Carly and Courtney were dropped off at the elevator outside the penthouse door and the two men went straight back down to the limo.

“Where are they going?” Courtney asked.

“Don’t know.”

“Okay, when will they be back?”

“When they get back.”

“Let me guess, a coffee emergency, right?” Courtney remarked sarcastically.

“Look, Courtney, when you’re involved with a guy like Jason this kind of stuff happens. You’ll get used to it.”

“We are not involved.”

“If you say so, but, you looked pretty involved during that dance.”

Courtney smiled at the memory. “Okay, so, maybe, we are a little involved.”

“Courtney, go inside, wait up for Jason. Trust me you’ll be glad you did.”

“But, you said you have no idea when they’ll be back.”

“Honey, the way you look tonight I don’t think you’ll have to wait too long.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carly was wrong though. After 4 hours of waiting and wandering around the penthouse looking for a TV or a book, anything, she gave up. She curled up on the couch to rest her eyes and was out like a light.

When Jason came in at 2:00am he saw her lying on the couch in her dress. The flowers in her hair had wilted and she was snoring lightly. She still looked amazing. He walked over to her and leaned down to look at her a little closer. He was just inches from her and impulse took over. He closed his eyes and dipped his head down to her mouth for a gentle kiss. When he pulled back he saw that her eyes were open.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why not?” She asked her voice a little thick from sleep.

He smiled at her. “Because I don’t want to end up in the ER.”

“Well, you should be okay since you used your lips. I’m pretty sure I only mentioned fingers.” She sat up and rubbed her eyes. He sat down on the couch next to her.

“What time is it?” she asked looking around.

“A little after two. Why didn’t you go to bed?”

“I figured you’d be back sooner and I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh, about what?”

“Well, first, thank you for tonight. I had a really nice time.”

“Me too.” He whispered.

“Second, I’m sorry.”

“For what?” He was stunned.

“Um, lots of stuff. In no particular order, annoying you tonight with my questions ...”

“Courtney, you didn’t annoy me. I was planning to tell you about it later, really. Then the phone call and … well, plans change, I guess.”

“Yeah, I know, okay, well then there’s last night. By the way, how are those two guys?”

He chuckled, “They’re going to be fine. They are installed in an apartment a few floors down. They have a nurse and are having a ball watching Springer.”

“Okay, well, look, I guess, I’m sorry for everything. But I’ll be out of your hair tomorrow.”

“Wait? What does that mean?”

“It means I’ll stop hogging your spare room and go find Zander. I’m sure I can stay with him and if not I’ll find someplace else to stay.”

“No, Courtney, no. Look, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like.”

“That’s sweet but you have a life and …”

“What if I asked you to stay for me?”

“What?” she was incredulous.

“Look, I like having you here. It was nice coming home tonight knowing you were here. Seeing you wait up for me … well, it was like someone cared about me.” It had all come tumbling out so fast he hadn’t had time to sensor the words like he normally did.

“Jason, I don’t know what to say.”

“I won’t expect anything from you. We can be like roommates. Forget that kiss. I’m sorry I did it. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“That’s too bad. I was kind of hoping it would.”

She was staring at his mouth and it was all the invitation he needed. He reached out and placed his hands gently on either side of her face. He kissed her softly at first but the hunger for her took over. The kisses became deeper and more feverish. His hands moved into her hair and around the back of her neck. She scooted closer to him and his hand traveled down to the small of her back to assist. She placed her hands on his chest feeling his heartbeat again. The beat was escalating and taking form. It was the oldest rhythm in the world. She twined her hands in his shirt and leaned back to lie down on the couch pulling him on top of her.

“Courtney, wait.” He was out of breath as he pulled away from her and sat back up. She pushed herself up on her hands still half lying on the sofa. Some of the flowers had fallen out of her hair and one of the straps on her dress was perilously close to dropping the front down and exposing her breast.

“What? What’s wrong?”

He reached over and pulled the strap of her dress back onto her shoulder. He reached for her hand and stood up to help her up from the couch. He led her across the room and up the stairs.

“Then he just left you at the door to your room and went to his own?”

“Yeah. He was gone when I got up this morning.”

Courtney had gone next door to see Carly as soon as she’s had gotten up and showered. Carly was just back from seeing Michael off to the school bus. Courtney was shocked when she found out about the little boy. He was way too old, about 5, for Sonny to be his father. She started to get a little nervous but then Carly told her that she had been pregnant when she came to Port Charles. Michael’s biological father had died in a car accident and Carly could tell him. Sonny had adopted the boy when he and Carly got married.

