Chapter 09

The snowstorm that hit that night was incredible. The roads were coated in a matter of minutes and visibility had been reduced to a joke. And the white fluff just kept on coming.

The ride back to Jake's had been difficult, and it wasn't the first time Jason cursed the fact that he only owned a motorcycle and not a car. A good, sensible, four-wheel drive car.

But he kept to the tracks of the vehicle ahead of him and was careful to watch his speed and finally made it home. Jake's was roaring with music and laughter when he walked in, exhausted from the day's work and ready for bed. A couple of drunks by the pool table were getting rowdy but Jason didn't stick around to break up the inevitable fight; the other bouncers were on duty tonight and they would handle it.

His jeans and socks were wet and cold, and he stripped them off as soon as he entered the room. They ended up on the rung of the tub in his tiny bathroom, and next came his shirt, which landed in a heap on the floor by his bed. His jacket was hung on the chair by his desk and his gloves were lying on top of it, and Jason quickly began to search around for his sweatpants. Finally finding some, he pulled them on and flopped into a recliner in the corner to check his phone.

He had felt it ringing while he was driving but there was no way he would have pulled it out and answered it. And now as he looked at the tiny flashing screen, he was surprised to see that he had received seven calls in the course of an hour – all from the same person.

Jason punched the call button and settled back against the recliner, waiting as it rang. She picked up on the second ring, and her breathless voice met his ears like a sweet caress. "Jason! It's me! Are you okay?"

"Elizabeth." He was still surprised that she had called – and seven times, no less. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why did you call?"

"Oh, gee, I don't know! Maybe because we're going through the second Ice Age right now and you're on the road flying around on that flimsy metal death trap!"

He smiled even though she sounded slightly hysterical. "You always said that you liked my bike."

"Sure – just not when you have to drive all the way to Jake's in the middle of a blizzard! Are you sure you're all right?"

The concern in her voice warmed his heart. "Yes, Elizabeth, I'm fine."

"Oh." She sounded a little embarrassed now. "Promise?"

"Promise."

He heard her sigh into the receiver. "Good. That's…good. Okay."

Jason smirked. "Okay."

"Uh, yeah, well…" She was definitely embarrassed – he could hear it clearly in her breathy voice. "Okay. I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks for…being concerned." He was apparently as surprised to hear the words as she was, but then her warm voice filtered through the phone before he had time to be embarrassed at being so forward.

"Oh, Jason, of course. We were all sitting upstairs in Penny's room and I turned and looked out the window at the storm and suddenly all I could see was you on that bike. I just had to make sure you got home okay."

"Well, I did."

"Yeah, okay. I'll see you tomorrow, Jason."

"Goodnight, Elizabeth."

"Night. Oh, and Jason?"

He had been about to hang up and quickly brought the phone back to his ear at the sound of her hesitant voice. "Yeah? What is it?"

"I, um…" He could almost see her smiling that cute little nervous smile of hers. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For dinner. And decorating. It was all a really sweet gesture, and it was really fun to spend Valentine's Day with a friend. Thank you."

And with that, she hung up, leaving Jason to stare blankly at his cell phone as a slow grin spread on his face. The knowledge that he had somehow brightened her day made him surprisingly happy – and knowing that she had called up to make sure he was okay made him feel surprisingly secure. There was no doubt that he could take care of himself, but knowing that someone out there was worried about him and watching out for him was very comforting.

Halfway across town at Kelly's, Elizabeth Webber tossed her phone onto her nightstand and leaned back comfortably against the pillows piled by her headboard. It had really been a great day.

"Will you look at that?" Elizabeth mused, her small nose pressed to the glass doorpanes as Penny peered over her shoulder at the world outside. "It's still coming down." The snow had stopped sometime in the night, giving the plows sufficient time to clean the roads. But it had started up this morning once more, and the streets and sidewalks hadn't been visible for a while.

"Wow," Penny breathed, her small hands on Elizabeth's shoulder. "There's so muchof it. I hope Greg can get through."

