A week had passed and Jacob had seen 'Eve' as much as both of their busy schedules would allow. Especially given the fact that Ezekiel and Jacob found themselves shouldering more and more work as Flynn's lunch hours with 'Cassandra' often became afternoons.

Jacob supposed that was good for Flynn, his old friend had always wanted a woman to be his adventure buddy. 'Cassandra' was certainly proving to be that person, though occasionally she fussed over 'Eve' in a way that seemed a little bit off. But then, he'd tried very hard to head off any idea of the two couples double dating and avoided 'Cassandra' as much as he could.

And 'Eve' seemed to have this aversion to Flynn, so that made it all the easier. Both women seemed to like Ezekiel, although both Jacob and Flynn were careful to limit their interactions. One of Jones' best qualities was honesty and it was proving difficult to keep him from just blurting out the truth. Luckily work and his ability to create a social circle no matter where he went kept him busy.

Today Jacob was alone in the apartment. He'd left 'Eve' with a long lingering kiss at her door last night and hadn't heard from her yet this morning. Flynn and 'Cassandra' were off skiing in Wisconsin for the weekend. Ezekiel had gone into work. It was actually not uncommon, Ezekiel liked to work during the weekends claiming he got more done without them bossing him around. Ezekiel also had an eye on a couple of girls in the gift shop, so Jacob figured it was probably a mix of business and pleasure with Jones.

Right about the time he was considering texting 'Eve', he heard a knock on the door. He grinned, knowing that 'Eve' was the most likely person to be outside his door. She looked a little bit like a Christmas elf in a green dress over a white blouse and red and white striped leggings. On her head was headband with reindeer antlers and in her hand was a Santa hat.

"Mornin'," he smiled. "You look festive. What's up?"

She put the Santa hat on his head before he could protest. "We're going to go buy you a Christmas tree!"

"But Evie," Jacob protested. "It'll only be up for a week and a half then."

She crinkled her nose at him. "So? Never too late for a Christmas tree. Come on then." She started to grab his arm but he stopped her. "What now?" She asked with an impatient huff. On anyone else it might have annoyed him, but on her it was adorable.

"Wallet? Phone? Coat? Give me a minute." He laughed.

"Right, right. I need my coat too. I totally forgot. I'll go get mine and meet you downstairs, I assume Jacob took the car again?"

He nodded and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, 5 minutes. And leave the hat on!"

"Yes, darlin'."

Cassandra enjoyed tree shopping with 'Flynn'. There was a chill and the smell of snow in the air and he held her hand as they went from tree to tree to find the perfect one. He seemed to be willing to take whatever she suggested, so it was all up to her to find the right one.

Now they had it on a stand in the corner of his apartment. 'Flynn' was chuckling as he looked at it.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, we didn't get any decorations for it, so now it's gonna sit there all forlorn. "

She shook her head, laughing at him. "Silly, I have decorations. Come on, I need a hand carrying them. I rotate my theme tree every year, so you can use last year's gold theme."

"You rotate your theme every year, well of course you do." And 'Flynn' didn't say any more, he just followed her out the door.

White lights went on the tree first, followed by an assortment of gold ornaments, topped with a gold star at the top. Cassandra hung the last ornament on the tree and stepped back to make sure everything looked right.

'Flynn' was holding the gold garland that had been in the box.

"Oh right," she said. "We need to put that up too."

He smirked at her and walked closer, draping one end of it over her. "In a minute." Then he used the garland to pull her closer before planting one of his breathtaking kisses on her. When he kissed her like that, she forgot her own name, let alone that she was pretending to be someone else. When they broke for breath, she grabbed some of the garland and threw it over him. And before too long they were completely wrapped together in the garland and giggling.

"Maybe," she giggled, planting one last little kiss on his lips. "Maybe we'll just skip this garland."

It was Sunday evening and their plans had ended on Cassandra's sofa. Cassandra was on her back, her cardigan joining 'Flynn's shirt on the floor, leaving her in a camisole and him in a sleeveless tee shirt. He was carefully resting his weight on her as they kissed, one of his hands working its way up her thigh well under her skirt. Cassandra knew they really should stop, she just couldn't make love to him if he didn't know who she really was.

But the pleasure was intense and she knew that in all reality, had he known she was Cassandra and not Eve, she would have told him to take her to bed about five minutes ago. Panting, he'd broken free of her lips and was now kissing his way down her neck, the hand under her skirt even higher now, so very close to the edge of her panties.

He moaned softly as she sunk both of her hands in his hair. She moaned in return as he started sucking at her pulse point, letting herself be swept away.

"Flynn," she breathed.

And he froze.

She was looking at him with concern and Jacob slowly lifted his head from her neck. He'd gotten lost in the moment, in 'Eve's welcoming lips, in the way she'd been making him feel.

But he couldn't make love to her with someone else's name on her lips. If they ever slept together, she'd be calling out his name, his real name, and no one else's. Hearing his friend's name moaned like that was like a bucket of cold water on his arousal.

"Flynn?" she asked, now looking frightened. "Are you okay?"

"I'm . . . ." He settled for kissing her, but gently and sweetly, removing his hand from under her skirt. When the kiss ended, he moved off of her. "I'm sorry, we got carried away."