“Carly, what did I do wrong? Maybe he really didn’t want to be with me and didn’t know how to tell me. Maybe he really just wants a roommate.”

“Don’t be ridiculous …”

--------------------------------------------------

“…, of course, you did the right thing You can’t rush this stuff.”

“But, what if she thinks I don’t want to be with her.”

“Jason, women are different from us. It’s all about the feelings with them. She knows you are being …”

---------------------------------------------------

“… respectful of you. Jason is that kind of guy. I’ll bet he wants you to know that he cares about you first. I mean, he hasn’t had much experience …”

---------------------------------------------------

“… with women, man. Trust me, you should wait if you care about her.”

“I know. It was just so difficult walking away from her last night. I didn’t want to stop, Sonny. I wanted to be with her even if …”

----------------------------------------------------

“… we didn’t sleep together. Just have him hold me all night. It’s so strange. I barely know him and yet it feels like …”

----------------------------------------------------

“… we belong together.” Jason said.

-----------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------

Jason pulled the ringing cell phone out of his jacket pocket, “Morgan.”

“Oh boy, do you have a problem?”

“Carly? What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Courtney.”

“What about Courtney? Is she okay?” Jason asked frantically.

“Yes, Jason, she’s fine. Calm down. Too much coffee this morning?”

“Carly, I’m really busy. Can you get to the point, please?”

“Courtney thinks you don’t like her or want to be with her.”

Jason let out a sigh. “I was afraid of that.”

“I tried to explain to her that you were just being a gentleman but, I don’t know, Jason, I think she’s really hurt. Maybe if you had said something instead of just walking away.”

“I didn’t know what to say, Carly. What do you tell a women when you want to sleep with her but you’re afraid it will wreck everything you want to happen between the two of you?”

“I don’t know, you idiot, how about that.”

“You think?” Jason rubbed his free hand over his face.

“Jason, you’d better fix this before you lose your chance with this girl. I really think she’s the one for you.” Carly was so frustrated with him she hung up without saying goodbye

Jason clicked off the phone and put it in his pocket. “Yeah, me too.”

---------------------------------------------------------------

Jason tried to concentrate on work but he kept thinking about what Carly had said. He decided she was right and he thought he knew how to fix it. He got his phone out and called her back.

“Carly, I need your help. I want to plan something special for Courtney. Here’s what I have in mind …”

Jason spent most of the morning on the phone and then cut out of work right after lunch. Sonny didn’t ask him where he was going. He had overhead a few of the calls and knew that there would be no double date tonight.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Courtney spent most of her afternoon at the PCPD filling out a report. It was more trouble than it was worth to try and find the stupid car. It was just a piece of junk but it was the principle of the matter. When she gave her address and phone number as Jason’s penthouse the cop gave her a strange look.

“What?”

“That’s Jason Morgan’s place.”

“So?”

“Nothing, never mind.” The officer said coldly.

Courtney was annoyed with the sudden change of attitude toward her.

“So, what you’re telling me is that who I’m friends with matters more than the fact my car was stolen?”

“Of course, not, Ms. Matthews. ‘Protect and Serve’ that’s our motto. But why don’t you have your boyfriend buy you a new car?” The cop asked her snidely.

“You know what? Forget it. Tear up the report. I don’t want your help.”

Courtney got up from the desk and started to storm out when she slammed right into Lt. Taggert.

“Sorry, miss. You got up so quickly.” Taggert smiled down at her.

“Whatever. You should teach your officers some manners.” She turned and walked right out the door.

Taggert turned to the junior officer at the desk and asked, “What was that all about?”

“Jason Morgan’s girlfriend.”

“And?”

“She said her car was stolen.”

“I’m still missing why she thinks you need manners, Phillips.”

“Well, I asked her why she was bothering when he could just buy her a new car.” Phillips was starting to get a little nervous. Taggert didn’t like the Corinthos/Morgan associates but he was still a no nonsense administrator.

“Phillips, when a crime is committed no matter what it is or who it happens to the victim is treated with respect. The young lady was right. I do need to teach my officers manners.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

When the elevator reached the penthouse level Courtney realized she had no way of getting into the apartment. Jason hadn’t given her a key and she didn’t know when he’d be home. The doors opened and she saw the guard standing outside Sonny and Carly’s place.

“Excuse me, um, I’m sorry I don’t know your name.”

“I’m Donny, Ms. Matthews.”

“Well, Donny, I don’t have a key to the apartment. Could you let me in?”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Matthews, Mr. Morgan is unavailable right now and asked that I have you wait with Mrs. Corinthos until he came for you.”

“Um, okay.”

Donny knocked on the door and then opened it announcing “Ms. Matthews”.

