The Kiss- 16

by: TelRofTalz

The Kiss - 16

Stefan opened the door to Port Charles’ version of a castle by the sea, Wyndamere, on his way out to the stables to exercise his favored black stallion, Sultan. As he began down the cobblestone pathway leading to the stables he ran into Jerry.

"Well!" Jerry said with his trademark wry grin, "If it isn’t my favorite member of the nobility." He bowed dramatically as Stefan regarded him with repressed amusement. "Fancy coincidence runnin’ into you here, your lordship."

"Not such a coincidence considering that I live here," Stefan said as he and Jerry shook hands. "What can I do for you, Jerry?"

Jerry fell into step with Stefan as the Greco-Russian prince headed towards his stables.

"I was just wondering if you’ve spoken to Jax lately," Jerry said casually.

"Yesterday" Stefan responded. "Why do you ask? Haven’t you been in contact with him yourself?"

Jerry shot Stefan an evasive gaze. "Well I’ve been ahhh - - - busy. How’d he sound?"

Stefan stopped and turned to face Jerry. "How did he sound? That is a rather odd question, isn’t it? What exactly are you trying to get me to tell you?"

Jerry shrugged. "Well, you know. Did he sound ticked off? Like at me for instance?"

Stefan rose an eyebrow. "What have you done, Jerry?"

"Did I say I did anything?"

Stefan shook his head and laughed, moving on to the stables once more. "No, but obviously you did. But in answer to your question, no, Jax did not sound at all upset with you when I spoke to him. The only thing bothering Jax was the maddening melancholy he was feeling as he was forced to admit just how much he was missing a certain young brunette in his life."

Jerry scowled. "He told ya that?"

"He didn’t have to, his tone of voice said it all. But yes, in the end he did confess it to me. I also know that you do not approve of Brenda, Jerry. She told me about your attitude towards her."

"Did she now," Jerry muttered as if bored.

"Yes she did. She was rather despondent about it for about five seconds before she became simply defiant about it and determined never to bend to your will. You won’t be able to convince that girl to get out of Jax’s life, Jerry, and you shouldn’t even be trying to. While I understand your concerns about the debutantes who pursue Jax relentlessly, I have to tell you that Brenda is not one of them. You are completely wrong and unfair in your

assessment of her," Stefan stated.

"No I’m not. You’re just bewitched by the pixie, just like my poor brother is," Jerry dismissed, thinking there was nothing more dangerous than a woman who looked like an angel, acted like an angel but was truly out to toy mercilessly with your heart before ripping it out all together. "The both of you just can’t see through the beauty and cleverly cultivated irresistibility. But I can."

Stefan walked over to Sultan, stroking the fine black mane of the powerful thoroughbred. "And what exactly is it that you see, if I may ask?"

"A little opportunistic gold digger who picked Jax as her target from the moment she set eyes on him at the Quartermaine mansion, and is even now makin’ plans to weaken Jax with passion and work her wiles to get everything he has and then disappear out of his life," Jerry announced.

"You honestly believe this?" Stefan asked, his gray-blue eyes gazing towards the darkening sky to assess if he could have his workout with Sultan before the heavy rains fell.

"Damn right, I do," Jerry said somewhat snappishly, wondering why no one else seemed to be able to see through Brenda’s arresting charm the way he could. He couldn’t actually be wrong about her, could he? No, he had to let experience be his guide and experience had taught him that women with the faces of angels who brought you unspeakable joy at one moment would send you straight to hell in the next moment. THAT was the reality.

"Shall I tell you what I see?" Stefan offered. "I see a spirited, very beautiful young woman who met Jax by fate, not design. I see a girl who is head over heels in love with your brother, a man who incidentally is perilously close to feeling the very same thing for her. I see two people who were more meant to be than any two people I’ve ever known," Stefan finished.

Jerry gazed at Stefan incredulously. "You can’t be serious!" he laughed, thinking Stefan was ribbing him.

"On the contrary. I am perfectly serious, Jerry. Any fool can see that she is madly in love with him. She hides the feelings of her heart very poorly. Your macabre scenario of her as a cold-hearted, calculating, social climbing con woman out to swindle Jax penniless and stomp all of the feeling out of his heart is absurd," Stefan told him as he mounted Sultan.

"Absurd, is it? Well you won’t be sayin’ that when she’s off in the Caribbean somewhere drinknin' Pina Coladas, tossin’ Jax’s money right and left and laughing at him while he’s left to recover from the financial and emotional turmoil she’s left him in."

"That scenario is even more absurd," Stefan stated calmly.

"What’s absurd is you, his best friend, not tryin’ to talk him out of this folly. You’re supposed to care about him, Stefan. How could you just stand by and watch him fall into her trap?"

