Lissa Morgan walked along the busy street in New York city, talking on her cell as she kept an eye on the overcast sky. It was just mid September, but the rain had been threatening the residents for a week now and had not fully released itself. Her honey coloured hair had soaked up the moisture in the air and was loose and curly around her shoulders as she tried to toss is unsuccessfully over her shoulder. She laughed at something that Ian said on the other line, and glanced down to see where she was walking. The wind seemed to pick up at that moment, and chilled her legs bared by the rolled denim capris that she wore. Ian told her that he had to head to a sound check, and she said goodbye as he ended the call.

Lissa sighed as she started to shove her phone into her pocket, but a beep reminded her that she had received a text and she pushed the necessary button to check it. It was at that moment that the sky burst, and rain started to pour down steadily as she gasped. She shoved the Iphone into her pocket and looked around desperately for cover at the various store fronts as she yanked her thinner cotton jacket to her curvy body. "Shit," Lissa muttered, as her eyes fell on a dimly lit all glass gallery.

She smiled, and her cinnamon coloured eyes lit up as she hurried towards the front door, laughing as she opened the heavy store and slipped inside. Her black heels clicked on the black, red, and white patterned floor and she stepped in further and shook out her hair with a quick movement of her neck. She blushed a little when she realized it was relatively quiet inside, and glanced around at the faces looking curiously at her. "Sorry." Lissa whispered, fighting the urge to laugh again as she stepped inside and took a long look around. She loved it here, but it had been awhile since she had been to visit the well known art gallery.

 She blended in with the other people as best she could and slowly wandered around to look, losing herself on the beautiful pieces of work that were spread throughout the room and down the various corridors. She barely heard the soft classical music as she looked, feeling inspired as she smiled at the paintings in the beginning of one particular corridor.

Her phone beeped again and she bit her lip as she lost her focus. Lissa reached into her pocket and glanced at the screen just as she heard the sound of a crying child off to her side. She watched in shock as her phone flew out of her hand as she was pushed by a small body, and she closed her eyes as she prepared to hit the hard floor. She fell onto a warm body instead and she gasped as everything stilled. "Oh my god," Lissa whispered, as she slowly peeked through her eyes to see who she had fallen on. She just so happened to be straddling someone crookedly, and her eyes slid slowly up a very nice set of abs covered on a tight fitting tee to a very broad chest. "Fuck my life," Lissa murmured as she raised he eyes to see the face in question, and the blue-gray eyes that met hers made her forget her own name for a moment. They were large and shimmered with inquisitive interest as she gasped and moved away from him and the heat the she was feeling through her clothes. "I am so sorry."

"It was not your fault. I just wanted to prevent you from hurting yourself." His voice was low and seemed to stroke her skin with the words, and she blinked at him as she sat next to him. Her body tightened deep inside as she sat there, and her clothes seemed to be too constricting for her. She started to run her hand up her stomach until she came to her senses. "Are you okay?"

"Ummmmm, yeah. I think so." She stared at her phone that was across the floor, though not broken. "I hope that survived."

His eyes followed her gaze, and he sat up and looked back at her. "It isn't broken, from the looks of it."

"I am so sorry, Miss. Are you alright?" A piercing voice filled her ears and Lissa glanced up to see a harried looking woman clutching the arm of a sobbing girl that looked to be about five tightly. "I told her not to run. I was chasing her, but she ran into you and I am so sorry."

"I'm fine. He…." Lissa said, glancing at the intriguing stranger.

"Ethan. Ethan James," He answered her unspoken question, and she blushed.

"Ethan broke my fall. I guess the question is if he is okay," Lissa said, staring at him as their eyes locked.

"Just fine," Ethan said, and the woman breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did anything break in your purse? I can replace it," the woman continued, and Lissa looked down as she glanced surreptitiously at her phone. She looked back up at the woman with her daughter and a baby in a stroller, and shook her head.

"No. Everything is just fine," Lissa assured her, moving to her knees as Ethan stood up and offered her his hand. She took it, and the electricity between them made her suck in her breath as she held onto it long enough to be pulled up. .

"Well, good. This time no damage was done, Elena. But please don't run like that again, baby." The woman gave them both a resigned glance of apology, and they all walked away to another part of the building. She sighed and waked over to her phone, bending over to pick it up. It was not broken, and she fussed with the buttons for a moment to see nothing happening on the screen.

"Damn it," Lissa cursed softly, and shook her head.

"Allow me," Ethan said softly, and pushed something as she watched. She looked at him again and he met her eyes as he waited a moment. "You didn't tell her about this."

"No, of course not. She had the two kids and looked stressed enough. I could not ask her to buy me another Iphone," Lissa said, and shook her head. "It was an accident. Kids will be…kids, I suppose."

"Do you have any? Kids, I mean?" Ethan asked, and she shook her head slowly. "Oh, here we go." He handed her the phone, and she stared at his tousled dark brown hair as she reached out unconsciously for it. She stared at him for a long moment, unable to think about anything else, and he grinned at her. "Your phone."

"Oh. Yes." Lissa flushed as she blinked and looked away, and she glanced down at her screen to see it back to normal. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I think that you just saved my life."

"Well, then. Can we go have some coffee? A drink?" Ethan asked her, and he breath stilled in her throat. Logic took over, and she forced her heart to calm. "We could get to know each other."

