Chapter Five

He stared at her as if she had grown three heads. Talk? She wanted to talk? Two days ago, that was the last thing on her mind. After that conversation in the snow, she had done nothing but try to escape him, not that he minded or blamed her because he had been guilty of doing the same. And yet here she was, standing before him and shifting her weight from one foot to the other in that cute little way of hers, her eyes wide and hesitant, wanting to talk.

"Yeah, sure." His voice sounded strange, even to him, and Jason cleared his throat before daring to let another word escape at the risk of letting her see that he wasn't as calm and unaffected as he'd like her to think. "What do you need?"

She hesitated, tipping her head to the side as she thought. Without a word, she gently placed her warm hand in the crook of his elbow and pulled him toward the center of the kitchen, away from the door and any nosey intruders or eavesdroppers. Jason's skin tingled, shooting currents of electricity up and down her arm as she walked him back.

His eyes darkened when she let him go and pulled herself up onto the countertop by the stove. She had been sitting there before, their last shift working together, when he had been unable to keep his hands off of her. And now there she was, in that same damn spot, looking innocent and sweet in that same damn sexy way, and he was beginning to feel like all the forces of the universe had gotten together to royally screw him over.

Her right leg was crossed over her left, and one small sneakered foot was swaying gently to whatever song some customer out there was playing. His gaze traveled up from her pink Puma slippers to her slender thighs; she wasn't wearing a skirt today. Instead, she had on what looked like jogging pants. They were black and stretchy with a little drawstring at the top. It peeked out from under her white zipped hoodie, the kind with the single pocket sewn onto the stomach. She had tied the drawstring into a cute little bow. Damn it.

Jason leaned a jean-clad hip against the counter, a pace away from where she sat. Distance was key if he didn't want to end up mauling her in the kitchen again. "So, um, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Damn it. Please don't let it be-

"About what happened two days ago.

Damn it. "Um, okay."

She sighed and picked at her nails, and Jason breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that she would be doing most of the talking. It was probably better that way. If they absolutely had to talk about it, then he wanted to say as little as possible.

"I just wanted to let you know that…you were right."

Jason blinked at her, trying to figure out if he had really heard what he thought he heard. "What?"

"About what happened two days ago," she clarified, lifting her dazzling blue eyes to his. "You were right when you said it was a mistake."

She had just agreed with him, and yet Jason still felt like he had been sucker-punched. But his abuse was far from over as Elizabeth freed her bottom lip from its prison between her teeth and continued.

"I don't know what I was thinking, Jason, and I completely agree with you. It was a rash, stupid thing to do and we both definitely would have regretted it. I mean, me and you?" She shook her head and he did his best not to wince. "It wouldn't have worked and we both would have been miserable."

Even though that had been his original view, Jason found himself bristling under the oppressive nature of her words. It was fine when he said it, but the same words coming from her mouth sounded so…condemning. Flippant. Snobby.

"It was crazy," she continued, oblivious to the turmoil of Jason's emotional state. "It was spur of the moment – what did you say, heat of the moment? – and it was insane. We barely even know each other, anyway! I mean, well, yeah, we do; we've been working together for a couple of months now, but I mean, I'd like to know more about a guy than the fact that he can make really good pancakes and that he hates Broadway musicals and that he is apparently the only one here that can figure out how to trap a mouse, and that's not something that you can build a serious relationship on which is just plain funny because I'm not even looking for a serious relationship-"

She was rambling. And Jason hated that he thought it was cute.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is that you were right and I feel like a fool." Her eyes, gazing up at him, were wide and regretful. "I'm sorry."

"Woah, hold on." It was the first thing he had said through her entire tirade and once again, Jason hated the way his voice sounded. He took a minute to himself before daring to open his mouth. "You have nothing to apologize for. It was me – I'm the one that should be apologizing."

"You?" Even as she consciously tried to flood her eyes with baffled confusion, Elizabeth couldn't help but think that she needed an Oscar for this performance of hers. "What do you need to apologize for?"

"I…" He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck hard with one hand. He hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before, and as usual, his back was paying for it. "I was the one that started it and I was the one that ended it. It was all my fault, and I'm sorry, Elizabeth."