"Jerry, you’re not going to convince me to help you come between them if that’s what you’re trying to do. I disagree with you on just about every point of this conversation," Stefan reminded him.

"So I see. What I don’t understand is how? How could you see things so unclearly?"

"Maybe you’re the one in need of clarity, not I," Stefan suggested.

"Are you always so bloody polite? Jerry vented. "And by the way, NO, it’s not me who needs clarity," Jerry argued. "I at least know that Jax is not anywhere near in love with that girl yet as you seem to be inferring. And the only thing SHE loves is what he can do for her. I can’t believe that you would actually envision that she’s in love with him. Do you actually believe that romanticized garbage?" Jerry demanded in an appalled tone. As far as

he was concerned love was a sweet poison. Sure it was delicious at first, the most delicous thing one could ever hope to consume, but in the end it left you feeling dead and bitter.

"One has only to look into her eyes when they are trained on Jax to know without a doubt that her feelings are genuine," Stefan replied. "I am sure that Jax knows. If she can’t hide it from me, I don’t see how she could possibly hope to conceal it from him."

"Stefan, how can you say any of this with a straight face? Don’t you see the game plan being orchestrated here? It’s so bloody obvious, man! She’s after Jax, and her chums in crime are after Ned Ashton and Jason Quartermaine. These women all want the brass ring, they’re salivating over getting it. They want the diamonds, the furs, the cars, the extravagant parties, the homes, the private jets, the yachts, the vacations in Fiji. They have

nothing, and they want everything. That’s all this is about. They don’t give a damn about love!"

"I can’t very well speak for Brenda’s roommates whom I barely know," Stefan conceded. "But Brenda is as in love with your brother as a woman could possibly be with a man. Of that I am certain. Perhaps it is your mistrust of all women, that prevents you from seeing that simple truth, no matter how obvious it is," Stefan suggested. "Jerry, I know your mistrust is based on bitter experience, but Brenda is not Ashley or Fiona. Brenda is Brenda.

And Brenda loves Jax. And he is this close to loving her as well, believe me Jerry, it is true. You should not interfere in this. The one you may end up truly hurting is the one you want to protect so fiercely. My great grandmother always told me that to try and intentionally alter the course of true love will only bring about trouble and pain for all. Leave it alone, Jerry. Jax will be fine."

"True love?!" Jerry snorted as if he would choke on the words. "What kind of poppycock are you ramblin’ on about now, oh prince? There is no such thing as true love. There are only varying degrees of lust and physical need and greed and using! Is it the whole aristocratic upbringing that makes a brilliant mind like yours actually give credence to this true love tripe? That is nothing but a fairy tale, Stefan. And fairy tales are for

children who don’t know any better."

Stefan saw that it was useless to try to convince Jerry of the goodness of any woman, least of all the one who was on the brink of snatching away his brother’s heart – a heart that Jerry wanted to keep safe from the pain that could go with being in love. A pain that Jerry knew only too well and despised the memory of and swore he would never let his brother suffer through.

"I suppose we will just have to agree to disagree on Brenda," Stefan said with a shrug. "But I am very fond of her and would appreciate your not talking negatively about her in my presence, if you don’t mind. Care to go riding with me?" Stefan offered politely.

Jerry shook his head, his eyes dark storm clouds.

"Very well then. If you will excuse me, I do have to exercise Sultan before the rains come. Good day, Jerry."

"Good bloody day Prince Charming," Jerry muttered. Just his luck! His brother’s best friend on the planet was on Brenda’s side and as snowed by the conniving, faux angel as Jax was. Ironically enough the one person who seemed to see Brenda in the same ominous light that Jerry did was that wretched Tracy Quartermaine. He shuddered. He desperately did not want to form some sordid alliance with that woman other than the one they already

had to keep Brenda too busy at work to socialize. No, any further alliances with Tracy would only be a last resort. A very last resort.

He decided to pay Brenda a visit. After all, if it was money she was after, perhaps it was just time to pay the bloody kid off and end this nonsense. Half a million should do it, although he was prepared to go higher. Anything to spare Jax, who Jerry had to reluctantly admit was extremely taken with the girl. Making sure he had his check book on him, Jerry got into his car and headed for Brenda’s cottage.

# # #

"Is there really such a thing as a black sand beach?" Brenda was asking Jax as they got out of the jeep, stepping into the bright sunlight and walking across a long footbridge towards the Kahului Heliport # 107, a large hangar housing several gleaming black helicopters.

"Absolutely. We can go by one later if we have the time. But right now, I want to show you the bird’s-eye view of this island paradise," he said as he signed a waiver with the owner and was handed the keys to one of the choppers.

