Title: This Magic Moment

Rating: K+

Summary: During renovations to her soon-to-be self-defense school, Buffy is shocked to see Jack Montgomery come in.

Disclaimer: I claim ownership of nothing except the plot. Buffy belongs to Whedon, and the Montgomery's and Taggert's belong to Jude Deveraux.

Feedback: I would most certainly appreciate it!

Note: Thanks to c-wolf and fairieangel for reviewing.

Fairieangel- This one is up way early. I had extra time, so I decided to write it. Here you go!

c-wolf- Jude Deveraux is a romance author. She wrote a ton of books, most featuring someone from the Montgomery or Taggert family, who are all related through blood or marriage. They are both old, rich, and powerful families. It's not a series, per se. You can read anyone you want without getting confused because they don't really relate to each other. Thanks for reviewing!

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Coincidental Magic

"So, what's this favor you want me to do?" Jack asked his cousin Julie, stopping outside of her office at Taggert Real Estate. Julie glanced up from the computer she was currently looking at, her eyes unfocused behind her glasses. Squinting at him, she yanked the glasses off and shoved her hair from her face.

"Hi, Jack. I've been doing great. Business is good. And you?" She asked, standing up and smoothing her sweater over jean clad hips. Julie grinned at her handsome cousin, gesturing him towards one of her office chairs.

"Hello, Julie. Everything's fine, business is great. Now, what is just so important that you had to have me come all the way down from the firm during rush hour?" Jack teased her, kissing her cheek.

"Well, we just sold this old building a few blocks away. Nice, but needs a little work. The woman who is taking it has decided to rent it for a year to see how things go, and if it suits her needs, she will decide to buy it. Now, I need you-" Jack cut her off midsentence.

"What is she going to use it for?"

"A self-defense school. Which isn't a bad idea," Julie admitted, thinking that she might like to go in for a few lessons. "Now," she continued, "what I need you to do is go over the contract with her. It pretty much says that she can do whatever she wants to renovate the building without expecting us to pay her the money back if she decides she doesn't want the place at the end of the year. Basic stuff."

"Right. What's her name?"

"Buffy. Buffy Summers."

Jack groaned. "Buffy? What kind of name is that? Her parents must have been high when they named her. Poor kid."

Julie stifled a smile and glared at her cousin. "Buffy's a very nice girl. I don't want you making jokes about her name in front of her. Now, shoo. And here's her address." Thrusting a piece of paper at him, Julie slipped her glasses back on and looked back at the computer.

Shaking his head, Jack chuckled and left the office. A half an hour later his taxi pulled up in front of a two story building already busy with contractors. There was a painting company's truck out front, and the door to the building was wide open. Paying the cab driver, Jack stepped inside the building, careful not to step on any paint. Glancing around, he didn't see anybody who would fit his minds description of someone named Buffy. Frankly, he pictured either an old woman with a stern face, or a young bubble-popping airhead who believed she could buy whatever she wanted with Daddy's money.

Instead, what he did see stopped him in his tracks. There, painting one wall, was the woman. The very same woman he had been thinking about for at least a month. It had been two weeks since the fender-bender between her and the taxi. He hadn't gotten her name when she and the cab driver had been exchanging insurance information, and he hadn't had time to ask because he had realized he was late for a meeting. Jack still cursed his bad luck.

But here she was, painting a wall. It had to be fate. No way was this just a measly coincedence. Three times in the last month, and New York was a big place. Jack grinned. So she was a wall painter. Maybe he could finally get her name and ask her out for dinner. Or- and Jack laughed quietly to himself at this thought- his house could use a new coat of paint. Maybe if she refused, he could get her company to come down and make sure she was one of the painters.

Jack nodded to himself, decision made. He walked towards the mystery woman, all thoughts off Buffy Summers and his cousin gone from his mind.

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Buffy shoved a piece of hair back under her cap so it wouldn't get paint all over it, then she dipped the brush into the tan paint. She decided that she wanted the floors to be wooden, and the walls tan to make it appear more homey, instead of sterile the way white walls would have. She smiled at the sound of hammers and construction work going on upstairs. Buffy was so excited, she couldn't just sit in her office, so she had come out and decided to help the painters do the walls. Good thing they had an extra pair of overalls and a cap in the back of the truck, because she already had paint all over her, and she could feel a smear across her cheek.

Bending down to dip the brush into the paint can again, she stopped when she saw shoes standing next to it. And these were nice shoes, not paint splattered ones. Her eyes traveled up expensive looking tan slacks, past a white shirt covered with an open suit jacket and a loosened tie over a broad chest. Past a strong looking throat and finally into the eyes of the one man she didn't want to see right then. Well, she guessed the Master might be the one man she didn't want to see. Or ADAM. Or Riley, for that matter.

Frowning at her train of thoughts, Buffy pulled her wandering mind back to the man in front of her. Oh, yeah. Jack. The man who had been in the taxi that she had hit. He had seemed fine when he had stepped out of the car a few weeks ago. Well, except for the weird smile that was on his lips. Kind of like the one he was sporting just then. Oh great.

"You're here to sue me, aren't you?" Buffy blurted out.

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Sue her? That was the last thing on his mind. One of the first things was how cute she looked with the cap on and some paint smeared on her face. Another thing was how much he wanted to have dinner with her. The best thing on his mind was the thought of throwing her over his shoulder like a caveman and carting her out of the building. Nope, suing her wasn't one of the first things on his mind.

Before he could get a word out, she continued. "Because you looked fine a few weeks ago. Unless you have whiplash. Oh, God. You don't have whiplash, do you? Because I'm really sorry. It was an accident." She babbled nervously.

"No, I don't have-" Jack began before she cut him off.

"I'm sorry if you do, and I'll pay for medical bills, but let me just warn you first. You shouldn't sue me. It'll be a waste of money," the woman told him, biting her bottom lip.

Distracted by that movement, he stared at that bottom lip and absently asked, "Why?"

"Because I have some really good lawyers. Possibly some of the best, besides this Montgomery law firm they have her in New York. I've heard some great things about them. And I would switch to them if I had to, so you don't want to sue me."

That got Jacks attention. "Who are your lawyers?" He asked, curious.

"Wolfram and Hart."

Jack felt his eyes go wide and his jaw drop open. Wolfram and Hart? This pretty young woman had Wolfram and Hart as lawyers? But that couldn't be! She was a house painter. Unless she had connections to the mob or other criminals. He looked her over suspiciously.

"I take it you've heard of them." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah. They're a bunch of dirty lawyers." Jack replied heatedly. Wolfram and Hart catered to criminals, drug dealers and gun busters.

"Well, not the LA branch. They're turning of a new leaf now that they have a different CEO. He's a good guy, not someone who does the same business that the firm used to do. He's changing things, making them better. And they don't represent criminals, just the good guys."

Jack felt a sense of relief that she didn't seem to be a bad guy. But wait. "You sound like you personally know the new CEO." He said, a strange feeling of jealousy coming over him.

"I do. We're...old friends." She replied, brushing a piece of hair from her cheek. "So, you shouldn't sue me."

"I'm not here to sue you," Jack told her. I'm here to date you, he thought.

"Then what are you here for?"

About to voice his thoughts, he opened his mouth, then closed it. That wasn't what he was there for. What was he there for? Oh, yeah. Buffy Summers. "I'm here to speak with someone."

"And who might that be?" She asked curiously.

"Buffy Summers, the woman who is renting this place."

"Well, I guess that you're in luck. Hi, I'm Buffy Summers."

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End

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