Kris paced back and forth outside the William Penn hotel as he alternated between adjusting his bow-tie and looking down at his watch. He wondered if his nerves were telling him that this was a giant mistake. It had only been two days since that night at the bar, but word had already spread amongst the team what happened. He wasn't embarrassed over the fact that Engo forced him to do do this, he was worried that after tonight it wouldn't stop. The last thing he wanted right now is for people to push him back into dating, let alone with Lana. He liked the way that things were and didn't want that to change. As a cab pulled up though, his thoughts were cut off.

She stepped out of the car and Kris promptly paid the driver before taking her hand. "Hey Lana," he said shortly, "We should get inside, It's cold." She followed him into the hotel and straight to the coat check line in silence, but he could already feel the eyes on both of them. Once they reached the desk he acted like a gentleman and removed her long wool coat, revealing a slinky black dress with a deep v-neck on both the front and the back. He gripped the fabric in his hands, frozen in place as his eyes stared. "What, are you surprised that I can clean up well," she asked while taking her hand and literally closing his mouth by lifting his jaw. He could not respond, she looked stunning, and he wondered why he had never looked at her this way before. He handed off her coat and placed his hand on her mid back saying, "Uh, the benefit is this way."

He walked her into the ballroom and made their way through the crowd straight to the bar. He ordered them both a class of wine; red for him and white for her. his mind was wandering, and his eyes were staring so he forced himself to look down at his wine and take a drink. "Relax, this is nothing serious," he told himself. Lana took a sip from her glass and said, "So is this the expensive stuff you swear by?" He nodded slowly, still unable to let any words escape his lips. "I suppose the dress is too much," Lana said with a sigh, "you're distracted." He nervously ran his hand through his hair as he stuttered, "Yeah, I mean no it's not to much. I mean, you look amazing Lana. I just never..." She let out a laugh and said, "expected a bartender to dress up like this?"

"No, I just," he leaned in close and said, "never expected you to be out here in public...with me...like this." She stared at him with her emerald eyes as she said, "Neither did I, but it's happened. Don't get used to it though, this is a one time thing...so enjoy it while it lasts." Kris loosed up and said, "Why at midnight is your carriage going to turn back into a pumpkin?" She shook her head and winked, "No, but I will go back to being a bitch." He laughed and finally felt himself starting to relax. They talked as they finished their first glass of wine, and he ordered them another round. He was going to enjoy this while it lasted.

--

Lana wasn't ignorant to the stares both her and Kris were getting, but she could have cared less becasue she was already having fun. His jaw dropping reaction was all she needed to put her in a good mood for the rest of the night. "Kris," she heard a familiar voice say, "Lana, wow..." Both of them turned around to see Marc Andre, who was with his beautiful, petite girlfriend. After a brief introduction though she could tell exactly what they were doing. "Lana, would you excuse me and Kris for a few minutes," he asked, "We need to talk." It just so happened at the same time his girlfriend asked her if she wanted to go back to the bar. She sent him a quick 'don't worry' glance before following the other woman to the bar.

"So Marc told me you're a bartender and musician," Vero said as they both approached the bartender. "Yeah, Though I prefer to focus on the latter of the two." Right on Cue the girl began to ramble on about how it was a good thing for Kris to go out with someone else, and how both her and Marc were worried about him. She was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable so she waited till the girl stopped before opening her own mouth. "Look, I don't want to burst your bubble, but I'm only here as a favor," Lana explained, "I'm not into Kris as anything more than maybe a friendship." Vero seemed a bit upset at first as she said, "Oh, but Marc thinks he's really into you." Lana shook her head and explained that they just knew each other form the bar, primarily though Max and that there was nothing more. Well, there was more but it was only sex, but she didn't need to know that little detail. "Well even if it's not serious, I'm just glad he's here with someone. He needs this."

What Kris needed was time and to figure out how he would get over his ex. She couldn't stand the fact that everyone had a solution for him, mostly because she had gone through the same thing herself. Luckily for Lana another woman came up and had to steal Vero away for something, so she was able to get a break from the conversation. She finished her drink and glanced over to see Marc still talking to Kris, and she wondered if he was being harassed as much as her.

Just as she ordered her next round of wine she felt someone brush up behind her, taking a spot next to her at bar. "Hello, I'm James Neal," said the man who looked like he spent more time on his hair than Kris. "I'm Lana," she responded before picking up her glass of wine. "Well then, It's nice to meet you Lana," he said while covering her drink at the bar, "So are you a friend of Vero's or are you here with someone?" Without hesitation Lana said "I'm here with Kris" while nodding in his direction. "Ah, so you're the one," James said, "Engo wasn't kidding when he said you were an upgrade." She let out a little laugh and said, "An upgrade from a model? Now that's a new one. You sure know how to flatter a woman James Neal."

"Well It's a shame he left you standing here alone, why don't you come out and dance?" he asked while flashing a bright smile, "I'm sure Tanger won't mind." Lana set her glass down on the bar just as she felt someone behind her. "I actually would mind if you danced with her," Kris responded sending James's smile into a pout, "because I want to dance with my date." Lana didn't need to turn around to know what look Kris was shooting his teammate. "Well it was nice meeting you James," Lana said, "Thanks for the drink." She turned around to stare her 'date' in the eyes and said, "Should we go dance then?"

