Title: Candlelight and Cuddles
Author: Ponytales
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jess/Lester
Spoilers: 5.1
Summery: Paperwork, a violent storm and dinner lead to something more.
Denial Secret Santa for Sunspecops. I hope you like it!
A/N: In this story Lester is divorced and has been for years.
Beta'd by the lovely Fredbassett! Any mistakes you spot are totally mine.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
'If you were an insect, would you want to eat Connor?' Lester's casually callous words rattled around in her brain for the rest of the day. Even after Connor and Matt managed to survive the explosion in the shopping centre, Jess was still bothered by that one offhand comment.
She was long-accustomed to Lester's rough edges, and normally she let his snarky remarks just roll off her back but something about this one had got under her skin. It was remarkably cold, even for him. It made her wonder why she also thought he was cute, in a 'don't get too close' sort of way.
Connor had been dragged down into the earth by an enormous creature and Lester's only reaction was a comment on how tasty he would be? With much effort, Jess forced herself to calm down. She entered her flat and dropped her bag on the couch while she kicked off her shoes.
A glass of wine, that's what she needed. It had been a very long day, even without Lester aggravating her. The shopping centre explosion had to be covered up, the police had to be kept away and someone had to deal with the media. Since Lester still hadn't hired a replacement for Jenny that fell to Jess to script and one of Becker's men to read out for the benefit of the crowd that had gathered.
More reasons he had annoyed her today. Jess went digging through her bag for her phone to see if any of her mates wanted to come over for a drink when she saw a stack of papers shoved into the top.
"Oh bloody hell." Jess pulled them out. The documents were the final police reports, highly classified, definitely not supposed to be taken out of the ARC. She had printed them off... and Becker had come over to the detector, bored and flirting. Instead of taking them up to Lester to sign, she must have absently stuffed them in her bag. Then it was nearly seven and past time to go home.
"Shit, shit, shit," she cursed roundly. These reports had to be initialed and put with the others for the minister to review. All the others had already been faxed over. The missing police reports would be a huge, glaring error that would stand out like a stegosaurus in the House of Lords!
There was nothing for it. She was going to have to take them over to Lester to sign tonight and hopefully he wouldn't be too cross that she'd accidentally taken them home. If they were faxed late... well... that wasn't nearly as bad as being completely missing because some absentminded birdbrain took them home.
Jess kept up the profanity in her head as she picked up her phone and dialed Lester's number. She almost didn't want him to answer, she was so embarrassed at her mistake, and mortified that she had screwed up in front of Lester, of all people. Of all the possible workplace crushes, why this one and why now?
It was really Becker's fault. If he hadn't been bored with reading fifteen identical after-action reports he wouldn't have come over to flirt, and she knew he didn't mean anything by it. He flirted with Abby. Hell, he flirted with Connor sometimes just for a change of pace. She'd even seen him chatting up an EMD once when he forgot that there was a camera in the armoury.
Jess had a theory that he would flirt with the wall if he was locked in solitary confinement, but that really wasn't solving her problems now.
Lester's phone rang once... twice... again... she hoped that it would just go to voicemail - but then he answered. Damn.
"Hello." Just as brisk and businesslike as ever. If only he knew what his silky smooth voice did to her sometimes.
'Down girl', Jess told herself sternly and made a firm resolution to go out and get laid at some point in the near future. This was getting out of hand.
"Yes. Hello. Um - I seem to have, accidentally, brought some papers home and they, um, need to be signed and faxed to the minister's office."
He sounded unimpressed. "So? Bring them in tomorrow. I'll deal with it then."
Jess gave a nervous little tittering laugh and hated how young it made her sound. "Yes, well, these are... important papers. I need you to sign them and I'll fax them tonight."
He certainly wasn't stupid. "These papers are part of today's reports? To our new minister? The 'have it on my desk by seven or else', minister?"
"Yeah..."
Even over the phone, she could hear him groan and she could just picture the look on his face. The, 'what did I do to deserve this?' look. Jess firmed up her nerves. It was childish to blame Becker, but right now she didn't care. She looked like an idiot in front of Lester and it was all his fault!
