A/N: I felt "Zero" absolutely warranted a Connie/Mike fic, so here's my contribution. Hope you enjoy. And, as always, leave me some encouragement or constructive criticism at the end. They always make my day.

Disclaimer: I no own.

"Damn him," I muttered as I unlocked the door to my apartment. The door swung open, and I flipped on the light, illuminating the dark living room. My briefcase went somewhere by the couch, and I think I tossed my coat over the counter. I needed a drink, and I needed one soon.

The rational attorney in me told me that I was really overreacting. I didn't exactly have a right to be mad at Mike. After all, he was a single guy, and Carly what's-her-face was an attractive, single woman – despite the fact that she was a total bitch. He was a sighted, warm-blooded male. He had every right to be attracted to her. It wasn't like I had a claim on him.

So why did I find myself looking through the cabinets over my stove for the bottle of wine I kept up there?

I found a bottle of sangria up there and pulled out a glass, muttering to myself the entire time. How dare he accuse me of being jealous!? Jealous? Of what? Why would I be jealous?

Sure, I knew he was attracted to me. Mike never made any bones about it. He chose some inopportune times to let me know, but he was still very open about his feelings toward me. But I had always been professional to him, ruthlessly stamping down anything that might've come up. I wasn't attracted to him, I kept telling myself.

The warm red liquid filled the glass, and I sighed softly. So this was what my day was shaping up to be. Drowning my thoughts of my boss in alcohol. Maybe I was hanging around Jack too much.

"Damn them all," I murmured as I took my glass to the living room and sank onto the couch. It bent beneath my weight, giving me some semblance of an embrace. God knows I needed it.

Damn Jack for his snide "scheduling" comment. He would know more than the rest of us. The man who slept with at least three of his assistants, that I know of. Hell, it could've been more. He had a corner-market on inappropriate relationships.

Damn Carly for her overly-friendly "Hey, Mike!" or her surreptitious glances in his direction when she thought no one noticed. God, could the woman get any more annoying? Could she have been any more obvious about her feelings for her? She might've been pretty, intelligent… whatever. Maybe she wasn't so intelligent. After all, she did get busted for throwing a case.

But most of all… above all others… damn Mike. Damn him for those stormy blue eyes that could be gentle and tender one moment and stormy with anger the next. Damn him for his zealous pursuit of justice before even his own career (I offer this case for Exhibit A). Damn those dimples in his cheeks that made me struggle to stand every time he cracked a smile. Damn his boyish charm that could make a mother bear stop dead in her tracks just as she was about to attack him. Damn his perceptive glances that seemed to look through the façade I had so carefully constructed. Damn the man that invaded my dreams at night, that could make me wake up with a feeling of utmost emptiness when the dream ended.

Damn the man that could make me feel something I haven't felt for a man in years.

It was supposed to be me that he was thinking about.

I stopped suddenly, with my glass halfway to my lips. Did I really just think that?

The realization just about knocked me over. Oh God. I really was attracted to him, wasn't I?

Crap.

I had it bad.

If I was attracted to him, that meant I really was jealous of Carly and Mike. "Oh God," I groaned, letting my head fall backward to the couch cushion behind me. Mike was right. Again.

Maybe I should damn myself. Damn me for letting myself become weak. Damn me for falling head over heels for that man. Damn me for letting those feelings show so he could pick up on it. I was so careful to smash them down as much as I could, dismiss them as loneliness. But no… he had to go there and ask me if I was jealous.

And I was.

I'd been bitten by the green-eyed monster.

Problem was, I had absolutely no right to be jealous. I had no claim on him. He'd asked me out for drinks before or dinner after a case, but I usually turned him down. My goal was to be professional. And now… I was beginning to regret my decision to be professional. If anything, this case brought out just how good of a man he was. He practically threw a case because he didn't want a win to be tainted with judicial ineptitude. But, then again, he did ruin the career of the woman he was sort of seeing… but she did deserve to have her career ruined.

Suddenly I heard a soft knock on my door. "Coming!" I shouted, setting my half-empty wine glass on my coffee table. I quickly crossed through the door and peered through the peephole. And then I got the shock of my life.

Mike Cutter stood in the hall, hands in his coat pockets. His blonde hair looked slightly ruffled from the wind, and I felt my heart jump. Stop it, Connie, I told myself.

"Connie?" he called.

I slowly slid the chain from its lock and pulled open the door. We stood there for what seemed like hours, just staring at each other. My heart pounded wildly, and I cursed myself again for letting him get to me like this. Since when did I become such a lovesick schoolgirl?

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked finally, shrugging his shoulders in an almost-helpless gesture.

