Luke nervously stood outside Mara's apartment door. Their date at the waterpark turned out fantastic and he was thrilled that Mara was warming up to him and they even kissed…and kissed...wow that was some kiss. It was amazing. He swore to himself that he would give her a day to herself. He didn't want to look like he was stalking her, but he couldn't bear to be away from her when he knew that in less than three weeks she would be back to her job and they would once again be apart from each other for weeks if not months at a time. He needed to take every opportunity from now until the end of her medical leave to convince her to marry him.

'Enough with the stalling,'he thought as he depressed the door buzzer. After a few moments Mara opened the door and gave him a knowing smirk.

"You don't ever let up, do you?" She tried to sound irritated but Luke could sense she was happy to see him.

Luke smiled broadly as he lifted up a bag of Tarisian take out. "I was in the neighborhood and happened to have Tarisian spiced ribs and thought I would stop by."

She gave an amused chuckle. "The only Tarisian restaurant anywhere near my apartment is thirty kilometers away and you just happen to have my favorite dish…I think you are trying to seduce me Master Skywalker."

"You think?" Luke chuckled. "Well, if you don't want the ribs maybe Chewie will want them." He turned to leave but Mara grabbed him by his tunic sleeve.

"No way Farmboy, you are not leaving with those ribs." She gave him a happy, relaxed smile. "Come on in."

.

.

.

"Force, that was good," Luke said as he finished up the last rib and attempted to rid his face and hands of the dripping spice sauce that covered the meat by using most of the paper towels in her apartment. "But they are messy." He looked up to Mara and grinned. "You have a little bit of sauce right here." He pointed to his face on the side of his mouth.

Mara picked up a napkin and wiped the side of her face. "Here?"

"You got it."

She put down the napkin and then gazed at him with deep green eyes. "I don't think I ever thanked you."

He gave her a confused look. "For the ribs? I think you thanked me a dozen times during this meal."

She shook her head. "No, for saving me on Nirauan. You always seem to be there when I need you."

He gave her a warm smile. "And you were always there for me. You saved my life twice on Wayland alone. Then you kept me from breaking my neck against the docking bay bulkhead of the Starry Ice."

She shook her head in both amusement and disbelief. "Cold shirting across a vacuum while in a hibernation trace had to be the stupidest thing you had ever done."

His eyes glinted in amusement. "It was worth it though. I woke up in the most pleasant position—straddling the most beautiful woman in the galaxy."

She picked up a balled up napkin and tossed it at him but didn't have a snarky retort like he expected.

"I should have told you I was just getting comfortable," Luke grinned.

"What?"

"When you asked me, 'So. You want to get off me, or were you just getting comfortable?'I should have said I was just getting comfortable."

She scoffed. "Now, that would have been the stupidest thing you had ever done."

He nodded in agreement. "Probably, we weren't ready then."

She glanced up sharply at him. "What do you mean then?" She stared at him accusingly. "Did we do more than kiss while on Nirauan?"

He sat back in his chair, his face flushed darkly. "We did a little more than kiss, but we didn't have sex, if that is what you are getting at."

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him suspiciously. "I agreed to marry you, we were facing certain death, we kissed...and then did a little more than kiss…but we didn't spend what remaining hours of life we had having hot sex?"

The blood drained from his face. "Gods, no Mara!"

Her expression was severe. "Well, why the Hell not? I was the last woman you were going to see before your untimely demise, I accepted your proposal for marriage and you still didn't want to make out with me?"

Luke's eyes went wide in shock. "Mara, we were cold, wet, covered in mud and firecreeper guano."

She folded her arms across her chest and turned away from him. "I guess I wasn't good enough for you."

"What?" Luke paused as he saw the corners of her mouth twitch. He realized she was teasing him. She had caught him off guard because Mara rarely teased him…harass and mock him maybe, but never good natured teasing. He decided two could play this game. "Okay Mara, you win. We did have mind-blowing sex. You told me I was the best you've ever had. Nobody could bring you to the apex of ecstasy like I did. And then you said I had an awesome body and a tremendously large…understanding of the female body and how to satisfy your needs. Sorry, I know I should have told you earlier."

"You are a terrible liar, Luke." Mara broke down in laughter. "That sounds like something Lando would lie about."

Weeks ago that comment would have caused a spike of jealousy, but through their bond he knew she had told him the truth when she said there was nothing between her and Lando—that they were simply posing as a couple for a mission.

"How bad was he to be around?" Luke asked.

She rolled her eyes. "He's lucky he survived the mission. He tried every pick up line in the book."

"There's a book?" Luke joked. "Tell me some. If I can't convince you to go out with me I may have to try some of those Holonet dating sites."

She tried to stifle a smile as she recalled Lando's antics. "I only remember a few. One was 'Do you have a map? I just got lost in your eyes.'"

Luke made a groaning sound. "Even Rogue pilots wouldn't use a line that corny."

She laughed. "Then one day he said to me, 'I envy your lipstick' or then there was, 'Look at you, with all those curves, and me with no brakes.'

"No, he didn't!" Luke laughed.

She nodded with an incredulous look on her face. "Then he said, 'Is it hot in here, or is it just you?', but his all time bad pick-up line was, 'You look great in that dress, but do you know what would really look good on you? Me.'"

"And he's still alive?"

Mara gave him an evil grin. "That last one pushed me a little past my breaking point. We were alone in his stateroom, so I whipped out my lightsaber and pointed the blade at his crotch. I told him if he didn't knock it off I would neuter him."

Luke crossed his legs and brought his hands down to his groin in a protective manner. "Ouch, Mara." He gave her a wide-eyed look. "I hope I don't say anything to you to get that treatment."

She gave him a dismissive gesture. "You are too smart for that, Luke."

"Was there any of his lines that might work for me?" He asked curious.

Her eyes shone. "I don't know. If things continue to go well with these dates…maybe his 'I would love to make you breakfast' line might work."

Luke's eyebrows rose up. "Really?"

She blushed. "Not now though."

He gave her a warm smile. Things were going better than he ever imagined. He wasn't going to push things along too fast.

He leaned in and stared at her face intensely. "You missed a spot of sauce," he said while pointing to her mouth.

"Oh." Mara picked up the napkin and wiped her face. "Is it gone?"

Luke shook his head. "No, let me help." He picked up his napkin and went to wipe her face but at the last minute he leaned in and kissed her. He didn't know what to expect, but he was pleasantly surprised when she didn't pull away but leaned in to return the kiss.

As they pulled apart she smiled at him seductively. "You must really love that sauce."

He grinned. "Yes, but the woman under the sauce is tastier."

She groaned. "Oh, that is such a bad line."

He straightened and pulled her out of her seat. "Sorry. Would you like to catch a holo?"

She shook her head. "No, but I have some holo-rentals I haven't watched."

He gave her a wide smile as they walked over to her couch and sat down. "Which ones?"

She handed him a holo-cube. "I heard about this holo from your brother-in-law."

Luke's face fell. "Luke Skywalker and the Dragons of Tatooine!" He shook his head and tried to get up but she grabbed him by the waistband of his pants and pulled him back to the couch.

"Watch it with me and maybe you will get another date."

"Mara, that was a low budget holo that came out during my rebellion days." He feigned a pained look when he realized he wasn't getting out of this. "Alright, if I have too."

She got up and put the cube in the machine. She sat back down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You have to."