Chapter 2B

They continued to wander between the docked boats, until just before noon. AJ guided her to a prime location so JC would be able to see and placed her before the railing, that way no one could get in front of her.

JC leaned against the wooden railing in front of her, upper belly against the railing, her arms dangling in front and asked, "How do you know who wins, AJ?" He was standing behind her, not so close that he was touching her, but closely enough that she could feel the heat emanating from him. It was like a spark of electricity ran from him and into her spine, making her tingle.

AJ pursed his lips and looked at the shoreline, when he spotted what he was looking for he leaned down to the level of her ear, arms beside hers on the railing, and said, "Do you see the blue flag there by the monitoring tower?" At her nod he pointed out, "There is another blue flag perched on each of those depth buoys going across the river. Once you pass over that imaginary line the man in the tower clocks your time."

They watched, as a foghorn was sounded from the monitoring tower, the boats unfurled their sails and caught the wind. It was a majestic site as each sailboat glided through the water toward the open river. JC gasped at the site and couldn't keep the grin from her face. She bit down on her desire to ask about a million questions and jump up and down in excitement as she watched a truly beautiful site. Everyone around them was cheering on their friends and family, laughing and yelling.

When every last sailboat rounded out of site people began wandering away to shop at the vendors, enjoy great Jazz and decide on one of the many restaurants and bistros that set up for lunch, knowing the Regatta would draw a crowd.

"How about lunch?" AJ suggested as he guided her away from the railing. She'd been quite for the last half hour or more, he wondered if maybe she wasn't having as good a time as he thought she was.

"Yes, that sounds wonderful. I'm starving." JC regretted saying that right away, but it's the truth, she was hungry. Granted she was usually hungry.

"What looks good?" As they walked along the row of bistros set up under white tents, AJ walked close but not too close, he didn't want to get separated but he didn't think she'd want him to hold her hand either.

"Mmm." JC looked around and spotted a place that looked interesting. It wasn't a place set up under a tent, but rather an actual established Pub. "What about there, AJ? We can get out of the sun for a little while and they should have some interesting things in there for lunch."

AJ looked at the Pub in question and thought right away that it would be perfect. Certainly not romantic, but they could talk and find out more about each other, maybe find out why she'd gotten so reserved.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." He escorted her back across the street and weaved them through the tables outside the Pub to the front door.

AJ held the door for JC to precede him and as they walked in, removing their sunglasses, the bartender called out, "Take a seat anywhere and we'll be right with you."

"Well, at least they're not stuffy here." JC sassed and then giggled. Her first giggle in over an hour, it felt wonderful.

AJ grinned, "True. It reminds me of a Pub near the base I was stationed at in Hawaii. It was a great place to just relax with friends."

JC guided them to a small round booth near the back where they would be away from the boisterous bar. She smiled when AJ took her hand as she sat.

AJ sat just as the waitress approached and gave them menus explaining the specials for the day.

"Can I get you something to drink while you read the menu?" The perky blond asked.

"What have you got on tap?" AJ asked. He decided that none of them sounded interesting and asked for a bottle of Corona instead.

"Ma'am?"

Trying desperately to stifle her natural response to AJ's beer choice she asked for, "The Smashing Scottish Skulls you have on tap is fine."

"That's a great choice. What size can I bring you? Our smallest is a sixteen ounce and our largest is a twenty-four."

After JC ordered the smallest size and the waitress left, AJ asked, "What were you trying so hard not to say that you started almost giggling?"

JC couldn't help herself, she started laughing, "It's just that, when you ordered your beer I thought of something to say but I didn't think you would appreciate it."

"What were you going to say?" AJ asked, bewildered but happy that she was laughing again.

"AJ, I don't think you'd really..."

"No, tell me. Really. What were you going to say?" Just then, the waitress returned with their drinks and she poured AJ's into a glass for him, leaving the remaining in the bottle on the table and said she would return in a moment to take their order.

JC pointed to his light colored drink and said, "Weenie beer."

"I beg your pardon?" AJ smiled.

"When you ordered I immediately thought, 'weenie beer', I didn't think you'd see the humor in it, so I..."

"Weenie beer?" AJ noticed that JC's beer was so dark you couldn't even see through it. "As opposed to what? Mud?" He asked, smiling.

