"But I was a latchkey kid because they were always working. So I kind of raised myself. They didn't want me outside getting into trouble when they weren't home. Which was why I stayed inside and read a lot."

When I pause, he kisses the top of my head again. Then he looks into my eyes. "Go on."

I heave a sigh and look down at our tangled legs.

"Anyway, since they worked so hard for what they have, I didn't want them taking out crazy loans against their retirement. My senior year of high school, after lots of paperwork, I managed to get a decent package of scholarship and loans together and then I worked full time through college. So I've been used to always doing things for myself and paying my own way, and you just can't expect me to change overnight."

Fin drags his finger down, from my forehead, across my nose and over my lips. It reminds me of the way he ran it along the page of my book.

"I don't want you to change anything about yourself Amelia Cara Stevens. As far as I can tell you're perfect for me exactly the way you are. I just want you to let me into that marvelous brain of yours. Will you let me into your world?"

There's that prickle again. "I'll try. I promise," I whisper.

My hand is on Fin's chest. He takes it into his own and wraps his pinky finger around my pinky finger. "I'm keeping you to that!"

Fin kisses me again and I feel his 'John Thomas', as he says, perk up a bit.

His stamina and prowess in the gossip world is notorious. I always believed it was pure speculation based upon how hard he trains with his sword for Templars. It's not much of a jump to equate one sword with another. That's why I never totally put any stock into those rumors, until now.

He sighs. "I wish we could both skive off of work and rehearsal again tomorrow. A second day in bed talking and making love to you would be sublime."

"But maybe at your hotel, where there is air conditioning?" I snort.

Fin laughs and stretches one arm towards my ceiling. "It wouldn't be so bad in here if you had a ceiling fan. I insisted on one in my bedroom, much to my professional decorator's horror. I think it's brilliant though. It makes such a nice breeze and a relaxing noise."

I grab his hand and pull it back down to kiss his palm. "Unfortunately, as a humble renter, I'm not allowed to make any electrical changes. In fact..."

I stand up on the mattress to grab the framed photo off the wall that's above my headboard. It makes a ripping noise as it comes off. Fin scoots up looking concerned. I sit beside him and flip the frame over to show him the back. "3M Velcro strips. No hammers and nails allowed. Any holes in the wall need to be repaired before I move or I'll have to pay for it by losing my deposit."

"Well I'm glad that is some strong Velcro with the way we made your headboard bang against that wall before." He chuckles and feels the teensy little hooks with his thumb.

"I wish you had seen my parents' faces when they helped me move in and they watched me using this stuff to hang everything. My mother went on a rant about how this type of thing is what's wrong with my generation – 'Everything is so temporary with you kids! But you have to learn that there are no easy fixes in real life. You can't just pull something down without it leaving a mark. It's like in a marriage, you need to make sure that everything is nice and secure and nothing beats a good old-fashioned hammer and nail for that.' Then she went on and on about divorce rates too. I told her that it wasn't like I had a choice in this and of course I would love to own property where I could do whatever I want with the walls. But the real estate market is totally different than when they were younger."

Fin puts the picture on the floor beside my bed and raises an eyebrow at me. "Your mum sounds like a smart woman to me."

I raise my eyebrow back at him. "How so?"

Suddenly, he grabs my waist and pulls me onto his lap. "Nothing beats a good old hammer and nail for a strong marriage."

He's more than ready again and so am I as I grind against him. "Well if the last two days are any indication, our marriage will be rock solid."

We may be talking about hammers, nails and Velcro, but our skin is stuck together like glue. I peel myself off of Fin for a second to reach for another condom.

Fin stops my hand before I open it. "Perhaps we should continue this in your little bathtub, under a nice cool shower?" He smirks.

"Now that is a brilliant idea!" I beam back at him as I climb off his lap.

His feet hit the parquet first and he takes my hand to lead the way. Fin opens the door to my bedroom and we step out into the hallway at the exact moment that Jane is opening the front of our apartment.

The three of us stand there like deer caught in headlights. Jane's eyes dart to Fin's penis and then to me while an awkward smile spreads across her mouth.

Finally she covers her eyes and turns to face the bathroom. "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God! I'm soooo sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt!"

I yank Fin back into my bedroom and dive in after him. "No! I'm sorry Jane! It's my fault. We um... We kind of lost track of the time. Just um... just give us a minute."

I slam the door and look at Fin. He is in a heap on my bed, hysterical laughing and he still has a raging hard-on.

"I'm glad you think this is funny." I grit my teeth.

He takes a deep breath. "Come on Millie. She's your best friend, so you can't tell me she hasn't seen you naked? She's seen your bathing suit, which is small enough that you're nearly naked in it anyway. And I've certainly done enough love scenes that half the world has seen my ass plus most of the rest of what I have to offer." He starts laughing again. "Your faces were priceless though."

I purse my lips. "You won't be laughing in a few minutes when that erection goes unrelieved and your balls are aching."

He stands up and pulls me into his arms against the threatened appendage. "You wouldn't do that to me."

Then he kisses the hollow under my ear and sucks on my earlobe. "You wouldn't do that to yourself."

His hand travels to between my legs and I moan.

"See. You want me as much as I want you." His voice is low and knowing against the shell of my ear.

I try to push him away from me. "Wait... we can't... What about Jane? She's right outside."

Fin doesn't remove his hand. He looks at my face and licks his lips. "Put on your robe and go out there to tell your best friend our good news. Then ask her to be your maid of honor. She's already witnessed us stark naked. So let's make her witness status official for Friday."

When he removes his hand, I wish it was back against me.

Fin lifts his fingers to his mouth and sucks them clean. "Give her a hug and my thanks. Then come back into this bedroom so we can finish what we started."

I nod mutely and take my robe off the hook on the wall to slip it on. Then I look back at Fin with a smile while I open the door. "Turn that AC on."