Ari stirs, her eyes slowly opening and adjusting to the light coming in from a nearby window. She turns her head to look at her alarm clock only to find a night table with a small lamp and what seems like a bowl and a glass of orange juice. She blinks a few times until she remembers that she isn’t home.

Oh.

After that realization hits, she makes out the sound of soft taps on computer keys and turns around to find JC sitting up in bed, his back up against the headboard. He is wearing a loose pair of cotton pajama pants and a grey undershirt, in his lap rests a small laptop.

“Morning.” She hears him say softly, her eyes lifting to meet his behind the thick black frames of his glasses.

Gawd…I could get used to this.

Smiling shyly, she sits up and runs a hand through her tangled hair.“Morning. What time is it? Have you been up for a while?” She asks, pulling the sheets up a little closer around her. She looks around for a moment and sees that the large TV on the wall facing the bed is on and tuned to CNN but muted.

“9:37 to be exact.,’ he answers, reaching over to his night table to grab his cup of coffee. He takes a sip and continues, “Just a little while, I let Maestro out and made some coffee. I know you don’t like coffee so I brought you something else.” He motions to her night table.

“Thank you, that’s really sweet.” She smiles and grabs the tall glass of orange juice to take a sip. She sees that a bowl filled with what seems like yogurt, granola and some cut up fruit is also on the night table.

He made me breakfast.

He took the time to wash and slice an orange, some kiwi and some strawberries.

How is this man not married and spoken for already?

“I hope you like those…” She hears him cut into her thoughts as she was probably staring at her bowl for a few seconds.

“Oh yes, of course. These are great. I love all fruit. Raspberries are my favorite.” She smiles using the spoon already in the bowl to have a bite. “Do you cook much?" She asks as she picks up a piece of strawberry and takes a bite of it.

“Oh no…” He laughs, shutting the cover of his laptop and placing it beside him on the night stand. “I can’t cook much of anything. I just buy stuff that I can peel or cut up and eat without messing too much with it. I can make good pop tarts though.” He grins, looking at her.

“I’ll have to teach you sometime…would you like to learn?” She asks as she continues to eat the yogurt and fruit.

“Maybe. My mom has tried but I couldn’t be bothered when I was a kid. Couldn’t hurt to try and teach me.”

“We can just do easy stuff that doesn’t need many ingredients or much time. Stuff you could make for yourself of if you were having someone over.”

“I’d like that.” He smiles at her again. “So what’s the plan today?”

“Um, well first I should really call my landlord to see what to do about the window and the door. I should also start working on contacting my insurance company to get things rolling. What about you? I don’t want to impose on your time; I know you have things to do. I hope you didn’t feel like you had to stay in here this morning to take care of me or anything.”

He waves away her concerns and shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it. I wanted to stay around in here until you woke up in case you got confused and freaked out about where you were you know? Plus, I didn’t really have anything this morning; I just have a session at the studio with the girls in a couple of hours.”

He takes his glasses off and sets them on top of the laptop. “Actually I have to go make a few calls, why don’t you stay up here and make yourself at home? Take a shower or whatever and make your calls. Come find me downstairs when you’re done.”

She nods and smiles, watching him get up and stretch his arms up over his head. It is an absolute physical impossibility for her eyes to not wander down his chest to the band of skin that peeks between his shirt and his pants.

I should have skipped breakfast and had him instead…

A grin spreads over her lips and she bites the lower one.

“See something you like?” She hears him ask and lifts her eyes to find his amused ones. She keeps her grin but her cheeks warm and without knowing where she gets the courage to do it, she nods slowly.

He chuckles and he swipes the side of his finger against his nose and winks.“See you in a bit.”

God she wants to kiss him…for him to kiss her. All she wanted to do this morning was to crawl over the bed and replace that laptop in his lap with herself. That t-shirt would not have stayed on very long if it would have been up to her.

Not yet. He said he didn’t want to get into something right now.

If we sleep together it definitely becomes something.

Groaning, she peels the covers off of herself and walks over to her bag which is resting on the floor near the bed. Her ankle throbs slightly but it doesn’t keep her from functioning.

She was going to call her landlord and then the insurance company, but first she needs a shower.A moment later when she steps into the bathroom and figures out how to turn on the most expensive looking rain showerhead she’s ever seen, she can’t help but think about the day he’d hopefully be in there with her.

*****************************************************

“What are you watching?” She asks, walking into his living room after following the sound of the television.

“Nothing really, just some documentary about some deep sea fishing or something like that. I stopped paying attention about 20 minutes ago,” he answers as he puts his phone down and grabs the remote to turn off the television. “Did you talk to your landlord?”

She takes a seat on the corner of the couch and nods, setting her own phone on the coffee table near his. “Yeah. He said he’d get someone to look into it today but that since tomorrow is the weekend he may not be able to get another window until Monday. He also said that since he’d have to screw that plywood over the broken window until it is replaced that I can’t stay there, as legally I do not have a secondary exit in case of a fire.”

“That makes sense.” He nods, crossing one leg over the other as he watches her.

“Yeah, so I sent a text to Pat about staying at their place for a few days while they are out of town. They’re in a different time zone right now so I doubt I’ll hear back for a couple of hours. I’m sure it’ll be fine though.”

“You don’t have to do that. Why don’t you stay here? There’s plenty of room and you wouldn’t be alone. I’d be here or Maestro can keep you company when I’m not.”

Cause I’m scared of what will happen if I stay…

“JC, that’s really sweet but I really don’t want to impose. I don’t want to be in your way. And to be honest…” She bites her lip, looks away from him and tries again.“To be totally honest staying here with you, seeing you in your home setting makes me like you even more,” she finishes softly, her cheeks flaming with her admission.

Where am I getting the courage to say this stuff?

I’ve never been able to do that before…

“And that’s an issue because…” He questions as he stands up and comes to sit a little closer to her. “Hey, look at me,” he says softly.

Blue meets blue and she shrugs.“Just of what we said: we're both hesitant to start something new. I really like the friendship we’ve developed and I wouldn’t want to lose that if…we don’t work out or…” She says another few words but they come out mumbled and she breaks eye contact.

“Or what, Ari?”

She didn’t think that her cheeks could get any redder but they do.“Or…if you’re not as attracted to me as I am to you,” she repeats, this time clearly enough for him to understand her.

He lets out a dry laugh and shakes his head, reaching forward to turn her chin, making her look at him. “That’s crazy, Ari. From the moment we met and I watched you run your hand through your hair to rebraid it…I was a goner.” He chuckles.

“You were watching me?” She asks, a small smile forming over her lips at his nod. “And did you make sure you got coffee all over yourself so you’d be able to come home with me that day?” The smile now turns into a smirk.

“That was just a happy accident, but I’m glad it happened,” he answers and leans a little closer to her.

He’s going to kiss me.

He’s going to kiss me.

Unable to help herself, she licks her lower lip while glancing down at his, giving him the signal that he is waiting for. Without another moment of hesitation, his head angles and his lips press against hers gently. His lips move against hers not with passionate abandon but with soft explorative strokes, giving her time to experience the taste and texture of his lips while he does the same for hers. Before long, his lips pull away and she is left with a feeling of contentedness but also one of intrigue and desire.

If this is how he gives a first kiss…how incredible are his passionate ones going to be? If he is this attentive for a first kiss…how incredible of a lover will he be?

She can't wait to find out.