The Quartermaines, dressed and ready to go to the Nurses Ball, waited by the staircase for the rest of the family members to come down.

Reginald went to open the door, and Jax, dressed in a stunning tuxedo, sauntered in.

"Uh! Wrong house!" Edward bellowed when he saw Jax.

"Oh yes, I know," Jax said. "But unfortunately my date is here." Jax bent down and took Lila's hand.

"Oh, Jax dear, how lovely!" Lila said.

Jax kissed her hand. "You look as smashing as always."

"So do you."

"Oh, Lila! Why must encourage him?" Edward complained. "Obviously, Chloe has changed her mind, otherwise she'd be all dressed and down here by now. Apparently good sense has prevailed, so you can just go--"

Alan cut him off. "Pay no attention to what--"

Everyone suddenly got quiet and turned their attention to the staircase. Chloe walked down the stairs, wearing a beautiful pink gown that exposed her midriff and had one strap.

Monica was in complete awe of Chloe's gown. "I've worn my share of evening gowns, but I'd say that is spectacular."

"Well you're absolutely right," Jax said. "And it's not just the gown."

"Thank you," Chloe blushed. "But it is all just an illusion! I am literally thrown together! I spent so much time on everyone else's orders." Chloe looked at herself in the mirror and decided that the strap on her dress did not look right. She readjusted the strap so that it crossed her heart. "There! Why hadn't I thought of that?"

Jax laughed. "You just did."

Chloe walked over to Lila. "You look like an angel."

"You look lovely too my dear."

Jax and Chloe then said their goodbyes and headed to the ball.

"Thrown together?" Monica asked, still in awe of Chloe's dazzling look.

Jax and Chloe stepped off the elevator and stood in the hallway while Chloe put her shoes back on. Chloe then made a comment about Simon and V. waiting alone in the penthouse. "As much as I love to push the limit, shouldn't we look in?"

"Yeah, that reminds me. I left a bottle of champagne chilling. I hope she hasn't clonked him with it."

Chloe laughed.

Jax and Chloe walked into the room and found Simon and V. having a pleasant conversation, which was very good.

Jax began to pour out the champagne. Not a moment later, Ned and Alexis arrived.

"Oh, looks like they started without us!" Ned exclaimed.

"And why aren't you wearing your sequined tux?" Jax asked Ned. "See, Ned will usually do anything for applause."

"Where as our man Jax is too dignified to perform for a worthy cause!" Ned shot back.

"Now one of these years I'm sure they'll wear him down," Alexis said.

"Yeah," Jax said with a laugh. "When there's a blizzard in Hell."

"Oh, well there's our first toast!" Chloe cheered. "To blizzards in Hell!"

The six of them clinked their glasses together. "To blizzards in Hell!" They all said.

At the Ball…

Jax and Chloe chatted while getting a glass of champagne. Lucy rushed over to them.

"Chloe, I have to tell you, your dresses, your gowns are the hit of the evening! I love them, thank you very much!"

Chloe smiled.

"Oh, sorry, Jax! Not to belittle your big fat check! I appreciate those too! So I guess between the two of you--"

"Lucy, we got a problem!" said one of Lucy's assistants, running up to her.

"What?" Lucy panicked.

"The other ballroom dancers have bailed! The woman sprained her ankle!"

"Oh!" Lucy gasped. "Oh no! That's impossible!"

"It's worse than anything else!"

"They have to work! It's gonna cost me $5000 in donation money! Go! Go tell them! They can't do this to me! I better tell them that myself! Excuse me! Oh wait..." Lucy ran off to chase her assistant.

Chloe looked at Jax and grinned widely. "I heard the strangest weather report. They were predicting a blizzard in Hell."

Jax cocked an eyebrow. "Surely you're not implying that…"

"Close your eyes and think gazebo."

Chloe smiled and they clinked their glasses together.

Lucy stepped up onto the stage and got everyone's attention. "Guess what. We're hardly into the evening and already, I told you we were going to have surprises! We have a big surprise. Our dance duo of McCarthy and Rednick cannot perform this evening."

Sounds of disappointment echoed throughout the room.

"I know. It seems that McCarthy has a sprained ankle and Rednick is uh, having sympathy pains?"

The audience laughed.

