*All the characters from The Mortal Instruments belong to Cassandra Clare and her incredible mind. Nothing will ever be owned by the author of this story. ;)*

Musical Preference:

Fake Plastic Trees- Radiohead

The Scientist- Coldplay

Soft Shock- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Woop woop! ;) Fun chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

Hmm, he thought as he went over his ties, figuring which one he would wear. There were three; a red-patterned, a royal blue, a pure white. The rest were back home . . . with Aline.

Jace shook his head. He couldn't be thinking of his wife a few minutes before going to a date. With another woman, nonetheless. There was a kind of guilt in the pit of his stomach that he just couldn't understand. Just that thought alone would be enough to make him uneasy—not that he wasn't—but the guilt wasn't what was making him that way. It petrified him that it wasn't for going out with someone while with Aline.

He felt guilt for being married while going out with Clary.

It was a ridiculous thought since he was actually married to Aline. Clary was supposed to be just another fling. But . . . Jace didn't want that.

Jace didn't remember their night together that much. Just flashes of red, a dangerously short dress, fuck-me boots, and a beautiful smile.

After getting to know more of Clary, he realized that one-night stands weren't her style. She had let go for one night. At the beginning, Jace had seen it as a challenge. Getting the sexy, good girl back in bed.

Jace wasn't even sure he wanted that anymore.

The days after the auction were restless for Jace. He felt things he'd never felt with another woman. Clary was dangerous, but safe at the same time. Sweet, but mean. She was the opposite, but not quite. She left him wanting more, and not the more Kaelie and Aline offered. Sex Jace could get—it wasn't that. Clary made him feel different. As much as the idea scared him, he wanted to explore it.

Which was exactly why he couldn't stop himself from calling her on earlier that day. Jace noticed that she had a different tone of voice but refused to ask about it. He figured it was her work and she was just tired. Her acceptance was also part of her restlessness. Either way, Jace was going to take advantage of it no matter what.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jace knew he shouldn't be doing this. Getting close to Clary would only lead to dangerous grounds. Only problem was that he didn't care and decided to ignore the warning bells.

The ringing of an incoming text coming from his phone brought him back to his reverie. Checking, he saw it was Camille.

No tie. Unbutton a few buttons on the top. Roll up your sleeves.

Jace rolled his eyes at Camille but followed her directions. She, of course, always knew what suited him better.

Looking himself over, he decided he was ready to go pick up Clary. Just as he was exiting his apartment, his phone rang again.

Don't fuck it up.

Jace frowned slightly at the phone and left towards his car.

w.^.w

Clary's knee bounced all throughout the cab ride. She couldn't help feeling nervous . . . and anxious. She couldn't deny the prospect of actually seeing Jace alone was promising. She felt like a silly teenager going home to get ready for her first date with her all-time crush.

And, in one sick dimension, it was kind of true.

She wouldn't call Jace a crush, exactly. More like a "promising prospect". It didn't help that Clary already knew how quite promising a certain something about him was . . .

Clary shook her head from such thoughts. It usually took her about two hours to get out of teacher-mode—which meant no profanities, sexual thoughts, or certain needs. Looking over at her phone, she realized it had been less than twenty minutes since she had left the school. Just that was enough reason to make her think that seeing Jace was a terribly bad idea.

That didn't change what she actually desired.

The cab arrived to the front of her apartment building. She tossed a few bills to the driver and went up the stairs. Once she opened the door to her place, she knew someone was in. Her lights were on and she heard movement coming from the kitchen. She rolled her eyes knowing at once who it was.

"Honey, I'm home," she called with a stupid grin. She walked over to the couch, dropped her stuff, and then sank into the cushions.

A head poked out the kitchen's threshold with a grin that basically mirrored hers. "Hey, sweetie. How was work?" Clary tried to not to laugh at the sight of him wearing an apron. Who was he trying to fool? He probably cooked worse than Isabelle and that in itself was a feat. He came over with a plate. Clary couldn't see what it was, but she was not eating it.

