Blinking he barely registered her shocked gasp as he continued to stare at her. She was beautiful. Rose pink nipples crest beautifully rounded breasts. He catches himself before he reaches out to caress one to see if it is as smooth as it looks. Missing his hesitation Skye quickly glances down emitting a small squeak before covering herself with her arms. Guiltily he notes the blush staining her cheeks and the small fingers playing with a thread one the stained top now clutched in her hand.

"I'm so sorry." He begins.

"Don't worry. It's my fault I didn't lock the door properly." She stammers still inspecting the floor.

"Still I should've have just barged in." Guilt flooded him yet he still couldn't bring himself to look away though he knew he should leave her in peace. She was so beautiful it was hard to look away from her.

"It doesn't matter as your gay."

Skye cringed to herself as the words left her mouth. Now so wasn't the time to have a motor mouth but there was something about this guy that scattered her wits and made her blurt out exactly what she was thinking. Staring at the floor she wished it would open up and take her away from this place.

"I'm sorry." She stuttered. "I know it's supposed to be a secret."

'Damn Tripp. How could he have got him into this mess.' Ward wondered, watching as she tried to regain control of herself.

"Don't worry about it." He said in his best soothing manner, or what he hoped was soothing. He'd never been very good at setting people at ease. "As I said it's my fault for barging in. If I hadn't you wouldn't have found yourself in this position." How was he supposed to deal with this? Anyone who was gay wouldn't spend there time staring at her breasts, how would they deal with this? Just laugh it off? He didn't want to seem like a jerk? This was going to get complicated quickly.

"It's fine. I mean it's ok being half naked because you're gay."

'What are you saying?' She screamed internally wondering how he'd react to that.

"Of course." She must be projecting her feeling upon him because she could've sworn he sounded almost panicked.

He was going to kill Tripp. She was so sweet and innocent; he didn't want to lead her on like this. Sure he could be a jerk at times but pretending to be gay was a new low. Besides it was becoming painfully obvious how attracted to her he was, there was no way he could keep up the pretence of being gay. He'd only been around her a small amount of time and he already wanted to kiss her senseless.

"How about I go and find you a jumper of mine seeing as I ruined your top?"

"Thanks. I'm sorry about the gay comment." It was the first time she raised her eyes to his since he entered the bathroom. The blush was slowly fading from her cheeks, leaving her with a rosy glow that took his breath. Oh he was definitely in trouble.

As Ward left, or as she suspected fled from the bathroom, she turned to face the mirror, grimacing at her old bra. Of all the times it would give up the ghost why did it have to be now? Just at the most embarrassing time. And then she had to go and blurt out about him being gay. If she didn't need a top she would've fled out of the house and never looked back.

The grin stretching his face was an unfamiliar feeling but he couldn't help it. The grey jumper that was slightly small on him absolutely enveloped her slight figure. If it wasn't for the blush that flooded her checks every time she glanced at him kept the drab grey from completely washing her out. He had to stop his mind from wandering, wondering what she would look like in more of his clothes. In his shirts, partially buttoned up, nothing on underneath. Mentally scolding himself he tuned back in to the conversation around the dinner table, hoping it would stop his wandering thought.

"How's Cal Skye?" Tripp enquired as he passed her a small glass of wine.

"Not good. He keeps trying to hide it but I don't think he'll hold up much longer." Her lower lip trembled slightly as she kept her eyes on her food.

"Chin up girl. I'm sure everything will be fine."

Grant watched as she nodded slightly, certain that everyone else missed the single tear that trickled down her cheek. As the conversation moved on to different topics he could still see the lingering pain in her eyes.

"Hey." He softly caught her attention. "Are you busy tomorrow? I was just thinking I could take you out for dinner."

"No I'm not busy. Can we go somewhere with cake?"

"Cake?"

"Sure I just fancy really good cake."

"I'm sure I can find somewhere like that for us. So around 7? Give you enough time to go home and change if you want after work."

"I don't need to change. I can meet you straight after work."

Taken aback he nodded in agreement. Every woman he'd ever taken out had insisted on changing before going out with him, needing time to repair make up and put on heels. Skye was definitely going to be a shock to his system.

"Sure. I look forward to it."

God he hated shopping. Ten stores and he still hadn't managed to find a replacement for Skye's top. How hard could it be? There was a good reason why he never went shopping. Everything was different sizes and slightly different shades, why call something dusky mint when it was clearly green? Why did they make everything complicated? Then there were the assistants who clearly pegged how uncomfortable he was. They followed him around, advising him on how he couldn't live without these claret towels, they would brighten any bathroom. Checking his watch he reasoned he could visit a few more shops before he met Skye for their date. He wanted to be able to replace her top by then. Sighing he entered another store, only noticing it was a lingerie store once he entered. There to his relief was her top. Pulling one from the rack he considered it before grabbing another, she seemed to really like it so why shouldn't he get another one.

Approaching the kiosk he caught sight of a rack of bras, delicate and lacy so unlike the one Skye had been wearing.

"You're first time in a lingerie store?" An assistant appeared by his side fluffing her spikey red hair.

"It's that obvious?"

"You seem a little uncomfortable. Is there anything I can help with?" She asked fluttering her eyelashes slightly.

"Actually yes. I was wanting to get one of those…" He trailed off as he pointed to the bras.

"But you're not sure on size? I'm sure we can figure it out. What can you tell me about your?"

"Sister."

"Sister. Not many brothers buy bras for their sisters."

"What can I say? I'd do anything for my sister." God he hoped Jemma never heard about this. "Anyway she'd about yay tall and skinny." He indicated Skye's height with his hands.

"I don't think that tells us quite enough." The assistant laughed. "I can guess the back size but do you have any idea about cup size?"

