It happens

- No, I\'m not going to stop by today...because I\'m already late for an appointment, Zane.

Jason tugged the steering wheel hard sending the car in a sharp turn by using only his right hand. The tires squeaked in protest. The sun was blazing and he cursed for the thousandth time about leaving his shades back in the apartment.

- And I\'m not gonna consider wrapping it up quicker... Cause I plan to enjoy every part of it. Well, maybe you ought to just find somebody else for today, buddy. Yeah. Alright.

Zane on the other end of the line finally gave in and hung up the phone. Jason checked the time on the cell\'s screen before pushing it into the wheel with his palm with a short \'fuck\' on his lips and speeding up even more.

OK, Julia\'s gonna have all the right to get pissed. She might be a sweet deal but from what he\'d seen so far she was definitely no lovely little thing that would sit and wait for him forever. With a certain amount of luck and no major traffic ahead he just hoped to be able to charm her into not walking out on him...

Jason smirked to himself leaving behind another traffic light that was turning from yellow to red that very moment. Boy, we\'re off to a good start.

***

She was wearing the same dark-blue denim skirt from last night and a bright turquoise T-shirt that contrasted nicely with the golden shade of her skin. And she has obviously been waiting for some time already, now leaning against a metal fence by the entrance of the studio and playing with the heel of her shoe, swirling the stiletto into the ground. She could have easily reminded one of a bored hooker if only she didn\'t look too classy to provide any kind of such service.

Jason smiled at his own thoughts turning the wheel and sliding into a conveniently empty parking space in about twenty meters from where Julia was standing. He yanked the keys out of the ignition while simultaneously getting out of the car, pushed the cellphone down a front pocket of his jeans and took the guitar from the backseat.

The girl was still facing the other way, her attention caught by some kids tossing a ball on the opposite side of the road, so she didn\'t see him coming. Jason couldn\'t help tracing the sight of the slim bare legs from the ground to the point where her naked flesh met the tastefully tattered edge of the short skirt. He smirked.

- How about I buy you a dinner tonight, beautiful?

He saw her full lips twitch in a small resemblance of a smile. Julia tightened her grip on the fence still in no hurry to turn and face him though.

- Too bad I don\'t hook up on the street, love.

She dropped the words casually, pushing heavily shaded sunglasses up her forehead and leaving it there firmly. A set of dark eyes fixed on his own. Without a second thought Jason leaned down placing a soft peck on her cheek. He caught a whiff of something mildly sweet and tangy coming from her right before pulling back. Dior? Kenzo? I was never particularly good at identifying this stuff...

- Sorry I\'m late.

Julia gracefully stood up from the fence and followed his silent directions inside of the studio.

- We\'re good to go as long as that dinner\'s still on.

Jason smirked walking one step behind her and nodded to the security guard at the desk.

- Count on it. But don\'t tell me you\'re always that understanding.

He heard her laugh cheerfully before the girl turned to give him a playful look of warning.

- Nah, I\'m a bitch. You had about five minutes left in store but only \'cause overall that was such a nice morning.

She waited while he was placing the guitar case against the wall and opening the door to the studio. Jason gave the girl a charming grin, stepping aside and letting her enter the small space first.

- Lucky me then...

***

The studio was small in size yet seemed to be very well equipped. Somebody\'s mastermind did an exceptional job by putting a mean-looking mixing console, digital workstations, a multitrack recorder and one generous set of loudspeakers in an approximately 5-6 cubameters control room. They even managed to squeeze in a nice black-leather sofa, so that a not-so-keen in technical side of the recording process part of the crew, represented at the moment by Julia herself, could chill out while smart people did their work. Shortly smiling at the latter thought the girl slowly turned around, sliding her bag down her shoulder and placing it on one of the chairs before the console.

- Nice place. Not spacious but well-set.

- That\'s what I like about it.

Jason was busy fumbling with the equipment and switching it on. Which, taking that this required his body to be bent over, provided one good look on the guy\'s behind. Julia slightly cocked her head to the side admiring the view, after all, she was never the one to pass on the opportunity. Especially when said opportunity was so to say pointing right at you.

She greeted the straightened up again Jason with a heartfelt smile. Judging by a smirk he gave her in return, either the guy instinctively felt that she was just checking out his butt or he had another set of eyes on the aforementioned bodypart. Julia chose to ignore both possibilities for now.

- So...how do we do it?

With «it» being a generalisation for the terms\' variety of \'work\', \'gig\' and \'collaboration\'. She watched Jason brush a hand through his blond hair, tossing it back.

- Well, I usually go from the melody.

- I\'m only good with the lyrics.

Julia somehow managed to combine both a nod and some head shaking in one gesture. Leaning on the console with one hand and gesturing at the distance between them with the other, the guy smiled.

- And thus must be the foundation of this little collaboration of ours as I understand it.

She lingered before smiling back and that somehow made him involuntary stare while those pouty lips opened showing a perfect set of teeth. And it took a bit of self control to refocus his sight a little higher when the woman started speaking again.

- What do we know about the girl?

Jason half-heartedly brushed the distracting thoughts aside, tuning back into the business part.

- Nero told me she\'s bound to be a new Britney. So, nothing heavy or overly sophisticated.

Julia gave out a cheerful chuckle pointing a finger on herself.

- Ah, that\'s why he asked me to participate...

I\'d dare to doubt that... The self-irony was complemented with a brief expression of a shallow bimbo that would\'ve looked scary natural on the girl\'s face, if not for the mischief glance still present in her dark eyes.

- He also said he wants some qualitativ pop. No pure electro, no r\'n\'b, no trans. Maybe some combination of the above but not extensively.

He started walking around her with that, manoeuvring himself towards the bigger chair that was placed right before the mixing console and therefore meant for whoever was going to do the \'mixing\' and gesturing for Julia to take a place to. She followed that advice, slowly sinking onto the seat and all the while giving him a thoughtful look.

