A week later...

"Colt," Dana said as she opened the front door. She purposely looked over his shoulder to avoid the eyes of her sworn enemy, Jesse's cousin and male best friend.

"Dana," He replied just as coldly and pushed past her to get into her apartment.

Jesse and Summer had completely moved out a few days after Dana got back. They moved into the house Jesse had been renovating for the past year. It was nearly completed. What was left was mostly cosmetic inside and out. More furniture, decorations, and things were still needed, but it was in living condition.

Jesse was focused now on building a large four car garage with a carpentry workshop for him and the space above would become Dana's apartment. Dana was touched that Jesse still wanted her to move in with him even if it wasn't quite in the same house. She'd be right next door and could see Jesse and Summer whenever she wanted.

Dana and Jesse had talked about living together their entire lives. After college, it was a given they would get an apartment together. When Jesse bought and started renovating his house, Dana became worried he didn't want her around anymore, but when she was brave enough to broach the subject, she was floored that Jesse had just assumed she would be moving with him. He said he was going to ask her formally when the house was closer to being done, but he didn't expect an answer other than 'of course, that's always been the plan'.

Dana had felt bad about how she asked him. It was part of three wishes he had given her as a going away present when she left for Italy.  It was a game they played for fun and it seemed at the time like a less awkward way to talk to Jesse about it.

The second part of the wish was to invite Summer to move in with them. Jesse wasn't sure about that as he'd only ever spoken to Summer on the phone, he felt it would be awkward for them all to live together and he knew eventually he would have to kick them out when he got into a serious relationship.

Dana and Jesse had already discussed Dana living above the garage when Jesse was ready to marry, so it would be a simple thing for Summer to move in with Dana when the time came, so Jesse had quickly agreed after meeting Summer in person. They had always planned on building at least two bedrooms plus an office for Dana. Enough for a small family, if she wanted to stay close to Jesse and his family  when Dana finally wanted to settle down herself.

She would now never even get to live in the beautifully restored mansion since Jesse and Summer got married before the paint was even dry. Dana's heart clenched at the thought of losing that opportunity. She had been looking forward to living there with Jesse. But she understood Jesse and Summer were married now. Despite them both being her best friends, she needed to give them their privacy as newlyweds and soon to be parents.

Dana snapped back to attention with a clearing of a throat. Colt was looking at her oddly and Dana wondered how long she had been standing there thinking about her roommate situation. 

He took a step forward and opened his mouth as if to say something. 

Dana crossed her arms and waited for his upcoming criticism of her wasting his time or something equally annoying. His blue-green eyes flickered from her arms to her face and she was surprised how they were filled with concern.

She looked away not wanting his pity. Colt had to know that she was upset about basically being kicked out of the house by her two bestfriends. He knew of Jesse and her plan to always live with or next to each other since the day they met.

She and Summer had lived together in college and it was like having a sister and bestfriend all rolled into one. Dana had missed Summer terribly when they both moved back home once they graduated. They still kept in touch, but never saw each other until Summer's job moved her to Dana and Jesse's hometown.

Dana had been looking forward to living with Summer again. Of having that almost sister-like bond again. Jesse was like a brother to her. She had imagined the three of them laughing as they made dinner together, chatting while they sat on the back deck, while looking up at the stars. It was all in her head that they'd live together for a few years until they all met Mr. or Ms. Right. She just didn't know Jesse and Summer would be each other's Mr. and Ms. Right and she'd be left being a third wheel.

It was amazing of Jesse and Summer to still let her build the apartment above their garage. They were amazing, but...

Colt shook the rolled up tubes in his hand, they made a noise as they rubbed together, snapping her back into the present again. "Dana? You ready?"

Colt was an architect and was designing the whole thing though Jesse had given Dana free rein to do whatever she wanted to the apartment. Dana was paying for half of it and was the one going to be living there after all. Thus, Colt's reason for being in her apartment. Alone.

She couldn't remember when she and Colt had ever been alone in a room together. Dana doubted they ever had been as people knew not to leave them alone since they never got along when there were other people around.

Dana sighed with the thought of the assured upcoming argument, then straightened her shoulders ready to do battle, if necessary. "Let's get this over with, huh?" Dana said, moving into the living room.

