Here is my submission for the CCOAC Valentine's Day Challenge. My chosen character was Jennifer Jareau. My assigned character was Aaron Hotchner. The promprs were candy hearts, chocolate syrup, a dozen red roses, edible panties/underpants, 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' by Elton John, and 'I Wanna Sex You Up' by Color Me Badd. I needed to use at least three. I chose to use them all.
In other news - I am currently working on the final two chapters for Sleight of Hand and I plan to get them both posted at the same time. You'll also be seeing more chapters of The Road Before Us and Though the Road Was Never Smooth in the near future.
In the meantime, I know some of you are often looking for different things to read - if you haven't already checked it out, I recommend SQ215's 'Soul Surfer'. The story is her Criminal Minds version of the movie Soul Surfer (which is based on the real life story of Bethany Hamilton - a surfer who survived a shark attack).
Now for a bit of a warning - if you came here looking for a fluffy JJ/Hotch pairing, you aren't going to find it because this story is not a JJ/Hotch pairing. Althoug, they are the main characters of the story. This actually could probably be considered the sequel to Christmas Magic Save via Cinnamon Stars for those of you that read and enjoyed that one shot.
I don't own Criminal Minds and if it's mysteriously disapeared I am not hiding it in my house, the trunk of my car or anywhere else. I swear.
As always, happy reading and enjoy :D
JJ walked down the aisle of the Valentine's Day seasonal shop humming along to 'I wanna Sex You Up' by Color Me Badd, as the lyrics were currently stuck in her head. 'Let me take off all your clothes. Disconnect the phone so nobody knows.' Then again with her plans for Valentine's this evening when she got home, how could she not have that song stuck in her head?
Will had graciously agreed to take Henry for the evening. Even thought things hadn't worked out for Will and JJ, he was still an excellent father and would never turn down an opportunity to spend more time with his son. So Will was picking him up in a few hours so that he and Henry could spend some father-son guy time together.
JJ smiled to herself as she dropped the last of her selections in her basket. She didn't really think she would need two pairs of edible panties… but better safe than sorry. Then she turned on her heel and headed out the end of the aisle for the register so that she could get home.
Unfortunately in her haste to exit the aisle, she wasn't watching where she was going and ran directing into someone. "Son of a..." JJ exclaimed as her basket of Valentine's Day goodies slipped out of her hand and upended on the floor at her feet and the well-polished shoes of the man she'd run into.
"Damn it" came a well-recognized voice from above JJ's head causing JJ to look up from the floor where her purchases were intermingled with those belonging to the of the owner of said well-polished shoes.
"H… H… Hot… Hot… Hotch?" JJ stuttered in absolute mortification as she tipped her head back up in shock from where she was staring at the floor. Not only had she run into her boss; not only had she run into her boss at this Valentine's shop of all places; not only had she run into her boss while purchasing the items she was purchasing, but all of her purchases and his were now intermingled together at their feet. Save, of course, for the dozen red roses he so gallantly held tucked underneath his arm.
JJ quickly dropped to the floor and righted their baskets, sorting items as quickly as possible. At least the chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and strawberries were already in the car from her stop at the grocery store. That saved her a little embarrassment.
She could only hope that she managed to get everything sorted before Hotch noticed the edible unmentionables that she had in her basket. 'Crap, where are they?' JJ thought to herself, as she attempted to avoid panicking. She wanted to get them tucked away underneath the card and stuffed frog for Henry before Hotch noticed them. 'What kind of freak would Hotch think she was if he saw that she was purchasing not one, but two pairs of edible panties?'
"JJ!" Hotch exclaimed as he dropped to his knees next to her. "Are you alright?" He asked as he worked to scoop all of the candy hearts and other treats he'd gotten for his Valentine's Day with Jack and their special guest back into his basket.
"I… I um… I think so." JJ replied sighing in relief that they'd managed to clean up the spill and it appeared that Hotch hadn't seen anything to cause any raised eyebrows on his part.
"So, do you have big plans for Valentine's Day?" Hotch asked as he stood up and offered JJ a hand, helping her to her feet.
JJ blushed at the thought of what was in her basket and what Hotch may or may not have seen. "Nothing too terribly exciting," She said as she stood up and brushed off the knees of her dress pants, holding her basket just a little closer, wanting nothing more than to escape her bosses piercing gaze. "but it looks like you have some big plans." She added with a grin, nodding to dozen red roses that Hotch was carrying as well as the basket full of candy hearts and other Valentine's Day candies and treats.
"I… yeah" Hotch blushed. He wasn't quite ready for the team to know about his Valentine just yet.
JJ glanced awkwardly down at her watch. "Well, I should probably get going. I need to get home before Will comes to pick up Henry for the night."
Hotch cleared his throat. "Yeah, I uh… I need to get going too."
"Alright see you tomorrow Hotch." JJ said as she headed for the checkout stand.
"Hey, where've you been?" Spence asked as she entered the door. "Will just called to say he'll be here soon to pick up Henry."
"I had to stop and pick up a few things for tonight." JJ said as she leaned up and kissed Spence hello.
"Oh well, let me help you with those." Spence said reaching for the couple of bags JJ was carrying.
"Nu uh. It's a surprise." JJ said as she swung the bags out of Spence's reach. "You get to find out later though, I promise." She replied with a sexy, self-satisfied smirk on her face.
"Okay… I'll just go uh play with Henry until Will gets here then." Spence said in confusion.
JJ set about unpacking and putting away everything. She put the strawberries, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream in the refrigerator. She pulled out the cute stuffed frog and card that she'd gotten for Henry. Then she headed to tuck the rest of the contents of the bag away in the bedroom until for later.
