Brenda was mentally counting the rings as she managed to unlock the door and get inside. {18, 19…….wow, this must be one h*ll of a persistent telemarketer!} She finally reached the kitchen phone on ring number 22 and collapsed into a chair nearby. "Hello?" she panted, breathless from the exertion.

"Ooooo…..things sound much more interesting on your end than they do at mine. Although, frankly, I think I would let the machine pick up rather than interrupt anything that would make me *that* breathless."

Brenda’s breath whooshed out of her in one stroke. "Jax?"

"You recognized my voice! I’m flattered."

"Well, it’s pretty hard not to with that accent, mate!" Brenda wiped the perspiration from her forehead with her arm, wrinkling her nose as she caught a whiff of herself. "Look, Jax, if this isn’t something urgent, I really need to…."

"Ahh, but it is, Ms. Barrett." Brenda could hear Jax smile in that superior style of his. He waited a few beats before he spoke again. "I wanted to know how you were."

"How I am?" {Is he nuts? Or drunk?}

"Yes. How are you? You *have* been out of town for a while."

Then, Brenda realized that Jax was operating, so to speak, in his usual professional mode. "Oh….. I get it." She began to twirl the phone cord in annoyance. "Well, let’s see, doctor…which bodily functions are you concerned with? And do you need to know how *much*? Or *number* of times?"

There was silence for a moment, and Brenda fully expected him to hang up on her. But instead, she heard him chuckle. "No, Brenda, that’s *not* what I meant. I mean – how are YOU doing? You – the wonderful, sexy, beautiful woman known as Brenda Barrett, romance novelist par excellence."

Brenda’s jaw dropped. {He *must* be drunk.} He wasn’t angry that she had insulted his profession, and he was complimenting her outrageously, even her choice of career. "Jax? I….you….."

"Well, what do you know." Another low, sexy chuckle sounded in Brenda’s ear.

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"I finally did it. I did something to leave Brenda Barrett speechless. She can’t have her customary last word."

"Now, Jax, I wouldn’t say that I was…."

"Has any other man ever done that, Brenda?" Suddenly, his tone wasn’t at all teasing any more. It sent shivers down Brenda’s spine, and they had nothing to do with fear. "Has any man ever left you speechless before?"

"Jax, I don’t think we’re talking about the same….."

"No, the problem is that you’re *not* talking about it, Brenda." Jax’s voice was like a warm caress that made Brenda’s lower body suddenly very warm. "So, obviously the answer is no."

"Jax, I really don’t think it’s the time or place to discuss whether or not I’ve ever been satisfied…"

"I’m not talking about just *satisfied*, Brenda. I’m talking about that feeling when your eyes roll back in your head, and your fingers keep clenching and unclenching on the sheets, and no intelligent words come to mind because it’s completely gone to mush." Brenda shifted her legs nervously on the chair and took a breath to interrupt but Jax didn’t let her. "I’m talking about mind-numbing, earth-moving pleasure, Brenda."

"Jax, I...." Brenda still had no idea what kind of witty retort she would hit him with when she heard a beeping noise at his end of the line.

"D*mn." Jax swore softly and Brenda heard the phone being juggled. "I’m sorry, but we’ll have to continue this conversation later, Brenda. I’m being paged to the ER stat." She inhaled to say something but he cut her off again. "I’ll talk to you later -- and we *will* finish this conversation."

Brenda stared at the phone as she abruptly heard the dial tone cut in. "So he’s on duty!" She rose and put her hands on her hips, pacing around the kitchen. "So he *can’t* be drunk." She unzipped the jacket of her jogging suit and took it off. "So then -- what the H*LL happened to him while I was out of town?"

Brenda stood for a moment but then shook her head. {Well, you don’t have any time for this today, Bren. You have those new chapters to finish and those thank-you notes to write to the producers of the talk shows.....} She suddenly sniffed herself again. {.....and a *shower*!! You need a shower, girl!}

Brenda took a leisurely shower and shampooed her hair. She was still cocooned in her favorite thirsty terrycloth robe with a towel wrapped around her head when she heard the doorbell. She froze in front of the bathroom mirror. {It couldn’t be......he said he had an emergency to handle at the hospital.}

But the person at her door was insistent. The doorbell rang again, and then the person started pounding on her door. Brenda sneaked to another room with a window facing the street and when she peeked out the window, she was relieved to see the van of a florist parked in front of her house.

