FBI Headquarters, Washington, DC...

The Sunday morning meeting in the director’s office was unusual. Donnelly wasn’t sure what it was all about, but he had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with the bombshell phone call from Agent Jacks revealing his newlywed status, and not to the woman he was engaged to be married to either. Donnelly was sure that Director Scorpio was as full of questions about this sudden marriage as he was, and wanted to plot strategy to get to the bottom of Jax’s latest rash act.

“Good-morning, Director,” Donnelly said, taking a seat opposite Scorpio in Scorpio’s large office.

“I’m not sure how good it is,” Scorpio said, glancing outside at the falling snow with disdain. “I’m sick of the bloody snow, aren’t you? Of course, Anna and Robin love it.” lie shook his head. “Let’s get down to business, Sean. I’m sure we’d both rather be home by the fireplaces with our families than here on a miserable day like this one.” Scorpio took out a file from the locked drawers behind him. He slid it across the desk to Donnelly. “This is the Omega Cult file,” he said, nodding at the folder Donnelly now held in his hands. “It’s gotten to the point where we need Special Forces involvement. We need infiltration and sabotage. We need it to be fast with overwhelming results. In and out, and really quiet.”

Donnelly nodded as he perused the file which indicated that the Omega Cult was hoarding quite an arsenal at their heavily guarded compound in Texas.

“I’m sending our 8 man A-Team in,” Scorpio revealed. “And I would like to give Special Agent Jacks his first command.”

Donnelly nearly dropped the file as his startled eyes looked up at this boss. “What?”

“I think it’s time for Jax to get his first command of a squad,” Scorpio repeated. “I’m going to assign him the command of this mission.”

“He’s barely twenty-five years old, sir -- why would you pick the youngest member of the team to command the squad? There are other A-Team members more suitable. Agent O’Monahan for one. Sills for another. Hell, even Agent Wilkie has got a couple of years on Jacks,” he muttered begrudgingly.

“O’Monahan has had five commands already. And Scott is crazier than Jax is. I’d prefer the less crazy of the two to head this up, if you don’t mind”

“And you think *Jax* is the less crazy one? Well *that* is certainly debatable,” Donnelly muttered.

“Age is not my concern here, Sean. I just need the one whom I feel is best qualified to lead this particular mission. You know as well as I do that Jax has a very calculating, methodical mind and always manages to get the job done one way or another. We’ll need that for this assignment.”

“Yes, well, Jax also happens to have a very rash and reckless mind, sir. You know that as well as I do. Sure, he’ll get the job done, but at what cost? And is the agency willing to foot the bill? Don’t forget what happened with the Casino they annihilated a month ago. Agent Jacks and Agent Wilkie are like peas in a pod when it comes to their way of doing things and... Forgive me, but I’m stunned that you really want Jax to command an assignment like this one.”

Scorpio smiled a bit. “For all of your blustering and disparaging, Sean, you know damn well that Jacks and Wilkie are the best men we have, bar none. Sure they’re like wild horses that have to be roped in every now and then, but they both have exceptional combat, strategic, search and rescue and survival skills. And I never question their commitment or their capabilities to successfully complete any assignment they’re given, which gives me a great deal of peace of mind when they’re on the job, despite their propensity to wreck things right and left with their arsenal of agency toys. Jax and Scott are absolutely crucial for this mission to be pulled off with the speed and accuracy and low casualty count the President wants, and I want Jax to have this command,” he reiterated.

“Even after the latest stunt he’s pulled?” Donnelly asked, uncertainly.

Scorpio sighed and folded his hands on the desk. “Ah, yes. It appears our Agent Jacks has come back to us married to one of the young ladies he was sent to protect.”

“And this is just rife with ulterior motives, sir,” Donnelly assured him. “Jax certainly didn’t marry that girl out of love.”

“No? Why do you think he married her then?” Scorpio asked.

“I think it all boils down to ego and control, quite frankly,” Donnelly sighed. “I’ve spoken to Warchester and Flannagan, and they gave me the impression that Jax and Scott were both very uncooperative with them and did not hide their disdain at the prospect of leaving Miss Barrett in the care of two regular federal agents.”

“Yes, Jax tried repeatedly to get me to keep him and Scott on the case, or to assign new Special Forces members,” Scorpio murmured. “He seems to have a particular lack of confidence in the abilities of the agency he works for when it comes to the well being of that young lady,”

“But you told him no,” Donnelly continued. “So, as usual, my royal pains in the butt, Jacks and Wilkie, had to come up with one of their cockamamie schemes to make things work out the way they wanted it to and enable them to usurp agency policy once again. Voila! Jax gets the nutty, yet brilliant, idea to legally marry the girl, and, in doing so, gives himself a legitimate agency-untouchable reason to take her away with him and kick Warchester and Flannagan out of the picture permanently. What *1* don’t understand is why the girl went along with this plot? My understanding of things was that she didn’t get along with Jax at all.”

“Oh, come on now, Sean. Women treat Jax and Scott like movie stars most of the time. You know that. It irritates the hell out of you,” Scorpio reminded him with a smile.

“Oh yeah,” Donnelly grunted. The Director’s 16-year-old daughter had quite the crush on Jax, while Donnelly’s own teenaged daughter turned to mush whenever Scott was nearby.

“I’m sure Miss Barrett is not immune to the abundance of charms possessed by our Agent Jacks,” Scorpio continued. “However, I find it quite plausible that Jax’s reasons for marrying her could have been pure,” he added, fingering a photo of Brenda. “Have you seen the girl?”

Donnelly nodded. “She’s ravishing,” he admitted.

“Yes. And she’s the kind that could conceivably inspire love at first sight in a young man, don’t you think?” Scorpio said.

Donnelly nodded. “I suppose so, yes. But don’t you think the chances of that are remote? And the timing of the marriage *extremely* convenient? And let’s not forget Jax is already engaged, for gods sake.”

“*Was* engaged. Obviously that’s moot now. And he wasn’t exactly

happily engaged, in my estimation.”

“He’s just a kid. He has the right to change his mind,” Donnelly agreed, “but would he really just come home with a wife? Wouldn’t he break things off with the fiancée first? The timing of this whole thing is incredibly suspicious. He got married the very day before we were pulling him off the case permanently. In light of that, how can we just accept what Jax and Scott tell us about this wedding? Just like that with no investigation?”

“There’s no need for an investigation, Sean. That’s extreme. But I do intend to look into this. I’m going to drop in on Mr. and Mrs. Jacks to ascertain for myself exactly what’s going on here. If I do discover that this marriage was merely a means of manipulation so that Jax could get his way, or that this girl is under any kind of duress or coercion, I certainly can’t give him this command I have in mind. In fact, I would have to put him on suspension for at least six months -- probably more. Maybe worse.”

“But he’d miss the desert in-training session,” Donnelly murmured, knowing Jax would be despondent over that. “We can’t do that to him. Yes, he drives me to madness, and I often wish he’d quit to save me from getting any more gray hairs and ulcers, but we can’t do this to him, Robert,” Sean said sincerely.

“Well, let’s just hope none of that will be necessary,” Scorpio said.

“Do you want me to call Agent Jacks and let him know he should be expecting you?” Donnelly offered.

The director shook his head, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “I think it’s best that I arrive unannounced.”
 

Great Falls, Virginia - Jax’s house - noon

Her dreams were vibrant, and happy. And ... musical? Yes, musical. Her dream was in the form of a musical. Brenda found herself surrounded by grand splendor. Everything was beautiful and elegant and * expensive, * and she was in the midst of it. Music was playing, and she was walking along gleaming marble floors, able to see her reflection in them, trying to hide her growing awe, when suddenly she was surrounded by a staff of people dressed neatly in silver uniforms. Silver? Yes, well this was a dream, after all.

They were smiling at her, happy to make her acquaintance. The music got louder, and they began to sing and dance as Brenda gazed at them in delight at the display. A plump woman with soft gray hair and a bright smile linked her arm through Brenda’s and sang: “Cecile will pick out all your clothes (green -- no blue is my color, I think). Your bath is drawn my Mrs. Grier (peach -- no the strawberry bubbles, I think).” A tall, thin, dark-haired woman with dancing eyes linked her arm through Brenda’s other arm and sang, “Annette comes in to make your bed (The silk sheets -- no the satin sheets, I think.) We think you’re going to like it here!”

They spun Brenda around, and then a short, smiling, redheaded butler
linked his arm through hers and merrily sang in deep baritone while skipping with her around the grand room, “The swimming pool is to the left” (Inside the house?!), “The tennis court is in the rear.” (Tennis courts? I’ve never even picked up a racket.) “We’ll have an instructor here at noon. We think you’re going to like it here!”

Brenda was twirled in a circle, as a chorus of blonde-haired, smiling women primped and pampered her and sang in harmony, “When you wake, ring for Drake, he will bring your tray. When you’re though, Mrs. Pugh, comes to take it away.”

All the silver-uniformed staff deposited Brenda in a gorgeous, high backed, red velvet chair that put her in mind of a throne, surrounding her with their welcoming, smiling faces, eager to please, and sang in unison:
“No need to pick up anything. No fingers will you lift, my dear. We have but one request; please put us to the test. We know you’re going to like it here!

They gestured for Brenda to say something, and she realized it was her turn to sing in this charming dream. She leaned forward and shared with them in song: “Used to room, in a tomb, where I’d sit and freeze.” She got up and ran up the stairs, sliding down the banister. “Get me now -- holy cow! Could someone, pinch me, please? Ow!” Brenda quipped as the redheaded butler pinched her cheek and beamed at her.

Then the staff all parted as someone entered the room walking through their midst. Brenda, who was now sitting at the foot of the red carpeted stairs, stared in awe at the breathtaking, blonde male dressed in a tux, tails, and top hat, presenting her with a gorgeous bouquet of red roses, kneeling in front of her on one knee, taking off the hat, and handing the roses to her, taking her hand in his as he gazed deeply into her eyes --oh, and of course, * singing: * “I’ve never, ever had a wife,” he sang, drowning her in eyes of deep, spellbinding aqua-emerald.

Brenda cast the roses aside and she took his other hand in hers, their fingers sliding together like missing pieces of a puzzle finding each other. She gave him a dazzling smile and sang: “Well, I’m very glad to volunteer!”

He grinned at her and it took her breath away. He kissed her hand and pulled her to her feet. Suddenly she was wearing a spectacular, incredibly sexy, silver dress that reflected the lights from the chandeliers. He spun her expertly into his arms and she felt her heart racing like the wind as she could not look away from that handsome face, that heartbreaker smile, those breathtaking eyes that just seemed to adore her. And of course he was still *singing! !*: “I hope you understand, your wish is my command...”

Brenda stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, and then finished off the song with an exuberant: “I know I’m going to like it here!” and threw herself into his arms, laughing.

He was laughing, too, and the happiness in the room was electric. Then he dipped her and slowly bent down, kissing her until she was drunk with passion and limp from the sheer thrill of it all, as the staff cheered and applauded and wiped away overly dramatic tears of joy.

Brenda awoke from the outlandish dream feeling full of life and laughing at what a silly, happy sort of a dream it was. She also felt a swell of happiness trying to burst through her barriers, but not quite managing to, fearful to exert itself lest it be shattered
when it realized none of this was real. None of this would last since this happy ending in the dream was completely dependent on Agent Adonis actually falling in love with her. And how likely was that? Not very, considering he was already in love with someone else.

She stretched luxuriantly, admiring the sinful softness of the expensive satin sheets and velvet blankets. Brenda gazed around the large bedroom, noticing that Jax was gone. She pushed the blankets aside and slid out of the bed and over to the window. She parted the curtains to gaze outside and was amazed by her surroundings. Where she stood there was a view of a private dock to which was anchored a gorgeous white cabin cruiser, a speedboat, two waverunners and two jet-skis. They were covered, due to the season and the weather, but the coverings were translucent so that Brenda could see just what was beneath them. The dock extended out to a massive deck with and large, oval-shaped, in-ground pool, tables and patio furniture, all covered over for the winter.

Brenda sighed. “Wow,” she whispered, running her fingers along the exquisite silk of the champagne colored curtains. “I live here now.” But for how long, she wondered? How long did she have before the dream just went ‘poof?

She glanced at the bedroom clock to see that it was already a few minutes after noon. She was eager to see the rest of the house and the view from other rooms, but she dared not just go walking about, exploring --although, maybe she should? It would undoubtedly get on Jax’s nerves for her to take such liberties, she thought with a grin. She walked away from the window and into the bathroom, which was enormous. All the fixtures were gold, she realized in disbelief Just how rich was Jax anyway? And if he was so insanely wealthy, why did he work for the FBI? Why did he
*work* at all? She noticed that he had laid out clean towels for her, and brought her clothes in here as well, and his thoughtfulness made her smile. She took a shower and when she stepped out to dry herself off she noticed that great charcoal-black, trimmed with cobalt-blue, sweater Jax had been wearing yesterday hanging on the back of the door.

She slipped into her underwear and then reached out, touching Jax’s sweater. The man definitely had the taste to go with his bank account, she thought as she ran her hand over the Perry Ellis chenille sweater, thinking she could buy ten pairs of jeans at her local K-Mart for the cost of this one shirt. She took the sweater off of the back of the door and held it in her hands for a few moments. Then she slipped it on. It reached down to her knees, and it felt heavenly against her skin. Warm and soft. It felt like Jax touching her. The faint hint of Jax’s cologne was there, too, and it added to the heavenly feeling of being embraced by him.

