Chapter 10

"I'm into anything cobalt blue, I kind of collect it. Though my interests include anything dark and fascinating, like wizards and medieval things." Jensa shrugged, having quite the collection, knowing there were some things about herself that would surprise Taker. "Though I don't dress like it, I am fascinated with the darker part of life. My ex-best friend is Wiccan and we don't speak anymore." She shrugged, refusing to let it bother her. "When you gain a lot of money, you find out who your TRUE friends are and I'll leave it at that."

Storing that nugget for a later day, Taker let her continue talking, now guiding her back around the park towards where they left his motorcycle. He sighed when some young punks came strolling along the path and Taker could already hearing the catcalls. "This is exactly what I was telling you about earlier, darlin'." He said, gesturing at them, having absolutely no fear of any of them. They were all scrawny half men with pubic hair on their chins they tried passing off as facial hair. "You boys best keep on moving." He cautioned, his entire demeanor going from relaxed to deadly in seconds.

Though Taker never removed his arm from Jensa, still keeping the casual stance. Jensa swallowed hard, trying not to be scared since she was with Taker. These guys were half his size for crying out loud, but it was 4 against 1. This wasn't good, Jensa felt sick as she slunk back behind Taker, slowly moving when he did, feeling him grab her hand as their fingers laced together. They were having such a great time, why did these jerks have to ruin it?

Taker was old and experienced enough to know one simple thing. All he had to do was hurt one of them enough to scare the others away. So when of the young idiots got too close, he wrapped a hand around the kid's pencil neck throat and raised him up into the air with an almost frightening ease.

"See, when you frighten my lady friend, I tend to get...annoyed." He said easily, squeezing ever so slightly.

When the giant literally tossed their friend into a nearby bush, they bolted.

Point proven.

Jensa's eyes widened to the size of saucers, hand covering her mouth as she watched in fascinating horror as Taker handled that guy like he was a mere child. She stumbled back when he turned around to face her, swallowing hard. The slightest hint of fear shined in her blue eyes, though Jensa tried hiding it.

"I'm fine." She whispered reassuringly, taking his offered hand and trembled slightly as they headed back to the motorcycle, trying to keep the tears at bay.

It was all from fear of what COULD'VE happened and seeing the brute strength her boyfriend had. What Taker wasn't admitting to anyone, and especially not her, was that wasn't something he wanted to do on a nightly basis. Lifting someone and just holding them in the air like that, making it look easy on top of things, was basically all for show. His arm actually hurt from holding that punk before tossing him. However, Taker would rather make an impressive demonstration and scare them off rather than fight all of them and possibly risk Jensa being harmed.

"Thank you." She whispered in his ear once they were back on his motorcycle and wrapped her arms around his waist to show him she wasn't afraid.

She had no reason to fear this man, who had been nothing except kind to her since they met. Jensa was falling for him fast and she didn't know how to stop it. Taker nodded once and fired the engine up, peeling out of there moments later. At least she knew some things about him and, overtime, Jensa hoped to learn more.

Once they had reached his shop, Taker helped her dismount and let her lead the way inside, rolling his arm. "You're not afraid of me, are you?" He asked softly, that was the last thing in the world that he wanted. He would never, could never, hurt her. "Jensa..." Taker murmured, reaching out to run his finger down her cheek, knowing that entire incident had frightened her in general.

"No, of course not." She murmured softly, meaning it and frowned as he favored his arm. Maybe Taker wasn't as strong as she thought, Jensa's eyebrows furrowing together. "You're hurt."

She noticed he tried to hide it and took his hand, leading him back to where he slept. The man really had to get his own place, but somehow Jensa knew he loved it here. Tattooing was his passion that was for sure.

"Sit down." She ordered gently but firmly, crawling behind him and began massaging his shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to the back of his neck.

He had to admit, she was very good at this and, lifting that kid had definitely been worth it, just to feel her fingers easing away the pain. After a moment, Taker began explaining why he had lifted and then thrown the young man onto a bush, how it was just easier to scare them away opposed to fighting. Contrary to his image, he didn't like to fight, unless it was Steve. However, Taker didn't back away from them either. He had even made sure the kid landed in a bush so he wasn't too banged up.