Jess jotted down directions to Lester's flat and looked regretfully at the untouched glass of wine on the counter. At least she wouldn't show up with alcohol on her breath. That was something, at least. Now he would just think of her as a ditz, instead of a ditz and a lush.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The sky was darkening, and the clouds were balling up like it was going to pour down later. Jess stepped out of her car and shivered. The temperature had dropped even in the fifteen minutes it had taken her to drive over.
She walked up to Lester's flat and tried to look confident. Look confident then feel confident! It didn't seem to work, especially not when she had just the slightest little bit of crush on her boss. Jess spared a moment to wonder why her life was so screwed up before she knocked, softer than she meant, and waited. He swung the door open just a moment later.
He looked... amused. He was most definitely not allowed to be amused at her mistake. Jess tried to remember that glaring at the boss wasn't a good career move and followed him inside.
It seemed that she had caught him making dinner. Something smelled delicious. He cooked. Who knew? She abruptly remembered his remark about Connor earlier and stiffened her resolve to be annoyed with him, but not visibly. It was hard. He had changed into a nice polo shirt and blue jeans. He looked younger and more relaxed than when he was in the office. If only he wasn't her boss... she derailed that train of thought as soon as it sprung up. As it had a tendency to do with distressing regularity.
Jess watched him as he quickly glanced over the police reports and signed at the bottom. His hair was getting a little long, she noted idly. He needed to get another haircut. Another observation she kept to herself. It was bad enough that she had straightened his tie today, and patted his jacket flat. He didn't seem to have noticed her attention was anything but professional interest.
Unlike now. Jess flushed as she realized that he was watching her out of the corner of his eye. He looked back down at the last paper and smiled, very smugly. Already feeling off-balance from making one of her very rare mistakes, Jess struggled to restore her equilibrium.
Naturally, by speaking without thinking.
"Why did you say that mean thing about Connor today?" She wished the words back as soon as she said them. Outside, the thunder rolled and the lightning crashed as the storm finally broke.
He seemed honestly puzzled, and a little surprised. "Which mean thing? I say so many you can't expect me to recall them all."
Jess tossed him a baleful look as she gathered up all the papers. It gave her a good opportunity to keep her eyes off him. "When that creature had him. You said, 'If you were an insect, would you want to eat Connor?' He could have been dead then!"
Lester seemed honestly taken back by her outburst. "That? Connor always survives. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Connor's been lucky!" she protested. "That doesn't mean he's always going to live." Jess tried to argue her point, without sounding like a ninny.
Lester merely looked at her, with an inscrutable expression on his face. "Come on," he said abruptly as he started walking down the hallway. "I want to show you something."
Jess followed him, curious and a little annoyed at herself for not keeping her emotions under better lockdown. She noted idly he kept the theme of white, minimalist and elegant throughout his flat. Lester went into a room that could only be his home office, with bookshelves lining every wall. The books gave the only splashes of color to the room, and set off the large, antique desk with the computer very nicely.
It was a lovely room. Lester sat down and booted up his computer. "Let me show you something," he repeated and quickly opened a photo file. Before Jess could question why exactly he had a file labeled 'Connor Temple', the screen was filled with a slightly out of focus photo of Connor, flat on his back in a road, with a T-rex leaning down and sniffing him.
It was close enough that it was drooling on him. Connor looked terrified.
Jess leaned over his shoulder to get a better look, engrossed in the photo but not enough to not notice that she was close enough to smell his cologne. "When was that?"
"A little over a year ago. That's a G-rex, it had him bang to rights, and all it did was sniff at him like it was a puppy. It's security camera footage from the airport." He moved out of the chair and motioned for her to sit down.
Jess did, resolving to reread the file on that anomaly. "I knew about that, but no one mentioned that it was that close! Look at the teeth!"
"I know." Lester sounded smug. "Look at this one." He pulled up another photo, and another. All of them were Connor, in a situation that would have resulted in anyone else's immediate, agonizing death.
She was shaken by the time the impromptu sideshow had finished. Jess watched things like this on CCTV all day during incursions, but being shown over and over situations like that... it really hit home, especially considering the events of the past day.
