Haley pushed her glasses up her nose, took a sip of Coke and simply flipped him off as she walked out of the room.

  Great. He was already fucking this up, he thought, walking after her. She slammed the bedroom door shut in his face. After counting to ten, twice, he knocked on the door.

  "Go. Away."

  Sighing heavily, he opened the door just in time to see the bathroom door slammed shut. He walked over to the bed and sat down.

  "Haley, I-"

  "Look, Jason, I really can't do this with you right now," Haley said, not bothering to open the door to face him, making Jason wonder if her pushover tendencies were once again showing up. That wouldn't be good for either one of them. He needed her to deal with him, not simply avoid him. "Let me finish getting dressed them I'll give you a ride to a hotel."

  "No," he said firmly. There was no way in hell he was leaving. They were going to work this out whether she liked it or not and he had a feeling she didn't.

  "Fine," she grated out. "Then I'm leaving."

  Oh hell no.

  If she left now there'd be no stopping her from leaving his ass for good. There was no doubt in his mind that she didn't intend on giving him a ride home now, which would mean that he probably wouldn't get home until tomorrow afternoon. By then she could be anywhere doing her best to convince herself that she could do better, she could, but that wasn't the point. He couldn't let her walk away from him, not now, not ever.

  He threw a quick look at the door before rushing over to Haley's little backpack that she liked to call a purse. He tore through it until he found what he needed. No doubt this was only going to piss her off more, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He pocketed her wallet and quickly checked her discarded pants, stealing the money she had in the front pocket, and her car keys before rushing out of the room.

  It only took him a minute to find the perfect hiding spot, one of the dozens of decorative baskets lining the ceiling. There was no way in hell Haley was going to reach it never mind find it. After a minute he decided to add her cell phone as well. He shut it off and added it to the pile and covered his tracks.

  Knowing there was no way Haley could leave him until they worked things out, Jason relaxed for the first time since this whole thing started. He walked to the kitchen feeling confident that his little plan was going to work.

  He grabbed a cold soda from the fridge, wishing it was a beer, and headed for the beach. As long as his little grasshopper wasn't allowed to drink then he wouldn't drink. Not that he really expected her to be pregnant from one time, but he wasn't taking any chances.

  Until he knew for sure that she wasn't pregnant with their baby she wasn't so much as looking at a drop of alcohol, which was probably going to make it more difficult to deal with him. Granted it might help his case if he got her drunk, but he wasn't willing take the risk of harming any possible baby or having her throw it in his face later that she hadn't known what she was doing when she forgave him. He wanted her stone cold sober for this, especially since she was most likely going to be the one to figure out how to fix this since he was pretty sure he'd only manage to fuck this up more.

  "You bastard!" he heard Haley yell from somewhere behind him.

  He looked back at her and smiled, watching as she stormed over to him with her little fists swinging by her side. She shoved her glasses back up her nose, glaring at him against the bright sunlight.

  "What did you do with it, you bastard?" she demanded, coming to a halt two feet from him.

  "What?" he asked innocently, taking a sip of soda.

  "You know what!" she snapped.

  "Hmm, I really don't," he mused, trying not to smile when she growled in irritation.

  "My wallet," she bit out through clenched teeth. "I need it back so I can leave."

  "Then you're not getting it," he said, shrugging his shoulders. She thought he was going to help her leave him? Damn, his little grasshopper still had so much to learn.

  "Fine," she bit out. "Give me my cell phone so I can call someone," she demanded, holding out her hand expectantly.

  "Sorry, I can't do that either," he said, sighing heavily. Really, did she not know him at all?

  "What about my car keys?" she asked, eyeing him cautiously.

  He pursed his lips up in thought. It would be best for both of them if she was limited to the cottage and the center of town a mile down the road.

  "No, sorry that's not going to work for me either."

  "This is kidnapping!" she sputtered in disbelief.

  "No, it's not."

  "Yes, it is!"

  "Nope."

  "What the hell would you call it?" she demanded, snatching his soda from him and finishing it off.

  "A romantic getaway?"

  She snorted.

  "If you really don't want to be here, then go inside and use the house phone to call someone," he suggested innocently.

  She looked close to breaking out her cute little fists of fury. "You know damn well that I don't have any of the phone numbers memorized," she snapped. Yes, he really did know that. Haley, thankfully, depended heavily on technology. Once a number went into her contact list she never looked at it again. That little tidbit of information used to earn an eye roll from him, but now it pleased him immensely.

  "Then I guess you're stuck here," he said, biting back a smile.

  Her eyes narrowed dangerously on him.

  "So," he said brightly, "do you want to go for a swim, go fishing," he gestured to the long rock wall that went out about three hundred yards into the ocean, "or are you hungry? I can whip some burgers up in no time."

  With one last look that promised bodily harm, Haley stormed off back to the cottage.

  Jason walked back to the cottage not even bothering to check the sliding glass doors. Haley's little smug smile had told him everything he needed to know. She'd locked him out. He'd allow her this little victory, he decided as he scooped up his shirt off the lounge chair and pulled it on and headed for town. There was probably no need to tell her that he snatched the cottage keys already.