As she passed through the living room and down the hall to the bedroom, she noticed she was short one item in the bag. She paused in horror as she realized what had most likely happened to it. "OH SHIT!"
Henry's eyes got big where he sat next to Uncle Spence on the couch while they read one of his favorite books and waited for Daddy to come and pick him up for the night. "Mommy say a bad word Unca 'pence!"
"I know buddy… but um… Mommy didn't mean to… she uh probably stubbed her toe or something." Spence tried to explain.
"Oooooh" Henry said nodding with the perfect understanding of a three year old. "It hurt when I do dat."
"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" Spence asked. "But you know it still doesn't make it okay to say bad words right?"
"Uh huh" Henry nodded. "Read more Unca 'pence." He said tapping the book.
"Okay, so where were we?" Spence asked, waiting for Henry, bright boy that he was, to tell him where they were at in the story.
"For me?" Emily asked as she was greeted at the door to Hotch's apartment with a dozen roses.
"Well, I think you deserve roses for our first Valentine's Day together." Hotch said with a smile.
"Mm thank you" Emily moaned as she leaned in to kiss him hello. "So, what's the plan for tonight?"
"Well, I picked up a few movies and a few treats… and of course there's a heart shaped pizza in the refrigerator just waiting for us to bake it." Hotch replied with a grin. "I have to go let Jack know you're here. He made me promise to let him know as soon as you got here. He's been working on a top secret Valentine's Day project for you for the last week."
"Aww, I can't wait to see it." Emily replied.
"Can you maybe unpack the movies and all of the snacks and treats I got us for later?" Hotch asked as he turned and headed towards Jack's room. "I just didn't have a chance yet."
"Sure, no problem." Emily said as she dug into the bag. She smiled as she pulled out 'The Lion King, 'Romancing the Stone' and 'Jewel of the Nile'. Her smile grew as she pulled out heart shaped frosted sugar cookies, boxes of candy hearts, a big bag of dove chocolates, and a bag of popcorn. Aaron Hotchner certainly knew what she liked. Then, her eyes widened when you reached the lone remaining item at the bottom of the bag.
"Emily!" Jack yelled as he dashed out of his room. "I made this for you." he said with a big smile on his face.
"Hey Jack!" Emily said with a big smile on her face as she looked down at her favorite six year old. "Give me just one second and then you have my complete and undivided attention okay?"
Jack waited patiently as Emily looked at Daddy and handed him the bag she had been holding.
"Aaron, don't think I'm offended, because I am very much not." She said her eye flashing as she thought about the very promising night ahead of them while using the gift in the bag as she pressed it to his chest. "But I think you might want to go tuck this away in your room for later." She continued with a knowing raise of her eyebrow.
Hotch peeked in the bag, confused about what it could possibly be since he saw everything that he'd purchased sitting on the table waiting for them. One look inside the bag was all it took for him to flush crimson to match Emily's roses.
He realized at the very least Emily was right; they did need to be tucked away from little six year old eyes. Thank goodness it was Emily who had discovered them in the bag. 'How would he ever have explained fruit rollups shaped like underwear to Jack?'
What he couldn't figure out was how they had ended up in his bag. He certainly hadn't selected them… and then he remembered literally running into JJ. He scrubbed his hand over his face… 'how was he ever going to be able to look JJ and Reid in the eye ever again?'
"Good morning Em" JJ greeted cheerfully as she stepped up to the coffee pot behind Emily.
Emily grinned as she turned to face JJ. "Sounds like someone had a wonderful Valentine's Day last night."
JJ grinned. "There was a bit of a snafu at first, but everything worked out in the end… I hope." JJ said hopefully as she noticed Hotch walking along the catwalk to his office. "How about you? How was your hot date with the man that you've been insisting on keeping a secret?"
"It was sweet… but ended up being a lot hotter than I thought it was going to be." Emily replied.
"Yeah?" JJ asked. "What happened?" She asked, dropping her voice low so that they wouldn't be overheard.
"He greeted me at the door with a dozen red roses. He bought a bunch of Valentine's Day candy… you know some chocolate… some candy hearts… heart shaped cookies… we watched movies with his kid. He even sang along to 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' by Elton John while we were watching the 'Lion King'. He even picked up 'Romancing the Stone' and 'Jewel of the Nile' just to make me laugh."
JJ's eyes grew wide as she recognized that list of Valentine's Day treats and gifts. What were the odds? She however maintained her smile on the off chance that she was wrong. "Aww, that does sound sweet… but I don't understand what's supposed to be hot about that. I mean, I understand about men who get along with kids being a turn on… trust me, I do." JJ said as she glanced over her shoulder at Spence. "But…"
"Oh no, JJ. The hotness happened after his little boy went to bed… he bought edible panties." Emily said dropping her voice incredibly low.
JJ eyes got big and she nodded her head, unsure what to say. 'Surely this could no longer be considered a coincidence… could it?'
Emily took a sip of her coffee. "And I have to tell you… so hot. If you haven't tried it, you should." Emily said with a wink and then headed for her desk.
JJ stood there in total shock for more than just a moment. Then she glanced back and forth for a moment between Emily and Hotch's office. "No freakin' way" JJ uttered under her breath as Emily walked away.
She took a deep breath, then, she shrugged. It wasn't like they hadn't all seen this coming. JJ wondered who had this date in the betting pool. Odds were on Rossi. He was like a match making old world grandmother when it came to getting Hotch dating and in a relationship again lately.
Then she realized that she had to agree with Emily… after all, last night had been pretty hot for her and Spence too. She filled up her coffee cup and leaned back against the counter as she took a sip. She wondered if Emily would be in the mood for day after Valentine's Day clearance shopping.