"Now you see?" Lester said gently, "I wasn't trying to be cruel. I'm just used to Connor always living, no matter what happens. He came back from the bloody Cretaceous!"
He sounded... proud. Jess suddenly had a flash of insight. "You do like us."
Lester snorted. "Repeat that slander and you'll be hearing from my lawyer."
"No really, you do." Jess pressed her point. "You do like us. You saved the Abby's creatures. You keep photos on your personal computer. Your grumpiness is all an act."
He glared and tried to look stern. She giggled and felt wonderful. An alarm going off distracted him from whatever snarky thing he was about to say.
"Oh damn, I forgot about my chicken!" He spun and walked out to rescue his dinner. Jess looked back at the computer. She knew she shouldn't... before she could talk herself out of it she opened the file and went up a level in the directory. He had every photos of every member of the team, even Cutter and Hart. Even her. Jess clicked on her name.
A picture that Connor had taken, of her and Abby playing with Sid and Nancy. Another picture of her and Emily and Matt when they decided to introduce Emily to the joys of ice cream shops. She didn't realize that Connor gave some copies of his photos to Lester.
Interesting... Jess closed it and went out before he caught her snooping.
The storm was really coming down, making the lights flicker. Jess was abruptly reminded of why she was over here. "Can I use your fax machine to send these papers?"
"Of course." Lester didn't look up from the tray of something delicious smelling he was poking at with a spatula. "Jess... have you eaten dinner?"
She blushed. "Uh, no, but... I shouldn't stay. It's not exactly appropriate."
Lester shrugged. "Technically, you work for Prospero, not me. Besides, it's raining so hard you can't drive in this." He jerked his head to the sliding glass doors that led to his balcony. "I can't even see the railing outside. It's not safe."
"I can drive in bad weather!" Jess protested even as she walked over to the doors. He was right. It was black as pitch outside, the storm was blowing hard. "What do you mean I work for Prospero? You hired me."
Lester looked guilty, briefly. "Yes well... your paychecks come out of their portion of the budget, not mine."
Jess didn't even try to tamp down her sudden outrage. "You mean all the times you've had me look things up on the internet, and file things for you, and proof-read and... and..." She was at a complete loss for words.
"I will admit I may have taken shameless advantage of your good nature -" Lester chose his words carefully, to no avail.
"Shameless advantage is putting it right! You're hiring an assistant tomorrow. Or else." Jess threatened him roundly, poking him in the chest with her finger, without even really realizing that she had allowed her annoyance to carry her into his personal space for the second time in five minutes.
"So at least let me feed you dinner to make up for it." He managed to look conciliatory without actually pouting as he grabbed her hand to keep her from jabbing at him.
He was holding her hand. That right there had Jess so flustered that momentarily forgot why she was annoyed. He seemed to realize why she shut up and dropped her hand, turning hastily towards the stove top. Jess took that opportunity to get herself under control.
"You're right. It's wretched outside. I'll go fax these papers now." She ignored all the little voices in her head that were screaming that this was such a bad idea. "What's for dinner?"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Homemade chicken marsala, with homemade garlic bread and a bottle of truly excellent white wine. It was probably from his family's vineyard or something. She knew he was picky bordering on fussy, very neat and had excellent taste based on the various restaurant and theatre reservations he had got her to make for him over the past year, but the fact that he was a very accomplished cook was beyond her imagination.
He was the perfect man, if only he wasn't twenty years older than her and if not her boss, a senior manager at her dream job.
Jess limited herself to one glass and the storm showed no signs of letting up at all. They were halfway through the meal, chatting about politics and theatre when the lights flickered again, and then went out.
"Oh damn," Lester cursed. "Wait here a second."
"It's not like I'm going anywhere." The flat was pitch-black. She heard him walking off, walking into something, cursing, and the slight noise of a cupboard being opened. The flash of a match illuminated the hallway briefly before it dimmed.
"It seems we're going to finish our dinner by candlelight," he said with a rueful chuckle. Jess waited as he brought out a half dozen candles and set them on the table, lighting them all quickly, efficiently.
To take her mind off the realization that he had apple scented candles in his cupboard, she checked her phone for the emergency weather report. "It's supposed to keep storming hard all night, and the power is out for half the city."
