Anna sniffed herself awake. The fragrance of a wafting scent, tinged with the familiarity of something made with flour and sugar, mixed with the sound of popping fat and sizzling meat. She sat up, frowning as the fog of sleep clung desperately to her brain. With a shake of her head she pushed her covers aside, pulling at her pajama shirt from where it rode up when she slept, and pattered downstairs in her long sleep trousers.

She reached the bottom of the stairs, holding her arms cross over her chest to hide the fact she left her bra upstairs, and let her mouth drop in surprise. John stood in her kitchen, manning her two skillets while wearing one of her aprons. The cuffs on his sleeves were rolled back and his hair still glinting with dampness. One drop worked its way to the back of his head when he raked his hair out of his eyes.

Her eyes followed the trail of water, working from one hair to the next before dropping onto his collar. It spread there, a spot forming. She took a deep breath before clearing her throat, as if it would shake her out of her predatory study of him, and smiled as he turned in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I hope I didn't wake you."

"Not sure how anyone sleeps through the smell of American bacon popping on the stove." Anna risked a step closer, pointing to her skillets. "I'm surprised you didn't have to scrub the cobwebs off those."

John laughed, "They weren't easy to find and I'll bet they're rarely used but they're in good condition."

"Came with the house." Anna stopped herself, "My mother liked to cook."

"You don't?"

"I don't trust myself with open flames unless they're on the other end of a flamethrower or a lighter."

"Flamethrower?" John flipped a few of the pancakes. "When would you have handled a flamethrower?"

"There was a twenty-fifth birthday party with some events that will remain a mystery until I know you can be trusted." Anna filled the coffee maker with water, starting the machine before digging in a cupboard for a mug.

"You don't know if I can be trusted yet?"

Anna rested her elbows on the island, leaning toward John as he labored over the skillets. "I don't know. There were some rules broken that would've gotten Mary and I some serious demerits, Maybe even discharged from the Air Force."

"Then we should keep it to ourselves." John winked at her, putting the finished pancakes on a plate. "Do you have butter?"

"I do." Anna leaned over, grabbing the butter dish from the top of the bread cupboard. "And, to assuage any fears, I do believe in real butter."

"I'll assume then that you're not a vegan."

"You found bacon in my refrigerator, John," Anna moved around him for a drawer, pulling a knife out, "It's safe to say I've not got any inhibitions about food."

"That's good because breakfast food might be the limit of my cooking experience so I hope you're not disappointed."

"A man is in my house cooking me breakfast." Anna worked past him but he turned, stopping her. She met his eyes, waving the knife in front of his face, "I won't be anything but grateful."

"That's good because I need to express my gratitude."

"And how would you do that?"

He paused, "I would like to kiss you but I wouldn't want to be presumptuous."

"I don't think that'd be too presumptuous."

"It wouldn't?"

"Not at all." Anna waited, "Will you?"

John cupped Anna's face in his hands, stroking over her cheekbones with his thumbs before leaning down. Time slowed for her and Anna lost herself in the feel of John surrounding her. His lips gently touched hers, pulling slowly for a moment.

Her fingers clamped around the knife, making sure she would not drop it, and fumbled behind her to let it clatter on the counter. The sound broke their kiss and Anna gasped. "Sorry."

"I'm not."

"No," Anna shook her head, "About breaking the kiss."

"Shall we try again then?"

"Please." Anna used both hands to grab John's neck, pulling him to her as her body arched toward him.

His lips were no less soft this time but slightly more forceful. Her hands gripped his neck tightly, keeping herself steady on her tiptoes as he pushed her back to the counter. In a swift move he lifted her to sit on it, balancing their heights to give both of them the leverage they wanted to continue.

Anna lost herself in the feel of his mouth, enjoying the hint of batter on his lips, and worked her legs around his waist to bring herself closer to him. John risked a hand from her face to her waist, holding her at two points when the hand at her face slipped around to cradle the back of her head. She ran her tongue along his lips, seeking out the taste there, and he opened his mouth almost in surprise.

Pressing her advantage Anna felt out the inside of his mouth. His response had her moaning when he used his hand at her waist to pull her closer to him, grinding unconsciously against her. Anna responded, opening her legs wider to the hold her knees at his hips and keep him where she could enjoy his form. John's hand at her waist slipped up and Anna gasped into their kiss when his fingers brushed the underside of her unprotected breast.

Just as she went to take more of his mouth the blaring klaxon of her kitchen fire alarm disturbed them. John turned in a hurry, taking the flaming skillets off heat and turning down the burners. Anna jumped off the counter, popping the battery out of the smoke alarm and throwing her kitchen door open to let out the smoke. With a pivot she opened the cupboard under her skin and tossed the box of sodium bicarbonate to John, who dumped a liberal helping over the flaming bacon to put out the grease fire.

