Archive of Our Own

Jane woke up with beer on her breath and a killer headache.

She rolled around in a bed that wasn't hers, either from home or her hotel room. This one felt like the Heavenly angels descended to make a mattress out of one of their clouds. It was so comfy that she decided 'fuck it' in her half-asleep state. No way she was moving from this spot. She rolled over and her arm brushed a patch of skin that was very warm and very not hers.

Her eyes opened. A long strip of naked back and a head of black hair greeted her. She followed the trail of the man's body. It stopped at a conveniently placed blanket at the small of his back. After staring at him for a few seconds (interesting mole there on his shoulder blade), Jane's utterly brilliant and rational scientific mind finally kicked into gear. She shot out of bed, horrified to find that, yes, she was exactly as nude as she feared she'd be.

The man groaned and started to twitch. Fuck, was he waking up?

Moving faster than she knew it was possible to move, Jane threw on her skirt and blouse, gathered her shoes and purse, and rushed out the door into the hall.

Okay, let's pretend that never happened.

TWO MONTHS LATER

Jane really didn't want to be here.

If this party wasn't being held by one of the foremost Astrophysicists in the country, she would be at home right now, curled up on her couch, rewatching the last season of Stranger Things, or just taking a well-deserved ten-hour nap.

This was her day off for God's sake! She didn't get many of those.

Well, she didn't give herself many was more like it. Too much time rotting her brain in front of the TV or on her phone just meant more time until she cracked the code on harnessing an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. One extra day off would eventually mean two extra days off. Then three. Then four. Pretty soon, she'd be forty-three years old, teaching basic astrophysics for non-majors at some state university while a half-dozen unpublished manuscripts clogged up her bookshelf.

Okay, maybe that was overstating it a bit. She had her schedule for tomorrow packed and ready to go, which meant her one free day of the week was going to be taken up by this stupid party she hadn't even wanted to attend.

At least the food was good. Jane munched on another piece of mushroom tapenade and washed it down with a few sips of wine. She wasn't much of a drinker, except on days like this when she wished she could be anywhere else.

All the usual networking and schmoozing had been accomplished within the first thirty minutes. She had said hello to her former professors. Had smiled and nodded her way through a one-sided conversation with some investor's wife. She even took a few photos with colleagues for the university paper. Having shaken all necessary hands and convinced all necessary people that she enjoyed going to parties with people she didn't know, all she had left to do was eat herself into a coma and hopefully get a decent night's sleep tonight.

"There you are," Darcy rushed to her side, a beer sloshing in her mostly steady hand. "I thought you'd left. Or melted or something."

"Not for lack of trying," Jane said.

Darcy loved parties. She loved a lot of things Jane wasn't fond of. Somehow, that translated into them being best friends. Jane had no idea how that worked, but she loved Darcy enough not to question it. The woman had good ideas sometimes. Like that trip to Vegas two months back. That had been an amazing time. Well, aside from that one little drunken mishap with her mystery man.

"Come on, it's not so bad," Darcy said. "There are actually some cool people here this time. Check it out!"

She pointed at a man who had just walked in. Tall, Dark, and Handsome personified in a tailored suit and black overcoat. He was alone, save for the three dozen guests and photographers crowding around him. Camera lights blinded the crowd. He waved off anyone lobbing questions at him. Jane thought she'd seen his face on the cover of a magazine or two.

"Isn't that Loki Odinson?" Last she checked, he wasn't any kind of scientific figure.

Darcy read her mind. "He just started funding a bunch of astrophysical research projects a few months back. Like, out of nowhere! He's so awesome, and ridiculously hot, too. I would so tap that."

Jane snorted. "I think you're drunk, Darcy."

"You don't need a drop of alcohol to want a piece of that ass."

While it didn't help Darcy's case that she was leaning on a table, Jane couldn't be bothered to comment. Not when Loki Odinson had been followed into the party by a golden-haired man arm and arm with an equally golden-haired woman.

"Fuck," Jane said.

"Yeah, exactly," Darcy said.

"No, not that," Jane said. She backed up into the wall, even though there wasn't anything for her to hide behind. "Look, it's Donald."

"Donald?" Darcy squinted to see past all the flash photography. "Oh shit, that is Donald! And… is that Celia Rotham?"

Celia Rotham was Culver's new deputy head of the astrophysical department. Top of her class at Yale. Six of her papers had been professionally published before she turned thirty. A brilliant mind by any measure, and she just so happened to look like Margot Robbie's stunt double.

She was also Donald Blake's fiancee.

Because why wouldn't she be?

"They didn't see me, did they?" Jane whispered.

"I think they're too busy taking pictures."

People were taking a lot of pictures of them. Now that the novelty of Sexy Rich Loki Odinson had worn off, it was time to acknowledge the first woman to ever receive a chaired position in this department. Celia smiled with perfect white teeth while Jane ran her tongue over her slightly crooked near the back teeth.

"He looks happy," Jane said as Donald wrapped an arm around Celia and looked at her like she put the stars in the sky.

He used to look at Jane like he thought her research was cute.

"He moved on pretty fast," Darcy frowned.

"It's been over a year since we broke up."

"Yeah, but didn't she start showing up on his Facebook feed, like, a month later?"

If Darcy said she did, then it was probably true. Jane was never much for social media. Not even back when she was completely enamored with Don's thousand-watt smile and night-blue eyes. Maybe if she had bothered to put up a few dozen vacation photos online, she would've noticed sooner how often his eyes wandered away from her face. Like there was always something more interesting than her he could be looking at.

Celia, though? The center of Don's universe.

"Come on, forget those losers," Darcy said, pulling Jane across the banquet hall. "We have better things to do than dwell on our lame exes. Let's dwell on some more daiquiris instead!"

Jane was not in the mood to drink anymore. Or talk. Or be anywhere except at home in bed. Everywhere she looked, Don was there. Talking to someone. Handing Celia a drink. Kissing her cheek. Giving an interview.

The last one made no sense because Don was not an astrophysicist. He was a surgeon, which had absolutely nothing to do with astrophysics at all. Yet people were still lining up to talk to him like they were old pals, which they probably were because Jane was the one who introduced them!

"I'm not dwelling," she muttered, a full minute after Darcy said it, and more to herself than anyone else.

Darcy held another piece of tapenade to Jane's mouth and she obligingly ate it. "This just means that Don has a type. You had him first."

First didn't mean anything. Who had him last was the important thing. If Celia died tomorrow (not that Jane wanted that in any way) Don would probably enter into priesthood before he got with anyone else.