"Exhausting, drilling, and annoying," she replied going along with the game.

He paused with a frown. "I am so sorry, sweetheart. Here," he said passing her the plate. "This should make everything better." Clary raised her eyebrows but took the plate. The laughter she had been holding erupted at the sight of what was on the plate.

"Oh, Si . . . Honey, you shouldn't have," she told him as her laughter subsided. Simon rolled his eyes and took a seat next to her.

"Anything for my sweetheart. Now, tell me all about this exhausting, drilling, and annoying day of yours." He took off the apron and dropped it on the floor morphing back into Clary's best friend.

Clary took the Twinkie from the plate and took a bite. "You're right. This did make everything better." Simon snorted and took the other Twinkie from the plate. He motioned with his hand to tell him everything. "Well, it was exhausting because some parents are just not easy to handle. How the kids do it, I don't know. Drilling because your wonderfully beautiful Isabelle decided to have a parent/teacher conference with me . . ." Simon laughed at that one, shaking his head. ". . . and annoying because Mr. CEO came around to my office."

That got Simon's attention as he sat up with a hard look. "What did he want?" he sneered.

"He wanted to 'take out his girl to eat'," she mocked his voice with an eye roll. "Seriously, what the hell did he expect? 'Oh, yes! I've been waiting for you to figure out your mistake all along!'?" They shared a simultaneous eye roll. "Hopefully he got the message."

Simon ran a hand through his hair. "I've never liked the guy," he said. Clary smiled and took his hand.

"I know. I should've listened to you the first time you expressed worries." Simon squeezed her hand and they sat in silence. Clary glanced quickly at her stretched-out-winged owl and her eyes popped out. "Si, I have to kick you out."

He grinned and stood up, pulling her up with him. "Are you going out?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "I have a date." Simon paused his movement towards the door and looked over his shoulder.

"Do I know him?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Clary nodded. "Yes, but you haven't met him. Now, choo!" He rolled his eyes and opened the door.

"I'm not a dog, Clarissa."

"I know," she said with a grin and closed the door after him. Taking another quick look at the clock, she decided to take a quick shower.

Thirty minutes later, she was doing what little she could with her hair. Putting on her earrings, she heard the buzzer go off and skipped over to see if it was him.

"Hey, Clary. It's Jace." Clary pressed the button and told him to "Come up." With that, she ran to her room again, quickly putting on her shoes and grabbing her sweater and purse before dashing to the mirror to check her lipstick and makeup one last time.

By the amount of time she was taking to look herself over, she knew she was nervous. With that, all of her earlier thoughts came back on full force.

Anxious. Promising. Nervous. Scared. Extremities. Anxious.

Promising extremities.

She had never felt more relieved than then when she heard soft knocks on her door. Checking the mirror, she saw her cheeks were red. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the door, chanting over and over in her head: "Relaxed, self-possessive beauty." Usually, that calmed her nerves, but today it just wasn't working. Once in front of her door, she took another deep breath before opening the door for him.

There he stood. Black dress pants, white button-up shirt—the top buttons undone—and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His hands were inside his back pockets, making his arms stretch against the stiff material of his shirt. His hair was disheveled perfection, resting right on top of his eyebrows. She felt immediately embarrassed for ogling him, but one look at his eyes and she knew she hadn't been the only one looking.

"Clary," he greeted with a smirk. She felt herself smiling.

"Hey, Jace."

w.^.w

Clary hadn't known what they were going to do. Maybe dinner. Sitting down. On chairs. She hadn't anticipated his idea to be of a walk around a not-so well-known street. It wasn't creepy or anything—quite the opposite, lots of lights, people walking in and out—but it was unexpected.

