"Your Father was a smart man." Jack said with a grin, looking over at her with a cocky expression. When she told him about her Mom he laughed. "I take it that means she's thrown other young men out of the house before?" he asked, raising a brow.

Rosamunde laughed. "Yeah, my cousin Declan, but only as a joke." She shrugged. "It's never been a habit of mine to bring guys around..."

She sat down on the last stair and flipped her wavy hair behind her shoulders, "Actually, you're the first."

Jack Grinned. "I'm honored." He said, a chuckle rising in his throat. He ran a hand through his red hair and came to stand in front of her. He just looked at her for a moment, one brow raised. "You have a very talented family." He finally mused, gesturing to several paintings. "They're all lovely pieces."

Rosamunde stood and walked toward the living room. "You haven't even seen the half of it. Not only are their many in the house, there's a ton at the studio. Mom and Dad have sold quite a few, too."

She sat down on the leather couch, grabbed a bowl of M&Ms from the table and took a few out. Popping one into her mouth, she offered the bowl to him. "So, Jack, what's your favorite color?" Rosamunde stuffed another candy into her mouth.

Jack took a handful of the colored candy, eying them with a hungry glint in his eye. He took a green M&M and held it up. "Green." he said, before eating it. "Hence my green shirt and a whole wardrobe of ones like it at home." he flopped down in a comfy chair that was near the couch. "And what's yours?" he inquired, looking at her steadily, then said quickly. "No wait! Let me guess..." he rubbed his chin, mocking deep thought. "It couldn't be pink..."

Rosamunde ate another candy while she nodded, a smile on her lips. "Yes, but only certain shades. I don't like light pink..." She pulled her feet up onto the couch. "Green is a beautiful color, too."

She motioned his shirt. "You're not still wet, are you?"

Jack looked down at himself. "No." he said, rubbing the material of his shirt between his fingers. "I'm dry." he flicked a strand of his red hair from his brow. "I can't say the same for my hair though..."

Rosamunde waved a hand. "Oh, well, my hair's wet, too. We'll survive... Hopefully."

She finished her handful of M&Ms, grabbed a pillow and leaned back on the couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table. "My dad should be back by dinner time. He'll be glad to have another guy around, if only for a little while. My mother's and my girly conversation can only entertain him for so long, you know..."

"Your Mother didn't strike me has a really girly woman" Jack said, picking out the green M&M's from the bowl. "You on the other hand...." he snickered playfully.

Rosamunde bit her lower lip, looking a bit flirtatious as she glanced at him. "Well, aren't I supposed to act like a girl, since I am one?"

She shrugged. "It seems to make perfect sense to me."

"There is a difference between acting like a girl, and acting like a girly girl." Jack said, the corner of his mouth pulling up. He leaned back into the chair and stroked his chin, acting like he had to deeply consider whether she was a girl or a girly girl. "Well, I have to say taking a dive into that mud puddle wasn't girly at all...."

Rosamunde feigned an insulted look and said, "I did not dive. It was...more like a cannonball, if anything...and it still hurts."

She scooted to the side of the couch, closer to him, held out her hand and looked at the M&Ms.

Jack looked at the bowl of M&M's in his hand, then reached into the colored pieces and brought out one. He placed it in her palm. "There ya go." he said, then settled back and munched on a handful all his own, of collected green ones.

Rosamunde ate the candy and held out her hand for another. "You know, by the time dinner's ready, I think we're going to be full...Well, maybe you more than me, considering you won't share." She lifted her eyebrows, wiggling her fingers for more candy.

Jack chuckled and shook his head. "Ah, now that you put it that way..." he put the whole bowl down in her hands. "I wouldn't, dare, miss eating some of Mrs. Troy's pasta." he kicked out the foot stand for the chair and leaned back. "And in light of that, I shall leave the candy in your charge. So if your Mom comes in, you will be the kid stuck with your hand in the cookie jar, not me." he said, stifling a laugh.