Author: Gypsy and The Dreamy One
Comments: Sure. Flames and Kisses are welcome all the same. gypsybaby1@attbi.com
Spoilers: None.
Archive: Please ask first.
Summary:
Disclaimers: The characters (Donovan, Jake, Alex, and Cody) involved the property of NBC Entertainment, a division of the National Broadcasting Company. No copyright infringement is intended. Original characters - Frankie, Shay, the babies, Thomas and any others - however, are the property of the author. So this means you can't sue us. Unless you want my car payment, collection of river rocks, unique goblets and our clones... who only mind us...
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Two months. Two long months he'd been under. More than once he found himself wanting to call Frank and get pulled off of the case. Two months was too damned long to be away from his wife, his Firecracker, and their daughter. She was a year old now, turned 1 last month. He'd managed to get some private time away and call Frankie. The ache in her voice was too obvious despite all the efforts she took to hide it.
"I miss you darlin'." Frankie whispered.
"I know. It's just a little while longer."
"I know Jake. But," she didn't finish. Long ago, when she accepted his proposal, she'd told herself and him that she would make no demands on his job. Not even when Quito Real held her and their daughter hostage did she ask him to change jobs or anything else.
"But what baby?"
"Nothing M'Love. You really shouldn't have called. It might not be smart to call until you're done."
"Francesca, I miss you, I can't stand this. I'm calling Frank."
"NO! Don't you dare do that. Don't you blame me for this case!"
"I'm not doing that! Look, I should be at home with you and Jessie. I should have been there for her birthday and for her first steps."
"Baby... stop. You're a Federal Agent and you can't change that fact. I knew it when I married you, I knew it when I carried Jessie, I know it now. This is just the absence that makes the heart grow fonder. Just remember that I love you and we're both waiting for you to come home."
"Francesca... Petardo..."
Her voice cracked on the other end and he knew she was shedding silent tears. "Hang up the phone and go on." As if to save him the pain of doing it, Frankie had hung up the phone softly on him.
Jake stood there, the receiver for the payphone in his hand still. Tears flowed down his cheeks as his forehead rested on the glass wall of the phone booth. Sweet Jesus he missed his wife something fierce. He never knew that he could miss anyone that badly until now.
He lifted the snifter to his lips and took a slight sip of the rich brown liquid inside the bowl. The brandy burned his lips on its way down, singed his throat and set fire to his insides. It was a numbing fire however. Anything, something, to take the edge off of his pain and ache for his wife and child. Why the hell was he doing this, this case, this UC stint? He was so immersed in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the ribbing and joking of the men around him.
"DAMN that is one hot woman!"
"Oh cool it Mikey, she's been staring at Ricky ever since she sat down."
Jake looked up at Rooney. For the last few months he'd been portraying Ricardo 'Ricky' Coratta in a ring similar to Sonny Walker's unit. The only fly in the ointment was that the ring was laying low for a while. The job before Jake joined had gone bad. Rooney was the head of the group and he decided that it was time to cool down, lay low and let the fervor die down before they hit another bank.
"Where ya been Ricky? Haven't you heard a word we've said?"
"Naw," Jake shrugged with that little boy smile of his. "I've been contemplating the secrets of the universe according to Hennessy." He lifted his snifter in mock salute to Rooney. This brought out a round of laughter in all the guys present.
Rooney, Mikey, Edwin, Deuce, and Ricky. One big happy family. One that Jake would gladly have left to go home to his own. But, just as he laid the rim of his glass to his lower lip, his dark eyes caught the pair of eyes that had been watching him all night long according to Rooney. His hand froze, the brandy untouched further as he took in the vision before him. Mikey was right, she was hot.
The woman down the bar smiled. He'd finally noticed her. Her green eyes drifted down over his face slowly, taking in every inch of it from the deep dark eyes to the fuller lower lip that curved in a little boy's smile every now and then. Just a few minutes ago, he looked lost and in a pit of despair, like he'd rather be somewhere else with someone else. Jackie smiled. He was a very handsome man to say the least. She wanted him. And Jacqueline always got what she wanted.
Jake watched her for a moment, his eyes sweeping down her body. He once again was oblivious to the ribs and teases of his cohorts. She was trim, but curved in all the right places. Curves like hers were dangerous he thought. She took care of her body, that was obvious. And she was a classy sort of woman too. That was apparent in her style of dress and the way she carried herself as she sat at the bar, coyly watching him. She was sheathed in a dark green sleeveless dress that didn't quite make it to her knees, but instead hovered just beyond mid-thigh. Her legs were long and tapered elegantly formed and crossed one over the other. Her feet were slender, clad in black pumps that he guessed were either Prada or some other designer. She wore no jewelry save for a pair of studs in her ears and a small solitaire at the base of her throat. Her auburn hair was twisted up into a sleek French Twist at the back of her head.
She smiled again. He was watching her so intently she could see him rise to the occasion behind the shelter of the bar. With a chuckle, she lifted the snifter to her lips and took a liberal sip of the double Hennessy. The liquor burned its way down her throat as she swallowed. Purring softly, she set the glass down and reached for her purse.
Jake groaned softly, his groin now throbbing. For some God-forsaken reason the mere movement of her throat swallowing the liquor in her glass was highly erotic. And she was walking this way. As she approached, the snickers and teases died down to curious silence.
"Hello."
Jake blinked. Her voice was as mellow and warm as the brandy he was drinking, with a slightly British accent. And she had green eyes. Green eyes that stared right into his as he stared at her in return. After a few karmic seconds, he found himself smiling and responding with a charming "Hello."
Jackie smiled and sat down on the stool next to him. The bartender brought her another Hennessy neat and cradling it in her fingers, she turned towards him. "Jacqueline." Her green eyes flicked to the brandy snifter in his hand. "Jacqueline Hennessy. You can call me Jackie."
Jake's eyes flicked between the snifter in his hand and her face. The corner of his lips crooked up into a smile. "Ricky Coratta. It's a pleasure to meet you." He grasped her hand gently in his, but held it instead of shaking it. The electricity running between them was almost painful. He felt himself pulling her hand to his lips to kiss the back of her hand. "A real pleasure Jacqueline," he added huskily.
She smiled again. Oh yeah, he wanted her and how. She could hear it in his voice, feel it in the way he held her hand. Slowly she ran her tongue over her bottom lip and leaned forward. "I know this is a bit forward, but forgive me. I see what I want and go after it."
Jake smiled as he spoke. "And what is it you want?"
"You, in my bed." she said with a soft voice and a wink of her eye.
Jake's smile faltered for a second. His left hand still grasped hers and his eyes flicked down to the third finger. He was married. He had a child. But if he didn't go with her, or pretend to go with her, then the guys would suspect something. For what possible reason on earth would a single, red-blooded American male refuse this woman, this vision of loveliness before him? He blinked slowly as he felt something gliding up his inner thigh. He looked down to see Jackie's hand massaging the muscles of his inner thigh sensuously, inching closer to his stiffening member. 'Traitor' he thought. 'Betrayed by my own body.
"C'mon," she whispered as her hand found the swelling traitor. Her eyes lit with a brazen fire as she saw the reaction she wanted on his face. "Let's go."
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