She had poured herself a glass of wine and sat in silence, noise only made when she sipped from the wine and set it back on the table. The near-silence was almost deafening and she liked it that way. Try as she may, she couldn't get what happened with Jamie out of her mind, no matter what she did. So silence seemed to be the best option.

The near-deafening ambience was interrupted by knocking on the door. "Kara, it's Jamie."

Great, she thought. Just. Great.

Kara walked up to the door and glanced through the peephole to make sure it was him. She opened the door, but didn't unhook the lock.

"What do you want?" she asked, still smarting from the botched one-night stand five days ago. She glanced and saw he was hiding something. "And what's behind your back?"

Jamie presented a bouquet of flowers. "It's the opening act of my apology. Can I come in?"

Sighing, she unhooked the lock. She let him in, taking the flowers. "Thanks," she said, trying her best to be polite in a tense situation. She put them in a tall vase and filled it with water.

Jamie had been to Kara's apartment once before, where a surprise party was held for a cop and his fiancé, a civilian desk attendant at the 1-2, so he knew how to get there. The apartment looked great. It had a nice, homey feel that appealed to Jamie.

"I never told you this at the engagement party, but you have a nice place," he said looking around approvingly. "Very homey. Tough to do sometimes in a New York apartment."

"Yeah, well, I owe that to my grandma." she said as she walked to the living room area, putting on a Southern drawl. "Sweety, as long as you make it homey, it'll be home."

Jamie laughed. "Smart grandma," he said.

Kara motioned for him to have a seat on her couch. "Uh… Just so we're clear, nothing is going to happen on this couch, okay?" she said with a glint in her eye and a half-smile.

She's smiling, Jamie thought. I might get out of here alive, after all.

"Nothing at all," Jamie agreed raising his hand. "Scout's honor."

They sat on the couch, both shifting nervously, each second passing like a minute.

"I…" Jamie finally said carefully. "First, I am so very sorry about what happened. I should've stopped when you said my name the first time. I thought it sounded weird when you said it, but for whatever reason, it didn't register. I am so, so sorry about that. I am not that kind of man. But I guess I was that night." He looked down at the floor in shame.

Kara's already softening heart melted like butter. "Jaime," she half-whispered. She gently grabbed his hand. Unlike five days ago, this time it wasn't out of panic. "Jaime, please look at me."

Jamie looked into her eyes.

"To this very second, I never ever thought you were that kind of man. We both had a couple drinks in us, we got caught up in the moment when we were dancing at Mack's. I'm just as much to blame. I'm sorry, too."

Jamie nodded slowly. He then continued, "Do… Do you really think I see you as a stand-in for Eddie?"

Kara sighed. "Aren't I?"

As she asked her question, Jamie thought back to a conversation he had with Danny the day after he screwed it all up with Kara.

"Yeah, kid," Danny observed. "You screwed up big time."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Detective," Jamie said, none too pleased at himself and in no mood for Danny's snark. "Look… I want to move on, I do. Eddie's engaged, happily so. That ship has sailed. And Kara's great, she really is. But I think I forced it."

"How so?" Danny asked.

"It was a date, but I treated it like two cops going out for drinks after tour. Have some food, have a couple drinks…"

"You treated it like you were hanging out with Eddie," Danny observed. "That's what she meant when she said she couldn't be a stand-in for her. She could smell it on you, kid. The desperation to forget, the fact that your heart wasn't in it."

"My heart was in it!" Jamie protested. "I wouldn't have asked Kara out if I thought she wasn't great!"

"Ah, but was your heart 100 percent in it?" Danny asked.

"Honestly," Jamie admitted, "more like 90-10. Ninety percent of me was excited to be with Kara…"

"But it's that 10 percent that screamed the loudest, at least to her," Danny concluded.

They both sat in silence, staring at their drinks.

"Let me ask you something, Jamie," Danny prodded. "Do you see yourself with Kara. Not sayin' you're getting married, but can you see yourself being in a relationship with her?"

Jamie looked right into Danny's eyes, full of conviction. "Yes. She's a special person. I want her to be my special person. When I saw her that day after tour in her regular clothes, it clicked. And I've never been able to look at her or think about her the same way."

Danny grinned. "Then you tell her that and let the stuff with Eddie go! She's a great person, always will be, but you said it yourself, that ship has sailed. She's happy with this Barry guy, let her be happy. And for cryin' out loud, try to be happy for her! We need more love in this world, not less…"

That conversation rang like church bells in his head when he looked at Kara.

"Well?" she pressed. "Aren't I?"

"No," he said eyes full of conviction. "You are not a stand-in for Eddie. You are Kara Walsh, the woman I am interested in and the woman I'd like to take on a date. A real date, not something stupid like Mack's."

Kara stifled a laugh. "C'mon, Jamie, Mack's wasn't that bad."

"It was a bad idea for a first date," Jamie countered, "and I'm sorry. As for Eddie, that is in the past. You are my present and, if this works out, part of my future."

Woah, Kara thought. "You're serious, aren't you?" she couldn't help but wonder out loud.

"Absolutely," he answered earnestly. "So, Kara… Can I have the privilege of a do-over and take you on a date?"

Kara grinned. "Yes. Yes, you may."

"I'd like to take you out tomorrow," Jamie said. "I don't want to wait."

"Where are we going?" Kara asked.

"It's a surprise," Jaime said.

Kara pouted playfully. "Well… Better be good," she said jokingly.

"Oh, it will," Jamie assured her. "But I gotta be at roll call by Nine in the morning, so I better go."

Kara walked Jamie to the door, opening it for him.

As he walked away, Kara exclaimed, "Jamie, wait!"

He stopped and turned as she came up to him.

"I know we haven't had our date, yet," she said, "but…" She leaned in to place a sensual kiss on his right cheek, letting her moist lips stay there for one second, two seconds, three seconds, four, five. "Be safe out there, okay, Mr. Reagan?"

Jamie blushed, which Kara thought was cute. "Will do, Ms. Walsh."