JC laughed, "I don't like light beer. I'm not much of a drinker but if I'm going to drink a beer I like the bitter flavor of the darker ales and lagers."

"So you'd rather drink something that looks like one sip could get you drunk?" AJ chuckled.

She shook her head at him saying, "AJ, AJ, AJ. You don't get drunk faster just because the beer is so dark. It has the same amount of alcohol as light beers; just more of certain ingredients that make it taste bitter. Have you ever tried something this dark?"

"I've tried Hefenwizen on tap, it was pretty good." He admitted, though it was nothing compared to the nearly black liquid in JC's glass.

"This is somewhat similar in taste, just has a lot more of the bitter taste. You're welcome to try mine, but I'm not sure you'd like it if you haven't had anything stronger than the Hef." JC gestured to her glass and wondered if that would make AJ uncomfortable.

Chuckling AJ stated emphatically, "Well, if a Marine can drink something like this a SeAL sure as hell can. I'll not have you insulting my masculinity by criticizing the beer I drink." AJ picked up her glass and tasted the bitterest beer he'd ever experienced in his entire life. Surprisingly he liked it and said as much.

"Are you ready to order?" Perky Waitress returned.

"JC?" They'd been so busy talking he hadn't found out what she wanted to eat. Where'd the manners go, AJ?

"I would love to try your lunch special, the fish and chips." JC ordered a side salad with the house dressing and noticed AJ out of the corner of her eye watching her.

"Sir?"

AJ ordered the lunch special of blackened salmon and a side salad as well, choosing instead a creamy dressing.

"Are we seriously eating fish for lunch and then intending on going to the Seafood Fest for dinner?" JC laughed.

AJ thought about it for a second before saying, "We don't have to if you'd rather..."

"You better not change your mind, AJ!" JC enthused, forgetting to tone down her exuberance. "I was actually planning on going today when I talked to you last night. Those were the plans I was talking about. I love a beach clam bake!"

AJ watched her mobile face and expressive eyes as she spoke. She seemed the same, now, as when he'd picked her up this morning, but she'd been acting so different just a little while ago.

"Ok! We'll still go to the clam back." AJ quickly reassured her.

"Good." JC sipped her beer and smiled contentedly. There was nothing like a cold beer on a hot day. Perhaps a bit common of her, but it was an indulgence.

"Can I ask you something?" AJ ventured to ask as he sat forward, hoping he hadn't missed something somewhere.

JC figured she'd better get this out now and said, "You can always ask, AJ, but I can't always guarantee an answer." She hoped he wasn't going to ask about her job already, she hadn't had time to think of what she wanted to tell him.

Storing that interesting response in his mind to ponder on and ask about later, AJ asked, "You seemed different a while ago, like maybe you weren't enjoying yourself. But now that we're inside, away from the sailing you seem the same as earlier this morning. Are you not enjoying this as much as you thought you would?"

Smiling, JC assured him, "AJ, I'm really enjoying myself, the company as well as the sailing. I've never watched sailboats before, just Destroyers, Carriers and other military ships."

"Then I don't understand, you haven't laughed in over an hour, not until we came into the Pub."

Seeing the confusion in his face JC realized her blunder and berated herself. Stupid, overly sensitive, inexperienced rube! JC covered her face, blushed scarlet and admitted through her fingertips, "I think I made a major miscalculation and stuck my foot in a huge date related black hole."

"JC?" Did she mean going out with me?

She uncovered her slightly less red face, looked AJ right in the eyes and admitted, "AJ I don't date very much." Sighing, she explained, "At my age it's difficult to find someone in the military interested and not completely intimidated by my Eagles. I'm usually the high-ranking officer and the guys just don't seem to appreciate that."

Shrugging she continued, "Civilian men just sort of stare at me or react badly when I tell them I'm a Marine. When it comes to spending time in the company of a gentleman I'm a little rusty, so believe me when I say I completely misunderstood something you said earlier. You have no idea how glad I am that I was wrong! I'm so sorry I took what you said in the wrong way."

Smiling with relief, AJ said, "Then I'm glad you were wrong, but what did I say that you misunderstood? Did I say something that offended you?" AJ thought back over their earlier conversations.

