The kiss on the cheek was unexpected, but all he did was blush. He was kind of proud of himself for the fact that so many of them came without incident...an unexpected kiss on the cheek, Kenzi shoving him down so she could sit on his lap, even jumping on his back and kissing his neck (not that jumping on his back was new, she did love to demand the occasional piggy back ride just to be a brat). There was nothing alarming about any of it, and he felt like kind of a coward sometimes when he stopped to think about just how much of this was all a result of fear.

And her hair...well, he wouldn't lie: he liked the smell of her shampoo, and it was nice to be able to run his fingers through her hair without worrying he would unseat a wig.

"Not late at all, the whole party's pretty laid back." he assured her with a smile. As she worked on another bite of food, he kissed her forehead...then felt a little bit bolder.

He waited for her to wash down that bite of food with a swig of beer before he laid a hand on her shoulder, leaned down...then with only a brief hesitation, pressed his lips to hers in a relatively chaste kiss.

Then he did it again.

And then one more time...maybe a little less chaste...before he drew back, feeling his heart rate accelerate. A deep breath or two brought it back under control, leaving him feeling exhilarated and...damn near giddy as he grinned down at her.