- OK... Sorry, I have to ask. I\'ve heard you play yesterday. You\'re hardly any of the above.

He was getting that a lot - surprisingly few people could see the logic in a rock musician by his normal everyday sampling music for girl bands or r\'n\'b artists. However, against all odds it was working for him and working damn well if you\'d judge by the payments transferred to his account. Not that he was doing this for the money... Alright, that was an issue suitable to discuss at a long intimate dinner, not during the first somewhat meaningful conversation ever. A mental note to that he will try his best to succeed in getting the lady here and himself into the first situation mentioned. But for now - long story short. Jason gave out a sly grin.

- You\'re in for a surprise.

Julia leaned back in her chair, casually putting one slender leg on top of the other, and smiled back at him.

- Alright. Amaze me.

***

They were listening to the girl\'s demo-tape to get a hint on what she was generally capable of and Julia was watching her co-composer\'s handsome profile while the guy was staring blankly in the space before him, obviously concentrated on the music. High forehead, broad manly eyebrows, a nose that was maybe just a little too long to be perfect but not in a bad way, strong chin and the lips she was already curious to taste on her own. This time clearly oblivious to her ogling Jason hastily stroke back the long blond strands and she noticed that he had his left ear pierced.

Damn, the boy was hot... And also he seemed to have something about him that stroke a nerve in her, keeping her curious to see more of him since the moment they\'ve first met the night before. Julia was even a little bummed out when by the time their show ended it turned out that the band wasn\'t planning on an afterparty and that she\'d picked a hotel in an exactly opposite direction to the one Jason was heading in and inconveniently about two blocks away from where his guitar player was living. To try and turn the situation around seemed a little too obvious at that moment so she scheduled an appointment for the next day and got in the car with the guy that graciously offered to be her ride home. To think about it, he was even a bit too eager. And not that good at hiding some heated glances thrown in her direction from behind a curtain of dark slightly curling hair. Julia never addressed it though, casually smiling instead and putting an effort into keeping the conversation on the most meaningless and impersonal topics possible.

Not that the guy wasn\'t particularly good enough. Dylan was hot, he sure had a way around him and she sort of submitted to the fact that you shouldn\'t search for too much sense in a guy in general not to mention in the ones you\'d meet in the industry. And despite all this she decided to go with her gut this time. So when he stopped the car on one of the hotel\'s parking spaces and turned to her with a charming smile on the undoubtedly handsome face and asked whether she\'d like him to walk her inside, she believed her exact answer was: \'You know, I\'m not drunk and they were pretty friendly, so, should I get lost, I guess I\'ll just ask for a tip\'. It was actually kind of funny how Dylan seemed to take that as a part of the \'hard to get\' scenario...

- Well, she certainly doesn\'t have much of a range.

Julia blinked, forcing herself to tune back into reality, and slowly nodded at the comment.

- Let\'s hope she\'s got other means of attraction. Or the attitude at least.

And thanks God for multi-tasking that is a handy skill... Her thoughts might have clearly been somewhere else but it didn\'t mean she wasn\'t listening to the demos Jason was playing. He was right, the girl\'s vocal abilities were fairly mediocre, but, sad to say, an exceptional voice wasn\'t all that essential to make it big today. Take the young Disney-stars - mostly all they\'ve got is their innocent cuteness and purity jewelry and yet they\'re everywhere these days... Alright, I\'m getting off topic again. She ran a hand through her dark hair, finger-combing it.

- So, what do you think for starters? Nice and easy or hard and fast?

I wish you were asking this in a different context. Jason smiled despite his best wishes.

- Whatever you have in mind. Give me the words and I\'ll come up with a melody.

Julia mouthed her OK and pulled her purse closer, for a moment digging through its contents and then producing a rather thick and shabby notebook. She started methodically flipping the pages, most of which were covered in bits and pieces of lyrics, he guessed, some short, some a little longer and some brutally scratched out with something else added on top of the scratchmark instead. He also spotted some bubble-markers and pointers generously indicating a direction of thoughts that would probably make sense only to the one whose hand put them there. Jason gave out a silent whistle when the girl went through what was approximately the fifteenth or so page.

- Wow. Somebody\'s been doing her homework...

She flashed him a brief grin, caressing the edges of one of the pages with her fingertips while she was reading the words written on it.

- I\'ve got a few boring classes. You should see my textbooks - they actually have more stuff written on them than in them.

Textbooks, huh? That\'s new... Well, at least he couldn\'t really say that he personally knew all that many people who were approximately his and Julia\'s age, somehow connected to the music industry and at the same time attempted to get a degree. Jason leaned back in his chair, slightly rotating it so that he was fully facing the girl.

- So, what do you study?

She looked up at him with a pleading smile quickly flashing on her lips and gestured with her hands to the left and then to the right respectively.

- OK, sweetie, work - my twisted personality.

Jason smirked, supporting the act with a submissive nod of his head.

- Yes, ma\'am.

In a moment Julia stopped searching through her notebook, rereading the lyrics written on one of the pages more carefully, and then handed the piece in his direction.

- Here, look at this one.

Jason suppressed an urge to rub his chin while regarding her notes closely now. OK...Coming from a person with a heavily messed-up handwriting - wow. It wasn\'t that the verses were completely unreadable, just that it took some time to get them right and therefore there was no chance to catch a melody forming behind them.

I live in the moment

Before I wake up

You\'re haunting my dreams

And you never give up

I open my eyes

And you\'re fading away

I wonder if I\'m

Gonna find you one day...

He didn\'t go further, returning the notebook to its owner instead.

- Sing it to me.

A slightly confused look from Julia\'s side made him smile before giving her a reassuring gesture.

- It\'s gonna be quicker this way and I need to hear how you see it, so come on.

The smile suddenly transformed into an excited smirk, accompanied with an impatient jerk of the blond eyebrows.