Colt set the long rolls of paper and a laptop on the coffee table and turned around to look at her. Dana finally truly looked at him and stared.

The Colt in front of her was not the Colt she knew. He was in a dark blue suit with a white shirt and a blue and red striped tie. He was looking totally GQ.

His rugged scent filled the room, a light hint of sawdust, cigarettes, and some other manly smell she couldn't describe. Dana was never affected by his scent. Now, it made her weak in the knees.

His eyes didn't look at her harshly as they usually did. Her eyes met his and they didn't scowl. There was a hint of amusement in them that reminded her of the other James family members. They were friendly, inviting, soft, and downright sexy.

Dana suddenly realized she was totally attracted to Colt. To Colt! The man that infuriated her on a daily basis even if she didn't see or hear from him. His mere existence had always bothered her.

And now, within seconds of letting him into her home, she was getting all hot and bothered over him.

"What?!" he demanded, shifting uncomfortably.

"Where is Colt and what have you done with him?" she asked laughing as she tugged lightly on the sleeve of his suit jacket, passing by him to get to the couch.

He frowned."What? You've never seen me in a suit before?" He looked down at his body.

"Can't recall that I have," she said, flouncing onto the couch. Her skirt flipped as she went down, giving him an even nicer view of her amazing legs.

"Grandpa James' funeral, maybe?" Colt asked, trying to think of when she would have seen him in a suit.

She shrugged. "Wasn't paying attention to anyone then."

Colt nodded in understanding; it had been a tough day for all of them. Grandpa James had long ago welcomed Dana as an honorary member of the family, long before Colt had even met this distant branch of his family. He could admit to himself now that he'd been jealous as hell about Dana's relationship with his family. They loved her unconditionally and he'd always felt like the interloper.

Colt turned from her, pushing away old memories and pulled off his jacket. Glancing over his shoulder as he felt her eyes on him,  he rolled up his shirt sleeves.  Colt sat down in Jesse's Lazy Boy chair and loosened his tie. He pulled it off and tossed it behind him and then proceeded to unbutton the top three buttons of his dress shirt.

"Better," Dana muttered, sipping her beer.

She'd hoped his getting a little less formal would help her feel more like she had before about him. But it didn't help. She still found him utterly sexy, especially since she just got a little taste of a striptease. She couldn't help but stare at the little patch of skin at the base of his throat he'd revealed.

"Got one of those for me?" Colt asked, his chin jutting out a fraction, and his eyes on her drink.

She only lifted her index finger from the beer bottle and pointed it towards the fridge. He got up and helped himself to one.

Colt came back in the living room, set his beer on the table, then leaned over to open his laptop. Dana watched him. What was different about him? Was it because she'd been away for three months that she forgotten what Colt looked like?

She might have hated the guy, but she'd always known he was gorgeous. She wasn't dead. But she had always had managed to see past his looks and into the irritating guy behind them.

"Why are you wearing a suit?" Dana asked annoyed when she noticed that he noticed she was watching him.

"I had to meet clients," he muttered, looking back at his computer screen and continued typing.

"I figured you met them in ripped jeans and a dirty old tee-shirt." Dana leaned back on the couch and crossed her legs casually.

His eyes flickered to her bare legs and Dana suppressed the shock of desire that shot up her body. She pressed her knees tightly together to stop herself from shifting.

Colt cleared his throat, his eyes flickering back up to hers. "Funny," he said, turning the laptop around to face her.

He sat down on the couch next to her but with a comfortable space between them.

He clicked on the trackpad. "Okay. Here's the garage."

"Wow," Dana sat forward to get a better look.

"I know; it's bigger than Jesse had originally planned, but we figured we'd add his workshop on the side. So, you're going to get extra space above for your apartment." He looked at her to study her reaction.

She only stared at the computer. Colt flipped the screen to the next picture. "Here's the basic floor plan."

Dana looked it over. She had no idea Colt was such a talented architect. Of course, she'd been told that and that was why Jesse had hired him to help with the house and to create the garage and apartment. But to see his talent in person was a different story.

