Title: This Magic Moment

Rating: K+

Summary: Buffy and Jack finally manage to reach each other, and Jack needs to convince Buffy to have dinner with him.

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 Anna, WhiteWolf 3, fairieangel, Toniboo and Stempaphie for reviewing!

Anna: You made total sense. I figure that Angel and Co. owe Buffy a few favors, and they would probably be the only ones Buffy totally trusts. Ooh... Y'know, I planned on making their first date smooth and easy. But this is a good idea. I mean, if Jack's gonna date Buffy, he should know that she sometimes leaves in the middle of things for a reason she doesn't explain, right? Why not just let him get you used to it by letting it happen their first date? Good idea. Thanks for the review!

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Simply Magic

After five days of trying to reach Jack, him trying to reach her, and a bunch of phone messages, Buffy was tired of the whole game. Every time she called him, his cell phone was turned off, and he never answered his home phone. She had tried calling his secretary, but he was usually with a client. And whenever he called her, Buffy was either out slaying, finding a book or some other artifact for Giles, or talking with potential students for her self-defense classes. She came home to messages on her machine, and no matter how much she called, they could never reach the other. She was ready to call it quits and just forget the whole idea.

That seemed like a good idea in theory until, on the sixth night since she had gotten home from Italy, there was a knock on her door at around 7:30. Feeling a certain surge of anticipation, Buffy slowly walked towards the door, wondering, hoping it was Jack, but knowing that it couldn't be.

Opening the door that led to an outside stairway with a large walkway as an entrance, Buffy had to close her eyes and reopen them to make sure she wasn't hallucinating or anything. But nope, she wasn't. Before her stood Jack with a bundle of tiger lilies in his arms. Shaking her head, she stepped back and gestured him in without saying a word. Leading him into her kitchen, she took out a vase and filled it with water, taking the flowers from a silent Jack and arranging them in the vase. The simple task gave her a few moments to think.

What is he doing here? Was the first thing that came to mind, followed by, Oh, crap. What am I going to do?

Turning to face him when she was done, she leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. They stared at each other for a couple more moments before Buffy rolled her eyes at herself. "What are you doing here, Jack?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow.

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What was he doing there? Jack searched Buffy's face, hoping to find an answer. Looking into her eyes, he saw one. Ah. "I wanted to see you," he answered, simply. And the answer was simple, because he did want to see her. The past week had been crazy, and he was sick of playing telephone with her. He hated having to speak to her machine, and come home to hear her voice on his. The last message had been the breaking point, and he had finally snapped. Leaving his apartment without thinking about it, he had headed to the nearest florist and picked out some flowers. He didn't want to get her roses, because they were so typical and ordinary, and he could already tell that Buffy was anything but typical and ordinary. She was exotic, fun, and beautiful. So he had picked the lilies.

Now he was here, and he didn't know what he should do.

"I'm sorry that we haven't been able to reach each other, but I don't want to just give up. We should go out to dinner," Jack said, stepping closer, causing her to tilt her head up to meet his eyes. Her mouth was open a little bit, and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her lips.

"Why?" She whispered, eyelids sliding down halfway. Jack stepped closer.

"Because.." Searching his mind for a reason, besides the corny ones, Jack stepped even closer. So close that only a few inches separated them. Separated him from her mouth. And he wondered what Buffy would do if he just leaned down a little bit and kissed her. If he just took her arms and yanked her mouth to his. And then he came up with his reason. "Because of this," he said before grabbing onto her upper arms and lifting her off her feet, sitting her on the counter while she gasped. Jack brought her arms around his neck, setting his hands on her hips and standing between her legs.

He felt breathless, which surprised him because he had never been breathless from a woman before. Of course, he had never met a woman quite like this one. Wanting to claim her mouth with his own, but uncertain, he brought his face close to hers and let his lips hover over hers. Her breath fanned his cheek, and he closed his eyes, savoring the sensation. Reopening them, he gazed into Buffy's hazel eyes and let her make the decision.

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Buffy gazed at Jack's lips, so close to hers, yet so far away. Why wasn't he kissing her? Wait, she thought, frowning a little. This shouldn't be happening. It isn't right, not when I don't know him that well. But if it was wrong, why did it feel so right? Her thoughts were halted when Jack smoothed her brow, where her frown had deepened without her realizing it. His skin felt so good against her forehead, his finger rough, but in a good way, not the smooth fingers of a man who did very little hands on work in his life.

Shifting a little, and wondering why Jack wasn't kissing her senseless, Buffy brought her eyes to his beautiful blue.

"Buffy," Jack whispered, and her name sounded so good coming from his lips. His hands felt good on her hips, and her arms felt as if they belonged around his neck. "I want you. But if you don't want this, just say the word, and I'll-"

"Shut up, Jack." Buffy said. And then she kissed him.

It was full of fire and electricity. It started out as just a mere touching of lips until Buffy moaned, and Jack responded. He shoved his hand into her hair and brought the other one around her back, bringing her flush up against his chest. The kiss deepened, and Buffy felt as if time stopped, as if they kissed forever, when it could have only been minutes until Jack pulled back, breathing heavily.

Buffy panted, wondering why she was short of breath. She was the Slayer, she could hold her breath for more than two minutes. She could run for an hour without breathing hard But here she was, after a kiss, panting like a dog in heat. But what a kiss!

"Dinner?" Jack finally got out, releasing her hair and stepping back.

Buffy felt the loss of contact, already wishing Jack would get back to her and kiss her senseless again. Instead, she said, "Yeah, dinner. When?"

"Next Friday. I'll pick you up at 6. That fine with you?"

"Yeah, dinner." She repeated stupidly, smoothing her hair and hopping down from the counter, which brought her close to Jack once again.

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Jack looked down at Buffy, standing so close to him, and almost lost his mind totally. "Yeah, dinner," he repeated back. They stared at each other for a few moments before he shook his head. "Bye," he said, before leaning down and giving her a quick kiss. He felt a zing, and his lips tingled.

"Bye," she said to his retreating back as he left her apartment, stepping into the cool air, which felt good on his over heated skin. That kiss was a good enough reason for dinner. A slight skip to his step, Jack decided to walk home. He needed the cool down.

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End

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