Yay, I'm glad you guys are willing to play this game for a while! Thanks for the encouraging reviews of the first chapter!

Potential

Danny stared at her, his mouth quirked into a smile that was half disbelief and half temptation. Jordan found herself reacting with what she was sure was a look that came pretty close to seduction. She couldn't really even remember the last time she had tried to draw a man in this way. His attempt to discreetly look her up and down set her mind at ease that he was more than happy to see her.

"You changed your mind?" he asked with a raise of his eyebrows. "Just like that? What happened to 'Too Spontaneous For Me' girl?"

"Ah, but this wasn't really all that spontaneous," Jordan said, tilting her head to the side as he made his way over to her.

"No?" he asked, casually shoving his hands into his pockets.

"No," she replied, her smile growing as he stopped in front of her. "No, this has been a long time coming, I think."

He gave her a roguish grin that made her remember just how he had convinced her to fly out here the last time. He took a hand out of his pocket and tapped his knuckles against her knee. "Somehow I think there's more to it than that, Cavanaugh. Not that I'm not pleased to find you adorning my car."

"Ohhh, it's a long story," she said, trying to make light of something that was anything but. He gave her a look that told her he wasn't buying. She rolled her eyes a little before curving her lips into a smile that always got her what she wanted. "You could at least buy a girl dinner first before asking how she ended up flying across the country when she swore she wouldn't."

Danny laughed and shook his head, thinking that this woman was truly one in a million. He took hold of her hand and pulled her off the car and into his arms, giving her a tight hug. Jordan smiled as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his chest. She had really missed him. She felt so damned comfortable with him, and at the same time so deliciously uncertain of what the next moment would bring. It made him a constant fascination.

"I'm glad you came back," he said, rubbing his hand against her back.

"Me too," Jordan agreed.

"Now maybe I'll get a look at what's on the third pajama set," he said with a huge grin, and Jordan playfully pushed him away with a laugh and a girlish shake of her head. He reached out and grabbed her hand again, tugging her back to him to place a hand on the small of her back. "C'mon, I'll take you to dinner."

Danny McCoy sure knew how to show a girl a good time in Vegas. He drove them to an upscale club that had live music and a menu written mostly in French. Jordan noticed that he drove just fast enough and casually enough to impress her, but not so fast that it made her nervous. She had always taken a man's driving into account, believing that it showed a lot about personality. When they arrived at the club, the sun was just setting over the desert city, mixing with the bright lights of the casinos as Las Vegas came alive.

The club resided on the top floor of the high rise, with one wall providing a breathtaking panorama of the city. Not surprisingly, the host knew Danny and led them straight to one of the best tables in the already crowded room. Danny kept his hand at the base of her back as they walked through the room, pulling her chair out for her when they reached the table. Jordan wasn't used to the formalities, but found herself enjoying them immensely. Being unfamiliar with the menu, he ordered for her and she was treated to the most exquisite meal she had ever tasted in her life. The man certainly had good taste. They kicked around casual conversation for most of the meal, but eventually Danny brought it back to the question he had asked her in the parking lot.

"You must think I don't want you here, and believe me that's very far from the truth, but…why are you here, Jordan?" he asked, his eyes boring into her. Jordan sighed and took a sip of her wine before answering.

"I just needed to get away. I worked my way through the meaningless relationships, and one day I reached a point where I wanted more than that. I wanted to see if…this…had the potential that I felt two months ago," she told him honestly. He listened carefully, his expression unchanging during her confession. A thought suddenly occurred to Jordan, and she raised her eyebrows with a laugh as she said, "And I didn't even bother to find out if you're even available or not. I mean, it is you, I don't really see you being single for very long."

"Jordan," he said, stopping her rambling. "I brought you here spur of the moment on a Saturday night…does it sound like I'm seeing anyone?"

"So you're not?" she asked with renewed interest.

"No…not anymore." At a look from her, he went on. "I was until about two weeks ago. She got a job offer in Florida, and basically told me that she didn't think she could handle a long distance relationship. Translation: she knew she would find somebody else."

"And you would have been willing to give long distance a shot?"

"If it's worth it, then yeah," he said, looking her straight in the eyes.

"That bodes pretty well for me," Jordan said, her voice quieting.

"It does indeed," he said with a hint of a smile. He considered her for a moment, fingering his wine glass. "So what happened between you and Woody?" he asked suddenly.

Jordan gave a short, bitter laugh. "The better question is what didn't happen between me and Woody."

"All right, what didn't happen between you?" Danny asked as he raised the glass of wine to his lips for a drink.

"Sex, pretty much."

Jordan was lucky she didn't end up with Merlot sprayed over her. Danny did his best to swallow the wine, pulling his napkin over his mouth and coughing. Jordan winced.

"Sorry," she said.

"S'ok," Danny coughed with a wave of his hand. "I forgot that you like to play the blunt game."

"Yeah, but I should learn to pick my moments," she told him with a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, maybe," he teased her. After he had recovered, he looked at her with some uncertainty. "So you two never…?"

"Nope. Not even close. I don't know," she said, reaching up absently to brush her hair away from her face. "It was always such a huge deal between us, and I never really knew what I wanted, and by the time I realized it, it was too late. My biggest fear was that I would lose him as a friend, and voila, prophecy fulfilled."

It felt strange telling Danny all of this, considering the reason she had returned to Las Vegas in the first place. She hadn't really intended to reveal so much to him. The last time they had seen each other, she told him all she thought he would need to know so that he would understand why she was only looking for a fling. Emotions had never come into play, though. This was the first time he had heard her talk about what the toxic relationship had done to her.

"So…he's not your favorite person right now, then," Danny ventured. Jordan pursed her lips and shook her head. "Good. I can tell you this now. Sam's pissed at him."

Jordan's mouth turned up into a wicked smirk, and he grinned at her expression.

"Yeah, apparently she hasn't heard a word from him since he left Vegas. She's a little furious," he told her.

"Tell her to get used to it."

Danny looked at Jordan with admiration and…something else. It took a strong woman to survive that kind of an end to that kind of a relationship. He really was glad she had returned to Vegas. This had the potential to be a very good situation.