- Besides, you watched me giving it up yesterday, I think I\'ve earned a private show to make it even.

***

By the end of the seventh hour spent in the studio they\'ve managed to draft two tracks, fairly well to that, one being a teenage lullaby that at first contrasted almost wildly with Julia\'s voice and clearly begged for a heartfelt melody that Jason planned to work on sometime later tonight, the other one - a much more simple dance song that just needed a good beat and probably a nice rap-piece to start it off or to wrap it up near the end, whichever would work better for their soon-to-be a star\'s producers. They were listening to the final for now version of the latter one right at the moment.

Swipe me off my feet, baby

Rush me to the beat

(Crazy!)

We\'re gonna rock all night

Until the morning light

Oh baby, teach me how to dance

(Show me)

Yeah baby, teach me how to dance...

Julia on his right was gently rocking in her chair while her own voice trailed off together with the last drum beats. One of the things Jason\'s learned today - she was a really good singer. Always the one to rush things up, he hardly gave her any time to warm-up before sending her off to the recording booth. And yet she sounded considerably better than the demos of the girl they were writing for. No offense whatsoever, of course... Jason clapped his palm on a side of his seat before jerking forward to hit an off button on the console.

- Awesome!

- We\'re good.

He turned to the side, only to meet Julia\'s shining eyes looking straight at him. For some reason that had him making a slow gulp before speaking again.

- Really good.

Damn it, this woman has the eyes of a devil. Today they were dark-green like the glass in bottles of that pricey sparkling water they serve in restaurants. And also Julia seemed to have this habit of looking straight at you while having a conversation, which he didn\'t find disturbing but it somehow made it hard to stay on topic sometimes. Right now, for example, his thoughts were starting to head off track and towards an R-rated direction just from the way the girl was smiling at him. Suppressing those Jason shifted in his seat, his gaze accidentally falling on the time-indicator on one of the monitors. It showed 8:14 pm. Wow, that was one long work-session. He turned to the lady again.

- OK...so you think we could call this moment of triumph a wrap for tonight? I believe I\'m starting to crave some food.

The latter part was added with a bit of an emphasise on the word \'crave\'. Julia gave out an approving nod.

- I don\'t know about food, but I must get water in me soon.

Long fingernails grazed the skin of her bare throat in indication and Jason involuntary followed the move. It took a second to look back up and meet her eyes.

- So, what do you wanna eat?

Julia grinned at the question.

- It\'s my second day in town. You lead the way.

- Chinese?

He didn\'t really thought on it, just made a quick estimate on the what was trusted to be good in this area and how to not get in a major traffic. Yet Julia\'s eyebrows shot up in a hint of surprise.

- Is it that obvious that I\'m a sucker for this kind of food?

He laughed, pushing himself out of the chair and carefully maneuvering around her still sitting form.

- Yes, you do strike me as an asian food loving person. Or I\'ve just hit the bullseye blindly. Just let me shut everything down in here before we leave.

He bent over the console, reaching for the plugs. OK, dinner...and if it goes as well as the first part of this day, I might come up with another activity by the time we\'re done eating... Jason smirked, catching the last thought by its tail. My God, I\'m almost too excited about this.

***

The place was just not luxurious enough to let his deliberately bleached jeans and a short-sleeved shirt slide with so much as a second-glance from the headwaiter. Julia, of course, didn\'t raise any questions whatsoever due to giving the man a charming smile that must have already opened many doors for her in the past. So, they were heartily welcomed and sat at a nice table for two right in the middle of the restaurant. The guy even went as far as pulling the chair out for the lady before handing them the menus and leaving for the time being.

Jason looked around, giving in to the natural curiosity, while another waiter took an order for the drinks. The place was definitely nice, appropriately dimly lit and designed in black, golden and red colors with typically Chinese prints on the walls and utensils and paper-lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Satisfied with what he saw Jason stuck his nose into the menu. The waiter brought their waters and Julia thanked him in a gentle fashion. He was just reaching the bottom of the appetisers section when the girl asked a question.

- Any idea of what hoi-toi is?

Hoi-toi was deemed to be some sort of a side-dish judging by the position it was put in in the description of any particular food. Jason shrugged his shoulders staring at the word.

- None. Sounds like a war-cry. Or hiccups in Chinese.

He sent her a crooked smile from above his menu. Julia laughed, putting her elbows on the table.

- You\'ve never been here before, have you?

Jason put the menu down flat at the table, for a moment losing all interest in it. He nodded, admitting the truth.

- Always wanted to. But this place is not for eating alone and I\'m not that much of a dating material.

Julia raised an eyebrow at him, while drinking her Diat Coke through a straw, and pointed at herself with a single finger. Jason hemmed mentally. I\'ve never said this was a date, baby. He grinned with mischief, picking his menu again.

- I was always more of a \'fuck\'em and leave\'em\' kinda guy.

A knowing smile ran by girl\'s pouty lips, but no insult or resentment. Looked like he guessed her just right. Julia broke the eye-contact, looking back into the menu.

- Yeah, I\'m familiar with the conception.

Jason smiled, easily believing that fact to be true. He\'d noticed it yesterday and he confirmed that opinion while watching her today - Julia wasn\'t the girl to be picked up, she was the one who was letting somebody pick her up if she was in the mood. He always liked this type of women better. That\'s why he accepted her answer with a little appreciative nod.

- Touche.

At that moment the waiter reappeared by their table with a pen and a notepad ready in his hands and a professional smile glued to his lips. Jason looked up, throwing a quick glance across the table to see if Julia was ready to order. He sent the guy in the needed direction with a nod.

- The lady goes first.

That earned him a favourable look from the said lady. She pointed out a position in the menu.

- I\'d like Golden dumplings as a starter and...you know, I\'m torn between Szechuan pork and Spring onion and ginger chicken. Which one do you think is better?

