Emma woke up on the third morning to find the bed empty. She sighed as she rolled over onto his side and breathed in the scent he left on his pillow. It vaguely reminded her of spiced cinnamon.

She appreciated that he was respecting her boundaries, but after a day of having a warm body beside her, she was starting to think maybe waking alone wasn't something she wanted to do any more. And that thought unnerved her a little bit. How could she possibly think that, after only waking up with him one morning, she was ready for that kind of commitment? It's not like she had feelings for the man. She was just enjoying the view, so to speak. Not that she would mention any of that to him. He would probably take that as invitation to get in her space again.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up in the bed. Where was he anyway? And then, as if silently answering her question, the smell of breakfast wafted into the room.

"Is he cooking?" Emma questioned to no one but herself. She threw the blankets aside and climbed out of the bed. Her feet padded across the carpet as she headed down the hallway to the kitchen.

Killian gave her a bright smile when she came into his line of sight. "Good morning, love. Are you hungry?"

She nods her head as she leans against the counter. "You're making me breakfast this morning?"

"I believe the rules said two random acts of kindness each." He flipped a pancake in the pan as he spoke. "This is my first. I figured you would not want to cook all the meals while you were here."

"Well it certainly is kind." Now, Emma had to do something even better to top his kind gesture. "So, I see you can cook using something other than a microwave," she teased with a small, playful grin.

"Aren't you just the comedian? For your information, I can cook. It's just that when I get home from work most days, I'm so tired. I find that it's easier to just whip up something simple rather than cook a full meal for just myself."

"That makes sense." He gave her a look of surprise, clearly in awe that she had actually agreed with him about something. "Shut up," she said, picking up a straw from the dispenser on the counter, and throwing it at him. "I get it. I work all sorts of weird hours most of the time, well with this week being an exception for this experiment."

He places a few more finished pancakes on the small pile and turns off the stove. "What is it you do for a living? I don't think I ever asked you that.."

"I'm a bail bonds person. It's not easy trying to catching people who skip bail, since most of the time they don't want to be found. But I'm pretty good at it," she finishes with a small shrug. She steps around him to the cabinets to grab a couple plates. "What about you?"

He took the plates from her hands when she offered them and put half of the stack of pancakes on each plate. "I'm a naval architect. Basically, I design and build ships. Which can be cause for late nights in the office when I'm trying to get a plan drawn up for a difficult client. Would you like syrup?" He handed the plates to her as he moved to the fridge.

"Yes, please." Her answer comes out soft as she looks at his back. "I would have never guessed that about you, Killian."

He threw her a small grin over his shoulder as he straightened back up. "I'm a man of many secrets, Emma."

"I'm beginning to see that." She turned away from him and took the plates to the table as he walked behind her with the syrup and two cups of coffee in his hands. Her coffee was made just the way she liked it. As she sat down, a smile came to her lips that he remembered such a small thing.

He took his seat and pushed the syrup to her. "Ladies first, love."

"Such a gentlemanly thing to do." She picked up the container and poured a hearty amount of the sticky liquid over her pancakes.

"I don't think you've got enough syrup there." A smirk spreads across his lips as he speaks. "And I'm always a gentleman."

She chuckled faintly as she gave the syrup back to him. "Could have fooled me."

"Well, I am going to make you eat your words, for tonight, I am going to take you out for a night of enchantment and fun," he says smugly as he begins to eat his food.

"I'll believe it when I see it," she met his eyes as she took her own bite of the pancakes. Her eyes widened a second after she chewed the food. "This tastes amazing. You should cook more often. You're really good at it."

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as he ate another forkful. "I'm average at best."

"Now, you're going to be humble?"

"In regards to cooking, I will never boast about my capability," he grins at her playfully. "However, when it comes to charming and pleasuring a woman, I excell."

Her cheeks flushed red at his words, and she looked down quickly to hide her reaction, which, no doubt the camera caught it. But she didn't need to feed his ego anymore than already did. "I think I'm going to have lunch with my friend, Mary Margaret, sometime this week. She's dying to know what's going on."

"Is that against the rules?"

Emma looked up and met his eyes again after her blush went away. "No one ever told me I couldn't."

"Well, I could hang with a few of my work mates while you're gone." He shoveled the last bite of his breakfast into his mouth. He stood a moment later and carried his plate and cup to the sink. "You can shower first if you want."

"Thanks," she said as she got up and moved over to the sink, placing her empty plate on top of his. Her hand grazed his arm, and she could have sworn she felt his body stiffen just slightly. "I won't be long."

"No problem." It could have been her imagination, but it sounded as though he was holding his breath.

