Story Note: Chapters switch between Jack and Allison's POV.

Spoilers: Contains spoilers for season 1

Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews!

"Take a chance on me, Allison. I may not be the obvious choice, but that doesn't mean I'm a bad one." Allison replayed Carter's words in her mind, ignoring for a moment the fight that had surrounded them.

They'd been dancing around each other all day, but his open declaration had left her completely tongue-tied. By the time she'd managed to form a full sentence, he'd mistaken her reticence for rejection and started lashing out in anger. She hadn't behaved any better. Allison fought the urge to bang her head against the table repeatedly. How had so much gone so wrong so fast?

Upon reflection, she knew exactly how. Two words: Jack Carter. She'd never met a more infuriating man in her life. He had it all wrong, of course. She wasn't afraid of making a bad decision and she wasn't afraid of what Nathan or the rest of the town might think. She was afraid of herself. Her track record with men was less than stellar. If she couldn't make it work with Nathan, a man who should have been perfect for her, what hope was there for a relationship between her and a complete mismatch like Carter?

Not that she was blind to his good points. Her attraction to him was undeniable and it wasn't only because of his looks. Carter was the one guy who never let her down. He was good-natured and friendly, yet uncompromising in his ideals. No, there weren't many men like Carter. But that didn't mean he was a good match for her. They had different backgrounds, different interests, and different goals. So why did this sudden rift between them hurt so much?

She really shouldn't ask questions to which she already knew the answer, she thought ruefully as she rubbed at her temple. Okay, clearly she had made some mistakes. She hated to admit it, but he had a point about how people in Eureka treated him. They had so many generals and other Department of Defense tourists making unreasonable demands and offering supposedly helpful suggestions that they tended to slap down pretty hard anyone who didn't understand what they did at Global. It wasn't an excuse, just an explanation. She silently promised herself to watch the attitude and try not to act condescending in the future.

Time for some damage control, she resolved. Shaking off her wandering thoughts, she leaned forward and asked, "Are you ready to listen to me? Really listen and not jump to conclusions."

He opened his mouth to protest and she cut him off with a withering look. "Good," she said firmly as she watched his mouth snap shut. "Do you remember Seth's hybrid flowers? The ones that released pollen that made everybody in town…"

"Go freakin' bug nuts?" he supplied helpfully.

"I was going to say: experience an altered state of consciousness," she finished dryly.

"A wacko state," he muttered under his breath.

She shot him a quieting look and he bobbed his head in silent apology. She took a breath and then continued, "People had trouble controlling their impulses. Beverly blurted out secrets she'd been keeping, Nathan overrode safety protocols that had been holding him back from doing what he wanted to do, and I…"

"Quit your job and tried to kill Beverly," he finished.

"Right now, I was sort of focusing on the other thing," she said.

He blinked, tried to follow her meaning, then reddened slightly and glanced away. "Oh." A flicker of boyish pleasure washed over his face as he smiled.

Free of inhibitions, she had expressed her interest in Carter by stripping out of her clothes for him. It lacked subtly, but had certainly made her intentions plain. "Do you know what I did after you turned me down?"

Carter winced at the memory. "You shoved me out the door," he sighed. Unaffected by the pollen, he had been too much of a gentleman to take advantage of the situation. She hadn't taken it well at the time.

Allison tried to hold back a smile, didn't quite succeed. "True. And then I went upstairs and took a long, hot bath."

Carter made a funny noise that was almost a whimper. "You…um…why are we talking about this?"

"I didn't get in my car and go find Nathan or pick up some random guy. I didn't want anyone else. I wanted you." The air between them crackled with tension. She hadn't expected to be quite so honest, but it was too late to turn back now.

A jumble of emotions flashed through Carter's eyes, but the one that finally settled in to stay was sadness. "Doesn't that kind of prove my point? The only time you gave in to what you wanted was when you were out of your head."

"No, that's not what I was saying… Look…" Allison stumbled, frustrated at her inability to make her feelings understood.

Carter picked up his glass and reached for hers without looking her in the eye. "I think it's time for a refill." Neither glass was completely empty yet, but he was already halfway out of his chair before she realized it.