"Okay, you know that even though I’m excited, I’m scared to death of this, right?" she laughed, holding his hand with both of hers.

"You really shouldn’t be. Not with me," he said.

"This means you’re a good pilot, right?" she teased.

"The best," he said with a smile. "Don’t worry, Brenda, you’ll be fine. In fact, I predict that you are going to LOVE this," he promised her, helping her up into the helicopter and marveling at how fantastic she looked in the velvety-white shorts and a sexy white crochet halter top. He should let her go wild with shopping all the time, he thought, because her taste in clothes was just fine with him. Her hair was in a French braid with wispy

bangs and a white satin ribbon intertwined with the braid. Her white outfit served to show off her fabulous sun-kissed complexion, and she was smiling at him, lighting up his world like not even the sun could do. She was just the most beautiful, most extraordinary thing. She made his heart surge strangely. Pleasantly. One day he’d have to tell her all of this.

She settled in the seat and nodded. "Yeah, you’re right. It’s hard to be scared when I’m with you anyway," she admitted as she slid her sunglasses from on top of her head to over her eyes. "So let’s go," she said clapping her hands together.

"Put your seat belt on," he instructed her as he climbed up into the pilot’s seat next to her. He put his headset on, and his sunglasses and started the motor. "Welcome to the ASTAR Black Beauty, Miss Barrett," he said acting as her tour guide. "I am your pilot today. You can just call me, Jax."

Brenda laughed. "Well hello, Jax."

"Hello. Now today I will not only transport you to areas inaccessible by any other means, but I will do so in comfort, style, and safety. This aircraft is the best in it’s class and I am FAA certified with more than 12,000 hours of flying experience, so you just sit back and relax and let me show you Maui’s lush jungles, tropical rain forests and of course a volcano or two. Ready?"

She was laughing and completely relaxed, not an ounce of fear within her any longer.

"I’m ready. Oh, just one question. Can I kiss the pilot before we take off?"

"The pilot," he said, gently, tilting her chin up with one hand, "would like that very much." He took her mouth in a soft, endless kiss that deliciously stole her breath away. Her lips melted against his and her heart swirled within her. Jax slowly pulled away from her and held her in a captive emerald and sapphire gaze for what seemed to be a timeless moment. "Up, up and away then," he said, pulling back on the throttle as the helicopter began

to rise from the ground.

# # #

Jerry arrived at the Brenda/Carly/Lois gingerbread house in the woods and he heard the music blasting from within loud enough to wake the dead.

"Little hooligans," he muttered, in a sour, unreasonable mood ever since his conversation with Stefan about love. Stefan and his princely fairy tales about love and all that ‘meant to be’ crap was a load of hogwash. Jerry knew that love was just a weakness that blindly set you up for the fall of your life, and he would be damned if he would ever let Jax take that fall at the hands of some scheming girl who may have the face of an angel, but

certainly not angelic intentions. Jerry had had two of those such women in his life. How happy they had made him, how devastated they had left him in the wake of their treachery. He was not going to let Jax be victimized by another one. he already saw how happy she made Jax. The treachery could not be far behind.

Jerry knocked on the cottage door.

Not a soul heard him, as the music of the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies "Zoot Suit Riot" blasted and thumped from within. He banged harder, but still got no response as the heavy bass, the blaring horn section and the conga drums drowned out his loud knocking.

He walked to the side of the house and peered through the large seat window in annoyance and was rewarded for his peeping Tom efforts with the vision of Carly Roberts and Jason Quartermaine playing some serious tonsil hockey on the couch. Jerry sighed in aggravation. Were no men immune to the dangerous charms of these three witches of Eastwick who dwelled in this blasted enchanted cottage in the middle of nowhere?!

Jerry tore away his scowling gaze from Carly and Jason’s escalating make-out session to try and see if he could spot Brenda anywhere inside. But from all appearances, Carly and Jason had the place to themselves this late Saturday afternoon. Jerry gazed up at the sky. It would pour any moment now. He went back to the front door and banged once more, harder than before.

"Hey, hey, hey. You gonna huff and puff and blow our house down?" inquired a familiar Brooklyn-accent behind him. Jerry turned to find Brenda’s violet-eyed roommate, Lois, standing there. And Ned was with her.

"Well it seems your blonde roommate in there has gone deaf," Jerry said. "I’ve been knockin’ for several minutes." He glanced in acknowledgment of Ned. "How’re you doing Ashton?"

"Great, Jerry," Ned responded with a flash of deep dimples. "What about you?"

"Peachy," Jerry muttered as he took notice of the way Ned was looking at Lois. Obviously Ashton was already gone on her. There was another sucker born every day, Jerry thought sarcastically, as all of the blossoming love in the air was making him ill.