He really was a survivor at heart and that just made Jensa fall for him harder. "I understand, Taker. Don't worry, I'm not scared of you. I know you will never hurt me."

Jensa smiled when he pulled her to where she straddled his lap with his good arm, still working on the sore one. Stopping briefly to stare into his eyes, her blue eyes shined with truth and admiration. She kissed him softly, tenderly, before continuing the task, wanting him to feel better. Jensa hated seeing Taker in pain and had taken up massage therapy in college as a minor for her degree. Her major was, of course, journalism.

When the ache was pretty much nothing but a fading memory, Taker wrapped both his arms around her. Forcing her to stop, he bent forward so his head pressed against hers, closing his eyes. Taker could already see himself falling in love with this woman, if he wasn't there already. He still had a hard time believing Jensa was meant for him, that she was there with him. It was like someone had given him a million Christmas's in one beautiful package.

~!~

Over the next 2 months, Jensa spent as much time with Taker as she possibly could, growing closer to him with each passing day. She declined, several times, to get a tattoo from him for obvious reasons, mainly because she was terrified of needles. They bounced back and forth between each other's places, though Taker was starting to stay at hers more often than his due to her shower. He absolutely loved it and Jensa wished he could have one like that.

The ONE time she brought up him moving into a new apartment or condo away from the tattoo shop, he gave her the cold shoulder and Jensa never mentioned it again. They had little tiffs, but nothing major and makeup sex became Jensa's favorite thing with him it seemed, besides talking. Taker was a great listener, very smart and funny at times. All in all, this relationship was everything Jensa had been dreaming and hoping for.

Taker figured this was as close to heaven as he was ever going to get and hell, he'd take Jensa over heaven any day. She was everything he had given up looking for in a woman. Funny, smart, active, sexy as hell and knew her way around the bedroom. Add in her heart of gold...She was also his complete opposite, which garnered a lot of wisecracks from Steve and looks from people they passed. It was sort of Beauty and the Beast, he supposed. Him being the Beast, which made him smirk. But she filled the void in his life, the void he hadn't been aware he had until she walked into it. Oh...and her shower was an added bonus.

The night of the banquet finally arrived and Jensa was excited as she stepped out of the shower, her straightener, curling iron, blow-dryer…everything set out. Her hair and makeup lady, Susan, waited for her. Jensa wanted to look absolutely perfect for tonight and she only had 3 hours to get ready. Brushing her teeth and hair, Jensa stepped out and sat down while Susan got to work.

"I think I'm going to do your hair in banana curls, leaving it down with a sapphire clip on one side, what do you think?"

"I trust your judgment, do what you want." Jensa closed her eyes and leaned back, allowing the transformation to take place, straightening her honey locks being the first thing to happen.

"So where is your date?"

"Oh...he had some last minute things to do at work. I understand, this isn't his type of atmosphere."

In truth, when Taker told Jensa he wasn't going with her it really hurt, but she understood. This was the most important night of her life to date and he wasn't going to be there, but she would survive. Nothing, absolutely nothing, would ruin her night. Susan finished straightening her hair before beginning the curls, using hairspray to keep them in place.

"Wow, sounds like a loser to me."

"No, he's not a loser, he just had important business to attend to tonight." Jensa sighed heavily, closing her eyes. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Nodding, Susan didn't mention another word about it. She picked up the silver clip that had real sapphires in it, combing her hair back placing it strategically. The right side had curls framing her face while the other was bare, making her look stunning.

"Now for the makeup…"

Dark blue outlined her eyes, bringing them out along with shimmery silver eye shadow that matched her gown's color. Her lashes were full and beautiful, bringing out her eyes more. Foundation covered up any blemishes, which Jensa had none and clear gloss painted her full lips.

Once that was completed, Susan helped her clip on the jewelry, which was silver with sapphire stones in the shape of teardrops outlining it. It looked like a butterfly type design in the front sparkling and would bring the dress out along with matching earrings and a bracelet. Finally, it was time to put the gown on, Jensa's legs would be completely covered so there was no need for nylons, thankfully.