Not that Jane wanted him back. They had mutually ended their relationship because their schedules were too hectic to work around. Something that Don fully understood, at least about his job. It made sense for them to separate. It didn't matter if he went for someone in the same field as her but prettier with a more stable career.

So what?

She did not care.

Not even when she wandered away from Darcy in a direction she thought Don hadn't gone in and ran right into him.

"Oh, Jane!" he said, his smile not even remotely awkward.

"Don," Jane squeaked. She straightened herself out, glad her dress was clean but wishing it wasn't the same one he had seen her in a dozen times before. "How uh… what a surprise. I didn't know you'd be here."

"I'm with Professor Rotham," he said.

Seriously? Professor Rotham? Did he think she didn't know about his engagement? It was all anyone on the drama end of their field could talk about. Or maybe this was just what he called Celia at home. Like a foreplay thing or something…

"Really? Wow, that's amazing. I uh…" she gulped. Celia had had her back to them as she discussed something with the Dean (her new colleague…) but now she had turned around and linked her arm through Don's.

"Hey, aren't you Jane Foster?" she said, holding out a perfectly manicured hand. "Wow, it's great to finally meet you."

"You too," Jane said. Her callouses were all the more obvious when touching Celia's obnoxiously soft skin. "Congratulations, by the way. It's great to see more women on the board."

"Well, I just hope I can inspire more young women to get into Astrophysics. They need a role model."

Jane nodded in agreement, even as her fingers and chest clenched. What the hell was she implying? Like she was the only female astrophysicist here?

'Calm down, Jane. Calm down. Don't overthink this.'

"So what have you been up to lately?" Don asked. "Not still out in the desert, I hope."

He said it playfully, and Celia giggled. Probably not in a mean way, but it was hard to tell as Jane's skin burst into flames. Humiliation weighed her down. He must have told Celia all about her. His crazy ex-girlfriend chasing wormholes out in the desert. They'd probably laughed about her while Don thanked his lucky stars that he'd dodged that bullet and gotten himself such a massive upgrade.

They probably thought she wouldn't bother coming tonight. Jane would not let them know how close she had come to granting their wish.

"Well, it just so happens I have been on to some new things," she said as firmly as she could.

'Don't think about the pile of notes back home. Don't think about the pile of useless notes back home.'

Don looked surprised. She'd be pissed if he wasn't completely justified. "Yeah, like what?"

Then a pair of arms snaked around Jane's waist, pulled her into a hard, muscular chest, and a voice like fire and liquid chocolate spoke. "There you are, darling. I've been looking all over for you."

Loki Odinson.

Loki fucking Odinson, the famous rich guy who was at this party for seemingly no reason, was hugging her and squeezing her hand and speaking to her like they were a lovey-dovey couple.

"Wha…" Jane's sputtered words matched Don and Celia's utterly gobsmacked expressions.

Loki leaned down (how was anyone this tall?) to lightly brush his lips across her cheeks. Said lips seemed to be made of molten lava. Then he glanced at Don and Celia. "Forgive me, my friends, I must steal my wife away for a bit. Lovely to meet you."

Then he led Jane away, through the throngs of drunk partygoers. Many of them followed the bizarre pairing with their eyes until they were out of sight. Loki led Jane out of the building and into the courtyard where several people had stepped out for smoke breaks. None of them looked their way.

Jane flopped down on a bench, allowing herself a moment to savor the memory of Don's shocked face (That's how you'll look when I win the Nobel Prize, asshole!), before plunging back into her current situation.

"Thank you," she said, because how else do you handle rich, handsome men randomly acting out romance novel scenarios with you? "Uh… I appreciate your help back there, Mr. Odinson."

"Please, call me Loki," he said, sitting next to her. "No married couple should ever use last names."

Jane swallowed. "Yeah uh… about that. I'm happy you got me out of that, but I'm not sure that was the way to do it."

"Oh?"

"Just… I mean, maybe it was the first thing you thought of, and I get that. I'm just not sure pretending I'm your wife was the right idea. Maybe you could've said we were working together?"

"But we're not."

"I know we're not, it just might've been a more sensible lie."

Loki laughed. He sounded like a seductive romance novel hero and an evil sorcerer about to steal her soul at the same time. "My dear Jane, while it is true that I am known for sometimes stretching the truth, I am not lying now. You are my wife and I am your husband. We, Dr. Foster, are married."

Jane blinked. She opened her mouth and then closed it. How… how was she supposed to…

"Uh, look. That's a really good joke and all, but-"

"It's not a joke."

"Of course it is," she almost shouted. She pulled back at the last minute because he was rich and powerful and he'd just helped her out so why antagonize him? "I mean… you've been very nice to me this evening, but you have to know someone to be married to them. Meet them, talk to them, get to know them. Just- well, even people in arranged marriages know something about the other person. Or at least that they exist…"

She was rambling and making no sense, and Loki watched her with the same serious expression. Not smiling or laughing the way you're supposed to when you tell a really good joke and you really had the other person going for a minute there.

He really really had her going…

"I see you've forgotten after all," Loki said, shaking his head. "I suspected as much when I woke up alone. When you didn't get in touch, I assumed you had lost my information."

"Wait, what?" Jane's head was spinning. "What are you talking about? I do not have your information."

"Not anymore," he said. "I would have contacted you myself, but the last few months have been miserable for me. I've barely had a moment to myself."

"You- you don't have my number!"

"I believe it was 212-555-2424, correct?"

'Stalker!' Jane's entire brain was screaming at her to get up and run. Fucking run away from this spot before he dragged her into a hole and made it put the lotion on its skin. The only thing keeping her from doing just that was the tiny spark underneath her racing thoughts that told her she'd definitely heard her phone number recited in that voice before.

"If it helps," Loki says, retrieving his phone and opening his photos app. "I do have one memento from that night."

He showed her a photo of two people in front of a dollar store wedding chapel. Pastel pink walls. Cracked linoleum tiles. Party City streamers and fake flowers wrapped around a plywood altar with a splinter down the middle. A man in Pastor's robes was in the background drinking PBR. At the center of the image, a man and woman leaned heavily against each other, clearly unable to stand on their own given how wasted they were. Their eyes were glazed, their grins wide and dopey. They held out their hands, bearing identical gold bands. The man was twice the size of the woman, but she still held his weight, any pain sensors or fatigue blotted out under the sway of alcohol.

The man was very obviously Loki Odinson, and the woman was very obviously-

"That's not real!" Jane slapped the phone out of her face. "That is not a real photo. That's not me. You are making all of this up!"

"To what end?" he asked.

