She sat lonely in her apartment, wishing her dinner with Lacey hadn't ended so quickly. She had been wishing a lot lately for her time with Lacey to be longer, almost like asking for five more minutes in the morning when she wakes up. These past few years had been tough. With the accident and a divorce, Meghan spent most of her time piecing her life back together or hiding from the real world wrist deep in the blood and guts of some poor unfortunate murder victim. Now, just as things appeared to be on the up and up, she found out that her husband was sleeping with her boss. She quietly wondered to herself, how much more can I take.
Earlier that day, her co-worker and newly found friend had asked her why the relationship, or whatever it is, bothered her so much. He had some nerve asking her a question like that. He obviously didn't understand women and the unspoken rules that are in place when it comes to exes. Kate had broken one of those unspoken rules, and she wasn't sure if she could forgive her for it. She had crossed a line that was firmly put in place by the years that she and Todd had spent together. They had a child together, and now as she had finally begun to move past the divorce he barges into her work life, the only solace in the storm that was her life. He was in disbelief when she confronted him about the relationship, but what really made her furious was the comment that he carelessly tossed at her without second thought. " I know you haven't been a nun for all of these years." he exclaimed with all the anger he could find. She had played those words over in her mind, and after thinking over the past few years, she could honestly say that she had. She went on a casual date here and there, but there was nothing serious.
As all of the events from the day flooded her mind, she heard a knock at the door. She jumped from her sofa, obviously startled out of her deep thought. She quickly moved to the door, absent absentmindedly straightening up the neurology magazines tossed on the coffee table. When she reached the peep hole, she looked through to find a familiar face with a bottle of red wine, and a brown bag. She cursed to herself. It was Peter.
Peter always had a strange way of opening up the floodgates of her mind. He always found a way to make her spill what she was feeling, an ability that was both endearing and annoying. She had developed a slight attraction to her handsome colleague, and since the discovery, she had tried to put space between her and him hoping to keep away from an inappropriate romantic relationship. She hoped that the evening would be strictly professional, but judging from the bottle of wine, Peter intended to comfort or lecture her. She slowly put on a polite grin, and opened the apartment door.
"Hi!" She said with forced excitement. "What's up" she said as she ushered him in closing the door behind them.
"You seemed upset when you left today, and I know you had a dinner with Lacey tonight. I figured you might need this." he said as he lifted the bottle of wine to eye level.
She giggled and brushed some stray strands of hair from her face. "My dinner went very well, but it was the only thing that went well today." she said thinking back to the day's events and turning the corners of her mouth in the opposite direction.
He placed the bag and the bottle of wine on the counter, walked slowly towards her, and wrapped his strong and muscular arms around her tiny frame. She was obviously taken back by the gesture, but she soon came to and returned the embrace. He leaned back and looked into her eyes. "This is why I came over. I figured you needed someone to talk to about all of this." he said stepping back from her as if her were in pain. " I also came to apologize for my lecture earlier. I know it isn't easy for you seeing Todd and Kate together, and it was insensitive of me." he said holding her gaze.
She stood motionless, soaking in his speech. She had never expected an apology from him, and now that he had offered it she didn't know what to do. She quickly mustered up her best fake smile, and grabbed the bottle of wine. " How about we put this to use." she said grabbing to glasses from her cabinet.
Peter chuckled softly and moved into the living area of her apartment. Right off the bat he noticed the magazines that were neatly stacked on her coffee table. "Once a neurosurgeon, always a neurosurgeon." he said flipping through the pages.
She turned slightly embarrassed and said," Once a cop, always a cop. Something told me you would notice those as soon as you came in". She walked from the kitchen to the living area and motioned to the brown bag on the way over. "What's that?" she asked setting the glasses on the coffee table.
He walked over and took the bag from the counter. "Well, if I know one thing about women, it is that chocolate can help with any problem they might have." He emptied the bag on the coffee table and revealed several dark chocolate bars. " I didn't know what brand you like, but I picked you for a dark chocolate person on the first day I met you." he said moving closer to her.
She smiled and crossed her arms. "How did you know I like dark chocolate?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
He smiled and answered, " Well, you are obviously a health nut. At lunch you ordered a salad with no dressing, and water. Dark chocolate is the healthier of the chocolates." he said with a flirtatious tone.