She was glad that she had opted to wearing a tight, strapless black dress. She would have looked ridiculous. Instead, she wore a black, frilly skirt that went up to a few inches over her knee and a black sweater over her white camisole with two-inch open-toed heels. Sweet, classy, cute. That was the image she was going for.

"We're going to this restaurant that has an open terrace. One of my favorites," he told her as they walked towards a less crowded street. Clary nodded wanting nothing more than to sit down.

Five minutes later they were still walking. There was an air of awkwardness. Clary was walking at least one foot away from Jace. By the looks he kept shooting to her, she knew he felt the awkward tension, too. Clary was almost relieved when he spoke up.

"What's up with you?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow. "First, you sounded off on the phone and now you just seem uncomfortable." He sighed. "I usually enjoy making women uncomfortable, but I hate it when it's coming from you."

Clary thought about his words. She had felt the impulse to snap that everything was just fine, but he was being completely open and honest with her. It unnerved Clary how much she missed cocky Jace who didn't make her uncomfortable. A part of her, though, liked seeing this Jace. She sighed and looked down at the pavement. "I—I don't know what I'm doing," she whispered, her eyes downcast. "It's more than easy to be mean to you, but . . . I want to give it a try."

He frowned. "What do you want to give a try to?"

Not making this easy on me, huh, Jace?

"Us?" she asked with a shrug. "All I know is that you make me do things on impulse. Every single thing I do around you is not thought thoroughly at all. I never know what to do when I'm with you." All through her confession, her eyes had been fixed on her shoes. He stopped and grabbed her hand, forcing her to stop as well. Clary looked up with a confused look.

Jace looked as confused as she felt, but there was a soft smile on his lips. He opened and closed his mouth a lot, trying to say something but not knowing exactly what he could say. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his other hand still holding hers.

"You scare the hell out of me, Clary."

And Jace Wayland kept surprising Clary.

Realizing how what he said sounded like, he shook his head and explained. "I mean, all this chasing, the jealousy . . . All of it. It scares me. I've never felt this possessive over someone who isn't even mine to begin with." Clary couldn't be sure, but he muttered something to himself that sounded like "and I shouldn't." Shaking the thought away, she released a relieved breath.

"I'm not quite sure I've had reason to be jealous yet, but there is always this eminent excitement when I'm around you. I can't help it." My body can't help it, was more like it.

Jace smirked almost as if she'd said the last part aloud. He squeezed her hand with his before letting go. "It's the Wayland charm," he said smugly. Clary rolled her eyes and continued walking.

"Sure, whatever." Her eyes lit up and a smile formed on her lips. "By the way, thank you." Jace raised an eyebrow with his smirk still in place, his eyes asking the motive silently. Clary grinned. "You had perfect timing this afternoon."

Jace frowned. "With the call?" Clary nodded, following Jace as he changed course.

"Yes. Ex-boyfriend came around to beg." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you had boyfriend issues?" His eyes lit up.

Clary laughed. "Ex-boyfriend. And yeah." He came to a stop in front of a door, opening it and motioning for Clary to go in.

"I would have gladly assumed the position of boyfriend on the phone in order for you to get rid of him," he told her in a whisper as she passed ahead of him with a small grin. Clary found herself smirking as she looked over her shoulder.

"Actually, you did just that." He frowned, not understand and Clary let out a small giggle. "After I hung up on you," she explained, "I told Sebastian—oh, um, that's his name—that you were my boyfriend." Jace's eyes widened. "Then he left." A host came up and led them towards the second floor terrace.

"Oh, really? Huh," he replied, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He shook his head. "How long were you two together?" he asked her, drifting the subject to a different direction. He pulled out her chair and she sat down. He took the seat in front of her.

"Well," she began while unfolding her napkin, "Eight months. A few months ago, he was working at this company—still is. They ascended him to CEO of the company and after that, he just thought that everything and everyone was below him." Clary frowned and looked down at the tablecloth. "We had problems and I ended it before they got out of hand." She looked up to see Jace looking down at the table with his eyebrows furrowed. "Jace?" she asked quietly and he looked up, the frown disappearing.

