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A/N: See, I didn't make you wait too long for the update! I can't wait to get the plot going!
Since Wesley had helped her shop, Jenna realized that their clothes were actually color coordinated. He was wearing a darker blue sweater with a black T-shirt underneath it, and she was wearing a little black empire style dress with three blue satin buttons trailing down to a blue satin belt where the empire waist was.
"We match," she stated in mild surprise as she looked at him, then back down at her own outfit.
"So we do," he agreed, before easily moving on to ask her which movie she wanted to watch later. After a bit of debating, it came down to either The Banger Sisters or Almost Famous.
"We like blonde groupies, do we?" she asked, teasingly raising an eyebrow.
"Actually, I prefer brunettes," he stated.
She nodded, opening the door. "Kim was brunette, wasn't she?"
He rolled his eyes a little. "Must you keep bringing her up?"
She gave him an impish grin. "Of course. These little things I can do to annoy you make me happy."
Wesley raised an eyebrow and stopped in the middle of the doorway, trapping her in the bedroom. "And if you keep annoying me I'm not going to help you with a plan of survival for the birthday party."
Jenna opted to be nice, and Wesley did help Jenna decide on a survival tactic. She stayed close to Wesley in one corner while he visited with his younger nephew, Dawson, and she didn't get lost in the crowd. Honestly, she was enjoying visiting with Dawson anyway. Jenna had always liked children, but she found herself enjoying time with children even more lately, and Wesley's nephew was absolutely adorable. He had a mop of brown hair and Wesley's brown eyes, which Jenna was starting to assume was a strong trait in the Carter family.
After Lisa opened her presents they did the little birthday cake ceremony, making a wish and letting Gideon cut the cake. Wesley and Jenna kept Dawson, and they all found a little place where they could sit and enjoy their cake. Dawson picked at his cake a little bit, but for some reason he found Jenna's cake much more appealing.
"Here," he said, trying to shove a Winnie the Pooh spoon full of cake at Jenna.
"Oh," she said, leaning back just a little so he didn't dump the cake in her lap. "Thank you, sweetie, but I think you should eat it. It's really good," she told him with a knowing nod.
Dawson smiled. "I like cake."
"Me, too. We have that much in common," she told him.
He held out another unsteady spoon full. "Eat cake."
"That cake is definitely going to land in my lap here in a minute," Wesley stated, watching the cake as he balanced his nephew on his leg.
"Or mine," Jenna added.
"Oh, if I get caked you better believe you're getting caked, too," Wesley stated.
She rolled her eyes and said jokingly, "So much for my knight in shining armor."
Now it was Wesley's turn to roll his eyes. "Please. You and I both know if you were to come across a knight in shining armor, you would find him incredibly boring. You'd probably tell him to hop back up on his horse and send him packing."
She had just taken a bite of her own cake, so she pointed her fork at him, raising an eyebrow. "Now you sound like my mother."
"You love your mother," he responded.
"Yes, but I wouldn't marry her," Jenna shot back. "Maybe I should rethink this whole Mrs. Wesley Carter deal."
He shrugged, smiling in that amused way of his. "I'm just stating the facts, hon."
She glanced at Dawson, who was currently very involved in eating Wesley's cake. She smiled at the fact that Wesley hadn't noticed yet and pulled her attention back to the oldest of the two. "Like you even know the facts."
"Of course I know the facts. It's my genetic code to know the facts."
"Of my love life?" she asked, her left eyebrow shooting up. "You know what kind of man appeals to me? How in the world, Wesley Carter, do you presume to know if I would like a chivalrous man or not?"
"I know that if you did, you wouldn't have wasted so much time with Troy or Trent or whatever the hell his name was."
She gave him a frown and said, "Don't swear in front of the baby." Then, barely missing a beat, she went on, "And his name is Trevor."
"Same difference," Wesley said carelessly.
She laughed briefly at the absurdity of their conversation. "No, it isn't, and you don't know the first thing about Trevor, so don't pretend you know my type."
"I know the important stuff," Wesley argued.
"Oh really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what is all of this important knowledge that you have?"
"I know he has bad grammar, he's an alcoholic, and he's clearly a moron. What else do I need to know?"
