Dana tossed in her bed thinking of Colt. She cursed him from keeping her from a good night's sleep. Why was he so exasperating?

No matter what she said he got mad at her. She was trying to be nice to him and look where it got her. No where. Same old Colt. She was a fool to think that he had changed in any way while she was gone.

So, he looked incredible in a suit. So what. Personality was a whole 'nother story. The boy needed a much better one.

Dana heard a knock at her door. She frowned and looked at the clock. It was one in the morning. Who the hell would be coming by at one in the morning? Jesse and Summer had a key if they needed something.

She got up and tried to peek out her window, but she couldn't see anyone. The knock came again. Dana went down the hallway towards the front door.

"Who is it?" she called, looking for any heavy object she could hurl at any intruder.

"Colt," was the answer.

Dana opened the door and stared at him. He was standing in her doorway leaning on the door frame with one hand. He was breathing hard as if he had been running.

Colt wore gray gym shorts and his muscular chest was showcased by a sweat covered t-shirt that clung to every fine muscle of his upper body.

She had admired his body in the past from afar as he and Jess worked on one project or another. Colt had a nice body, it was hard not to notice. But never before had she wanted to touch that body.

Dana quickly looked away so she wouldn't think about that and looked down. And there, at his tennis shoe clad feet, was a tan Labrador laid across his feet panting.

"Oh, doggy," she cooed, smiling, and squatted down to pet it.

"What the hell are you doing answering the door in the middle of the night?" he demanded.

Colt cursed himself for coming. Dana was squatting down next to his dog petting him in some short, slinky, blue silk nightgown. She was giving him an incredible view of her voluptuous cleavage, and her incredible legs, which he was sure, were as smooth as they looked.

"What the hell are you doing banging down my door in the middle of the night?" Dana demanded, standing up to face him.

Colt pushed her inside, looking behind him to make sure no one else had gotten the great view he had. The dog followed them in.

"What's your problem?" she asked, crossing her arms as he closed the door.

"I came to apologize." Colt looked over her head so he didn't have to look at her body or her gorgeous face with the sexy mouth.

"You come at one o'clock in the morning just to apologize?"

"Hey, it hardly ever inclines me to do so, so you better take it when you can get it."

"Fine. Apology accepted. Although, I'm not sure what you're apologizing about," Dana said, going into the kitchen.

Colt watched her take out a bowl, fill it up with water, and set it on the floor next to his dog. She crossed her arms again, waiting for an answer.

"For being a jerk. Like always," he answered, watching Buddy drink the water that she so kindly and thoughtlessly provided.

"So, you are apologizing for the last what... eighteen years we've known each other?"

"Yeah, pretty much," he sighed, sitting down on the floor next to Buddy for support.

"Why?" Dana asked curiously, watching him scratch the dog's head so sweetly.

"You can't just take the apology?"

"I don't get you," she scoffed.

"No one does," he said sincerely.

"So. What? You're asking for a truce?" she asked, shifting onto her other foot.

"I guess you could call it that. Yeah," he agreed with a shrug. His eyes slid to admire her legs.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Damn it! Never mind." Colt got up and turned his back to her.

"I'm just asking so I can understand why the last nearly twenty years you've always hated me and then all of a sudden you've come apologizing."

Colt spun around and looked her in the eye. "I don't hate you! I never have."

"Bull," she challenged.

"I don't hate you, Dana. You irritate the shit out of me, but I don't hate you."

"Well, thanks," she said sarcastically.

"Welcome," Colt patted his leg, "Buddy, let's go." The dog reluctantly followed him.

He pulled the door open. Colt's arm rested on the door, making Dana notice the nice muscle he had beneath an eagle tattoo. She wanted a closer look at the tattoo.

She'd seen it before, but always from a distance. It was a rare occasion she was even anywhere so near him.

"Sorry to wake you." Colt looked over that fine body of hers one last time and then walked out the door.