"Carter, wait…" She grabbed for his arm, but he evaded her reach.

"I'll be right back," he tossed over his shoulder before walking away.

Allison cursed under her breath as she watched him leave. She was out of her seat and chasing after him before she even knew she was moving. Closing the gap in a few more steps, she reached out and grabbed his arm. "Excuse us," she said quickly to the startled bartender before yanking Carter away from the bar.

"Hey! What—" Carter sputtered, but he allowed himself to be forcefully propelled away from the outdoor patio. They marched toward the relative seclusion of a grassy clearing. She glanced around looking for somewhere private where they could talk. The sauna was too far away and too uncomfortable. She spotted an empty park bench under the shade of a large oak tree and steered Carter toward it, practically shoving him into it.

He sank down onto the bench, watching her curiously, and waited.

Too angry to sit, she stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. "Now, look! You have got to learn to give people a chance to explain. This isn't easy for me, you know." Agitated, she'd begun pacing back and forth in front of the bench, gesturing at him occasionally. "After all, I have a PhD in biochemistry, not, not…you know," she floundered badly, uncertain how she wanted to end that sentence. She risked a glance at his face and was surprised to see him grinning in response.

Encouraged, she took another turn in her pacing path in front of the bench and continued speaking. "The point is, maybe you're a little bit right. I don't mean about thinking you're dumb. I know you're smart," she waved her hand in the air as if to brush away his earlier argument. "I've known that since the day you found Brian Perkins."

He chuckled softly at the reference. A local boy, Brian Perkins, had gone missing and the town had jumped to red alert, assuming he'd been swallowed up by a mysterious vortex that had been plaguing the area. By spotting clues that everyone else missed, Carter figured out that the missing child was simply hiding in his family's R.V. gobbling up a candy bar that his mother had forbidden him to eat.

He reached up to grab her hand and gently tugged her down onto the bench beside him. "So what are you saying?" he asked quietly.

Her heart pounded in her chest. Why did such a simple thing have to be so hard? "I'm saying: Maybe I'm a little afraid to lose this thing between us. I don't want to screw things up."

Carter gripped her shoulders. "Allison, listen to me. There's no way you can screw up this thing between us. Trust me." He studied her intently, and the doubt must have shown on her face because he offered, "I don't know if this helps, but I believe that things work out the way they're supposed to. You just have to have a little faith."

Something in his steady gaze gave her the confidence to take a small step forward. She leaned in to kiss him. It was a light, tentative kiss as she brushed her lips against his before pulling away. His hand came up to cup the back of her neck to prevent her from pulling away any further; but he remained still otherwise, watching her and waiting.

She leaned in again and this time he responded, opening his mouth under hers and deepening the kiss. His tongue brushed against hers and she felt a rush of desire. She slid her body along the bench to get closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her. They shared a series of warm, lingering kisses. Allison poured herself into them, trying to communicate all that she felt.

It was a long, long time before Carter pulled away to catch his breath. Allison was breathless and giddy. Her blood pounded through her veins and she felt overwhelmed with sensations. Embarrassed by the strength of her own reaction, she shyly pressed her face into Carter's neck.

He must have picked up on some of what she was feeling because he rubbed a hand over her back in a soothing gesture. His voice was husky and slightly ragged as he teased, "You see? I told you we had a thing," in reference to a private joke between them that had started over coffee.

Allison giggled into his neck and a small shudder ran through his body in response, telling her that he was just as affected by the kisses as she was. She pulled away enough to see his face and smiled as she said, "We definitely have a thing."

He kissed her temple lightly and shifted his arm up to rest over her shoulders. She settled in against his side and together they watched the sunset. As thrilling as the kisses had been, she was glad that they had stopped short of mauling each other in public. She enjoyed the quiet intimacy of the moment as her body gradually cooled down.

"So, Dr. Blake," he asked quietly. "What do you want to do now?"

Allison smiled as inspiration struck. She pulled away enough to face him and fixed him with a challenging look. "Trust me?"