"Well," she said, not able to really argue. "That isn't fair, though. Trevor did have his good points. He just makes bad decisions and he likes variety, and sometimes he's really... selfish and immature and... obnoxious. Actually, it can be embarrassing to go out in public with him sometimes," she said thoughtfully, a frown forming. "But none of this is the point," she added, shaking her head a little.
"Of course not," Wesley replied easily. "He sounds like an absolute prince; I apologize for ever doubting you."
She shook her head, watching as Dawson scooped up another bite of cake and tried to feed it to Wesley. A reluctant smile tugged at the corners of her mouth and she said, "Could we not talk about my previous relationships right now? I'd really like to enjoy watching your nephew stuff cake in your face, and I can't do that if you're too busy arguing with me over things you don't even know about."
"As you wish," he said with a nod.
Her head shot up and she grinned. "The Princess Bride. We have to watch The Princess Bride tonight. You've done it now. I've made up my mind."
Wesley groaned, dodging the cake Dawson was trying to shovel into his mouth. "Aw, no, don't make me watch that."
"Oh no, we're definitely watching it," Jenna decided.
"But I want to watch Almost Famous," Wesley said.
"Well, then you shouldn't have said, 'As you wish,' and made me really want to watch The Princess Bride," she reasoned, unthinkingly grabbing a napkin and wiping the icing from Dawson's mouth.
"Here's what we'll do," Wesley stated. "We'll watch both. Almost Famous first, then The Princess Bride."
"No way," she argued. "What if I fall asleep during the second movie? I did get up at 6:30 this morning."
Wesley shook his head, moving Dawson to his other knee. "Hey, that isn't my fault. Nobody made you get up. It's hardly my fault that you can't sleep when someone else is in bed with you."
Jenna stuck her nose in the air. "And it's not my fault that you sleep so very well when someone else is in bed with you."
He cracked a smile. "You know, I don't spend nearly as much time in bed with people as you seem to think."
"I'm sure," she replied in a tone that implied she couldn't be less interested.
Wesley watched her as she kept that little nose of hers in the air and took a small bite of her cake. He was just about to start picking on her again when Robin came over and sat down next to Jenna, a smile on her face.
"I absolutely loved that book," Robin stated.
Jenna instinctively looked at the book in Robin's lap, which happened to be Great Expectations. "That book?"
Robin looked down at her lap. "Oh, no," she said, shaking her head. "The one you and Wesley gave me. He told me you picked it out, and I just wanted to thank you. It was so good that I couldn't even go to bed until I finished it. I am in love with Trevor."
Wesley's eyebrow shot up and he looked between them cluelessly. "Trevor?"
"Sheridan," Jenna explained to Wesley. "The character, not my ex-boyfriend." Then she turned her attention to Robin. "I'm glad you liked it," Jenna told her. "You know, I actually have two other books by the same author. I don't have them with me, but if you really like her characters and her style, they might be worth checking out. I could get you the titles, or I could even give them to Wesley and he could send them to you if you'd like."
"Oh, I'd love that," Robin agreed. "It's such a good book," she continued, glancing at Wesley, then at Jenna. "They're always so unrealistic, though, aren't they? Just imagine that happening for real," she said, the idea so ridiculous to her that she couldn't keep it out of her tone. "I especially liked when Trevor's little sister went to visit with them and they had to pretend to be in love- well, to be married!"
Jenna couldn't stifle an ironic smile. "Yes, what kind of people would pretend that sort of thing?" she asked, giving Wesley a subtle look.
"And they actually thought she wouldn't notice," Robin went on. "Actually, if you think about it, it's a little mean. I mean, he introduced her into his family, made them start loving her, welcoming her and making her one of their own, and right from the beginning they both knew it was nothing more than a pretense on a time schedule. It was all... strictly business."
At about the time Jenna looked up uneasily at Wesley, she caught him regarding his younger sister with a pensive look of his own.
Robin smiled brightly, standing up. "But that was only a book, of course." She gave them each such a sunny smile that they both squirmed a little. "Things like that don't actually happen, now do they?"
"I don't suppose so," Jenna murmured.
"Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds to play with Dawson. See ya," she said cheerfully, walking away to find a quiet place to read her newest literary selection.
It was a lingering moment, completely silent except for the sounds Dawson was making. Wesley and Jenna could only share uneasy expressions, until finally Jenna said, "Wesley, you don't think...?"
Wesley slowly shook his head. "She couldn't. I mean, Robin is very smart, but..." He shook his head, then looked at Jenna. "And what were you thinking, giving her a book about that?"
"I love that book!" Jenna defended. "I've read it three or four times, I never realized it- Wait a minute! When I picked out that book I didn't even know about this, so you can't blame me."
Wesley nodded for a moment. "You're right. We're just... being paranoid," he decided. "It's a coincidence, nothing more."
"We're just reading more into it because we have guilty consciences," Jenna added.
"Exactly," Wesley decided with a nod. "Let's not think about it anymore," he said, taking Dawson's spoon and putting it down on the plate. "Right now we should probably get this little boy cleaned up before his mommy sees what a mess he's made and kicks Uncle Wesley's butt."
Dawson grinned at the prospect of his mother beating up his uncle and said, "No! Show Mommy!"
Jenna couldn't stifle a giggle. "He wants you to get your butt kicked."
"Traitor," Wesley remarked, hoisting Dawson onto his hip and heading in the direction of the sink, Jenna trailing right along behind. She couldn't seem to stop herself from stealing a glance over her shoulder to try to locate Robin, and when she found her, as if she sensed it, Robin looked directly up from her book and flashed Jenna a brief smile before returning to her reading.
Robin couldn't know, Jenna insisted.
Could she?
Lisa, as smart as the rest of the females in her family, decided to appeal to Uncle Wesley. She really, really, really wanted pizza, she told him, and asked if he could try to talk some sense into her mom.
Jenna watched with unconcealed amusement as Wesley got right up and went in the kitchen to talk to his sister. She shook her head at Dawson, who she was holding, and told him, "Your uncle is a pushover."
It wasn't even a full minute before Wesley came back out with a smile on his face and gave Lisa a wink, then turned to Jenna and said, "Come on, let's go get the pizza and wings."
"And wings?" Lisa asked excitedly.
Wesley knelt down next to her and advised, "When you're negotiating, always ask for more than you actually expect to get."
Lisa nodded thoughtfully and said, "Okay. Will you get pizza, wings, cheesy bread and... a pink tiger?"
He chuckled and ruffled her hair. "You learn quick, squirt." Then he stood up and looked over at Jenna, who still had Dawson on her hip. "If you'd quit mothering over him for five minutes, will you come with me?"
Jenna shot Wesley a look and started to go find Angela to hand him over to, but Robin came over and offered to take him.
"Maybe she wants to be a mother," Robin told her brother. "You should help her out with that."
Jenna smiled and gave Dawson to Robin, tempted to tease Wesley, but still too unsure of Robin's suspicions to do it in front of her.
Apparently Wesley shared the feeling. She could see it in his smile and the little twinkle in those brown eyes that he was stifling what he really wanted to say, instead opting to wrap an arm around Jenna's waist and say, "In due time."
Jenna found herself getting a little antsy again, not sure if she liked or disliked the feeling of him touching her. It always made her feel oddly off balance, unsteady, as if he was supporting her and she wasn't standing up on her own. She wasn't used to it, because Trevor had never done it. He rarely touched her at all anymore, unless he was annoying her, but she certainly never felt the urge to literally lean on him, and when Wesley would drape an arm across her shoulder or around her waist she felt the urge to do just that.
It bugged her. Just like the night before when they were watching The Jerk, and halfway through the movie, for reasons she couldn't quite explain, she really wanted to just rest her head on Wesley's shoulder.
She had never done that in her life. Why should she want to now, and with this completely inappropriate man?
Jenna decided that she was just not used to being single, and maybe she was a little lonely. It didn't help that Wesley was pretending to like her, and doing a much more convincing job than her real boyfriend had ever done. When she got home, she decided, she would look into the whole dating thing-- if she could even remember how.
The pizza place was a family owned little place less than 10 minutes away from Angela's house, but Jenna had to admit, even though she liked everbody, she welcomed the break.