A set of dark eyes was raised at the waiter with that in a polite request. The guy froze with a smile growing a bit uneasy on his face, then stepped on his feet searching for an answer.

- Well...the first one might be a bit spicy...unless you want us to make it less spicy, then I believe you\'ll find it delicious. And the chicken is just great, it\'s one of the top-ordered dishes in our restaurant!

Julia blinked, righteously confused by that explanation. She looked back at the menu, slowly mumbling the words.

- OK...that doesn\'t really make it easier to choose, but thanks...

The waiter, looking more confused than before, opened his mouth to speak, but Jason managed to cut in faster.

- Bring any of the two for me and we\'re gonna share.

The guy\'s asian face lightened with ease.

- Anything else for you, sir?

- Yes, also one shrimp fried rice. Thanks.

Jason handed in the menu, sharing a quick smile with Julia while she did the same. The waiter left after making sure that they were done with the order and he turned to Julia, sending her a grin.

- Don\'t harass the guy, he\'s trained to advertise the food in here.

The girl\'s eyes widened in mocking shock.

- I didn\'t realise that was such a hard question. Thanks for solving the dilemma by the way.

She did that lip-trick again with not smiling right away and Jason made a silent promise to himself that he would taste those lips tonight one way or another. He jerked his head, throwing some hair that fell on his eyes away.

- Anytime.

***

The waiter\'s already brought the appetizer Julia ordered along with some crab chips that were complimentary from the restaurant. As soon as the guy was gone again, the woman pushed the plate with the dumplings closer to the middle of the table in a non-verbal offer.

- So, you\'re LA-born?

Jason smiled, picking a piece with his chopsticks.

- Born and raised. And still have family here.

Well, sort off... Julia nodded, chewing on a white mushy chip. He prompted her.

- You?

- Baltimore, originally. But I live in D.C.

She waved with food still her hand.

- The school is there and, to think of it, somehow I don\'t really mind seeing mom and dad mostly during the holidays.

- You don\'t need to explain that to me.

Jason tried to remember the last holiday his family spent together and found it harder than you\'d have thought. That wasn\'t a current issue, however.

- What school is that again?

The question caught Julia when she was in the middle of dragging a dumpling soaked in a soja-based sauce back to her mouth. One brown drop slid down and landed on the fingers of her other hand.

- Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service to be precise.

She licked the sauce drop from her fingers before wiping those clean with a napkin.

- And going back to what you\'ve asked me earlier today - I\'m majoring in comparative regional studies.

Jason smirked before raising his glass to take a sip.

- That sounds mean.

And somehow dissonant with the way you talk or look like, for that matter. The girl grinned, probably sensing the end thought that went through his head.

- Well, I\'m also sort of attending a programm called Women and gender studies.

She eagerly shared his amusement at this.

- Yeah...I figured it would be the farthest thing away from politics that you could pick, cause, well, politics are some messed up shit... I was so wrong, by the way.

Again, woman, from the way you talk, I have to believe that what you said you study is nothing close to the rocket science indeed. Jason struggled to stay on the topic.

- Any chance you could switch majors or whatever it\'s called?

She smiled, not in the slightest appalled by his lack of knowledge on how college education works, and gracefully shrugged her shoulders.

- Next year, maybe. I\'ll see when I get there.

She leaned back in her chair with that, giving the back again waiter some room to take away the empty plate and to set the main course on the table instead. After a brief discussion on where to put what he and Julia simultaneously requested two clean plates, surprising each other and earning an odd look from the asian guy. Not even waiting for him to bring the utensils, the girl moved forward, impatiently fishing a piece of chicken from a steaming hot-plate and throwing it in her mouth. She sent Jason, who was watching her with an amused smile, a daring look.

- Man, that\'s good... OK, new topic - how do you know Nero?

He mimicked her trick, picking up a small pink shrimp that was resting on a pile of fried rice.

- Safe to say that we met by accident. I\'ve got dragged along by a buddy of mine on his meeting with a then rising star of hip-hop slash producer Nero. He insisted on playing us his new track. I didn\'t like the sound of music behind his lyrics and said that I could make better.

Julia smirked in understanding, picturing the reaction of her known for his attitude african-american friend to such declaration. Jason chuckled too.

- Yeah... He bet me 500 bucks that I couldn\'t deliver in a week\'s term.

He took a dramatic pause, thoughtfully thanking the waiter for the plate and only after returning to the conversation under the woman\'s delighted stare.

- I\'ve had a stroke of genius or a fortunate idea rising from an urge to prove that I wasn\'t just showing off with bullshit, if you like that better...anyway, I remixed the track for him in four days and, despite his original sarcasm, he loved it. Been good friends with the guy ever since, although we\'ve moved up from those 500 bucks to other amounts.

Julia hemmed along with the last bit. It was true that Nero was never shy to cash out larger sums of money for good stuff. And he had an ear for the good stuff too, which was probably the thing that made him a name in the industry. That and an undeniable talent to rhyme, of course. She looked up from her plate to find the blond watching her in anticipation. Jason waved with his chopsticks urging her on.

- Your turn.

She considered to make him wait for it too, but then dismissed that option, thinking that, with just enough luck on her side tonight, she\'ll get other, preferably saucier opportunities to tempt the guy. Swallowing her food, she reached out for the Coke.

- He found me. Said he saw me dancing at the club once, then somebody told him I can sing too. So, he went on trying to recruit me for his label and, if you know him, you won\'t be surprised to hear that he was persistent at that...

Julia smirked, remembering that meeting.

- I still told him it wasn\'t my scene though.

Jason raised an eyebrow, dividing his attention between what the girl was saying and putting some more pork on his plate.

- What, no international star ambition?