The smoke cleared and Anna walked back to John. Both stood there a moment before laughing. Anna went to take the box back but it slipped in her hand and spurted white powder over her face. She coughed, shaking her head to clear her eyes, and a towel pressed to her face.

"Hold still."

"It's alright." Anna tried to pull away but he held her steady.

"It's fine, I can help."

"John it's-" The box slipped again, this time covering John with white powder that stuck to his damp hair. Anna spluttered out a laugh, setting the box on the island, and taking the towel from his hands. "I think we could both use a shower and then breakfast somewhere we can't burn it."

"I was all ready to impress you."

"Oh John," Anna sighed, pressing a finger to his lips to stop further arguments. "You already impressed me."

"You did mention a shower." His eyes twinkled and, for a moment, Anna could see them entwined in her master bath shower, hot water pouring over them as he drove into her against the tiles.

But she shook herself, "If that opportunity ever presents itself, John, I'll agree to the invitation but for the moment I think we should go one at a time. We've got a day ahead of us and I wouldn't want to get sidetracked."

"Sidetracked how?"

"If I took a shower with you, John," Anna held his gaze, "We wouldn't leave this house until I ran out of food."

"Better get going then."

"Yes, we'd better." Anna waved a hand at the mess on the counter. "I'll take care of this."

"But it's my-" John tried to argue but Anna shook her head.

"You cooked it-"

"Tried to."

"And so I'll clean. It's fair."

"If you insist, Ms. Smith." John bowed his white-dusted head to her and Anna snickered.

"I do. Now go get yourself another shower and then we'll go for breakfast. Mrs. Patmore's Bed and Breakfast is famous for them."

"Wouldn't we need a bed for the breakfast?"

"No." Anna pushed John toward the hall, "Get going."

After wiping the rest of the white powder off her skin, Anna scraped the burned mess into the sink before taking a wet rag to the surfaces covered in white powder. When she went to start on the floor when she heard John clear his throat. Biting her lip, Anna stood slowly before turning to look at him.

"Did you enjoy it?"

"The shower?"

"The view of my ass." Anna tossed the rag in the sink, "If you want to finish this there's a mop in the thin cupboard over by the refrigerator."

Anna just about slipped past John when he brushed his fingers over the exposed skin on her arm. She stopped, her breath catching in her throat. Theirs eyes met and John skimmed his other hand over her jaw. "Yes."

"Yes you'll help?"

"Yes I enjoyed the view of your ass."

With a grin Anna kissed him, pulling herself closer to him. John crowded her to the wall, lifting her so her legs wrapped around his waist. Anna slanted her mouth over his and moaned when John's hands at her hips sipped under her pajama shirt to send burning trails along her hips.

Just as Anna went to lunge her tongue into his mouth again someone's stomach rumbled. Both stopped, pausing a moment to assess their position, and then broke into laughter. John rested his head against hers, sighing.

"It's always something isn't it?"

"I'm sure I'll appreciate that sentiment more once we've actually had more time to get to know one another." Anna unhooked her legs, stepping gingerly to the ground as John took his own pace backward. "Give me some time to shower and then we'll have some of the best breakfast food you've ever tasted in your life."

"Last night I had the best pizza and this morning I'll have the best breakfast." John leaned over the counter, watching Anna ascend her exposed stairs. "Next you'll have me believing you're only fattening me up."

"Only so you can't run away." Anna teased, disappearing from his view.

She could hear him, finishing cleaning up the mess they made of breakfast, as she gathered her things to get ready. Stripping her clothes in her master bath, running the water so it steamed up the glass, Anna thought about John's earlier invitation. Her fingers traced her lips, the tingling only intensifying when the beat of the water in her shower added to the sensations running through her body.

For a moment, with the heat in the bathroom rising and the temptation of the water around her, Anna thought about resolving the tension in her body. But time was of the essence and she focused on the man waiting for her downstairs as she squeezed enough body wash onto her loofah to choke a horse. After that the shower was one of the fastest she ever took.

With hair still dripping slightly, but wrapped up in a messy bun on her head, Anna hurried down the stairs to join John. She caught sight of him reading the spines on the bookcase that lined the wall by her front door. Anna pulled her jacket in her arms, clearing her throat to alert him to her presence.

John beamed at her, straightening, "Now who's staring at whose ass?"

"I won't deny taking a second to admire it but I'm more curious what you think of my books."

"You've got an eclectic collection." John tapped a few of the books. "Practically everything Malcolm Gladwell's ever written right next to your hard cover copies of Harry Potter."

"One can never be without too much inspiration."

"Inspiration?"

"I teach English to high school students." Anna worked an arm through her jacket, pulling it up her arm. "You never know what inspires students."

"I'm just surprised."

"Happy surprised or disappointed surprised?" Anna allowed John past her as they headed toward the door in her kitchen.

