Jacob pulled up in front of Janet's house and turned the engine off.
'Jacob, relax! You're wound up so tight that I can't breathe!'
'Sorry, Sel. Just thinking about Sam. She had that look on her face.'
'The 'I'm not too sure about this but I'm going to keep my mouth shut about it' look?'
'Precisely!'
'Don't worry so much. You did kind of spring it on her. I mean…you could have told her on Monday after we actually asked Janet!'
'I didn't know how to tell her. I sure as hell had no idea how to tell her it was her best friend that I had asked out!'
'What's done is done. Let's try to enjoy this evening.'
'Thanks for helping me with the flowers,' he said, hugging Selmak.
'What's a girl for? And I promise to keep the comments down to a minimum,' she replied, hugging him back. 'Just so you know, the next date we go on I will not be kept so quiet.'
Jacob smiled, getting out of the car. Suddenly he was optimistic about a second date when he hadn't even started this first date with Janet. Actually, he was counting on a second date. He really liked Janet. She had a spirit that reminded him of Allison. But Janet was definitely her own woman who could hold her own in a world of men. And for a tiny thing, she was so fiery and full of life!
Of course, he never would have asked Janet out seven years ago after he had first blended with Selmak. At the time, he saw Selmak as his 'soul-mate' because he had some understanding of the intimacy that occurred with the blending thing. But once they blended, he realized that while their bond was intimate, it was purely one of friendship.
He learned to love Sel's comments on daily life. He laughed when she got her first taste of ice cream and chocolate cake because she reacted just like a kid refusing to eat the essentials and thinking she could live by chocolate alone.
It wasn't all fun. They had their bumps mainly because he was a man and Sel had inhabited only women during her two thousand years until taking him as her host. But Jacob knew enough that he was never going to take the woman out of her so he never tried.
Just that at times…it made some things…difficult…and embarrassing!
Like dating. Selmak always had an eye for an attractive man. Jacob…did not nor would he ever. That first year was difficult listening to her comments. A few times he yelled at her to shut up about it, especially when she'd commented on his contemporaries, making naughty little comments about them being boy toys or alien sex slaves. To this day, Jacob still wished he had bleach for his mind after witnessing one of her wet dreams!
He also had to watch his own mind when his eyes caught sight of a beautiful woman. Selmak reacted much like he did to her. She'd often asked him if all men thought about were boobs! Honestly, he didn't always think about a woman's breasts. Sometimes they were just out there…greeting him with their usual bounce or wiggle shouting at him: Look at us! We're PERKY!
But really, he wasn't obsessed with them! There were other physical attributes of a woman he found equally appealing. For example there was nothing like the nape of a woman's neck or the small of her back or her slender long legs. Of course, Selmak thought differently and threatened to turn him into a eunuch for thinking that way whenever a beautiful woman crossed his sights!
That's when he decided that the company of the opposite sex was off limits. Besides it was not like he was some playboy after Allison died. In fact, the number of women he had been intimate with between the time Allison died and when he blended with Selmak could be counted on one hand. Just that every now and then he was lonely and needed to feel alive. Nothing more like feeling alive than in the heat of passion with a beautiful woman.
It was when Selmak was forced to leave the Tok'ra because she would not take another host, one more compliant and less stubborn, that Jacob realized he was being unfair to her. It took a few years after their blending but she had eventually come to see the beauty of women through his eyes and every now and then hinted at him to seek the companionship of women. At first, he thought she was just saying it for his sake because he was living like a Monk and that she felt responsible because she had threatened to castrate him. Then he realized she was saying it for both their sakes.
They both had needs. They were both lonely even though they were together. He lost his wife some twenty-five years ago. And Selmak lost her mate, of one thousand years, some six hundred years ago. Neither were hoping for nor seeking that kind of love again. Until fate landed them on Earth one month ago, just in time for a Memorial Day celebration.
