Tommy's only warning that Alexis was coming was the sound of the single flap of wings it took her to bridge the gap between them. He remembered the warning and froze. A moment later, he felt the bird's weight settle on his shoulder. He felt her feet flex on his shoulder and gritted his teeth as her nails dug in. When she relaxed her grip, he breathed a sigh of relief. Mary Jane glanced over her shoulder at the sound.

"Alexis! You are supposed to be on your perch, young lady. Do you want to go into your cage?"

Alexis stepped closer to Tommy's head and leaned against him gently. Mary Jane's lip quivered with the effort not to laugh. "Don't you go kissing up to him, either! He can't save you."

The bird made soft clicking noises and nuzzled his temple. Mary Jane couldn't contain herself any longer and started laughing. "You flirt! Come here!"

Finally, Tommy spoke. "If you don't mind, she can stay while you finish dinner. I don't mind."

Just then the bird leaned down and made the clicking noise again. Tommy was puzzled.

Mary Jane grinned again. "She wants kisses. If you want to, just turn your head and pucker your lips."

Tommy looked at the large beak dubiously. "Like this." Mary Jane stepped over to the bird and puckered her lips. Alexis leaned over and pressed her beak to Mary Jane's lips. She kissed the bird's beak and stepped back, her heart racing at having been so close to Tommy. She watched as the bird turned to Tommy. Tommy hesitated for a second and did as Mary Jane had done. The bird straightened up, satisfied.

"She looks like she could do some damage with that beak of hers" he said.

"Oh, she can. See these marks on my hands? I got them from her."

"But she doesn't seem dangerous."

"She's not. They are from her, but they're my fault. I fully believe that no animal attacks without a reason. I should have known better."

Mary Jane began transferring food to serving dishes and moving it to the table as well as setting it. When she was finished, she reached out to take the bird. "Come on, Alexis. Dinner time."

"Dinner time" echoed the bird. Mary Jane took the bird out to her cage and secured the door with a lock.

"You lock the door?"

"I have to. Otherwise, she'll just let herself out. I'll show you later. Let's eat."

As they ate, they continued to talk and get to know each other. Both of them enjoyed the meal immensely. Mary Jane got up and cleared the table when they had both had enough. Tommy started to rise to help, but she waved him back into his seat and continued the conversation. As she was finishing, the phone rang and she went to answer it.

"Hello?"

Tommy looked up at the sudden silence that filled the kitchen. Mary Jane was trying desperately not to laugh. When she finally spoke, she had herself under control.

"Yes, Billy. No, everything's fine." She lit a cigarette and grinned wickedly. "Hang on a sec, Billy."

Swiftly, she pushed the mute button and turned to Tommy. "Are you up for playing a little joke on my dear cousin?"

"What kind of joke?" he asked warily.

"Quick - yes or no?"

Tommy thought quickly. "Why not?"

"Then play along." She grinned at him as she unmuted the phone. "You still there? Yeah, sorry." She shifted the phone away from her mouth slightly. "Ooh, Tommy, stop that, I'm on the phone."

Suddenly, Tommy grinned. Quietly, he said, "How far do you want to take this joke?"

Her grin widened. As far as we can. She mouthed the words to him before grabbing a pad and pen from the drawer. As far as we can - especially since I think he's got me on speakerphone. Tommy read the note and laughed quietly to himself. If he was going to get the crap beat out of him, he wanted to thoroughly have earned it. Quickly, he stood and moved behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. Just in time for her to say, "Well, he's standing right here. Say hello, Tommy." She held up the phone.

"Hello."

She took the phone back. "See?"

Tommy grinned wickedly. He spoke in an undertone that he knew would carry to the phone. "Come back to bed. I'm not through with you yet."

He could feel her shoulders shake with suppressed mirth. She covered the phone loosely with her hand. "You're insatiable. Three times isn't enough for you?"

Tommy almost lost it. "But why stop at three when we can have four - or five - or six?" His voice changed to a low growl. "I have all kinds of ideas we haven't tried yet."

At that moment, Tommy remembered all that they had already done. His body reacted. He was brought back to the present by what she was saying on the phone. "Billy, do we really need to have this talk right now?" Her voice was breathless. "I'm a little busy. Okay, later then. Bye." Just before she clicked off the phone, she said, "Your turn now."

As soon as the phone disconnected, they both started laughing as hard as they could. When they could finally speak, Mary Jane gasped, "Oh god! That was great! Either he's on his way over here right now, or he's being held back by his wife and friends."

Tommy glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes. Either he'll be here or he'll call back."