Greg was her boyfriend and he was supposed to be picking her up so that they could spend the weekend at his little cabin a bit farther upstate. "I do, too," Elizabeth murmured, patting Penny's hand reassuringly. They waited around downstairs for what seemed like an eternity but was in fact only fifteen minutes. Finally, a shivering Greg made it through the front door of Kelly's and Penny leaped into his arms. He kissed her and grabbed her duffel bag and the two waved goodbye to Elizabeth before stepping outside.

Left alone in the diner, Elizabeth fiddled around with the jukebox until Renee and Seth came downstairs, dressed and ready for their respective days at work. Since they still had a while before they opened, Renee flopped down at the table with a magazine as Seth stared at his reflection in the microwave, using it to fix his tie. And then the young reporter was off, calling out a hasty goodbye to his two friends and running off to another day at the presses.

Renee and Elizabeth fooled around for a little while – playing music, chatting idly – as the clock ticked by. The tall redhead resumed flipping through her Vogue while Elizabeth only had eyes for the clock. Jason was late. And since Jason Morgan was never late, it had begun to worry her.

Ten minutes later, the back door creaked open and Jason slowly shuffled in, looking at the ground as he walked. A bright smile bloomed on Elizabeth's face as soon as she saw him, and the petite brunette stood up immediately. "Jason! Hey, I was beginning to wonder-"

She stopped abruptly when his gaze flew up to hers with surprise. Jason averted his piercing eyes and Elizabeth's sapphire ones traveled slowly down his body until she saw the reason for his tardiness. "Oh, Jason…"

Her friend's jeans were soaked, dirty, and ripped at the knee. Underneath the torn denim, she could see the crimson blood around his kneecap. Instantly, her hand flew to her mouth as she gaped back at him with wide eyes. Seeing the look in her eyes, Jason immediately freed the hand that was holding the tattered cloth away from his bloodied leg and put both palms in the air. "Woah, Elizabeth, it's okay, really-"

"Jason, you're hurt," she exclaimed sorrowfully, pushing the chairs out of her way as she quickly flew to his side. Across the room, Renee had abandoned her magazine and was making her way over as well.

"It's okay," Jason tried to explain to the women, "it's not that bad. I just – shit." He cursed low under his breath when Elizabeth's fingers pulled the denim away from his leg where it stuck. She was kneeling in front of him, quickly assessing the injury as Renee worriedly nibbled on the nail of her index finger.

"Jason, it's not okay," she replied in a low voice. "We have to get this cleaned up – it's full of gravel. What the hell happened?"

"Nothing," he tried to hedge. "It's – motherfu-"

Elizabeth sighed when he swore in pain once more, then turned to Renee. "Help me get him upstairs, will you?" The redhead nodded immediately and moved to Jason's other side. Elizabeth tugged on his arm to lead him toward the stairs, but Jason tried to shrug her off.

"Elizabeth, it's okay – I'll just clean up in the bathroom right here and be right out."

But the brunette just shook her head. "Jason, that bathroom's too small and there's no tub anyway. I'm not sure if you realize this or not, but you have gravel and stones deep inside the cut and you need to let me clean it out. Now, come on – please."

Sighing with defeat, Jason allowed the brunette to lead him toward the stairs. The two women had to help him ascend them, which Jason did with a considerable amount of pain. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of climbing, they were at the top and Elizabeth was leading him to her room. "Come on, Jason."

The blonde eyed her bedroom door warily, glancing back at the bathroom behind him. "I can take it from here, Elizabeth-"

"I don't think so," she countered smoothly, already pushing her door open and leading him to the bed. Renee helped him sit on the blue comforter, which Jason did reluctantly, and then turned to Elizabeth for instruction. "Can you get me some warm water – not too warm, test it first – and a couple of washcloths?"

"Sure, sure," the girl nodded without question. "I'll come up with those and then I'll try to find those long bandages Bobbie keeps around here."

"OK, thanks," Elizabeth smiled gratefully as the redhead left the room. Her gaze drifted over to Jason who was seated at the absolute edge of her bed and trying to assess the damage to his right leg. He was holding the denim apart where it had ripped and was frowning at the mess underneath. With a sigh, Elizabeth made her way toward him.

