CHAPTER 8

The following morning, Sue woke to the smell of breakfast. She could smell…

"Pancakes? Mmm… that smells good." She mumbled to herself, trying to pull herself out of bed. She stumbled into the kitchen to see Jack standing in just his pajama pants at the stove, flipping a pancake.

"Good morning." He said, smiling in her direction.

"Morning." She said, rubbing her eyes awake. "You sure know how to wake a girl." She said teasingly. "That smells wonderful."

"Thanks. How many?" I made eggs as well. I thought we could use the protein." He smiled at her.

Sue looked at the size, he's made little ones. "I'll take 4 please, and a little bit of eggs." She said smiling.

He dished her up some of the goodies he'd prepared as well as a hot cinnamon roll and a glass of orange juice.

"Spoiling me… I like it." Sue said with a flirtatious smile. Jack raised his eyebrow and flashed his trademark smirk in her direction. Sue was glad the awkwardness from the night before had disappeared between them.

"You're worth being spoiled." He said as he joined her at the table.

"Thank you." She said. "No one except my dad has ever wanted to spoil me." Sue responded rather sadly.

That comment hit Jack hard. He couldn't believe that no one had ever taken the time to know Sue the way he did. To know what a wonderful person she was, what a beautiful soul she was, what a gorgeous woman she was. He scolded himself for being grateful that no one ever had because he knew had anyone taken that time, they would have scooped her up.

"Well, no one else has ever realized what they were going to miss out on by not spoiling you." Jack said with a loving smile. He placed his hand over hers and gave it a little squeeze. She smiled gratefully back at him.

"Well… After breakfast, do you want to go to the gym and practice some more on the throws?" Sue asked.

"Sure. We can do that for a bit then off to the rink?" Jack asked.

"Sounds good." Sue said, smiling at him. "I think today should be the last time we really practice the big routine. We'll tweak it out on the ice, make sure it's smooth, and then focus on the small one." Sue suggested.

"That sounds like a plan. First, showers." Jack said with a chuckle.

At the gym they worked on the lifts and throws. Everything went smoothly. Sue wanted to practice the spinning at the end of the routine.

"Are you sure we really have to practice that? It seems pretty straight forward." Jack said.

"Yeah, but there's a lot of changing hands and spinning takes a lot of concentration. You're going to have to focus on the hand work and our balance; I'm going to focus on the foot work and spinning." Sue explained. Jack didn't look convinced. "Do you trust me?" Sue asked.

"You know I do… with my life." Jack smiled at her.

"For right now, I will do the spins slowly. You keep your arms up like this…" Sue began. She took his hands and held them above her head like a ballerina. She giggled at that thought, but turned quickly so he wouldn't see her laughing at him.

"Really?" Jack asked.

"Really." Sue stated. She took one of Jack's hands and put her fingers into his palm and spun, then switched his hands. She explained to him that he would have to hold onto her fingertips for balance, but when she let herself drop to the ice he would have to support her weight with only his one hand and she would 'roll' herself up into his arms, and that was how the song ends. For hours, they spun over and over, and rolled down to the ice and into Jack's arms. Exhaustion was nearly taking over their bodies, and Jack noticed that.

"I think… I think we should take a break." Jack suggested. "Lunch?"

"That… sounds great!" Sue responded, tired and dripping in sweat.

After a quick lunch, the pair headed off to the ice.

They practiced the long routine for the better part of the two hours. Every detail was ironed out. Jack was feeling good about how good they were. The very ending with the spins and twists came off without a hitch.

"WHOO!" Jack yelled as they finished.

"Oh my gosh, that was awesome! You did such a great job!" Sue said as she hugged him. He eagerly hugged her back, wrapping his arm tightly around her waist. Without thinking, Jack pulled away just enough for him to see her face and placed a soft, light kiss on her lips. Before Sue could react, Jack pulled away, embarrassed. Sue was stunned, pleasantly. Jack pushed away from her, trying to keep at arm's length, unsure of Sue's reaction. He knew he'd wanted to kiss her for as long as he could remember, but wasn't sure how she felt about it. Sue stood at center ice, shocked. Had Jack Hudson just kissed her? It sure felt like he had. She watched him as he skated across the ice, smiling. They were both smiling, both with a light blush upon their cheeks. It was nice, but barely a kiss, she wanted more. Sue watched him skate away like a little boy who'd just stolen a brownie from the pan. She decided to put him at ease, and lessen the tension between them. Jack skated in a figure eight at the far end of the rink with his head down, looking up with only his eyes to see if she was going to forgive him. Sue stood straight, arched an eyebrow, and with one finger summoned him to her. He skated shyly toward her with a guilty grin on his face. As he came face to face with her, she took his hand in hers and pulled him to her.

"We have work to do." She said as she turned herself around and placed his hands on her hips. "Let's work on the short routine from the top." Sue said, and proceeded to push away from him and into a spin. Jack just smiled. He knew things were fine between them. They finished their practice and headed off the ice. Jack's hand landed on the small of Sue's back, where it belonged.

"Dinner?" Jack asked as they changed their skates.

"Depends…" Sue began.

"Yes, I'm paying." Jack said playfully.