“Hey, Courtney, come on in.”

Carly was sitting on the couch flipping through a fashion magazine. Courtney walked over to the couch and sat down next to her.

“Hi. What’s going on next door? No, wait, I’m not supposed to ask, am I?”

“Not really.”

“Does this happen a lot? I mean, how often am I going to have to wait here before I can go home?”

“Not often. This is kind of unusual actually.” Carly grinned at her new friend. “So, you are going to stay?”

“Yeah. I thought about it and decided that it was too soon anyway and he was probably doing what you said. You know, being a gentleman.”

Carly was delighted. Jason would be so thrilled and it would make what he was planning for tonight so much better.

“So, what did you do today? I went over to find you a little while ago and you were gone, obviously.”

“Don’t get me started.” Courtney was getting angry again just thinking about what the rude cop said to her.

“What? You look like you could tear into somebody.”

“I went to the police station to fill out a report on my car and the cop gave me an attitude when he found out I was friends with Jason. Get this. He asked me why I didn’t just have my boyfriend buy me a new car.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I know. Like I would ask Jason to buy me a car.”

“Like Jason would let you drive around on your own.”

“What?”

“Jason is not going to let you drive around town alone. If you want to go somewhere he’ll send you in a car.”

“Wait a minute? What? I can’t drive anymore. Next, you’ll tell me he’s going to assign me a bodyguard.”

“Actually, I think he already has.” Carly casually flipped through a few more pages. “Don’t worry you’ll get used to it.

“Okay, that’s it.” Courtney got up, stomped over to the door yanking it open and started across the hall. Donny tried to stop her.

“Ms. Matthews, Mr. Morgan isn’t ready yet.”

“I don’t care.” She started pounding on the wood. “Jason, you open this door right now.”

Mid-pound Jason opened the door and she fell right into his arms.

“Hey, you’re early so if you could just wait across …

“No, leaving is what I’m going to be doing.”

“You’re leaving? You mean, leaving as in moving out?”

“Yep. I just wanted to say goodbye and that you could cancel my babysitter.”

“Babysitter? I’m sorry but I’m not following you.” Jason closed the door behind him so Courtney couldn’t see what was going on in the room behind him.

“I don’t care what you think - I don’t want to be driven around or have a bodyguard. I am not going to live that way.”

“Courtney, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want. Ever. If you want to drive you’ll drive - if you ever get your car back - and if you don’t want protection then no bodyguard. It’s that simple.”

“But Carly, said …”

“Okay, stop right there. Carly does not decide what you or I do.”

Jason reached out and clasped her hands in his.

“I know a lot has happened in a short time but … I feel lucky to have met you. No matter how it happened. I don’t want you to be unhappy. I want the time we spend together to be fun and easy. You are a special woman, Courtney Matthews, and I want you to know that I do want to be with you but not until we are both ready. I don’t want to wreck anything with you.”

“Wow, that was some speech.” She exhaled not even realizing she has been holding her breath.

‘I didn’t hear all of it. Could you repeat it?’ Carly called through the closed door.

Jason and Courtney both laughed and he called back, “Stop eavesdropping, Carly.”

Carly opened her door and popped her head out into the hall.

“You speak so softly, Jason. If you just talk louder you’d never have to know I was listening.”

“Carly, leave them alone.” They heard Sonny say from the apartment.

Carly shut the door and left them alone.

“Well, I guess I’ll just wait in the hall until your meeting is done. Unless you’ve really got some girl in there I don’t know about.” Courtney teased.

“No meeting and no girl but I do have a surprise for you. Close your eyes.”

Courtney obediently squeezed her eyes shut and let him lead her into the apartment.

“I love surprises.” She exclaimed.

“Somehow, I knew that,” Jason chuckled. “Okay, open your eyes.”

Courtney was stunned at what she saw. The entire penthouse was done up like a fancy restaurant. The pool table was gone and leather couch had been moved to face the fireplace. In the middle of the room was a single table for two. Gorgeous china, crystal and silver decorated the top. The same white flowers she had worn in her hair last night were everywhere perfuming the air. A fire was burning in the fireplace and candles were lit and set on every surface in the room. There were even candles leading up the staircase. Suddenly music filled the room and she giggled as she saw the violinist walk in from the kitchen. She turned to Jason and he could see the tears glistening in her eyes.

“What’s wrong, Courtney? Don’t you like it?”

She grabbed him and wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him tightly and then pulled back to look in his eyes.

“It’s wonderful. I love it. Nobody’s ever done anything like this for me. What you said earlier and now this. I’m just overwhelmed.”

“Ms. Matthews, would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner?”