Jason blinked when she blocked out the light and looked up. She was standing in front of him with her small hands on her narrow hips and a look of pure resolution on her face.

"Strip, Morgan."

Amusement kicked up the corner of his mouth. "Excuse me?"

She rolled her eyes with a huff, clearly not amused. "Well, we're not going to get anywhere if you're going to keep being such a prude, are we? So strip."

"I'm not a prude," Jason frowned, not moving an inch as she glared down at him.

"Yeah, okay, Morgan," Elizabeth acquiesced, flicking her hand at his jeans. "Off with the pants." When he didn't move, she glowered at him. "I'm going to go wash my hands, and when I get back, I expect you to be sitting there without any pants on."

She was barely outside the room before she turned and looked quizzically at his grinning face. "That came out sounding freakishly weird, didn't it?"

Not waiting for a reply and blushing slightly at his rusty chuckle, Elizabeth left the room. Hearing the water running in the nearby bathroom, the blonde man sighed and slowly shucked his jeans. He had them around his hips and was attempting to shimmy out of them when Elizabeth returned with a large container of water and several washcloths draped over her shoulder.

She set the towels and water on the floor by his feet and slowly helped him remove the denim. She had to remove his shoes and socks first, and then wadded up the bloody denim and placed it behind her. Jason was seated in front of her wearing nothing but a full-sleeved blue shirt and his black boxers, and it took everything Elizabeth had not to visibly ogle him.

The man was built like a god. She had known that from their first make-out session in the kitchen. Hell, she had known it from the minute he'd walked into his aunt's diner to start work, a devilishly sexy scowl marring his handsome features. He was tall with strong, broad shoulders and an equally strong chest. She could see the definition of his muscles even beneath the sweater he wore and if she had a little less self-control, she would have contrived some reason for him to take that off as well.

His chest tapered down to a lean waist and his black boxers were slung low against his narrow hips. Elizabeth blinked rapidly as she busied herself with the washcloth and water. Jason Morgan was sitting on her bed in his boxers. It just didn't get any better. Well, unless he was to be sitting on her bed without his boxers.

She kept her devilish grin in check, reminding herself of the plan. It just wouldn't do to ogle the man and his package while she cleaned him up – she'd throw all her progress out the window. Steeling herself, Elizabeth looked up to meet his intense blue eyes. "OK. Let's do this."

He gazed down at her when she brought the washcloth to his shin, gently wiping away the wet blood that had trickled down and was beginning to crust. Her touch was soft and soothing, and several minutes passed before either of them spoke.

"How did this happen?" She was looking at the cut, not at him, and Jason found that he hadn't been able to take his eyes off her lips since she had started. "Jason?"

He snapped himself out of his silent reverie, shaking his head briskly. "I, uh…lost control of the bike."

That got her attention. Elizabeth stared up at him through big sapphire orbs, not sure if she'd heard him right. "You lost control of the bike? Jason, you never lose control of the bike."

He shrugged helplessly. "There was a patch of ice on a curve and the truck in front of me braked really fast. I had to spin out onto the shoulder-"

"Lemme guess – the gravel shoulder," she added wryly.

Jason nodded. "-and the bike spun out from under me."

Elizabeth sighed softly, gently separating the torn flesh with her fingers and holding it so she could get at the pieces of stone embedded in it. "You could have been hurt much worse. Thank God it's just a cut…" Her voice trailed off as she attacked the wound, periodically dipping the washcloth in water and renewing her efforts.

They sat in silence, Jason on the bed and Elizabeth kneeling in front of him. She worked smoothly and diligently, removing bits of stone and gravel carefully from his skin and murmuring soothing words of comfort when he stiffened and hissed with pain. When the washcloth turned pink from his blood, Elizabeth wadded it up and threw it on top of his jeans, reaching for the other one and never losing her rhythm.

Jason marveled at the comfort in her touch; her fingers soothed with every caress, and the sharp pain in his knee had eased slightly as she'd been cleaning it up. He felt as if he should be helping – or better yet, doing it himself – but as her gentle touch became almost hypnotic, Jason leaned back and let himself get lost in the warm comfort she offered.