Jacob never paid much mind to Doctors whether they were pretty or not. They were always the bearers of bad news to him. They told him his mother and only parent died when he was ten years old, they told him his wife and lifelong companion was dead, and finally they told him that he was going to die. But on that day when he and Selmak were feeling rejected, their lowest and most depressed, Jacob saw a ray of light.
At first he didn't even recognized this beautiful woman. Her long hair was wavy and hung down freely down her back. She wore a yellow summer dress. Not too low cut to be considered vulgar, just enough to catch a man's eye if he was looking. Jacob was absolutely flabbergasted when he learned that it was Dr. Janet Fraiser! He had never seen her in anything but her white coat or surgical scrubs. And she was always on duty when he saw her. At the barbecue her smile was that much brighter and her eyes were filled with so much life.
Selmak couldn't hide her amusement from Jacob. She even reminded him to keep his mouth shut after his jaw had dropped. Selmak was already friends with Dr. Fraiser because they had worked together a couple of times. Still, Jacob had to learn about this woman for himself. So for two weeks he surreptitiously asked questions about her and learned that Janet Fraiser was exactly the kind of woman he was attracted to. It took another two weeks of Selmak nagging for him to pluck up enough courage to ask Janet out.
And now…Jacob was going to learn what this woman was like for himself!
'You look fine,' Selmak told him as he gave his suit the once over. 'Hold the flowers so that she sees them when she opens the door.'
'Yes, Selmak…it's not like I've never done this before! I do remember how to give a woman flowers!'
'Ah…yes…you did that far too often with Allison! Why do men always assume a woman will forgive them if they bring flowers when they apologize?'
'Who cares? They worked! Allison always forgave me! We'd kiss and make up whenever I gave her flowers. I even think Sam was conceived after we had a huge fight and I showed with two dozen yellow roses!'
'Let's just hope that if things progress nicely with Janet that we give her flowers because we want to, not because we have to!'
'Deal,' he smiled as he reached to push the doorbell.
A moment later, Janet opened the door and gasped at the sight of the flowers. Thankfully she was googling over the flowers and didn't notice how Jacob had reacted to her beauty. Selmak had to remind him to close his mouth again.
Janet was…stunning! She was wearing a silk lavender evening gown with spaghetti thin straps. Her earrings dangling down matched a thin necklace around her delicate neck. And her soft brown eyes seemed to sparkle brighter than any star he had ever seen. Then Selmak whistled loudly in his head when Janet walked away to get a vase for the flowers.
'Nice legs!'
'Selmak! And they say men are animals!'
'What…she can't hear me!'
'Thank Egeria!'
"Thank you, Jacob. They're beautiful," Janet smiled bring the filled vase out and putting it on the coffee table in her living room. "They're my favorite color too! How did you know?"
"I have my sources," he smiled and then held out his hand, palm up. "Shall we go?"
Janet nodded and slowly put her hand into his. The moment his hand wrapped around hers Jacob felt his stomach flutter. Even Selmak wiggled for a second before settling back down.
"Why are you giggling?" Jacob asked as he led Janet towards his car.
"Men and their toys," she smiled indicating his car.
"Look who's talking. You have a Mustang of your own. V8 if I'm correct," he smirked making her mouth drop open.
"It's in my garage! How did you know?" she asked, then narrowed her eyes playfully at him. "You are going to have to tell me who your source is! Did this person tell you I love Italian food too?"
"No," he answered honestly. "I was going for the most romantic and nothing is more romantic than Italian. In my opinion anyway."
"You are just full of surprises," she smirked.
Jacob simply grinned at her as they drew closer to his car.
Being the perfect gentleman, Jacob helped Janet into his car before head around to get in himself. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Janet was grinning from ear to ear and trying to hide it as he started the car's engine.
'Oh yeah…she's a speed junkie too!' he commented to Selmak.
Selmak giggled within Jacob's mind as he pushed his car ten miles past the speed limit. He honestly didn't care if he got a speeding ticket. He was a safe driver. Plus, he was not going to deny Janet any of the fun that she might have while in his car!