  She'd have to come to him sooner or later.

  Chapter 23

  Three o'clock in the morning and Haley was close to crying. She was so unbelievably tired. Her head was pounding and she felt sick to her stomach. She hadn't slept in five days.

  Not one single wink.

  Sadly it had nothing to do with the cottage. The bed was firm, just the way she liked it, the air conditioner ran perfectly keeping the little cottage at a cool 68 degrees, and the only noise to be heard was the sound of the waves crashing against the beach. She really wished there was something to complain about, because that would mean going to one of the hotels down the road would provide her with the sleep her body desperately needed.

  The reason she couldn't sleep was quite simple. The bastard who refused to leave no matter how many times she begged, pleaded or threatened was one hundred percent responsible for this little problem. Being this dependent on another person for sleep was not healthy or normal, but no matter how many times she tried to get that message across to her exhausted body it wouldn't listen.

  She tried everything over the past three days. At first she thought relaxation would do the trick, so she'd taken about a dozen hot baths, read a few books, and even tried a relaxing moonlit stroll along the beach. When relaxation didn't work she moved onto vigorous activity. She tried swimming, long vigorous walks, and cleaning the cottage from top to bottom.

  Absolutely nothing worked. There was no way she could handle another day without sleep, never mind the four days Jason was determined to keep her for.

  She sat up in bed and kicked the sheet away. Damn it. If she was going to be stuck with him, then she might as well get something out of it. She threw open her door and walked down the short hallway.

  Jason looked over at her and sighed. She wasn't too surprised to find him awake. It seemed this little addiction went both ways, thankfully, because if she was going to suffer than so was he. Granted his inability to sleep might have more to do with the small wicker chairs he was forced to sit in all night.

  "I don't know what you did, but you wrecked sleep for me and since you won't give me back my things I've decided that you will allow me the use of your body for sleep," she clarified, afraid he might get the wrong idea, "until we go home and I can get a prescription for sleeping pills from my doctor."

  Jason simply looked at her through red shot eyes. "Okay," she said firmly, nodding to herself. "Move your butt," she said, gesturing for him to head to the bedroom.

  "No," he said softly.

  She narrowed her eyes on him. "Don't make me hurt you, Jason. I am way too tired for any bullshit tonight, so move your ass."

  He stubbornly shook his head. "Not until you promise to spend the last four days with me."

  "No."

  They broke up and he really needed to accept that, especially since they returned to work in two weeks. She didn't want to have to deal with any of this nonsense at work. He needed to accept this so they could both move on. It was already hard enough being around him and not being able to touch him.

  She loved him so much and this was killing her. The best thing he could do for both of them was to let her go now so she would have some time, even a few days, to mourn their relationship. She already knew she'd have to put her house on the market and look for a new job as soon as she got back.

  After this she knew she would never manage to be in the same room with him or spot him walking around outside without feeling her heart break. She needed to put as much space between them as she could if she hoped to survive this.

  "We have four days left, Haley. If you want to sleep then you'll give me what I want."

  "You need sleep just as much as I do," she pointed out.

  He nodded his agreement. "I'm willing to go without if that's what it takes."

  "We're not getting back together," she said, feeling more exhausted than she had five minutes ago.

  "I'm not asking for that, Haley. I'm asking for some real time with you."

  "You expect me to believe that?"

  "Yes," he said, sounding as exhausted as she felt. "I just want time with you."

  She considered him for a moment. At this point she was willing to fork over her kidneys if it meant getting some sleep. "Fine," she said slowly. "But just time. No kissing, sex, or touching."

  He sighed with obvious relief as he got to his feet. "That's fine," he said, walking past her to the bedroom. She followed him, eager to finally get some sleep.

  "Underwear stays on," she announced, as she walked into the room.

  Jason yanked his underwear back on, probably too tired to argue, and flopped down on the bed. After a slight hesitation, Haley lay down and curled up against him. In a matter of minutes she felt her body relax and started to drift off.

  * * *

  "Oh my god, no! It's going to bite me!" Haley squealed, jumping back as the small crab moved towards her.

  Jason chuckled as he watched his little grasshopper run on her tippy toes, trying to get away from the small crab that really did seem to have it out for her. Every time Haley changed direction so did the crab.

  Now, Jason could very easily fix this little problem for his little grasshopper by picking her up, but he was following her rules. He only had four days left to convince her that she couldn't live without him, and if that meant he had to follow her rules to spend time with her than he was damn well going to follow them to a tee. He wasn't about to give her a reason to break their agreement.

  That's why an hour ago when he woke up to find Haley curled up in his arms, he quickly jumped out of bed and the hell away from her. She looked a little confused and hurt, and he almost ignored her rules and took her into his arms, but he forced himself to keep his head in the game. He said good morning and left her to take a shower, and not joining her had almost killed him, and made them lunch.

  After lunch it had taken a little prompting and about a dozen reminders that she promised to spend the last four days with him. With a resigned sigh she followed him to the beach. For the first time since he wrecked her flowers a heavy awkward silence rose between them.

