A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, always appreciated!
Chapter Three:
Jack picked Sam up in his car, and this time there was no doubt that an apology was not necessary for her clothing. She was wearing a red dress with a v-cut and he couldn't take his eyes off of her.
"So…are we going to go?" Sam asked, sitting in the passenger seat.
"Hmm? Oh…uh, right." He forced himself to look away and started the engine.
"What kind of place are we going to? Or do I need to ask?" Sam questioned. His grin gave her answer. "Steak and beer it is." She laughed.
"Yes, but it's a very nice steak and beer place." He told her.
He was right. It was tastefully and expensively decorated, no pool tables, dim lighting and classy music.
"I must say, I'm impressed." Sam told him.
"You should know never to doubt my ability by now." Jack teased dryly.
- - - -
"Nice to meet you.:" Tara said politely.
"I've heard a lot about you." Daniel told her.
"Really? So he tells work about family, but not family about work." She laughed and sat down in the chair he had pulled out for her.
"Yeah, well…work is rather…"
"Confidential?" She suggested with a smile. The smile made his knees melt. She was so pretty. Will had been right in what he has said about repaying him with a beautiful date.
"Yes, exactly. So what do you do?" Daniel asked. "Will said you were an artist and working in New York City."
"Yes. I'm still in art school, but I'm working at the Met and another smaller art gallery."
"What kind of art do you do?"
"Painting and drawing, mostly." She replied. She noticed that Cam and Vala were paying more attention to their conversation than having one of their own. On the other end of the table, Sadie and Will were leaning close together, hands held, talking non-stop.
"So what kind of hobbies are you into?" She asked. How boring could a geeky air force doctor be?
"I'm an Ancient History buff." He told her. "I taught and wrote before joining the air force."
"That's cool." How boring, she really thought. Her hopes of an exciting shared interested went down the drain. She noticed Vala slide a little closer to Daniel, and that Cam wasn't even paying attention to her.
"So how long have you two been going out?" Tara asked Vala and Cam.
"Five months." Vala answered while Cam choked on his glass of water with a horrified look.
"No, no, no! We're not together." He told Tara. "Just out to dinner with a bunch of friends."
"On second thought – you're right… I don't date men who lose their pants all the time. It makes it rather embarrassing to be seen in public together." Vala said, more to Mitchell, it seemed, then to Tara. Cameron coughed and sent Vala a fierce glare.
"I won't ask." Tara promised with a laugh.
As the evening progressed, Tara received several flirty comments from Mitchell, which she responding to, but still tried to direct her conversation toward Daniel, who was himself responding to flirting comments from Vala. Perhaps after dinner Cam would ask her out, it was obvious that she and Daniel were not compatible anyway.