JC covered his hand on the table with both of her own, scooted closer and explained, "No, AJ, nothing you said offended me at all today. Really. I just misunderstood the context of what you were saying."

"Tell me." AJ asked quietly.

"Earlier, just a bit after we arrived, you were saying that you didn't think I would enjoy the sailing, because I was a Marine. I thought for some reason that maybe you were a little more interested in the military persona you've seen at JAG and that maybe the real me wasn't what you were interested in."

JC sighed, "It wouldn't be the first time, AJ, that some guy thought it was a hoot to be dating a Marine Colonel. I just thought you weren't like that, I'm glad I was right, that you aren't like that, and I am sorry I skipped to the wrong conclusion and doubted you."

AJ was relieved, problem solved. "Remember, last night on the telephone? AJ asked JC to redeem a rain check. I left the Admiral at home. From now on, leave the Colonel at home too."

JC smiled brightly, dizzyingly happy that AJ wanted to get to know her for whom she really was. And a little frightened that maybe when he found out everything, if he was around long enough, that he might not want to know all of JC. Some parts of her could be pretty terrifying.

"I promise!" JC grinned.

"Good. Colonels can be so stuck up, almost as much as Admirals. Let's just be civilians today and have a good time, ok?" AJ asked, squeezing her hand.

"Yes, a good time. Would that good time happen to include wondering over to the lapidary tent after lunch?" JC asked, with a bit of a pleading pout on her lips, trying to show AJ that she could be herself.

Grinning AJ asked, "Is this another secret I have to keep? Like your shopping trips to France and Italy?"

A tinkle of throaty laughter escaped JC as she said, "If you don't want me to tell anyone about your abilities as a wedding planner."

Just then, their salads arrived with a large breadbasket full of fresh breads of all different kinds.

As they began eating AJ asked, "Did you really take a weekend pass to France to go shopping?"

JC laughed and nodded. When she swallowed she answered, "I was on standby in Taszar, Hungary for an assignment that wasn't supposed to happen for a week. I asked my CO if he minded if I hopped a transport to France for a few days to unwind. I'd been on assignments almost two months straight. I was going a little stir crazy."

"He let you go?" AJ asked, surprised. If he were the CO in that situation he wouldn't have minded if she needed some time to unwind, but to go to France to shop?

"I was only a Helo away. The situation was completely stable and we knew I wasn't going in for a few days yet. So, yes, he let me go, but only for two days." JC grinned.

"You didn't tell him you were going shopping, did you." AJ accused while laughing.

She looked affronted, "Are you kidding?" JC confided, "Everything I bought I had shipped to me. The General never knew what I did in France."

AJ laughed and asked, "Was this General Jones?"

JC's wide eyes whipped up to AJ's and she asked, "You're not going to tell him, are you?"

AJ picked up his beer, took a sip and with a sardonic grin on his face joked, "I thought I might, yes."

JC giggled, "He'd be so mad if he found out."

"What were you doing in Hungary? Weren't you stationed in Bosnia?" AJ asked, curious.

"Bosnia? How did you know I was stationed in Bosnia?"

AJ was unaware of JC's internal struggle to remain outwardly unaffected by his probing question. "Mac, my Chief of Staff. She said that she was stationed in Bosnia the same time you were."

Sighing in relief, JC responded. "I was there for a while, yes. I was in Hungary for just a little while a few months before I was stationed to Bosnia officially."

"So you were still just a Helo away from your Italian designer?" AJ chuckled.

JC resisted the urge to thwap him in the bicep, not that she didn't think he could take it, rather she didn't know how he would react. "Yes, just a Helo away from my Italian designer. I didn't get much leave while I was in Bosnia, I was pretty busy, but I went to Italy every chance I got."

AJ's eye lit, so she did have something that he was interested in, his mind casting back to his earlier ponderings. "Where did you go?"

JC sighed, "All over. Anywhere I could go in the time I had."

"I was stationed in Naples for a time and now I try to get to Milan at least once a year." AJ thought of his daughter, it was getting time for her to visit him again.

"Have you been to the Sforza Castle in Milan, AJ? Oh, it's so beautiful! The last Michelangelo sculpture is housed there in one of the museums." JC enthused.

"I haven't visited the Castle; I've gone to the Monte Napoleone though."

