We walked the short distance to my house hand in hand, in comfortable silence. I was thinking over everything we'd talked about and enjoying the feeling of his thumb rubbing gently over my wrist.

As we got closer to the house, I could see Mark sitting on the porch. It was odd; he was usually in his room by this time reading or getting ready for bed.

When we got to the end of our little walkway, I could see the look he was aiming at me, and I realized he was waiting for us. Clara must have called him as soon as she got home.

I still had to ask, "What are you doing sitting out here?"

"Rude," he said with a head tilt. "I was waiting for you two. Clara called when she got home. Sorry, they were giving you problems again. It looks like it worked out, OK, though." He looked pointedly at our still joined hands and gave me a little smile. "Thanks for helping them out, Ash."

He shook his head, "It was no big deal. I actually had a much better time than I was planning on, thanks to running into Jolie and Clara," he smiled at me, and my insides turned to liquid.

"How was the new singer?" Mark asked, drawing our attention back to him.

"She was really good! We should go next weekend. I'd have to go Friday though, Saturday is girl's day with Mom."

"Sounds good to me. Anyway, I have a few things to do before bed, so I guess I'll talk to you later," he smiled as he got up and walked into the house.

He wasn't fooling me, though. I was sure the few things he had to do included spying on us and being ready to pounce as soon as I walked in the door.

Ash leaned down and spoke softly into my ear, "I'm pretty sure we still have an audience."

I giggled, "I'm completely sure we do. Sorry, I have nosey friends."

"That's alright," he shrugged like it wasn't weird to have someone probably peering through a window watching us. "I really did have a good time with you tonight, Jolie. I'm glad we got to know each other better."

"Me too," I smiled up at him, and as soon as my eyes met his, I was trapped. I didn't want to look away, and he was leaning down closer.

Oh my gosh! Was he going to kiss me? Did I want him to kiss me? I mean, yeah, of course, I did, but already? I wasn't sure!

He gave me that super hot half-smile and rested his forehead gently against mine for a second. Straightening back up, he lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed the back, "Goodnight, Jolie."

"Goodnight."

He turned to walk away and called back over his shoulder, "Goodnight, Mark!"

I was laughing as I walked into the house. Mark was in front of me before the door even closed all the way, "He yelled goodnight to me, that was nice!"

I looked at him through squinted eyes, "Seriously? You had to spy on him telling me goodnight?"

"Umm, yeah. How else would I have seen that adorable hand kiss? What do you think? Is he amazing? I know it's a little early to judge but, I'm leaning toward amazing."

I smiled despite my annoyance. "Yeah, I'm leaning toward amazing too. You should have seen it! He was so fast I didn't even see him move, and then Toby was out of his chair and on the floor. When Clara dumped her drink on him, I almost clapped. It was awesome. Then Ash asked if he could walk me home."

"Awe, you're all starry-eyed! What were you guys doing anyway? It took you forever to get here." He gave me a look that said he thought I might be hiding something interesting.

"Cut it out, goober, it was nothing. We just stopped at the park to swing and talk."

"Really? For some reason, I can't picture him on the swing set." He looked at me with one eyebrow raised, "Is swinging a euphemism for something more...hands-on?"

I let out a big huff, "No, we actually stopped at the park to talk, it was nice. You saw the only kiss that happened."

He looked a little disappointed, "Oh, well, that's OK. Now you know he definitely likes you."

I grinned at him as I started up the stairs looking forward to a quick shower and bed. I had to be up early in the morning.

Mark yelled up at me, "Don't forget, Clara's waiting for your call!"

Ugh. I didn't feel like talking. "Why don't you call her for me? It's past my bedtime. You two will have more fun talking about it anyway."

"If you insist," he sounded like he was definitely looking forward to it.

It was hot and loud. There were so many people crowded on the small dance floor. Dahlia was singing again. Clara was dancing with me in the middle of a bunch of people moving in time with the music, bumping into each other.

She leaned in and yelled, "I'm going to get some water, do you want to come with me?"

Before I could answer her, a hand went around my waist from behind. "Wait, I was just going to ask you to dance," that voice and his breath tickling my ear, made me shiver.

I turned to look up at him, and his deep green eyes were smiling down at me; the butterflies in my stomach went crazy.

"Sure," I beamed.

I turned to tell Clara, but she was already walking away giving me an eyebrow wiggle that I really hoped Ash didn't see.

The song changed to something slow. He wrapped his arms around me, and I reached up to put my hands on his strong shoulders.

Quit staring at his muscles, I scolded myself and looked down, it didn't help. I was staring at his stomach and the rows of muscle that were somehow showing through a barely fitted henley.

"You're staring at my shirt."

Dang, it! He caught me again! What is wrong with me? "It's nice, I like blue, it's my favorite color."

"I'm glad you like it. I came here hoping to run into you again."

"Really?"

Leaning in, he spoke softly, "Of course. I like you, and...." his voice trailed off.

Looking deeply into my eyes, he leaned closer. He was going to kiss me! My heart was trying to beat out of my chest. I tilted my head back to meet his lips when suddenly, his arms disappeared.

I fell backwards into the dark, everything was gone, replaced by the sound of wind rushing past. My stomach went up like I was going downhill on a roller coaster, but I wasn't afraid.

I stopped abruptly and it was dark, but only for a second. Light flashed and it was bright outside, I was sitting on a blanket in the grass. The sun was high, and I was alone. No, not alone, walking toward me was Ash.

"What happened?" My head was clouded with uncertainty. Weren't we at Coffee House? "Did you change your shirt?"

