It had to be nearly 6 a.m. before the gang dispersed and Christian was able to try and get some sleep. In his dreams, she haunted him, his genie from the bottle. Christian stood completely still as she danced her erotic rhythm around him. Suddenly she stopped and stood before him. She wore no veil he could clearly see Sheila's smiling face, beckoning him to come closer. He obeyed without question and now stood within inches of her lips.

Sheila leaned her body into his, her soft breasts pressed firmly against his rock hard chest. He pressed his arousal against her tight stomach muscles. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him even closer, so close he could feel her breath against his skin. God, how he wanted her, and she was offering herself to him. All he had to do was...was... A persist buzzing noise began pulling him back to reality. The reality right now, he did not want to face. Christian groaned. The vision disappeared.

"How pathetic," Christian thought, "I can't even get the girl of my dreams in my dreams." The buzzing noise persisted as Christian struggled with his sheets. Groggily he realized the noise was coming from his phone.

Glancing at his clock he saw 8 a.m. in glaring red. "Who in the world would bother me this early in the morning?" Christian knew he hadn't a clue and reached over for the receiver. "Hello!" Christian said with a slight edge to his voice.

"I am sorry to disturb you, Mr. Orloff. I know you had requested our do not disturb service until eleven but something has transpired that made this necessary." The small voice belonged to the hotel concierge and she sounded intimidated and slightly rattled.

Christian immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry. You just woke me is all. Is there an emergency?" he asked trying his best not to take his crankiness out on the woman.

"I'm not certain, sir. You see a woman was just here at the front desk, demanding to see you. We had informed her that you weren't to be disturbed but she just stormed off and we believe she is headed to your room. Again, sir, I'm sorry if you are inconvenienced in any way. Should you wish this person removed we will gladly do so for you."

A woman? Heading up to his room? Who in the world? 

Christian suddenly heard someone pounding on his door. "I'll let you know," he said to the concierge before hanging up the phone. He grabbed his robe from the edge of his bed and tied it haphazardly around him.

He didn't know anyone in Philadelphia except James and the only women, who knew where he is staying, were Sheila and his personal assistant back in New York. He couldn't imagine either of them barging into his hotel demanding to see him.

The pounding became more persist. "All right already. I'm coming," Christian said opening the door. On the other side was a petite blond woman, with pert breasts, dressed to the nines. Her face would have been considered attractive if she didn't have it puckered like she'd been sucking on a lemon. She seemed determined to enter Christian's room but considering Christian's size he easily barred her way.

"Where is he?" the woman asked whipping her head up to look Christian in the face. Their proximity had been so close that this proved a difficult task. The feather in her hat fell into her baby blue eyes and she angrily pushed it way. "Well?" she said waiting, tapping her foot impatiently.

Christian tried gallantly to be patient but found this woman's intrusion wore on his last nerve. "Perhaps if you told me who you were, I might have a clue as to whom you are referring?" he said lifting his arm to bar her way again as she tried to walk past him into the room.

Pushing the feather from her face again, she tugged her shoulder bag strap back to her shoulder and stamped her foot. "I demand to see him this instant! Are you going to help me or not?" she asked annoyed. Her frustration mounting with Christian's deliberate attempts to keep her from the room.

Just then, someone from a neighboring room stuck his head out the door and looked down the hall. Christian leveled the man with a look and he quietly retreated to his room again. Before the wild woman woke up anyone else he might as well allow her to enter.

Christian stepped aside and shut the door. Once inside the woman methodically did a thorough search of his suite including his bedroom, bathroom, and closet. Christian just stared in shocked disbelief. Soon she returned to stand before him again. The pursed look gone now replaced with a look of total desperation.

"He's not here," she informed Christian right before she broke down into tears. 

Christian immediately responded by wrapping an arm around her and leading her over to the couch. "Miss, perhaps if you told me your name, I may be able to help you?" Christian soothed as the woman pulled a dainty handkerchief from her bag and dabbed at her tears.

"I'm sorry. How unladylike for me to come barging in here and searching your room," the woman said wiping her nose. "You must forgive me, but you see this was the last place I knew he'd be."

Christian wondered if the woman even realized she still hadn't answered his question. "I didn't catch your name?"

"That's because I haven't given it to you," the woman informed him properly, "I am Lanie, Lanie Sterling, James' fiancé?" She said her association with James with a slight question to it, almost as if she had expected that James might have never mentioned her before.

Christian immediately felt sorry for the woman. He could tell she was hurting but he wasn't totally sure how to help. "Oh, of course. I should have known from James' description of you. I'm sorry," Christian said. His bald-faced lies earning him a dazzling smile from the woman who seemed to brighten instantly.