Her soft voice broke the hushed silence in the small room. "This is going to sting a little, okay?"

Jason winced when the antiseptic she sprayed entered his wound, curling his fingers into her blue comforter. She looked up sympathetically at him and blew gently onto his wound without breaking eye contact. Jason's eyes darkened at the sight of her full lips set in a soft pucker as she soothed the sting and he unconsciously leaned forward.

"That should do it." Elizabeth's voice jarred him into the presence and he leaned back again almost abruptly. "Let's get this bandaged up. Renee?"

"I've got 'em!" came a yell from down the hall and in less than a minute, the tall redhead had bounded into the room triumphantly waving a cloth bandage over her head. "Found it!"

"Wonderful," Elizabeth grinned, reaching for the pale brown cloth. "Thanks bunches, hon."

"No problem. You guys need anything else?" Renee's green eyes darted from Elizabeth to Jason and back.

"Nope," the brunette answered, already ripping the package over. "Thanks, though."

"All right," Renee smiled, backing out of the room. "If you need me, just give a holler."

Jason's cerulean eyes settled on Elizabeth as the young woman slowly unraveled the long bandage. Sparks shot through his nerves when she hooked a cool hand under his strong calf and tugged lightly, bringing his leg forward and within easier reach. She raised herself to her knees and placed a hand high on his thigh, her fingers grazing just below the edge of his boxers as she began to wrap up the terrible gash.

She worked slowly and thoroughly, pausing only once to unwind one section and redo it, and Jason couldn't seem to tear his gaze away. "You know what you're doing."

It was a statement, but she understood it to be a question as it was supposed to be. "Well, yeah. I'm pretty good with cuts and bruises and the like – seen it all through my childhood back home."

"Yeah?"

She nodded, pursing those ripe lips of hers as the bandage reached his kneecap. The goal was to wrap it tightly enough so that the blood would clot and it would heal, yet loose enough so that Jason could walk somewhat normally. She never noticed how tenderly he was gazing down at her. "My parents are both doctors, and so are my brother and sister." She huffed away at a piece of hair that had fallen into her face, a sweet little quirk that Jason found adorable. "Steven and Sarah were practically born to be doctors. They both ran around the house with little stethoscopes when they were kids, announcing that Mr. V. had an irregular heartbeat."

Jason quirked a sandy brow at her. "Mr. V.?"

The brunette beauty at his feet blushed, peeking up at him for only a moment before adjusting the bandage around his knee. "That was my stuffed rabbit. He was about three feet tall and made of the softest velveteen you could imagine. That was what I named him after – The Velveteen Rabbit. It was my favorite storybook when I was little."

The older man smiled softly at the little insight into her childhood. Elizabeth's fingers brushed through the golden hair on his leg, causing him to shiver, which Elizabeth mistakenly took to mean that he was cold.

"Oh, Jason, I'm sorry – I'll hurry up so you can get dressed again." Her fingers worked feverishly, trying to quickly wrap the bandage around his strong leg. And then Jason's large hands, warm and rough, closed over her smaller ones, causing Elizabeth to look up in surprise. He was leaning down and his face was just inches from hers. His breath floated down toward her and she inhaled his scent of coffee, toothpaste…and snow.

"It's fine, Elizabeth. I'm fine." She nodded once, a pretty pink blush staining her porcelain cheeks, and resumed working at her normal pace. Jason studied her hands, the way they moved, the way her fingers fluttered. "You didn't become a doctor."

Again, it was a statement to be treated as a question. "No," Elizabeth replied softly, shaking her head. "I didn't. I didn't want to." A wry smile curved her glossed lips. "Not that my parents didn't try hard enough – they stopped just short of strapping me to a chair and making me watch Doogie Howser reruns for twenty-four hours straight."