"What's there AJ? I thought it was just shopping." JC watched AJ's eyes, fascinated; when he smiled the corners of his eyes crinkled. Gosh that's sexy, JC thought.

"There are two museums there; they were homes at one time actually. They are absolutely beautiful homes with even more magnificent artwork inside." AJ remembered that he had to bribe his daughter away from the shopping mall with lunch before he would show him the sites. "Where else have you visited in Italy?"

JC watched AJ polish off the rest of his Salmon and buttered a piece of sweet bread. How could he make something as simple and mundane as eating a sensual experience?

"Promise not to laugh?" JC asked a hint of a grin around her mouth.

AJ solemnly promised.

JC leaned closer and confided in a stage whisper, "I spent a weekend in Verona."

"Why would I laugh?" AJ asked, "I visited Verona for a day, it's a beautiful city."

JC chuckled and leaned in close once again to confide, "Yes, it's a breathtaking city, but I went because I wanted to see the places Shakespeare wrote about in Romeo and Juliet."

AJ's eyes twinkled when he angled his head to hers, nearly whispering into her ear, "JC, there's no proof that Shakespeare even wrote Romeo and Juliet in Verona. The characters came from a story written by Luigi da Porto of Vincenza."

JC shivered, feeling AJ's breath near her sensitive neck. "Imagine how disappointed I was when I found out." Chuckling rumbled in AJ's chest, the sound reminding JC of a purring tiger, she had the urge to rest her head on his chest and listen to the sound, and was rather surprised she felt that comfortable so quickly. She'd been enjoying the conversation, the company and the feel of being with AJ; she was even more relaxed now that she could just be herself. "Where else have you traveled, AJ? For fun, not for the Navy."

AJ loved the color of her hair, it was such a warm red, so rich and vibrant and it smelled wonderful. He didn't think it was the smell of her shampoo, but rather a scent that was JC alone. "In Italy you mean?"

"Mmm, or anywhere else." JC just liked the sound of his voice; there was a twang she couldn't place. "I never made it to Venice, but I always wanted to go there. Did you visit Venice, AJ?" JC thought Venice to be a very romantic city, she never wanted to go there alone, and it seemed almost disrespectful to do so.

AJ leaned back against the booth and thought about Venice. Had he ever been? "No, I never made it to Venice, but it's not a place I've ever even thought about going alone."

JC smiled and turned in the small round booth to face AJ, her knees touching his as she listened. "I know. I had a week that I could have gone but I changed my mind at the last minute and went to a beach in Greece."

"Did you lie out and bake in the sun?" AJ asked, wondering if JC wore a bikini.

"No!" JC giggled, "I'd turn into one big freckle."

AJ loved freckles on a woman; they could be so cute, he thought. "You freckle in the sun?"

"Honestly, it's not as much as when I was a kid, but I do freckle." JC admitted. She knew that right now, she had light freckling all over, but it could be much worse.

"Where do you freckle?" AJ asked, hoping that question wouldn't seem too fast and JC wouldn't take offense.

JC wrinkled her nose at AJ, thinking she'd love to show him exactly where she freckled, but said, "About the same place as you do." Thinking AJ could only possibly freckle in one place.

"I don't have freckles anywhere." AJ's voice sounded slightly miffed, but when he thought about it, he remembered his daughter telling him that he did freckle. "Well, except on the top of my head." He ran a slightly self-conscious hand over his pate.

Covering her mouth JC giggled, her eyes dancing. She had been right.

"You suspected, didn't you?" AJ accused, when JC just nodded, he laughed.

"All of the guys I work with out in the field have freckles on their heads." JC confessed, "One night, while they were sleeping, I took a marker and played connect the dots." She couldn't contain her mirth and it spilled out as she said, "They were so mad that they couldn't get me back. It was permanent marker!"

"You were their CO!" AJ hooted.

"We all get pretty close. I've had the same six guys now for about a year." Some had been with her longer, but this team was a year old.

"And every one of them has a shaved head? With freckles?" AJ asked, amazed that some didn't let the top grow out long, like Harm or Bud from his office.

"It's, um..." JC prevaricated, looking around the pub, anywhere but at AJ.

"It's what?" Curiosity firmly peaked.

"It's sort of a tradition." When AJ just raised an eyebrow, she could fairly hear him saying, 'Explain.' So, she did. "There's this one guy that's been with me the longest. He keeps his hair shaved as short as yours."