As if reading her mind, Wesley said, "It's kind of nice to get away from everyone for a few minutes, isn't it?"
She glanced over, unable to hide a little bit of surprise that he read her thoughts so accurately. "Yeah. I mean, I like everybody," she added quickly. "I'm just not used to... quite so many people."
He nodded. "I knew what you meant. I did kind of bombard you, didn't I?"
"Oh, just a little," she said with a nod. "Hey, come meet five million of my relatives-- and oh, by the way, pretend we're engaged."
He smirked, glancing over at her. "Well, I think you've done very well under pressure, if that counts for anything."
"I don't do well under pressure," she told him.
Wesley raised an eyebrow and stated, "Could've fooled me."
"I've been nervous," she insisted.
"Anyone would be if they had to meet that many new people," he said, dismissing her argument.
"When I first saw how many people were coming to meet me, I felt like I had swallowed an ice cube."
"A perfectly natural feeling," he returned.
"And with Pete? He probably thought I was mentally challenged or something."
He smiled. "I had just kissed you, that's the affect my kiss is supposed to have."
"You're nuts," she told him. "I'm shy, I don't do well under pressure, and I've been interacting like a total spaz."
"You interact like any normal person in this situation," he stated. "You've been interacting with me with absolutely no problem."
"That's different," she argued. "I know you. I'm comfortable around you. You're the most familiar face to me here."
"Angela? Gideon? Robin? Donna? Richie? Dawson? Aunt Farrah? All familiar faces?"
Jenna frowned slightly. "Well, no. But they're very nice, and I've gotten more comfortable around them. Besides, children have never intimidated me anyway."
"You don't give yourself enough credit, Jenna," Wesley said, turning into the parking lot of the pizza place. "I don't think you're nearly as shy as you say you are."
She rolled her eyes, stepping out of the car. "No wonder my mother likes you; you think just like her."
He flashed her a charming smile. "Your mother must be a very wise woman."
She rolled her eyes and shut the door in his face.
"Jenna, wake up," she heard.
She squeezed her eyes open long enough to peer out the window, and upon seeing that it was still almost completely dark outside, she closed them again. "Absolutely not. It's still dark."
"It's early morning," he disagreed.
"It's not happening," she responded, eyes still firmly closed.
"Jenna, don't make me pick you up, because I will."
She smiled sleepily. "No you won't. Go back to bed, Wesley, your threats don't scare-- ah!" she let out a startled gasp and her eyes flew open as he scooped her up easily, and without thought she threw her arms around his neck, not wanting to be dropped.
"Grab the blanket," he said.
"You're crazy!" she whispered loudly. "Put me back in that bed right now."
He smiled at her, looking remarkable awake, and for just a second she allowed herself to realize how close her face was to his, how her arms were wrapped securely around his neck, how nice it felt to be cradled in his arms.
She shook her head to shake the thoughts and she frowned sternly. "Put me down."
"Last warning," he stated. "Grab the blanket or you are going to freeze your little butt off."
Letting out a noisy sigh, she gave in and grabbed the blanket with one hand, throwing it over herself and then wrapping her arms back around his neck, not willing to be so stubborn that she fell. "This is kidnapping or something," she complained. "I'm totally having you arrested for pulling me out of my nice warm bed."
"Agreed, but until then you're coming with me."
She yawned a little. "Where are you taking me? You can put me down now, Wesley, I'm awake."
"I could, but this is more fun. Besides, I've never quite had so much control over you," he replied, offering an irritatingly adorable smile.
She shook her head at him. "You say things just to try to annoy me, don't you?"
His brown eyes twinkled, but he didn't respond, merely walked her out to where all the shoes were stored and gently let her down. "Put your shoes on, I'll be right back," he said.
Jenna sighed, muttering under her breath the whole time she put her shoes on. She decided to grab her scarf, too, and then Wesley was there beside her again, quielty opening the door.
"What did you do?" she asked, rubbing her arms to keep warm.
"Thermos," he said, holding one up.
She merely stared at it, then raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you taking me on a midnight hike or something?" she asked.
"It's not midnight," he replied, gently pushing her out the door and shutting it behind himself.