She shook her head again, adjusting the last part of the bandage around his muscular leg. "The thing that killed them most was that I was good at it – I was really good at it. My grandpa Steve's a doctor, too, and the thing everyone says about him is that he has the greatest bedside manner. He puts his patients at ease and he talks to them and actually cares about them. When they come back to see him again, he always remembers to ask about their tuba recital or their football tournament – the patients just love him."

Elizabeth smiled fondly down at the bandage without seeing it. "He always said that I had the same bedside manner. I was seven when he told me that for the first time. One of my friends' little brother fell out of a tree and scraped his knee, and I told my friend to get some water and a washcloth, and Grandpa was walking home from the drugstore when he saw me sitting on the ground in front of this five-year-old, and I was picking the grass out of his cut and telling him some joke and he was laughing his head off."

"I was always good at that sort of thing. I had the bedside manner, sure, but I also had the knowledge." Jason watched her attentively as her polished fingers straightened the edge of the brown cloth. "We had to take anatomy as a requirement in my high school, and it came so naturally to me. My parents were heavily invested in that class and would get mad when they wouldn't see me studying for it. One day, I got so irritated with them that I dragged them into my Grandpa's study and explained each part of the model skeleton he kept in there in detail, along with all the muscle groups. They never bothered me about anatomy after that – they just started to push me harder to go into medicine."

"But you liked art," Jason supplied helpfully.

She nodded. "I liked art. And I liked to dance. And they hated that." Letting out a soft breath, she slid her hand under the sole of his foot and bent his leg gently back and forth, testing the way the bandage stretched across his knee. "How's that? Feel all right?"

"What, are you going to try to walk for me now, too?" Jason joked, standing up on his own and testing the bandage out himself. He snickered at the way she blushed and held out his hand to help her up. "It feels fine. Thanks."

"No problem," she smiled back. They stood there for a minute, just looking at each other, until Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Oh, Jason!"

"What?"

"You don't have any pants!"

He couldn't repress the laughter that tickled the back of his throat as he watched her stare at him in horror. "I guess not." Deciding against having a little fun at her expense, Jason reached for the keys in his leather jacket. "I keep an extra change of clothes in the cab of my bike-"

"Say no more," Elizabeth interrupted, plucking the keys from his hand. "I'll go get 'em. You just sit tight. No going anywhere, all right, Morgan?"

"Where would I go without pants?" he muttered at her back as she left, closing the door behind her. She was back in five minutes with another pair of jeans and a clean sweater. Jason took them from her gratefully but then stood still, waiting for her to leave. Elizabeth, however, was kneeling on the floor cleaning up the mess she'd made and looked up at him in question.

"What?"

Jason's cerulean eyes darted around the small room. "Uh, I was going to change, so…"

"Are you being a prude again, Jason?" she teased, shoving his bloody jeans and the washcloth into a plastic bag to get rid of. "Just change. Who cares?"

Well, obviously not Elizabeth. Jason glanced down at her, confused for a moment before stripping off his damp sweater and pulling on the new one she had brought for him. Obviously, the sight of him half-naked didn't bother his new friend one bit. Not one damn bit. The woman hadn't even batted a damn eyelash.

"Need help with that?" Elizabeth asked helpfully, motioning to his jeans. Jason looked at her like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, and the petite brunette tried to brush his surprise away with a warm smile. "Jason, it's okay – if you want my help-"

"No, no, it's fine," he insisted, succeeding in putting his good leg through the jeans only to struggle with the other one. "I-I can do it."

Elizabeth watched him wince painfully as he tried to manipulate his leg into the denim jeans, then sighed and moved forward to help without being asked. "Damn it, Morgan, you're a real piece of work. Sit down."

She had to practically shove him down onto the bed once more before she could reach for his jeans. Elizabeth wrapped one hand around his calf over the bandage and slowly helped him slide the denim up without disturbing the still tender muscles in his leg. When that was done, she offered him her hand and tugged him up until he was standing, and Jason took it from there. He was still slightly put off by the fact that none of this bothered Elizabeth at all – if she was any of the other women he had been with, she'd have been panting by now, he was sure – but he quickly brushed those thoughts aside as he slipped on his socks and shoes.

