"You have a really nice house."

Joss glanced at Nate, who was looking around her kitchen, from where he was leaning against the counter as she poured some wine. She was so nervous; it was surprising that her hands weren't shaking. It was just the two of them, as Sally, who had promised to lurk upstairs in case Joss needed her to cause some kind of ghost energy induced scene, had mysteriously disappeared as she so often did these days and Aidan… well he was never around anymore anyway, so she wasn't holding out for him to show up.

"Yeah, we like it. I mean it could use some work, but Aidan is always too busy and I'm hopeless with tools and our landlord is in jail for murder so…" she trailed off realizing what she had just said and began to blush as Nate raised an incredulous brow.

"I mean…would you like some wine?" This was going horribly. Why couldn't she just shut up for once? Bring up topics like the weather or work. Wasn't that what you were supposed to talk about on a first date? She didn't know really, she'd been with Julian so long and known him well before they ever got romantically involved, so it had never been awkward. Although, it had also never made her feel as excited as she did now, embarrassing herself in front of this man in her kitchen.

"So," he took the glass of wine from her along with the bowl of crème brulee she was holding out to him like an offering. "You and Aidan. What's all that about? Cause the gossip at the Nurses Station has you two being pretty serious."

She laughed lightly, wondering if she would ever get used to the presumption that her and Aidan had been or were anything other than…well she wasn't sure what they were at the moment, seeing as he was never around. She hadn't actually really talked to him in three days, although she was sure he had come in the night before.

"And yet, here I am with you." They moved to the couch and she sipped her wine, trying not to feel too anxious. " Aidan and I are just, we're just friends?"

"Are you sure about that, cause you don't sound too sure. I mean I get it, you're in that place where you don't really know what to think, your trying your options…"

Joss shook her head and turned to face him, smiling slightly. "No. I mean our relationship is complicated. He's my friend. My only friend really, which is sad," she reflected. "He helped me through a really rough time in my life, got me my job, pays half the rent so I can actually live in a house and not a motel where I have to listen to sugar bear get it on in the next room…"

Nate looked at her seriously, "That is sad." And then he smiled. Joss was finding that she loved his smile; it was very free and open, like what you saw was what you got.

They lapsed into other conversation as they ate and she was surprised at how easy it all was once her nerves had subsided a bit. This could be so dangerous, she mused at one point; I can actually see myself wanting to spend time with him.

"Joss, this is shockingly good," he pointed to the crème brulee with his spoon and she smiled a little self deprecatingly,

"Thank you. But the torch really did the uh heavy lifting,"

He rolled his eyes, but not in a mean way, " Who has a kitchen torch besides Martha Stewart and her newly wedded minions? That's something you register for and never take out of the box,"

She wondered if he was speaking from experience even as she laughed and said, "Yeah, that's what my fiancé said."

He set his bowl down and looked at her incredulously, but with interest. "You were engaged?" he paused, "Where you married?"

Joss could have kicked herself. Where are you when I need a ghost-induced emergency Sally? She silently cursed; she had not wanted to talk about Julian tonight, but Nate was making her feel so comfortable that it had just slipped out. She sighed.

"Uh no, no." she said softly, leaning forward and not looking at him.

"What happened?"

She looked back at him, unaware that he could see the sadness in her big brown eyes. "It's a long story." She picked up her glass and looked away from him again. "Um, it just…it just didn't end well."

"Too young?" she could tell that he wasn't really trying to pry, more just genuinely interested in what could have happened. If she decided not to continue the line of conversation she sensed that he wouldn't mind. She shook her head and sat back, "uh, I changed." An understatement if there ever was one.

He nodded, "You answer questions like an escaped convict."

"Yeah?" she laughed.

"Mysterious. Not too much detail."

And just like that the mood was lightened again and they moved on,

"The details would bore you," she said flippantly, "I'm a Jewish kid from Ithaca."

"As in Ithaca is gorgeous?" He shook his head, "Cute, doe eyes. What about college?"

She hesitated, tapping her knee with her hand, "MIT," she said almost reluctantly. She knew what question would come next; it was the same when Jesse had found out where she had studied.

"Shut up."

She shrugged, "Well, anyone can get in."

Again with the incredulous look. She wondered if she was just always surprising him with what she said, or he just didn't know what to make of her. "What are you doing folding hospital corners?"

"Life experience?" she said evasively, the answer coming out as a question. Their eyes met and he raised a brow; after a moment she looked away and grabbed his glass off the table.

"More wine? I'll just get you some more wine." And then she was off the couch and into the kitchen where she leaned against the counter and tried not to hyperventilate. A few minutes later Nate came in, obviously wondering what had happened to her, and she took the plate and bowl he was carrying and handed him the glass of wine. He didn't ask if anything was wrong and for that she was so grateful she wanted to kiss him then and there.

" I like these plates, they've got character." It was such a strange thing for a guy to say, she thought, but it did the trick, as it was obviously meant to, because she found herself smiling again.

