Adam tugged at his collar, loosening his tie so he could breathe. It was going to be a long night. He was halfway to the group when a handful of skimpy twenty somethings surrounded him.

Hands squeezed his biceps on either arm and patted his chest in three different places at once. "Hey, handsome! Buy us a drink, will you?"

He rolled his eyes at the gaggle of giggles and uncomfortably extricated himself from their grip. "Sorry, ladies. Another time, perhaps."

They pouted without shame but thankfully let him go. Unfortunately McG saw the whole exchange and was ready to rib Adam as soon as he joined their group.

"Top! Feel free to invite your dates to join us!" He was the only team member completely oblivious to Adam and Jaz's connection. "I'll be glad to play wingman for you tonight!"

"Thanks, MacGuire, but I think I can handle myself," he rolled his eyes again and took a swig of his drink. Jaz was even more stunning up close, the warm lighting catching every sparkle in her eye shadow and glinting off her impossibly glossy red lips.

Patricia clinked her glass to get their attention. "I reserved a quiet room in the back for dinner, if we all want to head that direction. There will be plenty of time after to enjoy the music and dance floor."

They filed back to the room amicably and seated themselves at the long table set up with the perfect number of seats. Candles flickered on the table and the room was warm, but comfortable. Jaz slipped the shawl off her shoulders as she sat towards one end of the table, Noah following close behind to grab the seat next to her.

Adam positioned himself at the other end of the table, in front of Patricia and beside Amir, who somehow had worked it so Hannah was seated next to him. The only seat left for McG who had gotten swept up by the same group of socialites was the head of the table between Jaz and Hannah.

Jaz swallowed the petty annoyance that Adam had chosen a seat basically as far from her as possible and determined to enjoy the night anyway. Insecurity was not a look she ever planned to wear. Besides, with him farther away, she could still catch glimpses of him but not have the pressure of carrying on a coherent conversation with the man who could easily turn her speechless with one flicker from those ocean eyes.

Adam chose his seat out of desperation. Any closer to Jaz and he'd be a fumbling fool the entire night. At least with the distance between them, he could admire her from afar but not have the pressure of involving her too personally in conversation. Usually his control over his emotions was impeccable, but he had flirted with the line of appropriate behavior between captain and soldier too much lately and now that their leave was official, it would be all to easy to abandon all self control and demolish that line completely.

Adam reminded himself that leave didn't mean anything in terms of his status as team leader. The team would be back to work in six months' time and he refused to jeopardize the tenuous balance he had worked so hard to achieve over the last year.

He wasn't sure when this crazy magnetism between the two of them started. He knew for sure it was there back in Seville, though he hadn't been ready to admit it was mutual back then. But it had been slowly building in the months leading up to that op in Spain. And had all but exploded afterwards.

Somehow Jaz had worked her way under his carefully laid armor and reached a part of his heart that he had thought was long dead. Even without the stress of keeping things professional, Adam hadn't a clue as to how he would pursue things if he could. He had worked tirelessly to both open up to Jaz but keep their connection on the down low so as to not upset the team dynamic.

Tehran had changed things in his mind. He had been ready to send the rest of them home, but there was no way in hell that he would leave Iran without Jaz. He would rescue her or die trying. And then there was the whole Alex Hoffman fiasco with his uncanny intuition of their unspoken feelings for each other. When Alex had referred to him as Jaz's boyfriend, his blood pressure had flown through the roof. Mind games, he had snapped, frantic to deflect the truth. But honestly "boyfriend" sounded...so juvenile, when what he and Jaz shared was infinitely more profound. Adam didn't know if he believed in soulmates, but if they were a thing, he was pretty sure Jaz was his.