Jake sighed to himself as he finished logging an artifact into the card catalog. Here it was Valentine's Day and not only was he doing busy work in the Annex but due to the last mission, he'd totally forgotten to make a reservation for dinner. There was no way they were going to get a table anywhere now.
In a way, it was a good thing. He was not a suit guy and though he had a passion for cooking and watching cooking shows, he'd never really developed a taste for little gourmet bites. Sure, he made stuff that could be considered fancy but it was in an Oklahoma sized serving. But hell at this point, he'd even ruined chances at a casual restaurant.
Cassandra had a vase of roses on her desk, the result of his last minute stop at a grocery store that morning. She was wearing a cute little pink dress with a red and white heart print. Where did she find this stuff? And how did she look both adorable and sexy at the same time in them?
"You okay?" She asked behind him.
"Besides the fact that I screwed up and forgot it was Valentine's Day until this morning?"
"We were busy. Saving the world is more important." Cassandra was being practical. He had a feeling that Valentine's Day wasn't her big thing. No, that was Christmas and had more to do with what she'd been cheated out of as a child than anything else.
She moved away, picking up the book she'd come back by him to get. They tried very hard to keep their relationship out of the workplace. It wasn't a secret, but work was work. Besides both of them had sympathy for Baird's missing Flynn. At least this morning a huge bouquet had appeared on Baird's desk and she seemed happier than she had been in weeks.
He tapped his pen on the table, it seemed like Cassandra wasn't really all that upset. Maybe he could just make her dinner tonight. He wanted to do something to acknowledge the day. Tap tap tap. He noticed Jenkins glaring at him from across the room and stilled his movements. Sighing, he looked at the desk trying to find something to pretend to be doing. The thick book in front of him gave him a memory. The fortune teller. . . And the day he decided to tell Cassandra how he felt. He remembered letting himself run with a daydream about their first date.
Which hadn't happened like that at all. Instead they'd kissed in his truck then ended up at a diner laughing over pie. It had been a wonderful first date, but he'd never actually taken her to that art museum or out dancing.
He looked at his watch, it was half past one and he knew the museum was open until 5. This could work, Cassandra might enjoy it. First he was going to have to track her down. He found her on the second floor back in the stacks.
"Hey," he said coming up behind her.
"Did you finish what you were working on?"
"Yep, why don't we get out of here?"
"Like play hooky?"
Deja vu, Jake thought and smiled. "I was thinking more of a date, but yeah hooky."
"I've never played hooky before, let's do it! Where are we going?"
"I was thinking the art museum. Not sure how much you like art but they have a great Native American collection and I think you'd like it."
They wandered the three levels of the Native American collection at the art museum. Cassandra held his hand and listened quietly with wide eyes and a sweet smile as he described some of the collection.
When he'd gone off on a rant about a misinterpreted piece, she'd squeezed his hand and whispered, "Jake . . ."
He blushed. "Sorry, Cassandra. Wow, I just let myself get away from the point, didn't I?"
"I guess we both need to be there to catch each other."
"Yes we do. " He slid his arm around her shoulders and said, "Now this one . . ."
They stayed until closing exploring all they could of the fairly large museum. Armed with souvenirs from the gift shop, they made their way back to Jake's truck.
"So what now?" Cassandra asked settling in.
"Well, I know we're not going to get into any restaurant tonight but I know of a country-western bar. It's got fairly decent burgers."
She grinned at him, "I'm famished."
He and Cassandra had found they had similar tastes. She was a beer drinker though a little more sophisticated about her brews. She liked burgers and French fries. And they both liked to experiment with pizzas. Of course, her favorite foods were breakfast foods, so more often than not they'd ended up at diners on their dates.
"I know it's not like unending pancakes or anything," he teased, pulling into the parking lot.
"Sometimes I like something else," she said, lightly swatting his arm.
Because it was Valentine's Day, the bar was sticking to the more romantic side of country music and as the night went on, the dance floor filled with couples two stepping.
After finishing their burgers and a couple of beers, Jake asked Cassandra if she wanted to dance.
"I don't know how . . .I mean I can dance sorta. But not um that."
"Two stepping. Well, I know how," he tilted his head, "Kinda. Well, let's give it a try, no one is going to care if we do it right anyway."
He led her over to a corner of the dance floor. "Okay, feet together, face me. Put your left hand on my right shoulder." He put his right hand on her waist and bent his left arm out, "Now bend your right arm and put your hand in mine. There you go. Okay, now do the opposite of what I do."
"The opposite?"
"Yeah, if I step forward with my left, you step backward with your right. Like this." He stepped forward and Cassandra tried to step back but with the wrong foot. "No, honey, your right."
They practiced through the end of the song, Cassandra giggling and Jake trying really hard not to laugh. "Oh, we are not good at this."
"No, but it's fun!"
"Yeah, you're right. Okay, let's see if we can get it on this song. First beat I'll be going forward left quickly and you'll go?"
"Back right."
"Good girl." He muttered through the beats, "Right forward, pause, left slow, oh Cassie, you've got it! Oh shit, I missed a beat."
She simply giggled and at that point, he just hauled her up against him, coaxing her arms around his neck. "Let's just do this. I'm terrible at teaching."
"I'll watch a video at home and then next time you can just keep track of the beats."
"Are you having fun though? I feel like we're just doing stuff I like to do."
"I am. I like listening to you talk about art. You light up, you smile more, you're happy. And here, you're happy too. You've been hurt so much, Jake."
"Most of it was my own doing." He tugged her closer, buried his face in the fragrant strands of her hair. No one paid much notice to the couple swaying on the dance floor, they were too wrapped up in their own partners.
"Yes, but here with me, you can just be yourself. Jacob Stone, the art historian who likes a good beer and two stepping badly with his girl. And I'm so honored to be the one you share yourself with, all of yourself."
At that he pulled away from her and beamed tenderly at her. "Let's get the tab settled and get out of here."
"Why?" she asked with a grin.
He moved his head so he could whisper in her ear. "Because I want to go home and make love to my girl."
She beamed and said nothing, just took his hand and led him off the dance floor.
In honor of The Librarians being picked up for season 2 (yay!) I decided to post this today instead of Friday or Saturday as planned. In case anyone is wondering, this series is kinda placed currently in a neverland between Rule of Three and Loom of Fate. So kinda AU at this point. Also I gave up trying to figure out how much time has passed in the season, so just go with it being their first Valentine's Day. :) Also yeah, I've never been to Portland, but I did find out they have a huge Native American collection. Also I looked up how to two step, so I think I got at least the basics. I live in Texas but am not a native and I've never two stepped myself. So I hope I did it enough justice.