"I don't know! Because you're insane and you like screwing with people!"

"Very true," he said, "but that's still you in the photo."

"Is not!" Jane said, and she might as well have stamped her feet and sucked her thumb for how mature she was acting. She looked at the photo again, taking in every detail as carefully as she could. "I mean, yes this looks like me. Sort of. But look at her face. The lighting is off and the angle is distorted. That could be anyone!"

"That is your mole right there, is it not?" Loki pointed to the mole that was very much on the photographed woman's cheek and then the same one that was very much on Jane's cheek. "And if I'm not mistaken, that bracelet she's wearing is on your wrist right now."

Jane looked down at the bulky sapphire bracelet making tiny indentures in her skin. It was her good luck charm. She always wore it when she had to attend important events to remind herself to relax and not let anyone talk over her. She also wore it on vacation in the rare event she had time to take one. The last time had been Vegas, and she-

…oh.

Oh no.

No.

"You…" Jane whispered, pointing a quivering finger at Loki's face.

He smiled. "Me."

"That… that was you. In bed." That leanly muscular back she'd thought way too much about over the last sixty days. Always with heat in the base of her stomach, traveling all over her body and leaving her with this strange empty feeling.

Almost like she'd had the greatest sex of her life and then forgot about it.

"If you don't mind me saying," Loki said, his hand dangerously close to hers. "I was sad to see you go."

"I slept with a billionaire," Jane whispered, zombie-like.

"You married a billionaire, my dear," Loki said, standing and offering a hand, "and I would be happy to discuss it with you further, but not in such a public place. You never know when those leeches with cameras will come skulking around."

The possibility of a reporter catching sight of her and Loki cuddling on a bench and turning that into tomorrow's next big tabloid headline was the only thing that got Jane moving. She took Loki's hand, let him help her up, and walked with him to the parking lot.

"I don't have a car," she mumbled.

"That's all right," Loki said. "I have transportation ready."

"Okay, sounds good," Jane said.

There had to be worse things in the world than getting drunk Vegas married to a rich guy and riding with him in his limo.

"This is a private jet!"

Jane fought with herself to stay in her seat as the plane hit a patch of turbulence. It was a difficult urge to stamp out because, despite all logic and good sense to the contrary, this was, indeed, really happening right now. She was, indeed, in a literal private jet.

"Yes, it is," Loki said. He was sitting on a couch with a pile of files in his lap and one long spider leg crossed over the other. "As it was when we first boarded and when we took off."

"I'm in a private jet," Jane said to herself, rocking back and forth. "I am in a private fucking jet and it's not a dream."

She pinched herself one more time to make sure. There was already a bruise forming on her arm from last time. Neither the private jet nor Loki faded, so she settled back in her seat and let herself go limp.

Loki chuckled. "If I'd known you'd react so strongly, I would've taken my boat instead."

"And you own a yacht," Jane muttered.

"Oh no," Loki said, making a face. "Not a yacht. I despise those tacky eyesores. They're for fools with too much money and no taste. No, I had an old pirate vessel restored and refurbished with modern technology and I take it on the Atlantic every so often."

There was nothing Jane could say in response to that, assuming he wasn't just fucking with her. Darcy would've thought it was cool. Speaking of which, Darcy just texted her again. 'Where are you?' Reminding Jane she really needed to answer before the cops were called.

'Left early,' she wrote after starting and erasing several dozen paragraphs trying to explain the inexplicable. 'Got tired. Call you later.'

Darcy replied with a frowny face, then a heart. That would have to do.

Putting the phone away, Jane watched Loki read paperwork and ignore her until she couldn't stand the silence anymore. About twelve seconds. "Are we going to talk about this?"

Loki's eyes flicked upward. "About what?"

Was he kidding? "This… marriage of ours. Don't we need to discuss what to do about it?"

He pursed his lips, considering something. Then he finally put the folders away and laced his fingers together. "Yes, you are right. No point in ignoring it any longer."

Jane nodded. Finally, some progress. "Okay, well, the first step is to talk to a lawyer-"

"I think we should live in my home."

They spoke at the same time, and Jane didn't process what Loki had said (or that he spoke at all) until the end of her sentence was hanging off the tip of her tongue, unable to make it to air.

"What?" she asked.

Loki shrugged. "It's only that I have the most space, and more than one home so we are not bound to one place. We can travel between houses as we wish. Or if you are especially attached to the desert, I am happy to buy or build a suitable domicile in New Mexico, preferably within driving distance to Albequerue-"

"Wait a minute, hang on," Jane snapped. "You don't expect us to stay married, do you?"

"Well, the line is 'Until Death Do Us Part.'"

"That's not funny!"

He put on a Cheshire Cat grin that confirmed what she was already thinking. This whole mess was a big joke to him! "Well, all issues of lifelong commitment aside, I do have my lawyer looking into the legality of our union as we speak. We should have an answer soon."

All the rage building in Jane's stomach dissipated at the first sensible words to come out of his mouth all night. "Good. Wonderful. Okay."

She leaned back and looked out the window. The city skyline stretched out before her eyes against a starry night sky. They were only circling, according to Loki. Just getting some air the way only an obscenely rich person could. Where they went from here… well, it would be nice if they could just stop talking and enjoy the view but that would've meant life was fair.

"I suppose you're wondering what to do in the meantime," Loki said.

"Yeah, pretty much. I should probably get back to my hotel before my best friend decides I've been kidnapped."

"That can be arranged," Loki said. "How long were you planning to remain in town?"

"Just tonight," Jane said. "I have an early flight home tomorrow morning and a lot of work to get back to."

"Puente Antiguo, correct?"

"Yes," Jane said. Then she did a double-take and almost started freaking out. Then another hazy half-memory rose into her mind's eye and she deflated back into her seat with a sigh. "I hate to ask what else I told you about that night."

"Oh, you have no idea," Loki said with an evil smile that made her feel like she'd been doused with ice water. "Neither do I, as it happens. The whole night is a bit of a blur."

His phone pinged and he settled back in his seat to open his messages, leaving Jane to gape at him and wonder whether or not the whole 'crazy rich guy' thing wasn't just a put-on.

"Well uh…" Jane said, running her fingers through her thoroughly mussed hair. "I guess you could let me know what your lawyer says and we'll go from there. In the meantime, I have to get back to my hotel."

"Of course," Loki said, "but I was hoping I could convince you to remain in the city for at least one more day."

He put the request out there casually, like this was Sunday brunch and any interaction between them was completely normal. That was how he'd been treating this whole mess from the start, so maybe Jane shouldn't have been surprised.