"But he does it on purpose." AJ added.

JC just looked at him for a moment. Could he possibly be self-conscious about his lack of hair, JC wondered? How could he be, he was so handsome, especially with the baldhead and buzz cut. Gorgeous, sexy... She was getting off track.

"Yes," she admitted. "He does it on purpose. And since the first new guy was added to the team he's made it a right of passage that all the guys have to shave their head at least once. Some keep the shaved look; others let the tops grow back in a little."

"But he's never insisted that you shave your head?" AJ asked with a grin.

"One of the newer guys suggested it about three years ago. Rank has its privileges, AJ." JC winked.

The waitress ambled over and asked, "Did you want a refill or anything else? Maybe see the dessert menu?"

AJ looked over to JC but she was shaking her head, so he asked for the check. "You tell me, where have you traveled for fun, not for the Marines?"

Echoing AJ's earlier comment, JC said, "You mean besides Italy?"

"Yes, besides Italy and your French shopping excursion." The bill came then and AJ took care of it before rising from the booth and holding out a hand to JC.

She collected her purse and sunglasses before putting her left hand in his right, allowing him to guide her from the booth as she stood. She expected him to let go of her hand when they reached the street but she was pleasantly surprised when he didn't.

They started off toward the lapidary tent and JC decided to make a deal. "AJ, how about we each take turns telling each other where we've visited?" At AJ's nod, JC grinned and rested her other hand on the inner curve of his elbow. "I think we've exhausted Italy, though." She said impishly.

AJ thought about it for a minute and said, "Jamaica."

"Oh, I've never been to Jamaica. My turn. Mmm, Monaco." JC thought of the story of Grace Kelly and her older handsome Prince.

"Monaco? What did you do while you were there? Gamble?" AJ laughed, thinking of the Sailing Regattas they had in the Mediterranean.

JC wrinkled her nose at AJ and said, "Your turn."

When they entered the tent of the lapidary, AJ answered, "Aruba."

"Aruba? I never thought to go there." JC wandered the tables set up with all manner of beaded jewelry covering them in artistic displays. There were several beautiful pieces, so she grabbed a card and stuck it in her purse. They moved on to a tent that displayed various watercolors. "Vienna."

Remembering a trip to Austria himself, AJ added, "Salzburg."

Laughing, JC thought and said, "Brussels."

Taking in the details of a stunning watercolor of the Potomac River, AJ breathed in her ear, "Fiji."

Gasping, not just from the exotic location he'd visited but also from the feel of his warm breath caressing her neck and ear again, JC turned her face to AJ and nearly collided with him. When he'd whispered into her ear, he hadn't pulled back right away.

AJ watched her breathing hitch and when she looked into his eyes, he noticed that hers were impossibly dilated, the emerald nearly gone.

Barely able to concentrate after imagining AJ such a sensuous place, JC trolled her memory for another city she'd visited. "Paris." She whispered as AJ brushed a strand of hair away from her mouth.

AJ watched the tendrils of her hair blow in the breeze, "I thought we wouldn't mention your shopping trip to France?"

A child ran into AJ from behind, breaking the spell and freeing them both from the charged atmosphere. They each took away with them quite a bit to think about. JC pondered her reaction to AJ's lips so close to her own, something that hadn't happened to her in quite a while. AJ wondered what JC would have tasted like if he'd kissed her, a sweet, gentle kiss, just to taste.

When AJ dropped JC's hand for a moment, to pick up a card from the artist's table and put it in his pocket, JC reached up and freed her hair before the breeze could destroy it. She was just putting the stick back in her purse when AJ turned around.

A man known to be of few words, but capable, as any lawyer would be, of using many and varied expressions, AJ fell silent at the sight of JC with her hair billowing in the breeze about her shoulders.

When JC looked back up from her purse, it was to see AJ staring at her. He stepped forward, until they were facing each other and nearly touching, his right hand came up of its own accord but stopped just short of her, as if asking permission. JC smiled and AJ ran his fingers through her long tresses. They tumbled down her back once again, falling into soft waves to mid back.