"Done," Elizabeth smiled proudly, surveying him like the owner of a winning racehorse would survey the stallion. "Can you walk on it okay?"

"Yeah," Jason replied slowly, pacing idly around the room. "It's not too bad."

"Good." The brunette beauty slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and steered them both toward the door. "Now it's time for you to get downstairs and start making pancakes – because I am starving."

Jason's hearty chuckles echoed down the hallway as Elizabeth pulled the door of her bedroom firmly shut behind them.

"Jason, why didn't you call me?" Bobbie Cassidine was almost beside herself with worry. "Elizabeth, why didn't you make him call me? You know I would have been here in two minutes flat-"

"Aunt Bobbie, it's okay, really," Jason tried to assure her, shifting his weight from foot to foot in embarrassment. His aunt was making a big deal of nothing – and in front of Elizabeth, no less.

"Really, Bobbie, he's right," Elizabeth tried to explain to the older woman, putting one hand on Jason's strong shoulder and the other on his arm, rubbing it softly in a subconscious act of comfort.

"He's not right!" Bobbie exclaimed. "Jason, you fell off the bike, for goodness' sake! Oh, I told you not to buy that thing – I told you that you'd only end up hurting yourself. And now look what's happened!"

"Bobbie, it wasn't anyone's fault," Elizabeth tried again. "You know that Jason's a very good driver, and he's always been really careful on the bike. Well, for as long as I've known him," she added hesitantly, blushing slightly when she felt Jason's eyes on her. "Really, if I thought it was serious, you know that you'd be the first person I called. But it wasn't – I just cleaned him up and wrapped up the cut and he's as good as new."

Bobbie was slowly relenting but trying not to show it. "This is no weather for a bike, Jason, you should know that. Oh, God, you could have been hurt so much worse-"

The older man reluctantly extricated himself from Elizabeth's gentle grip and placed his large hands on his aunt's elbow, speaking firmly to her in a low voice. "Aunt Bobbie, listen to me. I'm fine. It's okay." He tipped his head to the side, an amused smirk causing his lips to curl up. "And I was in good hands."

Bobbie offered her nephew and a blushing Elizabeth a half-smile at that. "Well, I won't argue with you there." She shook her head slowly, a few tendrils of red hair escaping from the jeweled clip she wore. "Oh, Jason, I wish you'd listen to me and move into Kelly's."

The blonde rolled his devastatingly blue eyes and stepped back. "Aunt Bobbie-"

"Just hear me out, Jason, please," she begged. "You wouldn't have to ride that…that…thing halfway across town every morning and night to get to work; you wouldn't have to put up with the noise and the drunks and the fights that you do at Jake's." Her large green eyes gleamed pleadingly. "Look at Elizabeth and all the other girls – they're happy here. It works. They don't have to get up and face the cold every morning to get to work. For God's sake, they run around here in sandals and t-shirts in the middle of winter!"

And miniskirts, Jason couldn't help but think with a small grin, not noticing the way Elizabeth peered at him curiously.

"You'd be so much closer to everything, Jason," Bobbie continued. "I would be able to come visit with you whenever I wanted to – wouldn't you like that? And you'd have Elizabeth here to keep you company."

Jason glanced hesitantly over his shoulder at the tiny brunette, unsure of what reaction he'd see displayed on her beautiful face. A smirk instantly claimed his lips when he turned to see her wiggling her eyebrows at him suggestively before she dissolved into concealed giggles.

"Jason, I worry about you," Bobbie said softly. "I worry every time you get on that bike, every time you don't get enough sleep, every time you don't eat right. You're the son I was never able to have, Jason, and I just want to make sure you're taken care of."

"I am," he tried to assure her, but the older woman was set in her ways. She wrung her hands nervously as she tried to come up with more reasons – any reason – to convince him to stay.

"You wouldn't even have to pay rent here," she blurted. "Not like you do at Jake's. And you wouldn't have to be a bouncer. And your neighbors are such nice girls, Jason – they never make any noise, and you would actually be able to get some sleep. Please, sweetheart, just think about it."

"I will," Jason assured her, thinking that it would calm her down. "I will."