"You want me to stay," she said.

"For one day," he repeated, "though if you wished to stay longer, I would be in no way opposed."

"Why?" Jane asked.

"Well, it's a tad embarrassing," Loki said, "but I am attending an important event tomorrow and I promised to bring a date. If it isn't too much trouble."

Jane had a feeling he would've asked even if it was trouble. Maybe he liked trouble, which attending some kind of millionaire gettogether with him definitely would be. Her first instinct was to recoil in horror and then tell him to get fucked. She managed to reign the first part of that in and tried to come up with a diplomatic variation of the second.

"I don't think that's a good idea." She sat up straighter. "I'd like to help, but we already have my ex and his fiancee thinking we're a couple. I don't know if we should be adding to that."

"They're not invited," Loki said.

"Yeah, but if other people see us-"

"Then they will see a man and a woman on a date, or perhaps attending as friends, and they will have no reason to jump to conclusions."

Jane didn't know how much she believed that or how much Loki did for that matter. No one got as rich as he was without being a good liar, and he'd already admitted to being a very, very good liar.

Still, she couldn't ignore the distinct lack of alarm bells in her head. Nothing he had said thus far threw up any red flags for her subconscious. Maybe that meant he was a tremendous actor, or maybe it was just more residual memories from their whirlwind single-night romance. Every time she tried to call up a clear recollection, all she got was flashing lights and a heavy bassline.

"So…" she stopped and took a breath. "Okay. You want me to go to this event with you and then… what?"

Loki shrugged. "Well, I hope you have a good time."

"But are you expecting me to talk to anyone or tell a story?"

"Well, we have entertainment prepared already, but if you're volunteering…"

Jane glared at him, then realized she was being obstinate with a man who could destroy her life and career with one phone call, then realized she didn't care. "I'm serious. I can't do this if I don't know what to expect."

"Do everything you did at the party we just left," he said, " and that's all I need."

She waited for a 'but' or an 'also' that never came. Then she nodded. "Okay fine, I will go to this event with you as friends and then we'll get this marriage thing figured out. Sounds good?"

"Perfect," Loki grinned.

She did and didn't like that smile. Didn't because it promised mischief and mayhem beyond her worst nightmares. Did because it made her tingle in weird places she didn't want to be tingling in. Adjusting herself to look more professional, Jane met Loki's sparkling eyes with purely analytical ones. "So what kind of event is this anyway? Conference? Business meeting?"

"Oh, something far more grand than that," Loki said. "The most important people I've ever known will be in attendance, so I hope you'll be on your best behavior."

"Of course," Jane said, hiding the dread swimming in her bloodstream behind a businesslike tone.

The most important people he knew? That could mean anything. CEOs, Presidents, Kings!

He was going to drop her completely unprepared in a veritable lion's den. Just what kind of people did a man like Loki Odinson hang out with?

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Frigga! Happy Birthday to you!"

The crowd finished the song with a round of applause, as off-key and unfocused as their singing had been. Nobody ever sounded good singing the birthday song. Most people Jane knew got embarrassed when it was directed at them.

Loki Odinson's mom was not immune to this. She sat at the head table in the middle of a much larger and yet somehow less crowded banquet hall than the last one Jane was in, blushing as her husband kissed her cheek and handed her a knife. The cake was only one layer, but massive. Way more than the forty or so people in attendance would ever need. The gold icing was impeccably designed in some kind of Norse theme. It was gorgeous, but Frigga happily destroyed it by cutting straight through the center.

"Make sure you get a piece quickly," Loki said. They were standing in the front row, next to a massive blonde man and his equally massive friends, all salivating for sugary goodness. "We expect each year to lose half the cake to Volstagg's appetite."

One of the men, redheaded with friendly eyes, laughed uproariously. "I have a healthy appreciation for food. It might do you well to eat more, Loki. Look at you. You look like you're wasting away."

"I think that's just a side effect of standing next to you," Loki said, but he was smiling and the men were still laughing.

Jane didn't know if she should laugh with them. They'd only just been introduced ten minutes ago and she was still trying to get all their names in order. The redhead was Volstagg, which meant the shorter (though only by comparison) man smiling with Hollywood teeth next to him was Fandral. The silent, dark-haired man was Hogun, and the large, boisterous blonde who laughed and clapped louder than anyone else could only be one person.

"Haha, you haven't lost that razor-sharp tongue of yours, brother," said Thor, a tall, handsome Viking of a man who probably would've been more Jane's type if Don hadn't completely ruined blondes for her.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Why would I lose it?"

"It's simply that I haven't seen you in so long," Thor said. "I was afraid you might have melted into the Earth!"

"Six months is hardly worthy of such overblown sentiment," Loki said.

"But I should not have to wait until the holidays for a visit from my only brother." Thor snatched Loki into a bone-crushing hug, the same way he did when they first walked through the door. Once again, Loki's stone expression just barely cracked with pain. "You must have dinner with Sif and I. Bring your lovely friend. My wife would be honored to meet you, Dr. Foster."

His voice boomed louder than a volcanic eruption and spread so far around the room, that it took Jane a moment to realize that yes, he had just addressed her. "Oh, yeah, that would be great."

Back when they arrived, Loki had introduced her to everyone as 'a friend and colleague.' Nobody had questioned it, to the point where it was a bit surprising. When Thor called her Loki's friend, he said it like he believed it, but he smiled at Jane like he didn't.

"Well, we'll see if we can't get this fellow out of his shell," Thor clapped Loki on the back, making him wince. Then he took Jane's hands, kissed her knuckles, and was off to go hug his mother.

Jane couldn't help it. She giggled.

Loki looked ready to set the building on fire. "He is the grandest of all idiots."

"I don't know, he seemed nice," Jane said.

"Nice is a relative concept, and ultimately meaningless once you break it down. One can be nice to a waiter and still ruthless in their place of business."

"Spoken like someone who has never been called nice." Jane wondered if teasing Loki to his face violated their agreement.

He was smiling, so she chose to assume it wasn't. Unless that was his 'oh boy, now I have to destroy you, face.' "I suppose 'nice' is a fair assessment of Thor regardless of definition. Everyone needs something commendable about them or else they may end up alone."

Jane watched Thor greet about fifteen people over a minute, all of them grinning ear to ear as he graced them with a few words. "I don't think that guy has to worry too much about being lonely."

"Yes, how lovely for him," Loki said, all traces of humor momentarily gone.

He wandered after his brother. Probably to talk to a family member. Potential responses floated unsaid in Jane's head. Things like, 'Are you okay?' or 'Do you want to talk about anything?' Stuff she could only have said if they were a real couple with years of dating and marriage under their belts and a full x-ray on each other's psyche.