By the way he asked that, you might have concluded that this question was addressed to Jason several times in his own life too. She wouldn\'t be surprised to find out that was true. Nowadays, especially in the USA, doing music without a longshot of becoming a well-known, successful artist was considered to be odd at best. Fame generally went together with money, that was the assumption she always disliked to the very core of it. Julia preferred attention to fame, and she also liked the first one to come to her in small to medium dosises and to not interfere excessively in the everyday life. That\'s why she gave the man opposite to her a smile that spoke for itself.

- I like my life the way it is, thank you.

- And you\'re not ready to sign your soul off to a mighty label too, I believe.

Again, speaking from experience? Julia nodded, gripping the chopsticks a bit tighter between her fingers.

- And my body too, for that matter.

She took a moment, remembering what was she talking about originally, then shifted on her seat, getting more comfortable.

- Right...So, knowing how stubborn I can be, Nero\'s advances went in vain. But I did agree to write for him. Sang back-vocals on some of his tracks too. Oh, and he\'s pimping me out on gigs like this one too, obviously.

She gestured between Jason and herself, earning an appreciative grin. And a strained look from the waiter that swung by the table checking if everything was alright and probably caught only the latest part. After watching him quickly retreat in the kitchen direction, Julia turned to Jason, a priceless expression of fake horror formed on her pretty face.

- OK, that was some good timing...

The guy leaned in with his elbows pressing on the table and winked at her.

- Whatever he might\'ve thought, he\'ll end up being jealous anyway.

With a sly smirk he reached out, brushing his fingers along the back of the girl\'s palm that was resting on the table, before taking her hand fully in his.

- I say we don\'t disappoint these people\'s curiosity with the rest of the show.

Julia bit her lip, smiling while easily letting him to draw circles against her palm with his thumb and enjoying the tingling sensation running down her spine. She wasn\'t sure if the latter was brought up by his touch or by the deep seductive tone of the man\'s voice. Probably both. Nevertheless she responded by gently rubbing her knuckles into his hand.

- I won\'t say no to that.

And most likely to anything else you might have in mind.

***

The dinner was going great. They ate good food, held a nice, not too personal yet not meaningless anymore conversation. He made Julia laugh, one time to the point when she playfully yanked her hand out of his hold, almost knocking over a glass of water and spilling its contents in the process. Oh shit! - It wasn\'t that funny. - I hate ya... But at that moment Jason could swear that her eyes were telling something different.

Right now the waiter was in the process of taking away the emptied plates. He asked if they wanted to order a dessert and Julia slightly shook her head in rejection. Jason let the guy go until further notice. There was a pause of brief silence when he was thinking of a better way to put his next suggestion. Julia was tracing circles on the tablecloth with one long fingernail, an absent content smile on her full lips.

- So, what do you think? We could try to give it another go with the studio.

All I\'m thinking is that I\'d like to know what those hands can do besides playing guitar strings... But, just in case, there is that nice little couch in the studio... Julia deliberately checked her wrist-watch.

- Well, it\'s certainly too early for my bedtime.

Jason smiled back while sipping from his glass. Dark-blue eyes swung around the place, searching for a waiter to ask for the check. The girl bit her lip, using that small delay to consider something, then straightened up in her chair, gathering the napkin from her lap and placing it on the table.

- Alright, you do that and I\'ll be right back.

He let her go with a silent nod and leaned back on his seat, openly admiring the exceptionally nice shaped behind swinging with the pace of her steps. Only when that pleasurable sight disappeared from his view, Jason returned to the main task, looking around once again. The already familiar golden-dragon-shirted guy that came to be the subject of numerous jokes that night froze on his tracks, catching his gaze, and he raised a hand, confirming the request.

- Check!

I\'ve still got plans for the evening, and - you\'ve seen the gorgeous lady that\'s here with me - those promise to be fun... The waiter must\'ve caught at least a part of that thought since the check holder appeared on the table in what felt like second after he\'d asked for it. And by the time he came back from his own visit to the restroom it was already returned again with the check paid off with his credit card. Approvingly nodding at the promptness of the staff, Jason walked to the table, stopping behind Julia\'s chair. He leaned onto the back of it and in submission to a sudden urge placed a quick kiss on the side of the woman\'s head before talking into her ear.

- Ready?

To his utter appreciation Julia showed no intention to pull back, just slightly tilted her head upwards, whereby sending at him a whiff of her perfume and some herbal hair conditioner. He heard a smile in her voice.

- I pay my half?

Jason dismissed the very thought, reaching over her shoulder and retrieving his credit card from the check holder.

- Over my dead body.

An expression of content ran by the lady\'s delicate features, although she was prompt to get herself busy with gathering her bag and standing up.

- Just to be safe.

He left that uncommented, simply stretching out a hand to guide her towards the exit. Again, she easily welcomed his touch, even though the gesture in itself was hardly necessary. The asian waiter guy that happened to be standing by the bar at that moment watched them leave, nodding goodbuy when the couple looked in his direction, his eyes briefly but unmistakably running up and down Julia\'s small form. Just for the heck of it, Jason sent him a proud grin.

***

He stopped on the opposite from the studio side of the road, not bothering to perform a U-turn. It was already clear that the place was occupied - several cars were parked directly in from of the building and those being practically the only vehicles there at this time of day besides Jason\'s. And also two men were having a smoke in front of the door, by the fence Julia was sitting on this morning. The blond tapped the steering wheel with his fingers, watching the guys, then turned towards the passanger seat.

- Looks like the holy place is never empty.

She straightened up in her seat to be able to look past him.

- Is that 3 Doors Down?

Jason regarded the men a bit closer, then shrugged, recognising some resemblance to the members of the group.

- I guess so...

He turned to Julia with a suggestive smirk.

- You wanna go say hi?

The girl slowly shook her head, showing no sign of interest in this idea.

- Not really.

She slid back down the back of the seat, softly smiling at him. The gleams of the street lights were shadowing her face, slightly smearing the already familiar to him lines. Jason raised a hand, brushing one strand of long dark brown hair back from her forehead, wishing to run his fingers through the length of her mane but not going there yet.

