A/N: Once again, thanks for all the reviews. Really making me want to write new fics.
And thanks again to LetsGoRed for being such a great beta.
Last chapter, after finding her new accommodation, Sarah and Chuck discussed her skills and experience. He suggested a role for her in a new venture he has in mind. She agrees to at least help with the business planning and, after a wobble, they agree to go on what they are calling their "second date".
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, just have to get these words out…
Life After Death
Chapter 4 – Second date
Sarah's hotel room, later
Chuck had dropped her at the hotel three hours ago.
She'd laid on her bed thinking about him for the first two hours.
She'd never felt so relaxed in another's company or so happy, well, ever. He was like magic. He'd cast those magic eyes on her, or just say something from his heart, and she melt.
He seemed to have a power over her that should have frightened her. The agent in her would distrust him and his intentions. She smiled at that. His intentions! She couldn't imagine him having anything but good intentions.
She never had any trouble reading people, but she'd thought that hadn't really been a skill needed with Chuck. He was so open and honest. And so often, he spoke his thoughts without any filter. She grinned thinking about that, but she knew she was like that around him too. She knew she should really be more careful or she'd get hurt, but in her heart, she'd known that he would never intentionally hurt her.
Then he made that awful comment about leagues! It had thrown her completely. She'd suddenly felt that she'd gotten everything wrong, and he WAS hurting her! Then he'd explained himself. It was his insecurities that had made him say that. Again, spoken without thought. She shook her head, thinking about her reaction. Without thinking it through, she'd made the wrong assumption. Are my insecurities as bad as his?
She had then drifted off, but woke with enough time left to get ready.
Now she needed to decide what to wear to see him. For their second date.
She felt this date was more significant than the last. She got up and began rifling through her clothes and started to panic. What do you wear to a second date?
After throwing most of her clothes on the bed, she sat and tried to calm herself. As she sat there, taking deep breaths, her heartbeat slowed down.
She eventually decided she was over thinking and selected a summer dress that would show off her legs. She smiled thinking how he was always the gentleman and looked at her face, but she also had seen his eyes flick to her legs. This would be perfect.
Dress selected, she headed into the shower.
She hadn't realized how much deciding what to wear had been affecting her as the hot water eased the tension in her neck muscles. She just stood under the spray thinking about Chuck and what she found so attractive about him. Yes, there was a physical attraction, but it was just as much his manner and how he just put her at ease without seeming to even try. And when they touched, there was that spark. She'd seen it in his eyes too. He felt the same. What was that about?
She also thought about his idea for his future, and possibly hers too. Maybe if this date went well, she'd consider it more seriously, beyond the business planning.
That took her back to how she was feeling about him. She would also have to think about what she would have to do if she wanted them to be more than just friends. This is who you are going out with! She knew she shouldn't think about that yet, this was just a date.
Mexican restaurant, that evening
They'd ordered their food and were sitting drinking, looking at each other. Both of them, just enjoying the view.
In the past, she would have remained silent, well, most of the time, but she found her lips rarely stayed sealed when she was with him. And when they were eating together, she told him things she never told anyone. How does he do that to me?
"I've never been on a date before." There she goes again!
Chuck was stunned hearing this, "Never?"
She looked away for a while, then turned back to him. She took a deep breath. "I told you about my time with my dad and how I stayed hidden as much as possible. Well, not surprisingly that meant no boys ever saw me." He started to protest, but she stopped him. "Believe it, Chuck, I was not noticed."
He just nodded to let her continue.
"The CIA trained me how to be completely invisible when I needed to be, a skill I had already developed quite well, but also how to be visible when that was required." She stopped and looked at him to see if he understood what she meant.
He frowned, "To attract men?"
She nodded. "I'd been… helped… to look like this. This package was intended to be seen and desired." She stopped again, watching him.
Chuck wasn't happy with what he was hearing, but couldn't stop himself from reacting to that last statement. "Oh, you are!"
