Disclaimer- Nope, unfortunately they still belong to Tim, Allan and NBC, darn it.

Authors' Note-Again, cookie for you if you can figure out who wrote which chapters. And you know you want to review. To Qfan- I know all the words to Every Sperm Is Sacred and I can so see Garret as being a Python fan.

Jordan's POV

I swayed in time to the soft music, enjoying the feel of his arms around me. He felt so safe, so secure. The last one I had left to turn to. The only one to have stuck by me throughout everything, the one who never lost his faith in me, the one who was always there, always willing to give me a second chance and to take me as I was. Not trying to make me into his ideal employee, never once really caring about what methods I used to achieve what I did, just so long as I kept those methods on the side of legal. Although he'd did get real pissed when I wound up in a situation where I was staring down a gun, something that has happened far to often for me.

He was my best friend, my protector. I felt so safe, so secure wrapped in his arms, more than I ever did with Woody. Woody made me feel safe, made me feel loved, but it was different from this, this was the feeling of knowing that the man in front of me would gladly lay down his life no matter what, if it came down to it. Not just for me, for all of us. He would do whatever it took to see me happy, saying that when I was happy I worked better, but everyone knew that he did it because he cared.

He was the one person that no matter what, was always there. I thought Woody had been that person, I had turned to him the last time, and even though Garret had made a joke of it, I knew that he had been hurt that I picked Woody over him. But it's not like I'm going to make that mistake again. Woody wants me out of his life, so be it.

He had been the only one willing to hire me again, when others would run in fear of my past job history. We had been there for each other for more things than I could count. The number of early morning phone calls that we exchanged even when I was gone, my calling him up at three in the morning, waking him out of a sound sleep, and yet, he was there for me.

The one who was always there to be my crying shoulder, and I've been his more than once. I answered many a drunken phone call right after Maggie decided she didn't want to be married any more. I was there for him, and he was there for me. Best friends until the end.

There were times that I wondered why he hadn't found someone else. He and Rene hadn't really fit. Although he seemed as if he really cared, as if he wanted to make the relationship work, and she didn't. He wanted to make every relationship he was in work, I had seen him do that, trying to do whatever it took to make the other person happy. Underneath that gruff exterior was a true romantic, hopeful not hopeless. Always searching for love everlasting. He tries to be pragmatic, but when it comes to love, he fails.

He wasn't a bad looking man either. Not exactly George Clooney, or Orlando Bloom, but there was something about him, his charisma, his voice, he wasn't the type of guy that you'd look at and start drooling over at first sight, but the more you looked at him the better looking he was.

It took me a minute to realize just where my thoughts had wandered. Was I really thinking of him that way? No, it was just my wondering why he wasn't seeing someone, why some other woman hadn't snatched him up yet. He was my best friend, I wasn't going to think of him that way. I loved him solely in a platonic way.

He was my bestest girlfriend as I had so often called him. We were just two people cut from the same cloth. We were on that higher plane where only best friends are, able to communicate without speaking. There's been many a boring meeting where that comes in handy, the two of us being able to mock whoever is speaking without them having any clue what we're doing.

We were just in tune to each other. Best friends, nothing more, nothing less. The safety and security I felt wrapped in his arms was just because I knew that I could trust him when I had no one else left to trust. No more Woody, my dad was off and running more often than he was home, leaving no way for me to get to him. He was the last one I had left that I could turn to, the only one to have stuck by me through everything.

Besides, it's not like he'd ever think of me that way. I was his best friend, and there was no way in hell I was going to screw that up because I was on the rebound. That was the only reason I was looking at him. He was a warm body that would make me feel loved. I wasn't going to risk my friendship for that.

I wasn't going to risk losing the last person I had left to turn to because I wanted to lay someone that would even pretend to care. I'd be better off going for the tall, dark, handsome saxophone player on stage. Cold blue eyes and dark hair, looking completely uncaring about anything that wasn't his music. That's what I needed for a rebound relationship. I needed a man who wasn't going to care, someone who wouldn't be hurt when it was over. I just needed someone.

I didn't need to screw up what I had because I wanted someone. He never was going to want me that way, he was a friend, my best friend, he wasn't going to want to jump my bones. I loved him, but it wasn't that way, I was just fooling myself, thinking of how attractive he could be.

I was only thinking of it to wonder why someone else hadn't picked him up, right? Why someone else didn't want him. Why no one else found him attractive, why no one else was drawn to those deep brown-how had Charlie Davis described them? Bogart eyes, that deep gravelly voice, the-

It was time to stop thinking about that. I looked up at his face and noticed a look of deep thought as well. What would he be thinking about? Obviously something had those bushy eyebrows knitted together with only a fine crease separating them, and those lips pursed in thought.

Surely there were plenty of women who wondered what those lips would feel like brushing their own, how the wiry scruff of his goatee would feel against their skin. I shook my head slightly, trying to dislodge those thoughts. This was getting into a weird area. The only thing I was looking for was a fling. I was considering everything I saw sexy.

Testicles and a heartbeat. That's all I was interested in. He was a friend, an easy target, I wasn't going to go after him. But it wouldn't be that hard to take that next step would it? Move from being just friends to something more. Friends with benefits. Something else?

No, we were just friends. That's all. The song ended and I felt strangely cold without his arms wrapped protectively around me. It was just me looking for a rebound guy. Two weeks from now and I wouldn't be wanting him. A few weeks and everything would be back to normal. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we sat there, finishing our drinks and heading back out into the night. Another few weeks and I wouldn't have these thoughts running through my mind, that was all. Another few weeks and we'd be back to the way things were.

A/N- Huge thanks to all of you who have reviewed and puppy dog eyes for those of you who haven't.