Title: The Old Grab and Kiss Manoeuvre

Author: Mindy

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: Tina's etc

Spoilers: Nope

Pairing: Jack/Liz, Liz/Other

Summary: Jack admits he has a 'thing' for Liz.

-x-x-x-

"You're right, Lemon."

"Excuse me?"

"I said you're right."

"And you'd be using right in what sense?"

"In it's usual sense."

Liz was silent a moment, lips pursed. "Yeah, I'm confused."

"Well…" Jack rose from behind his desk as he elaborated. "When you accused me just now – rather belligerently, I might point out – of being jealous, you were absolutely correct."

"Sooo…" She narrowed her eyes at him. "I was right."

He nodded once. "That is what I am saying, yes." He lowered his voice to add: "I am, as you say jealous."

"Huh." She blinked. "You are."

"Yes."

She pointed a finger at her chest. "Of me?"

Jack waved a hand, hitching a thigh on the corner of his desk. "Technically, Lemon, I would be jealous of your boyfriend, not you."

Her brows raised. "You're jealous of Steve?"

"So much so that I find it difficult hearing the man's name. Let alone saying it myself."

"But…why?"

"Why what?"

"Why're you jealous?"

Jack just looked at her a moment. "You honestly don't know?"

Her eyes cut to one side, then back to his, clueless. "…No."

"I'm jealous," he told her simply: "because the man gets to take you out and touch you and kiss you."

"Oh."

"And very soon, I assume he is going to sleep with you."

"Well…" she waved a finger in the air, muttering: "we'll see about that part."

Jack pushed away from the desk, taking a seat in the chair next to her, facing her. "My point is that, through some strange twist of circumstance, our professional proximity and resulting friendship, as well as the thing you had for me - which incidentally you seem to have recovered from – it all seems to have created sort of transference of feeling in me, a reciprocal response in myself."

Liz was silent. She tipped her head to one side, slowly catching on. "You're saying you have…a thing…for me?"

Jack bobbed his head, gaze steady on her face. "That's what I'm saying."

"Wow," she muttered under her breath. "Okay...okay, wow. I-"

"Don't gloat," Jack warned, when her gaze lifted to his.

"I wasn't going to."

"Good."

She studied him a moment, chin poking out and eyes uncertain. Then she shifted in her chair. "Alright…well. What happens now then? I mean…what do we do about it?"

Jack drew in a big breath. "There is only one possible solution as I see it."

"Is there?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?"

"Is it?"

He nodded, his tone matter-of-fact as he told her: "We must sleep together. It's the only course of action."

Her lips parted in shock. Before asking him: "Is that your solution to everything?"

"No," he answered breezily. "Just to this."

"I see."

"At the very least, I think we ought to kiss. We owe it to one another."

"Mm…" Liz shot him a sidelong look. "And why would we do that?"

Jack shifted forward in his chair, knitting his hands together. "Well, to…break the spell you've cast over me."

Liz looked oddly offended. "I didn't cast any spell."

"Not intentionally, you didn't, no. But if I am to expunge this infatuation – and that's all it is, Lemon – I first need to explore it, strip it of its mystery, kill my latent curiosity."

Now she looked dubious. "Wasn't it curiosity that killed the cat?"

"I'm not a cat."

"I do realize that."

His eyes twinkled ominously. "And I have never found the kiss of any woman to be deadly."

"Ha, well…" Liz looked down, fiddling with the sleeve of her cardigan. "There's always a first time."

Jack moved to the edge of his seat, a smile curving his lips. "You really think you're that good?"

She looked up again, her gaze frank and sardonic. "I think I'm that bad, Jack."

"I'm sure you're wrong."

"Why's that?"

"I have an instinct for these things."

"I'll bet."

"And," he pointed out: "I know you better than you know yourself."

"And you think I have some…" she squirmed in her seat: "sexual talent I'm unaware of, do you?"

Jack shrugged, leant back again in his chair. "Everyone has an innate capacity for sex. Why should you be exempt?"

"Well-" She got to her feet, attempting to place a period on their conversation: "I am not sleeping with you in order to uncover my secret sex talent. Or to allow you to expunge your little thing for me."

"I never said it was little," he murmured as she was walking away.

Liz turned, facing him with a confused frown.

"But to be honest," he went on, tipping up his chin: "I expected such a puritanical reply."

Her frown deepened. "Why'd you ask then?"