That brought a smile to her face. He then realized what he'd said and blushed. "Sorry. That was disrespectful."
She took his hand. "No, Chuck. I liked it. I never did in my job. In fact, I hated it, but it feels good to hear you say that." She just looked in his eyes. It was as if their eyes continued the conversation. There was just happiness being with each other.
She broke her gaze and continued, "With the job, I never saw myself as anything but a tool to achieve what the Company wanted. When I finished a mission, I just wanted to go on the next one and not think about what I was becoming."
Chuck interrupted, "I want to come back to what you thought you were becoming, Sarah, but didn't you spend time with other agents?"
"Rarely. I did initially have a handler, someone who guided me on my early missions, an older man who I definitely didn't 'date'!"
"I also worked with a group of other female agents for a while," She smiled remembering them, "but I didn't date any of them!" He smiled at that.
"I later got assigned to work with a male agent for six months, but not someone I would want to 'date'." Her cross look made him raise his eyebrow. She knew she shouldn't, but she just continued, "Not that it stopped Bryce trying!"
He laughed, "That sounds like a Bryce I know." Seeing her raised eyebrow, he continued, "A guy named Bryce Larkin was the one who stole my girlfriend at Stanford."
Her jaw dropped, "Larkin?"
He looked puzzled, "Yeah. Bryce Larkin from Connecticut."
"He was my partner. Handsy Larkin."
"B… but he left to become an accountant!"
"No. He was a CIA agent after Stanford. He just told people he was an accountant."
That was quite a revelation to Chuck. Then he thought about what she'd been saying before. "Bryce always got the best girls. But not you?"
He could see her jaw clenching. "No. Not me. I was not interested in this oily, smarmy, self-important, arrogant slimeball!"
To Sarah, it seemed like Chuck's grin lit up the whole restaurant. "I think I'm in love with you!"
She snorted. "Just because I don't like Bryce Larkin?"
He'd realized what he'd said and turned bright red. He had to deflect. "Yep!"
They both laughed and he thought he'd got away with it.
Sarah thought there was more to it, but didn't push. I don't want to think about that yet!
Chuck grinned. "Well, joint members of the "We hate Bryce Larkin" group!"
She laughed, nodding.
Chuck then asked the question she had dreaded hearing, "What about the men you met on your missions?"
"I can't give you details, it's all classified, but I had different types of missions. Most men I met were terrorists, drug lords or ruthless international "business men" who were stealing from governments. I did have to go out with them," she looked down, "and sometimes let them think they'd get lucky…" She looked back up and firmly said, "but they never did."
"God! That's awful, Sarah! The government made you do that?" She could see he wasn't judging her, like she thought he might.
"We were trained in how to string men along. Enticement. The promise loosens lips." She was watching him closely to see how he'd react.
She shouldn't have worried. "Bastards! I hate them for expecting you to do that!"
She smiled and held his hand. "Thank you, Chuck." She paused, then said, "I seem to say that a lot."
He smiled back.
She smirked, "So, dateless Sarah out on a date with you, Chuck!" His grin made her heart sing, so she had to stop thinking that and get him to talk. "So, what about you?"
His sister had told him not to talk about this, but she had asked. "I met my one and only girlfriend, Jill, at Stanford in one of my lectures. We were both nerds, me with computers and her with science. We started dating and I thought it was love, but how wrong I was! Six months later, Bryce changed all that. I was heartbroken." He looked up at her. "You might have noticed, I wear my heart on my sleeve, well she ripped it off and crushed it in her hand."
Sarah took his hand and he looked in her eyes, seeing compassion.
He continued, "After that, I just threw myself into my work and tried to forget about her." His honestly and dejection was evident.
He then smiled, "So, I'm clueless about dating, really. My sister has kept trying to hook me up with one of her friends, though, and I have gone on dates, but they were always a disaster." He snorted. "I always talk about my ex!"
She laughed out loud.
He then turned serious. "My first good date was a few days ago."