- So...we could call it a night...or we could go to my place and, who knows, at least roughly figure out some of the next material...

Julia\'s smile widened upon hearing that other option. She ran a tip of her tongue across her bottom lip wetting it.

- That sounds like a plan to me.

Jason was pretty sure that there was a silent invitation for him to kiss her there. And he was more than willing to do just that. And yet he simply smiled back, taking his hand away from her, and changing the gear to Drive. Not here and not like this.

- Good. You sure you don\'t want an autograph?

It took her less than two seconds to answer this and simultaneously turn away from watching him, a knowing smile on her lips.

- I\'m sure.

Julia couldn\'t help a little shiver when a cold breeze easily found its way into Jason\'s convertible. She ran a hand up her bare shoulders, thinking that she should\'ve taken a light coat and not just simply gone with a T-shirt. Why am I always clever afterwards?

- Cold?

She turned to find the guy glancing at her. Julia gave him a sheepish smile.

- Just a little. This wind is chilly. Jason, what are you doing?

He swung out of the lane, pulling over and opening the front door without any further discussion.

- I\'ll be right back.

Julia waited, keeping her natural curiosity in check for now. She heard the trunk of the car open and then slam shut again. And then Jason was there again, handing her a black leather jacket.

- Here.

He jumped back in the car, pushing the gas pedal and clasping back his seatbelt at the same time. Pausing for just a split second, Julia moved, pulling the jacket over her shoulders, not putting her arms through the sleeves, but tightly wrapping the clothing around her body. It smelled like Jason - a nice branded colone with a hint of something warm that was simply his. She smiled, feeling the cold going away.

- Thanks. Feels much better.

***

They entered the dark apartment and Julia instinctively looked around, although there was not much to see with all the surroundings lit only by the moonlight coming through a large three sashes big window with the drapes undone and an occasional moving light of a car passing by. The main room didn\'t seem to be too clustered - some cushioned furniture, a small table in the middle with an uneven pile of something on it, probably books or DVD-cases, no decorative elements placed out in the open - typical guy apartment. The girl made a few steps forward while Jason was relocking the door behind them.

- Nice place.

Julia heard him hem lightly, most likely thinking that with the lights still off the compliment was more automatic than anything else.

- Thanks...on behalf of the place...

She wasn\'t really surprised to feel a hand gently making its way down her back. He pulled on the long leather jacket still hanging on her shoulders.

- This looks good on you.

With the heels on Julia wasn\'t all that much shorter than him, her forehead leveling almost perfectly with his lips. She threw her head back, looking up at him with those large eyes shining in the dark.

- I don\'t really think I need it anymore.

Somehow she failed to catch the exact moment it started, it seemed like just now he was smiling down at her and then his lips were suddenly on hers, prying her mouth open, while he tugged on the loose sides of his own jacket, using it to crush her body into him. Julia moaned quietly, letting the stripe of her bag slide down her shoulder and onto the floor. The jacket was to go next, impatiently thrown to the side by a steady hand. Jason held her tighter, fingers gently pulling on her hair to guide her head how he wanted it to be. Without a doubt he was dominant, but he wasn\'t forceful at it. And damn, the boy knew how to kiss you breathless...

Maybe it was all due to a day long mutual, mostly verbal, yet nonetheless pleasurable foreplay, but he had her ready to go all the way almost then and there. Julia torn her lips from his, panting. Only to have him relocate the efforts down the bare skin of her neck. Oh, this is going fast... She hazily noticed that Jason was softly bucking her to the side until she had her back pressed firmly against the hard surface of the wall with his body trapping her there. Leaning further down and tracing his tongue along her collar bone he moved just a little and she felt the prominent evidence of his reaction to her against one of her hips. She rocked her body into it, earning herself a grunt.

He stopped for a second, letting go of a small spot of skin on the side of her neck and breathing hard somewhere beside her ear.

- Do we need anything?

Julia moaned with a hint of frustration. With her brain refusing to process the information properly she simply couldn\'t understand why the hell did he stop now . The cocky attitude kicked in automatically.

- I\'m fine without the candlelight, thank you.

A hand that was on her hip moved higher, sliding up the denim of the skirt and pressing into the soft skin.

- Condoms?

Oh... She struggled to keep her mind straight for this. She was never foolish, nor was she careless enough to let the matters be hoping for the best. After all there were things which fell under the \'better safe than sorry\' category. Doubling the effect of the pills with a rubber for any random encounter in her life was one of them. But Jason wasn\'t random. Well, he was in fact, he just didn\'t feel quite like it. There was just too much of an instant connection between the two of them to deny it. Julia blinked into the darkness of the room letting out a shaky breath.

- Well, you\'re not carrying something nasty, are you?

She heard a low chuckle accompanied by a light bite on the skin right under her left ear.

- You want a medical statement of that?

He pulled back, still pressing her into the hard wall with his lower body, and she caught the look of the serious dark-blue eyes fixed on her own. I\'m not regretting this. With a short jerk of her head Julia shot the words out before pulling him back to her.

- Screw the condoms.

- I was hoping you\'d say that...

That came as a low mumble against her lips while now both of his hands slid lower hooking under her hips and jerking them up, positioning her more properly. She moved, wrapping her slender legs around his waist. A sharp sound of the stilletoes falling on the floor echoed through the apartment. Jason worked the impatient magic on his jeans, all the while kissing her deep and forcing out soft moans in responce. For a moment he stopped reaching between them, fingers barely grazing skin on her inner thigh, and commented with a smug grin on his lips.

- Brace yourself.

Any smartass remark from her side was cut off when he slid into her, sending shivers down her spine and making her unintentionally follow his advice by wrapping her legs tighter around his body and digging fingernails in the fabric of his shirt.