Every so often, he'd glance at her. Making sure she was still there? Jane didn't know, but she appreciated him not calling attention to her presence. People were already looking at her, probably either wondering what some mid-tier astrophysicist was doing at this party or wondering what a stranger was doing at this party.

Finally, the guest of honor appeared. Loki had talked a lot about his mother on the flight over here. She was loving, beautiful, a popular philanthropist, and a society darling in all the big important circles. She had won a dozen awards Jane had never heard of and shook hands with a dozen celebrities Jane definitely had heard of. Her husband credited her as the main force behind his billion-dollar company's success. Both of her sons were independently wealthy and successful in their own rights, with Thor set to one day take over as head of the family business (a fact Loki relayed to her with only a thin layer of bitterness).

This was the family Jane had drunk-married into.

Well, at least they weren't a crime family.

"I see you still haven't done anything with that hair," Frigga was saying as Jane snapped out of her thoughts and back to reality.

Mother and son had stepped off to the side away from their guests and Frigga was messing with a lock of Loki's shoulder-length hair. It looked like they'd been talking for a while. According to her watch, it had been an hour since they'd first arrived. That had to be wrong. Every second Jane spent sipping the same old fruity drink- which was much less alcoholic than she'd hoped- surrounded by rich people who were probably wondering if she was one of the waitstaff felt like a thousand years.

She thought about going back to Loki, which shouldn't have been an intimidating thought seeing as she was his fake date/drunken Vegas wife. On his own, he was surprisingly easy to talk to. Probably because she'd already seen him naked and one of the only vivid memories she had of that night was of a rather pronounced mole on a rather sensitive part of his body.

"Oh, Mother, forgive my manners. I have yet to introduce you two."

Jane felt a hand on her arm and then Loki was pulling her toward his mother. Right when Jane had decided that was probably a bad idea.

"Uh…" Jane swallowed.

As if he could read her mind, Loki smirked. "Many people here bite, Jane. My mother does not."

Frigga had moved to a table and was relaxing alone and smiling at anyone who greeted her. She seemed completely at peace in this congested ballroom full of a million voices all vying for her attention. How she managed to look so at peace amid all that chaos, Jane didn't know. If it were her, she'd be out the door, faking a head and halfway home by now.

"Here I thought you'd wandered off on me," she said as Loki held out a seat for Jane (seriously held out a seat for her) and then sat down. "This must be the famous Dr. Foster."

Frigga didn't say it like a joke, though Jane's vaguely defined 'Eat the Rich' instinct told her it had to be. Instead, she glowed as she held out a hand for Jane to shake, genuinely happy to be in her presence.

"Hi," Jane squeaked. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Frigga said. "May I just say, Doctor, when Loki told me about your research, I was enthralled. I took the liberty of reading one of your papers this morning. Your theories are incredible."

"Thank you," Jane stammered. Receiving praise from such an important person probably warranted a better response than that. Too bad Jane's mind was blank.

"It's so much more than a few papers, Mother," Loki said, patting Jane's hand. "The potential usage of Einstien-Rosen bridges for interstellar travel is immense. I've learned much from Dr. Foster since our professional relationship began."

Jane blinked. What did he just say?

"I can imagine," Frigga replied. "It's so wonderful to have someone so brilliant in the Odinson fold. Tell me, is Loki your first private financier?"

The question ripped Jane's breath out of her lungs, leaving her shriveled up and coughing on a throat full of stale air. In practice, that meant gaping stupidly in Frigga's face long after the silence became uncomfortable. While Jane tried to process how bad she was making herself look in tandem with how earth-shattering the last minute and a half had been, Loki, once again, came to her rescue.

"Jane has been working tirelessly on her latest bridge program for the last few weeks. You'll forgive her if she's struck a bit speechless."

"Of course," Frigga said, and Jane didn't know why, but she got the feeling the pair had just had a whole conversation she wasn't privy to with just their eyes and a few simple words. "I can only imagine how hectic your schedule must be, Doctor. I hope you're enjoying yourself tonight."

"It's been great," Jane coughed. "Thank you for inviting me… or letting me be a plus one, I guess."

'Stop talking, Jane, you're only making it worse.'

Luckily, as awkward as Jane was, Frigga was ten times as graceful, and she took Jane's floundering in stride. She didn't even laugh. It was almost a shame that Jane wasn't really married to Loki. Frigga would make a great mother-in-law.

"It's been a pleasure," she said, standing up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few more friends I need to greet. Have a wonderful night."

She floated away to chat with the Governor and… Jesus, was that Ewan Mcgregor?

"She could befriend the devil himself," Loki smiled. "That's what my father always says. You might meet him later, but with any luck, he will remain busy with Thor."

Loki said that with a degree of annoyance that piqued Jane's curiosity. She smothered it with another drink. "You told her you were backing my research."

He nodded. "Does that bother you?"

"Well, it would be better if it were true," Jane snorted. "I guess I'm just wondering what our next relationship will be. First, we're married, then we're business partners. Please don't go telling anyone we're related next."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Loki said.

Jane narrowed her eyes, but his expression didn't change. She got the sense there was some joke in the air that she wasn't in on. "What?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

"It's never nothing with you."

"Fair," he replied. "It's only that once again you are accusing me of lying when I have been nothing but honest. It's getting a bit disheartening."

It took Jane an embarrassingly long time to process what he just said. "You… you want to work with me?"

"To finance your research, yes," Loki said. "I was going to make a formal offer later tonight. It seems my mother has beat me to the punch."

"No way…" Jane shook her head. Now was the time to start pinching herself again because there was no way this was real. No way in Hell.

Loki smirked. "And I haven't even given you an amount yet."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it has enough zeros to give me a heart attack."

"Add a few extra zeros on top of that."

Jane sighed and closed her eyes. She was starting to feel a headache coming on, which was weird combined with the elation swelling in her heart.

Loki seemed to only notice the former. "I believe in this situation, a thank you is customary?"

"Yeah, it is," Jane laughed. She took a deep breath before she laughed so hard, she wasn't able to stop. "Having a wealthy private investor is a dream come true for any scientist."

"Does it help if he's handsome, too?"

"Immensely." Jane rubbed her eyes. "This sort of thing doesn't happen to me."

"What sort?"

"This- these… good things like this." Jane didn't know how else to phrase it. "I don't get people helping me, just people who want to compete with me or laugh at me. Even Don used to talk about his day at the hospital like he was trying to one-up me. 'Oh, you created a new program for measuring air density during lightning storms? That's great, Honey. I performed three open heart surgeries!' Like I didn't already know his job was more impressive than mine."

