"You look a little tired there, Stell."
She looked up to see Flack standing next to her, a small smirk on his face. Inwardly groaning, she wondered how bad she actually looked…but she knew there wasn't enough makeup in the world to cover the circles under her eyes.
"Late night," she mumbled, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Having some St. Paddy's Day fun?" he asked.
Stella closed her eyes, placing a hand on her temple. "Let's just say I'm extremely relieved that I woke up in my own bed, alone and fully clothed."
Don laughed out loud at that, turning to look at her. "How much did you have to drink exactly?"
"More than any one human ever should."
Shaking his head, he continued to chuckle. "Well, at least you don't have any embarrassing mistakes to remind you, right?" He saw something flash across her eyes, and a slow blush creep up her neck. "Stell…"
"I didn't completely survive the night unscathed."
"You know you have to tell me now, right?"
She cringed. "Don –"
"Oh come on, Stell. It can't be that bad."
She looked at him, seeing the childlike glee in his eyes. She was embarrassed as hell about what she had done, but at the same time…she was sure that Don Flack had had his share of embarrassing drunken moments.
"You can't tell a soul," she said firmly. "If you do, I will kill you – slowly and painfully."
That only made his eyes grow brighter. He was practically bouncing on his heels. "I swear."
Glaring at him once more, Stella lifted up the hem of her shirt. Right in the center of her bellybutton hung a shiny green shamrock. Don's eyes widened.
"You got your bellybutton pierced?"
She yanked her shirt down. "Not a word," she gritted out.
"Not a word," he repeated, trying to keep a straight face.
But as they focused on the crime scene in front of them, Flack's mind refused to stay put. He couldn't help but think back to that little green shamrock…and how perfectly it rested on Stella's stomach. Shaking his head, he inwardly cursed himself for thinking of a coworker and a friend like that. But try as he might, he couldn't get the image out of his head.