"Cup size?"

"You know a B or a D?" She indicated pointing to her own chest. Unbidden an image of Skye last night rose in his mind. Reaching out to the bras he grabbed one that looked about the right size.

"This will do."

"Certainly sir."

Tripp had assured him that this was the best restaurant in town for deserts, but it wasn't until he saw Skye's face light up as she spotted the cake counter that he knew he'd made the right choice. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her face free of make up.

"Sorry I'm late. Traffic was a nightmare." She rushed up once she spotted him.

"Don't worry about it." He held her seat for her, waiting till she was sat before taking his own seat. "I hope this restaurant appeases your need for cake." He teased.

"Oh I'm sure it will." He eyes widened as a cream confection passed them, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. Swallowing down the lust that simple movement filled him with he reached for the bag beside his feet.

"My top." She grinned as she opened the bag, checking out the contents. Inspecting the bra carefully without removing it from the bag she was startled by how much she liked it. Pale pink lace wasn't her normal choice, she preferred simple black or purple, but she could see herself wearing this one.

"Thank you." She hoped she could convey how grateful she was for everything not just the clothes with the two simple words. To her amusement he looked away as if embarrassed by her gratitude.

"You're welcome. You deserve some pretty things. I hope you don't mind if I talk about our deal before we eat?"

Shaking her head she played with the ice in her drink as she focused on him aware that most of the women and some of the men in the restaurant had their eyes on him. He could have

Whoever he wanted.

"I'm leaving tomorrow as I have business back in New York but wanted to make sure everything was ok between us. Also I know the money is for your dad's operation so I was thinking I should arrange the transfer to you as soon as possible. I know you're worried about him, this way he can have the operation as soon as possible."

"Aren't you worried I would just run off with your money?"

"No. I trust you. Tripp is a good judge of character and he swears by your honesty. Plus if you did run off at least I've managed to help someone."

'Is this guy even really?' She wondered staring at him in amazement. 'How can he just shrug something like that off?'

"I'm not going to runoff with the money." She choked out.

"Oh good. I'm not going to have to hunt you down then." He grinned and Skye swore she heard a woman beside them melt. Damn he was attractive.

"I guess I'll have to give you my contact details then."

"Well it's that or I stalk you over Facebook but that isn't really socially acceptable." She joked, delight as he began to laugh. He was so serious but he had such a beautiful smile. While she was away with him she was going to make it her mission to make him laugh as much as possible.

Eight weeks later and Skye was stumbling through a crowd of people. The plane ride had drained her more than she expected. Right now all she wanted to do was slouch in comfy pants and sleep. Stumbling through security she had to wait ages for her bags to be off loaded. Glancing around the arrivals hall she couldn't find any sign of Grant. Scanning the crowd she felt her eyes begin to fill.

"Come on. There's no reason to cry. You can just get a taxi if he's forgotten you. Everything will be fine."

Moving forward slowly dragging her case behind her she caught a glimpse of familiar cheekbones. Dashing over to him before she thought about it she flung her arms around his neck, clinging on for dear life.

He wasn't expecting her to throw herself on him, but he could feel her trembling, guilt leaving a horrible taste in his mouth. Pulling her closer he gently whispered in her ear.

"I'm sorry I should have picked a different flight."

"It's fine. Really. I'm just tired. I get a bit emotional when tired." She murmured into his shoulder.

"Then let's get you out of here."

When she eventually detached herself from him he held out a tissue for her, giving her time to compose herself. Placing a guiding arm around her waist he gathered her belongs and lead her out to his car.

"How was your flight?"

"It was good thanks. I'm just not used to the long travel. How did your business meetings go?"

"Good. Thanks. It's been a busy few weeks." But not busy enough. He'd spent far too much time daydreaming about her. He'd missed her greatly. The eight weeks had driven him to distraction. He'd wished he could speed up time. He'd missed her so much he'd been unable to pass a day without emailing her.

"How's your dad? Did the operation go alright?"

"He's fine thanks. Definitely on the mend."

Her mind travelled back to a few weeks ago, the worry as her father went down for his operation. Her and her mother had clung to each other with hours seeming like days. Eventually he'd been moved to the ICU. As the operation had gone well they'd assumed that everything was going to be all right yet he'd managed to catch pneumonia. Thankfully after a course of strong antibiotics he was recovering and now was back home resting with the rest of the family. Catching Grant's smile at the news she couldn't help but notice once again how attractive he was. It was too bad he was gay.

"Oh I wanted to talk to you about something." She mentioned hesitantly.

"Sure."

"It's just I didn't tell them about you and why I was coming away. I pretended it was a trip with work."

"You could've just said I was your boyfriend."

"Yeah I think that would've been worse then saying you were my pretend boyfriend."

"Fair enough." He laughed, showing off his great cheekbones again.

The drive didn't take that long for New York yet as they travelled Skye was fast asleep. Arriving at his parent's house he watched her sleep for a moment debating waking her. Frowning at the thought he quietly extracted himself from the car before gently lifting her into his arms. As he carried her through the door she nuzzled into his chest, bringing herself close to him. From the clock in the wall he gathered that his family would be having afternoon tea. They would expect him and Skye to join them but he couldn't bear to inflict them on her just yet, especially not as sleepy as she was.

"So I guess this is her then?" A sharp voice echoed through the hall drawing his attention away from the sleeping woman in his arms. Stood down the other end of the hall was a tall woman, immaculately dressed in a dark suit and black heels. Red highlights in her hair reflected her mood well he observed.

"Hello Aunt Victoria."

Sorry this took so long. Graduation and jobs suddenly took over my life. Good news is graduation is next week so I should have some more free time after this.