By the time Wednesday night rolled around, Brenda had calmed herself from her encounter with her father. She was so looking forward to her date with Jax that even her father’s plot to marry her off to the highest bidder couldn’t dampen her spirits.

She took a long time going through her closet to find the right outfit to wear to the theater and dinner. Since their weekend in the Hamptons, Brenda was finding most of her wardrobe drab and boring, and she had been on several shopping sprees during her lunch hours. She had settled on a gray satin charmeuse suit for this evening, but added a pair of strappy silver sandals that made her legs look longer. Beneath the suit, she wore a white satin blouse with a halter neckline that left almost her whole back bare. There was a ruffle that went around her neck to a modest V-opening in the front of the blouse. With the suit jacket on, there was no clue to the daring nature of the blouse. She fixed her hair up in a knot on top of her head, leaving the curls fall down and pinning them in place. She pulled out a few tendrils at her temples and curled them too.

Promptly at 5:30, her front doorbell rang, and Brenda opened the door to find Jax smiling at her and holding a big bouquet of tropical flowers.

"This is getting to be a habit with you, huh?" she asked innocently.

"The flowers, or the company?" he returned, and stepped inside, but not before he carefully inspected her appearance. He took in the way the gray complimented her dark features, but had no idea what awaited him when she would take off the jacket.

She returned from putting the flowers in water, and extended his hand. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?" Then he pulled her into his arms for a sizzling kiss. It seemed natural to her now to open her lips to his thrusting tongue, and she felt her pulse rate start to soar. He felt it too, and knew if they didn’t stop, they would never get to the restaurant on time. He pulled back slowly and smiled at her. "Shall we go?"

They ate at a small Italian restaurant in Port Charles, at a secluded booth in the back. Jax was attentive to her every word, and for a while, they discussed business problems that Brenda was having with her new account system. Both carefully avoided mentioning Harlan Barrett, and the evening proceeded without a hitch. During the main course of the meal, Brenda decided to test the waters and removed her jacket. Jax’s eyes widened considerably at the expanse of bare flesh.

"New acquisition, Ms. Barrett?" he asked devilishly.

"Yes," she answered, playing along with the analogy. "Do you think it added value to my existing assets?"

Jax drew in a sharp breath. She was a fast learner. "Do you really want me to tell you what I think of your assets?" He whispered in her ear, and she blushed down to her toes.

As Jax drank an after dinner brandy and Brenda was enjoying her coffee, she thought she might’ve gotten in over her head with this sensual game she had just learned to play. He had been stroking her fingers lightly with his own during dinner, and once took her hand in his to press a kiss to her wrist at her pulse point. His eyes had become like two fiery coals in the darkened room, and she was becoming her old insecure self.

She lowered her head and looked shyly up at him. "Do I have pasta sauce on my nose or something?"

Jax shook his head and smiled. "I must be losing my touch. Here I thought I was sending you these smoldering, passionate glances, and you think I saw something funny? Actually, I was just thinking about what I’d really like to do."

Brenda had to control her racing heart and breathing. "What’s that?"

He continued to stroke her hand, but now was tracing little patterns higher and higher on her arm, nearing the ruffled front of her blouse. "I’d like to take you home and take your hair down, pin by pin. Then, I’d like to kiss every square inch of that lovely back of yours, and make love to you for a very, very long time."

She looked down at her coffee, and then looked back up at him with eyes of brown velvet. "Phantom is going to be in town for three weeks. I can see it anytime."

{What a woman!} "I was thinking exactly the same thing."

Jax handed some bills to the waiter and put his arm around Brenda’s waist possessively until they were safely in his car. He leaned over to give her another passionate kiss. "Bucket seats don’t exactly lend themselves to romance," he said regretfully.

They somehow controlled their urges for the long drive until they reached Brenda’s cottage. She had kept her jacket off, and once they were inside the door, Jax pulled her into his arms and his hands roamed over her back, burning every inch of flesh they touched. He traced little patterns lightly on her skin, and she whimpered into his ear as he nuzzled her neck.

"Easy, love," he whispered, "we have all night."

She pulled back from him and coyly took his hand and led him to her bedroom. She lit one bedside lamp, casting an amber glow over the room. She began to take down her hair, but he stopped her.

"No," he said hoarsely. "Let me."

Standing behind her, he took out the hairpins one at a time. Each time he did, he kissed the back of her neck, her arm, and finally turned her around to face him. Her face was flushed, and she tried to get the pearl buttons on her blouse open to his teasing fingers. When they wouldn’t give way, he took the blouse and pulled it apart, scattering the buttons. "I’ll buy you another," he growled, and began exploring every part of her with his fingers.

She thought she would die from pleasure before every piece of their clothing was on the floor and they were in the bed. Jax made good on his promise to kiss every square inch of her back, and when he began to trail kisses down her stomach to her thighs, Brenda’s moans were his undoing. Brenda once again experienced the ultimate pleasure of his lovemaking, and Jax soon joined her in fulfillment.

As they lay in the dim light, Brenda relished the warmth of his arms. But soon, the insecure Brenda began to peek out again, and she looked up at his serene face. "Jax?"

"Hmmm.."

"What are you thinking?"

He took a deep breath. "Actually, I wasn’t thinking at all. I was just lying here in a state of blissful oblivion." He opened one eye. "Why?"

Brenda began to draw little circles on his chest. "Oh, …. I was just wondering if you were wishing that I was Julia."

He tipped her face up to meet his intense gaze. "Brenda, where did that come from?"

She couldn’t face his look. "Oh, I don’t know. I just thought maybe you might be imagining that I was her when you were making love to me." She looked up again at him now with those dark brown liquid eyes.