She smiled as she turned and headed back to the bathroom in their room, and closed the door behind her. She reached into the shower and turned on the water to adjust the temperature before she stripped out of her pajamas and climbed in. A sigh escaped her lips as the warm spray of the water hit her skin.

As she grabbed the shampoo and began to wash her hair, Emma's mind wandered to the date Killian mentioned he was going to take her on tonight. What did he have in mind? But she was excited, perhaps even more so than she thought she would be. She rinsed the shampoo from her hair, and took up the conditioner next, working it through her golden strands.

After she had washed her body and rinsed that too, she turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. She looked around a moment before groaning in frustration. She had forgotten to grab a towel from the closet. "Of course."

Emma turned the knob of the door and peaked her head out into the room. When she didn't see Killian, she opened the door the rest of the way and proceeded to walk to the closet. Not more than a second later, the door to the bedroom flew open and in walked Killian. She screamed as she caught his eye before she hastily grabbed for the blanket on the bed and pulled it in front of her naked form. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

He averted his eyes quickly, but she knew he had gotten a view of her body. "You know, this is my room too. You should remember that when you feel like walking around without any clothes on."

"For your information, I forgot a towel, and I was going to get one."

"Ah, I see." He scratched his head before turning around to give her a bit of privacy. When he did, she quickly moved to the closet and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around her. "Well, don't take this the wrong way or anything, but you've got a great figure."

Killian was obviously trying to make light of the situation. "You can turn around now," she said avoiding his compliment. "I'm covered."

"I didn't mean to walk in on you like that," he said as he turned back to face her. "I thought you were still in the shower. My apologies."

Emma grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. "It's okay. It was my fault for forgetting a towel." She reached for her undergarments and made her way back to the bathroom.

Today is starting out wonderfully, she thought to herself sarcastically as she changed into her clothes. I wonder what other fun surprises await me.

A knock sounds on the door a moment later. "Oh, Emma, you should dress warm for our date. Things might get a little chilly."

A few hours later, Emma slid into the passenger seat of Killian's car with a jacket slung over her arm as he held open the door for her, giving her a small grin as he met her eyes. "See? I can be a gentleman."

She merely chuckled in response as he closed her door and walked around to his side, climbing into the driver's seat. "Where are you taking me?"

"If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise," he said as he started the car and pulled off toward their destination.

Her arms crossed over her chest at the same time that she huffed lightly. "You should know, I'm not one for surprises."

He turned toward her a little with a small smirk, but still kept his eyes mostly on the road. "You'll like this surprise. I can pretty much guarantee it."

"Fine," she mutters under her breath, hiding the fact that she was secretly excited.

The rest of the car ride passed with easy conversation. It was comfortable, even with a camera that had been set up on the dashboard to watch everything. She was beginning to see Killian as a friend, and being around him was becoming easier as the days progressed. She was even starting to see the charm he spoke of. But she refused to let herself succumb to it, as he claimed so many women had.

When he pulled into the parking lot of the indoor ice rink, she turned in her seat to face him. "Ice skating?" Her tone was full of surprise at his choice of a date activity. This was definitely not what she was expecting.

He turned his head after he parked the car and grinned at her brightly. "Indeed, love. Ice skating." He unbuckled his seatbelt and let it slide into place before he got out and made his way to her side, opening the door for her again.

"I happen to really love ice skating," she said as she climbed out of the car and met his gaze with a smile. "Good job so far."

"I haven't even had a chance to charm you yet." He grinned as he took her hand, which she was surprised to find she didn't mind, and led her inside the building. He rented them two pairs of skates and paid the man behind the counter a little extra so they could have one of the rinks in the place to themselves.

Once they both had their skates on and laced up good and tight, Emma made her way into the rink with Killian close behind her. "I don't think I've been ice skating in months. I just don't get the opportunity to go anymore with my job taking up so much of my free time." She glided along the ice with a smile on her face. "I just find it really relaxing for me."

"For me as well," he said coming up closer to skate beside her. "My father used to take me ice skating all the time as a child. Well, before he left me and my brother."

The way he abruptly ended the sentence made Emma guess he didn't want to go into any detail about that topic. So she decided to take the safer route. "You have a brother?"

"Had," was his simple reply. "He passed some time ago."

"Oh." So much for safer. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't-"

He held up a hand to cut off her apology. "That's not necessary, you didn't know," he assured her with a smile. "His name was Liam, and he was a good man. Better than I ever hope to be. We worked together designing ships for some years. One night, we were driving home together, and it was late. We had a particularly picky client that day." He smiled over at her and she could see that it didn't quite reach his eyes. "We went through a green light and as we crossed the intersection, a drunk driver slammed into his side of the car. He didn't even make it to the hospital." The smile fell from his lips as he looked forward. "He didn't deserve to die that way."