Jenna just walked with him, freezing and muttering under her breath, but figuring she would humor him. He walked her deep out into the backyard, past some trees and over into a clearing with a tree stump right in the middle. She watched as Wesley bent down and brushed the snow off the tree stump, throwing his coat down on the stump and motioning for her to sit.
Jenna just stared at him. "Okay, I let you pull me out of bed and I followed you out here, even though you might have killed me and disposed of my body in the woods. Now you need to tell me why I'm out here in the cold looking at a tree stump."
Wesley smiled, unscrewing the lid of his thermos. "Just sit down, Jenna," he said.
She sighed heavily and sat down on his coat, wrapping the blanket up around her again and eagerly taking the thermos he offered her, taking a long, warm sip. Wesley sat down next to her and waited for her to finish taking her sip, then he took it back and also took a sip.
"I could have cooties," she said after she watched him take a sip.
"I'm willing to take that chance," he said, taking another sip.
Jenna watched him for a minute, not saying anything. He finally looked up and met her gaze, asking, "Are you still cold?"
"It's possibly minus ten degrees outside," she told him. "Did you really have to ask that?"
"I could've let you sleep longer, but we might've missed it."
"Missed what?" she questioned.
"The sun," he told her. "It'll be rising in just a few minutes."
Jenna blinked. "You woke me up to come out and see the sun?"
He smiled, pouring some more to drink into the thermos and offering it to her with a slow nod. "I like to watch the sun rise," he told her. "There's something...peaceful about it. No matter where you are or what you're doing, how much things may suck, how bad things may seem... I don't know, it just makes me feel calm. While most of the world is sleeping, before you have to deal with the problems you're going to have to deal with, it's a nice few minutes to just watch the sun rise and not worry about any of it. Like you said, most people are sleeping right now." He shrugged. "I guess I've always felt like my troubles were still asleep, like I beat them and I get this few minutes of peace before they wake up."
She smiled a little and shook her head. "I've never thought of it like that."
He shrugged. "Yeah, well, you didn't grow up with as many siblings as I did. The only way I got a peaceful moment alone was if I woke up before everybody."
Jenna nodded, taking a sip and passing the cup back to Wesley. "What's on your mind now?" she asked him, watching him carefully.
He glanced over at her. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you did pull me out of bed to come here with you. What's the problem you had to wake up before?"
He shook his head. "There isn't really one. Not anymore." He paused briefly. "I do owe you an explanation though."
"You owe me a few," she told him. "Which one are you referring to?"
He smiled, glancing up at the sky, which was starting to get brighter already. "Pick one," he said. "I owe you a few, I'll give you one right now. Pick which one you want."
Jenna thought about it for a moment, trying to decide if she should ask about the one he was probably expecting her to ask about, the false business trip. But then she found her mind wandering back to Kim, the woman he had been planning to marry for whatever reason.
"Tell me why you were going to marry Kim."
He sighed, leaning back a little bit. "She told me she was pregnant," he stated.
Jenna couldn't resist shaking her head. "Not because you loved her?"
"It had nothing to do with her," he replied easily.
"That is so dumb," she told him.
"It's not dumb," he said, glancing over at her. "If you got pregnant, wouldn't you want the man to take some responsibility?"
"Take some responsibility, sure, but not ruin both of our lives by marrying me even though he doesn't really want to."
"It wasn't a matter of wanting to," he said. "If I would have made the mistake I would have had a responsibility," he said.
"To your child, not to Kim. And you planned a whole wedding on a woman simply telling you she was pregnant, no proof or anything? And here I thought you were smart."
"She tricked me," he told her. "By the time I found out she wasn't really pregnant, the plans had already been made."
"So you were going to marry her anyway?" she asked in disbelief.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "I know Kim. There was no doubt in my mind that given a little space, a little bait, she would let me off the hook."
"I think you're crazy," Jenna told him. "I would never gamble with my life like that."
"No, you'd much rather waste it," he remarked.
Jenna frowned in response. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Wesley quirked an eyebrow. "What do you call all that time you spent with Trevor?"
"I was biding my time," she told him.
"By being a doormat."
"I was not a doormat!" she objected.
