"Becker!" Jess scolded, "Now look what you made me do!" He had snuck up behind her just as she was measuring the pepper into her marinade sauce and startled her enough that she'd dumped a quarter of the container in as well.

"Oops," Becker smiled at her rather sheepishly, "Sorry, Jess, but it's okay; I happen to love pepper: the more the better."

Jess tried to glare at him, but he gave her a little pout and she couldn't help but to burst out laughing, "Yeah, you better love pepper," she threatened. "I thought I ordered you to watch TV."

"I tried, there was nothing on. C'mon, Jess, isn't there something I can do to help?"

Jess sighed, but finally relented. "Fine, you can start washing and cutting up the stuff for the salad."

Becker scrunched up his nose, "Can't I do something fun, like stirring or measuring?"

"No," Jess said, giving him a look of disbelief.

Becker heaved a great sigh, but obediently began washing some lettuce without any other signs of protest. Jess added a little bit more of all the other ingredients to her mixture to try and disguise the taste of the pepper. She hoped it was alright to do so, but she didn't want to text Connor with Becker right there. She popped an After Eight into her mouth as she worked.

"Becker, your fridge is like, empty," she commented as she placed the container of lamb inside it to sit for the required thirty minutes and turned her attention to the potatoes. Proudly, she remembered to pre-heat the oven as she washed and cut them up.

"I know," Becker said, "I told you, I eat take-out."

"Still, you could buy some quick snacks to store here: fruit or something."

Becker shrugged, "I do, sometimes; I've just eaten it all earlier, that's all."

Jess sighed and began to chop up the onions, garlic, ham and broccoli and told Becker to grate some cheese. By the time that was done, it was time for the meat to go on the griddle. She carefully set it on top and put the potatoes in the oven that was now hot enough and turned to find that Becker had stopped helping and was just staring at her, watching her work.

"What?" she asked him, confused, "Do I have some food in my hair?" She reached up to feel the top of her head.

Becker chuckled, an amused look on his face as well as another look that Jess couldn't quite place. "No, no your hair's fine, lovely actually, despite the obvious lack of ringlets."

Jess blushed, "Thank-you, same to you, I mean, not the last part, I think you have lovely hair but not with ringlets, I'm not sure they'd suit you so well and oh gosh, now that's an image isn't it, oh please let me curl your hair just to see it!"

Becker's expression quickly changed from amused to horrified, "Are you insane, Jessica Tara Parker?"

Jess was giggling too much now though at the image that had entered her mind to even notice that he apparently knew her middle name. Her blush deepened and she knew she was making a fool of herself, but she'd become all giddy and giggly and she couldn't seem to stop. She supposed the excitement of being in Becker's home and seeing his picture of her and him telling her that she had lovely hair was adding to her silliness. "Oh, come on," she managed to gasp out between giggles, "Let me curl your hair while we watch the movie and I'll… well, you choose, I'll do whatever you want."

"Nope, there is no chance in…" suddenly Becker stopped mid-sentence though, another look quickly passing over his face, "Wait, anything?"

Jess' giggles stopped, he wasn't actually seriously considering her offer was he? She'd been kidding. Oh gosh, that look, he was, and if Becker was going to let her curl his hair then whatever he had planned for her to do was big. "Uh, nah, it's okay, I'll just stick with the image in my head, thanks."

Becker grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him, putting his arms around both her waist and her arms, pinning them to her sides so she couldn't escape. Jess gasped at the sudden closeness, "Becker, what are you doing?" Not that she minded.

"Nope, you're not getting off the hook that easy Jessica, you offered and now you have to stick to your word. I'm gonna hold you here until you agree to do whatever I want."

Jess was sorely tempted to not agree just so he wouldn't let go of her, but she knew that'd turn out embarrassing somehow, "Fine," she said, "but, I get to curl your hair and take a photo of it: a photo to show people. I get to take a photo to show people that are my friends. Did you know that I'm really really good friends with Connor Temple?"

Becker chuckled and let go of her, "Deal."

Jess' mouth dropped open as she gaped at him, "Wait, what?"

"I said it's a deal. You can curl my hair and take a picture to show Connor and whoever else you want, because it's going to be totally worth it for me."

Jess' face paled a bit, "Okay, Becker, what exactly are you going to make me do? Now I'm actually scared."

Becker turned and walked out of the kitchen and Jess ran after him. "Becker! You have to tell me!"

Becker plopped down on his couch, ignoring her as he switched on the television, "Not now, Jessica. Didn't you tell me to sit here and watch TV? I think I'll do that now, yeah?" He grinned at her innocently.

"Hilary Becker, you cannot do that to me! I'm here to cook you a nice meal and now I'll be worried about it all dinner. Tell me what I have to do!"

"Nope, after."

"After what?"

"After you get your photo so it's too late for you to back out of the deal," Becker grinned at her.

"That's so not fair!" she protested.

Becker grinned and raised his eyebrows, "I know, but Jess?" he stood and leaned close to her, whispering in her ear, "Don't forget, this was your idea!"

Jess shivered a bit at his closeness and her face lit up with a grin, "You know," she said mischievously, "You have thick hair. If I'm lucky it'll hold ringlets longer than mine, perhaps you'll still have curls at work on Monday."

Becker burst out laughing as he pulled away from her, "Nice try Jess, but trust me, I'll get them out before then, whatever it takes. I'd shave my head first."

"You can't do that! I like your hair," but she wasn't overly worried because her statement had been meant to scare him only, she knew there was no way the curls would hold in his short hair longer than a couple hours anyway.

Suddenly they were interrupted by a loud alarm.

Jess jumped, "Oh there would be an anomaly, wouldn't there?"

Becker chuckled, "Jess, this isn't the ARC and I'm not that paranoid. I think it's the smoke detector. You might wanna check on that dinner."

He felt a bit badly as he watched the horrified expression on her face as she ran off, but to be honest, he was having trouble caring if the dinner was slightly black. She didn't know, like he did, that his smoke detector went off very easily, every time he made toast in fact, and anyway, he was having much too good a day to be worried about anything at all.