Tristan stood outside her doorway on the Friday night, with flowers and a bottle of wine in his hand, he found himself feeling something that he hadn't in many years. Nerves. He tried admonishing himself for being so nervous, he was a grown man after all, not some green school boy. But this was the effect that Aja had on his normally in control personality.



As he knocked on the door, he found himself wondering why he was there, if this was the way she unnerved him, till it opened and he saw her standing there in a blue sun dress, her hair around her shoulders, those intense copper eyes, that smile at him and with the smell of jasmine surrounded him. This was why he was here.

"Tristan. Come in, Please." Aja stepped aside so Tristan could enter the small house she shared with Tanner. He paused near the sofa, turning to her and smiling.

"Hi." He said finally.

"Hi."

"These are for you." he held up the flowers and was rewarded with a big smile.

"They are beautiful. Thank you." She kissed his cheek and gestured to the living room. "Please make yourself at home. If you open that, I'll grab the glasses." Aja pointed to the corkscrew on the bar in the living room. "Corkscrew is there, on the bar. I'll be right back." She went to the kitchen, he heard the water running and assumed she was putting the flowers in a vase. He looked around the room, wandering towards the book case which held dozens of volumes. Some looked to be very ancient. He looked at the titles in amazement.

When she returned, she watched Tristan staring at the massive book collection, some she would admit to being hers, most of the books belonged to Tanner.

"Find anything you like?" she asked lightly, hiding the apprehension of him examining some of the volumes. They were dangerous and powerful.

"Lots of things. I didn't know you were so interested in so many cultures."

"I like a lot of things. Somehow, I always wanted to know more. But about everything. It's kind of chaotic." she started to pour the wine, he leaned on the book case watching her. "Tanner's interests aren't as random." She smiled a little sheepishly, hoping to distract him from the books.

"Nothing wrong with that." He gave her a smile as she handed him a glass.

"Says the archeologist, sailor, businessman and general Jack of all trades." He smiled at her joke, and took the offered wine. She poured her own, and nodded towards the couch. "Dinner is going to be ready in 10 minutes. Why don't we have a seat in the meantime?" Tristan wondered for a half a second about dinner, since it was a running joke between Rico, Tanner and Aja about her lack of cooking skill.

"Sounds good."

"Is it just me, or are ya nervous too?" the attempt she was making to correct her lack of proper speech patterns slipped into her familiar drawl, something he smiled about.

"Very."

"Strange, we've been speaking on the phone every night this week with no problem at all."

"Perhaps it's because we can't see each other on the phone." He said slowly at first forming the theory as to the reason on the fly. "Now, I can see you, and to be honest, I'm finding myself being distracted."

"Likewise. So what do we do about that?"

"I have no idea."

"I'm worried that yer gonna find that we have little common ground and ...." Aja trailed off noticing his stare. It was like he was trying to see into her. She smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Tristan?"

"I'm sorry, I was just ...I love your eyes."

"Thank you."

"The color of a fine brandy." He smiled, Aja gave him a warm smile remembering that he had mentioned his love of well aged brandy in their earlier phone conversations.

"Yer favorite drink." She smiled softly. He leaned back on the sofa, she grabbed a remote and started the cd player. The music filled the room, a soft saxophone with piano accompaniment.

"This is nice."

"Thought ya might like it." He nodded slightly, and looked around the room, his hands fidgeting with his wine glass. She sat on the edge of the couch, watching his perusal of her apartment. She took a sip of her wine and set it on the coffee table, it wasn't like she drank the stuff often, but Tanner said that wine was an appropriate date drink, so she was giving it a try.

When he saw that she was looking at him, he looked slightly flustered and sat up quickly. She smiled knowing he was nervous being there. The timer in the kitchen went off.

"Dinner's ready." Aja said as she stood up and headed for the kitchen.

"Saved by the bell." Tristan murmured as he rose to follow her. She was taking the entree out of the oven when he walked into the kitchen.

"That smells wonderful."

"Thank you." He noticed she was catching herself on her speech once in a while, he found it adorable. "Ya had mentioned not having pot roast for a while. Thought it might be nice." He reached and took the carving knife gently from her hand.

"Please. Allow me."

"By all means. I'll get everything else to the table." She gave him a gentle smile, before getting on with the task. When he was seated, she served him and then got her own. She sat down and looked across the table at him. "Ya know what we need now?"

"I don't think anything is missing."

"Candlelight." She picked up the lighter from the table and lit the two taper candles, getting up, she lit a few pillar candles on the coffee table and then dimmed the lights."How's that?"

"Looks great."

"Good." she sat back down. "Let's eat then, shall we?"

"Yes." They both started on their dinners, each one glancing up at the other. Finally, he set his fork down. "This is silly. We weren't nervous on the phone. We couldn't stop talking then. What happened?"

"I don't know. I get around you, and talking is the furthest thing from my mind." She set her fork down, looking across the table at him.

"Same here." He admitted looking over at her, loving the way the candlelight made her look.

"So, what do we do?"

"We've asked that question before."

"We didn't come up with an answer." They were staring at each other, when a new cd starting playing. It was a melodic slow jazz song, making Aja smile. "Dance with me, Tristan."



She really didn't have to ask him twice, a chance to hold her close without her looking at him like she was going to take off at any moment. He stood up and took her hand as she stood. They went to the middle of the living room. When she turned and faced him, he was caught by the way the candlelight danced in her eyes, the way her perfume swirled around him. He put his arm around her, pulling her close to him. Aja took his other hand, her eyes never leaving his.

"Please, never change your perfume." He said quietly, exhaling slowly. He loved the scent of her.

"You like it that much?"

"Love it." He smiled softly.

"Don't change your cologne either. I like it."

"I'll keep that in mind." he smiled into her hair. His hands roamed over her back, along her spine until his fingers gently played with the back of her neck.

"Tristan?" Aja's breathless whisper of his name, made him drawback to look at her. Her hand came to rest gently on his face and she kissed him softly. He allowed her to kiss him as she wanted, although he wanted much more. Aja seemed to sense that and deepened the kiss. They stopped their slow dance, just kissing each other in the darkened apartment.

After what seemed like an eternity later, he pulled back.

"Wow." Was all his brain would allow from his lips.

"Yeah." She smiled, blushing lightly. "I'm sorry. I just had to see if what I remembered what real."

"And?"

"Better than any daydream." She beamed and leaned her head on his chest. Tristan smiled and kissed the top of her head.

They returned to the dinner table, their awkwardness gone. After dinner, they sat on the couch and really started talking.



Tristan didn't even think about work, about the various women and their many flaws or anything that had been wrong in his life. He found himself getting lost in conversation with Aja. Feeling better than he had in a very long time.



When it was time to leave. Tristan stood in the doorway, looking at her with a soft smile. The balmy night breeze wafted up, causing a strand of her hair to blow across her eyes. He reached out and gently moved it aside.

"I had a great time tonight, Aja. I truly hope we can do this again, soon."

"I'd like that." She held his gaze, when he leaned in and kissed her, she put her hands on his shoulders, holding on to him. He pulled away slightly. She held on to his shoulders, eyes still closed and took a deep breath. "Yer the most amazing kisser." Aja opened her eyes, to find Tristan smiling at her. "Ya better go now, or I may not let ya off that easy." He smiled broadly at that.

"Don't tempt me."

"Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yes...Tomorrow." Tristan couldn't move for a minute, he held Aja's gaze for a while. She giggled.

"Goodnight, Tristan." He stepped back, slightly flustered, but smiling.

"Goodnight Aja.? She shut the door and leaned on it with a happy smile.