Aidan stood in the doorway of his house with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, taking in the view. Kate was here. She was wheeling her suitcase up the front drive, with the famous hilltop Hollywood sign just visible on the horizon behind her.

"Hi," she said as she came up to the door and stopped in front of him.

He stood still for a moment, his face blank, studying her without a word. Was he happy to see her? She couldn't quite tell.

"Hi," he said at last.

"I probably should have called."

"No." He shook his head and reached out to take her hand. He pulled her into the house and kicked the door closed in one smooth motion. He had her back pressed up against the door, and he leaned into her, kissing her like a drowning man fighting for breath.

"Hi," he gasped, when he finally came up for air.

She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, still damp from the shower. "Hi," she whispered back, wondering how long they were going to go on standing in the doorway, greeting each other. He still wasn't smiling. Just staring at her now, with that look he sometimes got – like he was trying to set her on fire with his eyes.

There was a word for that look, wasn't there? Bedroom eyes? That come-hither look that made the magazines fly off the shelves of the grocery store check-out aisles whenever his face graced the Us Weekly or Rolling Stone. Even after seven years apart, it still took her breath away whenever she unexpectedly came upon his face on the cover of some magazine.

There was something surreal about it now, seeing that look in his eyes up close and personal. She experienced that same sense of parallax she'd felt the week before, spending time with him in New York. Like she had left reality behind and stepped into some movie-version of her life, starring the celebrated Aidan Sands as hero. This must be the part now just after the opening credits had rolled, when the two co-stars first find themselves face to face. She wouldn't have been entirely shocked to hear some schmaltzy orchestra music swelling to a crescendo just behind her....

Kate blinked her eyes and forced her mind to focus. "My suitcase," she said.

"What suitcase?" Aidan dipped his head and kissed her again, leaning against her heavily. He was still feeling a little shaky. He'd nearly fallen over just now when he saw her pull up to his house. Five minutes ago, he thought he was never going to see her face again, and now she was here. Kate was here. Kate. Katie. Katie was in his house. Katie was saying something about a suitcase.

"I left it outside."

He stood up straight and took a deep breath. He needed to get a hold of himself – couldn't let her see how much she was affecting him right now. Play it cool, he thought to himself. Play-it-cool-play-it-cool-play-it-cool.

"Right," he said, stepping aside so she could turn and open the door. Her suitcase was sitting on the front stoop, and he reached past her to pick it up and carry it inside. "Come on," he said. "Let me show you around."

It wasn't much of a tour. The whole house consisted of three rooms: a living room that opened to the kitchen and dining area, a bedroom dominated by an enormous California king-sized bed, and a master bathroom with double sinks and showerheads.

"It's kind of a bachelor pad," he said with a little smirk as he dropped her suitcase off next to the dresser in his bedroom.

"I know," she replied, smiling back. "I saw your episode of Cribs on MTV."

He laughed, taking in the unmade bed and messy room. "Yeah, I guess it was a little more neat and tidy for that."

She was leaning against his dresser and she lifted up her hand, wrinkling her nose at it in distaste. "What is this?"

The hair gel he'd spilled, he remembered with a wince. He'd never bothered to clean it up.

"Is this hair gel?"

"Sorry." He grabbed a towel and went to wipe it up, but she was grinning at him. She lifted her hand and gestured as if to run it through her hair.

"Are you sure it's just hair gel, Aidan?"

He was having trouble following this conversation. Katie was in his house. Katie was in his bedroom. How was he supposed to play it cool when Katie was in his bedroom? "What else would it be?" he asked.

"Don't you remember?"

"What?"

"That first summer after my freshman year?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to focus. The summer after her freshman year at NYU. Her parents had wanted her to come home, but she'd defied them and spent the three months crashing with him in his apartment instead. They'd holed up together in that miniscule bedroom that barely had room for a person to stand beside the twin bed. It felt like they'd spent the whole summer in that bed. But that couldn't be true. They must have come up for air at some point. It came back to him now. A brutal New York City heat wave. A week straight, day after day, over 100 degrees – and of course his air conditioner had broken down. They'd gone to the movies out of sheer desperation, and he'd bought tickets to the first thing that was showing. There's Something About Mary.

