True, earlier his senses had been awash in the subtle yet spicy fragrance she had adorned herself with. But the bouquet which greeted him now—that of a freshly scrubbed, perfume-free Sabrina—had served to rock him to his very core.
“You doing alright, Superman? You’re awfully quiet.” Although she was intently focused on suturing his wound, the laughter in her words was evident.
“Yeah,” Jack bit out. Although he sat motionless, hands resting atop his thighs, internally he had a white-knuckle grip on the countertop as he struggled to keep his thoughts focused—on anything but the woman whose face was but inches away from his.
“There!” Sabrina announced with a flourish. “All. Done.” As she removed her gloves, she rattled off his wound care instructions, reminding him to make sure to keep the area covered when showering and teasing him if at all possible to try and avoid being put in a headlock for the next 10 days. “How does your neck feel?”
“A little sore. And tight. But that’s just around the area where the bullet grazed me.”
“That’s to be expected. It’s due more to the stiches than anything else. They are a bit tight, but I assure you the discomfort will lessen in a few days.”
Admiring her handiwork, she reached out to run her finger along the area and was brought up short as Jack’s hand darted out and smoothly took her by the wrist. She was about to assure him she wasn’t going to do anything to disturb the wound when she looked in his eyes and realized his action had not been one motivated in response to pain. Quite the opposite. Sabrina was about to speak when the sound of footfalls interrupted her.
“Yes?” they responded in unison to the intrusive party.
“I…uh…need...I mean, I want…” Cole Ortiz sputtered as he sought to tear his gaze away from Jack and Sabrina. Physically he was able to register that it was obvious Heller’s doctor had tended to a wound of some sort Jack had. But in his mind? He couldn’t explain it, but for some reason he felt as if he had just walked in on an incredibly intimate moment between a couple.
“Cole?” Jack prompted. “You were saying?”
“Oh, yeah! I wanted to let you know the report of the mission you assisted on is ready,” he finally managed. “And it’ll be upstairs in Hastings’ office. Just need you to sign off on one or two things then it’s good to go.”
“I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Good then,” Cole nodded. “I’ll…just be…going then,” he added, backing out of the room.
As he cleared the other side of the door, Cole was struck by the fact that during the entire exchange not once did Jack divert his gaze from Dr. DeLane.
Or let go of his hold upon her wrist.
“You’ve got another one,” he answered. He smoothed his thumb across her pulse point. A steady, rhythmic throbbing ensued; directly in contrast to the cool, almost aloof façade that now greeted him. “Besides, I rather like this one.”
“I’m sure you do,” she smiled. Smoothly, she began to extract her wrist from his grasp.
Jack noted the smile came off more as polite rather than sincere and wondered as to what was the cause of the sudden shift in mood between them. Undeterred, he pressed on. Just as it appeared she was free of his grasp, Jack tightened his hold.
“Have dinner with me.”
Dipping her head, Sabrina bit back a smile. Try thought she might, she could not prevent the soft laughter threatening to escape. ‘He most definitely gets points for determination,’ she noted silently. ‘Among other things,’ the tiny voice reminded her. She took a moment to compose herself then adopting her most haughty air, raised her gaze to meet his.
“I’m gonna make this easy for you, Agent Bauer.”
“It’s Jack, remember?”
“Fine…Jack? I don’t date. I have sex or I have relationships.”
Her wrist still within his grasp, their gazes locked, once again a soft smile—this time, one filled with challenge—turned up the corner of her mouth.
“And I’m not interested in a relationship.”
“Do you eat?”
The corners of her eyes began to crinkle in amusement before the bark of laughter tore from her throat. Head thrown back, she guffawed in response to his unexpected reply. ‘Oh, yes,’ she noted softly, ‘he is definitely different!’
“Yes,” she continued to laugh, “yes, I do!”
“Well, how about we continue this over dinner?” Jack smiled. “Not a date,” he quickly added, chuckling softly, “just… dinner.”