"Floral delivery!!" The pounding was still going on when Brenda came to the door in her robe and turban. She opened the door to find a very annoyed delivery man. She was about to explain about the shower when he thrust a long white box into her arms. "Took you long enough."

"And a pleasant good morning to you, too," she said sarcastically. Brenda began digging in her robe pockets but the delivery man waved a hand in her face.

"Don’t break a nail, lady. It’s been taken care of." Brenda’s jaw dropped as he spun around and was back down her driveway before she even closed the screen door. She stared at the box for a moment as she finally closed the door. {It’s probably from someone in New York. Or maybe Lucy. It couldn’t be from......I mean, Jax wouldn’t......He’s not the flowers type….}

She carried the box to her coffee table and set it down. Brenda carefully slipped off the large red bow and then took a deep breath as she took the lid off the box. Inside lay four perfectly formed, dewey, long-stem red roses, accentuated by a generous supply of baby’s breath and greenery. Brenda lowered her face to breathe in the fragrance. They were absolutely perfect. {But only four?}

She was happy but confused as she lifted out the small card that was nestled among the blooms. It was a plain white enclosure card, and she almost fainted when she read the inscription...

"Beautiful......but not as perfect as you. I missed you terribly, Brenda. Pick you up Friday at 7. Jax"

Brenda almost dropped the card in sheer shock. {He MISSED me? And he’s admitting it?} She narrowed an eye as she looked at the flowers. {Ned must have sent them and signed his name. Jax would never do something this romantic.} As she carried the box to the kitchen and took out the flowers, she nodded her head sarcastically. {It would HAVE to be Ned. Only Ned would only send four flowers. He would be too cheap to send a whole dozen. But then…..what about the date for Friday night?}

Brenda put the flowers in water and went back to her room to change into some old jeans and a broadcloth shirt. She spent a quiet day at the PC, plotting the next chapters of her book and answering the e-mails that had accumulated in her in-box during her hospitalization and tour.

Brenda had no idea that it was that late until she looked at the clock and it read 4:12 PM. She remembered stopping briefly to make herself a bologna sandwich and diet soda for lunch. She even surrendered to her guilty conscience and finished it off with an apple. As she stretched her upper body and flexed her tired fingers, she heard a pounding at her front door again.

Brenda could hear the delivery man’s annoyed voice through the door. "Floral delivery!!" {Maybe all those people who didn’t send me flowers in the hospital are sending them now?} Brenda opened the door to the same charming man she had seen just that morning.

"You know – we really have to stop meeting like this," Brenda purred, but the man just thrust the box into her arms.

"Yeah – right, lady."

Brenda juggled the box of flowers and the delivery man’s clipboard as she signed. "So – what’s the problem? Aren’t you happy in your job?"

The delivery man sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Look, lady. I’ve still got a whole van full of flowers to deliver but I have to make a trip ALL the way back here because your nutty boyfriend can’t send all the flowers in one box." She handed him the clipboard back and he gave her a tired nod. "Have yourself a nice whatever," he growled, and then was off the step before she could even blink.

Brenda closed the door behind her, carefully juggling another long white box in her arms. She brought it to the kitchen table this time and opened it to reveal four more long-stemmed red roses, complete with baby’s breath and greenery. She plucked the card from among the blooms.

"They still can’t hold a candle to you. Missing you till Friday.

Jax"

Brenda frowned. Ned was nice, but there was no way he was THIS nice. Unless maybe Jax had lost a lot of money to Ned at poker and Ned was feeling guilty about taking his money. Brenda knew that Ned and Lois were determined that she and Jax should be together. She arranged the roses in the same vase with the others, only to have the annoyed delivery man make another delivery at 8PM that evening. Brenda eventually carried the vase with the 12 long-stemmed beauties into her bedroom and their fragrance lulled her to sleep that night.

The pounding of the delivery man’s fist at 10AM the next morning pulled Brenda from her work at the PC. She had decided to get an early start since she hadn’t really made much progress on the chapters of her new book the day before. While online to answer her e-mails, Brenda had gotten caught in a chat with Lea and Kathleen, brainstorming new ideas for their novels. She had barely sent the thank you’s for all of the lovely virtual flowers and cards she got before it was time for bed.

"I’m coming, I’m coming!" Brenda ran to get the door as the man sounded like he was about to have a stroke. When she pulled it open, it was none other than her favorite delivery man, scowling at her. "Well," she said sarcastically, "if it isn’t my handsome Prince, come to take me away!"

"This guy must sure like ‘ya, lady," he hissed. He handed her another long white box, frowning as she signed for it. "Lord knows what he sees in you, though." He never saw Brenda stick out her tongue at him as he went back to his van muttering above "crazy people in love."