"You make fun of me for choosing to spend my life with someone I didn't love, but how much could you have really loved Trevor?"
"I never loved Trevor," she stated. "Maybe in the beginning I thought I'd give it a try, but then I realized I could never trust him."
"Yet you stayed with him for years after that realization. Where's the sense in that?"
Jenna shook her head, glancing down at her shoes. "You don't understand. Trevor was safe. Yes, he liked to cheat on me and treat me poorly, but I knew what to expect from him, so he could never actually hurt me. He would annoy me, yes, but I was always able to walk away at the end of the day, and my heart was never broken," she said, shaking her head. "And Trevor needed me," she told him.
Wesley shook his head. "No, he didn't."
"Yes, he did," Jenna argued. "I realize that Trevor didn't really treat me right, and he cheated on me, which I would never even try to excuse, but he always made me feel wanted, needed. And nobody ever saw it, but when I was really down or having a bad day, he would usually be there to cheer me up. I think in his own way Trevor did love me."
"No he didn't," Wesley said.
That made her unreasonably angry, and she turned on him, saying, "You don't even know him."
Wesley rolled his eyes. "No, Jenna, I don't know him, but I do know you."
"Barely," she muttered.
He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Jenna, any guy who wants to get laid can make you feel loved or wanted for a few minutes, that's the easy part. You don't have to try to convince me that he wanted you, Jenna, I completely believe that. But he didn't love you. If he loved you, he wouldn't do things to hurt you all the time. If he loved you, he would notice that you obviously didn't love him back, and it would drive him crazy. The first or second time he came home smelling like some other woman with lipstick all over his face, the first time he noticed you weren't crying and you didn't care, he would be sick with the thought of what he had lost. But he wasn't. He kept doing it over and over again. You were just a convenient, comfortable girlfriend, and he obviously didn't have to exert much effort to keep you around."
"That's not fair!" she objected.
"How many times has he called you, Jenna? Since you broke up with him? How many time has he tried to come over and see you, to beg you to forgive him and give him one more chance?"
She crossed her arms across her chest, lips pursed, unable to respond without proving his point.
Wesley shook his head. "Wake up, Jenna. If he loved you he would want to be with you, only you. He would be able to make a list of all the little things you do that he finds adorable, of the face you make when you're mad, of the expression you get when you're trying to concentrate. If he even knew who you were, he would realize he didn't need to be out with anyone else, because you're the only woman he needs to be with. How can you not see that?"
Jenna thought about it for a few seconds, then she responded quietly, "I guess nobody's ever felt that way about me." She smiled emotionlessly. "I guess it just makes me feel better to tell myself that he at least loved me a little bit, even if it was in his own way."
"Don't do that," he said firmly. "You'll lower your standards. You won't realize that you deserve more."
"What do you think I deserve?" she asked, glancing up at him.
He just looked at her for a second, and she thought he was going to answer her, although the look in his eye had her half afraid of what the answer might be. Then, before she could get too concerned, he replied, "You deserve this."
Her eyes widened a little as she saw him leaning toward him, and she fought the urge to lean back, not sure how she should respond. She swallowed hard and braced herself for another one of his unsettling kisses, but then he stopped inches from her face and she suddenly felt an ice cold impact on her back, and then she felt the cold seeping through her blanket through to her pajamas.
Jenna gasped and Wesley grinned, quickly leaning back away from her and hopping off the stump.
"You just got me with a snowball!" she declared.
He laughed, picking up the thermos. "Last one to the house--" But she stopped him, throwing a snowball and hitting him in the stomach with it.
He grunted, laughing. "Did you play softball or something?"
"For three years," she replied smugly, bending over to scoop up another ball of snow.
Wesley just smiled, blocking her second attempt with his arm, then he came running at her. She let out a squeal and ran, glancing back over her shoulder to call back, "I'm not kidding, Wesley Carter, I will declare war! This is your last warning."
Unfortunately, he was much quicker than she was, and he caught her around the waist, easily lifting her off the ground so she was just kicking at thin air.
"What were you going to do to me?" he asked.
She sighed heavily, not bothering to kick. "Now come on, play fair."
He sighed, pretending to be disappointed. "Fine," he said, placing her back on the ground.