"Do you want to continue the little joke if he does call back?"

Tommy shrugged. "Why not? If he's gonna kill me, I might as well earn it."

Tommy saw something flash across her face, but it was gone before he could identify it. Her expression turned thoughtful. "You know, we could continue this even if he does show up."

Tommy looked at her carefully. He could see the gleam of mischief in her eyes. "How?"

"Follow me." Mary Jane crushed out her cigarette and led him to her bedroom. She opened the closet and pulled out her bathrobe and tossed it on the bed. He continued to follow her as she went to the guest bedroom. From the closet, she pulled out a man's robe, tossed it on the bed and began to dig in the bottom dresser drawer. Finally, she stood up holding a pair of shorts and a pair of sweat pants. "Your choice."

Tommy looked slightly puzzled, so she explained. "If and when he shows up, you could slip in here and throw on either the sweats or the shorts and robe. Then just toss your clothes in my room -"

Tommy caught on. "And you'll have on your robe, so it looks like he caught us in the middle of something."

"Exactly."

Tommy mulled this over for a moment. "And when he tries to kill me?"

"Nah, never happen. I won't let it. I'll tell you something, Tommy Oliver. Tonight, I learned that you aren't the person I thought you were - and that's a good thing. I like you and I take care of what I like."

From the other room, Alexis spoke. "Get a room."

The pair began laughing again as they made their way back to the kitchen. Finally, Tommy spoke again. "If you don't mind my asking, where did you get the men's clothes?"

"Well, I bought the robe for me originally. I couldn't find any women's robes I liked - too frilly and impractical for a woman with no one to seduce. A couple of months ago I found the one in my room. I decided it couldn't hurt to keep the other one. The sweats are mine too, but the shorts I think are Billy's - or Jack's. Jack is a buddy of mine who recently married the love of his life. He house sat for me while I was at the wedding. We've been friends since we were kids. He left a few things behind when he went home. Odds are, he'll come over in a few days to get his stuff - or his wife will."

Tommy grimaced. "I just realized I'm going to get the grilling of my life when I go back to Jason's."

"Why do you have to go back?"

"I was staying there this weekend and my stuff's there."

Mary Jane bit her lip as she thought. "I have an idea, but it hinges on how far we want to take this joke."

Tommy raised an eyebrow and waited. Finally, she spoke again. "You could stay here. That way you could run and get your stuff just before you have to go home and there's no time for the third degree."

"But leaves them with the illusion that I spent the night with you."

"Well, you would be, just not the way they think."

Tommy moved back to his seat as he mulled this over. Slowly, he spoke. "That might be taking the joke a little too far. I know that Billy's the calm type, but he also knows that I have to go home soon. I don't think he'd take it too well if he thought I was going to sleep with you and then just up and leave." Tommy blushed. "I did that once. He was willing to let that one go because I was drunk. He's pretty much said he'll kill me if I hurt you."

Tommy's cell phone rang. He pulled it out and checked the caller ID. Jason it read. He grinned. "But there's nothing wrong with keeping it up a little longer." He answered the phone just before it went to his voice mail.

He growled into the phone, a little breathless, "This had better be good, or someone's going to die."

Mary Jane clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Tommy grinned at her as he listened to Jason.

"Bro, do you have a death wish? He warned you very clearly before you left."

"He said IF I hurt her. Believe me, bro, I'm doing anything but hurting her."

Swiftly, Mary Jane crossed the room and hung on Tommy's shoulder. "Please, baby, don't stop. I'm so close."

Her breath ghosted across his neck and he shivered. It was all he could do to listen to Jason. "I don't think you'll get out of it that way. You know he can talk circles around all of us."

"Yeah, and he also said that she was a grown woman and able to take care of herself."

"That's what Trini said and somehow I don't think it was a real convincing argument."

Mary Jane let out a low moan. Tommy bit back a chuckle. "Jase, I'd love to continue this conversation, I really would, but I'm kinda busy. You can either hold the phone until I'm done or you can hang up and talk to me later."

"Just wanted to warn you. Later." The call disconnected and the mischievous pair exploded with laughter.

"I'll pay for that later" Tommy said, wiping his eyes.

"Me, too" Mary Jane agreed as she wiped her eyes as well. "But it'll be worth it."

Tommy turned his head to look at her and felt his stomach tighten. At that moment, he wanted her - more than anything he'd ever wanted anything in his life. Her eyes sparkled at him and her face was alight with humor. Before he could change his mind, he kissed her. He was completely unprepared for the fire that raced through him, making his blood boil.