He seemed troubled as he slid back into his seat. "Jess... I have a second bedroom. You could stay here tonight. It sounds like it would be more trouble than it's worth to try to make it home tonight."
Jess wanted to argue with him, for more reasons than he knew, but the angry red weather map over the city dissuaded her. "I suppose. It's wretched out there." She tucked a stray hair back behind her ear. "You're sure you're not my boss?"
He actually laughed. "I'm positive. If you read the fine print in your contract, you work for Prospero, not me. Besides, we don't have to tell anyone you stayed and even if we did, this storm is dangerous. I would be remiss if I sent you out into it."
"All right then. I'll stay. Just because of the storm," she said just a touch more insistently than she would have if didn't have a crush on him and maybe if there was a chance in hell - but there wasn't. Jess tamped her hormones down and tried to resist the atmosphere of the flickering candles.
He seemed to take that with grudging agreement to stay with his typical stylish good grace. Lester replied playfully, "Did I insinuate anything else?
Jess smiled. "No, you didn't. Don't mind me. I talk too much when I drink."
"You had one glass."
"This is good wine. One is enough."
"I see. In that case, stay away from the punch at the holiday party. Between Connor and Becker it's more vodka than punch."
Jess laughed. "Can't wait. That's probably going to be the next party I go too."
He looked surprised and chose his words carefully. "Really? I thought you wouldn't lack for boyfriends."
"Ha! I tend to scare men off. I can't tell them what I do. I can't talk about my day and after a typical day at work... the usual male posturing is really annoying."
Lester seemed to think about that deeply for a few seconds. "Yes. I can see how that would be a problem."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
After supper Lester led her down the hallway to the second bedroom. "This is where Connor stayed when he lived here. I cleaned it up and the sheets are fresh, but I'm not making any promises about what you might find if you dig around in here."
Jess surveyed the room. There was a stack of boxes against one wall, either Connor's or Lester's. She didn't ask which. The bed was neat and made up, as if he had company stay over all the time. It looked like a second bedroom, where all the miscellaneous things that didn't quite fit anywhere else got shoved. It was nice to know that even Lester had clutter somewhere in his life.
"It's lovely." Jess yawned before she could help herself. It had been a long day.
"Let me get you something to sleep in." Lester vanished into his room, right next to hers and rummaged around in his dresser. Jess looked in while he was focused on clothes. She couldn't tell much by candlelight and she quickly looked out into the hall again. That was the absolute last thing she needed, him to catch her eying his bed.
"I hope you like silk pajamas," Lester said as he pressed some clothes into her hands. "The bathroom is right across the hall. There are towels under the sink. I've got a kindle, if you want something to read before bed."
Jess tried to suppress her grin. "That's all right, Lester, I've got some books on my phone."
"Well then." He seemed at a loss for words. "Under the circumstances, I think you can call me James." The look on his face gave away that he was worried he would take that the wrong way.
Instead, she giggled. "All right, James. I'm just going to take my candle and get a shower."
He smiled at her. "Good night, Jess."
"Good night, James."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Mindful that the hot water heater wouldn't be working, Jess showered at record speed for her, making use of the bin full of hotel toiletries that was beside the sink.
It was only a few minutes later before Jess was snuggled under the duvet, blowing out the candle and enjoying the sound of the rain pouring down outside. The only thing that would make it better would be if she wasn't snuggled in bed alone.
Alone. Jess let herself daydream back over the evening. He cooked! He'd held her hand, to keep her from poking him, but he held it. The smell of his cologne when she was leaning over his shoulder and the way he looked when he smiled in the candlelight just capped off her evening. The way he looked when he was totally relaxed and smiling. Smiling at her. This wasn't even a date and it had been more fun than the last two dates she had been on.
If only he had any interest in her at all! Jess huddled deeper in the duvet and let herself fantasize briefly that it all actually meant something before she finally fell asleep.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Jess woke up hours later as an especially loud crack of thunder rattled the window. She blinked fuzzily, trying to figure out why her bed felt so different before it all came back to her. She had to pee.
