Dallas, Texas

"Try now."

Shining the flashlight at her from across the room, Bobby asked Jenna to flip the light switch, blinded by the yellow light inches from his face when she did.

"Oh, it works. Thank you."

Approaching him as he climbed down the ladder, her lips meeting his for a brief moment, the forwardness of her actions no longer surprised him.

"You're welcome."

Grinning, he enjoyed how she felt against him, her arms draped around his neck for longer than necessary, with no indication that she was going anywhere fast.

She'd called him earlier with what had felt like a fabricated excuse to invite him over but had turned out to be a real problem considering her height and the height of her living room ceiling. Of course, a blown lightbulb could have waited until morning to fix but when Jenna wanted something, she usually got it.

"Now that you're here, you might as well stay for a drink."

Whispering in his ear, she revealed that he hadn't been too far off in his earlier assumption.

Following her over to her living room bar, he tossed up whether to mention to her what he'd been considering since his visit to see Jack and later Cliff, deciding that there was probably never going to be a better moment than the present.

"I was thinking."

"And I thought you were just a handsome face."

Chuckling at her joke, he accepted the glass she handed him. "You're so funny."

"I know." Smirking at his sarcastic but good-natured comment, she didn't move, so neither did he.

"I could use a break from Dallas. I'd like you to come with me, this weekend if you're free."

He'd had time to think about the future and had decided what he wanted, and by the way she'd been behaving around him, he thought she wanted it too.

"What did you have in mind?"

One hand on her glass, the other on his chest, her lips in a smile and her eyes fixed on his, everything about her demeanour told him she was interested, although she didn't immediately accept his invitation.

"Time away somewhere nice, quiet, private."

He hadn't actually planned anything, but he had a broad idea of what he wanted.

"Romantic?" Smirking, she made it clear what she was looking for.

"Mhm."

Looking pleased with his confirmation, she completely confused him when she then asked, "would we be sharing a room?"

"What sort of question is that?"

Setting her glass down, she stepped away from him before responding to his question.

"A valid one. If you think I'm going to agree to join you for a romantic weekend away so that we can take long walks, enjoy good food, dance, flirt and then go off to our separate bedrooms at the end of the night then you're mistaken and my answer is no."

Listening to her, he gathered that she was talking about their encounter before New Year where he'd sent mixed messages, although he was genuinely surprised that she thought things were still the same between them now as they had been then.

"No?"

"No. I'm not interested in that. I've waited for you and I'll continue to wait for you, but I don't enjoy being teased and I won't willingly participate in an activity that we have very different ideas about. If you want us to be friends then we can do that, but I'm not taking a promised romantic weekend away with you only to end up sleeping alone."

She didn't raise her voice, but she was clear and he understood exactly how she felt.

"I'm sorry."

He hadn't been fair to her. He'd had his reasons for doing what he'd done, reasons which were entirely valid, but he'd neglected to think about how his back and forth was affecting her and how she felt not knowing which part of him she was going to encounter from one minute to the next.

"Bobby, you're allowed time if you need it. I just don't want to be led on."

Sighing, he put his glass down and approached her, resting his forearms on her shoulders and looking down into her eyes.

"I apologise, that was never my intention."

Holding her gaze as he waited to see how she felt now, his heartrate increased when she pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed him softly again.

"Thank you", whispering as she pulled away, her words told him that the past was the past now.

Silent and still for a few moments, soon he was unable to resist any longer, kissing her again, this time not softly or gently, but passionately.

Delighted by her response to his advance, he thought of nothing but her for the next while. Her hands on him, his on her, their forms fitting together well, all felt wonderful, and he was sad to see it end when it did.

Catching her breath, her smile was unmistakable.

"You've spent time thinking about us then?"

"I have."

Beaming, she seemed to appreciate his answer, so much that she wanted to know more.

"Tell me, what are your intentions now?"

Playing with the buttons on his shirt, she asked a question of him that he found difficult to answer. She was probably asking about the future, but her actions had him unable to think about anything but the present.

"Jenna."

Appearing to understand that he was flustered, she dropped her hands from his chest, grinning as she told him, "take your time."

Chuckling, he knew he'd need a little longer than she'd like before he found the words, so instead he left it at, "why don't we see what happens this weekend?"

Shaking her head, she didn't seem satisfied to leave it at that, but she didn't seem upset either.

"Aw, I don't get anything more than a vague 'we'll see'? At least give me a small hint." Making a gesture with her thumb and index finger, she endearingly joked that she wasn't asking for much.

"With the way you act I think you might end up getting everything."

Referring to what she was clearly hinting at wanting for their evening, he thought longer-term too; she wouldn't be disappointed with what he had to offer her, but she would have to be patient to find out what it was.

"I like the sound of that."

Cupping his cheek with her hand, she leaned up and placed another soft kiss on his lips, one that he didn't need to study her face afterwards to understand.

To be continued…