Chapter 8: A Night Off

"Well, they're still not home," Sue said, peering out the window at the Ryan's darkened house. "Maybe they went out for dinner or something," she suggested, as she turned to face Jack.

"I guess we've kind of got the night off, then. I think we can basically relax, knowing we're going there tomorrow night. There's really nothing we can do until then," he commented. "Speaking of dinner, something smells very good right now."

Thank you, Sue signed with a smile. "I hope you're hungry; it should be ready soon."

"Believe me, I'm hungry. That's not even an issue," Jack assured her with a grin. "Oh, and since you wouldn't let me help with dinner, the least I can do is set the table," he offered.

OK, Sue signed. They walked to the kitchen together, and Sue checked on the chicken in the oven as Jack began setting the table. As Sue put the finishing touches on their dinner, thoughts of how to bring up the night before were swirling through her mind. It wasn't going to be easy but she vowed that after dinner she would tell him how she felt. So wrapped up in her thoughts was she, that she jumped when a warm hand gently gripped her upper arm. She turned around to face Jack, who quickly let go of her arm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you," he said, looking a bit taken aback.

"No, it's okay. I'm kind of used to it, by now," Sue told him, shrugging. "What is it?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to have some wine with dinner?" Jack asked her. He was a bundle of nerves at the moment and thought that wine might help them both wind down a little. Judging by Sue's reaction to a simple touch, she was a bit on edge too.

"Sure, wine would be nice, since we have the night off and everything," she answered with a smile.

"Great," Jack said. He grabbed a bottle of wine from the wine-rack and found the corkscrew.

"Dinner is served," Sue announced, just as Jack finished pouring the wine. He moved to help her bring the food to the table, smiling with pleasure at the small feast that she'd prepared.

"You weren't kidding when you told me you had it all under control. This looks great," Jack said, as they sat down across from each other.

"Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks," Sue said modestly.

"I have no doubt," Jack replied. He picked up his glass of wine, holding it out to her in a toast, and she did likewise.

"To us," he said and Sue raised her eyebrows, holding her breath as she waited from him to continue. "We make a great team and I think we'll bring these kidnappers to justice in no time."

"I'll drink to that," Sue said, as their glasses gently clinked together. She felt some of the tension ebb away as they each took a sip of wine, and she looked into Jack's smiling eyes. She hadn't known what to expect with his toast, but what he'd said was very true. They made a great team and worked very well together. No matter what happened, they were here to do a job and they were doing it, despite whatever fallout they may face as a result.

Sue was on the couch watching the news when Jack came in from cleaning up the kitchen, wine in hand. Smiling, he handed her a glass. She reached for the remote and turned off the television as he sat down beside her. "Thanks. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to get me drunk," she said with a laugh.

"Who, me?" Jack asked innocently. "I'm hurt." Sue rolled her eyes at him and took a sip of her wine. "I just thought it would be nice to relax with a glass of wine. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, no. I was just kidding. I agree with you; this is nice. By the way, thanks for cleaning up," she said, smiling at him.

"Hey, it was the least I could do, considering the dinner you made tonight. I could get used to this, you know," Jack said, his eyes growing serious again.

"I'm sure you could. It's nice having someone else cook dinner for you every night, isn't it?" Sue said teasingly, as she tried to ignore the way Jack was looking at her.

"Definitely. But that's not what I meant," Jack said, and Sue felt herself blushing under his gaze.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what did you mean?" she asked him softly.

"I could get used to this, being here with you and feeling the way I do right now. I've always cared about you and after last night I've been having a very hard time keeping my feelings out of it," he admitted.

"So am I," Sue told him. This whole conversation felt a bit surreal; she couldn't believe they were actually saying the words aloud. "I keep trying to tell myself that no matter how it felt, it wasn't real. I didn't expect it to be so hard, though."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Jack said, appearing relieved. "I thought maybe I was the only one. What can I say, I'm a guy, and you're an amazing, beautiful woman. I don't think it would be normal for me to not feel something after a kiss like that."

Sue could feel her heart race as the meaning of what he'd said hit home and it took her a moment to find her voice. "Don't worry, you're not the only one," she told him. "I felt something too. Maybe it would have been different if I'd had more time to think about it and try to separate myself from the situation. I don't know," she said, shaking her head.

"I agree, it was pretty spontaneous but then that's part of being undercover, you've got to think on your feet. I've got to admit though, I never expected our first kiss to happen undercover," Jack commented.

"You had expectations about our first kiss?" Sue asked in surprise.

Jack swallowed, realizing what he'd admitted out loud. "I can't deny it; I've thought about what it might be like to kiss you since the first day we met," Jack confessed, looking embarrassed.

"I won't say I haven't thought about it either, but maybe it's better that it happened this way," Sue said softly.

"Why do you say that?" Jack asked curiously. It seemed to him that if this was something that they both wanted, there must be a way to make things work.

"Jack, if that kiss had been real, we would have to deal with it. We would have to think about what it means and how it's going to affect our relationship. Luckily, this kiss happened as a result of a case, not out of any feelings we have for each other."

"It felt real," Jack said, taking her hand.

Sue felt her heart skip a beat at the simple contact. "I agree with you and that's partly why I'm feeling so confused. Things just feel so complicated now."

"They don't have to be," Jack replied, his brown eyes looking into hers with an intensity she'd never seen in him before.

"You don't think so? What are you suggesting?" Sue asked him, trying not to sound as nervous as she suddenly felt.

"Nothing illicit," Jack assured her, with a smile, reaching over to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear as he continued. "I just think we should take the time to explore our feelings, now that we're no longer denying they exist."

"That could be dangerous," Sue protested weakly. She couldn't help but return his smile though.

"We'll be careful. I know we're skating on thin ice here, but I really think we should take the chance, find out what we could have instead of just writing it off as too complicated. We might regret it if we don't."

"We might regret it if we do," Sue pointed out.

"It's risky either way," Jack agreed. "But wouldn't you rather be able to look back and know that at least we considered all of our options?"

"Jack, please don't do this," Sue said softly.

"Don't do what?" he questioned.

"I just don't think I can deal with all of these feelings right now. Not when I know that there's nothing we can do about them."

"We can't just ignore this forever. I know that I can't at least," Jack said, squeezing her hand. Sue looked away from his gaze for a moment, looking down at his hand holding hers. As unsure as she was about being with him, it just felt so right. She met his eyes again and Jack was pleased with what he saw in them.

"We just have to remember that whatever happens undercover, we can't pretend that it's not going to affect our lives, Jack."

"That's not what I want to do," he assured her.

"What do you want to do?"

"I'm not exactly sure," he admitted. "I know that I don't want us to brush this aside. We may have kissed as part of our undercover assignment, but that doesn't make the feelings any less real. I've never experienced anything like this, Sue. I had to kiss someone undercover once before, and it was so different. When you and I kissed, I'm surprised that sparks didn't fly," Jack told her with a grin.

Sue smiled back and felt herself blushing deeply. If only he knew the effect he was having on her. Forget sparks, she felt like she was on fire every time he touched her. It had only gotten more intense since their kiss. As she continued to look into his eyes, she laughed nervously, at a loss for words. It suddenly felt impossible to vocalize how she was feeling. Finally she reached over, putting a soft hand on his cheek and then removed it just as quickly. The intensity of her feelings was actually overwhelming her---she didn't know what to do. He caught her hand in his own and just stared into her eyes for a moment, keenly aware of how close she was to him. Without hesitation he closed the distance between them, kissing her the way he'd been wanting to since the night before. Neither of them held back this time, and for a few moments, nothing existed but the two of them.