Just before he started moving again, after giving her a little time to adjust, the lights of a car coming through the window ran by Jason\'s face. Julia caught herself swearing under her breath and it was only partially drawn out because of what her body was feeling. The way he looked at her... She hated the talk of \'special moments\' her whole life, mocking the very idea of it in anyone\'s face, should they start with this sentimental crap in her presence. Yet she\'s been in dozens of situation more or less resembling this one right now and none of those guys has ever made her feel this good on the first try. But then again, it could\'ve been all due to the undeniable skill the male currently in the room possessed. One fucking skill, if you wanna put a pun in it... Julia closed her eyes, sending all the hazy thoughts away and focusing on the moment, however special it might have been.

He was thrusting into her steadily and all she could feel was his strong hands bracing her, his body pressing her into the hard wall of the apartment just right, his heavy breath beside her ear...and the smell of him, intoxicating like some sort of drug, it made her gasp for air every now and then stimulated by his ministrations on her body. She was so close... And then he stopped, abruptly just freezing solidly on his pace while plunged deeply inside of her. Julia shifted in disbelief but couldn\'t really move trapped between his strong body and the wall behind her back. She let out a shaky breath.

- Jason?

He didn\'t move. But the next moment she heard him speak hoarsely beside her, hot breath brushed the side of her face.

- Look at me.

She blinked slowly trying to process what he was asking her to do through the bliss clouding her brain. And then she turned her head to face him finding a set of dark eyes watching her. And at the moment her gaze fixed firmly on his he pulled back and thrust back home hard making her lips drop open in a silent moan. But she never looked away. She stared into his eyes while he brought them both over the edge and only when he reduced the pace to slow motions sending delicious aftershocks through her body she fell back down to earth along with his lips crushing down on hers.
It took a second or two before Jason slowly pulled away, exhaling hot air onto her tingling lips. Julia felt him shift a bit and slip out of her, leaving a strange sense of emptiness. And then she was very gently lowered back onto the floor, the newly created freedom of space letting the man to do some quick adjustments to his messed up clothes, first on the list being working his jeans back to their original position. The girl automatically followed the example.

He braced himself on the wall above her with one hand and she could almost hear the heart pounding hard in his chest that was now just in front of her eyes, probably as hard as her own was. She covered the place on his ribcage, submitting to a sudden wish to do so, and felt the strong beat. Smiling, Julia let her hand slid down while she looked up at the man. He grinned at her, helplessly shaking his head.

- Couldn\'t fight it. I\'ve been having those dirty thoughts about slamming you into this wall all the way back from the restaurant.

He took his hand away from the wall, cupping her face and tracing his thumb along her cheekbone.

- I think it\'s your eyes. Every time I look in them I fucking get off track of any moderate trace of thoughts I had.

Julia laughed, thinking that she\'s heard that before, and fisting the material of his shirt to pull the man a bit closer, musing the words.

- Hey, if that led you to the wall plan I have no complains whatsoever...

She had to throw her head back to be able to still hold his look, especially when Jason\'s hands relocated lower, taking a firm grip on her sides.

- Not just that...

He pulled her upwards, simultaneously leaning down himself to be able to catch her lips in another kiss. Judging by the way she answered it and further more by the way his own body responded to that, the night was just starting. Softly moaning in his mouth, Julia tilted her head to the side and he noticed that she must\'ve risen on her tiptoes to level with his height. That made him smile into the kiss, because well...it was just...cute. He stroked her hair back, pulling away again.

- I\'m guessing we might skip the tour.

Julia hastily nodded, in such close distance her long lashes tickling the skin on his cheek.

- You can start with the bedroom.

Once more in this day giving the woman credit for keeping up with the wits, Jason bent in his knees and yanked her up, wrapping those dancer legs of hers around his torso. The girl raised an eyebrow at him, referring to the ease he did that with.

- Wow. What are you, a superman?

He spared her from the fact that to him she was considerably lighter than the vast majority of women he\'s ever been with, pushing another, more amusing line instead.

- What? Men aren\'t usually eager to carry you around? I\'d bet it to be the opposite.

Jason congratulated himself on the habit of leaving the doors open inside the house. Kicking the wooden panel in with the girl in his arms wouldn\'t have been that easy. Julia smiled, tightening her embrace around his shoulders.

- Let\'s make that a next date revelation.

He smirked at that, knowing that he just couldn\'t let it slide.

- When did you and I have a date?

The daring remark went together with him unceremoniously dropping the lady on the bed. Julia grinned, raising on her knees and seductively brushing a hand through her long hair.

- You really intend to feed me conceptions now?

Jason laughed deep in his throat.

- No way, baby. My list of intentions is far more exciting than that»

He watched her straighten up and slowly pull the tight turquoise T-shirt over her head, revealing a red&black bra that begged to be torn off, no matter how gorgeous it looked on her. Julia made a beckoning gesture with her hand.

- Then bring it on, lover.

Why on earth would he disobey a request like this? Grinning from ear to ear, Jason made the last step towards the bed. A pair of slender hands took hold on the sides of his hips, bringing him even closer, where small but skillful fingers worked a couple of buttons on the bottom of his shirt, then spreading the white material open to reveal the bare flesh underneath.

Julia admired her handywork. He wasn\'t overly muscular, but slim and kind off well build, with no bulky six-pack present, yet his body still growing stiff under her touch. She leaned closer, pressing her lips against his heated skin while her fingers proceeded to undo his clothing. Jason helped her with the upper ones she couldn\'t reach that easily, shaking the shirt down his shoulders and carelessly throwing it to the side.

She traced kisses up to his chest, at the same time sliding her palms down to let them rest on the belt of his pants that Jason never bothered to fasten again. She kept on teasing him, tasting his skin and freeing him down there but never going any further until she felt a hand digging into her hair. He wasn\'t actually asking yet, but she\'s got the drill.