The pure silver gown had a scalloped sweetheart neckline that topped the strapless bodice made of pure satin. It was shaped with full-length princess seams and a flared A-line skirt that swept to a short train at the back. The dress showed her bare back to the middle of it before wrapping around, hugging her curves and flaring out at the knees.

"Wow..." Whoever her boyfriend was, he would be kicking himself for not taking her to this banquet. Jensa was stunning. "Okay shoes! You look...incredible." Susan knew that wasn't a strong enough word for it, but it was the best compliment she could come up with at the moment.

"Jensa, the limo is here." William's voice sounded through the condo from the intercom, causing her to nod. Glancing one last time in the full length mirror, she hugged Susan lightly and handed her an envelope.

"Thank you for all you've done."

She grabbed her black fur coat since it was chilly outside before exiting, ready for a red carpet appearance, grinning from ear to ear. William's eyes widened at the sight of her, swallowing hard and bowed, opening the door for her. Giggling softly, Jensa nodded and bowed in return.

"Thank you William, you know where to go." She slipped in, the door closing moments later, not hearing Susan's scream. Jensa had given the woman a fair amount of money that would insure she wouldn't have to worry about finances for a good long while.

Being a PR for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital usually meant Ken dressed up, casually, in blue jeans that were pressed and a white dress shirt. It also meant he got to put together events like this and make sure it was well promoted. He was very good at his job. Considering they had a special Guest of Honor who had donated a mindboggling sum, Ken made sure this was covered by every network he could find.

Radio would be covering certain parts of it and he had the internet on his side as well. The amount alone would make headlines and it would all be used for good to help St. Jude's. He glanced over his hair in the men's restroom and then straightened the lapels on his tuxedo, nodding.

William pulled up 20 minutes later at one of the most luxurious banquet halls in town and Jensa's eyes glittered, feeling her heart pounding furiously. She took a deep breath, glancing down at herself to make sure nothing was out of sorts. Nails were perfectly manicured and clear with sapphire blue tips, her toes the same thing and the heels were the same color as her jewelry. Stepping out taking William's hand, Jensa saw the press was alive and well as cameras flashed, an actual red carpet rolled out.

~!~

"You're NOT going?"

Steve had been so sure Taker would, considering he had seen the guy actually using the work computer to browse tuxedos. Taker and computers just did not mix. It was the 3rd one they had to buy this year.

"I go in there with her and they're all going to think she's on drugs or something, or that I'm her bodyguard." Taker replied, calmly sipping his beer. Instead, he sat at the counter with a ledger doing the monthly finances, just to occupy himself. "She understands."

"Course she does, she's a sweetheart who has a shit for a boyfriend."

Taker felt bad enough without Steve badgering him, knowing how important this was to Jensa. The event was a charity dinner, another fundraiser, basically. But they were announcing her as the Guest of Honor and presenting her with some kind of award or plaque for her extremely charitable donation.

He sometimes still had to stop and pinch himself whenever he remembered just how much she had donated. Not so much the amount but the casualty of it. She had just DONE it out of the blue without batting an eyelash. That kind of money and power was somewhat intimidating, not that Taker would EVER admit that to anyone, especially Steve.

"You chicken shit son of a bitch!" Steve chortled, downing the rest of his beer and crushed the can in his hand, tossing it into the garbage bin. "Well, I'm goin' home to my current woman. You have fun sittin' here and squirmin' about bein' a coward." He waved as he walked out, making sure to move fast before his bald ass got snatched up.

Taker glanced up at the clock, knowing Jensa would probably be heading out to the event any moment now and wondered just how much hurt and anger she hid for his refusal to go. He hadn't been mean about it, he had just flat out told her it wasn't his thing and had some work related business he planned on doing. Looking back, Taker sounded like an uncaring asshole. Jensa...was changing him. Before her, he wouldn't have cared about hurting someone's feelings and now…now he was sitting here contemplating it instead of handling his business.

"Christ on the cross..." He muttered, pushing away the untouched ledger.