Author's Note: Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint...

After dinner Jack sat nursing a glass of whiskey. He put the whiskey down and blew out a breath he had been holding, then ran his hand over his brow.

He picked up the glass of whiskey, downed it in one shot, and then put it down on the table and stood up, walking back and forth around the room.

Jack sighed again, he was restless. Amy and Marion were at Maggie's with Soraya and Jesse. And he was home alone. And while he was alone, his mind kept replaying moments from his surprise date with Lisa. It had been such a wonderful day in so many ways. But Jack was frustrated by having been interrupted from kissing her not once, but twice. He breathed out. Thinking that he really couldn't catch a break.

He had called her afterward, as he had promised, and they had made a date to go for coffee next week. But after all of the work that she had put in to surprise him with a trail picnic, his efforts to show her his own interest just felt weak.

Jack knew that many men didn't call when they said they would, and she'd sounded genuinely surprised that he'd called her to make a date on the same day as he'd said he'd call. Maybe that had been tipping his hand, but Jack felt like she'd just made such a grand gesture to show him her interest, and he thought he owed her some sort of genuine gesture on his part.

His stomach clenched at the thought of their almost kisses. If he closed his eyes he could still feel her breath on his lips, her hair under his fingertips, and the way her eyes searched his. He could kick himself for telling her that they'd pick up that thread "some other time." "Some other time" was something he said when he was putting Val Stanton off. With Lisa, he had meant it as a promise of things to come. And he hoped it had come across that way. But he worried that she had read it as a kiss off.

Jack sighed again, annoyed with himself. And annoyed that he felt restless and frustrated. Paced back and forth. Then stopped, looked at the clock on the stove, turned abruptly, grabbed a bottle of red wine and stalked out of the house. He had to get out of there before he lost his nerve.

Meanwhile at Fairfield, Lisa was sitting alone in her kitchen, eating a bowl of pasta, and leafing through a racing trade magazine. But her mind wasn't on her reading. Her mind was on Jack Bartlett. And a smile played about her lips when she thought about her surprise date with Jack.

It had gone a lot better than Lisa had anticipated. It seemed clear now that Jack was as interested in her as she was in him. If she closed her eyes, she could still remember the feeling of his mustache brushing against her lips, the roughness of his hand as it stroked her hair, and the way his eyes searched hers. Curls of desire swam in her stomach as she thought of the way that Jack had looked at her. Her breath caught in her throat at just the memory of it. A woman could get used to being looked at like that.

As Lisa was musing, she heard a quiet knock at the door. She stood up, carelessly flipping her magazine closed as she did so, and walked to the door. She peered out the side window, before opening the door, and saw a nervous looking Jack Barlett standing outside. He was shifting back and forth from one foot to the other, holding a bottle of wine in his hands. She turned, tamped down her fly away hair, adjusted her shirt and opened the door, "Jack," she said, her voice a bit higher than usual due to her surprise.

"Hi," he said smiling at her.

"Hi," she said back. "Is everything okay?" She was wondering why he had shown up on her doorstop.

"Yes," he said, shaking his head, "everything is fine." He opened his mouth but was unsure of exactly what to say.

"Are you here to cancel our date for next week?" Lisa asked nervously, biting her lower lip in a way that Jack found endlessly attractive.

"No," he said, breathless. He shook his head, trying to get control of his senses. "Quite the opposite actually."

Lisa looked at him hopefully.

He smiled slightly. "I couldn't get you off my mind," he paused, his eyes searching hers, and hoping that he didn't sound like too much of an idiot, "so I thought I'd stop over and see if you were busy," he said, holding up the bottle of wine by way of an explanation.

Lisa smiled at him.

"I hope that's not creepy," he said, his eyes showing signs of worry, as he realized that he hadn't really thought this plan out.

"Not at all," Lisa said, putting him at ease, and taking the bottle of wine from him, "Well, actually," she continued, chuckling, "I guess maybe it's a little creepy, but mostly very flattering. Come on in!" She said, stepping inside as he followed her into her kitchen.

Lisa pulled a wine glass out of the cabinet and uncorked the bottle of wine, as Jack leaned against the counter near her, taking in her kitchen. He noticed the sole bowl of pasta next to the racing magazine. She'd clearly been having a quiet night in. 'How different her house was from the crowded ranch house,' he thought to himself. And not for the first time he realized how very different their lives were.

Jack was pulled out of his reverie by the quickening of his pulse. His breath caught at her proximity. He could smell the scent of Lisa's perfume, and feel the brush of her hair. Lisa's own pulse quickened, as she leaned past Jack, reaching for her own wine glass from near her abandoned pasta bowl. She smiled at him, murmuring, "Sorry." And in that moment Jack was fairly certain that he'd forgive her for anything.

Once she had the wine glass in hand, Lisa stood up, stepping back from Jack, and set about filling both glasses with wine.

"I'm sorry again for just stopping over unannounced," Jack said, feeling sheepish.

"Don't be," Lisa said, handing him a glass of wine, "I'm really glad you came by," and Lisa locked eyes with him as she clinked her glass of wine to his.

"Cheers," he said, his eyes still locked with hers as he took a sip. "I wanted to thank you for that picnic this afternoon."

"That was my pleasure," Lisa said, "I had a really great time."

"Me too," Jack confided.

"Even if we do have maybe the worst timing in the world," Lisa said, mischief playing in her eyes, as she took a sip of her wine.

Jack chuckled, sipping his own wine, "you can say that again. I can't believe we were interrupted twice."

"What are the chances?" she asked, chuckling.

"Probably less chance," Jack paused, his eyes locked with hers, "here in your kitchen." He finished, setting his glass of wine down on the counter.

"I think you're probably right about that," Lisa said, putting her own glass of wine down next to Jack's. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked up at him, willing him to finally close the distance between them.

"You don't mind," Jack said, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, and letting his hand cup her cheek.

"No, I don't mind," Lisa said, her eyes never leaving his. She was fairly certain that Jack could hear the sound of her heart pounding in her chest as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

Lisa leaned up into the kiss, deepening it, and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Jack was fairly certain that Lisa could feel his heart thumping in his chest as he pulled back from the kiss, a sly smile on his face.

For a moment they were both breathless.

"I could get used to that," she said, searching his eyes.

"So could I," he returned, before his lips met hers again.