"What are you doing here anyway, brother of Jax?" Lois asked, regarding him none too invitingly, since Brenda had told her all about the hard time Jerry always gave her.

"I’m lookin’ for Brenda, actually. Is she at home?" Jerry asked.

Lois smiled as if she had a secret. "Not exactly."

"So you mean she’s workin’ today? Or she’s out on a date? Or she’s havin’ her teeth cleaned? What?" Jerry asked impatiently.

Lois inserted her key into the door of the cottage. "She’s on vacation. You figure it out," Lois said with a grin as she and Ned disappeared into the cottage.

Jerry began to walk back to his car. She was on vacation? Since when? Where? With whom? Maybe if she went away with some bloke, Jerry could make sure Jax found out about it, showcase it in the worst light possible, and then this Jax and Brenda thing would be over and done with.

And then it hit him.

Stefan mentioning how much Jax missed Brenda. The fact that Jax had checked out of the hotel and was now at the luxurious timeshare in Wailea, something Jerry hadn’t given much thought to until this moment.

"No - - - -she couldn’t be - - -" he murmured in disbelief as he opened the car door and got inside. But what if she was? Her and Jax alone in a sensual tropical paradise. "Damn!" Jerry muttered wondering how it was that in his bloodless war with the young little pixie, she always seemed to outmaneuver him somehow. Well, no need to get all bent out shape just yet, he reminded himself. The likelihood that she was with Jax was slim. She would

have to have gotten last minute vacation time AND an expensive plane ticket to Hawaii, neither of which he thought she could do.

He picked up the car phone and dialed the villa in Wailea. Soon enough he would know if she was with Jax nor not.

# # #

After giving Brenda a fantastic helicopter tour of Maui and the surrounding islands, Jax took her to Garden of the Gods in Lana’i, a desert-like area strewn with rocks in fantastic juxtapositions – remnants of volcanic activity. The play of light at different times of the day turned the landscape vivid shades of gold, purple, magenta and red that were not to be believed. Next they had a late, leisurely lunch at Planet Hollywood. Then Jax rented a

Zodiac ProJet and they did some amazing scuba diving in the glittering emerald waters of the crescent shaped islet of Molokini. They had a sumptuous early dinner at Carelli’s On The Beach, and then went sailing in time to see the sunset, which was the most stunning thing Brenda had ever seen. The huge orange sun, setting in a deep azure sky which was no longer blue but now scattered with brilliant streaks of varying shades of gold that was nearly

mystical. The golden sunset bathed the beaches in it’s splendor, as they reflected the mesmerizing display of dark and light golds and oranges as Jax and Brenda sailed lazily along the beautiful south Maui coast. It was serenely dazzling. Brenda was often uncertain that she was not just dreaming this.

"I’ll take you to the black sand beach tomorrow," Jax promised her later when they had returned to the Wailea villa and were laying back in a lounge chair on the beach watching wispy white clouds playing with the moon. "And we can do the long drive to Hana too. See the waterfalls, the lagoons, the natural pools. You’ll love that."

"Okay," Brenda said, the excitement audible in her voice even though her tone was soft spoken. "Is this beach always so empty?" she asked, gazing out at the endless stretch of sand and water.

"Relatively, in comparison to others, yes," he told her. "Which actually works out great because I can get away with a lot of things."

She smiled. "Like what?"

"Like riding my ATV out there. It’s prohibited to ride All Terrain Vehicles out here, but the solitude of this beach allows me to get away with it all the time. Also bonfires. They’re not allowed, but I do them all the time too."

There were several minutes of peaceful silence between them where one could hear nothing but the beach rolling in and out in gentle tranquillity.

"Can I ask you something?" Brenda said, breaking the peaceful silence and turning halfway around in his arms so that she could see his face.

He nodded.

"Have you ever been in love?" she asked, and then she settled back down in his arms, gazing back out at the bewitching moon and awaiting his response.

Jax thought about the women who had come in and out of his life, and his feelings for them. "No," he decided.

"Do you ever think you will?"

{I fear I am in the process} "I don’t see how I could possibly predict that. It’s not exactly something one writes down in their day planner. Meeting on Thursday, pick up dry cleaning on Friday, fall in love on Saturday - - - "

"That’s true," Brenda conceded. "Although, you know - - - today IS Saturday," she pointed out, drumming her fingers against his leg.

"Yes, but I wasn't being literal," he said, giving her a little tickle along her stomach. {Why did I say Saturday though? Freudian slip or something?} 'I was just pointing out that love is not something you plan."

"Yeah. It just happens," Brenda agreed. "You don’t even know it’s happening to you until it’s too late."