He took a step closer, ignoring her question. "I did notice, however, that you did not rule out kissing me."

She opened her mouth. Then shut it. "I meant to."

"But you didn't."

She stalled, took half a breath. "Do I need to point out that I have a boyfriend?"

He stepped closer. "I wish you wouldn't."

"I'm gonna do it anyway," she said, an edge to her tone. "I have a boyfriend, Jack."

He stopped. "Who I am sick of hearing about."

She sighed. "How can you be sick of hearing about him when I've barely even known him a fortnight?"

"An excellent point."

"What?"

Jack paused, pinning her with resolute eyes. "Lemon, you've been on exactly three dates with this man you met a total of ten days ago, and are yet to sleep with, let alone determine whether there are any feelings of any merit on either side."

She shuffled on the spot. "So?"

"He's not your boyfriend."

"Yet, Jack, yet. He might be. Soon."

"Which," he added, closing the remaining distance between them: "still leaves you free to do whatever you wish with whomever you please."

Her mouth twitched up in one corner. "And what makes you think I would be pleased by kissing you?"

"Believe me-"

"Nope!" She held up a hand. "Don't even say it."

Jack went silent, looking down his nose at her. "I could just grab you and kiss you, I suppose."

"I…" she blinked a few times, fumbling for words: "I suppose…you could-"

"Nothing's stopping me from doing that," he mused, head cocked to one side in thought: "from just…grabbing you and kissing you. Having my way with you. Expunging my desire."

"Except that I have a boyfriend," Liz pointed out.

"He's not your boyfriend."

"I have an almost-boyfriend."

"Yes, you keep mentioning him."

"He has a name, Jack."

"Which I loathe."

"And also-" She stood a bit taller, pushed her frames up her nose. "I'm stopping you. I told you not to."

Jack smiled slowly, slyly, quiet for a beat. "You didn't, actually."

"Well…" she nodded once: "I'm telling you now."

"So tell me."

"What?"

"Tell me you don't want me to grab you and kiss you."

"I…"

"Yes?"

She met his gaze squarely. "Don't grab me and kiss me, Jack."

His smile didn't falter. "Because?"

"Because…" her voice died momentarily, before she settled on: "Because I said so."

"Because?" he pressed.

"Because I don't want you to."

He studied her. Then smirked. "You don't mean that."

She grimaced. "How do you know?"

"I know," he answered: "because when I said the word 'desire' a moment ago your pupil dilated."

She pulled back sharply. "It did not."

"It did. Quite dramatically."

"Hey, you-" she stabbed a finger at him then waved it in front of her face: "stay away from my pupil. In fact, you can stay away from both of them."

"I'm not going to," Jack said calmly.

"What? Stay away from my pupils?"

"Grab you and kiss you."

"Oh." Liz visibly relaxed. "Well…good."

"Not that I couldn't," he went on, completely unruffled. "And I won't deny that part of me would very much like to. But I won't, Lemon. Because you did ask me not to."

Liz eyed him a moment, then gave a short nod. "Okay then."

Jack looked at her, another moment passing. He nodded back. "Okay then."

"Okay then..." She stood, facing him for a few more awkward seconds, before jabbing a thumb over her shoulder and turning to go: "Right. So. I'm gonna…yeah."

"Very well." Jack nodded, his gaze dropping to the floor. "One more thing, before you go-"

He grabbed her elbow. Pulled her back. And kissed her. In one fluid movement for which she had no warning and no defence. His mouth landed on hers just in time to absorb the weird little yelp that leapt from her surprised throat. While one arm curled low about her hips, pulling her closer, the other cupped her jaw, keeping her in place as he took gentle but enthusiastic control of her mouth for a short, satisfying minute. Liz drew a breath through her nose, and was only just starting to recover from her shock, only just starting to even consider kissing him back when Jack just as suddenly released her.

She stumbled slightly as he did, one hand lifting to realign her lopsided frames. "I thought you-"

"I lied."

"I see that," she stammered, breathless.

"Actually, I lied twice," he told her. "When I said my thing for you was mere infatuation-"

"Yeah?"

"Also a lie."

She gulped. "Oh boy…"

"So." He took a breath, moved in closer. "What was it you wished to ask me about…Steve?"

Liz simply stared at him. "…Who?"

Jack grinned: "Now that's more like it," and kissed her again. (Without any grabbing).

END.