A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I was quite convinced not to leave off on the cliffhanger last chapter, btw. :P Anyways, here is the new chapter! Enjoy! :D

Her eyes suddenly met with familiar chocolate eyes and she let out a sigh of relief. "Jack, what are you doing here?" she whispered softly, walking out from behind the screen.

"Just doing business, if ye don't mind." Jack grinned madly before he sauntered away from her, glancing around the room for something valuable to steal… or borrow… Spotting a pearl necklace on the vanity desk, he snatched it up and shoved it in his coat pocket.

"Jack!" Emma hissed, annoyed that he was stealing from her uncle's house. "As much as you like to steal things, I'd appreciate it if you'd put that back."

"'M not stealing. 'M just borrowing things, if ye don't mind." He replied while his fingers were tweaking with his mustache.

"By borrowing, you mean you won't return it." she scoffed before she sat down on the bed, glaring directly at Jack, trying to make him feel guilty, but it really wasn't working.

"Pirate." He retorted haughtily, swaggering to the bed. He glanced at her face and suddenly realized that there was an angry red mark on her cheek. "What's that?" he squinted his eyes at her cheek, examining the mark.

"Nothing." She lied, turning her head so he couldn't see the mark. "I just… fell." Her eyes began watering, but she pushed her tears back, desperately trying to hide her weakness.

"Fell, eh?" he repeated while he placed his hand under her chin, tilting her head so he could study the mark. "Doesn't seem like you fell to me." He managed to make out the mark on her cheek as a hand. "Who did this?"

"No one." She shoved his hand away from her and folded her arms under her chest. Even a pirate cared more for her than her father. It was terribly pathetic…

"Emma?" her father knocked lightly on the doors.

"Hide!" Emma shoved Jack behind her changing screen and jumped in front of him. "Yes, father?" She answered sweetly, although she wouldn't have if it weren't for Jack in the room.

"May I come in?" he asked softly, sounding like he forgot about their fight earlier.

"Yes! I'm just changing into something more suitable." She replied and spotted a bodice, a corset, and a dress laid out on a chair. Grabbing them, she flung them on top of the screen.

The doors opened and her father walked in slowly, his eyes landing on the changing screen. "Do you need the maids to assist you?"

"No—NO!" she sputtered out, her gaze locking with Jack's. "I can do this myself."

"Well, I wanted to see your cheek incase… I've hurt you… When you're done changing, I want to see you. I'll just wait for you… right here." He responded while he sat down on a chair.

She was mildly surprised for he usually didn't care, but right now she was too busy looking at Jack. Her eyes widened as Jack grinned because he was going to enjoy the sight of her naked. "Cover your eyes!" she whispered furiously, but Jack shook his head.

"And what's the profit for me?" he replied, smirking smugly as she seemed to get more flustered.

"What do you want?" she snapped impatiently as she yanked the bodice down that was draped over the screen. She bunched up the fabric in her hand and waited for him to answer.

"Is everything coming along fine?" her father spoke, suspicious of her whispering behind the screen.

"Yes!" she shouted, popping her head out from behind the screen, smiling reassuringly at her father. "I'm not quite sure I prefer to wear this color. After all, my favorite color is maroon." She felt Jack's hand crawling upwards on her leg and she gave him a quick kick, making him recoil his hand back to himself. "It's such a pretty color." She rambled on, hoping that her father would just leave and forget about her cheek. Jack's hand gave her butt a smack and she gasped before she pulled herself behind the screen fully. She kicked Jack's shin, making him grunt with pain and sink to the ground, clutching his leg.

"What's that?" her father asked once he heard the grunt.

"I'm having difficulties trying to fit on my bodice." She said abruptly while she glowered irately at Jack who seemed vivacious, even though he was just kicked.

"I'll call the maids in," her father offered, standing up from the chair before he walked to the door.

"No! Don't!" she cried, before she nudged Jack with her boot to shut his snickering up. She didn't know what he was snickering about, but all she knew was that she was trying to cover for him.

"Are you certain?" her father slowly retraced his steps back into the room and sat down on the chair.

"Yes. Absolutely." She replied before she started to pull up her shirt, nearly forgetting Jack was there. She then froze in her actions, her shirt held up right above her stomach. "Cover your eyes!" she hissed louder, nudging him again with her boot.

"No." Jack said flatly and quietly, his dark eyes sparkling with impish mischief. "Unless… you thank me after he leaves." He motioned to her father that was on the other side of the screen.

"Fine." She said hastily, watching him cover his eyes with his hand. She then turned around so her back was facing Jack while she pulled her shirt off, dropping it to the ground before she fumbled with the laces of her corset. Once the lacings of her corset were undone, she let it fall to the ground along with her journal.

Jack peeked through the cracks between his fingers, intently and merrily watching Emma undress. Even though he couldn't see her front side, he was enjoying the back view. He soaked in the milky pale skin she had and he smirked devilishly.

Once she was undressed, she pulled the bodice over her head before the corset came next. She hurriedly grabbed her journal off the floor and shoved it between her corset and her bodice. Lastly, she yanked the light blue dress down from the screen and put it on. The strings in the back were too hard for her to reach and she stretched painfully to tie them up.

Without warning, she felt Jack push her hands away from the strings before he fixed the lacings for her. His hand brushed over the back of her neck once he finished and she merely shivered with an unexpected pleasure.

"You didn't look, did you?" she whispered, raising one eyebrow upward.

"I promise ye I didn't peek a tad." He replied dishonestly, mentally smiling at the sight of her naked.

She stared intensely at him, trying to figure out if he was lying, but his expression was inscrutable. "Fine. If you say so, I believe you." She stated, although she doubted him.

She walked away from the screen and spotted her father sitting on a chair.

"Yes. That'll do." Her father muttered quietly to himself, but she heard him.

"What'll do?" she queried with bewilderment, her eyes trailing back to the screen where Jack was hiding.

"Never mind, you. I'll be back before dinner." He said impassively, sauntering out the door, leaving her completely baffled.

"Damn that man." She growled under her breath before she checked behind the changing screen to find that Jack wasn't there. "Jack?" she called before she spun around, letting out a small scream when she saw him standing right behind her. "Don't scare me like that!" she huffed crossly, but he just smirked that infuriating smirk that drove her insane because the smirk told her that he was hiding something. "You wanted me to thank you after my father left, so… thank you for covering your eyes."

"I didn't mean a thank you like that." He replied in his husky voice that was low and seductive.

"What did you mean?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes with curiosity.

"I meant a thank you kiss." He grabbed a loose lock of her dark brown hair before he twirled it around his fingers.

"Well, I'm convinced you didn't specify what thank you form you wanted." She retorted, but his hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her against his body. That pirate thought he was clever, but he wasn't going to receive a kiss from her ever.

"Well now you know." He puffed hot air against her lips, watching her lips part slightly with a small amount of eagerness and reluctance.

"I already thanked you once so I don't need to thank you again. So if you don't mind, let go of me right now or I'll have to forcefully remove your hands off me." She clawed at his arms that were wrapped around her waist, trying to pry them off but she got no avail.

"'M not letting go until I receive a kiss." He said stubbornly, tightening his grip on her waist.

She wriggled in his grasp, yet nothing happened. "Fine!" she growled with defeat, slouching down in his arms.

"Much better." He commented, still not releasing her. He leaned forwards and their heads almost touched. His eyes adverted to her lips and he tilted his head to get better access to them.

A/N: Mwuahaha. :P I just felt like saying that! Anyways, isn't that a great cliffhanger? :D Please leave a review!