"I….I don't think so. I have an appointment," Lissa told him, and smiled a fake smile as she looked towards his face. One more look into his eyes and she might crack. "But thank you so much for breaking my fall, and for saving my phone. I appreciate it." Lissa turned and walked away to another corridor, and leaned against the wall as she took a deep breath. Her body was still pulsing with the desire that overcame her as she breathed, and Lissa closed her eyes. She shoved her phone deeply into her large purse. "I need to get out of here," Lissa said, and hurried to the doors into the rain again.

She walked under as much under cover as she could, pulling her jacket to her in the chilly wind as she searched for somewhere to go. Lissa ended up ducking into a Starbuck's a block away, shivering and wet with the windy rain, and she stood in the long line as she wrapped her arms around her. She ordered a hot chai tea latte and took it to the seat near the fireplace, shocked that it was open. She sank back into the plush chair and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. Desire like that was dangerous. The last time she had felt anything remotely close it, it had only caused her heartbreak. Lissa opened her eyes and stared at her tea near the fire beside her, and sighed. She remembered the long forgotten text and reached for her phone, checking the text to see that he best friend Alexa had sent it. It was an invitation to a new club, and she grinned. That could be a good distraction.

Lissa drank her latte as she surfed the net on her phone, happy that it had not needed to be replaced. She glanced up as the door chimed, not knowing just why, and her eyes widened as she saw Ethan enter. He went to the now empty counter and ordered, and she watched until he turned to find a seat with his drink. She didn't think there were any empty seats near to her, but she had not really looked. Lissa remained alone for a couple of minutes, and she glanced up to see that he was at a table with his back to her. Lissa bit her full lip and sighed in relief as she looked back at her phone.

Her eyes kept drifting to him, taking in the small curl to his hair with one glance, and then the steel blue colour of his shirt that matched his eyes so well with another. You are twenty three years old, for fuck's sake. Stop staring like a girl in high school. Lissa stared out at the rain, feeling the need to run away again, but rain streaked the windows. She really had not believed that it would rain, and she had not dressed for it. She was at the mercy of mother nature, and she sat back and punched something up on her phone as she reached into her purse for some ear buds. The movie that she had downloaded that week seemed perfect, and she tried to focus on it but her eyes wanted to look again. When she finally gave in, her was looking intently at her. She stared for a moment, then blushed as she looked down again. Lissa felt hot, and she shrugged off her coat with a vicious shift of her shoulders as she blinked.

The rain stopped a half an hour later, and she could not pull on her now dry coat fast enough. Lissa drank the last sweet sip of her drink, and started out of the building without even looking at him even as she was forced to pass him. "Appointment?" Ethan said, and she looked at him with a sight scowl as she continued past. Damn his hypnotizing eyes and the way he grinned seductively at her as their eyes met. Lissa hurried out into the street and walked to her apartment a few blocks away, breathing in the cool air as she calmed herself down. She texted Alexa, agreeing to the club and she almost looked forward to a few drinks with the little redheaded pixie and some dancing.

She could call Ian, but she shrugged that off. They were really nothing. He was a guy she had dated a couple of times before he went on his US tour with his very popular band, and he was probably screwing a different girl in every city. She didn't particularly care if he was. It was his idea to talk during his six month absence, and she did enjoy his easy banter as she pictured his dark and endless eyes and chin length blonde hair. They had barely had time for her too feel too much after meeting at the photo shoot before he left for the road, and she was just going with his wishes to get to know her. She would never fall for him. It was not like Lissa to do that so easily, and she pushed the memory of the Ethan out of her mind.

Later that night, Lissa was dressed in a little black dress that swayed around her thighs as she walked into the new club in black stilettos with Alexa by her side. Her best friend's flame red hair was twisted around her face while Lissa had straightened hers for the night. Her lips were a classic red and her eyes brought out by a deep line of black eyeliner, and Alexa was wearing a bright green shadow and pink gloss. That was so like her, and they grinned at each other as they looked around. "Bar?" Alexa asked, and they headed there as they pushed through the crowd.

They ordered cosmos and pressed into the glossy wood of the bar as they surveyed the crowd. Every one of the best looking people in New York was there, and Lissa allowed her gaze to travel as she was safe with that. Nothing was real in a club, since she never allowed it to leave the room with her. Not anymore. They made their way to the extensive dance floor, covered in a black and white checkered pattern that Lissa stared down at as she began to move to the great techno beat. She lifted her eyes to see Alexa smiling as she moved as well, and the mass of bodies around her grew in size as she leaned her head back. They alternated between dancing and drinking over the next two hours, and Lissa excused herself to use the restroom as she felt the pressure that she could no longer ignore. She snuck in and waited impatiently in line as she shifted on her heels, and finally she darted into a stall. She came out and fixed her make up in the mirror, glancing at the line with a scowl as she left. That would be fun every time that she had to go.

She stepped out of the door, and a warm hand took a hold of her arm and spun her to the wall at the beginning of a dark hallway. She gasped and stared up as she tried to see who it was, with her heart beating through her chest as she froze. "How did that appointment go?" She stared into Ethan's eyes as he spoke close to her face, and sank back against the hall with a mixture of relief and irritation as his eyes moved down her body slowly, taking in her generous tease of cleavage and long legs.

.