"Reading again?" Juliet asked him three days later as she entered the living room, having just woken up at 11 a.m.

"Well what else is there to do in this godforsaken place?" James asked with a chuckle, his eyes momentarily leaving the pages of his book to meet with Juliet's intense blue ones.

The blonde shrugged innocently and took a seat at the end of the couch where he sat. "Well, we could always make out…" she said, a smirk growing on her lips. She burst into laughter at James' expression, trying to read whether or not she was serious. "I was joking, James. Sort of."

"Is that you askin' me to kiss you in your secret girly code or somethin'?" he asked, grinning at her. They hadn't talked about the kissing that had happened the other night, but things between them hadn't been awkward at all, either. She wasn't like other women; she let things play out and didn't pressure him, and he appreciated that.

"I don't have any 'secret girly code', James, I'm not 15." she replied with a kind smile.

He set the book aside and moved closer to her on the couch. "No, you're definitely not." he replied, smiling as he leaned in, lifting her chin slightly and pulling her towards him until their lips met again.

Juliet smiled against his lips, returning the kiss gently, her arms making their way around his neck. It felt so nice to have a man desire her this way again. Even though he was being tender and relaxed about it, she could sense the passion in his kiss, as well. She never imagined that this man, of all men, would ever see her as anything more than an Other, a cold-hearted robot who just did as she was ordered to. He used to look at her with such contempt, and now, as their lips parted, she saw something completely different in his eyes. "Mm…you're not half bad at that."

James chuckled, "You either, Blondie…you know, for an Other." he responded with a smirk. There it was. When he'd called her an Other before, it had been because he'd truly seen her as 'one of them', the enemy. Now, he joked about it because he knew she wasn't even close to being one of them. Maybe she never had been. Hell, she always got his back. There was no reason not to trust her anymore.

The smile remained on Juliet's lips. She was really beginning to believe that he saw her better than anyone else ever had. The past few days had been spent in heavy conversation, and as a result, they now knew more about each other than they'd ever imagined they might. James had gotten the full story; from Juliet's unsuccessful marriage, to her sister's cancer, her arrival on the island, and the affair with Goodwin. He knew about it all, and she hadn't been ashamed to tell him, which had been the most surprising detail of all.

In turn, James had shared with her, and revealed things he never thought he would. He told the story of the real Sawyer, where he'd gotten the name, and how the man had turned out to be Locke's father. How he'd killed him. Juliet hadn't batted an eye, hadn't judged him for one second. Who was she to judge anyone, after all? She certainly didn't believe she had that right.

"You wanna do that again?" the blonde asked, with a playful smile that made James chuckle in admiration.

"You betcha." came his simple reply, and he captured her lips once more.