"To late? That sounds rather ominous," he said matter of factly. "Sort of like an ambush, the way you describe it."

She laughed and tilted her head back so that their eyes met for a moment. "No, no, no. Not ominous. Mysterious," she corrected. Love is a mystery."

"If you say so."

She turned around in his arms so that she was lying on him with her stomach instead of her back, her brown eyes searching into his aquamarine ones as her hands rested on his biceps. "You don’t think it is?"

Jax shrugged. ‘I just don’t see what’s so mysterious about it. It starts out with an attraction between two people, right? Physical, spiritual, chemical, or what have you. Then there is friendship, that whole initial dating phase, then eventually you give into the attraction, the passion, the relationship turns sexual which pulls the two people closer, then there’s that period where you always want to do everything and nothing together and you’re

miserable whenever you’re apart. Then one day you wake up and you just know."

Brenda laughed. "You just know what?"

"You know that you were always meant to be with this person, to love this person and be loved by this person – just this one person. And you know that there is just no one else in the world for you but them. I think that’s pretty much the path love takes. Not really mysterious." He shrugged.

Brenda could barely breathe. He, knowingly or not, had just described them and the path they were clearly on. She did not want to read too much into his perception of what love was, but she could not stop her heart form leaping around with a shimmering joy at what he had certainly implied.

She grinned. "For someone who has never been in love you sure do seem to know a lot about it."

"Just my opinion. What do YOU think love is?" he asked her, his eyes turning a deep, breathtaking shade of blue as he ran the back of his hand gently, almost reverently along her face.

Love is touch

Touch is love

Love is reaching

Reaching love

Love is asking

To be loved

"I know exactly what love is," she assured him, her eyes never breaking their gaze with his.

"Tell me," he whispered, his voice pure seduction.

She felt her heart pounding inside her chest. She could tell him. She could just tell him right now. He would not reject her, she had to believe that.

Love is you

You and me

Love is knowing

We will be

Lying beneath her he could feel her heart racing too. He knew she was scared. He wondered if she would tell him what he already knew. He wondered what he would say to her if she did?

"It’s - - - uhhh - - - -a little difficult to put into exact words," she blurted out, feeling herself losing her nerve as the tiniest thought of him not feeling the same way was pretty unbearable.

Jax nodded, sensing her apprehension. "If love was a color, what would it be?" he asked her, knowing what she would say.

"Blue," she said without hesitation, as she gazed into his eyes.

"Blue," he repeated. "Most people would have said red."

{Yes, most people would have said red. Why the heck had she said blue! Blue??! She groaned inwardly}

"I - - - I don’t know why I said blue," she said dismissively, laughing it off and trying to turn back around so that she did not have to be trapped by those dreamy eyes of his.

"I do," Jax said, holding her in a way that prevented her from turning over onto her back. "Would you like me to tell you?"

But just then the usually deserted beach was disturbed by a large dog bounding by and a tall man chasing him.

"Come back here JR!" the man yelled in a heavy Texas accent. "Dang dog! Get over here dagnabit!"

Jax instantly recognized the voice and dark annoyance leapt into his aquamarine eyes, which Brenda noticed immediately.

"What’s wrong?" she asked.

The man had caught his dog and was passing by when he noticed Jax. "Jax, is that you? Hot damn! Look at that! Me and you both in Hawaii. Ain’t that somethin’!" Then the man’s rather bloodshot gray eyes rested on Brenda and lit up. "Ain’t you gonna introduce me to this beautiful creature?" the man asked.

Jax sat up, taking Brenda with him and they both rose to their feet.

"Brenda, this is Rob Hanson," Jax said without any pleasure.

"Nice to meet you," Brenda said extending her hand to him.

"Oh the pleasure is all mine pretty lady," Rob Hanson assured her, raising her hand to his lips and kissing it. "Mmm, mmm, mmm. Makes a man wanna be single again," he sighed eyeing Brenda with desire. Then he turned to Jax. "So what brings you to Maui, Jax? I can see part of it is pleasure," he said, eyeing Brenda once more, "but knowin’ you I bet there’s business involved. Anything we can partner up on?" he asked slapping an annoyed Jax on the

shoulder.

Brenda saw the look of disgust flash in Jax’s eyes and then disappear. "No, it’s strictly pleasure," Jax said, doing nothing to encourage Hanson to stick around and converse with them.

"Well that’s good, that’s good. She is a pleasure all right, I’ll bet," Hanson said, scratching his bearded chin, "But you know I heard there was a big ole hotel buyout goin’ on down here, so I reckoned that might be why you’re here. Came to see if I could get a piece of the pie for myself."

Jax shrugged. "Good luck."

