Jack seriously couldn't take the smell of her perfume. Or the way she laughed or the way her foot kept touching his leg. He despised the jolt it gave him and how he had to cover the dark look of desire he would give her by sipping his beer which regrettably was running low on the amber liquid.

The bar was loud and filled with girls that would swoon and ask to hear about his music.

Can you write me a song?

Do you do private sessions?

With a wink and a smooth smile he was whisking them away to his apartment for another night of too much drinking and really bad sex that he thankfully forgot about in the morning. He usually only remembered the company if she mysteriously and accidentally lefther bra. The more creative ones slipped their panties into his jacket pocket for him to find later. Jack could do nothing but smile at the grocery lady at the checkout stand when he once pulled out a lacy thong instead of a twenty. The cute blonde behind him in the line though had given him a wink and an ass a pat when she slipped by him.

"Jack! Yo!"

"What, man?"

He turned to her even though his roommate AJ had been speaking to him and she looked at him with expectant brown eyes like she was waiting for an answer. He winged it.

"Yeah, man. Whatever."

"Cool, let's go then."

Jack resisted the urge to ask "Where?" and drained the little beer he had left in his glass. He reached into his pocket and blanched when he felt silk.

Fuck, seriously?

"I got it," the brunette said and she laid down a twenty before bouncing out of her seat to follow AJ who had slung his arm around a curly red head, who if Jack recalled correctly, was the brunette's friend.

"You can go if you want. I got this too," the brunette said thumbing over her shoulder to a very drunk AJ and the red head, "Seriously, it happens all the time. I can handle it."

"Uh."

Jack looked over her shoulder to see AJ stumbling out the bar with the red head close behind.

"I really shouldn't leave him. He gets crazy."

The brunette didn't hide her sarcastic surprise and laid the disbelief thickly in her voice.

"Really? You seriously didn't seem to want to be here. I figured I would cut you lose."

Jack laughed at the way she stood with all her weight on one hip as he got flash backs of La Vida Loco. She was clearly irritated with him and she was the first woman in Jack's rather long line of slutty conquests to not be begging for a private jam session.

"I've heard AJ's story about the poodle and the whiskey a million times. The punch line stopped being funny after the first."

The brunette nodded and turned on her heel to rush out the door into the snow. Jack followed with a nod to the bartender.

"Ally! Shit."

"We should try the alleys," Jack suggested laughing as he lit up.

"Could you please not do that? It's disgusting" she snapped.

Jack held up his hands in surrender.

"Sorry, baby. Old habits."

The brunette raised her brow.

"I'm not your baby," she disappeared around the corner and Jack sighed and followed her.

"Ally!" she shouted.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that," Jack suggested as he eyed a pair of dark figures that were walking along the opposite side of the street, "Its New York, shit happens."

"Don't you want to find your roommate?" she growled as she brushed past him to look down the way they came.

"AJ is a grown man," Jack said, "he can take care of himself."

The brunette rolled her eyes.

"Great, I get the Joker as my buddy," she lamented as she jammed her hands into her pockets.

"More than that if you'd like," Jack suggested brushing a strand of hair back from her face. She hit away his hand with an angry growl and turned around but Jack grabbed her arm and then a fist that came flying his way. He was a Mercer, he caught it out of instinct.

"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy."

"Let go!"

"Look."

Jack pointed to a pair of snow tracks that crossed the street.

"AJ probably went for a piss in an alley," Jack winced at the double meaning, "and your friend is probably in a cab on her way home."

"That would happen if my roommate was responsible," the brunette growled as she leaned against the brick wall of the bar. The neon sign of "Mackey's Joint" flickered and switched off. Jack could see the glint in her eyes form a far away street sign as she shuddered in the cold and looked about in the darkness with slight apprehension

"You seem experienced with this sort of thing then," Jack chuckled attempting to lighten the mood.

The brunette's face puckered.

"Probably acquainted with this situation more than I should be."

Jack nodded and rubbed his hands together. It was piss cold and it started to snow in gentle flakes that stuck to his hair and the girl's dark eyes lashes. The street was only disturbed by the occasional car that drove by and the streetlights all blinked red making the snow appear pure and then stained somehow with blood.

"This is gonna sound…bad...but…does your friend end up at her place or the guy's place?"

The brunette whipped her head to look at him with outrage and then it relaxed and perked.

"The guy's. She doesn't like falling asleep with a stranger in our apartment. You're what's-his-names- roommate right?"

"Then I guess you're going home with me after all," Jack grinned and the brunette rolled her eyes and fought a smile but she relented and grabbed the front of his jacket to trail him along to the corner of the street. He didn't mind being roughly dragged by a cute girl but he thought it best-despite his buzz- to keep that opinion to himself. Bobby may have no tact, but Jack certainly did. Compliments of an upbringing by Evelyn Mercer.

"Come on, Romeo", she said laughing as she hailed a cab, "I got a ho to catch."

