By the following Monday, Brenda was getting to be a nervous wreck. Lois was anxious to get together to go over L&B business, and Jax hadn’t called her since their aborted date to Phantom the previous Wednesday. Brenda was worried that her insistence on discussing Julia may have alienated him in some way, although their "communication" that night after the Julia discussion was anything but distant.

Brenda decided Monday afternoon to put her foot down, and informed Keith that she was going to L&B for the balance of the afternoon. She was careful to leave her forwarding number with him, and program her cell phone for call forwarding, in case any "important" calls should come through.

Lois was delighted to have Brenda all to herself for the afternoon, and they sat in the gatehouse, busily going over invoices and sales receipts for their clients CD’s. As Brenda helped herself to her third marshmallow pinwheel cookie, Lois eyed her suspiciously.

"Somethin’ wrong, Brenda?"

"No," she insisted, dropping a crumb in her lap. "What makes you say that?"

Just then the phone rang, and Lois answered. "L&B Records. Oh, yes, she is. Just a moment." Lois went to hand her the phone, and Brenda almost took Lois’s hand off to get it in a split second.

"Hello, Brenda Barrett, here," she said, trying to control her voice.

"Hello, dear. This is Jane Jacks. I hope this doesn’t inconvenience you, but your efficient assistant said I might find you here."

Brenda slumped into the sofa and took another miniature bite of her cookie. "No, Mrs. Jacks, no problem at all. What can I do for you?"

"First of all, since you aren’t nine years old anymore, I think you can call me Jane instead of Mrs. Jacks." Brenda smiled at her candor. "And you may not be so anxious to help me once you hear me out. You may recall that the Jacks family throws a benefit each year for some worthy charity."

Another corporate donation request. Great. {Could you possibly donate your son Jasper to my own worth charity?} "Sure, Jane, Barrett Industries would be happy to be a sponsor for your event."

"No, dear," she sighed. "I’m afraid it would be so simple if we just wanted your money. You see, I want your body instead."

{And I want your son’s body, so we’re even.} "Excuse me?"

"Well, we thought that this year, we might have a carnival-type event instead of some stuffy old dinner dance. You know, booths, games of chance, pony rides … kind of a homecoming picnic kind of thing."

"That sounds like fun, Jane. Do you know which charity you’ll be spotlighting?"

"It was actually my mother-in-law’s idea. I believe Jax mentioned that you met Jerry’s finance the other night. Well, Josie has become quite fond of Lucas, her son, and he has juvenile diabetes. So, she suggested that we dedicate the carnival to raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation."

Brenda remembered the discussion they had about Josie’s love of her soon-to-be great-grandchild, and she was touched at the woman’s thoughtfulness. "That is a marvelous idea, Jane. How can I help?"

"Well, we’re still in the planning stages, but I know I’ll need lots of volunteers to work in the various game booths. I thought maybe we could have dinner sometime – the boys, Bobbie, you, John, Josie, and I – here at the house and discuss the arrangements."

Brenda was pleased that Jane was including her as Jax’s dinner partner. She just wished he had informed her of it himself.

"I’ll look forward to it, Jane. Just let me know the date and I’ll put it on my calendar." She nodded into the phone. "Thanks for calling. ‘Bye."

Brenda looked up at Lois for the first time since the conversation began, and Lois was staring holes right through her. "So that was ….?"

Brenda handed her back the phone. "Jane Jacks. She wants me to help with the annual Jacks Family charity event."

"And she knew to call here because …?"

Brenda pretended indignation. "I told Keith to forward my calls here this afternoon. Is that a problem?"

Lois played with one of her manicured fingernails. "No, but it wouldn’t have anything to do with one certain Captain Blue Eyes, would it?"

Brenda tried to be nonchalant. "Well, Jax and I have been dating a little."

Lois squealed with delight. "Brenda! That’s great! That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? But wait – how can you two be dating if he still has a major heartache for Julia?"

"That’s just it, Lois. It isn’t anything serious. It’s just … fun."

"Yeah, right," Lois snorted. "And I’ll buy that oceanfront property you have in Denver, too." Her eyes widened in understanding. "Brenda, you’ve fallen for him, haven’t you?"