“Mr. Morgan, I would love to.”

He pulled out her seat for her and then seated himself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Next door Carly was driving Sonny crazy pacing around the room and repeatedly opening the door to see if she could hear anything from the other apartment.

“Carly, for the love of God, knock it off.”

“I can’t help it. My best friend is falling in love at this very moment.” She turned to face him and then decided to sit with him on the couch. “Distract me, okay?”

“Okay, we have a really good day today. We got an order for 60,000 barrels of Jamaican …”

“Was he nervous today? Did he say anything about what he was planning?”

Sonny groaned and then got up from the couch. He walked over to the bar and freshened up his drink.

“Carly, Jason is not going to appreciate your nosiness in this matter. He is dealing with feelings that he’s never experienced before. This girl has him completely tied in knots and he doesn’t know if he’s coming or going.”

“Which is exactly why he needs me.”

“Which is exactly why he needs you to stay out of it. Look at what happened earlier when you assumed that he would put a guard on her. She freaked out and almost left.”

“Well, I don’t understand why she doesn’t need one and I do.”

“Because she decided she doesn’t want one. And Jason feels like she can handle herself. Carly, she’s very well trained from what Jason tells me. He says she knows moves he’s never even seen.”

“Well, then I guess I need to spend more time with her.”

“Actually, Jason is bringing her over here tomorrow to talk about her teaching you some self defense.”

“So that’s why AJ and I don’t get along anymore. It’s sad really because we were very close before the accident.”

“I knew something was up with your brother. But if he hurt you why is he so angry?”

“I guess AJ is just acting out his anger with himself.”

“That makes sense. Zander is like that too.”

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

They had finished dinner and were working their way through dessert and coffee. The violinist had long since been dismissed and the caterer had vanished too after desert was served.

“Not really.” She sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you but tonight has been so wonderful and I don’t want to drag it all up. Your story was sad enough.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m glad you told me. I feel closer to you now that I know some of your secrets.”

“Courtney, about last night …”

“No, it’s okay. I understand. You were right but I still wish you would have said something.”

“I should have I just didn’t know how to say what I wanted to say and I was having a hard time concentrating.”

“Can you try to tell me now?”

“Um, yeah, I’ll try.”

She waited patiently for him to collect his thoughts. He walked around the table to help her up and led her over to the couch to sit in front of the fire. He watched the flames dance in her eyes and he tried to put into words the feelings he was having for this woman he’d only known two days. He put his face in his hands and groaned.

“Jason, it’s okay. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“No, I want you to know.”

He took a deep breath and turned towards her.

“I do not have a lot of experience with women. Most find me intimidating and can’t handle what I do for a living.”

“Well, coffee importing can be a very worrisome job?” she joked.

“See, that’s what I mean, you’re so accepting. You know who you are and you know what you can handle. I love that about you. You don’t need me to help define you.”

“No, I don’t. A woman shouldn’t need a man. Not just to have one. It’s okay to need a specific person. To want a specific person.”

She smiled at him and put her hand on top of his. “Go on.”

“I’ve had relationships but nothing too serious. I always thought it was because of the accident. But now I know it’s because everyone I know expects me to be something for them … except for you. The person I am when I am alone I can be that with you.”

“Jason …”

“Just a little more than I want you to tell me how you feel, okay?”

She bit her lip and nodded.

“Courtney, for the first time since my accident I feel whole.”

Tears were streaming down her face. He tried to wipe them away with his fingers but she stopped him.

“It’s okay to cry sometimes. And what you have just told me in the most amazing thing I have ever heard. I felt something the moment I looked up and saw you standing in front of me in that alley. I felt it again when you brushed your fingers against my skin last night at the club. I fought it and told myself that it was just a physical attraction. That I couldn’t feel what I was feeling for someone I had just met and barely knew. When we danced and I was pressed up against you feeling your heart beat against mine something in me told me I was home. That’s how I feel. Like I‘ve been lost for years and now that I’ve found you I’m home.”

Jason looked at the woman sitting in front of him. He gathered her in his arms and held her. Tried to make her feel in his arms the way she deserved to feel. Beautiful, precious, extraordinary.

“Jason, would you stay with me tonight? Just sleep in the bed with me? I want to make love with you but it’s still too soon. Even after everything tonight. Especially after everything tonight. It’s too much. Does that make sense?”

“Yes, it makes perfect sense. And, yes, I will sleep with you tonight and every night from this moment on.”

“One more thing … please don’t ever leave me again without saying goodbye.”

“I promise.” He kissed her gently. “Let’s go to bed, okay? I can’t wait to fall asleep holding you.”