"Okay," Bobbie smiled up hesitantly before rising to her toes and pressing a quick kiss to his stubbly cheek. "I have to get to the hospital, sweetheart, but I'll see you later, all right?" He nodded and the older redhead offered a warm smile to the little brunette tucked away behind his shoulder. "Goodbye, Elizabeth – thank you for taking care of him."

"Sure thing," the young woman replied, waving as Bobbie pushed open the door and stepped into the winter weather.

Jason smirked at her over his shoulder. "You still want those pancakes, Webber? Because that can be arranged."

She looked up at him with a smile shining in her expressive eyes and shook her head once. "It's fine – why don't you sit down? Take a load off those feet. Here." Without a second thought, she pulled out a nearby chair for Jason and motioned for him to sit. When he did, she slipped behind the counter and poured one mug of hot chocolate and one of coffee – black, no sugar – and made her way back to the table.

Jason accepted the coffee from her and sipped it slowly as she slid gracefully into the seat right next to his. She wore her dark denim jeans and a low-neck, deep red sweater with cream-colored embroidery. Her dainty feet were encased in leather boots – damn, he loved her in leather – and she wore a simple amulet necklace around her elegant neck. The result was ultimately stunning; she looked so different from those mornings when she'd wear her pajamas or her track suits. It was amazing to him how she could slip so seamlessly from the innocent schoolgirl look to the savvy, sexy maverick look she had going at the moment.

Her raven lashes fluttered against porcelain cheeks as she studied the marshmallow melting in her hot cocoa. "Jason…?"

He quirked a sandy brow at her, patiently waiting for the brunette beauty to meet his gaze. "Yeah?"

"I was thinking…"

She still wasn't looking at him, and Jason took a big gulp from his steaming mug of coffee. "Yeah?"

Intense sapphire eyes lifted from her cocoa to his, open and unassuming. "Maybe Bobbie's right."

He clicked his nails against the black mug. "About moving here?"

Elizabeth nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. You've gotta admit, she had some points. It's nicer than Jake's, you'd be closer to work, your neighbors would be fantastic-"

He smirked at the sexy little grin that had dominated her full lips. "Yeah? Really?"

"Oh, yeah," she replied knowingly. "Especially this one girl – she's incredible. You two would get along famously."

"Anyone I know?" Jason couldn't help but ask, his blue eyes twinkling as she played along.

"I don't know," she feigned. "She's a brunette – very petite, a little loud…"

"It's ringing some bells," he accepted airily, enjoying the way her eyes crinkled with laughter.

"Seriously, Jason," she tried again, jokingly swatting his arm. "On the other hand, it would be cheaper for you. And that's good, right? –You'd be able to get the garage up and running sooner. And that's the plan, isn't it?"

Jason was nodding slowly. "Yeah, it is, but…seriously, Kelly's?"

Elizabeth settled her chin into the palm of her hand, looking at him with amusement in her doe eyes. "And what, may I ask, is wrong with Kelly's?"

Jason couldn't help but laugh at the mock-offence in her voice. "Nothing. It's just that I'm more a Jake's kind of guy. The whole bar scene, the pool tables, the loud music…that's me. That suits me. And here, Kelly's…"

"Let me fill in the blanks," Elizabeth cut in, ticking off the points on her slender fingers. "It's demure, domestic, clean, not dangerous, there's a jukebox, and it's full of girls who do way too many girlie things, right?" She knew his answer even though he didn't reply. "You're such a chauvinist, Jason – you're just lucky I like you."

He laughed at that but stopped when her cool hand closed over his fingers. Sapphire eyes bore into his, serious but not pressuring him into anything, and Jason didn't say a word as she spoke.

"Just think about it, Jason. I know Jake's is you – I know that. But look at it from all angles; do a cost-benefit analysis. I mean, would it really be that bad having me a neighbor?" She quirked a playful smile at him before patting his hand and rising from her chair. "Just promise you'll consider it."

Jason's eyes didn't leave hers as she backed away from the table, her empty mug in her hand. "I will. I'll consider it, Elizabeth."