She let out a quiet laugh and plopped down on the sofa. "I'm impressed. What else have you deciphered about me detective?" she asked with an equally flirty tone. She grabbed her glass of wine and realized the dangerous situation she now found herself in. She was sitting in her apartment, in dim light, with a very attractive co-worker, a bottle of wine, and a slight tugging in her stomach that told her to go for it. The look on her face quickly changed a look of discomfort. She took another large sip of wine that caused her to choke slightly on the liquid.
Peter was startled from his comfortable position on the couch, and he moved swiftly to Meghan's side gently patting her back and telling her to take slow breaths. Her violent bought of coughing subsided, and she was now left with Peter clutching her to his side, and a painful sore throat.
"Easy Meghan, it's not going anywhere." he joked, now completely sure that she was out of danger. He took her face in his hands and wiped away the few tears that had spilled onto her cheeks due to the violent coughing.
It was almost wrong how good it felt being this close to him. His scent was intoxicating to her, and his strong hands made her feel safe. Safe from choking on her wine, safe from her family issues, but most importantly safe in that he would be there for her when she needed him. She savored the intimate moment, and gently pulled his hands from her face. She found herself staring intensely at his lips, and she needed to get some space between them before she did anything rash. She quickly jumped up from her seat and walked into the kitchen leaving Peter with a puzzled look on his face. He took a moment to take in what had just happened, and moved slowly into the kitchen to her side.
"What's wrong?" he asked with a genuine look of concern in his eyes. He moved closer to her and placed his hand as close as he could to hers without actually touching it. She flinched and turned to look at him.
"Nothing." she lied looking down at the floor. She crossed her arms, and looked in any direction but his. "Today has just been extremely stressful, and that was the icing on the cake." She said sounding as if she might tear up.
He looked at her intensely hoping that she would meet his stare, but she had put up her barriers and there was little hope of getting any more personal information from her. "Let's go back and sit down, and I we can talk about something other than this awful day." he said motioning towards the sofa.
She followed him back to the living area and they talked comfortably for a while. He told her childhood stories that made her laugh like she hadn't in a long time, and she explained listened with undivided attention. Most of his comical anecdotes had a way of reminding her of Lacey which made her smile. All of a sudden, the comfortable banter stopped.
"Can I ask you for some advice?" she asked changing the mood in the room, and making Meghan shift from a comfortable position to a more upright position on the couch.
"Sure." she said obviously fearing the question he was about to ask.
He looked away almost as if he were trying to formulate what he was going to say and then turned back to her. " I know this girl." he said in a low voice looking intently at her trying to read her response.
His words knocked the wind out of her. It was the one thing she hadn't wanted to hear. Of all the things he could ask her advice on, why did it have to be this? She tried her best to look unfazed by his words, and quickly mustered up a response. "Go on." she forced out looking completely stoic.
"I have known her for a little while. She is a good person, a little high strung, but overall a really nice person to be around." he looked for the signal to continue, and got it when she stiffly nodded her head. " I have been thinking about her a lot, and I have been trying to work up the courage to ask her out on a date. What should I do about that?" he said confidently.
She pushed all of her feelings for him aside, and went into friend mode. As much as she wanted to tell him the wrong thing to do that would ruin the fledgling relationship, she couldn't do that to her friend. " I personally like a direct approach. If you are beating around the bush, it takes all of the excitement out of it. Most women prefer a man that acts like a man. Creativity is also a factor. No cheesy pick up lines or anything like that. Just do it, and don't put too much thought into it." she said as a slight tightness built up in her gut. She had just told the man that she had feelings for how to get a date with another woman.
" Is that so?" he said with an almost undetectable grin.
"Yep. It never fails confidence is a very attractive quality." she said turning to put her wine glass on the table. As she turned back to him, she felt his hands on her face, and almost instantly after that he covered her lips gently with his. He definitely took her by surprise, and it took her a second to fully understand what was going on. She kissed him back, and after a moment the two broke apart with giant smiles on their faces.
"Very sneaky Mr. Dunlop." she said breathlessly as his hands moved slowly from her face to her waist. She slowly moved her hands up his defined arms to the back of his neck.
"I thought so too." he said with a cocky tone. "So I was thinking we should go out on a date. Of course there would be no wine there. That has proved to be a choking hazard for you." he said with a chuckle.
"I guess I could pencil you in for some time. I have a very busy schedule." she said gently running her fingers through the back of his hair.
" Oh, I see. Well, do you have anything scheduled for tomorrow night at around seven?" he asked still confident.
"Let me think." she said looking as if she were deep in thought. " I may have to move some things around, but I could probably make time." she quipped as he closed the space between them once again.