He pushed her back on the couch and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her without thinking, letting his body take over. He ran his hands over her silk and lace covered breasts and she moaned with pleasure. He covered her mouth with his and lost himself in the blissful moment. Then he tasted the alcohol on her tongue and was instantly brought back to reality.

He quickly climbed off of her and sat heavily down on the couch at her feet with his face in his hands. He muttered, "I shouldn't have done that."

Sam sat up quickly and retrieved her discarded shirt from the floor and covered herself with it. "You're right. It was a mistake." She put her shirt on, grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels, violently threw open the sliding glass door and stormed out to the deck.

She stood at the railing, letting the ocean breeze blow her hair and cool her burning body. If he didn't want her, why did he keep kissing her like that? Well, it didn't matter, it wasn't going to happen again. She couldn't get involved with anyone, especially not someone like him. Her job required too much time and energy and she couldn't afford to be distracted by lust, or even love for that matter. A house in the suburbs and a loving family was not in the cards for her. She knew that in her head when she accepted the position, but she was having a hell of a time convincing her heart. She took a long drink from the bottle and let the burning liquid dull the hurt and confusion.

Jack closed his eyes and tried to sort out his conflicted feelings. He was attracted to her, no doubt, but he couldn't keep allowing himself get into these situations. He had a job to do, and he was going to do it. Teri, Kate, Claudia; they had all been hurt by him and his job. He was starting to care about Sam and he couldn't let another woman he cared about get hurt.

He let her cool off another minute, then joined her at the railing on the deck. "Sam?"

She looked over at him with a stony face and held out the bottle for him. He shook his head, "Haven't you had enough?"

"I don't take orders from you Bauer. I've had a lousy day. My investigation is a joke, someone is trying to kill us, I got knocked in the head, and I just got rejected. So if you don't mind, I will decide how much is enough, got it?" She took another pull from the bottle just to prove her point. The effects of the alcohol were doing the trick, she was beginning to feel numb and her head stopped throbbing. She sat down on a deck chair, leaned back and closed her eyes.

Jack sat on the chair next to her and rubbed his face with his hands. He faced her and said quietly, "Sam, I didn't reject you."

Sam laughed, but it wasn't genuine. "Yes, you did. Twice."

He steeled his jaw, preparing for a fight that always seemed to escalate between them. "You're injured and drunk, I will not take advantage."

Her tone was sarcastic, "What a gentleman." She sighed, then added, "Apparently, I'm not drunk enough." She took another shot and he grabbed the bottle from her. She gave him an evil glare, then sat back and closed her eyes again.

"Dammit Murphy, I'm attracted to you. It's just too complicated. You know that. You know this job, what it does to you. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Don't worry about me Bauer, I can take care of myself. I'm probably even a better shot than you." She didn't open her eyes, they were getting heavy and she was afraid to look into his eyes, of what she might find there.

Jack smiled thinly, "We'll see about that. Right now, we need to concentrate on figuring out who set you up."

Sam nodded and said sleepily, "Uh huh."

Jack touched her arm, "Sam?"

Sam tried to fight the overwhelming need for sleep, "Huh?"

Jack shook his head. He picked Sam up and carried her to the only bedroom in the cottage and laid her gently on the bed. He took off her shoes and brushed the hair away from her face. He just stared at her for a while, wondering for the thousandth time why he had given up so much for his job. When he finally got up to make his bed on the sofa, her arm reached out and grabbed his. "Jack, stay with me, please."

Her hand squeezed his and he relented, "Yeah, okay." He took off his shoes and climbed in bed next to her, fully clothed. She drew his arm around her and snuggled up close to him, her back to his chest. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept with someone so close. He had forgotten how good this type of physical contact felt, he had denied himself for so long. He closed his eyes and tried hard to ignore her body next to his and get some much-needed sleep.