He would probably not like her taking the liberty of putting on his clothes, either, she thought, smiling as she slid her wet hair into a ponytail and walked out of the bedroom, in search of her “husband.”

She heard him before she saw him. Actually she heard *them, * Jax and Scott arguing about something. She scurried in the direction of the voices and came to a halt in the arched entryway of the elevated living-room as she saw Jax and Scott, both on the floor in front of a huge TV, glued to the Sony Playstation, deep into a game of Metal Gear Solid. Jax was at the controls, and Scott was berating him for messing up an infiltration technique on level 5 and detonating a bomb in enemy territory too fast --not doing enough damage. Jax was trying to explain his reason for doing it that quickly, and as they went back and forth comparing strategy and skills, Brenda watched them, feeling a pleasant little warmth stirring in her heart. She noticed that Xander was with them, crawling over and under their legs as he determinedly chased his own tail and occasionally stopped to growl at the animated secret agent soldier on the screen.

How amazing would it be to wake up every day and see Jax like this, she thought, unable to prevent a smile from touching her lips. And Scott, too. Scott was so great and so much fun. She was accustomed to seeing him in a playful, very relaxed, approachable light because Scott was always like that with her. But Jax -- seeing *him* like this was a rare treat indeed. It was like getting to peek at a secret treasure.

She really adored seeing this side of her Agent Adonis - a side that seemed to come very naturally to him and was probably more the real him than the version of him she had gotten to know in Port Charles. She had never seen this side -- this relaxed, contented little boy side of him. She was so accustomed to the emotionally detached “protector” role Jax always played with her -- the serious agent just doing his job and not getting personal about it. The man who made ignoring her, not touching her, not looking at her, and scowling at her every smile, a way of life for the past month back in Port Charles. But ever since they had stepped foot into this grand house, he had been positively charming and dangerously irresistible. He was certainly not ignoring her any longer. He talked to her all the time, touched her all the time, looked at her all the time, and seemed to no longer have a problem with her smiling at him. He had been flirting with her a lot this morning, teasing her about who would be sleeping in the bed, and kissing her. *He* had been kissing her. Kisses *he* had instigated this time. Kissing her until she had been puffy in his hands, and yet not taking advantage of that.

When had everything so suddenly changed, she wondered? And why? And could she possibly trust this? Her eyes gazed at him as she chewed on her lip, knowing that her feelings for him were stronger than she ever wanted them to be, and also knowing she did not trust him.

But look at him, no woman in their right mind could ever resist that, or would ever *want* to resist that, she chastised herself The scene of Jax totally relaxed and playful with his best friend in this spectacular home was positively enchanting, and she sighed as she realized that her attraction to Jax was not dissipating, but in fact intensifying. But she had to be careful of him. He might be attracted to her as was evidenced by his kisses, but his heart was still tied up with another woman. Brenda had to sternly remind herself that Jax could not be trusted with her heart ever. He had taken her to incredible heights before, only to allow her to plummet like a fool to the ground mere moments afterwards, she reminded herself She couldn’t trust him, or her own feelings, or any of this, no matter how wonderful it looked and felt. It wasn’t like he was ever going to actually fall in love with her. He was in love with someone else. That was the way it was.

Tearing her eyes away from him for a moment, Brenda wondered if Jax’s
mother and the ‘somebody else’ he was in love with were still here. She heard her stomach growl and was about to go in search of the kitchen to make herself something to eat when she heard Jax saying to Scott, “Did I tell you what Brenda tried to pull on
me just before she went sleep?” Jax asked with a laugh of amusement. “She fakes as if she’s dreaming, right? And she did it ~ badly.”

Scott laughed, too, while Brenda felt herself steaming.

“And then she..

Brenda walked into the living room, making her presence known and effectively stopping Jax’s conversation.

“Excuse me for interrupting such important business,” she said, indicating the Playstation, “but is it your intention to have me starve to death while I’m here? I can’t find your kitchen.”

Scott grinned. “Hi,” he said, getting a kick out of the way Jax seemed mesmerized by seeing Brenda dressed in his shirt.

Brenda smiled sweetly at Scoff. “Hi.” And then she turned back to glare at Jax, and Jax knew that her instant bad mood meant that she must have heard him about to tell Scott about how she had pretended to be dreaming so that she could get him to kiss her without his knowing that she wanted him to.

“You’re hungry?” he asked her. “What do you want?” he got up, prepared to get her anything she desired, even if he had to have it flown in from another country.

“I don’t want or need you to make anything for me,” she said, still looking mad at him. “I just want you to show me where your kitchen is, that’s all.”

Jax reached to take her hand to lead her to the kitchen, but she pulled away. “Just tell me,” she said.

He sighed, seeing they were off to a stellar start this afternoon. Maybe he could brighten her mood when he took her to the jewelers later. “Go straight until you go past the spiral staircase. Make a left, go down three doors and it’s right there on the right.”

She nodded and walked out of the room.

When she was gone, Scoff tugged on Jax’s shirt. “So finish telling me,” he said with a smile.

But Jax decided he’d better not. He had a feeling that Brenda overhearing him just about to tell Scott about the funny “Brad Pitt” episode had cost him in his quest to gain Brenda’s trust. He had a feeling he’d just been knocked a few pegs backward in that endeavor.

“Oh, it was really nothing,” Jax said, shifting the Playstation controls over to Scott. “I’ll be right back,” he said, thinking that if he let this go without apologizing to her, it would only make any efforts on his part to make her want to stay, that much harder.

Jax passed the stairs on the way to the kitchen and saw the room to his door closed. He knew that Ariel was still up there and if she didn’t come down to talk to him soon, he was going to have to go up there and make her face this. Jax walked into the kitchen and saw Brenda standing on top of one of the many marble counters to enable her to reach the cereals on the top shelf.

Jax walked up behind her. “How did you get up there?” he asked her.

She did not answer him, but just pointed to the chair she had used to boost her up onto the counter. Then she reached for the granola and closed the cupboard.

“If I’m going to live here with you -- for a little bit --“ she said, “you’re going to have to not keep certain things so high up.’’

He smiled at her, and she felt her anger at him melting and cursed his bewitching affect on her.

“I’ll take care of it,” he promised, and then he offered to lift her down. She hesitated, trying to hang onto some of her anger at him, but the desire to feel herself in his arms overwhelmed her other emotions, and she allowed him to reach up and pull her into his arms, off of the counter. “I’m sorry, by the way,” he said, surprising her with a kiss that disoriented her as he slid her down the length of his body and set her on the floor. “You’re angry with me, and I think I know why, so I’d just like you to know that I’m sorry.”

He could not figure out her expression as she gazed at him, looking not angry, not exactly happy, just sort of dazed, perhaps.

Dazed was how she felt. There he went kissing her again for no apparent reason. The man who never even wanted to look at her before, and now he was always kissing her. *Why* had he kissed her? It was a brief but awfully passionate kiss, and
it had come out of nowhere. He was confusing her beyond belief

Jax assumed her silence signified she was not receptive to his apology or not thrilled at his spontaneous affection. He chose to think it had to be #1. “I really am sorry,” he said, trying to convince her. “I didn’t say anything else about it. I swear.”

Brenda met his eyes, and she smiled at him which left *him* feeling
disoriented.

“How many bedrooms are in this house?” she asked curiously as she poured her granola into a bowl.”

Jax watched her, thinking that she just *belonged* here. With him. She really did. “Can I ask you why you’re having cereal at 12:30 in the afternoon?” he asked, absently reaching out to touch her hair.

“I think my body clock is all off,” she confessed, trying to breathe normally and ignore the caressing feel of his fingers in her hair. “I feel like its morning,” she added with a shrug, and she peeled a banana and sliced it up into her bowl, splashed on some skim milk, and then sat down at the table. “So how many bedrooms are in your house?” she repeated.

“Only twelve,” Jax said, sitting down opposite her. “Is there any particular reason why you’re wearing my shirt?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I think you have fabulous taste in clothes. Do you *mind* that I’m wearing it?” she asked, and he definitely saw the spark of challenge in her lovely, brown eyes. She was trying to see if she could get on his nerves, he realized with a smile.

“Not at all,” he responded, allowing his eyes to gaze upon her with a familiarity he knew would make her blush, which it did. “I think my clothes look exceptional on your body.”

He thought she might choke on her spoonful of granola, but she managed to swallow it.

“In fact, you can go through my closets whenever you wish,” he added, and he saw her trying to suppress a grin. Her lowered eyes gazed up at him, and he reveled in being able to gaze upon that extraordinarily pretty face.

“*Only* twelve bedrooms? As if that’s a small amount?” she said, getting back to the subject of his house. “Why would you buy a house so grand and elegant and with twelve bedrooms when you live here all alone?” she asked him. “Well, I didn’t plan on it always being just me who lives here,” he said.

Brenda laughed. “Hmm. You must want a lot of kids. Or a lot of wives.

He smiled at her. “A lot of kids, yes. One wife, will do.”

Brenda’s eyes gazed at him with interest. “You want a lot of kids?”

“At least four,” he said. “The goal is ten though.”

Brenda rose her eyebrows. “I*Ten*? Ten kids? My god, shouldn’t your poor wife have a say in the matter? She’s the one who’s going to have to give birth to them. I mean, *ten* kids, Jax?”

And then he gave her that smile that made her know he had been teasing her. “I was just kidding about ten kids. I want four,” he said. “Do you think my wife would object to that?”

Brenda shrugged. “How would I know?”

“Well, you currently are in the position,” he reminded her. “Would *you* mind?”

“This is just hypothetical, right?” she asked.

“If you need it to be.”

She gave him a glance that said ‘what do you mean by that?’ But then she decided to answer him.

“I’ve always wanted three kids,” she told him. “Two boys and one girl,” she smiled and then stopped smiling, not wanting him to think she was smiling at the thought of having *his* kids. “But I guess one more would be fine. I don’t want to even think about having kids for another five years though,” she added.

“That’s not always in your control,” he reminded her. “You might have a five-year plan waiting to deal with the possibilities of motherhood until you’re 25, but your baby might have a completely different plan.”

She nodded. “Don’t I know it. That’s how I came to be. I was not planned. I sort of surprised my mom and dad.”

It was the first time she had ever mentioned her family. “Where are your parents?” he asked.

“Deceased,” she responded.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“They died a long time ago,” she said. “Tell me something about your family,” she said, taking another spoonful of cereal and very much enjoying having breakfast for lunch, and having it with Jax sitting across from her.

“Well, you’ve sort of met my mother. There’s also my dad, my grandmother, and I have an older brother.”

“Do they all live in Virginia, too?” she asked, pulling down on the
sleeves of his sweater she was wearing.

“No. My parents and grandmother live in Florida now -- an estate in Palm Beach.”

“Are they retired?”

“No,” Jax said with a laugh. “My father plans on never retiring. But they prefer the climate there.”

“And what about your brother?”

“His name is Jerry, and he lives in New York,” Jax provided. “He’s very much the swinging bachelor type.” Jax leaned across suddenly to touch her face. She realized with some disappointment that he was merely checking for her fever. “You’re a lot better today,” he said.

She nodded. “I feel a lot better, too,” she said, remembering how wonderful she had felt awakening from that rollicking, musical dream.
 

“I wonder why,” he murmured, giving her a look that set all sorts of things to meltdown inside of her. “Could it be because you’re here with me?”

“It’s because I’ve been taking my medicine,” she said, refusing to acknowledge that being with him had anything to do with her feeling better. “Is your mother still here?” she asked, and he knew it was not really his mother she was inquiring about.

“Ariel is still here, too,” he supplied. “In fact, I need to go and speak with her right now. When you’re done, get dressed, okay? We need to go get something,” he said, rising to his feet. Then he bent down, and she felt his hand stroke her hair and held her breath as his lips touched her cheek. “I know you won’t believe this,” he said softly to her, “but I’m glad that you’re here.”

And then he was leaving the kitchen, and Brenda stared after him not knowing what on earth to make of his consistently affectionate behavior and his puzzling words. He was glad she was here? Why would he be? That made no sense. Him being *mad* she was here would make sense, but *glad? * Surely he didn’t actually *mean* that?

Brenda got up form the kitchen table and made her way across the marble floors out into the hallway, deciding she’d chat with Scott while Jax was undoubtedly upstairs whispering sweet nothings to Ariel and begging her to be patient until he got his annulment.

She halted by the living room archway again, however, as she heard male voices there, one of which was definitely Jax’s. So he had not gone upstairs yet. She carefully peeked her head inside to see what was going on, and she saw a gentleman dressed in a suit, carrying a briefcase, talking to Jax, seemingly reprimanding him about something, while Scott, still absorbed in the Playstation game was oblivious to the conversation of Jax and this man.

“I had to come when I heard about he wedding, Jax,” the man said.

“How did you find out?” Jax wanted to know.

“Your grandmother placed a frantic call to me informing me of it this morning,” the man responded. “Look, Jax, as your attorney, I’m glad she called me and filled me in. You and I have a lot to discuss,” he said.

So this was Jax’s lawyer, Brenda realized.