Brenda took another cookie and nibbled on it. "I don’t know, Lois. I don’t know what to think. I’m don’t think I love him, but I’ve never really loved any man, so how do I know how it feels? All I know is that being with him is just unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced. When we’re together I feel free, and happy. I can be myself and say things that daddy would have a fit to hear."

Lois seized on Brenda’s momentary pause to take a breath. "And is he positively yummy in bed?"

"LOIS!!" Brenda exclaimed, then they both lapsed into giggles. "Do you know I’m 25 years old and I’ve never enjoyed sex before this?"

"I knew it! I knew you two would hit it off!"

"Yeah," Brenda said, "but what can I expect from the relationship? I know he’s still majorly hung up on Julia. So I try to keep things light, and not expect too much. But now…"

"Now what?" Lois asked gently.

"I haven’t heard from him in almost a week. I don’t know if I said something stupid, or he just lost interest, or what."

"Which is why you almost hit the ceiling when the phone rang before." Brenda nodded. "Listen, girlfriend, I don’t know that much about Jax except what Ned tells me about his business dealings. But I know you, and I saw your sister Julia at that birthday shindig, and she can’t hold a candle to you. If you really decided you wanted Jax to fall in love with you, he would forget old Jules in a heartbeat." Then she took a cookie herself. "Men!!"

"What do you mean?" Brenda asked.

"I could kill old Captain Blue Eyes for upsetting you like this. To see the mighty Brenda Barrett, reduced to a sniveling simpleton waiting for the phone to ring." Lois took another bite of cookie. "Well, there’s only one strategy for you, slugger."

"What’s that, coach?"

"If he’s the only one you really ever wanted and he makes you happy, I say you should go after him. You know, put the moves on him yourself. Throw him off balance."

Brenda looked at Lois like she had 3 heads. "You mean, I should call him?"

"Yes, Brenda, this is the 20^th century, you know – almost the 21^st, for goodness sake."

"Oh, no, Lois, I couldn’t do that. I would freeze up, and wouldn’t know what to say."

"He’s been playing a game with you, Bren, and you need to get the ball back in your court. He’s been toying with you, making you wait until he calls, and then when he does, you’re so thankful that you don’t even realize that you should be mad as hell at him for acting like such a slob! He’s made you want him, now you should make him want you back!"

Lois thought a moment, and then an idea formed. "OK," she said, tapping a fingernail against her lips, "you don’t want to use the telephone because you’re too shy. I know – go to see him in person!"

"You mean like at the penthouse?"

"Sure, it works for me. And be sexy, provocative, seductive. Let him know that you’re a great catch and he can’t afford to take the chance of losing you."

Brenda shook her head. "I still don’t think I could, Lois. I mean, why would I be at the penthouse in the first place? And if I act sexy and alluring, I might as well wear a big sign around my neck that says, "I’m here and you’re bed’s 50 feet away. What should we do about it?" That’s just not me." She paused for a moment, then looked at Lois with panic on her face. "Or even worse, what if he has another woman there? Maybe that’s why he hasn’t called – he got tired of me and found somebody new!"

"Brenda, chill out, girl! How much caffeine have you had today?" Lois asked, trying to boost Brenda’s confidence. "From what you tell me about the way you two have hit it off, I’m sure he won’t have another woman there. But, we won’t go that route if it bothers you. Now think, where else does he hang out?"

Brenda thought a minute, and a smile slowly spread across her face. "Well, I could go to his office. We actually have been discussing this new computer system that he would like to adapt for J&J Jacks."

Lois got caught up in the plan. "And you might just want to show him some of those long sheets of paper that the computer spits out …."

"Some printouts!" Brenda leaned across and hugged Lois, upsetting the plate of cookies. "Lo, you are a genius!" She jumped up and grabbed her purse and briefcase. "I just need to make one stop at the office first to get a new blouse that I bought at lunch yesterday. I’ll call you later – or if I’m successful, maybe I won’t!!!"

Lois shook her head. She was ecstatic to see Brenda so relaxed and happy for a change. And now that she was gone, she would have the rest of the cookies to herself!

*~*~*~*

Brenda made a quick stop at her office to explain to a bewildered Keith that she was taking the rest of the day off and not to forward any of her calls unless they were life-and-death emergencies. After changing her blouse and grabbing a handful of computer printouts, she headed to the other side of the building to the J&J Jacks offices.