Aidan broke into a sheepish smile, realizing the scene she meant. Ben Stiller had a date with his dream girl, the woman he'd been secretly obsessed with for his entire adult life. She'd shown up at his house and caught him with hair gel dangling from his ear. Except it wasn't really hair gel. Play-it-cool-play-it-cool-play-it-cool.

Aidan took his towel and wiped off Kate's hand. "It's hair gel, little girl," he said, his mouth inches from hers. "Don't flatter yourself."

Kate shrugged and took the towel he was holding, wiping the gel off of her hand as she turned and looked away. "Was she funny at least?" she asked.

"Who?"

"Cameron Diaz. Was she funny in real life?"

Aidan had forgotten Cameron was in that movie. She played Ben Stiller's hopeless crush. It was years later that Aidan had met her in real life. "Sure," he shrugged. "I don't know, I only met her a couple times. That was just gossip about us being a thing."

"Hmm." Kate was looking around his room again. "Were you going out somewhere?"

"Huh?"

"You have your clothes laid out," she said, gesturing at the bed. There was a pair of dark wash jeans and a plain grey t-shirt that he had left there before he got into the shower.

"No," he said with a shake of the head. "Just sushi with Paul."

Her eyes lit up at his words. "I would love some sushi. I'm starving right now."

"Right now?"

"And I want to see Paul! I haven't seen him in years."

Aidan sighed. He didn't want to go for sushi. The last thing on his mind right now was sushi. He didn't want to leave the house. He'd be perfectly happy to spend the entire two-week visit right here in his bedroom.

He had two weeks. That was it. Then the axe was going to fall. She'd go back to New York, and he'd be stuck in LA. And it was going to kill him. That's what it felt like – the idea of going back to life without her in it. It felt like sitting on death row, waiting for his execution. He had two weeks left to live right now. He didn't want to waste a second of it.

But he couldn't just hole up with her in his house for two weeks. That was why he brought her out here, right? To show her around LA – show her what her life would be like if she moved out here to be with him. He had to show her a good time. Convince her to stay. That was the idea.

"OK, sure," he said. "Yeah. Let's go for sushi." He picked up his phone and thumbed through the contacts. "I'll just let Paul know to get us a table for four."

Kate ambled into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. "Am I dressed OK?"

"Great."

He pulled on his jeans and t-shirt as he watched her take a compact out of her purse and reapply her makeup. She had on a pair of dark grey skinny jeans with her silk blouse and blazer. It was a casual look for her, compared to the power suits she usually wore for work. Still, he felt a little underdressed in comparison. He went to his closet and pulled out a black suit jacket, throwing it on over his t-shirt.

He cast one last longing look at the bed. Later, he thought. Plenty of time for that later. He'd take her to dinner, show her off a little bit in front of his friends, and then straight back here for dessert.

"Ready?" she asked as she put her lipstick back in her purse and came toward him. She stopped in front of him and ran her fingers up and down the lapels of his jacket to straighten it. "You look nice," she said.

The jacket was straight now, but her fingers were still running up and down, up and down. He was finding it difficult to breathe again. How was he ever going to make it through dinner? Hell, how was he going to make it through the drive to the restaurant? Play-it-cool-play-it-cool-play-it-cool. "Are you sure you don't want to stay in tonight?" he asked.

She tilted her head at him. "I'm hungry, Aidan."

"I could make you something."

That made her smile. She went up on her tiptoes and planted a quick kiss on his lips. "You? What are you going to make me?"

He tightened his arms around her waist and drew her against him, but she slid her hands up his chest, keeping him from closing the distance entirely. "I dunno," he said. "What did I used to make you? Ramen noodles?"

She shook her head at him at laughed. "Please tell me you don't still eat that crap."

"I like ramen."

She gave his chest a little shove and he released her. "Come on, then," she said to him over her shoulder as she made her way out the bedroom door. "It's a Japanese restaurant, right? I'm sure they can whip you up a bowl."