“We don’t have anything to discuss,” Jax refuted. “And I really wish you’d call first before barging in here, Marty.”

The lawyer named Marty shook his head and sat down. “I rang the doorbell, Jax, I would hardly call that barging in. And will you please be serious for a moment? This out-of-the-blue marriage could have serious financial repercussions for you. You’re lucky your grandmother is looking out for that, since you obviously were not. Did you have her sign anything?”

“No,” Jax said.

Marty sighed. “Okay, well it’s still not too late. We can have her sign a prenuptial agreement with her agreeing not to touch a dime of your fortune in the event of a separation. Of course, we might have to allot her a certain amount to keep her happy,” he murmured, jotting down figures. “And of course, Jax, you *have* to treat this girl like a princess, okay? Be very nice to her, make her think your would revolves around her until she’s out of your life. Don’t give her any reason to want to do you in, otherwise we are screwed, my friend.”

Brenda’s eyes narrowed at this revelation. Now this made sense. So *this* was why Jax was so different now. *This* was why he was being so nice to her and so affectionate and almost treating her like ... well, like a *wife.* It was because he *had* to because he feared she would try to take him for everything he was worth. Well, he obviously knew nothing about her if he thought such a stupid thing! Her bad mood, which he had lifted so cleverly back there in the kitchen with his devastating charm, had returned, and she vowed she would not be fooled into giving into those happy feelings he aroused in her ever again. And she’d be damned if he were getting any annulment either!

“Just for god’s sake, whatever you do, don’t piss her off,” Marty was saying. “And look, I don’t know what’s going on with this marriage, or your reasons behind it. But if it was something you went into unwillingly and by some miracle you haven’t had sex with her yet, then for the love of god *don’t*. Because if you do, that blows any chance of an annulment, meaning you’d have to get divorced, and man, can she ever take you to the cleaners if that happens. She can also take this house, your Porsche or your Lexus, and damned well half of everything you’ve got Jax, and she can drag this thing out for years.

Jax was not even listening to him as he was suddenly absorbed in some remarkable move Scott was doing with the Metal Gear Solid covert spy on the TV screen. “How did you *do* that?” Jax demanded in astonishment. “Is that in the strategy manual?”

Scott just laughed like a mad scientist would, and raised dark eyebrows tauntingly. “I’ll never tell.”

Marty groaned out loud. “Jax! Are you listening to me? Look, I know that I can trust you to look out for yourself It’s not that I’m worried that you’ll blow this, but just keep in mind that you’re not to upset her, and if this marriage is something you want to get out of, you’re not to sleep with her, okay? Unless you already have, of course, then this part of the conversation is a moot point. Hello -- can I just get a nod of confirmation from you, please?”

Brenda walked into the living room, and Jax and Scott turned to see what had caused Marty to softly gasp.

“Hello,” Brenda said, innocently smiling at him. “Sorry to interrupt, but, Jax, when are we leaving?” she asked.

 “Leaving?” he echoed, in confusion.

“For the jewelers?” she reminded him.

“Oh, in about half an hour,” he told her.

Marty gulped and looked a bit wild-eyed at Jax. “T. . .this would be... no... this would *not* be your wife, would it?” he asked in what sounded like a croak as he hoped this alluring young beauty was Scott’s girlfriend or Jax’s long lost cousin or something.

“Yes, this is her,” Jax said. “Brenda, this is my attorney, Martin Kimball. Marty, my wife, Brenda.”

Brenda shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

He smiled rather weakly and shook her hand in return. “Likewise. Congratulations,” he said.

“Thanks,” she smiled, and his eyes popped open at the dazzling effect.

“I’m going to go get dressed,” Brenda said, leaving the room and thinking she’d done a good job of letting that lawyer-person know she was not some pushover easily gotten rid of.

But Marty was only thinking that if Jax did want a way out of this marriage, he was in serious trouble. How on earth could he expect Jax to keep his hands, lips, and other body parts off of a woman who looked like * that? * The annulment was already shot to hell in Marty’s eyes.

“Jax, we have *got* to talk!” Marty whispered fiercely. “You have got to get this annulment as soon as possible, do you hear me? I’m talking like tomorrow!”

Jax gazed at him. “Can I ask you why you keep talking about an annulment? Whoever even put that into your brain?”

“Well, your grandmother seems to be positive that this marriage can’t
possibly be based on any genuine feelings or...”

“Marty, go home,” Jax said wearily. “I have a million things to do today, and I really don’t have time for one of your fits or to hear my grandmother’s incorrect opinions. Now, you can thank my grandma for trying to look out for me, but you can also tell her that I don’t need her to hold my hand and that whatever assumptions she’s made are totally false. I’m married because I want to be married. And the words annulment and divorce disappeared from my vocabulary the day I got married. Tell her that.” And with that Jax led the protesting Marty to the front door. “See ya,” Jax said giving him a gentle shove out the door and locking it. Then he went upstairs to talk to Ariel.

Jax rapped on the door and then entered to find his mother and Ariel
sitting on the chaise lounge by the window, talking.

“Oh, good afternoon, luv,” Jane said. “Is everyone up?”

“Yes,” Jax said. “Mum, could you please excuse us for a moment,” he asked.

Jane sighed a bit, hoping there would not be another round of unpleasantness. “Yes, I suppose I can go make myself useful by getting started on those decorations. And perhaps go find that er. . .wife ... of yours and have a nice, *long, * get-to-know-you chat with her.”

Jax paused, not wanting his mother to ambush Brenda in any way and somehow figure out the truth behind the marriage situation. The situation with Brenda was too delicate and too volatile right now for anything to push it in a direction Jax did not want it to go. He wasn’t going to be very convincing in his attempts to offer her a life of paradise with him if his mother was badgering her about how they met, whether or not she loved him, whether or not she was a gold digger or a homewrecker, etc. etc.

“Brenda’s getting dressed, mum. We’re going out in a few minutes,” Jax informed her. “I’m sure you can talk to her another time. When’s your flight back to Palm Beach? I’m sure dad must be missing you.”

Jane got that hint loud and clear. Her son wanted her gone. He wanted to deal with this bizarre situation with his new mystery-bride and his angry ex-fiancée in private and at his leisure with no family interference.

“I can take a later flight, Jax,” Jane offered anyway, knowing he would decline her offer. “I think perhaps I can help, if I stay. This situation is very.. .awkward and..

“No thanks, I can handle this. You should be with dad. I’ll see you at Christmas, like I always do,” he said, kissing her cheek. “Scott’s downstairs if you need a ride to the airport.”

With the tender but firm dismissal from her younger son, Jane Jacks gave Ariel a sympathetic smile and left the room to gather her things and return to Palm Beach.

Alone with Jax Ariel grew nervous, wishing Jax’s grandmother were there to lend her support. His grandmother was one tough cookie and would not be dismissed as easily as his mother had been.

“What have you decided?” Jax asked her. “I need to know, Arid. How do you want to handle telling people that the wedding is oft?”

She put her hand to her forehead dramatically. “Jax, darling, I need more time. This is all happening too fast! If I could just stay here for a week or so and gather my wits.

“You can’t possibly stay here,” Jax said. “That’s out of the question, Ariel, how can you even ask that, knowing what you do now? How can you think I would disrespect my wife like that by allowing you to stay here when you have a perfectly lovely townhouse of your own in Georgetown? You’re not homeless, Ariel. There’s no point to your staying here with me for any reason at this juncture. And as for time -- well, I can’t really give you any more time. I’m sorry. Brenda isn’t invisible, you know. She’s here, and people are going to see her and ask about her, and meet her, and know about her. Now, I need to know what you want me to tell people about the way you and I ended things.”

Ariel thought if she had to hear him put Brenda first one more time, she would erupt like a long-dormant volcano! She had some choice words about that wife of his, but she held her tongue, knowing it would only incur his displeasure.

“I suppose it would be best to say it was a mutual decision for us to part,” she said stiffly. “Anything else would only make me look pitiful, and I detest pity.”

“We could say we decided we were better off as friends,” Jax said gently. “That is the truth, after all.”

“That is *your* truth, Jax. You’re the one who claims not to love me. I still love you. *I* still want to marry you. You’re the one who just wants to be friends, so that truth is *yours, * not mine,” she said, biting off her last words.

“Do you still want to be friends?” Jax asked. “I’ll understand if that’s not possible for you. I just need to know. And if you do want to be friends, I need you to understand it’s never going to go beyond that.”

She nodded. “I want us to stay friends.” And then she grabbed her overnight bag, needing to flee this house before she had to spout any more hypocrisy. “I should go home. I have a lot of things to cancel concerning the wedding and people to talk to.”

“Scott can give you a ride home,” Jax offered.

She shook her head, having never been a fan of Scott’s and knowing the feeling was mutual. He was the last person she’d want to have to share a ride home with now. “I have my car,” she said. It’s in the garage, which is why you didn’t see it when you came home.”

Jax escorted her to the front door. “Perhaps I can drop by tomorrow to put up those decorations your mother and I got for you,” she said. “I’d still like to do that, Jax. I’ve always loved decorating this house.”

Jax shook his head slowly. “That’s not a good idea,” he said. “And it’s Brenda’s job to do things like that now.”

She nodded stiffly, more choice words for Brenda swirling around like a cyclone in her mind. She could only imagine the horrible job that child would do decorating this elegant house! “Then I’ll come by tomorrow to pick up *my* decorations. I’m sure I can use them at my own home,” she said. She opened the door and walked out and then turned around. “Since we are still friends Jax, is my family still invited to spend Christmas Day with you as we have for the last five years?”

Jax nodded. “Yes.”

Ariel forced a smile. “Good. Then I’ll see you tomorrow when I pick up my decorations. And I’ll plan on seeing you for Christmas,” she said as Jax followed her outside and used the remote control genie to open one of the six garages where Ariel’s Mercedes was parked. She paused and kissed his cheek. “Until tomorrow,” she said climbing into her car.

Since he was already outside, Jax opened another one of the garages and backed out his silver Lexus jeep. He parked it at the foot of the steps and then climbed back up the stairs and inside the house where he saw Brenda passing the open door on her way into the living room. She had that relaxed, carefree, playful look on her face that told him she was looking for Scott. Jax squelched the idiotic jealousy he felt rumbling within him, and he grabbed for her as she passed the open door.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

Brenda tried not to have a pleasure rush at his touch. “Ahh ... sure. I
just wanted to talk to Scoff for a second. I’ll be right...”

“He’s not here,” Jax said, cutting her off “He went to take my mother to the airport.”

“Oh,” she said, realizing that for the first time she and Jax were all alone. “Go get your jacket,” he said, as he slipped on his own.

Brenda put on her parka and followed him outside. She raced to the silver vehicle to try and avoid the biting cold as much as possible, and he held open the door for her as she climbed up into the warm interior of the luxury Sports Utility Vehicle and slid on her seat belt. Jax got behind the wheel and began to pull away from the house. His eyes wandered over to her as he noticed her eyes soaking in everything about the block: his house, all of the other estate houses, the immaculate block with its many trees and stunning landscape, the lake. She was trying to hide her awe of all of this from him by keeping her face turned to the window, but he could see her reflection in the tinted glass, and he saw the stunned wonder in her eyes.

“So what do you think of your new home?” he asked her.

She could still not get used to thinking of Jax’s beautiful, fancy mansion as *her* home. It was overwhelming. She paused for a moment, thinking of the mansion with its gleaming floors and marble pillars, its cathedral
ceilings, tons of crystal clear windows with astonishing views; elegant archways and bathrooms the size of her dorm room. “I guess, I think it’s pretty much a paradise,” she
confessed.

Paradise? Jax smiled to himself Perhaps he was on the right track after all...

When they got to the exclusive jewelry shop on Lakeland Drive, Jax explained to the store owner what they were looking for, and he told him to let Brenda pick out anything she wanted.

“May I make a suggestion?” Mr. Marsham asked. “Newlyweds who want new rings do this all the time. You pick out a set for your wife, and she’ll pick out a ring for you.”

Jax thought that was a *bad* idea. The last thing he wanted to do was pick something Brenda hated. But she seemed up to the challenge and cut him off before he could decline Mr. Marsham’s suggestion.

“Okay,” Brenda said, following the proprietor over to where the men s rings were, while Jax was assisted by the manager who showed him their fine selection of women’s wedding and engagement ring sets.

Jax glanced back at Brenda curiously, wondering why she had decided to do it this way. She probably wants to pick out the most hideous thing she can find for me, he decided.

“Would you like some suggestions, Mr. Jacks?” the manager, whose name was Gail, offered, seeing that Jax looked totally lost as he stared at the dazzling array of rings. “You could go with a birthstone engagement ring setting. When’s your wife’s birthday?”

Jax realized he had no *idea* when Brenda’s birthday was. “I think we should just stick to diamonds,” he decided.

“All right, well, then here’s our most exclusive selection,” she said,
pulling out a velvet tray with the rings on them for Jax’s inspection.

Meanwhile he saw that Brenda had already made her selection, and Mr. Marsham went to get it altered in Jax’s ring size. She was done already? Boy, she must have gotten him the worst thing she could find, Jax thought, staring at her and trying to glean something from her expression, but she was not looking at him. In fact, she was quite lost as he noticed she was gazing rather longingly at an exquisitely cut, bright ruby heart, encased in diamonds, dangling from a delicate gold necklace, encased securely behind the glass in the rare jewels section. Brenda felt his eyes upon her and looked away from the necklace quickly and began walking around the store, trying to look bored.