She knew what he meant, but couldn't stop herself from teasing him, "So who was the lucky girl?"
He just looked in her eyes and replied, "Well, I don't know about lucky, but the best date I've ever had was with you, Sarah. Counting this one, best two dates."
Her walls had completely crumbled. She started to get up. She knew she wanted him and was going to grab and kiss him, but their food arrived and she sat down again.
They sat and ate, both thinking the same thing, Two broken, clueless people, but happy together.
They held hands a lot during the meal.
They sat quietly on the journey back to her apartment.
When he stopped the car, she didn't just thank him and get out, but reached across and kissed him. It was tender but lasted for a minute.
It was not something Chuck expected, but wow! He kissed her back, just enjoying the experience.
When she pulled away, he had his eyes closed and looks shell shocked, but not in a bad way. This made her so happy. It was a great kiss. It was their first kiss, but she was determined it wouldn't be their last! And those electric shocks had reached her heart.
"Goodnight, Chuck."
His dazed look disappeared and he looked into those gorgeous blue eyes. "Goodnight, Sarah".
He drove away with a big grin. She kissed me!
She walked into the hotel, thinking about the wonderful evening and that fabulous kiss. She smiled all the way to her room and it didn't stop there.
Park near Echo Park estate, next day
Sarah had decided to run at a different time today. She needed time to herself, so didn't want to meet up with Chuck. She'd told him that was her plan and he'd accepted it, although he did sound disappointed. While she felt bad about that, it had also made her smile.
She ran thinking about the kiss and her possible future. They were going to meet again tomorrow to discuss what the business plan could be, but today they were just keeping to themselves. All day.
She knew she wanted to date Chuck. There was so much chemistry there. Every time they touched, that electricity was intoxicating. She thought he felt it too. She wanted more of it!
She'd spent some time online, reading about Barsoft Gaming and its owner, Charles Bartowski. There were a lot of articles about this gaming entrepreneur, although mostly on gaming sites. The company was quite successful and he was rich, but just how rich he seemed to have kept secret, somehow. She wasn't interested in that. Some personal stuff was there too, from when the first game launched. It seemed that a couple of journalists had followed him to restaurants and noted that he never dated any woman more than once. The speculation was that girls weren't interested in him. She knew this gossip journalism was often just conjecture, but she smiled as she read it, knowing that it actually was his perception too. The general view about him, however, was that he was successful, but reclusive.
She had also been thinking about the business partnership and had decided it was probably worth taking the risk. If a romantic relationship didn't work, they could still be business partners, couldn't they? They'd discuss that more tomorrow, but today, she was going to plan for their next date and their romantic future.
A shopping trip was definitely in the cards for that afternoon.
Burbank gym, same day
As he wasn't going to see Sarah today, Chuck had decided to go to the gym again.
He could now do the weights without the intense concentration he originally needed and he had been increasing the weight lifted each day he'd gone there.
His mind was elsewhere. His lips were on hers and he was in heaven. He wanted, no, needed more of her in his life.
As a business partnership, they would see more of each other. Would it be too much for her? Would it be too much for him? She was an overwhelming distraction, but maybe their conversation about the business partnership tomorrow would test whether he could focus on anything but her eyes and those soft lips.
He'd kissed Jill a lot, obviously, but this was different. There had never been this spark he felt whenever he touched Sarah. Then that kiss! It felt like the spark had lit up his whole body!
There was something very different about his feelings for Sarah and what she did to him.
He could gaze into those wonderful blue eyes forever, if she stayed still and allowed him to do so.
He knew he was falling in love with her. Maybe the fall was complete, but he shouldn't think that. She could decide he wasn't for her and leave. That would hurt so much, so he had to steel himself for that.
But then he'd think about that kiss again.
Those lips…
A/N: A date and a kiss. What could be better? Yeah, I know. Remember he's an incurable romantic and a real gentleman. She's falling for him too. In the next chapter "Looking Forward and back", they'll start the business planning, but she'll also tell him more about her past, oh dear.
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