"That's quite all right," she told him. "We have never formally met so it really was foolish of me to think you'd know who I am. I do apologize. It's just James never came home last night and I've been worried sick about him. He had told me you were coming to town and that he was going to be spending some time with you so I had hoped to find him here."

Lanie tucked her handkerchief back into her shoulder bag and straightened the hem of her dress. She felt like an idiot but she knew James was determined to have a bachelor party and that was why he was here last night. She hated feeling so insecure but it seemed impossible not to when in love with someone like James.

Over the past two years, she had tolerated the way he stared at other women, the comments made to his friends when he didn't realize she had been listening. She knew the only reason he had agreed to marry her was that her father had thrown in an offer to raise his salary and promotion in his brokerage firm, but she didn't care about any of that. James was her world and despite his faults she truly and completely loved him.

"Would you like some coffee or maybe tea?" Christian asked, grateful that she seemed to have calmed herself.

"Tea would be wonderful, thank you," Lanie said thoughtfully, it should give her hope that James managed to maintain a male friend as attentive as Christian.

Christian called down to the front desk. "This is Mr. Orloff room 312. Yes, everything is fine but is it possible to have some tea, coffee and a couple of your cheese and fruit danishes sent to the room. Yes, just add it to my bill. Thank you." Christian said hanging up the phone and rejoined Lanie on the couch.

"You said James didn't come home last night. You live with him?" Christian asked knowing James returned to his apartment because he had put him in the taxi himself, and then to assure he made it in one piece Christian accompanied him for the ride. He even helped him to the front door. Outside of putting him to bed Christian had done everything he could think of to make sure he got home safe. He hadn't a clue where else he could be.

"Well, no," Lanie said her face blushing slightly. She was not the kind of woman who talked about things of an intimate nature but pressed on in the hopes of finding James. "We don't live together precisely, but James usually..." her pale skin blushed again, "he usually stays with me...at night," she concluded shyly.

Once again, Christian had to wonder how James managed to steal the hearts of these good girls. "I can tell you last night he was here, quite late in fact but I brought him back to his apartment myself," Christian said hoping it would alleviate some of her fears that something terrible had happened.

Instead, Lanie's eyes began to glaze over again. "Well, I had already stopped there. Which is why I had hoped..." her voice died as she struggled with her emotions not wishing to embarrass herself by crying again.

"I take it then you have a key?" Christian asked her, thinking it a rather forward question but if she just rang the bell James may have been too hung over to answer.

Lanie shied away and then nodded her head yes. "I know why he was here last night," Lanie said to him, meeting him eye to eye for the first time.

"I didn't think there would have been any reason you wouldn't have?" Christian told her. "I know it seems like a stupid tradition, one last hurrah before marriage but I can tell you James kept his promise. He had told me no strippers."

Lanie sighed in relief she knew Christian must think she was crazy the way she stormed into his room demanding to see James, but all day and night Lanie kept imagining James with various other women that his friends may have retained the services of for the party. She knew how James struggled to keep his hands to himself and as far as she knew he had never cheated on her but with so much temptation... well. She felt more confident because of Christian's admission.

"We were up late last night," Christian said, "Maybe he was too wound up to sleep and decided to get an early start on the day," he knew it sounded lame but he was at a loss. He was beginning to wonder himself where James could be because when he had dropped him off last night he could barely walk on his own and that was around 5 a.m. and it was eight thirty now.

"I guess," Lanie said thinking it may be plausible, although it didn't seem likely.

There was a knock on the door. Christian grinned at Lanie. "Thank God, I don't know about you but I can use something strong to drink and it's, unfortunately, way too early for hard liquor."

Lanie smiled back. In her rush to find James she hadn't eaten breakfast and a danish and tea sounded wonderful.

Christian reached for the door handle when mysteriously it turned and opened itself. Christian thought it odd that room service would just enter on their own, but stepped aside so they could. Only it wasn't room service that strolled into the room. "Chris, Hi! I hope I didn't wake you. I just forgot to...."

Sheila stopped speaking and quickly palmed the keycard in her hand when she took in the sight before her. Christian stood there, barely dressed in a robe loosely tied around his waist, gaping open for a nice view of his muscled chest and then there was the prim looking woman sitting on his couch who obviously looked just as shocked as Christian did that Sheila was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry," Sheila said trying to back out of the room, looking at Christian and then to the seated woman. "I should have called first. I just didn't want to wake you." Sheila wished that the floor would somehow open and swallow her whole.

If only she hadn't forgotten to return his key card and collect her music player. She would have left the key card at the front desk but she couldn't find anyone to help her. Figuring Christian would be asleep from his long night she thought she would just slip in, grab her player and leave the key before work. What a mistake that was.