"No, not at all." I stood to the side to let him in, taking a whiff of his distinct cologne as he brushed past me. Mike halted in the middle of my living room, his observant eyes taking in everything – including that bottle of wine I left sitting on the table. Damn it. "Can I get you anything?" I asked, shutting the door behind me.

Mike shook his head. His tie was gone, and he'd left the top button of his shirt unbuttoned. Typical Mike. He never liked those ties. He told me once he thought they were restrictive. Personally I've never had that problem, but I think of them as stilettos for men. Necessary evils. "I don't want to keep you from whatever you're doing."

I looked at him for just a minute, then I moved into the kitchen. "So what exactly are you doing here? I thought you would've had plans with Carly."

"She's not exactly in the mood to talk to me at the moment." Mike pulled off his coat and draped it over the back of the couch, like he always did when he happened to stop by. "I did sort of get her fired."

"And investigated by the AG," I pointed out, leaning against the counter.

"Not exactly conducive to a healthy relationship."

I chuckled, folding my arms across my body.

Mike sighed and stuck his hands in his pants pockets. I swear, sometimes he looks exactly like a child, with that look he gets in his eyes and that impish grin. "Connie, I just wanted to apologize for that comment I made about you being jealous. It was crossing the line."

"Mike –" I began, but he cut me off.

"You've made it perfectly clear that you want our relationship to be completely professional, and I respect that. I admire for setting boundaries."

"Mike –"

"And I won't make any comments like that in the future."

"Mike!" I shouted. He stared at me, startled. I let out an exasperated laugh. "Can I say something now?"

He nodded once, looking even more surprised.

It was my turn to sigh as I ran a hand through my short dark hair. "You were right."

Mike looked taken aback, and he stared at me with his mouth slightly open. It was almost adorable, and it took all my strength to keep from laughing. "What?" he finally managed, sounding more like a croak than his normal voice.

"I was jealous," I said softly, looking down at the floor. I really needed to mop. "When I asked you about you and Carly, it wasn't just so I could find out if there was a conflict of interest."

He elegantly arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really."

I looked up again, and he was just a couple feet away, his hands still deep in his pockets. But there was something in those blue eyes of his. Something I couldn't place. "You know, there really wasn't anything between me and Carly."

"It's not important," I said quickly, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. "I shouldn't have pried into your business. Your private life is just that – private."

Before I knew it, he was standing less than a foot from me, that look still in his eyes. "Why did you ask? I mean, if we're being completely honest here."

I sighed, not really wanting to answer. If I answered, it opened my heart up to a world of hurt. Not to mention the fact that the man was my boss. Finally I looked up at him, my eyes meeting his blue eyes. "Because I'm attracted to you, Mike. In more ways than one."

A hint of a grin appeared on his face as he absorbed my words. "Really?"

I nodded, just once, looking away again. "Really. And I didn't want to stand in the way of you being happy with someone else."

Suddenly I felt his hands on my face, lifting it up so he could look in my eyes. "Why in the world would I want to be happy with someone else while there's still a chance of being happy with you?" he whispered.

Before I could react, his lips were on mine, gently caressing them. My eyes fluttered shut and my heart pounded against my ribs. I couldn't help but kiss him back. Something had happened to my brain, because it was completely and irreversibly gone. My hands fisted in his dress shirt, pulling him even closer to me as his fingers threaded through my hair. I heard myself moan when his tongue skimmed along my lips and slipped in, and I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't been leaning against the counter, I would've been on the floor the second his tongue touched mine. I found myself wondering why I'd never wanted this in the first place. It felt so right.

I'd heard it said many times that Mike Cutter was no Jack McCoy, and I wholeheartedly agree in certain aspects. Except in this one. I'd never had the pleasure of kissing the DA, but Mike must've been picking up pointers from McCoy on getting his assistants to fall for him. In that moment, I was well on my way there.

After what seemed like hours, Mike pulled back, breathing hard, like I was. I let my hands rest on his waist, looking at him. "You know we're going to have to talk about this right?" I said between gasps of air. I don't think I've ever been left breathless by a kiss before.

He nodded. "Yeah, I figured as much."

"No more flirting with law clerks."

A full-fledged grin spread over his face, revealing those dimples. "I think I can handle that. Provided you handle Jack."

I thought about it for a moment and smiled. "Deal." Jack couldn't have any objections. He'd had more relationships with his subordinates than Solomon had wives. His exploits were legendary around the DA's office.

Suddenly his grin widened, like it does when he's got some wild idea.

"What?" I asked, giving him a curious look. Sometimes I'd love to know what goes on in that mind of his.

"Just thinking."

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "About?"

Mike brushed a stray strand of hair from my face. "What happened to being professional?"

I sighed. "I failed miserably. That green-eyed monster's a sneaky fellow."

He chuckled and pulled me closer to him, running his thumb over my face. "Remind me to thank him someday."