Jax went back to the selection of rings before him and thought about just doing eenie, meenie minie, mo as a means of choosing.

Gail saw how much trouble Jax was having, and she smiled at him. “Why don’t you just pick the one you that makes you think of her,” she whispered. Jax figured, why not? He certainly didn’t have any other ideas.

He chose a gold wedding band fully encircled with diamonds, which Gail told him was called an “eternity ring.” Jax liked the sound of that. Then he chose an engagement ring whose diamond was in the shape of a three-dimensional heart that sparkled brighter than anything else on the velvet display did. It was almost as if the diamond heart had life.

“Excellent choices!” Gail said, smiling at him. Jax grinned as he caught Brenda trying to peek and see what he had chosen, as she saw Gail going to size the rings for Brenda’s hand.

Brenda walked over to Jax, standing next to him. He gazed down at her.

“You got me the ugliest thing in the store, didn’t you?” they said
simultaneously to one another.

Jax laughed at their identical thoughts. “No, I didn’t” he told her.
“I’m sure you did though.”

She just gave him an ambiguous smile and said nothing.

“Here you are,” Mr. Marsham said, coming out with their sized rings several long moments later. “Sorry it took so long, but I had to have my engraver do the engraving on yours, Mr. Jacks.”

“Engraving?” Jax murmured, gazing at Brenda who was deliberately looking
away from him pretending to have an inordinate amount of interest in a gaudy, emerald choker.

“Try them on please.” Marsham encouraged, handing them the rings they had chosen and waiting for them to exchange them.

Jax opened his hand and let Brenda see her rings. Brenda’s eyes lit up in disbelief at what Jax had chosen for her. She could have kicked herself after she let out her gasp of delight, but too late. The sound had escaped, he’d heard it, and only a blind and deaf person would not know she was thrilled.

Gail gave a relieved Jax a thumbs-up sign at Brenda’s reaction, as Jax slid both rings on her finger. Then Brenda gazed up at Jax, and he was momentarily stunned into immobility by what he saw in her eyes. She was worried. She was worried about what his reaction would be to what she had chosen for him. Now either that meant she really cared about his feelings, or she was just afraid to incur his wrath. He chose to believe it was #1. And he vowed that even if she *had* gotten him the ugliest ring on the face of the earth, he would act as if he thought it was perfection. She opened her hand, and his ring was there. It was a thick band of gold styled with an effect that made it appear to be subtly covered with diamond dust. Inside were engraved the letters: ADONIS.

Jax smiled, very pleased by her choice and intrigued by the inscription. Adonis? Was she saying that was the way she thought of him? He gave her a questioning glance as she slid the wedding band on his finger.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” she advised, trying, as he noticed she often did, to minimize any significance. She made him smile. She *always* made him smile, he realized.

“I’ll try not to,” he whispered, deliberately brushing his lips against her ear and laughing softly as she whispered to him “Stop that!” and yet she made not even the slightest attempt to move away from him. So he defied her and kissed her again, and this time he heard her laugh. “Excuse me,” he whispered to her, “but Adonis has to pay for these.”

She just rolled her eyes at him. “You’re letting it get to your head,” she said, walking away from him so he could not see her happy little smile. Why, oh why, did he make her so damned happy anyway? This was madness, she decided with a helpless sigh as she gazed out at the falling snow and then held up her rings, staring in fascination at them. How could he have picked out something so absolutely perfect? He was crazy if he ever thought he was getting these rings back, she thought. There were two ways she could keep them. She could simply refuse to give them back in the event of an annulment, or she could find a way to stay married to him. She certainly preferred #2. But then that would depend on the intentions of Agent Adonis, wouldn’t it? And he could just not be trusted, she remembered with a despondent sigh. But she had only to gaze upon her beautiful rings again to lift her confused spirits. He’d gotten her a heart. Of all the things - a *heart*..shaped engagement ring.
Why?

Jax finished up paying for their purchases, slid his credit card back into his wallet, and slipped something into his pocket, and then waked over to her.

“Okay, let’s go,” he said, automatically taking her hand, which she noticed more and more, he seemed to like to do. She assumed it was his ridiculous way of trying to keep her in line and show her that he was running the show. But it was hard to hold onto that thinking when the way he held her hand was so intimately, fingers entwined, occasionally caressing her wrist. There was nothing commanding or controlling about it. It was just tender and sexy. Of course, that was probably what he *wanted* her to think. That it was just a sweet, sexy, intimate gesture, meanwhile it was really just his way of intimating that he was the one in control here.

She gazed down at his fingers, loosely threaded through hers as they walked down the block to where the Lexus was parked. Well, maybe *she* would show him who was in control, she decided as she tightened her hold on his hand, their fingers interlocking deeper.

She looked up at him to see his reaction, and her heart stopped as she saw his eyes lit with a compelling blue fire that set fire to her very soul. She was so distracted by the unexpected, intense gaze of desire she had seen in his eyes that she stumbled in her step.

Pretending to have simply slipped on the icy sidewalk, she averted her eyes from the smoldering aqua gaze that was kissing her soul. And as he helped her into the jeep, she wondered if these increasing yearnings for him would ever go away?

As they were headed back home, driving down the street leading to Jax’s hilltop mansion, a black Jaguar was pulling out of one of the vast estates and it tooted to get Jax’s attention.

Jax rolled down the window as Brenda tried to peer over his shoulder
curiously at the neighbor.

“Hey, Jax, back in town?” a man with very dark hair and dark brown eyes was asking.

“Yeah, I got back this morning,” Jax said.

“Well, are you going to be around for a while this time? Or are they
sending you off again?”

“I’m not sure,” Jax responded. “I should be here for a little while though.”

“Wonderful! Then you and Ariel can come to the charity gala Edmund and I are throwing in a couple of weeks. I’m sure you must have gotten the invitation.”

“I did,” Jax confirmed. “Umm... Ariel and I are not together any longer though. We decided we just wanted to be friends. Actually,” he said, leaning back so that Brenda was more visible, “this is my wife, Dimitri. This is Brenda.”

Dimitri Marick rose shocked eyebrows as he climbed out of the low Jaguar to get a better look at Jax’s wife.

“Hi,” Brenda said, waving at the stranger.

“Well, hello there,” Dimitri said, giving her a bright smile. “I’m utterly charmed, Mrs. Jacks. And also thrown for a loop, I’m afraid. Jax certainly held you a well-kept secret.”

Brenda nodded. “You have no idea how well-kept. Even *I* didn’t know,” she said, making Dimitri laugh and Jax give her “the look.” “You can call me Brenda, by the way,” she said as Dimitri kissed her hand.

“Well, I thank you, fair Brenda. Please call me Dimitri, and please allow me to congratulate you on your marriage and welcome you to the neighborhood. I must run, but it was a pleasure meeting you, and I look forward to seeing you both at the gala.” He patted Jax on the shoulder. “Boy, did you ever make a good trade,” he whispered as he laughed a bit and then got back into his car and sped off.

Jax rolled up the window, and they began the climb up the hill toward the house.

“Even *I* didn’t know,” Jax mimicked her. “Very funny, Brenda.”

“I was just kidding around,” she said, laughing. “So he’s throwing a gala! That’s like a ball or something, isn’t it? Wow,” Brenda said with excitement. “We’re going, right?”

Jax was greatly swayed by the excitement in her eyes and the fact that he could finally give her something she obviously wanted. But then he thought about Dimitri’s parties, always filled with suave, oversexed, young aristocrats seeking out the next object of their heated pursuits. That shouldn’t bother him, of course, because Brenda was his wife. Except she was not *truly* his wife. And what was there to stop her from being wooed by one of these roving Lotharios? It went without saying that she would get hit on right and left if he so much as left her side for a minute at this party. Damn it, why was this bothering him so? He was not the jealous type -- not until he’d met her. He needed to just get over this and let her go to the party. It would make her happy. It would make *him* miserable, but it would make her happy. He should just say ‘yes, Brenda we’re going.’

He made up his mind.

“No,” he said, and he stared straight ahead so he would not have to see the expectant light go out of her beautiful eyes. He didn’t see that although the excitement went out when he said ‘no,’ a new light entered her eyes in it’s place — a light of determination. She was going to that gala, all right. With or without him, she decided, crossing her arms and deliberately staring away from him and away from her rings, not wanting to look at anything that would remind her of how happy he made her and consequently make her anger melt like snow in the Sahara.

When Jax stopped the Lexus in front of the garage to open it up and drive them in, Brenda jerked off her seat belt and scrambled out of the jeep, storming up the icy walkway to the front stairs and slipping several times on the snow-covered path. Jax jumped out of the vehicle, going after her.

“Hey,” he said, taking a hold of her arm “are you just plain crazy? You’re going to break your neck!”

“Well, maybe I *want* to break my neck,” she said, shoving his hands off of her and continuing on her way, falling once more.

Jax helped her up. “Yeah, Brenda, and maybe you want to set your eyeballs on fire, too,” he said sarcastically. “Can you please find a more constructive way to be angry with me than this nonsense?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, looking contrite. Then she picked up a handful of hard-packed snow and hurled it at him. “Is that more constructive?” she
asked. Then she picked up some icy cold, messy slush and splattered it on his jacket. “Or is that more to your liking, your lordship?”

Jax just stared at her for a long moment, and she became unsure of what he was going to do. Desire made her want to run to him, but instinct made her start to back away from him.

“You want to know what’s to my liking? I’ll show you what’s to my liking,” he said, and she barely had a chance to turn to run before he had caught her up in his arms and had her over his shoulder, carrying her inside.

“You are crazy! Put me down, put me down, put me do-own!” she yelled at him.

“Oh, I’ll put you down, Brenda. As soon as we get to the bedroom,” he said.

She was glad that he was concentrating on opening the front door and did not see her eyes, which she was sure reflected what she was feeling right now, which was a thundering excitement that rushed through her every cell.

With Jax having his back to the driveway, Brenda was the one who saw the black car pull up discreetly and saw the man get out and start his way up
carefully up the slippery walkway. Somehow she instinctively knew by the way this man was dressed and carried himself that he was Jax’s boss. Plus he looked like the
FBI Director she had seen on CNN once during some press conference. She gasped and managed to squirm and wriggle until she was off of Jax’s shoulder and standing in front of him instead. His hands entrapped her, however, not about to let her get away.

“Allegiance, *not* affection,” she made sure to let him know.

He looked at her as if she were crazy, as he had no clue what she was talking about and then really got a shock when he found himself the recipient of a kiss from her that could have melted all the ice in Virginia.

What is going *on* here? he thought. And then he couldn’t think as sensations shocked his body like a series of earthquakes. He could not stop the passionate ardor of his lips moving with sensual abandon over hers, anymore than he could stop the beating of his own heart. She was insane to tempt him so wildly like this out here, though. Good god, did she want him to take her right here in front of the house?

When Brenda finally pulled away form the steamy, recklessly passionate kiss, they were both breathing hard and suddenly oblivious to the cold and snow as desire whipped through them both like an unleashing storm.

Jax looked at her completely perplexed. “Are you going to *explain* that?” he demanded, disturbed at how easily she could make him lose his control, his common sense, his entire bloody mind!

Instead of answering him, her eyes just shifted wildly, indicating for him to look behind him. He slowly turned around and saw Director Scorpio coming up the stairs.

“Jax,” he greeted him. “Glad to find you home, son. And with the little woman, too. How lucky for me. I was just in your neck of the woods and thought I might stop in for a cup of coffee,” he said, giving Jax a long, assessing glance. “I hope I didn’t get you at a bad time,” he added, noticing their breathlessness, their darkened eyes and their cozy position against the front door.

Jax exchanged a quick, glance with Brenda that showed that he was both stunned by her ability to figure out who was coming up the walkway and grateful for her quick thinking. “No, sir, you’re welcome here anytime,” Jax said. “This is my wife, Brenda. Brenda, this is the FBI Director, Robert Scorpio.”

Brenda gave him one of her dazzling smiles. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr.
Scorpio,” she said as Jax opened the door. “Please come in,” she said as
Scorpio thanked her and walked inside the house.

Brenda quickly turned to Jax, who suddenly appeared uncharacteristically edgy, as if he were not sure what she would do and how it would end up
affecting him. She whispered, reassuringly to him, “It’ll be okay. I would never do anything to hurt you,” and then she brushed soft lips against his cheek as she turned and walked into the house.

And suddenly, he knew it *would* be okay. For he did have her allegiance
-- that much was clear. And damned if he wasn’t winning her affection, too, he realized with a shadow of a smile dancing across his lips as he shut the door behind him.
end chapter 11

“Mission Irresistible” Chapter 12

“Good afternoon to ye Mary Ellen,” Father O’Malley said as he entered the rectory and passed the secretary, giving her a cheery deeply-dimpled smile.

“Good afternoon Father O’Malley,” Mary Ellen responded smiling and pushing her glasses back as she began to type up a letter for the Archbishop.

“I didn’t happen to get any strange phone calls, did I?” Father O’Malley asked, finding it curious that the outraged blonde lad had yet to follow through on his threats to cause a royal ruckus over the “marriage.”

