“So this is it. The palace.”

Jack stayed silent, as usual, giving nothing away. If Luna hadn’t come to understand his little nuances, subtle shifts in emotion and unique tells as to what he was truly feeling, she may have missed the rapid blink. His long, blonde eyelashes raised and lowered twice in quick succession.

Two weeks. That’s how long Luna had known Jack. Well, two weeks and a day to be exact. Somehow it felt like an entire lifetime. In a good way. Not the horrible, drag down all out beat up brawl kind of way that couples who stay married long after they should divorce view a lifetime together.

He shrugged, because he was trying to work on opening himself up with her and that meant actually showing actual emotion and using body language. “If you consider this place a palace, I’d hate to see what you’d think of as a dive.”

Laughter, light and airy, bubbled up inside Luna’s chest. She let a tiny giggle escape. “Yes, but you said you wanted to renovate. I see the potential. The space is good. I like that it has a- well…”

“A sticky feel? As in the floors are actually sticky no matter how many times they’ve been washed?” Jack’s eyes twinkled with good natured humour. It was incredible, what two weeks could do to a person. That guarded, hard look that used to be in his eyes was gone. At least with her it was.

“I don’t know.” I still think it’s nice. It’s huge. Much larger than I expected.” Luna’s eyes traveled over the various booths and bars, the huge dance floor, the space with the DJ equipment set up. The massive speakers surrounding the booth and planted throughout the bar, mostly mounted to the ceiling, was a dead giveaway that the place was probably real loud. “It’s really not so bad the way it is. I imagine you don’t want to make anything nice when people probably just come in and get drunk and wreck it.”

Jack’s hand fell to her waist as he stepped up beside her. Her body thrilled at the contact. Would there ever be a moment when that shiver failed to travel her spine? When the oh so familiar heat failed to pool in her stomach? She’d finally taken Jack up on his offer to see his club. Only because he’d asked her almost a million times.

“I suppose so. Although if I renovated, it might attract a different clientele. The kind who wouldn’t just get shit faced and want to wreck things. The kind that don’t sell drugs in the bathroom.”

“Does that happen?”

“All the time.” Jack had his traditional poker face on. It was hard to tell if that fact bothered him or if he’d just grown used to it. Luna found it slightly unsettling, but then again, she supposed that was traditional club atmosphere and Jack had been working in the industry for enough years to become desensitized to it. Or, perhaps not. Maybe he truly did want to redo the place so it didn’t attract that kind of crowd.

“I bet it looks a lot different in the dark. When it’s full.”

“Yes.”

He didn’t elaborate. Luna wondered what time people generally went out to the club. The few times she’d gone with friends when she was younger, they hadn’t gone until past midnight. It just felt strange that this was the end of her workday, well, almost, yet there was not a soul in sight.

“We don’t open until ten,” Jack said, anticipating her question or reading her thoughts. It was something he did a lot, as though he knew her, in just two weeks, as well as anyone ever had.

“Oh. Enough time to get dinner then, before you have to be back.”

“If we can find a place.” A smirk played over Jack’s lips. Lips that were as utterly magnetic and kissable as ever even though Luna knew every nuance and detail of them by heart.

“Just because I’m vegan doesn’t mean it makes it that hard to go out.”

“It makes it hard to go to a steakhouse.”

“You know, you’d be better off if you stopped eating meat, even if you don’t do it for ethical reasons.”

“So you’ve said. You know what I think I would be better off doing?” The glimmer in Jack’s eyes, the lyrical tilt of his lips, that shadowed passion that darkened his features, all told Luna exactly what he would be better off doing.

“Don’t try and change the subject,” she warned, turning and jabbing her index finger into a very broad, extremely muscular chest. It was like jabbing a brick wall.

“So, you wouldn’t like to see my office? My very large, very private office with a door that locks securely?”

Luna growled in frustration. She threw her hands up in the air and admitted defeat. “I suppose that I do.”

“You suppose? Well, in the case, maybe I shouldn’t show it to you. Maybe we should skip it altogether and spend two hours driving around trying to figure out what to get for dinner instead.” Jack’s voice was incessantly annoying. Luna loved every second of it.

“Or maybe you should show me your office.”

“If you insist.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “If you don’t cut it out, I promise to be on my best behaviour and just lay there like a good girl should.”

Jack’s hearty laughter filled the club. It was a rare, beautiful sound. “We both know that’s impossible. You couldn’t do it if you try.”

Luna raised a brow. “Is that a challenge?”

“It is. If I win then you have to go to dinner with me at a place of my choice. Not that you have to eat what they serve, but you have to go. I won’t have time to drive around debating…”

“Oh. So, you plan on showing me your office for a good long while?”

“Well, it is quite large. You know, more to show…”

Luna stuck out her palm and Jack gripped it firmly. He pumped it soundly a couple times before he gathered her up in his arms and carried her, laughing and mock protesting the entire way. She already knew she was going to lose. Jack would get to pick their dinner spot.