"Brenda, you should know that you and Julia are nothing alike. And if I just wanted to make love to someone and pretend that they were Julia, then any warm body would do. And I definitely prefer yours," he said, snuggling next to her, trying to break this serious mood.

But Brenda’s niggling doubts wouldn’t allow her to let it go. "Yeah, but you have to admit that it’s kind of strange, me making love to a guy who’s really in love with my older sister. Not really very healthy, Dr. Freud would say."

Jax ran his fingers through his hair. "Brenda, can’t you just let it go?" he began, sounding very annoyed.

{Well, Brenda, now you’ve blown it. Can’t you just accept happiness without looking for reasons?} She was about to apologize and change the subject, when he let out a long breath, and caught her by surprise.

"I’m sorry, Brenda. You’ve allowed me into parts of your soul that nobody else has reached. That entitles you to honesty on my part. So, I’ll try to answer any questions you might have, but remember – I’m basically a gentleman and I don’t kiss and tell."

Brenda began cautiously. "I remember one time when Julia and Bill had first started dating, they had a big fight. Julia wasn’t sure of her feelings for Bill, and I encouraged her to go to you and have an affair." She looked down at her fingers, entwined with Jax’s on his chest. "Did she … did you …."

Jax sighed. "No, Brenda, we didn’t make love. Julia came to me, yes. But even though I tried things that would drive other women crazy …"

"Like me," Brenda said quietly.

"Yes, love," Jax returned. "I hate to sound like a gigolo, but I’ve been around the block enough times to know how to touch a woman and what she likes and dislikes. Anyway, when I tried it with Julia, she wouldn’t respond to me at all. There was no connection there for us."

"Because she was in love with Bill," Brenda supplied.

Another big sigh. "Probably. So I sent her back to her Bill, since I could see that no matter how much I loved her, she didn’t love me back. It was obvious that he held the lock on her heart.

"So was it rough, seeing her the other night?" Brenda ventured.

"I don’t know," Jax said, running his fingers through his hair. He looked down into her wide, trusting eyes. "You want to know how I really feel about Julia?" Brenda nodded. Jax shook his head. "There are times when I can’t even remember what she looks like. Until the other night, I had been on the other side of the world, concerned with so many other things. But then, there are times when I’m in a meeting or just watching the sunset, and I’ll get this huge ache in my chest missing her. I’ll see her face in my mind’s eye, or turn to share a story with her, and I get this loneliness that doesn’t quit. I just love her."

Brenda took a while to assimilate all of this, when a chuckle started deep in Jax’s chest. "You know, all of this honesty has inspired me to make a confession to you, Ms. Barrett." As she gazed up into his crystal blue eyes, he stroked her cheek with his finger tenderly. "I’m finding more and more each day that I really like you."

Brenda let out the breath she had been holding. "Jax, you shouldn’t hand out outrageous compliments like that. I might just swoon at your poetic nature," she said sarcastically.

He got defensive. "Brenda, I mean that. And it’s something I can’t say about many of the women I’ve slept with." After a long pause, he asked, "So, have you liked all of the men you’ve slept with?"

Brenda waited for a minute, seemingly in deep thought. "Nope. Truthfully, I can’t say that I’ve liked either one of them."

Jax was flabbergasted. "Just two? There’s only been two? Love, that just about qualifies you for sainthood around here. Will you tell me about them?"

Now it was Brenda’s turn to sigh. "The first was a singer for our record label. I had just gotten back to town from London with my new figure and I guess I was experimenting with my sexuality. Lois and I had just started L&B Records, and one of the singers was more than willing to be more than just friends with management."

"What happened?" Jax asked gently.

"The usual with superstars. It’s hard for them to be constantly surrounded by groupies, throwing lingerie and keys to motel rooms. When I found Miguel on tour in a hotel room with a fan, our relationship was history. One thing I learned from Harlan Barrett – I don’t intend to play second fiddle to any other woman."

"Let me guess," Jax supplied. "You rebounded into the arms of some other jerk."

"Right again," Brenda moaned. "Except this time I wanted somebody who would be my man and not pay attention to any other woman. So I picked this turkey who was in the police academy. Jagger was only interested in me, all right. Not only was he interested, he was obsessed. He followed me night and day. He accused me of having affairs with other men -- even Keith, my assistant, for God’s sake."

Jax was beginning to gently run his fingers down Brenda’s body in light patterns again. "And I take it sex was not too great with him?"

Brenda looked up at Jax with sad eyes. "I guess for HIM it was. He really didn’t care how it was for me." Jax’s silence indicated his understanding. "So, after these two losers, I decided that maybe I wasn’t meant to be one of those women in the romance novels. Maybe passion just wasn’t part of my personality. I guess I heard the talk so many times about my being frigid that I started to believe it myself."

Suddenly, though, Brenda was finding it hard to breathe. Jax’s fingers were still making interesting patterns, but no longer on her arm or stomach. He could see the effect he was having on her, and he smiled mischievously.

"Something wrong, love?"

Brenda’s eyes had glazed over. They were facing each other, and Jax loved to watch her eyes become liquid pools just at his touch. He continued to touch her with the lightest, gentlest caresses, but soon she needed to hold onto his shoulders as her world was spinning on its axis. He repeated the question. "Something wrong, Brenda?"

"Um…..were we talking about something?" she asked breathlessly, opening her eyes to look deeply into his.

He smiled again. "I believe you were saying that you decided sex wasn’t something you would enjoy. So tell me," he said as she gasped in pleasure and arched her back, "what is your opinion of sex now, Ms. Barrett?"

"Can’t you tell?" she purred, as she rolled over on top of him. "I think it’s absolutely mind-boggling!" And then she proceeded to show him why.