“No Father O’Malley. All’s been quiet on this snowy Sunday,” Mary Ellen said with a smile as she got back to her typing again.

“Thank ye dear,” Father O’Malley said as he headed towards the dining hall, his gray brows furrowed in thought as he wondered what was keeping Agent Jasper Jacks from doing anything about the marriage. Perhaps after leaving behind the confusion and mayhem of that scene up on stage in that auditorium, he’d taken a moment to think about it and realized that the ceremony would not hold up in any court of law and he had nothing to fret over. Or perhaps he was actually *enjoying* his sudden predicament? The lass certainly had been a breathtaking creation of God, yes indeed. And Agent Jacks had been mightily protective of the little lass. It could certainly be more than duty that was making that boy act like the young lady’s most loyal knight.

Father O’Malley sighed in some annoyance as he walked into the dining hall. It would be just his luck that his little ‘lesson’ to the insolent young man would turn out to be nothing but a grand and marvelous blessing for the unrepentant lad instead.

******

“Can I get you something to eat?” Brenda offered Director Scorpio as he took a seat, and Jax took his coat and then slid Brenda’s coat off of her as well. She was annoyed by the shiver that she felt as Jax’s hands inadvertently brushed against her while he removed her coat.

“Before you answer, sir, make sure she *gets* you something to eat, not *makes* you something to eat,” Jax advised the head of the FBI. “Brenda can’t cook to save her life,” he said, recalling how during their month-long stay at the safe house Brenda had exhibited a decided talent for culinary disasters.

“But I can cook to end yours,” Brenda joked, hoping the director would find it funny.

He did, and his chuckle lit up his deep gray-blue eyes. “Coffee would be fine,” he assured her.

“And you, Jax... *honey?*” Brenda asked, glancing slowly up at him and struggling not to burst out laughing at the expression on his face at her unexpected, rather exaggerated use of term of endearment. “Can I get you something?” she added, when he continued only to look at her. “Coffee? Tea?” She threw him one of her dazzling smiles that could knock a man off his feet. “Me?”

Director Scorpio chuckled again, thinking he’d already decided that the girl was simply enchanting just within the first five minutes of meeting her.

A little smile touched Jax’s lips at Brenda’s shameless and convincing flirtation and then he said: “I’ll take coffee now,” he decided. “And you later,” he added, going along with her brilliant game which he could easily see was winning Director Scorpio over.

With a laugh so delightfully musical you almost expected notes to float in the air about her, Brenda walked across the vast living room and out the equally vast entry-hall, making her way towards the kitchen.

Jax sat down across from the director.

“You have quite a stunning home, Agent Jacks,” Scorpio commented. “We obviously pay you far too well,” he teased, knowing perfectly well the legendary wealth of Jax’s bloodline.

Jax smiled. “Is that the reason for this visit?” he inquired, feigning innocence as to the true intent of Scorpio’s sudden appearance. “To check out if the rumors of my so-called decadent lifestyle have been greatly exaggerated or not?”

Scorpio shrugged. “Yes, perhaps I did want to take a peek at how the other half lives. Or perhaps I also wanted to meet your lovely wife.” Scorpio smoothly swung one ankle over his knee, mimicking Jax’s own relaxed pose. “She’s utterly enchanting,” Scorpio said.

Jax’s eyes seemed to take him off into some mystical distance for a brief moment as he nodded. “Yes she is,” he agreed.

“She’s charming,” Scorpio continued, his eyes focused on Jax, “she’s quite spirited and she’s absurdly beautiful. What I’m saying, Agent Jacks, is that I can see why you would have been swept away by her. Is that what happened?”

“That’s exactly what happened,” Jax said.

The Director nodded. “And she must have been equally swept away for her to agree to do something as impulsive as getting married. You both seem to share a particular penchant for extreme spontaneity. Don’t you think perhaps the two of you rushed into this marriage in haste? It was extremely sudden and one might even say suspiciously   timed,”  he added, getting to the heart of the matter.

“We did rush into it,” Jax conceded. “But we wanted to. We both knew that I was going to be taken off of this assignment and that we would be apart. That was not an acceptable ending for either of us,” Jax explained, thinking that his reputation for impulsiveness was definitely an asset to him in this instance. The director would believe that Jax would get married on the spur of the moment. Now all Jax had to do was convince him it had nothing to do with manipulating the rules.

Scorpio’s lips curved into a smile. “Couldn’t the two of you just have agreed to date each other? Your part in the assignment would have been done, so you would have been allowed to pursue her romantically thereafter.”

“There’s not much to be said for long distance love affairs,” Jax responded. “I wanted her here with me. All the time.  Every day of my life.”

“Ah yes, but marriage is so extreme a course of action. You could have simply lived together. Brenda could have moved in here with you and that would have solved the problem of a long distance relationship.”

Jax shrugged. “I don’t believe in living together just for the sake of living together. The person I’d want to live with on a daily basis is the person I’d want to marry.”

Scorpio rose a brown brow and nodded. “So then I take it your ex-fiancee did not live here with you while you were engaged?”

“No,  she never lived here.”

“I’m assuming she did not take the news of your sudden marriage well at all.”

Jax hesitated a moment. “She and I had already decided that being married was not something that would work out between us. We just wanted to be friends. I’m sure she never expected that I would move on and find someone I did want to marry so quickly, but Ariel already knew that things were over romantically between us. That was as much her decision as it was mine. She knows about Brenda and she wished me well,” he said, making sure not to have Ariel look in any way pitiful or hysterical or incensed as she truly had been.

Brenda came back into the living room then, carrying a gleaming silver tray with the coffee and setting it down in their midst.

“Milk and sugar?” she inquired of the director.

“Yes please,” Scorpio said, amusedly inspecting her attire. She wore a sweater that obviously belonged to Jax but looked incredibly fetching on her. Beneath the sweater she wore black leggings and a pair of very stylish hiking-style boots. As she stirred the milk into his coffee he was blinded by the glitter of the diamonds on her left hand, and he observed the unique heart shaped engagement ring that was of such a dimension and hue that it seemed to sparkle with as much life as the girl wearing it.

Brenda handed Scorpio the coffee and then handed Jax his, black with two sugars, the way she knew he always took it when they were at the safe house. Then she tried to figure out where she should sit. Should she sit on Jax’s lap? Aside from the pleasure of shocking Jax and possibly annoying the daylights out of him, it would also give Director Scorpio the impression of that newlywed intimacy. On the other hand, the director could think it was a bit much that she exhibit that level of intimacy in front of him, and he might subsequently become suspicious. She decided to just sit *really* close to Jax instead, her thigh brushing against the side of his leg while her hand rested on his thigh.

She could not hide her little triumphant smile as she felt Jax react to her innocent touch. Scorpio saw her smile and thought it was just a result of her being near to the man she was so obviously so completely enamored with.

“How long have the two of you been married, exactly?” the Director asked.

“Just since late yesterday,” Brenda responded.

Jax glanced at his watch. “Eighteen hours and eleven minutes,” he said. And both Brenda and Scorpio were amazed that Jax knew the hour down to the very minutes.

“And how are you liking Great Falls, Mrs. Jacks?” Scorpio asked next, drinking down some more of the hot coffee, which was very good.

“I love it!” Brenda said truthfully, getting quite a kick out of this ‘Mrs. Jacks’ business. “Although I haven’t really been exploring the neighborhood yet, so I haven’t seen it all. Of course I think there’s an entire other half of this *house* that I haven’t seen yet.”

Jax shot her a smile.

“I can’t quite get over the fact that there are only *four* houses on this whole, huge street,” she continued. “It just really seems to emphasize how big all of the homes are. Oh, and I’ve only met one of our neighbors so far,” she added. “Dimitri, is his name. He seems very nice. And he was very friendly to me.”

Very attracted to you is more like it, Jax thought sarcastically.

“Oh yes, the Maricks,” Scorpio nodded, drinking some more coffee. “Their estate is the one in the center of the street on the left, right Jax?”

Jax nodded.

“They’re fairly well known here,” Scorpio continued, addressing Brenda. “Descendants of Hungarian aristocracy, I believe. They throw some kind of a lavish gala for charity around this time each year, don’t they? The Crystal Ball I believe they call it. My wife and I are always invited, but normally we just send a donation. Are the two of you going?”

“Absolutely!” Brenda shot out before Jax could get out so much as a breath. “Jax just *insisted* we go,” she added, drumming her fingers on Jax’s leg and feeling the tension in him at what she was trying to pull. “Didn’t’ you, sweetheart?” she said giving him an angelic look.

Jax shot her back a brief look that was hardly angelic. It was what Brenda called ‘the look’. The one where she knew she was getting to him in some way or another. But ‘the look’ vanished as quickly as it had come and then Jax sent her a most disarming smile that made her catch her breath, and he played along with her manipulative little game.

“Yes, my wife was very excited about going so how could I possibly refuse her?” he said smoothly. “We’ll definitely be there,” he lied. He had no intention of taking her. But if she wanted to play this little game where they would give Director Scorpio the impression that they were going, it was fine with Jax. If she thought she was actually going to get her way via this clever ruse, she was sadly mistaken.

In the next instant, however, he realized that *he* was the one sadly mistaken.

“It would be great if you and your wife could come too, Mr. Scorpio,” Brenda said, still using the weaponry of that angelic smile. “It is for a good cause, after all, and Jax and I would love to see you there.”

Jax shot Brenda ‘the look’ again and she had to swallow the giggle that was longing to burst forth from her throat. She was going to win this round and he knew it, she realized with a smile of one immensely pleased with themselves.

Robert Scorpio was not much for these fancy functions, but he knew his wife, Anna, would love to attend. And Brenda was right, it was for a good cause. It would also provide Robert the opportunity to observe the interaction of the newly married Jacks’ at a social function, which could reveal quite a bit. He was more or less convinced they had genuine feelings for one another, and certainly a strong physical attraction. Whether or not it was love, he could not accurately gauge at this point, as they seemed rather fond of playing games with each other, and it made figuring them out very confusing.

“I think that’s a very good idea, Mrs. Jacks. I’m sure my wife will thank you immensely for the suggestion. You see while I generally detest these affairs, she just eats then up. I’ll see you both there, then, will I?”

“You certainly will,” Brenda said, again turning her soft brown eyes, crowned by a stunning set of thick, dark lashes towards Jax. “Right, Jax?” she said, stroking him beneath his chin.

“Right,” Jax said. What else could he say. Victory was most assuredly hers. And whenever she touched him he couldn’t think straight anyway.

“I’m sure Agent Wilkie will be there too,” Scorpio said as he rose to his feet. “I’ve never known him to pass up a social gathering full of beautiful women he can play the rake with. Doubtless, we will all have a good time,” He smiled and took his coat as Jax handed it to him.

“Are you leaving already?” Brenda asked.

“Yes, I’m afraid I really can’t stay. It was quite the pleasure meeting you, though, Mrs. Jacks, and thank you for the coffee. It was excellent. Oh, and I look forward to seeing you again at the gala.” He gave her a fond smile and then turned to Jax. “Agent Jacks, you and Agent Wilkie will need to come down to headquarters on Tuesday morning for an A-Team briefing about the mission I have in mind for you. The entire A-Team’s presence is mandatory. Don’t be late,” Scorpio said, making no mention as of yet of his desire to have Jax command the squad. He decided he was not ready to make that decision yet. He would wait until after the Marick party which was two weeks away. That should give him a better idea of the state of Jax and Brenda’s suspiciously timed union.

“We’ll be there,” Jax said. “I can’t leave Brenda here alone, however,” he was quick to add. “Not with Bastian Reese still undoubtedly trying to track her down to get back what he accidentally gave to her.”

“Take your wife with you,” Scorpio suggested. “She’ll be perfectly safe in the building with us. Enjoy the rest of your evening, you two,” he said, bidding them goodbye as they both waved to him as he exited the house.

Jax shut the door, and Brenda, who had been standing next to him, scooted away, a safe distance. But Jax closed that distance between them in three strides and Brenda had nowhere to go as she was backed up against the wall, a breathtaking Renoir original hanging above her head.

She saw ‘the look’ on his face and sighed. “Don’t be angry about the party,” she said, gripping his powerful arms with her hands. Somehow when they were touching there was such a current of deliciously riotous emotions between them that anger never stood a chance of surviving in the swirling tempest of much more appealing emotions.

It was working now too, as she saw ‘the look’ disappear and Jax walked over to the coffee table and sat down on it, gazing at her. “I’m not,” he assured her. Because he truly wasn’t. Not anymore.

Smiling with relief, Brenda joined him on the coffee table, hitting his arm playfully and tossing her head back in laughter, her tall, dark curls, swirling beautifully. “I was *good*, wasn’t I?” she bragged, holding up her hand for him to give her a high five for their convincing husband and wife act.

Jax smiled at her. “You were better than good,” He gave her the high five, but then did not let go of her hand. “You were brilliant,” he contended, sliding his fingers in-between hers, his eyes locked on hers.

Uh oh, Brenda thought as she felt herself becoming helplessly mesmerized by his gaze and the soft, seductive tone of his voice as he’d said the word ‘brilliant.’ And the way he had so slowly linked his fingers through hers was certainly not doing anything to help stop the sudden rush of shivering arousal she was feeling.

