“No, Babe. And it never will be...”
Sabrina’s impassioned query, and his equally felt response, looped in Jack’s head as he steered the custom SUV stealthily down the highway. The picture of calm and steel resolve, he made no attempt to entertain the carnage his earlier actions had no doubt had resulted in. Jack knew there would be time—plenty—for reflection as well as recriminations; the latter of which he believed he justly deserved. But that was for later. Much later. Right now only one thing registered foremost in his mind. Correction, one person.
Sabrina.
The woman most definitely did not believe in small gestures! In retrospect, given she came from a world where just about everything was done on a grand scale Jack reasoned no less of an act in kind would have sufficed. Still, much like the woman herself tended to do, the gesture floored him.
And yet, nothing had ever felt so right to him.
Jack wondered briefly if there truly was such a thing as “the planets aligning,” the possibility of—if even only for just one night—the Fates causing all the lost, scattered fragments of one’s life to fall perfectly into place and coalesce into a moment of pure and supreme happiness. He wasn’t positive but he had to admit if it did exist it surely had to feel a whole helluva lot like this.
‘This’ was freedom; the relief of having an almost crushing weight lifted. A stark contrast to the prior existence he led. What he was feeling now he could only equate to finally freeing himself after having been slowly sinking in quicksand. The past year, the last few weeks especially, felt like a slow, hazy blink for Jack. He found it amazing how in the span of a few seconds—courtesy of several candid, heartfelt admissions—he could feel his whole world go from a muted, dull haze to near blinding clarity.
‘The reason,’ a tiny voice reminded him, ‘is simple.’
He was headed to the ‘reason’; the one he was meant to be with. Finally. The moment was a long time coming, Jack noted.
Hell, they were a long time coming…
That was the amount of time Federal Agent Jack Bauer surmised it took to knock his world off its axis.
First, came the mind-blowing, sexually charged, promise-filled dinner with the frank, stunning Neurosurgeon. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond either’s control – a threat to national security for him; a collapsed platform at a construction site, for her – the promise hinted at that evening by Doctor Sabrina DeLane that he was so eagerly looking forward to having fulfilled had to be deferred as both had to answer the call to duty issued by their respective professions. Two weeks later, they made another attempt when the brazen beauty informed Jack if he was ready, so was she to make good on the ‘rain check’ she had offered.
True to her word, the world-renown physician had shown him her mastery of the human body—especially its capacity for points of pleasure. In possession of more than a working knowledge himself with regards to what the human body was capable of tolerating, not to be outdone Jack had matched her measure for measure. And then some.
Even now, the mere flash of memory of the experience filled the world-weary government sentry with a hunger and desire he’d not experienced in...well, truth be told...
Ever.
And if he had any doubts, the bravado-laden gaze the beautiful, bold surgeon leveled back at him served to erase them. He most certainly was not alone in what he was feeling.
Or wanted.
“Yes, we are both adults.” Sabrina nodded gracefully. “That has been established.”
Jack made the minor distance between them even smaller as he deliberately invaded her personal space. Close enough to pass for intimacy – to the two of them – yet separated by enough room to pass for simply occupying a “tight spot” to others, there amid the synchronized urgency and chaos of CTU, his voice was almost a low growl when he spoke. “So then there’s no need to continue this. . .‘dance’ we’ve been doing.”
“Is that what we’re doing. . .what this is?” Inwardly, she winced. The moment the words fell from her lips, Sabrina regretted them.
It was the opening Jack had been waiting for.
“Well, I do believe that night over dinner we firmly established that you don’t date.” His molten gaze washed over her as he spoke the words. Burning, no, branding her. “And we’ve already had sex. . .” A most feral smile tickled the corner of his mouth, as if the ruggedly handsome intelligence agent was privy to some amusement known only to him—but meant for her. “Which leaves the obvious. What’s inevitably next for you and I. . .”
Her internal alarms sounding, Sabrina nevertheless held her ground—even if she felt as if the very earth upon which her Christian Louboutins teetered was about to give way. “And I told you,” she countered coolly, “I was not interested in a relationship.”
“So you did.” It was Jack’s turn to nod. Only his assent was accompanied once again by that knowing, masculine grin. “Luckily for you I possess something far greater than my patience.”
He paused. So the good doctor wanted to continue the dance, did she? Fine by him.
“Determination.”
In the midst of a dizzying array of emotions engulfing him, Jack also found himself beset by thoughts of what it would be like to see Sabrina again after being apart for so long. What would he say? Was there anything to say? What would he do? Was a kiss too forward or was it to be expected? Was sex a must or best if saved for later? Whatever his decision or course of action, it would happen soon he realized as he passed a familiar landmark indicating he was less than five miles out from the Ritz Carlton, the usual residence of choice when Sabrina came to visit.
As he entertained that last thought, for the second time that evening Jack gave pause to the Fates having smiled down upon him. Instantly, he recalled the last words of Sabrina’s from earlier that evening, her ardent, heartfelt admission.
“You know what you feel like to me, Jack? Home.”
Although barreling along the highway at an impressive clip, with the greatest of ease Jack turned the steering wheel and executed a precision-perfect U-turn, spinning the Suburban into the passing lane, heading in the opposite direction.
He knew where she was; where she was waiting for him. How in the world, he wondered, had he missed it? Especially when with those last words she’d done everything but announce her whereabouts courtesy of a neon sign.
Sabrina was at the one place she called ‘home’ when in L.A.