His heart clenched in his throat when she tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth, her gaze traveling lower and lower to her feet. "I didn't…I didn't mean to go off on you the way I did outside," he continued, hoping that he had what it took to carry through to the end of this discussion. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Damn it. He wanted to put his fist through something when tears lined her long lashes. Quick as a flash, Elizabeth blinked them away. "Hey, it was a good thing that you did. I needed it."

"No, no," he sighed, edging closer and placing his palms flat on the counter on either side of her. This time, he'd just have to make sure that his hands stayed there. "There's no excuse. I hurt your feelings and I didn't mean to."

She nodded although he knew she was unconvinced and looked away. Jason's sigh was heavy in the quiet kitchen. "Elizabeth, I know that I haven't been too easy to get along with since I started here."

Her sapphire eyes snapped up to meet his at the sound of Jason's quiet voice. "Jason, you've been-"

"A terror," he finished with a small, humorless smirk. "It's okay. I know that I've been kind of gruff and grouchy, but believe me, Elizabeth, when I say that it had nothing to do with you." He pursed his lips together as he debated how much to tell her. "You know that I lost my garage a while back." She nodded, still worrying her bottom lip. He wanted to pull it free but managed to restrain himself. "I didn't have anything insured and since I wanted a job right away to save for a new garage, I started working here. I didn't want to, but I didn't see any other option. So if I was rude or terse, it wasn't because of something you did – it was because I was just-"

"Bummed at having to work here," she finished for him. "Jason, it's okay. I understand. You're entitled to the way you feel. And I'm a big girl, you know." She was looking straight at him but somehow missed the way his eyes darkened. "Sticks and stones don't break my bones."

"That's no excuse," Jason repeated stubbornly. "I wasn't very polite and I regret it, just like I regret hurting your feelings. Elizabeth…" It was hard for him to say; Jason Morgan didn't exactly express his feelings very well, but if it meant smoothing things over with the brunette in front of him, he'd do it. "I know you might not believe me, but you don't annoy me."

He found her smirk alarmingly cute. "Woah. I'll alert the media."

"You don't, Elizabeth," he persisted. "In fact, I li-" Jason had to pause for a minute as Elizabeth's slender brows rose in a silent question. "I like you."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You- You do?"

If the doubt in her voice hurt him, Jason didn't show it. Instead, he just nodded firmly. "Yeah. I do. I think you're a really nice person, and I give you a lot of credit for always being so cheerful and nice to everyone despite whatever's going on in your life."

Her lips pulled to the side in a sweet smile. "I thought you hated my – what's the word you used? – hysterics."

"I don't," he offered immediately. "I like that you're always the same with people, that you don't take out your personal life on others, that you don't let your feelings take over or shove them away completely. Elizabeth, I like working with you. I like getting to know you. And that's why I'm sorry I hurt you."

She waved a hand dismissively at him, trying to contain an embarrassed smile. "It's okay; I needed a wake-up call. I mean, seriously, what was I thinking?"

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

Elizabeth looked pointedly up at him, straight into those piercing blue eyes that still had the uncanny ability to make her heart flutter and her pulse fly. "Jason, we work together."

Jason was frowning. "I know."

"So?" She raised her hands in the air to punctuate her question when she saw that he still didn't connect the dots. "Jason, nothing could be worse than if the two of us hooked up while we were working here together."

Does she mean that if I want to get with her, one of us has to quit? Jason wondered to himself. "Um, okay."

She sighed. "Look, what I mean is that it would be totally awkward. We'd never get any work done, we'd piss off everyone else, and if it didn't work out anyway we'd be totally uncomfortable around each other and that would be terrible, too." Her big blue eyes implored him to see the situation her way. "Don't you think so?"

"Oh, yeah," he nodded immediately. "Sure." Slower this time. "Uh, sure."

"So anyway," she continued, switching her crossed legs and leaning back on her hands. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. It was crazy and it won't happen again."

"Agreed," Jason nodded, though his voice lacked the conviction hers did.

"There," she smiled happily up at him. "Don't you feel better? Now we can get back to our normal, everyday banter – I'll be adorable, you'll be grumpy."