Brenda took the box to her kitchen and opened it to reveal four more long-stemmed red roses, along with the usual trimmings. The usual white card read:

"Roses are red, violets are blue, Rhyming was never my best talent, but on Friday night if you show me yours, I’ll show you mine. Jax"

She was still gasping when the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Aha – you took my advice and put the phone closer to the bed this time, didn’t you?"

Brenda slapped her chest with the flat of her hand. "Jax! Are you crazy?"

"Only about you, love." She could almost hear him smile.

"No – I mean the flowers! What do you think you’re doing?" Even as she was berating him for sending the flowers, Brenda lifted another rose from the box and inhaled its fragrance.

"I’m romancing you. Why? Don’t you like them?" Jax almost sounded hurt.

"Of course I like them. It’s just that…."

"Good. Then enjoy them, and I’ll see you Friday night at 7."

"Now, WAIT a minute there, Jax. What’s the deal with Friday night?" Brenda put her hand on her hip and set the flower down abruptly as her temper began to flare.

There was a muffled beeping at the other end. "Ooops. Can’t talk. Gotta go, love. See you Friday."

"But Jax…." Brenda was all set to tell him that even though the flowers were beautiful, she wasn’t about to let him order her around when she heard the dial tone again. She took the flowers and put them in another vase since the first one was full, but by the time she carried the vase to her living room, she was beginning to steam. "If he thinks he can just snap his fingers and turn me into a push-over with a few flowers, he’s got another thing coming.

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

In fact, it was Brenda who had the other thing coming. And it was flowers. Roses. Four of them in each delivery, three deliveries a day total. For the next three days.

By Friday morning, Brenda had received a grand total of four dozen roses. Her house smelled like a funeral parlor. Jax had called her several more times, and each time he had been playful, yet forceful. Every time she began to rail at him, he was conveniently "beeped" away from the phone.

By Friday night at 6:45, Brenda had had her fill of the "new" Jax. Her neighbors were on a first-name basis with the flower delivery man, and he had muttered some words under his breath that she didn’t even know existed. She sat in her living room, waiting anxiously for him to show up, but not for the reason he probably expected.

Brenda had on some old blue jeans with tears at the knees and a T-shirt that was so old that the writing had faded long ago. Some feminist slogan was barely visible, and there was a large hole under the left armpit. She had her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail and she was barefoot.

The glass of white wine that started out full was about 1/3 gone when she heard Jax’s car pull up in her driveway. Brenda sat back on her couch, crossed her arms, and prepared to be her most prickly self in the face of his attempts to be charming. She leaned forward to take another fortifying sip of wine when she heard his footsteps. The doorbell rang once, and she sat there, silently fuming.

He rang again. She still didn’t answer. There were three brisk knocks at the door. She began to fidget, but still didn’t budge from the couch. Finally, she heard his voice. "Brenda? Are you in there?"

She had been planning this moment all day. "Go away, Jax. I don’t want to see you tonight."

Five seconds of silence. "Brenda – are you OK?"

"I’m fine, Jax, I just don’t want you to think that if you send me some flowers, I’ll just turn into this simpering….."

"OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR OR I’LL BREAK IT DOWN, BRENDA!!!"

Two seconds after his outburst, Brenda opened the door to a smiling Jax. "Will you keep it down? Do you want my neighbors to call the police?’

"That’s better." Jax shifted his shoulders and gave her a broad smile, a bunch of flowers wrapped with green paper in his hand. "Good evening, Brenda."

She put one hand on her hip as she looked him up and down. Obviously, whatever Jax had planned for the evening didn’t require formal attire. He had on a pair of blue jeans that looked just as old and worn as hers and a pale green oxford-cloth shirt that made his eyes look aqua. "Jax, I really don’t feel like going…."

To her shock, he pushed past her and came into her living room. "Good, because I don’t feel like going out tonight either." As she closed the door behind him and turned to face him, Jax gave her another self-satisfied smile and placed the bouquet on her coffee table. He dug his hands in his pockets as some wayward strands of his hair fell across his forehead. "So – what’ll it be? Pizza or Chinese?" He pointed over his shoulder at the kitchen phone. "And I don’t know about you, but if it *is* pizza, I think anchovies are pretty disgusting."

"Jax," she repeated slowly as she walked towards him, "I think you’re forgetting something here….."