She was nervous as she rode up in the elevator, but still felt Lois had been right in her assessment of the situation. After all, even if Jax was cruel enough to turn down her overture, it still couldn’t be worse than not hearing from him and sitting on pins and needles for a call that might not have come.

She was shown through several outer offices until she came to a desk manned by a human tornado. Brenda put out her hand. "Hi, I’m Brenda Barrett. You must be Jax’s assistant, V."

V looked confused but cordial. "Hi, Miss Barrett. Oh…. I remember. The hot house flowers. Nice to meet you in person. How did you know about me?"

"I saw some of Jax’s sketches and he mentioned that you were teaching him to draw. You must be an excellent teacher, because they’re quite good for a beginner."

"Well," she said self-consciously, "I think he has a lot of innate talent, or else the best teacher in the world couldn’t make a difference." She fumbled with her calendar. "Do you have an appointment this afternoon with Mr. Jax?"

"Actually, no, but I thought I would drop by and discuss a few of these printouts with him." {And try to seduce him.} "Is he busy right now?"

V smiled. "No, actually he’s in one of those "If you want to stay alive, hold my calls and leave me alone" kind of moods. I was actually just going to be brave and stick my head inside to tell him I’m leaving for the day. Want to come along?"

Brenda took a deep breath. It was all or nothing now. "Sure."

V grabbed a purse from under the desk and a few files. She motioned for Brenda to follow her, and she cautiously pushed open one of the large double doors to Jax’s office.

Inside, Jax was sitting at his desk, massaging his temples. He had been trying to concentrate on the file before him, but his attention span today had been extremely short. When he closed his eyes, a woman’s face appeared to him, smiling and beckoning him to come with her. Julia.

But wait. When did Julia’s hair turn dark, and when did her eyes become that rich, chocolate brown that kept enticing him? Wasn’t she taller? He shook his head, trying to clear the image, as he had for days. But the same petite brunette kept haunting his dreams.

When he heard the noise coming from the doors to his office, his eyes shot open, and he saw V’s face peeking around the corner. "Mr. Jacks, I’ll be leaving for the evening now, unless there’s anything else."

Jax gave a big sigh. "No, V, I’m just going to stay here and try to get through a little more of this correspondence. I’ll probably just order in something for dinner. You go ahead."

V nodded. "Oh, and Mr. Jacks, Ms. Barrett is here to see you." She stepped back and Brenda poked her head through the door.

"Is this a bad time?"

Jax almost had a heart attack. How did she get from his daydream fantasies to his office door so quickly?

"No, uh, not at all, Brenda." He stood and straightened his tie and jacket. "What can I do for you?"

Brenda smiled her thanks at the departing V and closed the door behind her. "Well, we really didn’t get to discuss that printout of the payment system the other day, so I thought since I had some extra time this afternoon …."

Jax extended his hand to the empty chair in front of his desk. {Don’t let her see you sweat, Jax. Be cool.} Who was he kidding? He had been kicking himself for not calling her for the past four days. He wanted to keep it light, noncommittal, nothing hinting at exclusivity. But he had been aching for her ever since that night they skipped the theater, and it pained him to admit it.

Brenda took a seat in the chair. Jax sat back down behind his desk and glanced back down at the file open before him. She took one of the printouts. "Well, if you want to look at this one, you can see how it tracks the self-insured portion as opposed to the traditional insurance payments made by a third party …." Jax nodded his head in vacant agreement, but his eyes still didn’t meet hers.

D*mn. He wasn’t going to make this easy for her. {Well, Brenda, you’ve come this far. Don’t back out on it now.} She took a deep breath, and then dropped the stack of printouts on his desk on top of the file he was perusing. It made a puff of air, and he looked up at her in surprise.

She stood slowly in front of him and began to remove her suit jacket. "You know, I think I know what our problem is." He swallowed hard as she removed the jacket, and she had to restrain herself from giving away her plan too quickly. "I’ve found that I have to be completely comfortable when I’m trying to decipher these computer printouts. Do you mind?"

When she removed the jacket of her ivory suit, she revealed a soft chiffon lilac blouse. It was frilly and feminine, as were others he had seen on her lately, but there was a noticeable difference. The fabric was very sheer, and he could plainly see that she only had on a thin camisole under it. He could see the soft outlines of her breasts, and the dark shadows of their centers under the fabric. As she moved to remove the jacket, the fabric rubbed against her breasts, causing an immediate physical reaction.

