Picard had the distinct feeling he'd been somewhere else just a moment ago. That was absurd, though. He had been sitting here on the couch all along, listening to Walker babble on and on about some girl he had met the night before. All of his self-pitying banter was giving Picard a headache. "I want to see Beverly," he interrupted him.
Walker looked at him quizzically. "Beverly? Why do you want to see her? Don't you mean you want to see Jack?"
Picard mentally chided himself, trying to keep his face from burning crimson. He had done it again, nearly given his obsession with his best friend's wife away. "Jack and Beverly I said," he lied. "You were just too busy wallowing in your own self-absorption to notice."
"Whatever," said Walker, unperturbed.
They walked down the hall to the officer's quarter's their friend and his wife shared. Picard was going to miss the time they spent together when the couple moved into a house they had found recently on some nearby land that, though close, wasn't exactly next door.
Beverly opened the door. Picard swallowed the lump in his throat. It was as though he had forgotten how beautiful she was. He fought his raging hormones, but they would not be subdued. He appeased them by taking her hand in his and brushing his lips across the milky white knuckles. Beverly blushed and giggled, but did not pull back.
"Oh puhlease," Jack Crusher said, rolling his eyes. "Picard, you are positively primeval. At least kiss her on the cheek for God's sake. You know you want to," he smirked, laughing at his own joke. Picard was certain Jack knew nothing of his feelings for Beverly. If he had, he would never invite him to kiss her, he would have ripped his lips off. Jack loved his wife more than anything in the world, but he didn't mind his friends harmlessly flirting with her. It actually made him swell with pride. As long as it didn't go any further than that.
"What are you doing over here again," Beverly inquired as she poured drinks for the four of them.
"Jean Luc couldn't wait to see you," Walker answered. "If you ask me, Jack, I think he's a little smitten with her. He didn't even mention wanting to see you. He tried to cover it up, of course, saying that I wasn't listening, but we all know better. Admit it, Jean Luc. You're just using Jack to get at Beverly."
Picard sensed that this was about to get dangerous, if fact that it would have already been dangerous were it not Walker catting the tale. Thank God for his flair for the overly dramatic.
"Actually," Picard said neutrally, "I'm in love with Jack, but I wasn't ready to tell you Walker. I thought you might die without me, and I don't know how Beverly will ever go on without him after we elope." He said it with such a deadpan expression that they all had to laugh.
Beverly brought their drinks back in and sat on the sofa next to Picard. For a moment his heart turned somersaults in his chest. There was an empty seat next to Jack, yet she had chosen him. Then, very quickly, since he knew what was good for him, he contained himself. His friend didn't look happy, but he didn't say anything. After a moment, Beverly reached across the coffee table and swatted her husband playfully on the arm. "Oh Jack, come off it. Walker's already sitting with you. Poor Jean Luc here was lonely." She squeezed Picard's arm affectionately, which was enough to send a seismic jolt through him.
They spent the rest of the evening making small talk, but Picard could hardly concentrate. At last it was time to leave. Walker called a goodbye to Jack, who had received a message in the other room, and kissed Beverly lightly on the cheek. "A pleasure as always," he said, stepping out the door.
Picard was unsure what to do. He didn't trust himself to kiss her, yet he knew she would be offended if he did not. She cleared her throat softly. "Oh, um, yes, thank you," he stammered, wondering how she affected him so. "This was nice." He nodded in affirmation, tilted his head, placed his lips upon hers and kissed her. She gasped slightly, but did not resist, and he wondered why she had done so for only a split second when he realized, to his horror, that not only were his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, he was using his tongue. He was even more horrified to realize that she was responding to him. And it felt so right. It felt so damned right.
Suddenly a firm hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away. "What the hell do you think you're doing," Walker whispered at him through clenched teeth. "She's Jack's wife, or have you forgotten that. You're lucky he didn't see you. I don't think he'd care if you're his Captain or not after a display like that. Come on, you've had too much to drink. I'm sorry Beverly," he added before dragging Picard by the arm down the corridor.
Beverly, shocked and horrified by guilt, said nothing. She wasn't sorry. She felt bad, on Jack's behalf, but she was not sorry. She had felt something in his kisses, something that stirred feelings she didn't even know she had within her.
If anything, she was scared.