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Carter made an appreciative sound in the back of his throat and the low sound seemed to resonate through Allison's whole body. It made her wonder what other sounds she could coax from him. She decided to find out. She quickly put thought into action and was rewarded with a surprised, "Oh!" from Carter.

"You like that?" she whispered in his ear.

"Oh, yeah!" he groaned in delighted wonder.

They were sitting in the back of Allison's limousine, listening to some of her favorite songs playing through the limo's high quality speakers. She had promised to help improve his musical taste and she intended to keep her word. Allison had just advanced her MP3 player to the next song, one of her all-time favorites. It was smoky and seductive, with a spark of playfulness.

The sun had slipped behind the horizon and night was coming on. The brilliant pinks and oranges that had lit up the sky were cooling into deep blues and purples. The pale fading light outside failed to penetrate the dark interior of the car.

The back of the limo was filled with music and the gentle motion of the car seemed to throb in time with the beat. The privacy screen separating them from the driver was up and it was easy to pretend they were all alone. Their driver had been instructed to take them the long way around, so even though they'd left the spa some time ago, they were still miles away from dropping Carter off at his home.

"What's the name of this band?" Carter asked quietly and she shuddered at the closeness of his breath in her ear.

She turned her head to answer him, but he leaned in and kissed her instead. She responded immediately, pressing herself against him and touching him far more intimately than she'd been able to do in public.

Breaking off the kiss with a groan, he gasped for breath and then began kissing his way down her neck. She closed her eyes as the sensation stole her breath away. "You never… answered… my question," he teased between kisses against her skin.

"Hmm?" she responded distractedly as she lolled her head to the side to give him better access. He'd pulled her into his lap, making conscious thought almost impossible. He'd asked her something, she remembered. What was it? Oh yeah. "The band? It's, um… oh!—" she broke off with a gasp as he found a particularly sensitive spot. The band's name fell out of her head. "It's…"

"Oh, who cares?" she huffed before pressing her mouth against his for another searing kiss. He chuckled into the kiss until her hands distracted him and the sound shifted into a moan. That was more like it, she thought smugly. Then his hand slipped under her shirt and it was her turn to moan.

The car slowed and gravel crunched under the tires. With a sigh, Carter reached up and pulled off the arms she'd wrapped around his neck. "Allison," Carter said warningly as the car pulled to a stop in front of his house.

She made a small, frustrated whine and he laughed at the sound. "Next time, I'll tell him to take the long, long way around," she grumbled. The driver at least had the wisdom not to step out of the car and open the door for them, and for that she was grateful.

Reaching up to brush away from her face a strand of hair that had slipped loose from her ponytail, Carter said politely, "I had a very nice time today."

She laughed at the understatement. "Well, you are my special guest," she teased before leaning in for another kiss.

He kissed her back, but gripped her shoulders and gently pushed her away before she could deepen the kiss. "Don't, don't! I'm trying to get out of the car, remember?"

She shifted away from him and held up her hands. "I'll be good," she promised.

He snorted a laugh as he reached for the door handle. "Yeah, like that's possible." He opened the door and she wondered vaguely when it had gotten so dark out. The sun had been setting just a few minutes ago.

She put a hand on his arm to stop him. "Carter…" she murmured, suddenly afraid that the magic of the evening would disappear.

He leaned back in and gave her a reassuring kiss. "No way we screw this up, remember? I'll call you tomorrow," he promised.

"You better!" she responded immediately.

Carter laughed. "Goodnight, Allison," he whispered before giving her one last kiss.

It was hard to let him go. The impulse to pull him back into the car was strong; but Zoë would be home soon, if she wasn't already, and she had her own child to get home to.

He shut the door and stepped away from the car. Instead of turning to go into the house, he stood and watched the limo drive away. She turned around and watched him through the rear window until the car rounded a turn and he slipped out of sight.

Carter had been right, she reflected as she sank down into her seat with a contented sigh. A trip to the spa had been just what they needed.

THE END

Author's Note: Thanks so much for sticking with this story all the way to the end! I know it took me a long time to get it all posted and I appreciate your patience. I didn't have a beta for this story, so all mistakes (and there were several) are mine. Thanks for putting up with them. And thanks for the reviews! Yay!