"Yeah. Say, are you about ready to put your John Hancock on the deal we’re workin’ on? You know any further dillydallyin’ on your end, Jax, and I just may have to pull out. Friday’s the day. I told your brother that the night you had your little yacht party and then took, the yacht!" he laughed loudly, slapping his leg. "I gotta say I was on the floor with laughter over that one. You got some guts, kid. But don’t ever try that kind of thing

with me again," he added coolly. "Well I gotta get back to the wife. Nice seein’ ya’ll. Jax, I expect to see your signature on that deal of ours on d-day or I’m out and you know what that means. Your whole deal is gonna go kaput and I ain’t lyin.’ Night."

With another longing glance at Brenda, Hanson took his dog and went back in the direction he came from.

"Great," Jax muttered heading for the villa. "Of all the places on this earth he has to end up here when I’m here."

"Who is he, Jax? Obviously you can’t stand him," Brenda said, following him into the villa.

"He’s somebody I can’t stand," Jax said.

Jax," Brenda said, grabbing his arm. "Come on, who is he to you?"

"A prospective partner in a huge venture that my family is in the middle of financing. A fleet of express trains from Port Charles direct to Manhattan," Jax said, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Well if you dislike him so much can’t you just get a different partner?"

"I wish I could. But Rob Hanson is married to Renee Waltman-Hanson who is the owner of Hanson Electronics, formerly Waltman Electronics. We need them because Hanson Electronics owns the patent on a computer chip that we need for the operation of these trains. They’re the only ones who have it."

"Oh. So just sign the deal and then wash your hands of him, right?"

"Wrong. He is making this deal completely non-beneficial to us and conversely completely beneficial to his side. He’s throwing out all sorts of ridiculous demands including changing the name from JacksRail to Hanson Rail Road among other things. My brother seems to think that we just have to take it and realize that we’ll reap the benefits in the long run. But I know that if I just had more time I could get something on Hanson that would put

things in our favor. I just know it," Jax said.

"Like what? Blackmail you mean?" she asked.

"Well you don’t need to look so stunned, Brenda. It happens in this game all the time," Jax said. "If I can find something on him, you bet I’m going to blackmail him with it."

Brenda knew that this was obviously something very important to Jax. She chewed on her lip thoughtfully and then glanced at him. "Well maybe I can help you?" she offered.

His smile made her heart take off like a rocket. "Thank you for that very sweet, very Brenda-esque offer, but don't worry about it, I have people working on it. I’m expecting something soon."

"Do you have some kind of a deadline?" she asked.

Jax nodded. "Next Friday. That’s when they have the big press conference set up at City Hall for the announcement of the railroad deal. But I’m confident I’ll get the goods on him before then."

"I hope so," Brenda said. "Otherwise you’ll have no choice, will you? You’ll be stuck with him."

"I will not be stuck with him," Jax vowed. The telephone in the villa rang, and Jax picked it up. "Hello?"

"Jax, it’s me. Where the hell have you been all day? You know, I TOLD you before we need to get a bloody answering machine for the villa. I musta called fifty times," Jerry exaggerated. "You could NOT have been in meetings for that long."

"Do you know that idiot Rob Hanson is down here?’ Jax said with unhidden contempt. "He was obviously trying to muscle in on the hotel deal, Jerry. I told you that guy was just a leach and it’s bad business to get into any deal with him that we are NOT in control of. Now, if I need more time to neutralize that guy on the railroad deal, I want you to get it for me," Jax said, sitting on the arm of the chair next to the telephone. Brenda decided to

give him privacy and was heading for the bedroom, but Jax reached out and stopped her, letting her know she did not have to leave the room because he was talking business. He trusted her, she realized, trying to conceal her glee.

"Hanson is down there? Bloody hell! I just hope you didn’t toss any more insults at the guy Jax. We’ve got a deal going down this Friday coming and we’re not gonna blow this," Jerry warned him.

"Didn’t you just hear me? I said that I might need you to stall that, Jerry."

"I can’t," Jerry said. "I’ve stalled it long enough for you, Jax. If your people can’t find anything on the guy then the deal goes through, HIS way. That’s it. Hey, listen, I hope that you got Brenda out of the room. I don’t think it’s wise for her to hear our business dealings."

Jax laughed. "If that was your "slick" way of trying to discover if Brenda is here with me, the answer is yes, she is."

"Damn it Jax! Send her back, will ya? You don’t need the distraction. This hotel deal is important and you can’t be foolin’ around on this. Reimburse her for her airfare and send her back home."

"Hey Jer, for your edification I am the one who flew Brenda down here on the jet and I’m not sending her anywhere. The hotel deal is going just fine, in fact it’s closed. Now, you go right ahead and talk to me about business, but the topic of Brenda is off limits between us, okay?"

