"I think," Judy has to swallow, and swallow hard, to bring herself to say it, "Francine may have a thing for you."
"Francine?" Nick's eyebrow raises as he tries to remember if he's ever met a Francine.
"You know, the woman on our team? The team you've been on for a month now?" He just shakes his head and she sighs, "The elephant?"
He hits his hand against the table startling her a bit, "I remember her now. Wait, what makes you think she's interested in me?"
She pokes her fork at the last piece of carrot on her plate. Even though she keeps her head down, purposely avoiding him, she knows that he never looks away from her, "Honestly, it's just a feeling I had. She's single, you're single. She's looking and you're…"
"Not interested," all at once his voice became agitated and his foot tapped against the ground. She took this as sign to not bring it up.
She ignored it, "Why not?"
"I don't do relationships, sweetheart, " Nick went silent after saying it, even when she asked why not. Especially when she said there's plenty of eligible women for him. Over their partnership, she's learned to read his emotions just by his facial looks.. He shifts his ears back, something's making him angry. His mouth curls into a grin, he's happy or has a plan. However, his ears stay stood up and his grin from earlier is long gone. Maybe she hit a nerve with him, which wouldn't make sense. Never let them see that they get to you. Clearly she got to him.
"Also isn't there a rule to not date your co-workers?" he finally manages to ask. Briefly she tries to remember if there were a rule against it, yet nothing came to mind.
"Not, nothing that I can think of. I guess Chief Bogo doesn't care as long as it doesn't affect your work,"
Silence.
"What?" She asks after his eyes widened, ears seeming to point upward more than before, if possible. He opened his mouth, and quickly closed it back., "Come on, Nick.. What is it?"
"It's just I always thought there was something about that," there's an unusual look in his eyes. Nervousness? No. Fear? Definitely not, but maybe a mixture. What was so strange about this?
Later that night, she sat at her desk. Paper after papers cluttered the top yet they couldn't be farther from her mind. Of course Nick was front and center, consuming every thought. With his words echoing. I don't do relationships. The fox was a loner and she knew this. Has been for their entire friendship.. She became so distracted by this that she didn't hear the door opening with Nick strolling inside.
"I brought dinner, Carrots," the door slams shut causing a few pages to fly off the table. Immediately, she spins her chair around shooting a look-what-you-did look his way, "Sorry about that. Would a carrot donut make up for it?" He holds it out and the smell becomes intoxicating, but she pretends not to care.
"Donuts hardly count as a meal, Nick," she grins and notices that he's wearing his glasses. For some reason, the thought that he looks kind of handsome crosses her mind. One that she shuts down.
"In my world, they do," he shuffles across the floor to her. Each step provoking her heart beat to skip. Then when he's directly in front of her, he pulls the glasses from his face and she swears she's burning up, "Been working hard?"
"No!" her voice is louder than she hoped. Thank goodness he doesn't comment on it. Instead he hands her the donut, her fingers accidentally brush against his, and pushes his back against the wall. Hand shoved in his pocket while the other holds a donut.
"So, I talked to Francine today," he bites into the donut and the scent of raspberry jelly fills her nose. That, mixed with whatever emotion she was getting from hearing the comment made her head ache.
"Oh?" she glares down at the top of her desk as if donuts and paperwork were more important than him at the moment.
It isn't until the last bite is gone that she sees him turn to her. Pressing one paw on the table while the other briefly pats her head, "Your bunny instincts are wrong. She doesn't like me. In fact she's married."
"Wh-" she doesn't realize it until she snaps her head toward him that he's closer than she thought. So close that her nose bumps against his. She mumbles out an apology, but he doesn't respond. His sly smile gone replaced with an eyebrow raise and a deep breath that hits her. She tries breathing herself, but it's hard to do when she's wondering what would happen if she just moves forward a little. But she doesn't have to because he's pressing his lips to hers and she can finally breathe.
The kiss ends as quickly as it starts. Her hazy eyes stare deeply into his half-lidded ones, "I thought you didn't do relationships."
"For you, sweetheart," he pecks her lips once more, "Anything."