--

"Yes, After you," he said with a smile while letting her lead the way to the floor. Kris made sure to shoot Neal a glare, which caused him to smirk and shrug before focusing on Lana. One minute Marc was trying to get the scoop as to how things were going with Lana, the next his teammate was hitting on her. He wasn't sure if he was more angry or if he was a bit jealous. Either way it was low of him to try to snag her away. Once they reached the dance floor, Kris pulled her in close as he whispered, "Sorry about that with Vero, and with James." Lana stood tall as she said, "It's fine, just shut up and dance with me."

The Jazz band played in the background as Kris held her close to his body. With one hand grasping hers and the other on her hip he moved to the music, swaying softly to the melody. As she placed her head on his chest he could smell the scent of strawberries in her hair, making everything around him fade away. It was just him and her, and there was something so comforting about this moment of peace and quiet. He couldn't quite put his finer on the reason why, but It just felt so right. To be honest, he couldn't remember the last time that he felt this way.

As the song ended Lana lifted her head up and looked up at him with her emerald eyes saying, "You know for being an athlete who gets paid to knock people around, you're a pretty good dancer." He let out a laugh and said, "so that's what you think I do? Knock people over all day?" As she nodded he took her thin body and dipped her backwards for a moment before pulling her back up. "I do much more than that," Kris said, "I help set up plays, I keep the opponent from scoring, and I even take the occasional shot to score for my team." She smirked a bit and said, "If you say so, but it looks like your job is to knock people against the glass to me."

"She's right you know, you do get paid to push them," Marc Andre said with a grin as he and Vero danced next to them, "He doesn't have to be as graceful as me." Lana laughed and said, "I don't know, some of the stuff I've seen makes it look like you're flailing on the ice." Kris chucked and said, "That's Flower's specialty, the fish flop save." He knew his best friend took the jab in stride, but he embellished his reaction by scrunching up his face. "I see how it is," he said, "Well it appears we have to teach you what it is we really do out there. Kris you should bring her to a game, she can sit with Vero."

Marc just wouldn't let up would he? He was pushing the idea of him and Lana being more than this, and it was starting to piss him off. He didn't understand, nobody did. He and Lana had somethign special; they were both burned by love and they enjoyed having wild sex together. He didn't need more than that right now, things were fine the way that they were. "That sounds like fun, but his is a one time thing," she said "after tonight I go back to being a bartender and he's the patron." Kris nodded slowly in agreement; she was right. After tonight they would just go back to the way things were. Simple, no strings pleasure. But he knew one thing, he wasn't going to forget this night.

--

Lana did not feel bad about shutting Vero and Marc's crazy thoughts down, especially since they took it as a sign to knock it off. After a few more songs they left the dance floor and returned to the bar, where they stood for the remainder of the night. She talked about music and he told her some funny stories from the road as the time quickly slipped away. She was enjoying herself, but as the night wound down she knew things would be returning to normal soon. Kris looked at her with a grin and said, "It's after midnight, did you turn back into the ice queen yet?" Lana let out a laugh as she finished her final glass of wine and said, "I think I'm too buzzed right now to revert back to my old ways yet."

"I suppose I should get you home before you sober up then," he teased while standing up from the bar stool and offering her his hand. She flipped her hair behind her back and grabbed her purse before standing up and taking his hand. They wished his reaming friends goodbye as he led her slowly to the coat check. She hung off his arm to make sure she didn't stumble, and lucky for her he was a gentleman and helped her back into the long black coat. When they arrived at the front door his SUV as there waiting for them. Kris helped her into the SUV and shut the door before getting into the drivers seat.

"A Land Rover, I would have thought you had a sports car," she let slip out. He smirked and said, "I have one of those too, but I use this for my gear. Kind of hard to cart everything in a car with no trunk." Lana nodded and listened to the radio as he started to drive her home, almost wishing that the night didn't have to end. "Maybe it's the alcohol talking, but this was fun," she said. Kris glanced over at her and said, "I hope it's not the alcohol alone, because I thought it was fun too." She then felt a bit awkward as she fumbled a response of, "Yeah, but you know, this was..."

"I know Lana," he said while putting on hand on her leg, "After this it's back to the occasional hot night. Don't worry. I don't want anything more than that no matter how much Flower tries to convince me." The funny part was, she wasn't going to say that. It had to be the alcohol talking. She didn't show it, but her emotions were actually conflicted inside. Lana didn't want to be this close to him for the sake of her heart, but something inside wanted more. She felt like a real woman that night; strong, beautiful, and whole. But he was right to remind her that they were in it for the sex, not anything else. If she thought otherwise Lana would be a fool.

It didn't take long for him to get her back to Southisde, and as he parked the car she immediately leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks again Kris," she said with a soft smile, "For everything." She watched him smile genuinely as he said, "Can I come up?" Lana shook her head and said, "Nope, this was a date remember? Girls don't put out on their first date." Kris laughed and said, "I see how it is, Well are you sure you can get up the stairs on your own?" She nodded softly and exited the car, blowing him a kiss. "Don't be a stranger Kristopher Allen Letang," she said with a giggle before making her way up the stairs. Lana opened the door to apartment feeling like Could 9 and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She took her coat off and hung it up, beginning to hum a melody to herself. But then she realized that she didn't have her purse. Wait...How did she get into the door without her keys?

"Well, If it isn't my little sister."