She was about two feet in front of him when he interrupted her and pulled her into his arms. "You’re absolutely right," he murmured, catching her with her mouth still open. "I forgot how much I’ve been wanting to do this ever since you left the hospital." Brenda was so surprised that she never had a chance to close her mouth before his lips came down on hers, cutting off any chance of conscious thought.

Brenda almost lost her balance as Jax pulled her into his embrace. Her arms flailed wildly out to the sides for a few moments as she made various noises – most of which could have been interpreted as "Hey, there, what do you think you’re doing?" But then, when he lifted his lips from hers just for a split second to slant them in the opposite direction, and then lowered them again, he slid his arms around her waist and lifted her completely off the floor.

Brenda’s arms wrapped around Jax’s neck, and not only because she felt solid ground disappear beneath her. Her sounds of annoyance suddenly turned into little moans of pleasure at the sensual onslaught of his kisses. Jax slipped one arm beneath her knees, turning her sideways, and carried her to the couch, only opening his eyes long enough to make sure they didn’t end up in the middle of the floor.

Jax had no sooner sat down on the couch with her in his lap than he turned again and began to lay her down on her back on the couch. He never broke the kiss, and her fingers threaded their way up into the hair at the nape of his neck as she began to whimper a little. Finally, Brenda’s hands moved to his shoulders and began to push at him as lack of oxygen made an unwelcome appearance. Jax broke the kiss, pulling back only a fraction of an inch from her lips – just enough so that she could take some deep breaths.

"Jax!" Brenda panted, finding him almost prone on top of her on the couch, "I never…."

"No, you haven’t, love," Jax replied, moving his lips to the side of her neck to begin to nibble beneath her left ear. As he sharply darted his tongue in her ear and heard her catch her breath, he chuckled a little. "This is the first time you’ve ever moaned for me."

"Jax!" Brenda tried to push at his shoulders again. "Wait a minute, here!" She finally managed to push him away a little and pull her body out from beneath his – enough so that her thighs were no longer cradling what she realized was the evidence of his desire for her. "Just what……who…..?" she gasped as she pushed her hair back off her face and re-adjusted her T-shirt.

Jax chuckled again. "Who?" he asked, reaching out for her, only to have her skitter away from him and rise to a standing position at the side of the couch. "Well, I could be Wulfgar. Or Bryce." He pursed his lips and folded his hands in his lap as her mouth dropped open. "But not Derek. Definitely not Derek." He leaned towards her confidentially, his elbows still propped on his wide-spread knees. "He was a little too pushy, even for a type A."

"How did you….?" Brenda stood with her hands on her hips until the realization dawned. "YOU READ MY BOOKS!!!"

"Well, not *all* of them – all the bookstores seem to be sold out of the sequel to "My Heart’s Happy Home."" He looked around innocently. "I don’t suppose you’ve got an extra copy around here that you could loan me?"

"But why……I thought you said that the kind of books I write are drivel? Why would you ever be caught dead reading one?"

"I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but I *still* think that when they teach great American literature of the 20^th century, your books won’t be on the required reading list." Brenda’s face began to flush, but she let him go on. "But they do provide some interesting insights into the female mind – particularly where romance is concerned." Jax looked at her and lifted an eyebrow. "And particularly where YOUR female mind is concerned."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Brenda walked around the opposite side of the coffee table, grabbed her glass of wine, took a long swig for fortification, and then crossed her arms in front of her.

"You know, that wine looks really good. Do you suppose I could have a glass, too?"

Brenda sputtered a little, but then relented. "Sure. Why not," she conceded, throwing her arms up in the air. She strode into the kitchen forcefully as Jax chuckled to himself.

{Better bring the whole bottle, love. You’ll need it when you hear what I’ve got to say.}

She was back quickly with his glass of wine, which she set in front of him on the coffee table. As soon as she did, she backed away so that the coffee table provided a buffer between their bodies. "Now, what were you saying about women and romance novels?"

"Well, according to what I’ve read in yours, every woman’s fantasy is to be swept off her feet by a handsome, virile man who’s part rogue and part saint." He leaned forward again. "And might I add that the rogue part of him is below the waist?…."

"But you said yourself that that kind of man doesn’t exist!"

"Aha – but *women* aren’t quite sure!" Jax pointed his finger at her assertively. "They keep wondering if he’s really out there and they just haven’t found him yet. Particularly when they keep reading about him in the hundreds of romance novels that come out every month. So….they just keep on looking, and expecting to find him, and being disappointed….." He took another sip of wine, preparing himself for the big whammy. "……just like you."