I looked down and I was in the same outfit I was wearing, my standard jeans, boots, and t-shirt.

He looked curious, "Did I change my shirt from what?"

"From what you were wearing a second ago."

He smiled, "Were we together a second ago?"

"Umm, yeah. We were dancing, your shirt was blue. Don't you remember?"

He looked surprised for a second, but then he gave me a crooked grin, "I'm very sorry that I don't. We were dancing?"

"Yeah, at Coffee House." What was happening? Why was my brain so foggy? "Where are we?"

"We're in one of my favorite places. I love this meadow. It's so peaceful." He sat by me on the blanket, and my neck tingled.

"You're blushing," he ran the back of his finger down my cheek. "Do I make you nervous?"

I covered my cheeks with my hands, "Yes! I'm such a dork. Two minutes ago we were about to kiss, and now I'm turning red just because you're sitting by me. And you smell so good, and you're so freaking hot!"

I sucked in a deep breath, "Did I say all of that out loud? What the hell is wrong with me?" I could feel the red deepening, "Now, I'm really embarrassed."

"Don't be," he took my hands from my face. "I feel the same way about you. You smell like spring."

Leaning forward he brushed his cheek against mine and inhaled deeply, making a rough sound in the back of his throat. "You're lovely, especially when you blush. You have a beautiful, pure heart, and there is nothing more attractive than that," he said this with the most serious expression on his gorgeous face.

It was amazing to hear but also a little ridiculous. "I have a beautiful heart?" I huffed out a sound of disbelief, "That's nice, everything you said was really nice, but you can't know that." I shook my head, "We've known each other for less than two days, and I'm not really interested in lines."

He smiled, "It's no line, Jolie. I can know someone that fast; I already know very much about you."

"Really?" I said with as much skepticism as possible. "What do you think you know about me?"

He took my hand and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles as he spoke, "I know that you care deeply about your friends, and will protect them with no thought for yourself. You love your mom and have a special relationship with her. You love animals, and your job walking dogs doesn't feel like work to you at all."

His voice softened, "I know you're self conscious, but I don't understand why. I know I make you nervous, but I wish I didn't."

Leaning in, he touched my cheek, "Why are you nervous with me?"

For a minute, I couldn't do anything but stare at him. "Umm, I'm nervous with you because you're so beautiful you don't even seem real, and on top of that there's something about you that just seems so..."

"Seems so what?" he asked.

I tried to think of the right words, coming up short I settled for, "Good. You seem like a really, truly, good person." Shaking my head a little I went on, "I mean there's no obvious flaw to balance you out. And all of that stuff you said about me was really sweet, but you could say all of that about almost anyone. None of that makes me special."

Ash shook his head, "No, you don't see yourself clearly. Maybe that's part of your charm. If you realized how amazing you are, you might not be the same," he shrugged his shoulders.

I chuckled, "Wow, that's definitely a line! Do you use that on all the girls?"

Letting out a huff of laughter, he looked a little exasperated. "I've never said that to anyone before. I've never known anyone with a heart as giving as yours. I can see you don't believe me, but you can believe this," he leaned closer making my breath catch in my throat. "I will never lie to you. Whatever you ask me, I will only speak the truth."

Staring back into that beautiful sea of green, I believed him. There was something about the way he looked at me, it was like he was seeing inside me, and I just knew he was telling the truth.

"OK," I whispered, and he gave me a stunning full smile. Not the half-smile that I was used to; this smile touched his eyes and brought out a dimple on one cheek that I hadn't known was there. If it was possible, he was even more gorgeous than before.

He sat back, breaking his hold on me. "Good, I'm glad we have that settled. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"Yeah, I've been wondering where you're from. You don't really have an accent, but sometimes the way you say things, you sound like you're not from here."

"You're very perceptive."

"I've been paying close attention," I giggled.

Before he could answer, 'WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?' suddenly blasted through the air.

"What is that?" I asked, looking around for the source of the noise.

Ash smirked, "Wake, Jolie."

I jolted awake to the sound of the Baha Men barking their song through my phone. Reaching over, I answered to make the noise stop, "Hello?"

"Were you still sleeping?"

"Hey, Clara. Yeah, I was sleeping until some men started barking. Did you change my ringtone again?"

She giggled, "Yes, it makes me laugh. Why are you sleeping so late?"

"What time is it?" Rubbing the sleep from my face, I sat up.

"It's almost nine."

"Nine! Man, I was having the weirdest dream." I pictured Ash sitting in front of me, saying sweet things. Why did she have to wake me?

"OK, well, you can tell me all about it in the car. You're still coming with me, right?"

"Yep! I just have to walk some dogs first. Pick me up?"

"Sure, see you in about 45 minutes."

I rushed through my morning routine and walked the vacation dogs. I came back to find Clara waiting impatiently in the driveway.

"Let's go, Jo! We're going to be late!"

I hopped in the car, "Sorry! I can't believe I overslept. I guess I need to start setting an alarm on the weekends, too."

"Yuck, that sounds terrible," she made a face like something smelled bad, making me laugh and roll my eyes.

"Well we don't all have money just falling out of our ears."

"It doesn't fall out of my ears, it just shows up in my purse. Like magic," she grinned. "I hope you don't think having Mark call me last night gets you out of the 50 questions I need to ask," she said, pursing her lips.

I was saved from the interrogation, as we pulled into the gravel parking lot near the bottom of the trail. The group was already heading into the break in the trees to start the hike.

"Hurry, let's catch up!" Clara yelled excitedly as she jumped out of the car, slipping her key into her little zippered pocket.