Alexandra pushed some branches out of the way. Mark was still walking next to her.

"How far do you want to walk in to the jungle before you feel confident enough to let me have a look at you?"

Alexandra smirked.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid if it was up to me. But Oliver was right. I just need to suck it in and get it over with."

They had reached a clearing. Alexandra looked up and saw a clear gap in the roof top of the jungle. A patch of blue sky was clearly visible. She stopped walking and turned around to Mark.

"Promise me you won't make any catty remarks."

Mark gave her a Boy Scout salute. Alexandra raised her eyebrow at him in return.

"You were never a boy scout. I won't believe that."

Mark grinned and shrugged.

"No I wasn't. But I still mean it. If it would get you to trust me."

Alexandra shook her head. It would take a lot more than that to make her trust him. The guy was extremely handsome and he knew it. He seemed to flirt like other people breathe. Like it was natural for him. She took a big gulp of air and started unbuttoning her shirt. Mark followed her hand movements like it was the most important thing in the world. Alexandra stopped and cleared her throat.

"Stop it Mark! I swear I'll slug you if you can't act normal."

He looked up at her in wonder.

"What am I doing?"

Could it be he didn't know? Naw.

"You are looking at me like I'm some gorgeous girl you can win over. It doesn't work, okay? I know I'm not beautiful. So stop looking at me like that. And why do you keep pulling me against you? It's like you have the need to constantly touch something. If I didn't know any better I'd say you are like a wereanimal from the books. They feel more comfortable when they touch something. It's not about sex; it's just a comforting touch."

Mark looked away from. It seemed like Alexandra had hit the nail on the head. Oh.

"That's it, isn't it? You need to touch people to feel comfortable. Why didn't you just tell me?"

Mark looked back at her. Pain raw in his eyes. He shrugged and sighed.

"I guess it makes me uncomfortable to tell people and I didn't know any of you well enough. And I'm sorry for doing it all to you. I just wanted to feel needed. I need to be helpful. I'm sorry."

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