JC rested her right hand on AJ's solid chest, feeling his heart beat strongly against her palm; her left hand curled loosely around his wrist as he ran his fingers from scalp to the tips of her tresses once more. "You don't mind, then, that I've let it down?" JC whispered. "It will get windblown."

"It's beautiful. Always wear it down when we're together." AJ husked, his drawl deepening.

JC gasped, taking a small step closer, she asked, "Will we be together again, after today?"

After seeing JC's wonderful hair cascading around her face, he wasn't able to restrain himself any more. AJ cradled the back of her head and gave in to temptation; with the slightest of pressure, he brushed his mouth over JC's moist lips. Once, twice and when he felt her lower lip quiver, he swept her lips a third time before lifting his head.

When AJ lifted his head, he watched JC for her reaction. Was a kiss too soon?

JC made a soft moaning sound, a sound of pure pleasurable bliss as she ran the tip of her tongue over her upper lip, and then her bottom lip before catching the edge between her teeth. She leaned closer to AJ's mouth and returned the soft kiss, just brushing her lips over his mouth as her right hand moved from its place over his heart and cupped the back of his neck softly before she tickled the prickly fuzz on the back of his head.

When they parted, JC watched as AJ's breathing hitched and he answered in a soft drawl, "I think we'll be together again quite a bit after today, Darlin'."

JC smiled, still caressing the back of AJ's head, loving the feel of his hair bristling against her fingertips. "I'm glad, AJ."

While they smiled into each other's eyes, touching gently, the monitoring tower sounded three soft blasts from the foghorn. Some of the first sailboats were returning.

AJ slowly let go of JC, clasping her left hand in his right, as they made their way to the railing. JC stood in front of AJ once again, leaning against the wooden railing, with AJ behind her. She watched, avidly, as the first boat made its way toward the finish line with the crew dashing about the deck trying to take advantage of the wind to speed their boat along. Luck was with them, the wind picked up in a gust and hurtled the sailboat forward.

JC's unrestrained hair blew about crazily. She felt AJ gather it up in a ponytail and rather than putting it over her shoulder, out of his way, he trapped it between them as he wrapped his arms around her middle, pulling her back against his chest. She looked up into AJ's face and saw a small contented smile curling his lips. JC turned back to the water and cuddled back into AJ, wrapping her arms around herself and twining her fingers with AJ's larger ones.

For an hour, they stood at the railing, watching each boat glide over the finish line. With each crossing, it seemed the wind picked up and blew faster. What started out as a gentle breeze earlier in the day was fast becoming a steady gusting wind. It wasn't unpleasant, it was quite charming in fact, JC thought. Perhaps, though, she was enjoying being in AJ's arms more than cuddling against the gusting wind.

When all of the boats were in and moored, the winning cups were presented in a lovely ceremony in front of the monitoring tower. AJ and JC didn't move from their spot by the railing, even though their view of the ceremony wasn't very clear.

They spent the half hour wrapped up in each other. The congratulatory speeches being given sounded like they were coming from miles away instead of several hundred yards over a microphone. The pair was lost in their own world of feather light touches.

AJ freed his right hand from the light hold imprisoning it and wrapped that arm across JC's arms and chest, tucking her under his chin. She seemed to fit so well there, he thought. When AJ felt her nuzzle her head against his neck, he began stroking her arms, lightly, with just the tips of his fingers.

From her upper arm, he trailed the tips of his fingers down the inside of her elbow and back up; down the inside of her upper arm he dancing a finger tip lightly in the hollow of her elbow, tickling her, before following the sensitive inner forearm to her wrist before starting over again.

He felt her shiver. "Are you cold?" AJ whispered in her ear, nuzzling the lobe slowly.

"No." She husked her breath catching as he tickled her inner elbow again.

Smiling, AJ continued to caress her until he heard a soft whimper. He wrapped that arm around her waist, his hand lying against the flat of her tummy, rubbing soothing circles until she calmed. Then, he switched hands and began caressing her other arm again in the same way.

JC felt the shivers race across her skin again when he switched to caressing her left arm. She could feel his deep breathing against her neck, his breath stirring her hair. The speeches stopped and JC noticed the music. Soft Jazz. She snuggled further into AJ and noticed that he was as affected by his caresses as she was. When she couldn't stand the sweet torture any longer, she let go of his hand and turned in his embrace, staring into his eyes.