Licking her smiling lips, Julia looked up at him only to find the guy\'s darkened eyes fixed firmly on her. Blindly she caressed the underside of his shaft with the back of her index finger, lowering her eyes only seconds after. And doing her best to conceal an appreciative grimace after that. He sure didn\'t feel shy in the size department back when he was fucking her against the wall of the main room, but right now she was literally facing the visual confirmation of that fact.

- I hope I should be flattered...

That came from above and in an openly amused tone. Oh good... I must\'ve been staring just a little too long... Julia tore her eyes away, looking up to be greeted with a predictable cocky smirk. Instead of nurturing the boy\'s ego further she tugged on a loosened side of his jeans, demanding in an uncompromising voice.

- Get this off, smartass.

He complied with a short snort, kicking the rest of his clothes off to the ground. She didn\'t make him wait this time, pulling him close the instant he was standing straight in front of her again and running her tongue down the length of him before softly nibbling at the hardened flesh. She heard Jason groan, probably caught off guard, and then the hand in her hair was back again, gently guiding her at first, but pulling her off of him a minute later.

Julia looked at him, raising an eyebrow in question due to knowing from experience that she couldn\'t have done something wrong. Visibly containing his breath Jason smiled down at her, running his thumb under her open lips.

- Not so fast tonight, baby.

He backed her down the sheets, climbing on the bed as well, and Julia obediently fell on her back, giving him an open permit to do anything he had in mind. Something told her she wouldn\'t be disappointed in any case. Jason loosened the button and the zip of her skirt, pulling the denim off before hovering above her. She watched his eyes follow the path of his palm sliding along the curves of her body.

- I\'m sure you already know that, but you\'re fucking hot as hell.

Julia smirked at the defiant irony of the compliment, arching into his hand, when it slid back up her ribcage.

- You\'re right, I do know that...

Laughing shortly, Jason reached behind her back, unclasping the bra with pleasing ease. He pulled it off of her while his lips traced a hot line of kisses down from her neck. Julia raised a hand, combing her fingers through long blond hair, something she wanted to do all day but somehow never got to it.

She really was beautiful. And not simply physically, the way she squirmed under his touch, at the same time asking for more, the way her smooth skin tasted on his lips... Factually speaking, he\'s already had all of her and yet he still wanted more. Much more. Jason\'s had a lot of women in his past, not to be bragging, but merely stating the obvious. But he\'s never had one who\'d keep him wanting. He just hoped this feeling wouldn\'t pass too soon.

Jason moved down her body, cupping a set of firm, rounded globes, not extensively large, but not too small either, just enough for him to have a handful. The girl whimpered, leaning into his touch, and he brought his lips down as well, tasting the silky flesh. Julia impatiently bucked her hips into him and he chuckled, grazing his fingertips down her sides and hooking them under the thin stripes on her hips. The underwear got stuck somewhere around her ankles, but she kicked it off, sending the small black thong flying across the room.

Jason covered her lips with his again, bracing himself on an elbow and simultaneously letting his other hand touch her down there. He searched for the right spots until Julia was jerking in his arms, tearing her mouth from his. Not waiting any longer, he rolled on top of her, sliding upwards, as deep as he could go and stopping only when it was impossible to go any further. She was panting for air under him, round dark eyes open wide and long nails deliciously biting into the skin of his back, yet Jason started moving only after she asked him to in a breathless voice.

He loved how she moved together with him, perfectly matching his rhythm, and how she held on tight, at the same time letting him set the course. And as if she remembered what he\'d asked from her the first time they did it tonight, she was staring straight at him when he practically raised her hips off the bed, making her come with an especially hard thrust forward and reaching his own finish only seconds later.

Shortly grunting in aftershock Jason loosened his grip on one of the girl\'s thighs, sincerely hoping that she wouldn\'t have bruises tomorrow. Julia let out a shaky breath, shifting under his weight, and brushed her hands up and down the moist skin of his back. She licked her lips, before speaking.

- Alright...I don\'t know about you, but I find the first day of work extremely rewarding.

Jason nodded, freeing one of his hands to brush some dark hair off her forehead.

- I just hope this grows to be a tradition while you\'re here.

She laughed, not doubting for a second that he was serious and honestly ready to sign under this wish of his anytime now. That however didn\'t mean she\'d admit to the latter part in this lifetime. Give a cocky remark as an answer, that sounded more like it.

- Play your cards right...

She heard him snort at this, before he slowly started untangling himself from her, first raising on forearms and then rolling to the side. Julia felt a hand gently prompting her to move.

- OK, scooch up a bit.

She did, sliding up the black silk sheets and intuitively pulling her legs to her chest. Jason pulled on the material, separating the covers and throwing the top one over their bodies. Done with that, he reached out for her, dragging her body to lay beside his. A strong arm firmly settled around her waist and he nodded to himself, visibly satisfied.

- Now we\'re good...

Julia suppressed the need to roll her eyes in irony about this display of the possessive male side in him. She let it slide this time, mostly because she felt surprisingly good in her current position. And then the hand on her back slid lower... She blinked in disbelief.

- You can not want to go again, that\'s humanly impossible.

- It\'s a reflex.

Blue eyes tiredly peered at her from behind the blond hair that fell on his eyes. Julia laughed, catching herself on the thought that for once the pillow talk after a one night stand wasn\'t awkward at all. She raised a hand, brushing his hair back.

- So, what now?

Jason closed his eyes, snuggling tighter into her and nuzzling the top of her head.

- Well, I believe I deserve some good night sleep. I worked so hard, after all, and then I worked even harder...

While her forehead rested against his chest, Julia thought that what she actually meant was whether or not she was spending the night. She wouldn\'t per usual, preferring her own bed to anyone else\'s. But getting out of this warm bed and out of Jason\'s arms only to return to hotel she never even got a chance to get used to yet...it seemed close to impossible. So she hugged the boy back, settling comfortably in the crook of his neck and mumbled, closing her own eyes.

- Smartass...

The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was Jason shortly chuckling above her.

- Yeah, you\'d talk.