"Heart surgeries aren't so impressive," Loki said. "I've known many doctors in my life. I've only ever met one of you."

"Tell that to all my friends after we broke up. None of them could understand why I did it."

"Why did you, then?" Loki asked. "Other than his general inferiority, that is."

"I just felt like I didn't know him anymore. I get that overnight shifts in the OR can be exhausting, but even on his days off, he'd barely talk to me… inferior? Seriously?"

"Yes," Loki said.

His blunt response nearly made her laugh again. "It wasn't about one of us being better than the other, we just weren't compatible long-term."

"That is correct," Loki nodded. "Because he is inferior to you in every way."

"I don't-" Jane stopped. Defending Don wasn't her top priority, but now it seemed like both the right and wrong thing in equal measure. Her growing smile probably shouldn't have been so wide. Nor should she be blushing.

Loki leaned in, a more serious look than she'd ever seen before shadowing his features. "You must stop thinking so little of yourself. That is for fools who can't handle their inadequacy. They laugh because they know they have nothing else. You stand too tall for them to ever measure up. That is not your problem to deal with."

He ended his speech with a sip of wine before snatching a salmon crostini off a passing waiter's plate. The picture of a pretentious rich asshole who didn't care about anything. Except…

"That has got to be the weirdest compliment I've ever gotten," Jane said.

"And if you agree to my terms, you will receive many more," he said.

She didn't doubt that. She also knew they'd have a lot to talk about later despite what he thought. If she took his money, there would be meetings and regular progress reports. She might finally make progress if it worked out.

They'd be doing a hell of a lot more than being fake married at a fancy party. This would be real.

"Why?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"No, seriously, why me? Why me out of everyone at that party?"

"I only attended to find you."

"Yeah, but why? It can't just be because of Vegas. I'm not stupid, you know. You are obscenely rich and you could have immediately gotten the marriage erased from existence without me even knowing. You could've forgotten all about me."

"Like you forgot me?"

It was the first time that Jane considered he might have been unhappy about that. Somewhere between the fairy tale-esque rescue from her ex and his New and Improved fiance and sweeping her away into a literal private jet, Jane had forgotten that Loki was a human being with human emotions. One who woke up alone and hungover the morning after his wedding, wondering what happened to his equally hungover bride.

Had that really gotten to him?

Maybe she was wrong for even asking.

"I'm sorry," she said, surprised by how much she meant it. "I don't… I never was a party girl that much. I never woke up in bed next to anyone before you. At least not any strangers."

"Well, I'm happy to be your first."

"With any luck, you'll be my only."

Though his expression didn't change, Jane saw something shine in his eyes. He might have taken that differently than she intended, which would be a surprise since Jane didn't even know how she wanted it to sound. She wasn't interested in another quickie Vegas marriage. Next time she might wake up next to Tony Stark or something.

Even so, the question of how much she regretted her night with Loki, a night she still barely remembered despite all her best attempts, didn't have the clear-cut answer it had a few hours ago.

"You don't have to answer me now," he broke the silence, "if taking my money is something you need to mull over."

"No, it's okay," Jane said. "I'm sorry, I'm just… I don't know. I'm grateful, I am, I just…"

Loki's phone buzzed. A new message icon popped up on the screen. He ran his eyes over it, his face showing nothing. "Would it help if we kept our relationship strictly professional?"

"It would," Jane chuckled, "though that's not going to be easy being married and all."

"What if we weren't married?"

"Yeah, that would've been nice. Can't change the past, though, can we?"

"That's true," Loki said, "but we can have a working relationship because we are not married."

He held up his phone. The message was from someone named Matt. Matt appeared to be a lawyer or someone who knew a lot about state marriage laws. According to him, no marriage license was on file for Loki Odinson or Jane Foster in the state of Nevada or anywhere else.

Jane read it again to make sure she had everything right. The words never changed and their meaning was clear. No marriage license meant no marriage. They hadn't signed it, or they had and it got lost, or maybe there never was one to begin with because someone with a brain realized that maybe two drunk people can't consent to getting married.

Whatever the case, the facts were clear.

Jane Foster was a free woman.

And that was… great. Really great.

"Wow," Jane said, handing the phone back. "That's… I mean, he's sure?"

"One hundred percent," Loki said.

His face remained unreadable. Not that Jane was ever good at reading people, to begin with, but she thought he'd at least be a little relieved.

Of course, she thought she would be, too.

"That's good," she said. "That's fantastic. Crisis averted, right?"

He nodded. "Yes, I suppose so."

"It does make things easier for us," Jane pushed on.

He nodded again.

Jane bit her lip. She didn't know what else to say and that was the craziest part because she should know. She should be on her feet, dancing and waving flags. She wasn't married and she was getting money to fund her research. More money than she knew what to do with. She was about to have a prominent name attached to her work. People would see that and think she was important, too. Her colleagues would respect her. Celia would be seething with jealousy and Don would be questioning whether or not his upgrade was truly the most impressive model.

Instead, she was sitting next to Loki, just as still and uncertain of what to do next as he was. She got the feeling this wasn't a common occurrence for him. He looked like his clothes no longer fit.

"So…" Jane swallowed. "Now what?"

His eyes just barely flicked to the side. "Now we enjoy the party. If anyone asks, we are business partners, and you don't have to worry about lying."

"That must be weird for you," she said.

"What?" Loki asked.

Jane took another sip. "Telling the truth."

Now, finally, his head slowly turned. Still completely impassive. He didn't even blink. "It's mostly the name, you realize."

"Well, they had to give it to you for something," she said.

He snorted. "Yes, I suppose you're right. I must not have been an attractive child."

"Hey, I didn't say that." Jane smiled, and her hand moved somewhere in the vicinity of his. Like she intended to take it. That would be weird, though. It wasn't like they were a couple or anything…

The music picked up and people were gathering on the dance floor. Some of them were older, probably married or maybe testing things out after a messy divorce. Others looked like they'd just met and were already stroking the fires of passion.

Frigga was with her husband. Odin looked much more relaxed with his wife in his arms than he had been at any other point this evening. Even after being in his presence for a total of three seconds when they first walked in and only seeing flashes of him since then, Jane could tell he wasn't the kind of guy who did much smiling. Only for the people he cared about, and if that was true, then Frigga was the most important person in his life.