Three cabs passed before Jack put his fingers to his lips and whistled. A cab that had originally ignored them stopped and reversed so haphazardly that it bumped up on the curb and scrapped the fire hydrant.

"Geez."

"It's New York," Jack pointed. With a shrug the brunette opened the cab and slid in. Jack trailed behind and he was relieved that the cab was hot. His fingertips tingled as warmth crept back into them and he gave the address to the cab driver.

"I'm sorry," Jack said awkwardly tousling his hair to get of the snow flakes, "I forgot your name."

The brunette held out her hand to him with an amused expression on her face. Jack was relieved that she didn't seem upset. But she didn't seem surprised either.

"I'm Gwen, Gwen Martin."

"Jack, Jack Mercer. How did you meet Ally?"

"School, I got to NYU."

"That will be twenty eight fifty."

Jack tossed up two twenties to the driver and got out with Gwen following him. She slipped on the ice and grabbed Jack by the waist who caught her and laughed at the look of her totally spread eagled.

"Shut up" she laughed.

"Here, grab my arm," Jack managed in between his fit of laughter that came from deep within his stomach and shook his shoulders.

"Piss off," Gwen giggled, "I hope you're enjoying this. It takes talent to end up this way."

Jack slipped on the ice in front of his apartment stairs and landed hard on his ass. He let out a groan and Gwen laughed when she fell into his lap.

"Are you okay?" she smiled up at him and gripped his shoulders which she noticed where round and strong.

"Fuck. No," Jack groaned as he bit his lip. He couldn't even feel his feet which he was sure were only a few feet in front of him.

"It's not funny," he said as Gwen giggled at his red face but he couldn't help but crack a classic Mercer smile.

"Grab my leg."

Gwen had reached the step rail and had stuck out her leg to him. Jack paused at the absurdity but Gwen wriggled her foot and he finally reached for it. He hauled himself up and managed to make it on wobbling legs to the stairs. He moaned and hopped awkwardly up the steps to the door.

"Keys?"

"Pocket," Jack instantly regretted telling her as soon as he remembered-

"Um."

Gwen held up the red lace panties with one finger and regarded them as if they had the plaque.

"Yeah, not mine."

"I would hope not."

Gwen put them back into his pocket and she tried the other one. The keys were in the door and she was helping Jack up the stairs.

Gwen was not aware of how much Jack was faking his injury. Gwen wasn't aware that he was hamming up the act just so he could lean on her and smell the perfume that lingered in her hair, he hoped that it would rub onto his jacket, maybe even his scarf so he could press his nose to it later and breathe her in deeply after she was long gone. His attempts at ignoring her at the bar, hating the perfume and her laughing were his rather futile fucked up attempts at getting her to be just some chick in a bar.

He knew he would fail the moment he decided to resist.

Her arm was laced around his waist through his jacket and he could feel her fingers press into the muscle of his side. He was suddenly very glad that he chose to lift weights with AJ every blue moon or so. Jack made a mental note to go more often.

"Wow, this is actually-"

"What?" said Jack peering over at her with more intent that he would like for her to notice.

"It's actually rather clean," she smiled though and helped him hobble over to the worn leather sofa that was faded and loved. He sat down-adding a painful hiss for good measure- and said

"Help yourself to the fridge, I think we have beer." If AJ hadn't drunken it all already.

Gwen came back around with a bottle of water.

"How responsible of you," Jack quipped with a charming smile. He saw Gwen color but she turned her head away and looked at Jack's wall of CD's.

"Holy crap, Jack. Do you raid music stores ?"

"Part time."

Gwen looked over her shoulder to cast him a quick disapproving stare before running her finger along a shelf of cases. She had to bend slightly and Jack shamelessly admired her from his place on the couch. Her legs were sheathed in dark jeans and flat leather boots encased her shapely calves. He licked his lips involuntarily and he felt the familiar pressure of craving build, the feeling of being stretched too tight, the raging fire that he wanted to be enflamed in an unbearable moment and then cooled to only the embers of sated desire.

"Jack, what are you staring at?"

Jack stood suddenly and shrugged off his coat as he walked slowly to the CD collection to stand close to Gwen.

"You should put something on," he suggested with a slight whisper.

"Um," Gwen swallowed," okay."

But she didn't move from her place Jack inched closer to her and Gwen waited nervously with hitched breathing. She suddenly felt her stomach tighten in anticipation and she couldn't breathe a single breath without breathing him in. Damn male pheromones, Gwen thought.

Jack inched in closer and closer and his hand rose to rest at the side of her face with his fingertips brushing her smooth neck and his thumb touching the edge of her jaw. Gwen licked her lips as she stared at Jack and the dark intensity of his eyes made her gaze lower at his lips, which looked full and to her relief smooth.

"Tell me to stop and I'll stop," he murmured.

"Stop," she whispered weakly.

"Not a chance," Jack grinned.