"Jack
"Jack! I found it" she called. She opened the file and studied it with such intensity that she didn't hear him come up behind her. She jumped a little when she felt his hand against her back.
"I know I already said it, but I really appreciate you staying late, Alex. Especially with it being Valentine's. You should be off being young, getting lucky," he said, smiling as he silently reminisced.
Alex held the folder up. "I did get lucky" she said. She surprised herself by the seductiveness in her voice, and she must have surprised him, too, because he began to blush.
"Well," Jack said, changing the subject, "I guess that means we're done here." He reached past Alex to turn the desk lamp off, and she felt her heart skip a beat. Instead of acting on it, she went to her office to get her coat.
She was stalling, and she knew she was stalling. She grabbed a small strand of hair and twirled it as she paced around her office. She had packed her briefcase earlier that evening, so she had no excuse to still be there, other than avoiding Jack. As she heard the faint elevator bell ding, she sighed with relief and headed out.
As she turned the corner, she had to force herself to keep walking.
"I thought you left?" she said, trying not to stammer.
"I stopped in the bathroom. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were avoiding me, Alex."
Alex glanced from one side of the other, biting her lip nervously. "If so, I chose the wrong location to avoid you." she said, making them both laugh.
Like the true gentleman he was, Jack led her into the elevator first. They were in the middle of making small talk when the elevator when the elevator buckled, forcing both of them to lose their balance. On impulse, Jack grabbed Alex's waist, preventing her from taking a tumble.
"These damn elevators. I told Arthur last week he needed to get someone to fix them. Are you ok?"
Alex nodded without looking at him. She looked down at the floor until finally, Jack lifted her chin with his index finger until they were eye to eye.
"Are you ok?" He asked again. Although she couldn't bring herself to look at him a second ago, now, she couldn't take her eyes off of his. His expression wasn't that fierce determination that had earned him the nickname 'Hang 'em High McCoy," and it wasn't the lustful expression she had imagined when she learned about his reputation. It was just concern, and his eyes made her feel like she was the only thing in the world that mattered to him. Maybe that was why instead of answering him, she simply leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.
By the time the elevator opened, Alex and Jack had to struggle to walk out of the building professionally.
"Working awfully late tonight, huh McCoy?" A doorman said and winked at Alex as they walked out.
"Do you need me to hail you a cab?" Jack asked Alex, who seemed taken back by the question.
When she didn't answer, he shrugged. "I just wanted to give you ample time to back out."
"I kissed you first." she reminded him, raising her eyebrow as a cab pulled up.
Jack held the cab door open for her. "I have some scotch at my apartment," he said, offering a sly smile.
"You know I don't like scotch," she said as she tossed her hair back, although she climbed into the cab.
In the cab, they were free from the few prosecutors who trickled out of the office and the security guards. They minute the cab drove off, he wrapped his arms around Alex. She seemed so small and frail when she was leaned against him.
"You're trembling like a leaf," he said as he wrapped his jacket over her shoulders.
"I'm not sure that's going to help," she said, gathering the hair from under the jacket. She looked at him for a minute, and that was all it took to make him remember why he had pined after her for so long.
Jack was on top of her in two seconds flat, kissing her neck, breathing in her scent and beginning to slide his hand under her skirt and caress her thigh. She continued kissing him, but he felt her squirming and pulling back as gently as she could. Although every instinct in his body told him to stop and slow down, he couldn't. He had waited for this moment since the minute she came in to interview for the job. She was gorgeous, everyone knew that, but she was one of the most intelligent women he had ever known, and the fact that she knew how to speak her mind without sounding arrogant made her irresistible. He was so caught up in his memories of her that he almost thought her voice was his imagination.
"Jack ... we should ..." Alex moaned out the words, not even sure whether she meant what she was saying. Lucky for her, before she had a chance to finish her plea, the cab came to a screeching halt. They were there.
Alex wasn't sure whether she was turned off or turned on by the way Jack lead her into his apartment. He walked ahead of her, keeping his arm back so he could hold her hand as he lead her. It was more fatherly than boyfriendly, but then again, Jack always seemed to straddle the line.
Years ago during college, Alex had developed a crush on a professor she had babysat for. She never acted on it and had long since forgotten about it, but walking into Jack's apartment reminded her of the professors house. He had an entire wall of bookshelves. She didn't have much time to look around, as he ushered her through the living room and into the bedroom. She glanced back at the living room, knowing she was reaching the point of no return, and she wasn't completely sure how she felt about it.
"Alexandra, you don't have to lurk in the doorway. Make yourself comfortable." Jack said. She must have been standing in the door for a while, because when she turned towards Jack, he was sitting along the edge of his bed, taking off his shoes. His leather jacket was thrown over a chair in the corner, and his bed was covered by black silk sheets. And she had to admit, he looked good as he sat along the edge of the bed, loosening up his tie.
She slipped her heels off as she made her way to the bed. As her conscience contemplated whether this was right or not, she couldn't help but notice the way she was drawn to him. She felt like he were a magnet, pulling herself to him.With a sigh, she gave in to temptation.
Jack was surprised at the way Alex lunged at him. She had stood in the doorway so long he was certain she'd change her mind, but somewhere between the doorway and the bed, she seemed to lose all inhibitions.
"Hey ... hey. ... slow down, Alex." Jack said, half jokingly. Without wasting any time at all, she was straddling him, and practically clawing at his clothing. He was more than flattered by the eagerness of her gesture, but equally concerned about her.
As Alex continued kissing Jack's neck, he finally grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stop and look him in the eye.
He waited a moment before he spoke, running the words through his head. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her. He let one hand wander, freely playing with her hair.
"What happened to the woman from the office? You were so ... fragile. I never saw you as that type of woman ... you're so ..."
"Religious?" she finished, raising an eyebrow. He seemed unable to answer, and she knew she had gotten it right.
"I just ..."
"I'm not going to regret it, Jack. I started this. I kissed you. Hell, I'm on top of you right now!" she cried out.
Jack opened his mouth to explain himself, to stop this before it got any further, to do something, anything. She stared down at him, her eyes filled with doubt and worry, and a kind of vulnerability he hadn't seen in years. Instead of saying anything, he carefully pushed her onto the bed, kissing her passionately before climbing on top of her.