Would anyone ever look at her like that? It was a question she'd asked herself many times after splitting with Don. Three years together, months of seriously considering marriage before the cracks that had already formed under their noses began to break. In all that time, Jane didn't think Don ever looked at her like that.

Oh sure, she must have made him happy at some point. He'd certainly made her feel attractive for a while.

Not like this, though. Not like no one else in the world existed as long as she was with him.

But of course, he didn't. That was a ridiculous expectation. Being in a committed relationship didn't suddenly make everyone else in the world unattractive. Jane had found plenty of other men hot when she was with Don. She found Loki hot right now, even through the strange well of emotions building in her chest.

He was an incredibly handsome man, but there were plenty of handsome men out there. She might get a date with one tomorrow. A real date that was planned and expected. Not cobbled together on a drunken night out and forgotten about the next morning.

Flashes of Loki in her favorite coffee shop, laughing at one of her jokes, invaded her thoughts. She tried to bat it away. That wouldn't happen. Not unless it was a business meeting. Strictly professional. There would be no jokes, no sharing appetizers or drinks, no walk in the park while their stomachs settled, not even a 'I had fun' at the end.

Because they weren't married. They weren't even a couple. They'd barely even had one date.

Loki was not going to be the man who looked at Jane like Odin looked at Frigga.

And that really, really sucked.

Unable to sit any longer, Jane got to her feet. She stood in front of Loki, her back to him, looking out at the party and the people dancing. His eyes were on her, but he didn't speak. He seemed to be waiting for something. Maybe for her to thank him for his time and then go outside and hail a cab.

"Let's dance," Jane said.

She turned and he was already up, towering over her as he couldn't help but do. "Dance?"

She took his hand. "Just one song."

"Why?"

Jane thought about it for a long time, then she shrugged. "I don't know. I just want to."

Their hands found each other, fingers lacing together like they had never been apart. His grip was strong, but not painful. Jane didn't know which one was leading the other onto the floor.

"I should warn you," he said, "I'm an excellent dancer."

"That's good," Jane replied, "because I suck at dancing."

And she did. Three songs they danced and she was pretty sure she stepped on his foot at least twice as much. Somehow, he didn't flinch once, not even when he spun her and her heel went through the toe of his shoe. He just spun her again and avoided her foot from then on. Like he was trying to prove they could do it right.

After the third song ended (they were way too short), Frigga appeared from the crowd, a mysterious smile on her lips that Jane was starting to think was her default look.

"May I cut in?" she asked.

Jane stepped aside because she wasn't Loki's wife and had no right to keep him from his mother. "Of course."

So Loki took his mother's hand because Jane was just a business partner, barely even a friend. He glanced at her once and then he was gone. Lost in the sea of bodies, while Jane walked off the dancefloor in desperate need of something to drink.

Pictures from the party were online. Not in the gossip columns, thankfully, but it turned out plenty of famous people Jane cared about knew someone who had been there if they weren't in attendance themselves. That meant Jane's entire Twitter feed was flooded with pictures of Loki and Loki with his mom and Loki with his dad and Loki with his brother and their friends until finally, somehow, a photo of them dancing popped up.

"Woah, is this you?" asked an old friend she briefly worked with while finishing her Ph.D. Jane didn't even remember following her. They hadn't spoken in years.

Probably wasn't the best time to rekindle that friendship.

She had an email from one of her former professors asking if she was okay because someone saw her wandering off with a strange man the other night. Jane had a reply half written in her drafts, but she'd spoken to one of his colleagues on the phone last night and their ten-minute conversation about some big conference later in the year contained no traces of any kind of celebrity gossip, so Jane was confident the message had already spread that she was safe and they could all go back to their lives.

That was all Jane wanted to do, even though a check with the promised large amount of zeros had come in the mail yesterday. It was sitting on her desk on top of a pile of expired grocery store periodicals. Jane stared at it on and off while working at her computer for hours flipping through emails and old notes. Her dictionary-thick to-do list was in her head and probably written down somewhere in this mess.

Item number one: Clean up lab.

Item number two: …well, they'd get there when they got there.

Jane checked her feed again. Nothing new. Her last tweet was from two years ago. A picture of her and Don at an event. Jane deleted it and then closed the window. Now she had nothing to look at except her peaceful forest stock photo background covered in apps she'd never used.

She leaned back in her chair and sighed. It was almost lunch and she'd done nothing all day. "Darcy, stop staring at me."

Fumbling like someone messing with loose-leaf papers. "I'm not staring. I'm working diligently on important science stuff. Very important."

Jane closed her eyes. "I already explained to you everything that happened. There's no point in dwelling on it, so we need to get back to work and act normal."

Darcy snorted. "Even if I was staring at you, which I wasn't, we both know I've gotten more done today than you have. And I spent the last twenty minutes playing solitaire."

"You're never going to finish your degree if you keep getting distracted."

"And you're never going to build that bridge and prove a million assholes wrong if you don't stop projecting your feelings onto me and go deposit that check."

"I'm not projecti-" Jane stopped and shook her head. She felt like slamming it against the nearest wall until she lost consciousness. "I don't know what's wrong with me. It was nothing. Just a stupid mistake that didn't mean anything. It wasn't… what do you think he's doing right now, huh? You think he's moping over me?"

"I was kind of hoping," Darcy shrugged.

Jane snorted. "Yeah, sure, because billionaires everywhere are always losing their minds over nobody fringe scientists. This isn't a romance novel."

"Never said it was," Darcy replied. "Clearly this did mean something to you, though. Otherwise, you'd be in full work mode right now and a gun going off next to your head wouldn't phase you. Seriously, Jane, this is pretty out of character for you."

"Yeah, don't I know it."

Jane got up, unable to stay in her chair any longer as her legs screamed at her to move like they never had before. She made a full circle around the lab, eyes sliding over equipment as she recalled building it and setting it up. Then she made another lap and then she went into the kitchen.

There was nothing in the fridge except a few TV dinners. Defrosted burritos for lunch it was. As she watched the microwave spin, Jane tried to ignore Darcy's eyes still firmly glued to her back. Seriously, why wasn't this conversation over?

"What is it?" Jane asked.

"Nothing," Darcy said. "Unless, of course, it's something."

"Is it?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

Jane spun on a heel and started pacing again, fingers lost in her hair. "What is there to say? It was nothing. Literally nothing. A stupid mistake that didn't mean anything."

"I mean, it got you money."

"Yeah, it did, and that alone is a miracle so what the hell am I thinking pressing my luck?"

"Does that mean you're going to call him?"

'Don't sound so hopeful,' Jane thought. "I'll have to tell him about my progress eventually so he'll know he's getting his money's worth. It's just like when I talk to Erik or someone from the university. There's no difference."

