Camille jerked awake and her police training automatically kicked in to help her sleep-fogged brain figure out what was happening. Something felt wrong, but what was it? First of all, she was fully clothed. That was odd because she rarely slept in anything more than a simple chemise and panties. She did live on a hot tropical island, after all! Secondly, she was lying on her left side, but she was not in her bed. In fact, the surface underneath her was very hard and uncomfortable. Also, she felt like she was being restrained by a firm weight anchoring her down from her right side to directly beneath her left breast. Finally, and this was the most worrisome part, there was a solid presence at her back and a warm breath on her neck.

She did not panic, but her brain scrambled for answers while she tried to hold back the "fight – not flight" response that came to her naturally. She reached up slowly to figure out what was holding her down. It was an arm and a hand! That meant the presence behind her was a person… a man! Who? What had happened? Her brain was still cloudy with exhaustion and it was difficult to remember.

She was fairly certain that she had not gone to bed with anyone. She had not done that since coming back to Saint Marie to stay after joining the island's police force. There was nobody here that she felt close enough to do that with… except for maybe… She decided to abandon that thought for now until she could figure out what was going on. The person behind her had not moved and, according to the deep and even breathing, was clearly asleep. Therefore, she slowly turned over, so gently that the arm and hand draped over her stayed in the same general location. She peered intently at the face in front of her. There was barely any light in the room, but she could just distinguish a few features…

Richard!

She sighed in relief as the memories of the night before came rushing back to her. They had been in the University's Meteorological building to investigate the mysterious death of Leo Downs and had been trapped there by Hurricane Irma. They had made a makeshift bed on the floor with odds and ends found around the place when it became clear that they would have to spend the night there. She smiled as she thought about the conversation that they had, how embarrassed he had been, how very English, and about the last thing she had said to him right before she settled down to rest – just too exhausted to fight sleep any longer.

"Can you keep a secret? I quite like it – and this was nice!"

She gazed at the face so close to hers. It was so odd to see him in such a vulnerable position, but it felt so right in some ways, too. She looked carefully at the handsome face that was usually so serious and guarded, but now seemed so serene with a rare half smile on his lips. She decided that it was a good look for him and she wished that she could see it more often. The weight of his arm across her side and of his hand splayed (now) on her back suddenly felt comforting instead of threatening. She wondered what he would think about their position when he woke up. She hoped that he would like it and not be too embarrassed. With that thought, she felt her body relax and her eyes closed as she drifted back off to sleep again - still facing him.

She dreamed about him this time and it was indeed nice!