Derek knew that Penelope thought that he didn't find her attractive. He also knew that she based her conclusion on the women who she saw him with – the tall, thin, model types. What she didn't know was that she was the reason that she only saw him with that type of woman.

Truth be told, Derek loved women in general. All kinds of women- tall, short, thin, curvy, whatever. The thing is, all of his women had a "special something". The model types had their bodies and faces, other women had intelligence or humor, others had heart or caring. Derek was attracted to beauty, yes, but he was also attracted to talent.

When he first met Penelope, he was attracted to her spark and wit. But he was sort of seeing this girl, and he was hesitant about getting involved with someone that he worked with on a regular basis. Even if she didn't carry a gun. It didn't stop him from flirting, though.

By the time that he was free of what'shername, he and Penelope had become closer, and he was reluctant to risk the budding connection between them. He liked the way that she cared about her team and would move heaven and earth to keep them safe. He liked the way she smiled and laughed when he flirted with her. And he liked the warm feeling in his stomach when she flirted back. He had women he liked or enjoyed spending time with, but he really didn't have any women friends. What he and Penelope had was special and he didn't want to mess it up for sex that he could have with anyone. Or so he thought.

One night, he was out at a club having a good time. He spotted a curvy blonde who kind of reminded him of his baby girl. He sauntered up to her and turned on the Derek Morgan charm. She fell quickly under his spell and he offered to drive her home. She accepted, and they left for her place. When they arrived, she invited him in for coffee. Soon, they were kissing on the couch, the pretense forgotten as soon as they walked in the door.

As Derek ran his hands up her sides, he found that he couldn't relax. Something wasn't quite right. She felt nice under his hands, but something was missing. He nuzzled her neck, and felt bereft. He took a deep breath and realized what it was. He wanted her to smell like strawberries and vanilla, like his baby girl. He drew back slightly and saw that her artfully applied lipstick camouflaged a thin mouth, not plump lips like his baby girl. When he thought about it, there wasn't even anything special about her, not like his baby girl.

"Shit," he thought. "How am I going to get out of this?" He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he suddenly didn't want to be there.

As if she sensed that he was in distress, his phone rang at that moment. The caller ID flashed "Baby Girl".

"Thank God," he thought. "She always knows when I need her."

He pulled back from the woman apologetically and answered the phone with a crisp "Morgan."

"Hey hot stuff," Penelope said cheerfully. "Just calling to see if you wanted to hang out tomorrow. Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Morgan schooled his face into a look of concern and said "Yes sir! I'll be there as soon as I can."

Penelope giggled on the other end of the phone. "Oh, sugar, you owe me for getting you out of whatever mess you're in right now."

"Yes, sir, I certainly do!" Morgan replied. "I'll leave right away!" He hung up and turned to the dejected woman sitting on the couch. "Sorry, honey," he said, "Work calls."

"Maybe some other time?" she said hopefully. Derek smiled, didn't answer, and slipped out of the door. He jumped into his car and headed home.

As he drove, he thought about what had just happened. He'd thought that he was just attracted to a curvy blonde, but it turns out he was craving his baby girl. What did this mean, he wondered. He'd never been so fixated on a woman to the exclusion of a willing partner. Sure, he might have thought that so and so had a better butt, or that he liked natural breasts better than fake ones, but it never stopped him from loving the one he was with.

He didn't like the way it felt, and right then and there he decided that he was going to stay away from curvy blondes. With one exception, of course.