Waking, Jax stood from her bed and walked to the bathroom to shower and go see how Dodge was doing this morning. Her room connected to his and Wyatt's and she'd tossed and turned all night thinking of him being just a room away. Her head spun at the thought of actually dating. They hadn't even had sex yet, they hadn't spent any time not being on a mission or co-workers so that was something they'd have to do. As soon as they got back home, maybe they'd go out to eat and talk. Then, maybe more than talk.

Her nipples pebbled at the thought. Then wetness gathered between her legs and she ducked under the running water to cool herself off.

Working through her routine she silently prayed for three things: The feds would locate the jewels and other incriminating evidence to get Mags; Gaige and the rest of the team would get Mangus even though she wasn't there; and that Stan would be alright.

Blow drying her hair she allowed her thoughts to stray again to Dodge and what she thought about him as a person. The little that she knew was that he was smart. He'd also suffered loss. He was a good cop, a great teammate, and he was incredibly sexy. Also, he genuinely seemed like a good guy. She hoped he'd see the tree she and Josh had planted for Jake as a loving tribute and not something stupid, ‘cause that might be a deal breaker.

Her phone rang as she hung the dryer back on the wall and she scooted to pick it up. Dodge's picture popped up on her screen and a smile grew across her face. Tapping the answer icon she said, "Good morning. How are you feeling today?"

"Morning. Sore. But good."

"I don't think sore and good are the same thing. Actually kind of the opposite."

"Well, I meant, I'm sore. But the pain has lessened and I don't feel light-headed anymore. So, good."

She laughed at his explanation. "Okay. That's fair."

"Are you ready to go down for breakfast? We're eating at the hotel restaurant."

"Yep, just give me five minutes to put some clothes on and I'll be in."

"Fuck, Little Mama, don't put clothes on for me."

"Shut up." She giggled as she hung up and began pulling her clothes from her duffle.

Quickly dressing in her jeans, she topped them off with a dark blue cami and a blue and black plaid shirt, left unbuttoned. Sliding her feet in tall, black leather boots she felt sexy and ready for whatever the day brought. Quickly she packed the rest of her items in her duffle and gathered her bathroom supplies and dried them. She tossed them in the side pocket of her duffle. She'd drop it in the Beast before breakfast. Bending at the waist she gathered her hair up into a ponytail, secured it with an elastic tie. She stood, glanced in the mirror, grabbed her bag and tossed it over her shoulder before she knocked on the door that connected her room to Dodge and Wyatt's, but mostly her thoughts were on Dodge. Again.

The door opened and a few things hit her all at once. The scent from Dodge fresh from the shower was the best scent in the world. His large frame encased in a t-shirt made him the sexiest man on earth, even with his arm in a sling in front of some of his yumminess. And, she could look into those green eyes For. Ever. Or close. But, a long time. Damn.

He bent his knees, leaned in and kissed her and her damned nipples tightened to the point of hurting.

He inhaled then whispered, "Best aroma in the world right here. You smell amazing, Little Mama."

Speechless. He left her speechless. That hardly ever happened. Look what this man was doing to her. Her mind wandered constantly to doing bad things with him, to what he thought, to what he smelled like, and Gawd, she was like a teenager again.

"Let's go lovebirds, I'm starving." Wyatt appeared out of the bathroom, looking fresh and ready to attack the day.

Dodge stepped back and chuckled and she entered their room, her cheeks flaming a bright red, if the heat was an indicator. Dodge walked to his bed and grabbed the duffle on the end of it and slung it over his right shoulder.

"I can take..." She started but the look on his face stopped her.

"I'm not an invalid, Little Mama. And I'm not going to have a woman carrying my bag for me."

Her brows rose and her lips tightened. But he continued. "I'm also not letting a man carry my bag for me so before you start in on your Tarzan bullshit, note that and pack it away."

Wyatt laughed and grabbed his bag. "I think you two are going to do just fine." He tossed his bag over his shoulder as he opened the door and stepped out.

Dodge waited for her to proceed him and she hesitated for a millisecond, then decided she sort of liked that he treated her with chivalry, so she stepped out the door behind Wyatt without another word.

Waiting at the elevator Josh and Ford met them and the five piled into the elevator with minimal conversation other than the two asking Dodge how he felt this morning.

They exited the elevator without a word, walked out the lobby door amid stares and open mouths of some of the women. Jax had to admit it made her feel pretty damned good that she was with this good looking group and all the women were jealous of her position. If they only knew what the group did for a living.

Depositing their bags in the Beast they went back inside and were seated at a table toward the back of the restaurant, which suited them just fine. Breakfast conversation was limited to personal things and just as their breakfasts were served Josh said, "I'm only going to say this once, but I want to say it in front of everyone." He looked directly at Dodge and continued. "If you hurt my sister, I'll kill you."

Dodge grinned. "Will you kill her if she hurts me?"

Josh was speechless and made her chuckle even though she could feel her cheeks brighten again. "Don't be an asshole."

Dodge laughed then and so did Wyatt. Ford took a drink of his coffee and looked Jax in the eye. "I'll kill you if you intentionally hurt Dodge. Just so things are even."

Josh froze mid-chew and glared across the table at Ford. Ford simply nodded then began attacking his food.

Wyatt chuckled again and swallowed his mouthful before lightening the mood. "This is gonna be fun."