"What do you do for a living, Clary?" he asked with a small smile. Clary regarded him coolly seeing how easily he had changed the subject. The host brought them both glasses of water and promised a waitress was on her way.

"I am a teacher," she said warily. "Second grade teacher at a public school." Jace grinned.

"Really? My company is actually building a grad—" he stopped himself and narrowed his eyes. "Do you happen to have any connections with Herondale, Enoch and Brothers, or Frankfort Corporation?"

Clary laughed at his skepticism. "No, not at al—"

He stopped her with a smile of his own. "I forgot Graymark Corporation." Clary's breath hitched. "Well, since you don't—"

"I have connections with Graymark. I suppose you should keep your project to yourself." Jace looked at her with confusion written all over his face.

"You have a friend there?" he asked while he took a sip of his water. Clary suddenly felt on the spot. Her cheeks felt warm as she reached for her own glass of water and took a sip.

"Uh, no. More like a relative?" she asked more than stated. He quirked an eyebrow at her. With a sigh, she set down her water and confessed, "Luke Morgenstern is my uncle."

Jace's eyebrows went high up on his forehead, making them almost nonexistent. "You mean, the Luke Morgenstern?" Clary smiled tightly.

"Clarissa Morgenstern. Nice to meet you, Mr. Wayland."

w.^.w

Luke Morgenstern was one of the most successful people in New York.

The job, the money, the girls . . . he had it all. He was a role model to go by, or at least for a soon-to-be CEO.

Jace remembered wanting to be just like him before his father gave him the throne. He could count how many times he'd met Luke Morgenstern with the fingers of one of his hands. Every time felt memorable for him; like meeting a rock star just not quite. Luke was nice company, polite, charismatic—everything that was needed in order to maintain a good image.

When Clary had presented herself with the Morgenstern surname, he realized he hadn't even known that about her. He knew her body and personality. Other than that, he didn't know anything else.

Another question that kept going in and out of his head was how had Sebastian landed someone like Clary? Maybe Luke had presented them but even then, Jace knew what type of person Sebastian was. Clary didn't seem at all like his type. Even though this bothered him, it wasn't as bad as knowing that he didn't even know who the woman in front of him was.

"I never knew your name—your last name, that is," came out from his mouth.

Clary looked as confused by the question as he felt. "Yes," she replied. "Well, that's my name." She paused and looked over his shoulder before returning her eyes on him. "Does it—it doesn't bother you, right?"

Jace frowned at her words. "No. Should it?" Clary sighed while resting her forearms on the table, leaning forward. The waitress came then asking for their orders.

After she had gone, Clary responded. "No, I suppose not." She groaned, her face frustrated. "It's just," her voice went to a whisper and Jace had to lean in to hear her. "Luke and I . . . We aren't in the best of terms." She threw her head back, a humorless laugh escaping her lips. "That's probably an understatement." Jace's eyebrow quirked.

"But he's your . . . your uncle?" he asked and she nodded. "You've fought with him?"

"Countless of times." She smiled faintly, as if remembering something. "We just never saw eye-to-eye after I grew up, you know? It sucks because he was one of my best friends."

The image of Luke Morgenstern dressing dolls and playing tea party with a small Clary was something hard to imagine. The only image of Luke Morgenstern in his mind was of him with a suit. Even outside work hours.

Clary's giggle brought Jace back to the conversation. "You seem confused," she told him. "Have you ever met Luke?" Jace nodded and she reciprocated the action. "I thought so. You had the 'can it be?' look on your face."

"I can't see Luke in bermudas and a polo," he confessed. She giggled at his response, looking more at ease with him than before.

"Me neither. I don't think I've ever seen him in something than his suit and swimsuit." She laughed more openly at that and Jace joined her, the image of a swimsuit-clad Luke Morgenstern forever engraved in his mind.