Jerry paused. "Can I ask why?" he asked, sounding edgy, wondering if Brenda had told Jax all about Jerry’s tricks and put her worst possible spin on it to throw a wrench in the brothers relationship.

"Because she has nothing to do with US, Jerry," Jax explained. "She just has to do with me. She’s private and personal and just mine. And that’s the way I want to keep it."

Could it be? She hadn’t told Jax? Why not, Jerry wondered. What was she waiting for? What was she plotting? Angel with an agenda, she was. Jerry was not fooled by this apparent reprieve she had given him. She was merely gearing up for a bigger assault.

"If Hanson is down there, I think I should come down," Jerry said, wanting to be down there for more reasons that just Hanson’s appearance.

"No, you don’t have to do that," Jax said.

"Somebody needs to play referee between the two of you, Jax."

"I don’t plan on running into him again," Jax told his brother with certainty. "Look, I have to go. Anything else going on?"

"No," Jerry said.

"Then I’ll see you," Jax said hanging up. He looked at Brenda and smiled, but the smile seemed forced and he still looked tense and wound up.

"Okay, that’s it. Sit," she said, pointing to the chair.

Too tired to bother to ask why, Jax obediently shifted into the chair.

"Close your eyes," she said, as she stood behind him. She began to massage his temples slowly. "Does that feel good?" she whispered into his ear.

"Every time you touch me it feels good," he said, and she felt him relaxing beneath her touch as her massage shifted down to his neck and shoulders.

"Don’t worry about Mr. Hanson, Jax. You’ll get something on him, I know it."

"I know it too," Jax said quietly. "I just don’t understand Jerry sometimes. I’m just not like him, you know? I don’t give in. I don’t give up. But he just wants the deal to go through no matter what. I’m not into settling, Brenda. If I can have the gold, I am not going to pass it over for the bronze."

Brenda walked around in front of him and knelt down, her hands on his knees. "I know that about you, Jax. I do. In fact that was why I was kind of surprised when you wanted to start dating me," she confessed.

"Why?" he asked.

"Well, not that I have low self-esteem or anything, because I do think pretty highly of myself," she said with a laugh. "But I don’t think I’m the gold."

"You’re not," he agreed. "You make the gold seem worthless." Then he grinned. "Are you blushing beneath that tan, Miss Barrett?" he teased her. "You know I should thank you. You’re very good at getting my mind off of things I’d rather not be thinking about."

"Well I should thank you too," she said. "For whisking me away to paradise to be with you. For the shopping spree, for last night, for this fabulous day - - -"

He placed a finger on her lips to silence her. His eyes looked sleepy and beautiful.

"Thank me with a kiss," he requested softly, and she saw such beautiful, heart-melting need in his eyes that her heart just tumbled all over itself in it’s urgency to be the one to fill that need.

Their lips met in soft, sweet passion. Tender and heart-stirring. "I don’t think you will ever know how happy I am that you’re here with me," he said enfolding her against him, his hands sliding over her hair as he thrilled to the feel of her racing heartbeat against his.

For Brenda the moment shot her full of pure happiness. They remained like that, Jax in the chair, Brenda curled up in his lap, just holding one another for a long, perfect moment.

"What’s your greatest fear, Brenda?" he asked her, his lips close to her ear.

"Earthquakes," she responded.

"Not the ones you and I make together, I hope."

She laughed and shook her head. "What’s yours?"

"Being swallowed by a whale," he told her.

She looked at him in disbelief and laughed. "Really?"

He shrugged. "Mmm hmm."

Her arms encircled his neck. "I’ll protect you from Moby Dick. I promise."

He laughed. "You will?"

"Yes," she said and he got the feeling she really would.

She closed her eyes, snuggling her head against his shoulder, their heads touching. {I love you, Jax}

He glanced beyond her to the brightly moon-lit night, and then his gaze slowly slid back to her. {I think I love you, Brenda}

# # #

Carly was at the Quartermaine mansion waiting for Jason when Edward walked into the den. He saw her, muttered an oath and something about what in the hell his son the brilliant GH intern could possibly see in this loud-mouth cottage dweller, and then turned on his heel, all of which made Carly bust out laughing.

Tracy came home and passed the den on her way upstairs. Spying Carly in there she entered. "I’ll bet you’re just gloating at how deep you have your low class hooks into my stupid brother, aren’t you?" Tracy said.

"No comment," Carly said, doing her best not to get into an argument with Tracy, as she had promised Jason she would try to avoid such things.

