Deeks sauntered into the bullpen — empty of worker-bees save for his partner sitting at her desk and reading a large paperback book as she waited for the rest of her teammates to arrive.

"Whatcha reading there?" he questioned conversationally, dropping his messenger bag onto his chair as he passed it on his way to her side.

But Kensi slammed the book closed and tried to hide it under the mess of papers cluttering her desk.

"Nothing," she replied with unconvincing innocence, propping an elbow firmly on top of the spot she'd shoved her book under and attempting to feign nonchalance as she smiled up at her partner.

A curious grin spread across Deeks' face. "Kensi…" he drawled suspiciously. "Getting your Playgirl fix this early in the morning? Well, I guess it's noon somewhere."

And he reached for the corner of her book that was peeking out from the bottom of its paper pile.

Kensi slapped both hands onto it to hold it down. "No — Deeks. Leave it alone!"

But he'd already pried it out of her grasp and his eyes were fixed on its cover with great interest. "Oh…Kensalina," he tsk-ed with a teasing patronization. "I am surprised at you. Cooking for Dummies? Really?"

"Give it back." Kensi grabbed for it, but her partner jerked it just out of her reach.

"Wow." Deeks flipped through several pages, skimming its contents as if he were absorbing a new case file. "You know…if you wanted to learn how to cook, all you had to do was ask me."

Kensi snatched the publication back out of his hands. "I do know how to cook. I just choose not to."

"Which is why you've got a book about cooking," he pointed out, not even bothering to reaffirm the fact that she truly did not know how to cook even if she claimed she did. They both knew the truth, even if she did try to deny it.

She noncommittally shrugged a shoulder. "Exactly."

Deeks laughed. "Okay, that makes no sense whatsoever."

He plucked the book from her fingers once more, partly to annoy her but mostly because he really didn't think she actually needed that book. "You might as well toss this thing, because I'm dead serious when I say I can teach you far more in the kitchen than this lousy book ever will."

Kensi gave a derisive snort that was more than a little insulting. "There is nothing that you can teach me in the kitchen."

"Uh, there is actually a lot I can teach you in the kitchen," Deeks contradicted stoutly, recalling many of his partner's culinary disasters that he'd been privy to. "In fact, there is pretty much everything I can teach you in the kitchen. And I'm perfectly willing to. Just say the word…unless, of course, you're afraid."

Kensi opened her mouth to refute that too, but was cut off by Callen's voice as he rounded the corner with Sam right behind him.

"What are we talking about?" Callen questioned, striding toward his desk where it stood beside Kensi's.

Kensi's eyes begged her partner not to betray her to the rest of their teammates. Who knew what kind of teasing she'd endure from them if they knew she was actually thinking of using that book to sharpen her nonexistent cooking skills?

"Cooking for Dummies." Sam's keen eyesight spied the cover of the book in Deeks' hands from several yards away. "Do I even want to know?"

"Kensi was just giving me a gag gift," Deeks gallantly misled their teammates to spare Kensi's dignity. "You know...since I already know how to cook. Really well, actually. You guys ever tasted my lasagna? To die for," he rambled lightly as he tended to do. "Alright, I'm just gonna…put my book away now. For…safekeeping."

Thankfully at that moment Eric whistled for their attention up in Ops, preventing whatever comradely ragging was sure to follow from Sam or Callen.

Deeks made a small show of poking Kensi's book into his messenger bag, but hung back as the two senior agents took the lead up the stairs to Ops.

With a "Psst!" he tossed the book back to Kensi, who shoved it into her own bag and then hurried after him.

"Alright, Paula Deen," Kensi voiced quietly in his ear, grateful for his discretion. Accepting his challenge for her to learn cooking from him instead of a book, she said, "You're on."

Deeks' grin returned to his face as he anticipated whatever fun that should come about from cooking with Kensi.