Their waitress arrived again with their food, asking if they needed anything else. Jace declined after noticing her voice sounded too breathy. Maybe she was sick and losing her voice. After she walked away, he turned to find a scowling Clary. Jace frowned. "What?"

"She," Clary said pointing at the direction where the waitress had left, "was pushing her boobs in your face."

Really?

"Huh," he said with a shrug. "I didn't notice." Jace's panic from earlier began again. He always saw and noticed. He had been so focused on Clary that hadn't seen the waitress at all.

He was always aware of the surroundings.

Clary's eyebrows rose in a silent question. "Anyways, where do you work? You sound important," she said taking a bite of her steak. Jace didn't know if she was kidding or not. Possibly not, but one could never know.

"I'm CEO of my family's corporation. Wayland Corporative." Jace wasn't sure what to expect. Eye widening? Choking on water? Certainly, he thought she would do one of those but she just nodded and continued eating.

"I see," she drawled. "Explains why you're last name is Wayland." Jace couldn't help but end up laughing at her conversional tone. Almost like he hadn't just told her he was the owner of one of the most powerful companies in the states!

Clary frowned not quite understanding his humor. Her eyes widened and she reached for her napkin, quickly dabbing on the sides of her mouth and . . . had she just dabbed the tip of her nose? Jace found himself unable to stop laughing.

"What?" she asked hysterically in a hushed tone. "Where do I have sauce? God, I thought my messy-eater days were over!" Jace guffawed at Clary, taking the napkin from her and setting it on the table, shaking his head. "What is it, then?"

"Your reaction," he said after he could speak properly, "was just so . . . mundane!" Clary's eyes narrowed.

"Is that good or bad?" she asked silently taking another bite of her steak.

Jace thought about that. If she had no idea of how great Wayland Corporative was, she would never find out of his secretary history, of his wife—wives—and of anything else that could possibly make Clary not go out with him. This was perfect.

Jace grinned looking at her with a twinkle in his eye. "It's most definitely good."

w.^.w

At the end of the night, Clary was more than happy that she had accepted Jace's invitation. She'd had an amazing time with Jace and had probably not laughed as much as she had with him in a long time.

Clary couldn't help but compare Jace to Sebastian throughout the night and asked herself more than once why she had ever dated him. Sebastian had rarely held doors for her, had never pulled a chair out for her, or made her laugh like Jace had. She concluded that she had been infatuated by the dark prince that was taking a liking for her.

But now there was an even sexier man who wanted her. She couldn't help the boost of self-esteem that she felt. She was desirable and wanted.

After dinner, Jace asked if she would mind walking around for a bit. She actually did—her feet were killing her—but she wanted to spend more time with him so she agreed with the idea. Clary wasn't walking a foot away from him anymore, but very close. Her shoulder would bump his arm every once in a while.

As they walked, they came across a local ice cream shop. Jace stopped walking and looked down at Clary with a smirk.

"You want one?" he asked her. Clary hadn't realized she had been staring at the double-scoop display.

She shrugged trying to cover her smile. "I guess."

When Jace opened the door for her, she couldn't help but feel like a teenage girl with her boyfriend. She felt like blushing and giggling and skipping towards the counter with Jace holding her hand.

Clary didn't do that, of course.

She ordered a coffee scoop with an Oreo scoop. Jace looked at her funny but shrugged before ordering boring vanilla and strawberry. Clary almost laughed at his selection. They resumed their walking while eating their ice creams.

Clary smiled before asking him what she had wanted to at the store. "Strawberry and vanilla? I know we're adults, but how boring can you be?" He smiled at her and took a lick of his strawberry scoop.

"As weird as you can be getting coffee and cookies."

"Touché," Clary remarked with a nod. When they finished their ice creams, Jace hailed a cab to Clary's apartment. They got in and made comfortable talk until they came to the front of Clary's apartment. Jace's BMW was still sitting there at the curve. He paid the cab driver and they both watched as he sped away.