"No matter," Tracy shrugged. "He’ll discard you soon enough when he decides he wants heirs. He’ll never marry you. So tell me, Caroline, where oh where is that annoying little roommate of yours? I know she switched vacation time with Karen Wexler. So tell me, is she looking for a new job?" Tracy laughed. "I certainly hope so because I do plan to have her fired as soon as she comes back."

Jason entered the den just then and rolled his eyes. His sister and his girlfriend were at it again and he was in no mood. "Carly, come on, let’s go."

"For your information," Carly said to Tracy, "Brenda is in Hawaii with JAX. So stick that in your craw and swallow."

Tracy was visibly upset to learn of Brenda’s whereabouts and Carly saw that and smiled.

"Oh yeah, Tracy, it’s true. Jax sent the jet for her and everything. She is having the time of her life in Maui with the man you told the world was going to be your husband," Carly’s smile was dazzling.

"Well it makes sense," Tracy said coldly, trying to regain her composure. "I’m sure Jax needs a bed warmer, even in Hawaii. I don’t understand how you can be happy about Brenda being with him when everyone knows he’s only using her to satiate his physical desires. She’s so laughable and pathetic. Everyone but her seems to know that she is little more to him than a whore he doesn’t have to pay. Has she simply NO pride whatsoever?" Tracy sighed.

"Carly, let’s GO," Jason said as things began to escalate.

But Carly was seeing red and boiling up with anger. "Oh Tracy, Tracy, delusional, manless Tracy. I hate to be the one to tell you this and crush what little pathetic delusion you’re clinging to, but Jax told Lois and I why he wanted Brenda with him in Hawaii. It’s this fabulous secret, you see. He wants to ASK her something," Carly said, watching Tracy’s eyes pop open. "That’s right. He wants to ask her to MARRY him."

Tracy paled. Her head swam. Her stomach knotted, her knees felt wobbly.

"You don’t look so good," Carly said with mock sympathy.

"This can’t possibly be --- no - - this just can’t - - he would never --" she stammered in shock. Then her eyes got cold as a tombstone in a frozen graveyard. "If you are lying," Tracy said, trying to control her rage, "then you have just given me the best ammunition against Brenda that I have ever had! And don’t think I won’t use it!" And with that Tracy stormed out of the room.

Jason turned to Carly. "Wow - - Jax and Brenda are getting married?"

Carly’s fretful look gave him his answer.

"They’re not? Carly, you made it up? Oh my god!"

"I had to!" Carly defended herself. "Did you hear the things she was saying about Brenda? That witch! I just - - I had to shut her up!"

"Great, Carly. So you shut her up and you just set your friend Brenda up to eat a bucketful of crow," Jason pointed out with a shake of his head. "Tracy is going to annihilate her with this. I know my sister. Right now she is feeling humiliated and furious and jealous. She’s going to leak this information to the press. It’s going to be in all the papers and that’s going to force Jax to have to hold a press conference to deny everything, and

Brenda is going to be the laughing stock of town because of it."

Carly looked even more fretful. "I think it’s worse than that," she lamented. "Brenda doesn’t eat crow, Jason. You don’t understand how stubborn she is. ESPECIALLY when it comes to the evil taunts of your sister. If Tracy calls her out on the carpet on this, Brenda’s going to do what she has to do," Carly said looking full of regret for her actions and the consequences they could reap.

"Do what she has to do? What does that mean?" Jason asked.

"She’s going to marry Jax!" Carly said frantically. "If Tracy does what you think she will, then me and my BIG mouth are going to make Brenda have to get Jax to marry her somehow. Oh GOD! I can’t believe I let that witch goad me into this monumental blunder!"

Jason shook his head. "Brenda had better get used to the taste of crow this time because Jax is NOT going to marry her just to soothe her stubborn pride and help her save face. And he won’t take kindly to her trying to force him into a wedding," Jason told Carly. "This is nuts, Carly. Brenda’s just going to have to suck it up and deal with the public embarrassment. It’ll pass eventually."

Carly sighed and chewed on her lip. "You don’t understand Jason, she will NOT let Tracy humiliate her. I know Brenda. She won’t do it!" she insisted. "She’ll get Jax to marry her, or at least get him to tell the world those are his intentions. Let’s just hope that Tracy does nothing with that false information I gave her. Maybe everything will be fine?"

"Everything will not be fine," Jason warned her. "I KNOW my sister, Carly. I know how nasty she is, and how much she wants Jax and how much she hates Brenda. She’s going to tell everybody. She’s going to make Brenda have to prove that this engagement is true in the most public forum possible. And we both know Brenda can’t do that because it’s NOT true and there’s no way she can make it true!"

"Oh, Jason, what have I done?" Carly groaned, suddenly realizing that her retaliatory little fib was going to have a snowball effect the likes of which was going to set Port Charles on it’s ear.

CJ