He drew back after the briefest of moments, an apology already forming in his mind although he was far too tongue-tied just then to say anything. His brown eyes met Sam's blue ones, and to his surprise, she smiled.

"I knew you'd like it," she murmured, caught up in the magic of that kiss.

"It's beautiful…"

She blushed, because she knew he wasn't talking about the chessboard. There was no denying the hunger in his gaze, although there was also a question. And one she knew she shouldn't answer. Instead, she tried to lighten the moment.

"I should have gotten you a breadmaker…"

He smiled; the spell broken, and pushed the wrapped gift he'd brought in from his truck in front of her.

"Open yours, now…"

She did as she was told, and took the box in hands that were trembling just a little. Unwrapping the present was simple enough – he'd done a lousy job of wrapping it – and a moment later she was pulling her gift out of the box. It made a soft tinkling noise as she did so, and continued making noises as she pulled it completely out and unwrapped the soft gift papers that protected it.

"Oh, God…"

It was a wind chime. A beautifully decorated wind chime that was made of silver and turquoise, with delicate metal waves along the bottom and three dolphins in various stags of leaping from the water. She stared at it for a long moment, feeling a stinging in her eyes and was forced to sniff to keep her nose from dripping.

"You hate it?"

Sam looked at him, and knew from the gleam in his brown eyes that he knew she didn't hate it.

"It's…" she couldn't even find words. Holding up with one hand, she touched one of the dolphins, causing it to strike gently against one of the metal waves. The sounds was exquisite. "How did you…?"

"Know that you collect dolphins and wind chimes?"

She smiled.

"Yeah…"

"It's a secret…"

"Colonel…"

"Jack." He reminded her.

"Jack."

"It's a secret… Colonels only…"

"If you don't tell me, I'll be forced to tell Teal'c it was your idea to dress him up in a Mrs. Claus outfit."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

He relented.

"I asked your dad the last time I saw him."

"When? I didn't see you pull him aside…"

Jack shrugged, "It might have been the time before that… or maybe the time before that… I don't remember, really."

"When?" She pressed, looking from him back to the wind chime.

"August."

"August?"

He shrugged again, trying to seem like it was no big deal – although it meant so much to Sam that he was hard-pressed to hide his pleasure at her enjoyment of the gift.

"I like to plan ahead…"

"You were thinking about what to get me for Christmas in August?"

Her smile was brilliant, and exclusively for him. She leaned over and kissed him, not even thinking about it until she'd actually done it.

Once more the contact between them was electric, and this time Jack couldn't help himself – he leaned towards her, deepening the kiss before she could pull back. At the moment, though, pulling away was the absolute last thing on her mind. Sam felt herself melting against him, which coincided with the flush of heat that coursed through her entire body, and she felt his hands coming around her, holding her even closer as the kiss deepened.

Sam moaned in pleasure, her hand sliding under the t-shirt he'd been wearing under the Santa jacket, sliding up along his flat stomach and then his chest.

"Jack…"

Her voice was filled with hunger and need, and it was that need that cut through his own desire, and reminded him exactly where he was and who he was with. He pulled back – even though it was the last thing he wanted to do, his brown eyes filled with want, but also chagrin at how easily he'd allowed himself to lose control. He moved his hand – how had one of them slid so easily up under her shirt as if it had a mind of its own?

He tried to think of something to say… something that would tell her what he felt, but also explain to her that they couldn't let things-

She interrupted his thoughts by pulling her hand out from under his shirt, her cheeks flushed although she didn't know if it was from the heat of the moment, or from embarrassment at her reaction to his kiss. Of course, judging from his ragged breathing – and the fact that his hand was just sliding out from under her shirt – he felt the same way she did.

"So…"

He cleared his throat and tried again.

"You like it, huh?"

She smiled, grateful to him for not saying something that would make her feel stupid.

"It's beautiful."

"So are you, Sam…" He took her hand in his, and his eyes caught hers and held them. "I better go."

It was the last thing she wanted to hear – even though she knew he was right. What had they been thinking? Still, before she could agree, she heard herself disagreeing.

"You can stay…"

"If I stay, something will happen…" he told her, regretfully. "And as much as I'd love to have that happen…"

"It'd be a mistake…" she finished, just as regretfully.

He nodded, and couldn't help but pull her into his arms, kissing her cheek softly before he pulled away.

"A wonderful mistake…"

She stood up when he did, and he put his arm around her as he walked to the door, then he started putting his boots on.

"The wind chime is beautiful. Thank you."

"The chess set is even better."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

He nodded, a slight smile on his face, and barely able to keep himself from pulling her into his arms and kissing her again.

"We'll break in the chess set."

"I'll beat you."

He smiled, and touched her cheek gently, then reached for his jacket.

"I look forward to it. See you tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded.

"Bye…"

"Bye."

He turned and left, and Sam sighed heavily as the door closed behind him.