Kingsman: Statesman Meets Challenger

Chapter 2

* * *

It was nearly dawn when they finally arrived at her place- and Jack memorized the way there so he could find it again. Not that it would be hard- she lived in Greenwich Village, in one of the very few immense old red brick villas that overlooked Washington Square Park, and the perfectly-preserved building looked to be just as classy and sophisticated as her club, her car, and herself.

What few hours were left in the night got burned through reporting the assault and vandalism to the night watchman, getting that beautiful Bearcat towed, and giving statements to both the security guard team that showed up first and the cops that showed up later. The EMT's that showed up to deal with their attackers -none were in any shape to go anywhere but an ER, which left the security guards amused and the cops annoyed- had more questions than anyone, most of them of the 'what the hell did you two nutjobs do?' variety.

Jack was well on the way to absolutely smitten as she tapped a nine-digit code (he counted) into a security panel set in a tall brick wall. As the wrought-iron gate swung open, she turned the Corvette into a narrow cobblestone alley that dead-ended in a modern security door Jack recognized as military-grade armor plate fully equal to the corresponding material at Statesman HQ.

True, he still would give his favorite hat to find out where she got that beautiful old Bearcat, but he was fairly confident not only would his new lady friend eventually tell him, if he played his cards right, she might very well let him drive it. But to be honest, if push came to shove, Jack knew he'd still rather have his hands on her than her Bearcat. The better he got to know her, the more that cool, competent, tinged-with-sardonic-humor sophistication made his engine roar...

* * *

Marissa pulled the Corvette into one of the guest spaces in her garage and heard the security door rattle down behind them with a feeling of relief. This turned out to be one of the longer nights she had in a while, and although she could hear the siren call of her bed, she needed to decide what she was going to do with the charming cowboy sitting beside her. He would follow her straight to her bed if she offered, she was positive about that, but she was groggy with fatigue and frankly if she was going to share a moment with this hunk, she'd prefer not to be dropping with exhaustion...

* * *

Her momentary pause gave him an opening, and Jack used it to get out of the car, saunter around the Corvette, and open her door for her. He handed her out with casual courtesy, then got her briefcase and walked her over to the old-fashioned brass elevator cage set into a corner of the garage.

She was wavering about inviting him in, and Jack did want in -a lot- but as much as he liked the idea of making her scream his name, his usual straightforward approach was just plain wrong for a lady this elegant. He needed something subtler for her... something as sophisticated as she was.

Jack studied the elevator plate- a top-of-the-line thumbprint scanner was set above an antique brass Art Deco elevator plate marked with a G, 1, 2 and 3. So there were three more floors above this one.

"Should I hit a number," he said casually, and turned to face her with an affectionate smile. "Or is this where we say goodbye again?"

"I'm still trying to decide," she admitted, with a level of honesty he wasn't expecting.

Charmed again, Jack leaned her briefcase against the wall by the elevator and very slowly, giving her plenty of time to pull away if she wanted, eased her into his arms until she was so close he all he had to do was lean down a few inches to kiss her.