Stone fidgeted but straightened his tie and took a deep breath. He was doing this for Cassandra. And he just wanted to see that smile on her face again, the smile she'd given him when she'd said okay to a drink, before magic and danger decided to find them.

Poor Cassandra had suffered from her hangover but now three days later she seemed her old self. He found her in the Library's kitchenette contemplating a snack. Perfect.

She smiled when she saw him, though looked a little puzzled. He was dressed up: jacket, tie, slacks instead of usual jeans or cargo pants. He wasn't terribly comfortable, but he knew that where he planned on taking Cassandra required him to be a little more dressed up. Cassandra's pretty floral dress would be fine.

"Hi Jacob, do we have an undercover case?"

"No, umm. . . ." Stone cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head. "You know in London when you um said yes to having a drink with me?"

Cassandra blushed. "I'd . . .well...I would but I don't think I'll be drinking any time soon."

He grinned. "I figured, so instead of a pub, I thought maybe you'd like to go to another British event. Afternoon tea. That is if you know you were still interested in going out with me." He'd mumbled the last part looking at the ground. The other night it had been so easy to ask her out. But that night he'd been so casual about it, figuring he could shrug it off as a drink between friends. But her reaction had been as if he'd asked her out on a date and he'd been on cloud 9 for those precious seconds before the night had gone a completely different way.

He looked up and Cassandra just looked delighted. "Oooh, yes! I have always wanted to go to afternoon tea." Then she blushed a little redder but kept her head steady and met his eyes. "That's a sweet first date idea, Jacob."

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "I thought so. "

"Will I need to change? You're so dressed up." Cassandra motioned to her outfit. It had a been a little chilly today, so her pink and blue floral dress went down to her knees and she'd worn gray tights, ankle boots and a gray cardigan. A Peter Pan collar peeked out from under the dress and she wore a couple of necklaces and a pin of a cat holding an umbrella.

He shook his head. "Nah, the place I had in mind was jackets for men and no jeans or sneakers, so you should be fine. Maybe we'll buy you one of them little hats on the way."

Cassandra giggled and took his offered elbow and soon they were off across time and space to London.

Stone had gotten his name on a wait list but they were still going to have a short wait for a table. Cassandra took the opportunity to look around while he looked over the menu. It was a cozy and inviting dining room, comfy chairs and tables with delicious and dainty looking sandwiches and pastries. Exactly the kind of thing she normally would have adored. But then she looked over at her date, he was unconsciously pulling at his tie and frowning at the menu.

Cassandra suddenly had a mental image of Jacob Stone eating a finger sandwich and she had to put her fist over her mouth to stop her giggling. He was so out of his element here. He loved art and culture and beautiful things. But this was not his scene.

And the fact that he was doing this for her made her heart clench. Jacob Stone was sweet. She'd always known about his kindness, even during the rocky part of their relationship, his kindness had always trumped anything else. He'd wanted to take her to some cozy English pub somewhere. A shared element certainly, there was a comfy bar near the Annex that had become their usual drinking spot, even Jenkins had joined them on occasion. And she was a beer girl or had been until Dorian Gray. She wrinkled her nose. She was never touching anything but beer again. She'd never gotten drunk off of that.

But Jacob was trying so hard. He thought he'd give her another London experience, even if he wasn't at all comfortable there. She looked around at the well heeled people in the restaurant and shook her head. She'd had enough of the beautiful. She just wanted to have that drink with Jacob.

She crossed over to him and took the menu out of his hands. "Let's go somewhere else."

"Are you okay?" His eyes immediately looked concerned.

She nodded. "Yeah, this isn't our scene. Let's go find a pub."

They shared a long look and then Jacob nodded. He walked over to the hostess, thanked her and asked to have their name taken off the list. Then he held his hand out to Cassandra and they walked hand in hand out into the street.

He let go of her hand just long enough to tug the tie off and stuff it into the pocket of his jacket. Cassandra laughed. "Any ideas on a pub?"

He took her hand back in his and said, "yeah, actually. When I was researching this place, I noticed there was a pub where some famous writers used to drink. Very historic."

"Perfect."

"Are you sure? I didn't think you'd want to drink again."

She nodded. "I'm sure I can get tea there, this is London. And frankly Jacob, you and the finger sandwiches . . . ."

He laughed and turned the corner. "Yeah, I was thinking of that myself. I bet they taste fine though."

"Not as fine as real pub grub in a real English pub will."

Stone and Cassandra were having a fantastic time tucked in the corner of the historic pub. Cassandra was asking questions about the authors who made this their watering hole over the years. Cassandra had ordered ploughman's lunch and he'd ordered fish and chips. Though after noticing his supply of chips kept dwindling thanks to his date, he'd ordered a second plate of just chips from the sweet barmaid who'd also brought Cassandra another pot of tea without her even needing to ask. Cassandra hadn't expected much from the tea but had been pleasantly surprised by it.

Stone slid the chips closer to Cassandra and grabbed her last piece of bread, putting cheese on top.

"Only fair, darlin'," he said at her look of protest.

Cassandra giggled and popped another chip in her mouth.

After Jake's second beer was nearly gone and their food was completely gone, Cassandra said softly, "I'm having a really great time."

"Even though we didn't go to tea? I planned . . .I wanted to treat you . . .you deserve all the nice things, Cassie."

Cassandra shook her head. "It meant so much to me that you were willing to do something that you thought I'd like. And I would have loved it. But here, this is us. Who we are. And you don't have to do anything to impress me, Jacob Stone. I've always liked who you are. The real you. And I've been happy to get to know him."

He took her hand across the table and squeezed it. "Thank you." He picked up his glass and drained the rest of it. "Wanna get out of here?"

It had gotten dark but they weren't in a big hurry to get back to Portland. They strolled hand and hand down the street, the streets still bustling with people. Cassandra had shivered once and Jacob draped his jacket over her shoulders.

They were in a small park not too far from where the Back Door was set up, sitting on a bench talking. Cassandra's head was resting on Jacob's shoulder.

"Do you want to head back? Getting tired?"

"In a little bit," she smiled.

"Cassandra . . .I kinda . . .wanted to know if you'd like to do this again." The last part came in a rush and he honestly wondered what it was about this particular girl that always left him feeling like a teenager.

"Like a second date?"

"Yes."

She nodded. "Then yes, I'd love that."

He grinned. "Well, good then. We should probably get back, huh?"

"Probably."

But neither of them really made a move to get up off the bench, just looked into each other's eyes by the light of the streetlight behind them. Jacob raised one hand to cup Cassandra's cheek. And guided in by her eyes staring into his, he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. She sighed in pleasure, opening up for him, her own hand going into his hair.

They kept the kisses sweet and gentle but they probably could have sat on that bench all night lost in each other's lips but eventually Jacob could feel Cassandra shivering.

He reluctantly broke off the kiss. "Okay, time to get back."

She smiled up at him, "maybe someplace warm for date two?"

He laughed. "It's a date."

The End