"We did, but I don't regret that. Do you?" She looked very upset now and he wanted to reassure her.

"No, no. But I think . . . ." He took a deep breath to collect his thoughts. He wanted to tell her the truth. But right now . . . her lips swollen from his kisses, her hair in disarray, partly unclothed. . . he just couldn't do that to her. And he couldn't, wouldn't ruin her Christmas. He decided to tell her a half truth. He really wasn't a fast mover with women, well at least not since he'd embraced who he really was in the last decade or so. "I don't typically move this fast. And sweetheart, it's not you. I'm really really attracted to you."

"Oh," she nodded, her blue eyes wide. "I don't move this fast either. Honestly, it's been a really long time since . . . . Well anyway, you're probably right. We've only known each other for what 2 weeks?"

He nodded. "I know it feels like we've known each other an eternity. But darlin', we should take our time. I'll be here for weeks and if . . . ." You don't hate me when the truth comes out. "If things work out, I can relocate, I can make my home base anywhere."

That completely seemed to have taken her mind off the disappointment because her eyes lit up. "You'd do that?"

"If things work out, I just might."

She made an excited little noise and kissed him. But unlike the passionate kisses of earlier, it was sweet and gentle. He curled his arms around her, deciding that cuddling was a perfectly acceptable way of coming down from the earlier rush.

They were well on their way to losing themselves again, though this time in sweet kisses when her doorbell rang.

Cassandra grumbled but slipped out of 'Flynn's arms. She was so annoyed that she was interrupted that she didn't even think of the state of her clothes.

Until she saw Eve at the door. Eve looked a bit shocked, her eyes raking up and down, no doubt noting her lack of cardigan, the state of her hair and how her cami wasn't tucked into her skirt.

"Uh, Cassandra, what brings you by?" Cassandra asked, tilting her head toward the inside to indicate she had 'Flynn' over.

Eve cleared her throat. "Well I needed . . .actually can I talk to you Cassandra?"

'Flynn' was suddenly standing behind her, buttoning his shirt. "I'm, um, gonna go back to my place and let you ladies talk."

He gave her a peck on the lips and then hurried away. He'd mentioned having sisters, so she guessed he was used to giving women space.

'Flynn' being gone, Cassandra looked at Eve with annoyance but waved her hand and ushered her in.

"What?" Cassandra asked.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Eve asked.

"No! Not that it's any of your business."

Eve scoffed. "Not my business? You're using my name!"

"So what? You're sleeping with Jacob!"

Eve looked thunderstruck. "What the hell kinda girl do you think I am? I am not sleeping with him!"

"But you went away with him for the weekend."

"Yes, to ski! God! Not to say we haven't been having fun because we have." And a pleased smirk briefly crossed Eve's features. "But fun only goes so far. This is a romance, not a shack up. Jesus, Cassandra."

"But you kept calling it a fling!"

"Yeah, as in not a serious thing. Sex is serious business to me. And besides, I'm not sleeping with someone who thinks my name is Cassandra. That's just . . . ." And Eve shuddered. "What would you have done if Flynn called out 'Eve' in bed?"

"Oh God," Cassandra looked disgusted. "You're right. We . . .he stopped us tonight. Said he wanted to take his time getting to know me. But I think I probably would have freaked out had we gotten farther."

Eve's hand went to her face. "Cassandra . . . ."

"I know," Cassandra was nearly in tears. "We can't keep doing this."

"I just . . .Jacob is so sweet. And I really like him. I don't want to hurt him."

Cassandra nodded. "So is Flynn. I don't want to hurt either of them. But I will." She sank on her sofa. "What do we do?"

Eve sat next to her and took a deep breath. "We stick to the plan. It'll be okay, Red."

"But what about you? You like him. I'm hurting you too."

Eve shrugged. "I think there's a strong possibility that both of our chances with these guys are gonna be shot if they find out we lied. I do like him. But I'm really good at protecting myself. I knew there was an expiration on this. You, however . . . . You're such a sweetheart and you feel so deeply. You're already half in love with Flynn and you thought you were in love with Jacob."

Cassandra sighed, the tears back in her eyes. "I am falling for him. And he's gonna hate me."

"Either way, Cass, now or later, you might lose him. We need to just stick to the plan." Eve sighed. "And maybe they can forgive us eventually? I don't think Jacob is really in love with me. But I think Flynn has really strong feelings for you."

Cassandra hiccuped. "He said he'd consider making Chicago his home base . . . .Oh Eve."

Eve put an arm around her. "Let it play out. Don't ruin anyone's Christmas. And if Flynn is willing to move here on just a chance with you . . .well maybe he won't be able to stay away from you. Maybe he will forgive you."

"And Jacob?"

Eve chuckled. "He might come around too. If not, well, I had a really lovely time with him. And we both have fond memories to take with us."

Cassandra nodded. "So what did you come over here for anyway?"

Eve laughed and then her phone buzzed. "Hang on." She sent a text and then nodded. "Well, I came to see if you had any popcorn, because Jacob and I were gonna watch a movie. But Flynn's back downstairs and they decided to watch Big Trouble in Little China and honestly."

"What is it with men and that movie?"

"I don't know. But ice cream?"

"Perfect."