"Oh, great," he drawled sarcastically, leaning forward on the counter toward her before realizing what he was doing.

"See, we're at it already," Elizabeth noted proudly. "Excellent."

"If you say so," Jason shrugged, containing a ghost of a smirk. "Anything else you wanted to get off your chest, Webber?" Damn. He shouldn't have mentioned anything remotely pertaining to her chest – because now it took everything in him to keep his eyes glued to her face. And he still failed.

He wondered offhandedly if she was wearing a bra today.

"Actually, yes," she replied, surprising him. "One more thing."

"Shoot."

"OK." She licked her lips, pretending to carefully ponder her words as if she hadn't rehearsed this in her head five times that morning. "I know things were a little weird between us for a while what with…what with what happened two days ago-"

Jason watched in fascination as a rosy blush stole across her cheeks and neck. Once again, he found himself wondering something he had no business even thinking about – whether or not she blushed that pretty everywhere.

"But I want…I want us to be friends, Jason."

He frowned at her. "I thought we were friends."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, fine, but I'm not talking about the "Hey, how you doing?" friends. I'm talking about being real friends."

"Oh," he answered, not understanding what she meant at all. "Um, what does that mean?"

She smiled at him and he was drawn in by the engaging way her eyes twinkled. Sometimes he swore that the girl just glowed. "You said you like me, right?"

He swallowed thickly. "Yeah."

One small hand found its way to his chest as she lightly smacked him, an action that, though innocent enough, sucked the breath out of him. "That's what I'm talking about, Jason. Look, you like me and I like you – why not be friends?"

"But I thought we were friends," he repeated, still having no idea what in the world she was talking about.

"Fine," she allowed, turning her cute little nose in the air. "Then let's be better friends."

"Better friends?" he asked, still thoroughly confused. "As in, more than friends?"

"Jason!" she exclaimed, dropping both hands on his shoulders and giving him a quick little shake. "Haven't you been listening to anything I said?"

"Yes," he replied somewhat defensively. "I listen."

"OK," she sighed. "I'm not talking about being more than friends. I'm just talking about being better friends. Do you get the difference?" He didn't say anything, just raised a wheat-colored eyebrow at her. "Like…ugh! Jason, come on! Work with me here!"

Laughter rumbled through his chest when she bent and let her forehead fall on his shoulder. Two strong arms wrapped up around her waist to pull her back so he could look at her better. "Ok, ok, go on. Tell me what you want."

"I want to be able to talk to you," she replied with painful honesty.

Jason waited for her to continue – women always continued – but only silence met his ears. "That's it?"

"Yes, that's it!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "I just want to walk into work and see you at the counter and have a meaningful conversation with you. I just want to talk, to get to know you, to hang out with you – to be your friend."

He pulled back, his head cocked to the side as he studied her and mulled over her words. "I could live with that," he replied finally.

Her eyes lit up, and Jason felt a primitive happiness surge through him when he reflected that he was the one responsible for that. "Really?"

Jason nodded. "Sure. Let's be friends."

"Yay!" she exclaimed in that cute little way she did when she was excited. The heels of her Puma's met the wooden floor cupboards with a soft thud as she threw her arms around his neck for a quick hug. Jason, who had not been expecting the sweet gesture, closed his eyes when her soft scent of vanilla and roses wrapped around him like a blanket. "Good, I'm so glad."

She hopped off the counter and wiggled out past him, flashing him a dazzling grin as she tied her apron on and moved for the door. Jason just watched her go, a strange sort of feeling he could only vaguely classify as some type of happiness kicking up the corner of his mouth.

"Not trying to sound trite here," Elizabeth grinned as she tied her apron behind her in that same cute little bow that she had her drawstring. "But I have a feeling this is going to be the start of a beautiful relationship."

She giggled when Jason rolled his eyes and stepped out before he could whip off another sarcastic gem. Emily caught her gaze as soon as she hit the counter, and Elizabeth could instantly read the hope and anticipation in her best friend's eyes. Picking up the coffee pot, Elizabeth danced lightly on her toes over to one of the couples seated at a corner table, flashing the redhead a satisfied and arrogant grin.

The first part of Phase One had been a resounding success.