"Me?" Brenda pointed to herself. "You think *I’m* disappointed?"

"I think you keep comparing every man in your life – specifically me – to those romance heroes," Jax replied dispassionately. "And you keep finding fault with us because you’re afraid to really let yourself go and find out if that perfect guy exists."

"Is that a challenge, Dr. Jacks?" Brenda folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"More like a bet, Ms. Barrett." He was equally forceful.

"You already missed poker night this week."

Jax rose from the couch and began approaching her. "I just changed the schedule. I’ve got a proposition for you." He set the wine glass down on the coffee table but Brenda began backing away from him, reversing their positions. As he came to stand in front of the coffee table, she stood in front of the couch.

"I’m listening."

Jax put his palms together, making a steeple of his fingers and putting it to the bridge of his nose. Then, he gave Brenda a look that lit a fire somewhere deep inside her. "I want you, Brenda. I think I’ve wanted you ever since I lay eyes on you at Ashton’s house that first night we had dinner."

"You’re talking about sex." Brenda tried to keep her breathing even.

"I’m talking about making love, to and with you," Jax replied, his voice low and sexy. "I’m talking about our souls connecting – about feeling so much a part of the other person that you’re not sure anymore where you stop and they begin."

"NOW who’s been reading too many romance novels?" Brenda laughed nervously, but then Jax began walking towards her again and she found herself trapped between the couch and the end table. "That only happens in fiction."

"That’s because you haven’t made love with *me* -- yet." Jax gave her his most charming smile and ran a finger down the side of her arm, raising goose bumps along the path.

"Get to the point." She struggled to maintain an objective point of view, crossing her arms defensively in front of her.

"Give me one night, Brenda," Jax crooned. "One night where you let yourself go and give us a chance – give *me* a chance to prove to you that that kind of connection can exist." He came to stand only a hair’s breadth from her. "I can show you the kind of pleasure that makes you *need* someone…..that makes you cry out when you get to that place….." Brenda’s eyes fluttered and her chest started to move up and down rapidly. Jax saw her telltale blush and lifted her chin with his knuckle. "You’ve never felt that before, Brenda – and I know that I can do that for you."

"Rather confident, aren’t you?" Brenda tried to sound sarcastic, when she was actually boiling inside just from the words he was saying to her. "So what’s the proposition part? What if you *can’t* make the earth move for me?"

"For us, Brenda," Jax amended. "Because giving you that kind of pleasure will make it just as wonderful for me." He could tell she was actually considering his offer and it was time to hammer home his last argument. "But, since I want this to be a win/win situation for you …." He folded his hands, palm to palm, and placed his first fingers against his lips. "… If I *don’t* make this the most wonderful thing you’ve ever experienced, I’ll make it a requirement that each surgical resident that ever trains under me has to read all of your novels."

Brenda gasped and burst out laughing. "What has reading my novels got to do with learning how to stitch up some guy’s gall bladder?"

"Not a d*mn thing," Jax replied with a smile. "But just think of it – you’d be selling a lot more books, plus you’d be educating all those crusty, opinionated, chauvinistic male med students about the emotional needs of women." He leaned forward to tease her. "If it improved just *one* doctor’s bedside manner with his female patients, wouldn’t it be worth it?"

Brenda finally edged her foot out from behind the coffee table and managed to escape to stand on the opposite side from Jax again. "So – let me make sure I understand this. You want to have sex…." Jax opened his mouth but Brenda corrected herself. "……to make love to me for one night."

"I want us to make love to each other," Jax amended again.

Brenda chewed her lower lip as the possibilities of exploring his nude body filtered through her mind. "…..to make love to each other for one night." Jax nodded. "And if you don’t turn out to be the best thing that’s ever happened to me, you’ll make every med student in your classes ….."

"…..forever," Jax added.

"….forever," Brenda continued, "read all of my romance novels. For purely educational purposes." Jax nodded again. "And you’re saying I can’t lose with this bet because if this one night IS a wonderful experience, then……"

"…..then, we’ll have the entire weekend to enjoy each other." Jax grinned and checked his watch. "I’m officially off duty until 8AM Monday morning. Not even on call. Nothing."

"You mean….." Brenda visibly gulped. "…..tonight?"

Jax nodded again. He took advantage of her temporary fluster and stepped over the coffee table so that he captured her in his arms again. She braced her hands against his upper arms, but he only leaned down to nuzzle behind her ear and then whisper, "So…..what do you say, Ms. Barrett? Is it a deal?"

To be continued……