The question was answered rather easily. As Jackie stood there staring at the counter, an empty bottle of whiskey and the two used glasses, perhaps it was her mom nature that inclined her to clean up the mess in front of her. Moving over to the sink, she immediately began washing, not only the glasses from that night but those that sat in the sink. It looked like he's been drinking most of his meals, and from Cruz, she had expected better. He always appeared to be a strong man but truthfully, if Grace was ever brought into the hospital the way Charlie had been, she wasn't entirely certain she would be able to maintain this clean and sober life either.

The sound of beating water finally rounded to a stop and Jackie froze in the kitchen for a moment or two, feeling a bit like a deer in the headlights. She had a mind to make breakfast and then they could talk. Talk about what exactly? The sex last night had been rough though somewhere in the middle of it the anger seeped out of him and Cruz became an almost passionate lover. This man was divorced three times? Good lord, Jackie had teased the idea of a second marriage for her and a fourth for him before the school girl mind took over and she was back in her right mind again. Trying to think while experiencing orgasm after orgasm is impossible; the chemicals that occur in the brain insure that. But she had been lying on his chest, listening to his heart beat and had a warm sense of comfort. Aside from the ravaged, 'what the hell did I just do' feeling that coursed through her and aside from the constant 'now what' chorus in her head, there was something nice here.

Cruz cleared his throat as he came into the kitchen and she turned around. "At least you managed to find clothes..." She said with a joking tone. He looked over her for a moment and gave her that sideways smile she always wanted to slap off his face. His hair was loosely hanging over one side of his face, almost covering one of his eyes like a veil and for a moment they seemed to share the same kind of uneasy expression.

"I don't-" They both started and Jackie fell quiet as Miguel just watched her, waiting for her to say something else or for the silence to become so thick that it choked the life out of both of them.

"These last few weeks have been difficult..."

"I never realized how much I liked talking to him..."

Cruz smiled, a little gentler this time and moved further into the kitchen. He had on a wife beater and a pair of black sweatpants, Jackie went to move out of his way although before she could his arms had captured her again.

"I listened to your messages, all of them...that last one...I considered calling the phone just to see what kind of reaction you would have had..."

"You're cruel like that." The last message Jackie had left on the phone had been about a botched date with the cop, she couldn't concentrate and after spending an entire night together talking about every which thing they couldn't find a topic that night. Her message had consisted of how nervous she was and how much she would have rathered just get a handful of pills, crush them up and snort them all.

I miss you kid...and sometimes I call your phone and I keep thinking, I've got to be crazy. But I'd only be crazy if you picked up one day right? That stabbing silence was going to have to stop between these two and without much warning, Jackie gently ran her hand alongside of Mike's face, cupping it and looked into his surprisingly soft brown eyes, leaning up onto her toes she kissed him. It was gentle, almost as though she was sending out feelers. He returned it before letting her back down onto her bare feet again and smirked.

"Hmm..."

"Hmm?" She imitated him and had the rush of heat lick up through her body, she wanted him to take her back to bed, and while she knew she shouldn't. What with Eddie and Kevin and the cop still hanging around, she wanted something that was bad for her...and that might turn out of be something good. Mike's mind was a float with probably a hundred things, the most important of which seemed to be how good she looked in his dress shirt and how much he wanted it back on the floor.

His movements were fast and would have surprised her if she hadn't wanted them so much. He picked her up as though she weighed virtually nothing and set her on the island behind them, his mouth on hers, crushing her lips, his hands were flat against her back as he pulled her hips against his own. Jackie was relatively handy with her feet and had managed to push his pants back off of him again. He was inside of her before either of them could think and it felt good.

Desire is a terrible thing. It can lead to situations that no one sees coming.

The kitchen rampage escalated into the bedroom and carried on into the late hours of the afternoon. Eventually culminating with Jackie once again laying on top of Mike, one of his hands in her hair, the other's fingers were running up and down her arm. He was awake still, pacified a bit, watching the woman as she lay with her head on his chest, listening to her slow and even breathing.

"This wasn't how I planned it."

"Was there ever a plan?"

"No."