"Happy surprised. I'd fear you only had sappy romances or enough YA fiction to strangle any hope of good literature."

"I'll have you know that the child-like amazement of something as simple as Harry Potter is actually a crucial foundation for students to comprehend something as complicated as Macbeth."

"Or the other way round?" Anna stopped as John straightened the collar on his jacket. "I find Macbeth easier to understand than Harry Potter sometimes."

"Really?"

"All that teen angst," John shuddered, "My years in puberty weren't that dramatic."

"You weren't being chased by a dark wizard and his servants."

"True but I've also never listened to three witches who then led me on a murder spree to steal the throne of Scotland."

"May that ever be true." Anna locked the door, going to her car and popping the locks. "Where are you looking in town?"

"What?" John stopped, hand on the door handle as Anna propped herself on the hood of her car a moment.

"You said you're here for a business venture. I'm curious if it's got anything to do with property investment."

"It might've done." John let go of the handle, "I don't want to put either of us in a spot if this gets out and you think I betrayed your trust."

"I let you stay in my house last night." Anna frowned, "Did I make a mistake with that?"

"No," John hurried to put a hand up, as if to stop her worries with a physical motion. "I'm here to buy out the town."

"Buy out Downton?"

"My friend, Robert Crawley, had an idea for an investment here some time ago. I investigated it and realized this town is perfect for what I'm offering."

"Which is what?"

"Attention." John waved a hand at the space around them. "There's too much natural beauty here to ignore and I want to take advantage of it."

"So you'll buy us all out?"

"I'm a business man so I'm here to build industry." John paused, "I didn't mention anything last night because none of it is finalized. Those meetings are all Monday and then I fly back to Dublin to work from my end to get my factories there to work toward building up the ones here."

"You're taking over the old factories?"

"Most'll just be demolished since the restructuring work it'd cost more than we've got to spend. But the older buildings, the historical ones, we're renovating and turning into new businesses. Our shipping centers, our regional offices, and eventually the hub of our American Midwest division." John took a breath, "We've even discussed a small airfield we hope to grow into a larger airport."

Anna whistled, crossing her arms over her chest, "You don't know how to dream small, do you?"

"I don't go into anything without enough fore planning to know it's a safe investment. I had our research teams running probabilities and calculations and prospective marketing campaigns for almost two years before I took a single meeting." John ran a hand through his hair to get an errant lock out of his eyes. "I don't rush into anything and I don't make bad decisions."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

Anna shrugged, "Are you moving yourself here?"

"Depends. For the moment part of the reason for the move is tax credit and effective transport of goods but my company and my other business interests are international. Settling here isn't smart for logistical reasons but maybe in the future, when we-"

"Have your airfield?" Anna jangled the keys in her hand a moment, "But otherwise you're intending to return to Dublin and I'm sure you don't mean the one north of here."

"I mean Dublin, Ireland."

Anna sucked the inside of her cheeks and opened her door, "Then we'd better make sure you see as much of the town as possible. It'll have to live a long time in your memory, won't it?"

"You're alright with this?"

"With what?" Anna buckled herself into her seat as John hurried into the car.

"With the fact that I'm leaving in a few days."

"I didn't expect you to stay forever." Anna adjusted the mirror, putting the car into reverse and turning around to drive out her driveway. "It'd be insane to expect you'd immediately make a life here when you came in a rental car with one case and no checked bags."

"They delay customs."

"I know." Anna waited at the end of her driveway, watching the deserted stretch of road to confirm no one was coming before peeling onto the main road. "I've traveled quite a bit myself."

"Is that why you're alright with this?"

"Probably." Anna guided the car around the bends and rolling hills toward town. "I once had a week of leave and went to Greece. I spent three of those days wrapped around a lovely Greek man whose full name I can't even pronounce."

"Greek?"

Anna shrugged, "It was luck."

"He got lucky."

"Yes he did." Anna gave herself a satisfied smile before looking over at John. "If there's nothing else between us but these few days I'd like to use them appropriately. There's too much to be gained by getting to know you."

"You can pronounce my name."

"That I can." Anna waited at a stop sign, turning to John. "I'm not offering three days of sex."

"Too bad."

"But I can offer we see where we go in three days and if we'd want to take the time and trouble to do what's necessary to keep a candle burning after you leave this little backwater."

"Keep saying things like that and I'm doomed not to leave for my flight on Tuesday."

"We couldn't have that, John." Anna gunned the gas, taking the hill at speed, "We need you to come back and save our dying town."

"Is that all?"

"Well," Anna ran her tongue over the bottom of her top teeth, "I wouldn't mind giving you something else to miss when you come back. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder."

"I don't think I'd need distance for that."

"I don't either but that's what we'll get." Anna sped around a turn, "We're going to give you a lovely day here so you know you made the right decision."

"One short day?"

"Of many more."