"We can move things around if you don't like the arrangement. This is only a draft," he said and then took a swig of his beer.

"No, it's fine," she answered quietly.

He laughed.

"What?!" she protested.

"It's fine? God, I thought I'd be here all night," Colt chuckled and let the back of his head fall against the couch.

She looked at the rendering on his screen. "The master closet could be bigger," she eyed it critically.

"It's a walk-in!" he exclaimed, sitting back up.

Something, anything to argue with her about he'd take. He couldn't stand his plan of trying to be nicer. Of trying to make her like him.

Dana indicated on the screen with the manicured tip of her index fingernail. "How 'bout getting rid of this third bedroom and making it the closet?"

He looked at her in shock.

She shrugged."What do I need three bedrooms for?"

"What the hell you need a closet that big for?" He challenged.

Dana smiled. "I like clothes. And shoes. Lots and lots of shoes," she said, her face taking on a dreamy expression, like when she ate chocolate.

"Jesus," Colt muttered and took a swig of beer.

"Okay. Maybe not that big. But can you make it a little bigger? Cut into that closet?"

"You don't want your guests to have a closet?"

"What do they need a walk in for? Besides, it's not like I get guests anyways."

"Fine," He muttered and reached for the rolled up papers on the table. Colt opened them and spread them out.

He pulled out a pencil from his laptop bag and drew over the master closet and enlarged it into the next room. "Happy?"

"Very much so," Dana grinned, peering over his shoulder at the plans.

Her breast had rubbed against his back and Colt sucked in a breath.

"Is that it? Can I go?" he asked, shifting uncomfortably on the couch. It was unbearable being so close to Dana and not be able to touch her.

"Why do I need such a big kitchen?" she asked with a frown.

"What? You don't cook?" Colt asked defensively. Every woman he'd ever met wanted a big kitchen.

"Now who's being funny?" Dana asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Colt blew out a breath. "Well, what do you want to do with the space?"

"How 'bout cutting it in half and making this area here a library?"

He looked at her confused. "A library?"

"Yes, Dana reads," she said like a caveman.

"I didn't mean it like that," Colt said sincerely, sketching on the paper.

"Sorry to make you change everything," Dana replied softly, looking over his shoulder as he drew.

She truly meant it. Colt had done a great job and now she was messing things up just for the sake of arguing with him so she could ignore what her hormones were doing to her. Looking over his floorplans forced them to sit closer together and when she'd accidentally brushed against him she had wanted to lean into him. She wanted his warmth, the strength of his broad shoulders and muscular arms to wrap around her and tuck her against his hard chest. For him to stoke his long fingers through her hair and tell her everything was going to be okay, that she wasnt going to lose her friends, that she wasn't going to be alone.

What was she doing lusting after Colt? And wanting him to comfort her? What the hell was that about?

Colt shrugged. "That's what I do. Dont worry about it," he said, not looking up. Did Dana actually apologize to him?

"You know, this is the longest civilized conversation we've ever had," Dana said, leaning back against the couch again. She took a sip of her drink.

"And we haven't killed each other either," She added when he didn't respond.

He straightened, Colt looked over at her and his eyes hardened. They changed back into the old Colt. Dana sucked in a breath at the change. He grabbed his beer and took a swig. He leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes.

"Colt?" Dana asked concerned.

What did she say? She didn't say anything to piss him off. At least she didn't think she had. "What's wrong?"

"Give me a sec, would ya?" he snapped.

"Okay. Geez," she muttered.

He took another swig of beer and then set it on the table and stared at it. He held up his hands like he was stopping himself from saying something. Or doing something.

"Are you okay?" she asked concerned. Her. Concerned about Colt James.

"Fine. Look, Dana..." he coughed, "I, uh, I better go," he said, getting up.

"That's it?" Dana asked puzzled.

"Yeah, I can re-draw this and I'll get it back to you next week to look at." Colt shut down his laptop, snapped it closed, and shoved it into his bag.

"Whatever," Dana replied, getting up.

What had she said to make him suddenly switch back to the irritating Colt he always was?

She watched him pick up and quickly roll up the floorplans like he was late for something.

"See ya, Dane," Colt called over his shoulder and was out the door.