  He bit back another apology, remembering what his father said, and walked next to her, trying to figure out what the hell he should say to her. Unfortunately Haley seemed to be just as uncomfortable as he was. He knew she was on the verge of suggesting that they go home again, when thankfully they'd found the little crab hell bent on attacking her.

  Now they both laughed, watching the little crab's antics, the awkward silence forgotten.

  "Jason!" Haley shrieked as the crab made a grab for her toes.

  Sighing, Jason bent over and plucked the small crab up. He raised it so he could look at its tiny little buggy eyes. "It's kind of cute."

  Haley squished up her face adorably. "If you say so."

  He noticed that she didn't make any move to take a closer look. In fact, it looked as if she was trying to discretely step away. Jason bit back a smile as he held it out to her. She squealed, jumping back and almost fell on her ass in the ocean.

  "Get it away from me!"

  "Aw, come on, Haley. He just wants a little kiss," Jason said, shoving the crab towards her once again. "Just a little kiss."

  Haley giggled even as she ducked out of the way.

  "Come on, he likes you!" Jason said, chuckling as he chased after her.

  "Go away!" Haley said, laughing so hard that she stumbled several times, but somehow managed to take off when the crab came within her personal space.

  "I swear to god, I'm going to kick your ass for this!"

  * * *

  Haley dropped her book as she latched onto Jason's arm and tried to drag him away.

  "That's false advertisement!" Jason said, heading back for the door that they'd been unceremoniously kicked out of ten minutes ago. "The sign says, 'All you can eat.'"

  Thankfully the last several months in Jason's company had pretty much cured her problem of embarrassing easily, otherwise she'd probably be turning bright red right now and wishing for a hole in the ground to open up and swallow her whole as people stopped to gawk at them.

  "They were closing," she pointed out softly.

  "That's no excuse," he said, glaring at the wait staff that watched them nervously from behind the curtains.

  "I think they ran out of food," Haley said, doing her best not to laugh when he pouted.

  "Bastards," Jason muttered.

  "Come on, I'll let you treat me to a late movie," she said, tugging on his arm. He reluctantly let her lead him away, only throwing the occasional look of longing towards the restaurant. Haley did her best not to roll her eyes. The man was way too obsessed with food. As they stepped into the long line outside the movie theatre a thought occurred to her.

  "You never brought me to a buffet restaurant at home," she pointed out. Now that she thought about it she was really surprised that he hadn't. It seemed like the perfect type of restaurant for Jason, heck, for Jason and his father. They both adored food, which is probably why his parents stopped with just one child. Just the thought of a bunch of little Jason's running around eating their parents out of house and home was frightening.

  Jason mumbled something.

  "What?" she asked, tearing her eyes away from the list of movies playing.

  "I said, I've been banned," he grumbled unhappily. "It's all political," he sniffed.

  "Uh huh.......and your father?" she asked, already having a sneaking suspicion of what his answer was going to be.

  "He's been banned since 1995," Jason said with a shrug.

  "I see," she said, her lips twitching.

  "In two years the band in Las Vegas will be lifted. We're planning a big trip," he said, looking at her hopefully.

  Haley opened her mouth to remind him that they weren't going to be doing anything together in two years when she realized what he said.

  "You've been banned from Las Vegas?"

  "Not from Las Vegas, just from all the buffets," Jason said with a shrug as if it was no big deal.

  "All the buffets?" she asked, unable to hide her shock. There had to be hundreds of buffets in Las Vegas.

  "I guess they had a meeting or something. As I said before, it's all political," Jason said, gesturing for her to move up in line.

  She was too stunned to say anything for a few minutes. She knew they loved food, but wow......

  "What movie do you want to see?" Jason asked, pulling her from her frightening thoughts.

  Haley quickly scanned the list, about to tell Jason to go ahead and pick when she spotted a movie she'd been waiting to see for a while. How about "To hell and back?" she suggested.

  Jason frowned. "The one with Edward and Dana Pierce?"

  She nodded.

  "Fine," he said with an exaggerated eye roll, earning a smile from her. "A chick flick it is." He bought their tickets and headed for the concession stand. "I just need something to eat before I pass out."

  He reached out to take her hand, only to drop his hand away. His smile became polite as he gestured for her to go ahead of him. Haley forced a smile as she stepped in line ahead of him, reminding herself that this was exactly what she wanted. She wanted to go back to being friends, even if it was only for a little while, so Jason readily accepting that was a good thing, she told herself.

  After they bought their snacks, well Jason's snacks since she was still full, they found two seats in the middle towards the front. Thankfully the previews were already playing so Haley took the opportunity to get her head on straight. She really had to stop herself from wanting Jason to touch her, hold her, and kiss her.

  They broke up. Jason obviously accepted it and so should she. It was for the best no matter how much it made her want to cry.

  Chapter 24

  "You didn't have to buy dinner. I could have cooked," Haley pointed out as they followed a waitress to the back booth in the fifties style dinner.