Suddenly, there was a loud CRACK!!!

Brenda and Jax both looked down at his desktop to see that he had snapped the pen he was holding in half and ink was spilling all over his fingers.

Brenda smiled to herself. {Plan’s working.}

"Oh, Jax, be careful of the printouts!" she said, trying not to smirk. She took a tissue from a box on the desk and leaned over to try to wipe ink off the papers and his fingers.

{D*mn! How did I do that? You idiot, Jax, you know d*mn well how and you know d*mn well why!!}

Brenda was really getting into the plan, now, and was wiping the ink from his fingers v..e..r..y s ..l..o..w..l..y as she leaned over the desk very close to him. "Now, I think that’s mostly cleaned up. See, I think I can concentrate much better on these things when I’m a little cooler. Don’t you think this is better?"

Jax mumbled incoherently. "Hmm…. yes….better…"

She went to sit back down, but then seemed to think about the situation and rose to her feet again. "Well, I can see I haven’t solved the problem completely." She went around the desk to his side and pulled him to his feet. Standing so close that she barely touched his chest, she undid his tie and pulled it from around his neck. She then undid the first two buttons of his shirt.

{Jax, old man, did you forget to tell V to turn on the air conditioning in here today? When did it get so warm in here?}

Brenda was ready for the final touch. She threaded her hands under the lapels of his jacket to push it barely off his shoulders, and then walked around behind him to remove it completely. He closed his eyes, and then felt her slide the jacket down his arms. She leaned in very close to him, pressing her body up against the back of his slightly sweat-dampened starched shirt. "Now, don’t you think you can concentrate better if you’re more comfortable?" His control snapped.

He turned around to face her, and found her cheshire grin right before he buried his hands in her hair and pulled her to him. He took her breath away with his kiss, plunging his tongue deep in her mouth. When he pulled back, still breathing raggedly, he found his passion reflected in her eyes. As she pulled her blouse out from her skirt, he couldn’t wait for her to undo the buttons and he slid his hands under it to find what he had been wanting. "Sweet, Brenda," he muttered, as he took love bites of her neck and she grabbed his shoulders to steady her spinning world.

He pulled back once more, turned to his desk, and swept the files and papers off in one motion. Turning back to Brenda, he lifted her into his kiss, and set her down on the desk. She pulled at his shirt, anxious to get at his bare chest, scattering the buttons as she did. "I need you, Brenda," he growled, and he proceeded to lay her back on the desk.

"Jax, wait," she said once, the shy Brenda returning. "Is everyone gone for the day?"

He gave her a devilish grin. "That’s your problem, love. You’re the noisy one!"

They proceeded to make love quickly and passionately, and finally lay spent on the floor behind his desk. She lay in his arms, her back to his chest, her blouse undone and partially pushed off her shoulders.

"Are you OK?" he asked, when both of their breathing had returned to normal.

Brenda was slow to answer. He could feel her smile. "No, I’m dead."

He smiled himself. "Ahhh, but what a way to go."

After a few seconds, he got another mischievous grin on his face and his fingers began to wander as he leaned down and blew in her ear. He could feel the vibrations of her soft moan. "Nope, you’re not dead." Then he stroked her hair lovingly. "Brenda, Brenda, why didn’t I find you sooner? You are just full of surprises."

Brenda chuckled softly. "Well, if you’re heaping that praise on me for today’s performance, I have to admit something. It wasn’t my idea."

Jax turned her to look into his eyes. "Don’t tell me Harlan sent you here and this is his new idea of corporate negotiations?"

Brenda shook her head as she giggled at the notion. "No, Lois and I had a long girl talk, and she was the one who gave me the idea."

Jax again turned her up to have his full attention. "But you were the one who had the honesty and guts to go through with it. You are one charming vixen, Ms. Barrett."

Brenda carefully filed the words away in her heart. If she hadn’t fallen before, it was becoming more and more difficult to not fall in love with this incredible man. He suddenly sat up straight.

"I’ve got a great idea. I need to go out to the coast to handle a business problem first-hand for a couple of days, but I’ll have a lot of free time, too. I have a beach house in Malibu not too far from our offices. Want to come with me?"

Brenda’s brilliant smile was all the answer he needed.

To be continued……