Kelsey woke up to stealthy clinking sounds coming from the kitchen. She rolled over in surprise when she realized where she was. Had she really slept all night? On someone's couch?

It seemed she had.

She sat up and saw Jack opening and closing drawers.

"Sorry," he said with a grin. "I didn't mean to wake you, I just need to take my vitamins."

She smiled and waved a hand, raking a hand through her hair and covering a huge yawn with her fist. "I can't believe I slept the night through," she said. "I usually wake up at least five or six times, especially if I'm someplace unfamiliar." She patted the couch. "This sofa is amazing."

"Yeah. My older brother Jacob is a furniture maker in San Diego, and he gave it to me when someone returned it. It's a futon couch, folds out and all, see? Usually they're not very comfortable, but Jake does amazing work, and the futon came from Japan and everything, so it was a steal." Kelsey could hear real pride in Jack's voice, and affection.

"Jack and Jake?" she said, making it a question.

"Yeah, there's Julian, the oldest, who's twenty-eight. He teaches high school English. Then there's Jake, the furniture maker, who's twenty-seven, then Jeremy, who's in med school back east, he's twenty-four, then the baby, me," Jack ticked off on his fingers. "All Js. My parents wanted to keep things simple, I suppose. We all swam on the same team, and we all look alike, so by the time I came along, our coach didn't know if he was coming or going, honestly."

Jack opened a few cupboards, and looked back at Kelsey apologetically. "I'd offer to make you breakfast, but I don't really have any food. I was going to just grab some food and shop on the way home--" he let the sentence dangle. "Did you want to come with me?" He added when she didn't say anything.

"Would you mind?" Kelsey asked.

"Uh, no not at all, but things didn't go so well the last time we went out, you know?" Jack replied.

"I don't think that will happen again," Kelsey said, hoping it was true. "It usually isn't so bad during the day, and maybe if we stay out of Hollywood?" She looked at Jack hopefully, and he nodded.

"Sure, not a problem, we can just head over the hill, the other way," he said.

Half an hour later they were safely ensconced in a booth at an IHOP in the San Fernando Valley. Kelsey was wearing jeans and a blue blouse, with her signature locks in a pony tail braid, while Jack was wearing his usual, shorts and a T-shirt with flip flops. They blended right in, and no one gave them a second glance.

Again, Kelsey was shocked at the amount of food Jack ordered, and stared with wide eyes as the waitress deposited his order in front of him. He had a plate of just protein, and a plate of only carbs, and a bowl of fruit.

He just smiled at her and dug in to his food.

She was once again surprised, ten minutes later, when she saw she had cleaned up her own plate, and was looking around for something else to eat. Jack saw her looking around and pushed over a plate that had a short stack of pancakes on it.

"Go ahead," he said, gesturing to the pancakes. "Take a couple off the top, I don't need them all."

"You sure?" Kelsey asked, even as she was forking a few onto her empty plate. "I can't believe I'm eating all this." She poured blueberry syrup liberally from the bank of carafes lined up along the window. "You know what I usually have for breakfast?" she asked as she brought the first forkful towards her mouth. At Jack's negative head shake, she said, "Whole wheat toast and fruit."

He smiled. "Well, that's good, I guess. You're eating more because of all the swimming. And I mean, these pancakes are whole wheat. And I don't usually eat this much, you know. Sunday mornings are my splurgy meal."

"Splurgy meal?" Kelsey repeated with a laugh. "I don't think that's a real word, sir. Aren't you going to be a lawyer? Shouldn't you be more precise in your use of language?"

Jack looked at her face, and realized she rarely smiled like this, with her whole face, crinkling her eyes and showing her teeth, and he wondered why not. She looked much younger, and therefore much more carefree when she did. Even her clothes were contributing to making her seem younger this morning. And she wasn't wearing any make-up or jewelry, either, making her look less weighted down or something.

"What? What are you staring at?" Kelsey asked, putting her glass down and wiping her mouth.

Jack sighed and blinked at her. "Nothing, Kelsey, you need to relax." He put a hand on her shoulder. "There's a difference between 'staring' and 'looking', you know?" He raised his eyebrows at her.

She could see amusement in his hazel eyes, and she realized that the tips of his long eyelashes were bleached to nearly completely blond by the chlorine they were always exposed to.

"Wow, your eyes are really beautiful," she said.

"What?" Jack asked. He took his hand off her shoulder and sat back, picking up his orange juice and draining it in one go, just for something to do. As he swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing, Kelsey could see a blush that was visible even under his deep tan.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you," she said, smiling with amusement.

He set his glass down, empty, and shook his head, so vigorously that his curls shook. "No, no, it's, um, okay," he said. He still wouldn't meet her gaze, though.

"So, you ready to go?" he asked briskly, turning to her.

She just nodded.

When they got to the register, she stepped up, saying, "I'm paying today, okay?" over her shoulder. "We'll just consider it a business meeting, a working breakfast."

"Um, okay, and thanks," Jack said, smiling. He held the door for her as they left, and he seemed recovered from his discomfiture by the time they reached his car.

"You want to risk the grocery store with me, or should I drop you at home?" he asked as they got back on the 405.

It had probably been over a year since Kelsey had actually been in a grocery store. "Sure, let's go," she said with a grin.

"It probably won't be that crowded on a Sunday morning," Jack said encouragingly. "And if it gets bad, we can just scoot out of there, okay?"

