Jaimie Solace and the Unavoidable Affliction of Love

Chapter Three

Sitting in her office the next day, Jaimie had the alarming realization that her brother was trying to set her up. He knew it was a bad idea, and yet he was doing it anyway.

She was embarrassed that she didn't realize it earlier. And then even more embarrassed when she realized that the reason she hadn't noticed was because she was so engrossed in her conversation with Bruce that she barely noticed when Will and Natasha left to "go get a drink at the bar" and then didn't return for the rest of the night. In her defence, Bruce hadn't noticed either.

Did it make her a bad sister that she didn't spend any time with Will after practically strong arming him into going with her? She didn't feel particularly bad seeing as he clearly has joined forces with Natasha. It seemed like it was working too, unfortunately.

Bruce and her had talked about basically anything and everything for the rest of the night, but noticeably avoided anything work related, which was dangerous territory for Jaimie. Partly because when they got into the topic of family she had to be very conscious not to say anything that would raise suspicion, and partly because she knew that the more she crossed the line from professional into personal the worse it was going to be when she inevitably had to leave.

They had talked a bit about their childhoods, Bruce being particularly interested in her time living in Texas with her mother, who was a singer. She liked talking about her mother, Naomi. It was always interesting growing up with her, and while it wasn't always the most stable of upbringings, Jaimie always liked to look at it through rose coloured lenses.

They covered almost anything from favourite colour to deepest fear, and when they left together Jaimie felt like she knew him a lot better than before. He insisted on walking her back to her apartment, despite her protests that she lived literally three floors below and that she was sure she wouldn't run into any danger on the elevator ride down, but she secretly found it really sweet.

Jaimie found herself reliving the moment that they were saying their goodnights. She was leaning against her door frame, him standing in front of her, smiling like an idiot at him. He was smiling back though, so she didn't care (maybe she had a few too many drinks, and maybe he did as well). The conversation lulled momentarily, and if Jaimie didn't know any better she would've thought Bruce had been looking at his lips. She was definitely looking at his. She unconsciously started to lean towards him, not even noticing that he was doing the same. They got closer and closer and without even realizing it, they were looking into each other's eyes, barely a hair's breadth away from each other.

It was about then that Jaimie realized Bruce was going to kiss her, and that Jaimie was going to let him. In fact, she was looking forward to it. But then the elevator dinged, a few drunken revelers came stumbling out. Bruce jerked back as if he had been burnt.

He cleared his throat, noticing that Jaimie looked like she was still completely dazed, and yelled down to the people that were still down the hall. "Hey, this is a private floor, you're not allowed to be here. Get out."

Something about the way he said that, his voice deep and commanding in a way that Jaimie had never heard before had her clenching her thighs together. She absolutely should not have been turned on by that, but he was standing in front of her all protective, and she was drunk, and honestly nobody could judge her for that.

They had watched as the people drunkenly stuttered and rushed back into the elevator, and Bruce turned back to her again. It was obvious that the moment was ruined, and Bruce took a large step back from her. He awkwardly cleared his throat again. "Uh, so. I- I should talk to Tony about that, they shouldn't have been able to get onto this floor without a security pass." Bruce was noticeably avoiding eye contact.