Chapter 3: Beneath the Surface

Sue entered the kitchen to find him at the sink, rinsing the dishes. He didn't know she was there until he turned to open the dishwasher, giving her a hesitant smile as their eyes met. "Hey. Are you okay?" he asked, taking a few steps toward her.

Sue nodded. "I'm sorry. It's just been a strange evening," she said softly.

"Yes, it has," Jack agreed, taking the pitcher from her and walking back to the sink. Sue leaned against the kitchen counter, watching as he washed out the pitcher. When he was finished he turned to her again. "It was a strange evening but you know, we really pulled it off. And because we were so convincing I bet that we'll get even more information from them when we go there for dinner," he pointed out. "Maybe even enough to bust the kidnappers. Oh and speaking of convincing, have you ever taken acting classes? You're a natural."

Sue smiled. "I took theatre when I was in college," she revealed self-consciously. "It was fun but I never thought I was very good at it."

"Well you could have fooled me tonight. If I didn't know better I would have thought those tears were real," Jack told her, looking impressed.

"I'm doing my best to be convincing here. I'm glad I'm succeeding," Sue said, as Jack opened the fridge door.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked her. "I could pour you some juice?"

"Yes, please." Jack poured a couple of drinks, handing one to Sue as they sat down at the kitchen table.

"It must be awful to want a baby and not be able to have one. I guess I was just thinking about it and imagining how that must feel. That's where the tears came from," Sue admitted, taking a sip of her drink.

"I still think that means you're a good actor to be able to tap into your emotions like that. I'm not that good. I took theatre in school too but I crashed and burned," Jack revealed with a grin.

"You what?" Sue asked him, confused.

"Crashed and burned," Jack repeated, fingerspelling the words for her. "I didn't win any awards, let me put it that way," he clarified with a smile. Sue nodded her understanding. He was glad that things were so easy between them right now; the tension he'd felt earlier seemed to have disappeared.

"Well, this is giving you even more acting practice, Jack. I mean, you've never been married but I think you're doing a great job pretending to be," Sue told him.

"Why thank you," Jack replied. "It's nice to know that I can maintain my fake marriage," he said, winking at her.

"Don't worry, I won't be filing for divorce anytime soon," Sue joked. "So, should we call the team and let them know what we've found out?"

"It can wait until morning. There's nothing we can really do until we get more from Sam and Mary," Jack replied.

"I guess not," Sue agreed as she stifled a yawn. She smiled sheepishly. "I should just go to bed, we've got to get up early for our commute."

"Hey, at least we can carpool...the neighbors think I drop you off at the college on the way to court," Jack grinned.

"You like being a lawyer again, don't you?" Sue teased him. Part of their cover was that Jack was a defense attorney, and Sue taught ASL classes at a local college. Given the fact that Jack held a law degree and Sue was fluent in ASL, neither would have any trouble convincing anyone of their supposed careers.

"Well, I don't have any desire to go back into Law but I am kind of enjoying playing the part of high-powered defense attorney. I mean, look at my life...great house, beautiful wife. What more could a guy want?" Sue's heart skipped a beat as Jack's eyes met hers, and she stood up from the table.

"How about a good night's sleep?" she said, smiling at him. "Goodnight Jack."

Sleep well, he signed. Jack sighed as she walked away from him. He'd just been trying to keep the mood light but he could tell his last comment had hit a nerve with her. Why was he having such a hard time admitting how he felt about her? He closed his eyes, remembering how good it had felt to hold and kiss her earlier in this very kitchen and got the distinct feeling that sleep wouldn't be coming easily to him tonight.

Sue tossed and turned in bed, seeing by the digital clock on the bedside table that it was nearly two in the morning. Although she was exhausted, no matter how hard she tried to relax she just couldn't get her brain to shut down. Every time she was on the edge of sleep she'd start thinking about the kiss. Her heart would leap in her chest and she'd be wide-awake again. She'd even tried thinking about the case they were working on but no matter which details she focused on, all roads seemed to lead back to that moment in the kitchen when Jack had placed a finger to her lips.

That moment and the ones that followed it had been replayed many times in her mind. Kissing Jack had been something she'd imagined in the past, but she had never imagined that their first kiss would be an undercover one. She'd known for a long time that her feelings for him went beyond friendship and was fairly certain that he had similar ones for her. Sue realized now that they should have known better than to think they could put their personal feelings aside when it came to something as intimate as a kiss. Unfortunately, Jack had caught her off guard, not giving her enough time to think things through. She'd only had a split second to make her decision, and she'd honestly believed that it would only be a simple kiss, just for show. Now she knew that she'd been fooling herself.

Maybe some warm milk will help me sleep, Sue thought. Stepping out of bed she slipped on her robe and carefully opened her bedroom door. On her way to the kitchen Sue noticed a dim light coming from the living room. Apparently she wasn't the only one having difficulty sleeping. As she got closer she realized it was the flickering of the television. When she walked into the room she smiled at the sight in front of her.

Jack was on the couch with Levi beside him, the dog's head resting on Jack's legs. Both of them were fast asleep. After watching them for a few moments she turned off the television and then looked down as she felt a wet nose touch her hand. Kneeling down on the floor, she gave her dog a hug, patting him on the head. Then she grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and gently covered Jack with it. Although the room was dark, except for the little bit of light that streamed in from the hall, Sue could still make out Jack's features as she straightened up, smoothing down the blanket. She was filled with warmth as she looked down at him and reached over to gently put her hand on his cheek, feeling the light stubble there. Jack stirred slightly at her touch but didn't open his eyes. Sue stared at his lips for a moment, wishing that she could kiss him one more time. Suddenly feeling ridiculous, Sue removed her hand from his face and backed away from him, leaving the room.

Walking into the kitchen with Levi at her heels, she filled her favorite mug with milk and put it in the microwave, trying very hard to be quiet so that she didn't wake Jack. As she waited for her milk, she couldn't help but wonder at the strength of emotion that one man could stir within her. She was a mess after just one kiss from Jack. It had been a staged one at that! Glancing at the microwave she saw the word END flashing on the display. Carefully removing her mug, she took a sip before heading back to her bedroom.

Grabbing the latest novel she was working her way through, Sue curled up in bed, placing her now half-empty mug on the bedside table. Levi had followed her into the bedroom, and after turning around a couple of times, he curled up beside the bed.

Earlier Sue had tried reading in an attempt to fall asleep but she hadn't been able to keep her mind on the story. This time she was determined to put Jack Hudson out of her mind and get some sleep. If she didn't get control of her emotions it would only make the rest of this undercover operation more difficult. They'd worked so hard to set this all up and she wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize it. Once it was over with, she and Jack wouldn't be spending as much time together. Then maybe these feelings wouldn't be so overwhelming and things could go back to the way they used to be.

Sue concentrated on the story, and after a short while she could feel her eyelids getting heavy. Putting the book down she flicked off her lamp and lay her head on the pillow, praying that sleep would finally come to claim her.