"Thanks, we found them at a flea market. Aidan had a few from an old set so…"

He brought the rest of the dishes from the table as she began to fill the sink. "Is that how you two ended up living together? Your love of vintage china?" he was being sarcastic she could tell, but again she could also tell that he wasn't trying to be nasty; it just seemed to be part of his normal interaction. She shook her head, smiling a bit as she rolled the sleeves of her shirt up.

"Actually no," she found herself admitting, even though she had promised herself not to talk about Aidan again that night. "We uh, we met in a fight."

She looked back at him and instead of looking horrified that she would be in a situation like that he merely looked curious. "Well sort of a fight. I was being fought. Pummeled really. He um, he saved me from getting any bones broken or needing a nose job. Not that I would have been able to afford a nose job. He kind of just came up and told them to back off, punched one guy in the face, broke his nose, it was a memorable night

"Ah, so you're a fighter. That's hot."

She frowned, "Really, cause I'm really not…"

He stepped in closer to her, backing her up against the sink, "No, but that's OK." She didn't have time to tell if he was joking because then he was kissing her, his hands settling on her hips, bringing her in closer. It was different from when she had been kissed last, although she still felt lust taking over and reason leaving her head; it was as if there was more to this but also less. Joss wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed herself up on her toes, evening out the height difference, kissing him back hard and almost with abandon. Suddenly she felt herself being lifted and set on the counter, his hands running up her sides sending a tingle down her spine, and her grip tightened and she found herself biting at his lip.

Nate pulled back slightly and chuckled, "Well now,"

She found herself a bit out of breath but she still managed a breathy "Sorry,"

"No, relax, its ok," he kissed her again, but she pulled away, "Am I being too…"

"Your fine Joss, believe me your fine,"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." And this time it was she that initiated the kissing, that is until another thought struck her. "I just want to make sure, I'm not being too aggressive."

He sighed and rested his forehead against hers, "What happened to you?" he asked wonderingly, one hand coming up to smooth the hair away from her face. Meeting his eyes as he moved away, but only slightly so they could look at each other, she saw a genuine interest and confusion, as if the thought of something damaging her was actually upsetting, even though they had only known each other a short time.

It was at that moment of course that Aidan had to walk in.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't know you had company Joss."

She looked at him, her arms still wrapped around Nate, her hair a bit disheveled and her lips looking thoroughly kissed. His expression was almost unreadable, schooled into passive amusement at finding her in her current position, one leg almost wrapped around Nate, as well as her arms, but there was also something else there that made her feel inexplicably sad.

She detangled herself from Nate, who stepped back to let her slip off the counter. "Uh yeah. I'm sure you know Nate, from the hospital." This was so awkward.

Aidan smiled slightly. "Yeah. Good to see ya. I just needed to grab something from the fridge but I'll leave you guys to it." He started to walk away and then stopped. "I'm not going to be home tonight Joss. You need a ride tomorrow?"

She shook her head and realized that he couldn't see her so she said haltingly, "Uh, no. I'm good. I'll just walk in. Its fine."

He nodded, "Ok. Well have a good night guys." And then he was gone.

Joss sighed and ran a hand through her hair, turning to look at Nate and then she couldn't help laughing and burying her head in her hands. "That was so embarrassing. I am so sorry he walked in like that."

"Hey," he gently pried her hands away from her face. "Its fine. I should probably head out anyway."

They headed for the door where she watched him put on his coat and then he kissed her again, softly and smiled slightly. "See you at work doe eyes." She watched him walk to his car and only when he was gone did she close the door and sigh heavily. Turning back towards the living room she jumped and placed a hand over her heart. How many times had she told her…

"Sorry," Sally said from the couch. "You were heavy petting so I hid in your room. Nice guy by the way. That was definitely heading somewhere until Aidan came in."

Joss sighed and sat down beside her. "Maybe."

Sally fixed her with a look of fond exasperation. "Did you have fun?"

Joss bit her lip, but couldn't help smiling. "Yeah. I think I might really like him Sally." She felt strange admitting this, like she was betraying something or someone.

"Good. I am so reading Aidan the riot act when he gets home; he made things so awkward. He always does that with guys who want to sleep with you."

Joss rolled her eyes, "What? No. He didn't know we were in there."

"Oh come on Joss. He does. He did it with Jesse, who by the way was in to you in a bad way, and he could have just walked away quickly when he saw you and Nurse McSexy practically getting it on there on the counter."

Joss closed her eyes and leant her head back, resting it against the back of the couch. " Well maybe it's a good thing he did come in then. I don't think I'm ready to go that far with him yet."

"Pssh," It was Sally's turn to roll her eyes. "Your human Joss. Your always ready to go there."

"Well, we can't all be horn dogs," she said lightly, still keeping her eyes closed.

"If I could pick this pillow up and throw it at you I so would."