Clary felt Jace following closely behind as she walked up to the front door of the building. She let him pass as she unlocked the door and went up the stairs to her apartment. The nervousness that had been there at the beginning of the evening was back, but Jace being there a few centimeters away, walking towards her door, was making it be intensified tenfold.

They arrived to her door faster than Clary would have wanted. She felt both relieved and pained. Relieved because Jace would be gone in a few seconds—or minutes. But at the same time, she didn't want Jace to leave. The date had been one of her best.

Clary turned around to give her thanks to Jace but the words died in her throat as she took in his hungry gaze. His eyes were dark, melted gold looking at her. His dark lips were parted and they looked utterly delicious. She felt some certain parts tingling and resisted the urge to cross her legs.

Jace took a step closer, never taking his eyes off Clary's. She wanted to step back, but didn't want to seem like a coward, so she held her ground. Taking in his white shirt, she got the sudden urge to run her hands through the buttons and then to rip them apart to run her hands over his ripped muscles and tattoos. Of course, she knew she would never be able to make that happen with the amount of strength that she possessed. Fantasies were fantasies, nonetheless.

He inched forward, his eyes becoming darker by the second. They were making her scared and . . . excited. Before she knew what she was doing, her hands found his shoulders, tracing the muscles with her hands over his shirt. He didn't move or make any sound of protest, so she continued her exploration. They began inching towards his neck, finally taking in the shock of skin-to-skin contact. She looked up and found him studying her face, his eyes hooded with lust. Absentmindedly, she scratched the nape of his neck . . . and that was enough to make him break.

His hands grabbed her hips, bringing her body to his right before their lips crashed. Even though his hands were rough against her, his lips were soft and wonderful. She grabbed his hair, pulling him to her harder. He groaned in agreement while biting her lip as she granted access to her mouth. Soon the soft and wonderful kiss had gone to frantic and erotic.

As they continued kissing, his hand traveled to her knee where he hitched it up to his hip. Clary wrapped her legs around his hips and Jace moved towards her door, holding her against it hard. She gasped as she felt his lust right where she wanted it most. He took her gasp as a compliment and began grinding on her.

Even though Clary was enjoying herself, she knew they couldn't go further. It would end up being a repeat of what neither of them could remember. And, as much as Clary hated to admit it, she wanted more.

Breaking through her cloud of lust, she pulled away from Jace's lips, pecking them once more before dropping to the ground. Looking up at him, she found him panting as hard as she was. Jace looked confused, but understanding at the same time.

"I had a great time with you today, Jace," she panted, a smirk on her face.

"I agree." He put his hand next to her head on the door and leaned in. "I think we should do this again sometime."

"Hmm," hummed Clary. "I'd love that." He grinned and leaned down, kissing her slow and soft. She felt herself sighing against his lips.

"Me too," he murmured.

So... The date. This came so easily to me for some reason. I couldn't stop typing, seriously. This would had been up on Thrusday had it not been for the project, four essays and tests I had to do for Friday. *sigh* Sometimes, school sucks.

Okay, so, what'd you think? Camille and her mind-reading abilities? Simon and his housewife persona? Horny Clary and Jace? Yeah, those two are something, really.

So, this goes to SportyNo1 for just being freaking awesomesauce. I love you, babe! ;) BlondeHairBlueEyes14, my beautiful sisteen-year old. ;) camibandlover for word warring and her crazy talks and advice. ;) And 07XReflectional for just being there for me. :} I love all of you like, bunches and bunches! :D

Let's say this is an early Valentine's gift, yeah? Cheers! For taking risks. :} OH! I posted an Infernal Devices one-shot titled "Private Project". It would mean the world to me if you went to check that out.

Okay, enough ranting. Would mind leaving a lovely (and maybe extra long)...

Review? :D