Chloe got off the plane and headed to the gate. The minute she stepped into the airport, she saw him.

Jax was standing right in front of her with a big smile on his face and a small bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"Jax…oh…hey!" Chloe said, surprised.

"Hey!"

Chloe walked over to him and threw her arms around him. Jax held her tight.

"What are you doing here?" Chloe asked.

"Well, I called the hotel you were staying at, and they said you had already checked out. So then I called Therese, and she said you were on a plane headed back to New York, so here I am."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you."

"Oh, these are for you. Welcome home." Jax handed her the flowers.

Chloe couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Jax."

"So let's head to baggage claim, and then I'm going to take you home. I have a surprise for you that should be ready by then."

"A surprise? What kind of surprise?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?"

Chloe laughed. "Okay."

"So, did you take care of whatever that problem was in Milan?"

"Oh…yeah, I took care of it."

"How was your fashion show?"

"It was great. I got rave reviews."

"Well good. Hey, take me with you to your next one because I want to go."

Chloe laughed. "Okay, sure."

Jax offered to take Chloe's suitcases back to her suite and then took her to his penthouse for her surprise. On the table was dinner set for two.

"I thought you could use a break from cooking, so this dinner is on me," Jax explained.

"Jax, you couldn't have possibly cooked this, could you?"

"What, are you crazy? Of course not!" Jax laughed. "I had the hotel prepare it for us while I was picking you up from the airport."

"Oh, well heaven forbid something happen to your dialing finger!" Chloe laughed. "Jax, this looks wonderful. Thank you, and I am starved!"

"Well dinner is served." Jax lifted the lid from her dinner.

"Oh, my mouth is watering already!"

Jax helped her to her chair and then proceeded to light some candles on the table.

"This is really great, Jax. Thank you."

Jax smiled. "You're welcome. Good?"

Chloe shook her head up and down with her mouth already full of food. "Mmm-hmm."

After dinner, they sat at the table and talked for a while. Chloe told Jax about her trip to Milan, leaving out of course, the real reason why she stayed in Milan for so long.

"Well, sounds like you had a good time," Jax said.

"Yes, I did. Oh, I should probably go now. I have a lot of unpacking to do." Chloe got up from the table and grabbed her purse.

"Wait, Chloe, before you go, there is something that I need to tell you." Jax walked over to the couch and sat down. Chloe sat down with him.

"Alright, sure."

"Well, Chloe, it's just that, I wanted to tell you…" Jax panicked. He had no idea how to word this.

"Yes, Jax?" Chloe laughed.

"Well, I just, I just wanted to tell you that I really missed you."

"Aww, I missed you too." Chloe leaned forward and gave him a hug. "Was that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Yeah, that was all."

"Okay." Chloe stood up. "Well, I gotta go."

"Oh, right. Please, don't let me keep you."

"Thanks for dinner." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "See you tomorrow."

"Night."

"Goodnight," Chloe said as she closed the door behind her.

Jax could have kicked himself. He blew it once again. The speech he had been rehearsing for days--right out the window.

Two weeks later, Chloe felt somewhat back to normal. She just decided to accept that there would never be anything more than friendship between her and Jax, even though her heart was hoping otherwise.

Chloe remembered what it was like back in junior high when Jasper Jacks was the only thing that occupied her teenage mind. It had been hard letting him go, but she did. She accepted the fact that Jax just didn't like her like that. And if she could move on back then, she could certainly do it a second time.

As Chloe worked on some new sketches, she heard a knock at the door. Chloe got up from the couch and answered it.

"Uncle Herbert, hi."

"Hello, Sunshine." Herbert reached over and kissed his niece on the cheek. "How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"Well listen, I'm leaving town again tomorrow, but before I left, I was hoping that I could treat my niece to dinner one last time."

"Well I'm not going to say no to that," Chloe grinned.

"Wonderful! What do you say that we eat at Abbott's tonight at seven?"

"Uncle Herbert, what are you up to?"

