CHAPTER 5

Sue and Jack had decided to put some time in on the ice. They skated next to each other, warming up, getting a feel for the ice. Jack watched her from the corner of his eye, smiling at how she glided across the smooth surface so gracefully. They skated to the center of the ice. Jack reached out his hand to her, and spun her.

"You know, we're going to have to work out something for the other song." Jack said, smirking.

"I know. I've been thinking about that. I want to do that first. Do something simple, sweet. It's kind of a slow song with a nice sweet message to it. I thought we could do a classic dance to it- a waltz maybe. I thought we could do some small tricks; give Randy squared a false sense of security. We go before them the first time, but they go before us the second time. They'll think they have it locked down. We'll be able to judge theirs against ours before we do it… Huh?" Sue said with a devious smile, raising her eyebrows.

"I've never seen this side of you Ms. Thomas. Should I be concerned?" Jack said with a chuckle. Sue just laughed.

They began the routine counting steps, echoing each other through each step and maneuver. Sue smiled that Jack was so into learning the routine, and she knew he was doing it for her. After a slow run through of the entire performance, they decided to do it outright, start to finish to the pace they'll need to keep for the show. Jack had his MP3 player with him, and uploaded the song. Sue wouldn't be able to hear it so he would have to keep pace for the both of them. Unknown to either of them, the director of the charity, and Lucy were seated in the audience watching them. Jack gave her a hand signal to begin, and Sue began skating around the rink, jumping, spinning and flirting with the 'imaginary' Bobby and Myles, then she made her way to Jack. The couple skated around, turning and moving with each other like they'd done this their whole lives. Lucy smiled wide. This would just add fuel to her fire of match making she thought. As Sue spun one last time, ending the demonstration in Jack's arms, the applause from the director and Lucy was loud.

"That was incredible!" Lucy gushed.

"You two are going to sweep this thing! That was really great!" The director said.

"Thanks." Sue and Jack said in unison.

"What are you doing here?" Sue asked, looking at Lucy.

"I missed you, and thought I'd come by and see if you were coming home tonight." Lucy said with a chuckle.

"I miss you too. We've been practicing every late night." Sue explained.

"I can tell. Wow! You two have some routine. That was awesome." Lucy said once again.

"We've been working hard. This is the first time we've gotten on the ice to do it…" Jack began. Lucy smiled a suggestive smile. "The routine… we've only been practicing it on mats and in the foam pits at the gym." Jack said, correcting himself, giving Lucy a "don't start" look. Lucy smiled at the two of them, Sue blushed.

"So… do you think you could cut class tonight? At least long enough to grab some dinner?" Lucy asked Sue.

"I think we could do that." Sue said, agreeing to dinner.

"Good. I want some details…" Lucy said with a smile.

"Of?" Sue pushed. Lucy simply raised her eyebrow and walked away. She turned back to Sue. "Six? At Maria's?" Lucy asked.

"OK" Sue said as Lucy and the director walked away. Sue reached for Jack's hand and pulled him into the center of the rink and began skating with him close to her. She showed him what she had in mind for the first routine for "Just A Kiss". Sue began the routine in the center of the ice. Jack was tucked close to her, his breath on her neck. It was distracting to her. She leaned her head back for only a second, letting the feeling overtake her mind and body. Jack wrapped his arm tight around her waist, entwining his fingers with hers. They pushed off and began to glide smoothly across the ice. The feeling was gone, at least for now. She breathed a sigh of relief, and focused on the newly formed routine.

"That's nice. We can practice more later, I'll give it more thought and see what we can add." Sue said as she skated back to the middle of the rink.

"How do you think we should end it?" Jack asked shyly. He hadn't actually said it, but Sue knew what he meant. Sue bit her bottom lip, not sure how to answer that question.

"I don't know. Did you have any thoughts on it?" Sue asked, hopefully.

"I might…" Jack said suggestively as he skated toward her. Sue could feel her heartbeat begin to quicken. He skated right up to her, stopping inches from making contact with her. "I was thinking… at the end, we could stop and slowly look at one another…" He said as he played out his own direction. "I would put my…" he stopped speaking. He placed his hands on either side of her face, softly stroking her cheek, dragging his finger along the outline of her jaw. Sue could feel her cheeks begin to turn pink as he approached her, slowly closing the space between them. As his lips were about to brush hers, Jack leaned up and kissed her on the forehead. Sue's cheeks darkened with color, as she let out a nervous breath. She had to admit, she was a bit disappointed.