"Ah, have to disagree with you there. You've never married those guys."

"And I never married Loki either. Not for real."

Darcy shrugged. "I'm just saying, you're clearly off your game today and it isn't happening for no reason. Are you sure you didn't catch a case of the feelings even a little?"

There was no way out of this. Darcy would keep asking until she got an answer she liked and there was nothing Jane could do about it. "Okay, fine, we had a good time. He's kind of an asshole, but he believes in me and he told Don where to stick it so that was a good look. We had interesting conversations. He's a great dancer… I don't know."

"Sounds like the feelings to me," Darcy sang. "I don't blame you. Dude might be weird, but he's sexy as fuck. I would've fake married him, too."

"Yeah, too bad you didn't get to him first," Jane said, slinking back to her desk like a zombie.

Darcy bit her lip. "Would you be mad at me if I said that I tried?"

Jane stopped. "What?"

"Yeah, I was getting us refills and I saw him in the bar. I tried all the tricks to get him to notice me. You remember the shirt I was wearing that night, right? The cleavage top? I can make men trip over their own feet with that shirt, but with him, it was like I was invisible. He just glided right by me like he'd been hypnotized. Now that I think about it, he probably was. You know, by you."

Darcy told her story casually, long since over the rejection even though Jane was going to be reeling all day.

Could it be true that their meeting wasn't by chance? That he actually approached her that night?

"Come on, think," Jane hissed at herself, scrunching her eyes shut as she dug through her fragmented memories for the hundredth time. "Think, think, think…"

A lot of lights. Fruity cocktails on her breath. People screaming and laughing. Music pounding. Loki…

Loki…

Wait.

Something came to Jane like the click of a projector moving on to the next slide. It might not have been real, just a false image her brain conjured up so she'd stop punishing it for losing her memories.

It felt real, though. Loki sitting beside her at the bar, his gorgeous face filling her vision. The way he smiled. Had she said something to make him smile? Maybe she made him laugh.

But then it got weird. Her vision was blurry and slanted. That didn't make any sense. Her seat felt wrong. Like her butt was in the wrong place. On the edge maybe?

Jane touched her arm. Ran her hand up to her shoulder. Yeah, that's where Loki grabbed her. He pulled her back onto her seat and made sure she was upright before letting go. Then he said… something.

Probably, "Be more careful or you might snap in half." Or something witty like that.

And Jane had nestled into the seat, leaning into Loki's chest even though she was probably okay after almost falling. "My, aren't you a gentleman."

Yes, she had definitely said that. She remembered those exact words coming out of her mouth, her lips forming around each syllable as she spoke them with surprising clarity given that everything around it remained in a thick fog.

She was pretty sure she'd laughed afterward, and maybe Loki had laughed, too. All she had of his face was a smile that never seemed to fade no matter how much she embarrassed herself.

It was kind of a nice memory. Even though it should've made her cringe, it made her happy instead. Thinking about what must have happened around it. The conversations they must have had. She'd told him about her research at some point. He was impressed, enough to become an investor.

That meant he thought she was worth something. He thought she was worth a lot.

"Uh… Jane?" Darcy was next to her, waving a hand in her face. "Are you okay? You've got that 'I'm about to go crazy on someone' look."

Jane glanced at Darcy as her jaw suddenly began to twinge. That was when she realized she'd been smiling all this time. No, not just smiling, full-on grinning. Like a fool. Like she'd never frown again in her life. She tried to relax her muscles. That just made her laugh.

"I'm fine," she said. "I just… I need to make a call."

Jane walked out of the lab. It took a conscious effort not to skip. Outside it was warm and sunny. Not nearly as unbearable as midday in New Mexico usually was. Maybe it was the time of year or maybe Jane's heart was soaring too high for her to feel anything back on Earth.

She dialed Loki's number. His name in her contacts made her stomach flip. The dial tone went on way too long. Jane counted the rings. Two. Three. Four.

"Hello."

Yes! "Hi, Loki, it's Jane."

There was a slight pause. Had she caught him in the middle of a meeting? She thought she heard noise in the background like a printer running.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Loki said, his tone impossible to read (and yet oddly telling). "I must say, this is a surprise. I didn't expect to hear from you so soon."

"I didn't expect to call so soon," Jane said, "but I've got something important to tell you."

"Oh?"

Jane grinned even harder. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this good. "I wanted to tell you that I don't love you."

She gave him a moment to process that. "Come again?"

"I don't love you, Loki. Not at all. And you don't love me either. I am so incredibly relieved that we're not married, because that would've been the worst thing in the world for us. We would've driven each other crazy. It would've been the biggest mistake of our lives."

It was a good thing no one was around to hear her because she could imagine the kind of looks she'd get. As it was, the thought of Loki's face right now nearly made her collapse laughing.

"I… see." Loki cleared his throat. "You felt the need to call me for this?"

"Yes, I did," Jane said. "Loki, we can't love each other yet. We've only just met. We've known each other barely a week. Nobody falls in love that fast, but that's the great thing about it. Because even though I don't love you, I like you so much that I think one day I can. And I think you like me just as much."

There was the sound of a door closing. A man somewhere was calling Loki's name but he ignored it. "You have an odd way of expressing your feelings."

"I guess that makes two of us," Jane said.

"Hmm, I suppose so," he said. "You may be right, Jane, that marriage wasn't the right thing for us yet. I hope I'm not being too forward when I say I'd like it to be someday."

"Not at all," Jane said, "but for now, let's take it one day at a time. Are you free tomorrow for coffee?"

"You know I'm half a country away."

"I also know you own a plane."

He chuckled. "So you wish for me to fly my plane to your tiny desert village in New Mexico and frighten all your neighbors."

"Well, I guess you can land closer to Albuquerque and drive the rest of the way if you're worried about bothering people."

"Please, my dear, do not tempt me."

They laughed together, Jane hugging herself tight. She imagined another, much better hug she might be getting in a few days. Who knows? Maybe something else would come with it. Something wonderful. "So is that a yes?"

"I think I can squeeze you in. Are you sure this is just coffee or is dinner an option?"

"I mean, I'd offer to cook for you," Jane said, "but the idea is to build a relationship, not kill it with food poisoning."

"Oh, Jane, it will take far more than that to frighten me off," he said, his voice lowering in a way that triggered something in Jane's mind along with her blood. Something with bright lights and noise and hands all over her body like she was the most beautiful, desirable creature in the world. "And I meant that I would cook if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Jane said. "I can't wait."

THE END