His lips were slowly descending towards her.

Get up! Move! Stop him! Resist, woman, resist! she silently yelled at herself. But she did not move. And she could not possibly resist. And her nervous excitement made her wet her lips with her tongue which caused a sensual fire to alluringly back-light the darkening blue hues of Jax’ s eyes. Brenda’s heart was racing so fast and so loudly that she thought for one embarrassing moment that Jax could hear it and would laugh with glee over her inability to hide her obvious desire for him. But he didn’t laugh. His eyes were focused on her lips, and her lips in turn were preparing for the ecstasy of touching his.

Oh how weak I am, she lamented with an inner sigh of exasperation. I can’t resist him. I can’t. I cant

His lips had barely brushed over hers with delicious strokes of warm, tingling sensuality, promising incredible rapture to come, when the doorbell rang.

Relief and disappointment shot through Brenda at the same time. For Jax, disappointment and frustration were the only things he felt. He looked at her, neither one of them saying anything. His gaze shifted from her lips to her eyes. Slowly, he ran his thumb across her warm, soft lips. He didn’t say a single word, but his stunning sapphire-emerald eyes said loud and clear to her ‘You will be mine.’

Brenda tried to give him a look that she hoped would say ‘not in this life time!’ But she had no idea what he took from her return look, because he slowly smiled at her. A quick, confident smile that made her think that her eyes had betrayed her in whatever message they had sent him. As he got up to answer the door, she sat there on the couch startled by the confidence in that wickedly attractive smile he had left her with. Then she went from feeling startled, to feeling ridiculously flattered by the apparent extent of his own attraction to her. Then she became defiant and rebellious, vowing that he could want her until hell froze over, but he would never have her. She wasn’t about to satisfy his wild lust (okay and her’s too) knowing full well that he didn’t care about her in any way beyond the physical. She wasn’t about to give into this titillating, brewing storm of passion that always broke loose when they were together, knowing that his body might want her, but his heart wanted someone else. She was not about to surrender her virginity to become the sexual plaything for the Adonis, only to be discarded by him when her usefulness in his life had run it’s course, and have to watch him have some grand spectacle of a wedding to his beloved heiress hot-head.

Brenda had figured out that Jax must want her with him because he knew wherever she was Bastian Reese would show up eventually. She remembered how excited Jax and Scott both were about the prospect of capturing this man. It was a big deal because he was so elusive and hardly anyone knew what he looked like. But she knew. And so Jax wanted her with him to lure Bastian Reese to his doorstep, no doubt. Now, the wedding part… that was truly just a comedy of errors, the fault of no one, but Jax being so nice to her was obviously a part of this plan he had with his lawyer to make sure Brenda would not turn around and try to get her hands on his vast billion dollar fortune. Now, as for all the very provocative kissing and the escalating intimacy between them; she figured out that the reason for that was because Jax truly was attracted to her. Very much so. At least as much as she was to him. He had even told her that the first time she had kissed him back in Port Charles. So he obviously was not planning on following his lawyer’s advice not to sleep with her. In fact, he was probably more than willing to have several sensational but meaningless rolls in the hay with her as long as he knew he could get rid of her eventually, she thought. Too bad for him she had no intention of being gotten rid of.

She glanced up as Jax came back into the living room with Scott walking next to him.

Brenda was happy to see her friend, and particularly glad for the distraction from her passionate longings. When Jax was in a sweet, seductive mood like he had been a few moments ago she was simply no match for him and was therefore in real danger of losing the upper hand to him. She had to watch that in the future.

“Hey, so let me see your rock,” Scott said stepping up into the living room and sitting across from Brenda, grabbing her hand as she laughed and playfully slapped his knee with her free hand. Jax rolled his eyes at their continued playful banter as well as his best friend’s lousy timing. “Verrrry nice,” Scott said in approval. “I always knew you had great taste, “he told Brenda.

“Actually,” she glanced over at Jax who stood leaning against a perfect duplication of the statute Rodan’s ‘The Thinker’ “I wish I could take the credit, but it was your partner over there who picked them out.”

Scott’s gaze shifted to Jax his eyes slightly teasing. All he could think about was the run of the mill 2 karat diamond solitaire Jax had gotten for Ariel, which Ariel had then sweet-talked him into trading in for a some godawful looking so-called heirloom piece. Jax had put no thought or feeling into the choice of either of those rings for Ariel, but obviously he’d put a great deal of thought into Brenda’s rings, Scott realized as he once again glanced at the breathtaking diamond heart that shone like nothing Scott had ever seen and complimented Brenda to perfection. He looked at Jax again, a slight grin on his lips.

Jax gave him a warning look to shut up so Scott just let out a soft laugh and did not say a word. “Director Scorpio was just here,” Brenda said to Scott, her lovely eyes dancing with the mischief she and Jax had played upon the director.

“Yeah I know,” Scott said unzipping his jacket and tossing it over the arm of the couch. “That’s why I’m here, actually. I thought I could help you guys with the deception. But I guess I was too late to join in all the fun subterfuge,” he winked at Brenda. “So how’d it go?”

“I was *brilliant*!” she laughed, using Jax’s word. “I mean, I suppose Jax was okay too,” she said, throwing Jax a playful smile, “but I think that *I* stole the show, if I may be permitted to be so bold.”

“Permitted?” Jax murmured. “Since when do you ever wait for permission, my love?” he asked in a voice that made her quake with delight although she did an admirable job of acting unaffected by his term of endearment and the deliberately caressing tone of his voice.

“I am *not* your love,” she informed him, to which Scott laughed softly. For some reason he loved it when Brenda was contrary. He knew Jax loved it too.

“Oh, but it’s only a matter of time,” Jax said dismissively, knowing his intentionally presumptuous words would ignite her ire.

Brenda glared at Jax. “Well if by time you mean the twelfth of *never,* my love, then you’re right,” she said sweetly. Then she turned back to Scott. “Anyway, I’ll have you know that I had your boss laughing, complimenting my coffee, *and* believing that Jax and I are madly, passionately in love.”

Scott rose his dark brows. “How exactly did you get him to believe the passionate part?” he asked curiously.

Brenda laughed and reached over and grabbed a cushion from next to him, slugging him on the head with it. Scott slugged her right back with it. She gasped and then hit him again with it, harder this time and then laughing, ran a safe distance from him, racing up the stairs and disappearing into one of the rooms. Jax remained leaning against the statue semi-scowling at their carefree closeness. She had no walls or barriers where Scott was concerned. No, those defenses are only reserved for me, Jax realized. But there were other things reserved only for him too, he noted with interest. Like those besotted looks she gave him when she thought he wasn’t looking at her. Like the aching tenderness of that soft kiss she had given to him to reassure him she would not betray him in their united front against the Director. Or like the fiery, tempestuous passion of her kisses. A fiery passion he knew she would control if only she could. And the fact that she was at a loss for control whenever she was near him pleased him immensely.

“Did my mother get on the plane okay?” Jax asked Scott.

“Yep. She’s really worried about you though, Jax. She was grilling me like you would not believe.”

“About Brenda?”
“What else.”

“What did you tell her?” Jax asked moving away from the statue and taking the seat on the coffee table that Brenda had abandoned.

“I told her that I knew she was worried but she shouldn’t be. I told her that you knew exactly what you were doing when you married, Brenda. That Brenda didn’t trick you or force you into it. That you’re not at all unhappy. And I reassured her that she wasn’t about to be a grandmother.”

Jax nodded. “Did that settle her down at all?”

Scott shook his head. “Not really. But what I said next did.”

Jax’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What did you say to my mother, Scott?”

“I told her that Brenda adored you, which is true you know, Jax. She does. I know she loves to get in your face and act like she you mean nothing to her, but even you have to know that’s just a facade she’s trying to keep up to protect herself”

“I know she begrudgingly *likes* me, Jax corrected. “And I definitely know she’s attracted to me – yes, I definitely know that. But I don’t think I’d ever go so far as to call it adoration. But if it helped allay my mother’s worries, I’m glad you told her that.”

“I think it was actually what I said to her just before she boarded her plane that allayed her fears,” Scott said.

Jax sighed. “Okay, what?”

“She came right out and asked me if you were in love with Brenda. She begged me to be honest with her. And I told her that I was positive that you were.”

Jax glanced up at the spiral staircase to make sure Brenda was nowhere in the vicinity then his eyes went back to Scott. “Why did you tell her that?” Jax asked quietly.

“Because I *am* positive about it, Jax,” Scott said with a shrug, as if it were all no big deal. “Look, you don’t have to deny it or confirm it or anything. I just wanted you to know that I told your mother, that’s all. So did things really go as well as Brenda said they did with Scorpio?”

Jax nodded. “I think so. Who knows, though. I may be in for some more unannounced visits from him.”

“I can’t believe he came himself” Scott said. “I figured he would have sent Donnelly for sure.”

“Believe me, I was *not* expecting the director himself,” Jax said. “Brenda really was exceptional. She had him just hanging on her every word and you could tell he was really fond of her. Oh, by the way we all have to be at Dimitri’s charity ball thing that’s coming up in a couple of weeks. You can thank my wife for that. We also have a briefing on Tuesday. Mandatory. The whole A-Team squad.” Jax relayed.

“Hmm. I wonder what that’s about,” Scott murmured, as it was unusual for the whole eight-man squad to be summoned. “By the way, have there been any further sightings of the elusive Mr. Reese or his cute little side kick lately?”

Jax grinned. “Cute little side kick? Aww, have you been unable to forget a certain green eyed girl who kicked your ass?” he laughed. “That’s really cute, Scott. Love at first.. . kick? You’re not forgetting that this cute little side kick you can’t seem to forget is a *criminal*, are you?”

“No I’m not forgetting. And believe me, she could probably kick your ass too,” Scott assured him.

Jax laughed. “Well I’m sure we’ll find out when we meet up with them again,” he said. “Cause you know we’re going to, Scott.”

Scott nodded, and his eyes tried to remain aloof to the inevitability of that next meeting, but truth be told this was one meeting he was craving. He could not forget this girl, no matter how he tried to do so.

“So Brenda conned you into going to Dimitri’s party, huh?” Scott laughed, knowing Jax well enough to know he would not have wanted to go because of all the male attention Brenda would undoubtedly be the recipient of, not to mention all the curiosity about their being married.

“She conned me good,” Jax confessed. “She asked me if we could go and I told her no. Then when Director Scorpio was here, the subject came up, he asked if we were going and Brenda said yes we were. She told him *I* had insisted we go and then she convinced him to go as well so now I have to go. And so do you, by the way.”

Scott shrugged. “I was going to go anyway. It’s a masked ball, you know,” he added, trying to infer the ludicrous idea that Brenda’s irresistibility could possibly be hidden behind a mask that only covered the eyes, and she might be left alone for the night by the roving packs of cultured Romeos.

“I know. It won’t make any difference though,” Jax said, letting Scott know that if the only thing covered were Brenda’s eyes it would do very little to mask her enchanting allure. “They’re velvet masks provided by the host. We don’t even get them until we show up.”

“I promise I’ll help you keep the wolves at bay,” Scott said, getting up. “I have to get home. How are you and Brenda doing on sleeping arrangements?” he asked with interest.

“Fine,” was all Jax said, although he had not yet told Brenda what tonight’s arrangement would be. “Who’s the unlucky woman who’s going to be going with you to Dimitri’s party?”

Scott grinned at Jax’s ‘unlucky woman’ crack. “Aurora’s going with me,” he said.
The lovely and exotic Aurora Bhatia was a fellow FBI agent and someone Scott had dated seriously for nearly a year, two years ago. They were very good friends now.

“The woman is masochist,” Jax decided.

Scott laughed at the instult. “I’m outta here. I’ll see you tomorrow. Nice ring by the way,” he murmured, eyeing Jax’s wedding band with amused eyes.

“Scott wait!” Brenda said as she came racing down the stairs wearing only a fluffy mauve towel lined with satin wrapped around a body, one simply had to stare at. She was still wet, obviously fresh from the shower. She went over to Scot, who was zipping up his jacket and leaned up to whisper in his ear as a watchful Jax looked on. “I need a couple of favors,” she whispered.

“Sure, what?” Scott asked her.

“First, remember I told you I wanted to go on a shopping spree? Well I really meant that. So can you take me to some really great stores in the area tomorrow?”

“You don’t want Jax to do that?” Scott asked her.

Brenda shook her head. “No. Because I’m going to run up his credit cards remember? I don’t want him to *be* there when I’m doing it. What’s the fun in that? The fun is in seeing him shocked afterwards.”

Scott stifled his laughter and just nodded. “Go on.”

“I also need you to teach me those fancy ballroom dances. I don’t want Jax to be embarrassed when he’s dancing with me at this party we’re going to. I want to be as light on my feet and beautiful to watch as every other woman there. I don’t want Jax dancing with me and wishing he were with anyone else. Can you help me?”

Jax’s frown deepened the longer Brenda continued her whispering to Scott.

“Sure. We’ll figure it out tomorrow,” Scott said, taping her chin fondly. “See ya.” Then he glanced back up at Jax, smiled enigmatically and left.

“Well that was rude,” Jax said conversationally to Brenda when they were once again alone in the mansion.