She bit her lip as she reached out and took his hand in hers, gently squeezing in what she hoped was reassurance. "I really am sorry, Killian."

When he smiled over at her again, she took that as a pretty good sign that she had succeeded. "It's okay, I've learned to deal with it. But, we're on a date, and I think we shouldn't be talking about things that don't involve you and me."

"Ever the charmer," Emma said with the tiniest of smirks on her lips. She left her hand in his since he didn't seem to mind the contact as they continued to skate for about an hour.

They filled the time with pleasant conversations, learning new things about each other. Some things simple, such as their favorite colors, foods, and holidays. Other things more personal, like where they grew up, and their family lives.

"I grew up in the foster system," she confessed as they talked. "My parents dropped me off at the hospital when I was a baby. I bounced around foster homes in Boston until I was 13 when I got adopted." She couldn't help but smile and chuckle at the memory. "Before I got adopted, I got into some trouble and I thought Ingrid wanted to send me back, but I found adoption papers in her bag when I accidentally knocked it off the kitchen counter. I was so happy, I practically knocked her over when she walked in the kitchen, and she was so confused until I showed her what I found."

"Do you get to see her often?" Killian asked with genuine curiosity.

Emma nods her head. "I see her as often as I can when I'm not swamped with work." She paused a second and looked over at him. "Hey, do you want to get a hot chocolate? The cold has made me crave one."

"That sounds like a great idea." He leads her back out of the rink, and they walk in their skates to the concession counter. He orders two, and when they're handed the paper cups, they walk back to the rink and sit in the bleachers away from the crowd, apart from the cameraman.

She took the lid off her cup and blew on the hot liquid before she took a small sip. She hums as the chocolate slides down her throat, warming her from the inside. "Now, this is exactly what I needed."

He nodded as he sipped his own hot chocolate. "Definitely hits the spot." He glanced over at her with a smile and his gaze lingered longer than usual.

"Do I have some whipped cream on my face?" Emma, instantly paranoid about that, starting wiping her chin with the sleeve of her sweater.

Killian couldn't help but laugh as he shook his head. "No, no. There's nothing on your face. You're just beautiful is all." He shrugged like it was the simplest thing in the world.

Her cheeks flushed at his confession, and she looked down to avoid his gaze. "Thank you," she said as she went back to sipping her beverage. I guess he wants to make this feel more like a real date than a fake one. The thought ran through her head as she looked back over at him again. "I guess you're not so bad yourself."

He chuckled as their eyes met. "That sounded so very sincere."

"What can I say? I have a way with words." She smirked as she lifted her cup to her lips once more and downed the last bit of chocolate and whipped cream.

Another chuckle came from Killian's lips a moment later. "Now, you have whipped cream on your face. Come here." He leaned in towards her and used his thumb to swipe the cream from the very corner of her lips. Her breath caught as she locked eyes with him. After his compliment, she was beginning to feel like he was hoping for more to happen on this date. Emma couldn't have that.

"Thanks," she said simply as she turned away a moment later to hide the slight red tint in her cheeks. She tossed her paper cup over the side of the bleachers and it landed directly into the trash can below. She turned back with a beaming grin. "Please tell me you saw that?"

Killian smiled as he nodded. "That was lucky. Let a pro show you how it's done." He aimed his shot before taking it, and Emma laughed when the cup missed by at least three feet.

"I'm sorry, was that showing me how it's done?" She continued to laugh as he grumbled and stood to pick up his trash and throw it away.

They bantered playfully the rest of the afternoon, and when they finally tired out, Killian returned their skates to the counter. As they walked out, he reached over and took her hand. He must have figured it was okay, since they had held hands most of the date. She didn't know if she should let it continue, but she liked the way her hand fit perfectly into his. "I do hope you had fun on our date."

"Fake date," she clarified softly. She couldn't lead him on too much. "And yes, I had a lot of fun."

He smiled, though it wasn't as bright as it had been earlier in the afternoon, as he opened the door of his car to let her get in. "I did too. Even if it wasn't real." He closed the door and walked to his side to get in.

As they drove home, she couldn't help glancing in his direction. She was starting to think she was a little attracted to Killian, and that thought scared her a little bit because it wasn't just physical attraction she was feeling. There was something else there, and she wasn't sure she was ready to open her heart. However, after today's date (fake date!), she knew she had to do something really impressive the next time. But what?