"Oh!" she said, pretending to fall on the ground.
Wesley laughed, kneeling down beside her to offer his hand. "Are you okay?"
She smiled and nodded, taking his hand. "Thank you," she said, using all of her power to yank him down on the ground with her. "Sucker," she added. "That's the oldest trick in the book."
He sighed, just lying there in the snow and looking up at the sky. "I know, but I have a better view down here." He pointed. "See, the sun's finally coming up."
"So it is," she said with a smile. She turned her head, hearing the snow crunch beneath her and said, "You know something?"
"Hm?" he asked, looking over at her.
"I'm glad you brought me out here."
He smiled at her. "I'm glad I brought you, too."
She shared the smile with him for a moment, but wisely ended the moment, looking away from him to watch the sun rise, bringing with it a new day and the sound of children opening the door and hollering out, "Uncle Wesley! Are you out here?"
Wesley sighed and said, "And now our moment of peace is over."
Jenna smiled, getting to her feet. "Yeah, but we'll have plenty more when we get home. Let's enjoy our last day as a couple," she said with an impish smile.
He wiped the snow off the back of his pants and started back to the house, while Jenna tagged along beside him, thinking that strangely she felt almost sad that their fun weekend trip was almost over. However stressful it had been in the beginning, she had really started to enjoy herself.
But she doubted it. Without knowing why, she was sure something had changed in the way she looked at him, and it would never go back.
When the time came to say goodbye to what family remained at the house, Jenna felt a little saddened. She scolded herself, reminding herself that it wasn't her family, so she shouldn't feel sad to be leaving.
After all their farewell hugs and "You better stay in touch!" demands, when Wesley wrapped an arm around Jenna's waist --for show, of course-- she felt her heart grow even heavier that it was all over.
Wesley noticed her thoughtful silence when they were on the plane, and he asked her what was wrong, but she assured him that nothing was wrong, she was perfectly fine, and she decided to pick up a book and give herself good reason not to be talkative. She was sure he was going to press the issue a little more, but then he got a phone call, so that distracted him, giving her enough time to start her book.
Not much seemed to have changed at home. Marie was glad to have her daughter home, telling her that even though she was completely aware that Jenna was a grown woman, quite capable of taking care of herself, she still felt better when her daughter was just a short drive away.
When Jenna got to her apartment, she refused to admit it to herself, but she immediately walked over to the answering machine, Wesley's words about Trevor not loving her still somehow fresh on her mind. When she saw one new message, she felt just a small breath of hope, but when she played the message it was Jessica, telling Jenna that she'd love to go to lunch sometime, to give her a call if she was interested. Telling herself that she wasn't at all disappointed, she made a mental note to call Jessica as soon as she got her stuff unpacked and plan lunch one day that week.
She had only been home for one hour when she got a text message from Wesley asking her to check her e-mail, and record the figures in it for him to use the next day. She smiled and rolled her eyes as she turned on the computer, thinking Wesley obviously had no problem going back to business as usual.
And neither would she, Jenna decided firmly.
Her lunch break was half over before she got a replacement receptionist to come in, and then she couldn't go straight to lunch, because she was so irritated that she decided to write up Melanie's termination right then.
She was still filling it out quite vehemently when Wesley entered her office, holding an open white take-out box and using a white plastic fork to eat it with.
"You don't look happy," he observed.
"I have not had time to breathe this morning," she stated, not bothering to look up from her writing. "I certainly don't have time to be happy."
"I like that blouse," he stated, causing her to pause in her furious writing, caught off guard, and look down to see what she had put on that morning. It was a white button down shirt with a little red vest over it that she had bought with Wesley's money. She was about to tell him as much, but he went on as if he hadn't complimented her outfit at all.
"You handled this morning remarkably well, in my opinion, especially for someone who claims she doesn't do well under pressure," he told her, taking another bite and walking a little closer to her desk.
"Thank you," she replied slowly, turning her attention back to the termination paper. "I'm about to go grab some toner, I haven't had time yet, but do you need anything while I'm out?"
"Isn't it your lunch break?" he asked, glancing at the clock on her wall.
She briefly glanced at him. "I don't have time for one of those right now. I'll eat later."