“I was just asking him to do me a favor if you must know,” Brenda said. “I didn’t mean to be rude, but it was private, you see.”

“And obviously urgent since you ran out of either your bath or your shower to catch him before he left,” Jax murmured, his eyes roving slowly over her with infinite appreciation.

Brenda became fully aware of her decided lack of clothing and clutched the towel tighter to her body.

A lazy smile touched Jax’s lips. “Shy, my love?” he asked her. “How unlike you.”

Brenda became wary and nervous by his sudden flirtatious manner and the attractive darkening she saw in his eyes. She made sure the towel was wrapped tightly around her wet body and then pushed both hands against Jax’s muscular chest to stop his seductive advance.

“Stop calling me your love, Jax. I’m not your love.”

“Isn’t that for me to decide?” he pondered. “My love,” he added.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation of his teasing. “What were you going to do with me earlier?” she asked him suddenly. “When you had picked me up outside and were intent on carrying me into the house over your shoulder? What did you have in mind?”

Jax laughed, knowing she was being deliberately dense. “Use your imagination, Brenda.”

“You were . . . going to make love to me?” she asked, softly.

“Only if you wanted me to,” he assured her, but the look in his eyes told her he had no doubts at all that she would want him to.

She blushed at his arrogant presumptions and how irritatingly accurate they were. “You seem to be under the impression that you have the ability to seduce me at will,” she said aloofly. “But you don’t.”

“Don’t I?” he countered, lazy mockery of her denial lighting his eyes, which looked very azure-blue right now and *dangerously* gorgeous. Slowly he was curving his hands over the two wet wrists of her hands that were pressed against his chest and gently pulling her towards him. She didn’t resist. She couldn’t’ resist. Darn it! She felt the pleasing dizziness hitting her with every inch closer to him she got. And she was put out to find her attraction to him pushing all other common sense aside and decimating her so called resistance within seconds.

The sensation of her alluring body pressed against his combined with the headiness of her inability to resist him, caused desire to surge through Jax, heating his blood and sending it singing merrily through his veins. Making him come alive in ways only she seemed able to.

His lips covered hers, moving over her receptive lips with hungry, sweet ardor. Lost in a haze of nameless yearnings, Brenda encircled her arms around him and leaned forward on her toes responding in kind to Jax’s scintillating passion. The kiss deepened as his arms pulled her closer and tongue-play began between them with a maddening, deliberately slow exploration that was sensual torture. Brenda let out a little moan as she curled her fingers into the sublime gold of his hair and literally felt herself flying with the passion he was generating in her.

To her shock and disappointment, Jax pulled away from her, then gave her a quick but full kiss to the lips. “You were saying something about my inability to seduce you,” he ran his fingers down her heated throat, “my love?”

“Will you please stop calling me that, Jax? It isn’t funny. And I tell you, I... I was *not* in any danger of being seduced!” she lied. She was flustered, very hot and bothered, and desperately trying to fabricate some other explanation for her behavior just now.

“Then I suggest you run upstairs and put your clothes on before I’m tempted to show you how wrong you are,” Jax said.

Brenda was so mad at herself for her inability to resist him, and so mad at him for being so damned irresistible in the first place, that her anger left her at a loss for words. With a huff she spun around to go back upstairs and put some clothes on.

Jax’s hold on her hand stopped her, spinning her back around to face him, her brown eyes glittering angrily like amber jewels.

“By the way,” Jax told her. “I thought you might like to know that you’ll be sleeping in my bedroom this evening. The master bedroom,” he said nodding upstairs in the direction of it.

She gasped at his audacity, even while her heart pounded out an excited beat. “I would rather sleep on the floor!” she insisted, still upset with herself and imagining with trepidation how utterly impossible it would be to resist him if they had to share a bed tonight. If he so much as brushed against her accidentally in the night she was sure she would be a goner. Not only that, she still had the memory of how it felt to fall asleep in his arms. She ached for that feeling like no one would believe.

Jax seemed to ignore her charming little outburst about sleeping on the floor. “I’ll be in the connecting room,” he told her. “The door that joins them will be left open. I need it to be that way, Brenda, you understand you’re still in danger until Bastian Reese is apprehended.”

She just nodded. One thing she would never question was Jax’s ability nor his commitment to protecting her from harm. Oddly enough, as much as she didn’t trust him with her heart or her emotions, she trusted him completely with her life.

“One other thing that might be of interest to you,” Jax said as she was turning to go upstairs again. He toyed with a loose tendril of her wet hair as he gazed down at her. “When you kiss me, it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I feel enraptured. Every single time. Like it was the first time. And when I make love to you I know it’s going to be just like that too. But I’m not going to make love to you until you trust me.  I won’t compromise on that,” he told her. “And I know that you want me, but I also know that you don’t trust me yet. But you will. And when you do, I’m going to give you paradise, Brenda. In every way that I can. In every way imaginable,” he promised her, his voice husky and seductive. She felt his sweet kiss brush across her temple and she felt herself trembling.

Oh he was good! With his sweet, perfect, poetic words that made her heart melt on cue and made her knees tremble and filled her with confusion. If she didn’t already know he was in love with someone else she would think. . she would actually *think* there was a chance. . .a chance that Jax could...

She tried to block that fanciful notion from her mind lest it take up residence there and doom her to believing in unattainable fantasies of a love that was never going to be hers. He was just being nice, she reminded herself as she slowly went back up the stairs, her heart pounding with ridiculous fervor. He was just being nice to me like his lawyer told him to be to me.

She gazed at her beautiful wedding rings as she got to the top of the stairs. The diamond heart leapt out at her it’s symbolism so clear, yet so impossible. It made no sense that Jax would have gotten this for her  --  a heart. Was he really willing to go so far just to be nice to her? Just to keep her in line and happy in order to make sure she did not go after any of his fortune or tell Director Scorpio the truth about the marriage?

She shook the thoughts out of her head as the confusion that Jax’s words and actions left her with, combined with her own deepening longing for him was driving her completely mad! She had to focus! She would concentrate on her upcoming shopping spree plans with Scott, she decided. And then on having a grand old time at Dimitri Marick’ s gala. And she would not dare think of anything so foolish and laughable as Agent Adonis actually falling in love with her and choosing her over the likes of snooty heiresses and such.

*******

On Monday, Scott, true to his word, took Brenda shopping. Jax knew all about their plans in advance since Scott had fill him in privately, and Jax had told Scott to do only 2 things. Make sure no harm befell Brenda and make sure Brenda got whatever she desired. In return Scott made Jax promise to do his best to look suitably outraged by her wild shopping spree when they got back.

Scott and Brenda hit all the big department stores and exclusive little shops in Tyson’s Corners Galleria and ended up staying out shopping for five hours, returning to Jax’s hilltop estate at a quarter to four in the late afternoon. They were loaded down with bags containing clothing, accessories, Christmas gifts, Christmas decorations, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons and of course a Christmas tree.

Jax had been hoping that Ariel would stop by to pick her the decoration she’d left behind while Scott and Brenda were out, but it was nearly 4 p.m., Scott and Brenda were back, and Ariel had yet to show up.

Tossing handfuls of snow at each other, Scott and Brenda entered the house with their ton of purchases. Jax prepared to act shocked.

Brenda smiled sweetly at him as Jax’s eyes widened questioningly as Scott brought in bags upon bags, filling the entry-way. When he brought in the last box, containing a 7 foot white pine Christmas tree, he leaned it up against the wall and assured Jax that was the last of it.

“Well, my work here is done,” Scott said, brushing his hands together

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to help us decorate?” Brenda said, still flustered at the thought of being all alone with Jax as night began to fall.

“That was not in my contract,” Scott said pushing her head back playfully. “See you guys tomorrow.”

Jax walked up to Scott as he was leaving and whispered to him. “Did everything go okay?”

Scott nodded. “You should have seen how much stuff she put *back.* For all of her bravado and her adorable plotting to make you miserable, she didn’t want to run up your bills if she thought it would somehow hurt you, Jax. I had to twist her arm by convincing her that none of this was even a dent in your cash flow before she actually stated to have any fun buying everything,” Scott said as he started down the front steps. “And if you tell her that I told you any of this, I’ll kill you,” Scott added as he jogged over to his waiting, white and gold Jeep Cherokee.

“Don’t forget the briefing tomorrow, Scott. 9:30 in conference room D,” Jax reminded him.

“I’ll be there before you are,” Scott predicted, grinning and pulling away.

Jax went back inside where Brenda awaited him. Remembering Scott’s admonition to act bothered by Brenda’s doings of the day, Jax fixed his radiant young wife with his bet scowl of annoyance.

“Brenda, what *is* all this?” he demanded. “What have you done?”

“Just a little shopping, *my love,*” she said with a smile that positively sparkled with mischief. “Courtesy of you, of course,” she added with a contented sigh as she took off her coat and gloves.

“Did you buy out the entire store?” he asked eyeing the rows and rows of packages laid out in the entry-way.

“I certainly tried,” she assured him, giving him a quick once-over and thinking he looked positively sumptuous in black jeans and a deep-gold sweater that complimented both his well-defined physique as well as his dark-gold hair. Oh, what she wouldn’t give to be all over him right now, she thought with a wicked little smile.

Caught up in her coveting gaze and racy thoughts, Brenda did not hear Jax’s next question until he had asked her for the third time.

“So what did you get?” he asked.

“What did you do while I was gone?” she asked, wondering if he’d used her absence to call Airhead and fill her with assurances of his love.

“You mean, besides miss you?” he asked.

She chewed on her lip to fend off the smile that raced to her mouth. But she could not fend off the sensation of delight that filled her at his words. Why was he so intent on teasing her with such unbearable sweetness? No girl could withstand his arsenal, she was beginning to realize. And he probably knew that, damn him. He probably was convinced that his charming persistence would win out even against her admirable stubbornness.

Jax smiled a little bit, knowing he’d scored some points and accepting the victory gracefully and silently. “So what did you get?” he repeated for the fourth time.

Brenda was only too happy rattle off her insane amount of purchases in the hopes of shocking him with her outrageous behavior. When she was done she looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to explode over her audacity. To her shock he simply gave a slight nod and then said, “Well we’d better get this stuff out of the way,” and he picked up a bunch of the bags and began to carry them upstairs to the bedroom. She recovered from her shock fast enough to grab one of the bags from him urgently, since it contained her Christmas gifts for him which she did not want him to see or even know about. He looked at her curiously but said nothing about her action. “And we can start putting up the Christmas decorations after dinner,” he added as he disappeared into the bedroom while Brenda stared up after him in amazement. “What do you want for dinner, by the way?” he asked. “My love,” she heard him add with a soft, teasing laugh as he stood in the doorway of the bedroom gazing down at her.
 

********

Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we’ve no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

A light dusting of snow once again was falling from the skies as Jax placed the star on top of the tree while Brenda stood back by the glow of the fireplace surveying their tree-trimming skills with a critical eye. But not one fault could she find with the job they had done. The tree looked magnificent; a white tree with twinkling white and amber lights and a silver and gold color scheme. Silver tinsel, little gold angels, silver bells, gold bows, gold and silver balls, and gold (butterscotch flavor) candy canes all hung from the branches. The tree skirt resembled a circle of glittering snow beneath the tree, and the star Jax had just affixed to the top was frosted white lit with several dazzling white lights within.

Jax glanced over at Brenda who looked like an absolute vision standing there by the fireplace, Xander playing at her feet with some of the left over Christmas decorations. Brenda had once again took it upon herself to get into Jax’s closet and put on one of his shirts, and it was all she was wearing. Her legs and feet were bare and her hair was loose. The fire’s glow was beautiful against her golden complexion and it played with the auburn highlights of her dark hair. He felt as if some sort of spell was being cast on him as he watched her assessing their handiwork on the Christmas tree.

“And so what is the verdict?” Jax asked when he remembered to talk.

Her eyes moved away from the tree and went to him. “The verdict is,” she decided, “that people should *pay* us to do this, we’re that good,” she said with a little laugh. She sat down in front of the fire place and he went over to join her.

As he was approaching her she tried not to stare at him. But with the soft, flickering glow from the fireplace making his hair look like burnished gold and making his uncommonly handsome features look even more Adonis-like than usual, it was difficult to convince her eyes to look elsewhere.

He sat down next to her and she felt her pulse leaping of it’s own volition just at the prospect of his nearness.

“Umm,” she said finding his nearness, the semi-darkness of the room and the sound of nothing but the crackling fire a little too appealing. “So what do you normally do for the holidays?” she inquired.

“My family normally comes here for Christmas dinner,” he informed her. “I mean my whole family --  cousins, aunts, uncles. It’s a mad house of holiday cheer. Scott is usually here as well with his family, and Ariel’s family is normally here too. Our families have been friends for a long time,” he explained.

Brenda just nodded, wondering why he felt he had to explain that to her.  This was his house. Ariel was the woman he loved. Of course he would want her there.

“And of course you can invite anyone you’d like,” Jax offered, wanting this Christmas to be a happy memory for her. Not one of isolation or loneliness or awkwardness or unhappiness in any way. If there was someone she wanted to be there that would make her happy, he would make sure they were there.

But Brenda was shaking her head. “The only family I have is a half-sister who lives in London and isn’t very close to me anyway,” she confessed quietly.