"Anyway, the point is, never fear, we have a backup plan! We always have a backup plan! We have a very brave duo that has decided to fill in for our other duo. I think you are going to be really pleased, so give a warm welcome to Chloe Morgan and the one and only Mr. Jasper Jacks."

The audience was pleasantly surprised. Jax actually performing? Edward just grumbled.

The curtain lifted, and Jax and Chloe were on stage. They danced to "Cheek to Cheek," and the audience was cheering the whole time. For an impromptu dance, it was pretty spectacular.

       

After the dance, Jax and Chloe stood backstage and listened to the loud applause they were still getting.

"Are my ears ringing or do they love us?" Jax asked.

"I happen to be an accomplished dancer but my feet rarely leave the ground and they did just now. I was literally…floating."

"You mean like this?" Jax suddenly picked Chloe up and spun her around. They both laughed.

   

And then, Jax stopped spinning her.

They stood still, looking into each other's eyes.

   

And just as they were about to lean forward and kiss, Jax's cell phone rang.

Afterwards, Jax and Chloe mingled. Jax stood by the champagne table and found himself thinking about how close he and Chloe had come to kissing after their dance. He remembered the way he picked her up and twirled her around, and the way she was laughing. When he snapped out of his daydream, he saw Chloe standing in front of him, smiling. He smiled back at her.

   

After the Nurses Ball, Jax and Chloe went up to the roof and waited for Simon and V. to come up.

Chloe was in awe of the view. The moon was shining over the lake. "The lake is sooo big! If you told me it was the ocean, I might have believed you!"

"You know, if that lake were the ocean, you would live just on the other side."

"And we could signal to each other with lanterns?"

"Oh, I doubt you would see mine from Milan."

"Milan isn't really my home," Chloe explained. "It's where my phone rings and where my mail gets delivered and where I keep my shoes. I can work anywhere, and I do."

"I guess what I'm asking is…" Jax let that sentence trail off when he heard a strange sound. "Are my ears ringing or do I hear bells?"

Jax and Chloe looked for the source of the sound.

"I would say the elevator has decided to be out of order," Chloe observed.

"Damn Quartermaines! And AJ has only been in charge for what? Three hours?"

Jax made a call to tell someone that the elevator was not working.

"We've had everything tonight," Chloe said. "Danger, dancing, alarm bells in the dark. Don't you think Simon and V. will have the most beautiful children?"

"And we barely got them through dinner."

"True, but, assuming they're down there, after a daredevil rescue from an elevator shaft, I think V.'s resistance is likely to be doomed."

Jax and Chloe spent the time talking. Jax told Chloe about his corporate raiding business.

"What is it that you do to drive your money to such melodramatic lengths for attention?" Chloe asked.

"Well what does Edward say I do?"

"He says that you drive decent people into poverty, and try to seduce their daughters."

"Well that's one, two of my many talents." Jax laughed. "Mostly I play around with other people's companies."

"What, you buy them?"

"Buy them, steal them, raid them, break them up into little pieces, merge them, invest in them, advise them, don't worry I'm not going to tell you the whole thing and bore us both to tears!"

"No, what I was thinking was I could use someone like you."

"What makes you think that we could work together?" Jax asked.

Chloe smiled. "I can tell by the way you dance."

Jax shook his head. "Oh, no, no, no. One is not a good indicator of the other. See, chemistry between business part--"

"Come here, let me show you," Chloe said, interjecting. She laughed and took his hand.

"Chloe, there's no music."

Just then, music from the elevator began to play.

"How did you do that?" Jax asked.

Chloe just smiled. Then, they danced.

"See what I mean?" Chloe asked after the dance.

"No."

"If I shortened my stride, if I lengthened my stride, if I skipped a stride, you adjusted."

"Well to stop us from falling over, yes," Jax said.

"Well that's an excellent quality in a partner. For dancing, or business, or…bridge. Well, I don't actually play bridge, but I'm the general sort of person who does!"

"And you're the general sort of person I…"

"Avoid?" Chloe asked.

"No, not at all."

"Appeal too?"

"I can only hope."

"Inspect closely?"

Jax and Chloe gazed at each other, lost in each other's eyes. They slowly leaned forward.

And just as their lips were moments apart, the elevator door suddenly opened, revealing Simon and V. in a very intense lip lock.

Jax and Chloe smiled at each other.

Simon and V. tried to play it off. Then, the four decided to head down while the elevator was still working, Jax and Chloe smiling at each other the whole time.