Wesley shook his head, sitting his take-out box down on top of her termination paper and holding the fork out to her. "You are working way too hard for that raise, Miss Evans. Have some sweet and sour chicken."
Swallowing her objections, she looked down at the Chinese food, realizing that she was pretty hungry. "I like sweet and sour chicken."
"Eat it," he said, offering her the fork.
She took the fork, thinking about how she never ever ate after anyone. Even Trevor had tried to steal food off her plate, and as soon as he would, she would push it toward him, claiming she didn't want anymore.
But she took the fork from Wesley and started eating the sweet and sour chicken, offering only a thank you in reply. Wesley smiled, told her not to work too hard with a wink, and went to his own office.
On Friday she got her first paycheck as Wesley's assistant, and finally seeing the bigger number, she felt happy about taking the promotion.
"Ah, the lovely Miss Evans," Jenna heard as she looked at her check.
She slipped it back into her envelope as she put on a friendly smile. "Hello, Jon."
"I haven't seen you all week," he stated. "I guess Wesley's been keeping you occupied."
She nodded. "Work tends to do that."
"I heard you had fun meeting the family," he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Some business trip, huh?"
"And you didn't even warn me," she said half-jokingly.
"I wanted to," he assured her, "but I figured my cousin must have a method behind his madness. My father tells me otherwise, however. Are you really going to be my cousin-in-law?" he teased.
Jenna laughed, shaking her head. "No."
She realized upon answering him that she hadn't had time to get a formal explanation from Wesley about that "business trip." But she didn't really feel it was necessary to push the matter, because she had pretty much figured out why he had done it, why he had been marrying Kim and why he wasn't anymore, so what other answers did she really need?
"Good," he said, putting a teasingly relieved hand to his heart. "I would hate to think we might be related, even through marriage."
She shook her head, smiling, wondering if he always flirted with everyone. "Nope, not in the near future."
"In that case," he said smoothly, "I think it would be a really good idea if we went to dinner sometime. I know this great Italian place we could go to."
One eyebrow shot up, her heart skipping a beat. "Dinner?"
"And a movie," he added. "What kind of man would I be if I didn't take you to a movie after dinner?"
Was he really asking her out? It had been awhile since someone had actually asked her out, but she was pretty sure he was. However, before she could respond, Wesley came out of nowhere, approaching his cousin.
"Jon, why is it that every time I walk out of my office I find myself tripping over you? Are you lost?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.
Jon smiled easily at his cousin. "Wesley, good question coming from the man who takes pointless business trips to Michigan."
"Well, yeah," Wesley conceded, "but as I own the whole entire company, I can take trips --business or otherwise-- anywhere in the world without reason and without explaining myself to you. What's your excuse?" Wesley returned.
"I'm not actually lost," Jon confessed. "I like to come visit Jenna."
"Miss Evans doesn't need your company, Jon, but it's undeniably kind of you to offer," he said dryly. "Now go," he said, making a shooing motion.
"All right, all right, I'm going," Jon said, but turned back to Jenna first, placing a hand on her desk. "We'll finalize those plans later when the warden isn't around."
Her eyes widened slightly at his crass reference to his cousin, and also blushed a little that he was virtually telling Wesley he had asked her out. When Wesley met her gaze, she looked down, knowing she wouldn't be able to hold his without looking guilty, but not fully understanding why.
Wesley didn't say a word to Jon, but as Jon walked away he did toss a couple papers on Jenna's desk and give her directions as to what she should do with them. As he turned to walk away himself, however, he did turn around to add, "Oh, and Jenna?"
She looked up at him, expecting to hear more instructions. "Yes?"
"I do hope you have more sense than to go out with him."
Even though she had felt unreasonably guilty about that, she felt a little rebellious spark that he was trying to tell her who she should and should not go out with. It was that side that prompted her to say, "And if I don't?"
She definitely expected a more irritated response to that, although she wasn't sure why, so she was caught by suprise when Wesley merely shoved his hands in his pockets and smirked at her, stating, "Then I am completely right about you."
With that smug statement, Wesley walked away, leaving Jenna feeling oddly disgruntled as she went to work on the papers he had left on her desk.
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