"What are you talking about?"

"This visit has something to do with Jax, doesn't it?"

"No."

"Then why would you suggest that we eat at Abbott's?"

"Because, Chloe, you keep raving about how wonderful the food is there, and I would like to try it out myself. That's all. I promise. This has nothing to do with Jax."

Chloe was skeptical, not sure if she believed her uncle or not. "Okay."

"So, is that a yes?"

"Sure, we'll eat at Abbott's at seven."

"Excellent! Well, I had better go. Meet me there, alright?"

"Alright."

"Later, Sunshine." Herbert kissed his niece one more time before walking out the door.

"Jax, I was hoping I would catch you," Herbert said on the phone.

"Herbert, hi. I'm surprised to hear from you. What can I do for you?"

"Well, Jax, I came upon a very promising business opportunity, and I was thinking that perhaps you would like to profit from it as well."

"What kind of business opportunity?"

"I can't really get into the details over the phone, but I was hoping that maybe we could talk about it over dinner? Would that be okay with you?"

"Uh…sure, that would be fine." This was strange, Jax thought. "We can meet at the Grille at maybe, what, 7:30?"

"Actually, Jax, I was hoping that instead of the Grille, we could meet at Abbott's. Chloe has told me what a great restaurant it is, and I want to try it out for myself."

"Okay…that would be fine," Jax said.

"Wonderful! So, can you meet me there, say, seven o'clock?"

"Sure, seven is fine."

"Great, see you then."

Jax hung up the phone. "That was weird," he said to himself.

Chloe sat at the table and perused through the menu. She wondered what was taking her uncle so long. He was never late, unlike her. And for once, she was actually on time. She looked at her watch again. It was 7:06. Well, he wasn't too late.

"Excuse me, I'm meeting someone here," Jax said to the hostess.

"Last name of your party?"

"Morgan."

"Oh yes, your party has already arrived. The table right over there behind that plant, sir."

"Thank you," Jax said.

Chloe had long since put the menu down. She already knew what she was ordering. She mindlessly ran her finger around the edge of her glass of water.

When Jax walked over to the table, he was surprised at the person he saw sitting there. "Chloe?"

Chloe looked up in complete surprise. "Jax? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I asked you first!" Chloe teased.

Jax sat down at the table. "Well, I was supposed to be meeting your uncle here. He wanted to talk to me about some business opportunity."

"I'm supposed to be having dinner with my him."

"Chloe, does your uncle even do business over dinner?"

Chloe shook her head no.

Just then, the waiter arrived at their table. "Miss Morgan?"

"Yes?"

"Your uncle called and wanted me to give you a message. He says he's sorry but something suddenly came up and he won't be joining you and Mr. Jacks for dinner. But, he says that dinner is on him and that he hopes you and Mr. Jacks have a wonderful time. Oh, and here is a bottle of champagne, compliments of your uncle. I'll be back to take your order in a little while." The waiter smiled at them and left.

Chloe grinned at Jax. "I have a sneaking suspicion that we have been set up."

Jax laughed. "I think you're right." Thank you, Uncle Herbert, Jax thought.

Chloe was feeling mixed emotions during dinner. She was having a good time, but at the same time, it was absolute torture. How could Uncle Herbert do this to her? Oh, she knew. He was hoping that she would finally tell Jax how she truly felt. But oh no, that was not going to happen. She wasn't about to ruin a perfectly good evening by suddenly making things awkward between them.

Jax was struggling with his own emotions. Tonight would be the perfect night to tell Chloe how he felt. But every time he thought of opening his mouth to tell her, the words wouldn't come out. He would feel his palms sweat, and his heart accelerate, and his face would feel so unbelievably hot that he swore his face was red.

So the evening ended, with Jax kicking himself, yet again, about being too chicken to just come out and say the words to her, and Chloe feeling miserable, wondering if she would ever take her uncle's advice and tell Jax how she felt about him.

To be continued…