“What about friends?” Jax asked. “You can invite whomever you like, Brenda.”

She laughed, but it was a sad little laugh. “Umm.. .well. I’m not exactly overflowing in the friends department,” she admitted. “I’ve never even had a best friend. You know, like how Scott is yours? I’ve never had a friend like that. It must be really great,” she said staring into the fire and absently stroking Xander who had decided to plop himself in her lap, his soft, furry chin resting on her bare leg, as he too stared with fascination into the fire.

“It is really great,” Jax confirmed. And she felt the relaxing touch of his hand sliding in her hair and then down to the back of her neck. “A best friend is someone that you know will be there for you for the rest of your life. They’ll always look out for you, and always be on your side when you think the whole world is against you. They’ll never abandon you. And they’ll love you unconditionally,” he finished.

Brenda nodded, smiling at Jax’s description of Scott which she thought was really beautiful. And also smiling at the warmth that was cuddling her resistant heart as Jax continued to gently stroke the back of her neck.

“I don’t think anyone has ever felt that way about me,” she said, “which explains why I’ve never had a best friend.”

“If you want one,” Jax said, “you have one in me.”

Brenda turned around to face him and laughed. “You? *You* want to be *my* best friend?”

 “I’ve always craved a challenge,” he reminded her.

She laughed again. *Jax* as her best friend? That was crazy.

“And, there are other things I crave as well,” he said softly, the firelight dancing seductively in his eyes as he tipped her chin up and brushed his lips against hers. “Your kisses are very high up on my list,” he whispered into her ear as he kissed her again. Brenda felt that sensation of warm fire flooding her as Jax kissed her yet again. She thought, she could just close her eyes right now and pretend that this was about more than his physical desire for her. She could fantasize that this was love, that she could touch his heart. And for a few moments of unreality, it would be true. Like in her dreams.

She shut her eyes and kissed him the way her heart wanted to. With ardent, unrestricted passion and flames of love, letting him know she belonged to him. Jax reacted to her sudden, sweet surrender and he maneuvered her down on the lushly carpeted floor where they lay in front of the fire kissing one another with a passionate magic, lost in a mutual enchantment.

I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me princess, now when did you last
let you heart decide
I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride
A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say you’re only dreaming...

Jax pulled away from her slowly, needing to look into her eyes and make sure he was not crazy. Did he truly feel from her what he *thought* he did? Something beyond the intense desire. So far beyond that. Something he would cherish for his lifetime if she were offering it to him. But Brenda’s eyes remained closed as she refused to let go of the fantasy that he loved her. For just a little while she wanted to feel this, to live this. To believe the lie. Her hands stroked his face and her fingers brushed against his lips.

“Jax, kiss me like that again,” she said softly, her eyes still shut, her heart racing with anticipation.

“Open your eyes, Brenda,” he requested. “Then I’ll kiss you again,” he promised. He needed to see if what he felt was real. He needed to see if there was even a hint of it.

She didn’t want to open her eyes, didn’t he understand that? When her eyes were closed he was in love with her. When her eyes were open reality stepped back in and reminded her that while his desire was hers, his love did not belong to her.

The impasse between her desire for his kiss and his desire for her to open her eyes was broken by the sound of the doorbell.

Brenda opened her eyes and got up quickly, licking her lips and knowing anyone who would look at her would know she had been thoroughly, erotically kissed. She went over to the mirror so fast that Jax could net even get to glance at her eyes to see if he could find any trace of what he had thought he’d felt her giving to him.

Brenda smoothed her slightly mussed hair and wondered if there was any way she could get that hazy, gentle radiance of desire out of her eyes, or that glow out of her cheeks, or do something about the fullness of her lips which did, indeed look they had been thoroughly and deliciously kissed.

Jax waited several moments before answering the door. Moments that his body needed to recover from the passionate interlude with his wife. Moments in which the doorbell rang twice more and Brenda had to chew on her lip not to laugh at the reason Jax could not yet answer it.

He heard her stifled laughter, however, and cast her a conspiratorial smile as he finally was able to answer the door.

Ariel was there, her sister Florence, whom everyone called Flossie, with her.

“Hi,” Jax said in greeting to them both.

“Hi Jax,” Flossie said and Jax noted that the woman looked as inebriated as ever. Flossie Lexington-Larson, unhappily married to producer Benjamin Larson for the past five years had taken to the bottle to find the happiness her marriage did not provide for her. As kids growing up Flossie had been little miss sunshine, Jax recalled. But now she was the antithesis of the term “ray of sunshine.” In contrast she was a dark hole of misery. And her misery loved company.

“Hello Jax,” Ariel said, drinking in his handsome appearance and feeling sharp pangs of deep jealousy as she could easily tell by his eyes and his lips that she and her sister had interrupted a moment of passion between Jax and his wife.

Ariel cast her eyes towards the living room where she saw the wife standing near the gold-beveled mirror wearing nothing but Jax’s shirt and looking exquisite. Ariel wanted to be sick. She let out a little gasp as she noticed that little wild animal with it’s luminous, huge green eyes playing at the feet of Jax’s young bride.

“Oh Jax, please,” Ariel said, clutching his arm. “You know I detest that little beast! Please cage him until we’re gone.”

Brenda picked up Xander and shot Ariel Lexington as hostile a glance as the little tiger cub did. What a whiner! Brenda thought. What did Jax see in her beyond her perfect features, her golden hair and her air of elegance? She was so cold and phony. No warmth, nothing genuine about her at all. And she could not even be civil to his darling little pet!

“I’ll take him upstairs,” Brenda offered, her eyes on Jax.

Jax smiled at her, still amazed at how comfortable she was with the little white tiger. “Thanks,” Jax said.

As Brenda started up the spiral staircase with Xander in her arms, Ariel, who could not stand to gaze at the beautiful dark-haired girl one minute longer, looked at the Christmas decor of the house instead. She was speechless at the magnificent job she saw before her. The stunning white Christmas tree, trimmed to perfection, the silver and gold garland running along the banister of the spiral staircase, more garland, holly and mistletoe strung by the fireplace.

Arid nodded in approval. “Oh, Jax, this is stunning! You had a professional do this?” she asked, liking the fact that Brenda had obviously been incapable.

“Brenda did it,” Jax said, crushing Ariel’s hopes that Brenda was already proving to be an unsuitable wife for Jax. “I have your things ready, Ariel. I’ll be right back,” Jax said, heading for the room he had stored Ariel’s decorations in.

“What do you think?” Ariel whispered to her drunk sister.

Flossie laughed. “I think you haven’t got a chance in hell of getting him back,” she said with brutal honestly. “But why would you even want him, Ariel? Trust me it is no fun being married to man who does not love you.”

“Well, I don’t see you rushing to divorce Ben,” Ariel snapped.

“That’s because I like the lifestyle he has accustomed me to,” Flossie explained, her words slurring. “I like the money, the cars, the cruises, the summer homes, all the press we get. I love attending all of the opening night parties for Ben’s plays and lapping up the accolades he gets. I’m not about to give that up just because the man no longer loves me. We have an arrangement that works fine for us. We present a front of marital bliss to the public and privately we do whatever the hell we want. He knows he can never divorce me without my taking him for every damn dime he’s got. I know he’s sleeping with every young thing he can get his hands on. He knows my lover is a bottle of vodka. And we’re both fine with our screwed up lives. Still, little sister, I would hardly wish such a miserable existence on you. You should be glad Jax dumped you. He did you a favor,” Flossie said.

“Oh, you’re drunk and making no sense as usual,” Ariel dismissed. “I *am* going to get Jax back.”

Flossie laughed in a drunken cackle at her sister’s idiocy. “Oh right! You’re going to make him leave a woman he loves to marry a woman he doesn’t love. You must be quite the magician, Ariel,” Flossie said sarcastically.

Jax returned to the living room to the sound of Flossie’s intoxicated, loud laugh. “Here you go, Ariel. I’ll help you guys get this into your car,” Jax said putting on his jacket, and anxious to have them gone.

“I ran into Dimitri on my way here,” Ariel informed him. “He told me that you and Brenda are going to the Crystal Ball.”

Jax nodded. “We are.”

“He’s also under the impression that you and I mutually decided to call the wedding off and just be friends a while ago. Thank you for telling him that,” she said. touching Jax’s hand.

“You’re welcome. I don’t want you hurt or embarrassed by any of this,” Jax told her. “I’m not going to say anything that will reflect in a bad light on you,” he promised. “Ready to go?” he asked, again trying to get his ex-fiancee and her tipsy sister on their way.

“I hope you don’t mind that I’m going to attend the Crystal Ball too,” Ariel said. “As Dimitri’s date,” she added, hoping the fact that she would be going as the date of the gala’s dashing host would get some kind of jealous reaction out of Jax.

“I don’t mind at all,” Jax said. “I hope you’ll have a good time.” It was not at all the reaction she would have liked.

Ariel picked up one of the bags of decorations ready to follow Jax outside, when she noticed Brenda lingering atop the stairs gazing down at them. All at once Ariel dropped the bag she was carrying and summoned up a well of tears, automatically going into Jax’ s arms, seeking comfort.

“What’s the matter?” he asked wondering where in the hell that outburst had come from. Flossie, watching her sister rolled her eyes heavenward at Ariel’s orchestrated theatrics.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ariel apologized, allowing her crocodile tears to spill against Jax’s chest. “Sometimes out of the blue I’m just hit with this incredible sadness at the fact that you and I are not together anymore,” she said, daintily wiping away the remaining tears. “I’m sorry, Jax. I’m sure I’ll handle it better as I adjust to the fact that we’ve split up,” she said, keeping her cheek pressed to his chest.

Flossie wanted to gag. “Let’s go, please. You’re making me miss ‘The Practice,”’ Flossie announced, glancing at her watch.

Ariel finally disentangled herself from Jax and picked up the bag she had dropped, and they all went outside to put her belongings in the car.

At the top of the stairs Brenda felt the coldness of reality hitting her more so than the cold seeping in through the open front door. She had not been able to hear the conversation Jax and Ariel had been having, but she could imagine it was some mush-fest about them having to be apart while Brenda was here, Ariel probably pleading for Jax to end this quickly, Jax telling her she had to be patient because Brenda was his only way of getting Bastian Reese. That was probably why Ariel had burst into those dramatic tears and the comfort of Jax’ s arms.

Feeling irrationally despondent all of a sudden, Brenda felt in need of solitude and in great need of distancing herself from the allure of Jax. That man could hurt her so much, she realized. And it was her own fault for giving him the power and allowing herself ridiculous fantasies of love and happiness that included him. She saw Jax come back inside and she quickly walked down the hall out of his sight and slipped into his impressive study. She turned the lights on and examined the room with interest, having never been inside of it before. She walked around his desk, running her hand along the fine cherry wood and the soft leather of the high-backed chair. Then her eyes were drawn to a beautiful chess set near the huge window. Brenda walked over to it, sitting down and examining the chess pieces in shock. They were heavy. Very heavy. And she realized in disbelief that they were made of black and white marble, as was the chessboard beneath it.

“Do you play?”

His voice from the doorway startled her. She supposed it was silly to try to avoid him in his own house. Where on earth could she possibly hide? Besides, she loved his company. She loved being with him, she could hardly deny that.

“A little,” she confessed. “I was pretty good back at school.”

“Well, let’s see how good you really are, shall we?” Jax said taking the seat opposite her.

Several minutes later Brenda sat studying the chessboard with a practiced eye. Jax sat across from her a predatory smile playing on his attractive lips and making her aware that he was already several moves ahead on her in his head.

Brenda studied the board some more and then grinned as she moved her knight between his king and queen.

Jax frowned, pretending to look at a loss as to how to get out of this predicament.

“Give up?” Brenda asked triumphantly, her pretty laughter intoxicating him like a summer’s breeze.

He smiled at her. “I never give up,” he stated. And she sensed he was talking about a lot more than their chess match. Then with one casual motion he whisked his marble rook in place of her knight. “Checkmate,” he said. “… .my love,” added softly in continued defiance of her repeated requests for him to stop calling her that.

Brenda attempted to glare at him for a moment, but could not withstand the charm of his boyish smile of victory. She surrendered to her happier feelings and laughed out loud, swatting his elbow with her fingers.

And Jax noticed that this time she neglected to coolly lambaste him for presumptuously calling her “his love” He took her hand and raised it to his lips, placing a lingering kiss against her skin.

“Another match?” he offered. “Winner take all.”

“First, define all,” Brenda said, laughing.
“It is indefinable,” Jax insisted with a helpless shrug. “It’s anything we want it to be.” She rose her eyebrows. “Well, that could be a little dangerous, don’t you think?”

“Danger is not always a bad thing, Brenda,” he said. “Or sometimes the things that you *think* are dangerous, are not. Sometimes barriers and walls don’t protect you, they shut you out and isolate you,” he said, gazing into her eyes. “And they block your view of something truly beautiful that can be yours. But you need to put away the walls and barriers in order to see it, and to reach it.”

He was confusing her again. What was he talking about? she wondered. She glanced down at the board. “Okay, you’re on,” she said. “Best two out of three.”

Jax glanced at her bowed head as she began to assemble her army of chess pieces on her side of the board. He was never going to give up on her. Never.

The higher you build your barriers
The taller I become
The farther you take your heart from me
The faster I will run…