She fumbled her way out of the bed and groped across the way for the door. She walked with her hands straight ahead of her trying to find the bathroom door. The power was still out, as her futile flipping of the switch resulted in nothing.
Jess managed to get everything accomplished anyway and, still half-asleep, she fumbled her way back to her room. When her hand found a doorknob in the pitch blackness she only had a tiny little dim voice inside of her wondering, 'Why was the door shut? Didn't I leave it open?' but she was still too asleep to wonder about that as she pulled the duvet back and crawled back into bed. She was back asleep before her head hit the pillow, and certainly too far gone to hear a very surprised James saying her name.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
James started to wake up when he heard his bedroom door open. By the time he was awake enough to realize that Jess was evidently sleepwalking, her soft, even breathing told him that she was back asleep. In his bed. At least he'd slept with his boxers on tonight.
His body fought to go back to sleep, and he muzzily thought about getting up and finishing the night in her room, or on the couch - but it was cold out there, and anyway he was warm and cozy and she'd come into his room so why should he be the one displaced? Before he could talk himself into doing the chivalrous thing, he joined her in sleep.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
At some point during the night the power came back on. The beeping of his alarm woke them both up. James reached out with one hand and punched it off before sinking back into the soft mattress. His other hand was slung over something. Someone. The knowledge of his middle of the night visitor came rushing back at him. He froze.
Jess was awake, looking at him from barely a foot away with her head on the other pillow. The red light from the digital alarm clock left more of her face in shadows than it illuminated. He couldn't tell if she was cross or not. Or even if she was awake enough to be cross.
"What are you doing in here?" she mumbled at him with the duvet pulled up to her chin, barely audible enough to be understood.
"You're in here. You sleepwalked."
"I do not."
"Do so."
Jess raised her head up into the cold room just long enough to ascertain that yes, he wasn't lying. "Bugger."
"I don't know about that. It could have been worse for me," he said dryly. "Connor could have had a sleepwalking problem."
The sheer absurdity of that statement had her laughing and she inched imperceptibly closer to his warmth. She was lying on her stomach, with his arm resting protectively on her back. The pull of silk and heat under his hand was too much, and he started to run his fingers in a gentle circle without even realizing it.
"What time is it?" Jess asked when she was awake enough to think properly.
"Five."
He felt her tense under his hand. "Why on earth do you get up so early? You don't have to be at work until eight."
"I don't like to be rushed in the mornings. Besides, I don't get out of bed when the first few alarms go off."
"I'm in your bed."
"Well spotted."
"Shouldn't you be upset about that?"
"Should I be? I don't see you scurrying off."
Jess pulled her head even farther under the covers, until only her eyes showed. "It's cold out there. And your hand feels nice."
There was enough light for him to tell that she hadn't meant to say that. "Does it?" He held his breath.
"Yes. It does. You give good back rubs."
He chuckled and noticed how it made her shiver. "Not that this matters... but we did establish yesterday that you don't actually work for me. You'd be well within your rights to tell me to get stuffed if I told you to do anything beyond monitor the detector and coordinate the field team."
"Is that so?" Jess seemed remarkably pleased with that.
"Positive. Burton even does your employee appraisals."
"Can we not talk about Burton at this present moment?" Jess inched closer to him under the duvet.
"Can't think why I brought him up." James's mouth suddenly went dry as he realized that Jess was thinking exactly what he was thinking - and she was suddenly kissing him.
He kissed her back, savoring the taste of her. He could tell that she was surprised by that before she pushed him back into the pillows. When they finally broke apart she was lying half on him and he had his arms firmly around her slender waist.
They were both breathing heavily. "So. How long have you fancied me?" Jess asked him breathlessly as she curled into his side.
"A while. A few months. I think it was when you tried to talk me out of seeing that dreadful play."
She laughed and he could feel her whole body shake. "It started that long ago? How on earth did I not catch you staring at me?"
"Because I'm much better at checking someone out without getting caught than you are," James replied cheekily.
"Is that so?"
"That is so. In fact -" He was about to go on about the angle of the computer monitors and his glass office walls, but she wasn't having any of it. She kissed him again just to shut him up.
THE END