Josh awoke a few hours later, images of his latest dream, of building the heart labyrinth, slowly fading into his subconscious. He glanced at his watch on the side table. 4 a.m.

Damn, it was early. Next to his watch was the video monitor and he squinted to take a better look at Bella asleep in her crib, a teddy bear next to her.

Josh flexed his fingers, willing blood to return to them as Olivia lay asleep along his side, her head resting on his shoulder. His other hand touched the side of her face, the night light illuminating thick lashes resting on her cheeks. God, she's beautiful, he thought as she sighed in her sleep.

He exhaled, remembering the last few hours before they both finally collapsed, exhausted from their lovemaking. He could have kept going all night. He couldn't keep his hands off her body, his mouth and his tongue tasting her skin, her lips, her fingers, her sex. He loved the scent of her, and even now he buried his nose in her red hair, taking in the subtle notes of vanilla with a touch of orange. Whatever it was, he wanted to go down on her again, wake her slowly with his mouth and his tongue on the most sensitive parts of her, and feel her body writhe, her fingers gripping his hair until she'd beg him to take her again.

Gently prying his arm from under her head, he rolled off the bed and grabbed his clothes. He stepped into the guest bedroom and tossed his jeans onto the bed, right next to his duffel bag. Unzipping the bag, he pulled out a pair of running pants and a t-shirt before zipping it back closed. Then he got dressed and made his way downstairs for a glass of water.

Josh knew Olivia's house like the back of his hand. And why wouldn't he? He had helped renovate it after Erik's neighbor sold it. It had actually been a fixer upper, although still expensive as heck because it was one house away from the Strand. He would never forget the days he'd spent in the house fixing it up while she and Bella stayed at Erik's house. He had wanted to do everything he could for her–while not being too obvious.

Besides, Olivia was so lost in her depression to notice anything else, not that he could blame her. As long as he was busy around her house, he was happy as a clam, going straight to the construction site and later, to his garage where he built custom-built furniture. But then, the renovations became restorations, and soon, custom-built furniture for her.

Josh actually loved woodworking. It was his favorite after-school activity in high school, though it wasn't as cool compared to being the quarterback, which he'd been. It was his father, Craig, who showed him how to build things without using power tools, and the challenge bit him even then. Sure, power tools made everything easy but Josh was never about easy. So after school when there was no field practice scheduled and while Erik buried his head in his books, Josh holed himself in his father's garage, where he and Craig built cabinets, chairs and tables for friends and neighbors.

For Olivia, he built most of the furniture without the use of power tools as well, though she never knew it. He loved the times she wandered into the garage where he finalized the finish of the dining room table, the coffee table and the cabinets that now graced her house, all of them from recycled wood, planed to perfection and stained with Danish oil. He even built the chairs around the dining table as well as the convertible crib that Bella used now.

But the time he spent at Olivia's house had not been lost on Maggie, his girlfriend then. She had gone ballistic when she saw all the furniture he had made for a woman Josh swore was like a sister to him.

Sure, she is! I am not stupid, Josh Morin, she had told him then, packing her clothes into her bags. Promise me you're never going back there. Promise me you'll never build another piece of furniture for Olivia again, or I'm leaving you.

In the end, he built the four-poster bed that he and Olivia had just made love in. Of course, Maggie left him. She realized then that she could never win against the specter that was Olivia Maystrom-Firelli. Not then. Not ever.

Josh had a string of girlfriends after Maggie, and though he knew they resented the attention he paid Olivia whenever he was with Erik, they knew better than to question him about it. But then, it made Josh wonder if he really had been that obvious all that time?

As he made his way back upstairs, he made one more stop at the guest bedroom. He pulled out his phone and checked his messages. There were one from Bernie and a few from Craig telling him that they were doing okay at the inn and that everything was working out alright. Basically, they missed him. Even though he'd been a grouch all those months, they really did enjoy having him close by.

But as Josh returned into Olivia's bedroom, he also knew what it was. Having him moping around in the resort meant he wasn't playing cops and robbers out in the real world. It meant they didn't have to worry about losing him again.

He stepped out of his clothes and crawled back into bed, spooning his body behind hers. He kissed the soft skin above her shoulder blade, strands of her hair tickling his face. She moaned, turning her head to face him, their lips brushing.

"You should be asleep," he murmured.

"You were gone so long I'm afraid I've worked myself up into a state," she whispered, her voice thick with sleep... and something else.

"And what state is that?"

Olivia took his hand and brought it beneath the covers, between her legs. "This state."

She was wet with desire for him. Josh's breath caught. "Livvy–"

Olivia silenced him with a kiss, rolling onto her back as his hand cupped her mound, his fingers curling between her intimate folds, slick with her juices. Her hands moved down his torso, one hand cupping his buttock and the other hand finding him already hard.

"Make love to me," she whispered.

As Josh gazed at her, taking in every inch of her beautiful face, her thick lashes, her green eyes and tempting lips, he realized that no matter how much he loved her, he never wanted this life for her, where one day he'd be here with her–making love to her–and the next day, he'd be gone, dead. That was the reason why he stayed away from her, to spare her from the pain of one day losing him.

She had almost lost him once already.

But there was no staying away from Olivia now, not anymore. Josh felt her legs wrap around his hips as he plunged into her, hearing her cry out as she clung to him. He felt her teeth sink into the flesh of his shoulder as the walls of her sex surrounded him. Her fingers raked across his skin, her hips moving in mind-boggling circles that made Josh forget everything else.

And so he pushed away the thoughts that filled him now, taking Olivia with a savagery that caught them both by surprise. For things had become complicated, more complicated than Josh had ever anticipated. He felt his anger and desire bubbling over, infusing his every move as he grabbed her hands and held them on either side of her, their bodies moving as one. Josh looked into her eyes as he made love to her, not wanting to miss the sight of her breaking beneath him as she came, her cries muffled by his kiss.

He had always loved her since they were children, when she proudly baked those button cookies in her E-Z Bake oven while every time forgetting to add in the sugar so it tasted like chalk, though he never told her.

But this time, it was different. He couldn't lie to her anymore. But he never expected to fall in love with her like this either, where he'd lose himself so hard, so fast... and so completely.