She nodded and sat back, as Jack drove them to the Trader Joe's in Sherman Oaks. He pulled into a relatively empty parking lot, which was a good sign.

"Oh, look how pretty!" she exclaimed, seeing the display of flowers they had out front. They perused the selection, and she picked out daffodils and gladioli.

"I can't believe how inexpensive they are," she said quietly. "Is this what they usually cost?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know," he answered. He didn't usually buy flowers.

They entered the store, and Kelsey just watched, fascinated, as Jack loaded up his cart with twenty different kinds of produce and fruit, huge containers of yogurt, and boxes of cereal she'd never heard of.

"What's this?" she asked, picking up a container.

"Flax seed," Jack answered. "Fiber, omega-3, protein? It's good for you," he finished with a grin.

They walked down the frozen food aisle in the middle of the store, and Jack put a frozen cheesecake in the cart. At Kelsey's stare, he said, "Hey, I don't live on flax seed and kale, you know?"

So Kelsey, feeling brave, grabbed a box of frozen mushroom mini-quiches and put them in the cart, too, merely quirking an eyebrow at Jack when he gave her a look.

They kept going, and Kelsey spotted some frozen profiteroles, and added them to the cart. Jack didn't say anything, he just smiled at her.

When they got to the front, Kelsey grabbed the flowers, mini-quiches, and profiteroles, and went to another cashier. Jack took a breath to say something, but she turned away with a smile and took out her wallet. It was actually kind of fun to shop, to pick out her own stuff and pay and everything.

When they got in the car, Jack noticed that Kelsey was a little flushed, as if she were excited about something.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked as he started the car.

"Yes," she said after thinking for a moment. "Sometimes I get lonely, you know?" she asked. At his blank look she tried to clarify her meaning. "That was just fun," she declared.

"Oh," he responded as they merged on to the freeway. "Good," he added with a grin.

They spent the twenty minute drive home singing along to Jack's rock classics, and Kelsey surprised him by knowing the words to "Start Me Up" and "Twist and Shout," which they belted at the top of their lungs.

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

"So, let me get these guys in some water, and I'll meet you at the pool in about twenty minutes?" Kelsey said when they pulled into the driveway.

"Yeah, sounds good," Jack replied. He got his groceries put away and put on a suit, and got sun screen on. It was June, and the Southern California sun was merciless.

When he got out to the pool, he couldn't find Kelsey anywhere, so he opened the door and stuck his head in, calling her name.

"Kels?"

No response.

He sent her a text, and got a text back right away.

"Thank god! Can you come up to my room? I have a little problem."

"Okay," he sent back.

"Kelsey?" he called again.

He climbed the stairs.

"Kelsey? It's me, Jack," he said, feeling a bit silly. "Are you okay?"

He opened the door to what he hoped was the master bedroom, entering cautiously.

"Jack? Back here, please." He heard her plaintive voice.

He walked toward the voice and entered what appeared to be a dressing room, with wall to wall hangers, and racks of shoes along the back. Kelsey was in her bathrobe, standing on a stool, holding a slipper in one hand.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Uh, there's a wasp out there," she whispered, eyes huge. "Out in my bedroom, near the window? Fucking gigantic. You didn't see it? When you came in?"

He shook his head. "I'll go out and look again, though, okay?" he said.

She just nodded, and he went back out to her bedroom. He looked around. Her swim suit was laid out on the bed. The recess of the window, the corners of the curtains, the corners of the room, behind the dresser, all the usual places where flying things liked to lurk. Nothing. He stood still and listened. No telltale buzzing. He checked her bathroom, which was decorated in pale pink and blue, but didn't find anything in there, either.

He went back to the dressing room, where Kelsey was still standing on the stool, slipper in hand.

"No wasp," he told her, hands spread. "Maybe it flew out through the bathroom window or something? There's a little hole in the screen."

She nodded. "Okay, okay." She didn't look convinced, though.

Jack smiled, and reached out to help her get down from the stool. He grasped her hand, and while she was stepping down, the robe came unbelted and slipped open, revealing her naked front to Jack. His hand slid on to her bare waist as he came face to face with her bare breast for the briefest of seconds before she gasped and sprang away from him.

He let out a shocked, "Whoa!"and removed his hand from her waist as though her flesh were scorching hot. He quickly turned away while she belted her robe closed. He remained turned away, facing a colorful rack of Kelsey's clothes until she told him in a small voice that he could turn around. He did so, carefully keeping his eyes on the carpet.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

He just nodded, and continued to stare at the gray carpet, until she said, "You can look up now, Jack, it's okay, for crying out loud."

He looked up to see that Kelsey had gone an interesting shade of blotchy red. "I don't blush well," she admitted.

He smiled.

"And thank you," she added.

"For what?" he asked.

"For not making me feel like an idiot," she said, taking him by the arm and leading him out of the dressing room. "I mean, I tell you in the car that I'm lonely, I invite you up to my bedroom to look for an apparently non-existent wasp, then I damn near drop my robe on the floor so you can see me bare-ass naked." She smiled ruefully. "I wouldn't blame anyone for getting the wrong idea, you know? But all you did was get all funny and embarrassed and turn around, so thank you."

Jack waited for her down by the pool, and she joined him a few minutes later, in her suit, with the last of her blotchy blush subsiding.

As they sat on the side of the pool, Kelsey leaned over and kissed Jack, on his cheek, close to his ear, a lingering one, that he felt long after she'd stopped.

"Thanks for being a nice guy," she said with a little smile. "I was beginning to think there weren't any of you left."