Author's note: Hi, so Merry Christmas Gretchen, you asked for a Shaw centric story with a love interest, and here it is. I hope you enjoy it, I know you like her, and I'm trying to warm up to her I really am it's difficult lol. This takes place some time season 3, it's AU for two reasons, one Carter lives on, and secondly there is established Careese. They are in a relationship for an undisclosed amount of time since you love Careese too, Gretchen.

But before anyone goes to read this thinking there is a lot of Careese in here, there isn't. It's all about Shaw, her love interest, and the other characters sort of lend to her plot for this story. They don't play a big role in this story at all, so if you are used to my other stories with Careese, and you don't like Shaw this will not be your story!

Also, as I am not huge fan of Shaw, I tried to write her in character but I think I failed since I think I added some extra flair to her that so far the show has not shown me. So I apologize if she's OOC, this was a little difficult for me to write since she's not a character I normally write for. But I was willing to try for you Gretchen!

Thank you Elaine for speed proofing this for me, on such short notice, I thank you a million times!


"Why couldn't Reese take the boring number?" she demanded as she sat inside her car, binoculars pulled out, a bag of chips opened for her to munch on, tapping her hand against the steering wheel in agitation. She hated stakeouts, but they were a necessary evil in the world she lived in, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy the lamest part of field work.

"Uh, well…" she cocked a brow as she raised her binoculars up, looking through the window of the office building where the general practitioner she was following owned his business. The doctor was good looking from his photo, she'd hit that, if he hadn't been such a goody two shoes. He did a lot of community work, gave free health-care to underprivileged people, and fostered homeless animals. It wasn't even just the fact that he was Dudley Do Right as to why she'd avoid him like the plague, it was the fact that he was on an online dating service looking for love. He wasn't in it for casual sex; she, on the other hand, was a wham-bam-thank-you sort of gal, she wasn't looking for anything more than that. This guy was divorced, looking for love, to have some kids; talk about all kinds of strings attached.

"Come on, Finch, why am I stuck with Dr. Do-Right? Who is Reese's new number?"

"Well Ms. Shaw, our newest number requires going undercover in a facility I did not think your…limited social skills would be right for."

"And what facility is that?" So help her if he said some top secret facility where Reese got to shoot some kneecaps, she was quitting.

"Wee Bee Kidz Group Family Day Care."

"Wee Bee? Day care? As in Reese has to deal with diapers, spit-ups, crying, and worst of all….children?" She couldn't stop herself from snickering. "Better him than me."

"Yes, well Mr. Reese, wasn't exactly thrilled with the circumstances, but he understood he was the better candidate between the two of you."

"So who's the number, is little Mikey going to steal Suzie's sippy cup?"

"Ms. Shaw, this is serious, I would not receive a toddler's number if the machine did not see something. Mr. Reese is trying to get close to a boy and to his single mother, to find out what she got mixed up in, resulting in her son being targeted."

"Wait, a single mother?"

"Yes,"

"Is Reese planning on dating this woman to get close to the toddler? Because I think Carter might have something to say about that."

"Detective Carter is an understanding woman and she'd know that it is just an undercover assignment," Finch explained, still trying to understand Shaw's way of thinking. Shaw nodded her head, she would never figure out Carter's or Reese's need to be together. Screw each other, sure, but be in a committed and loving relationship, what would be the point? Nothing ever lasted forever, especially with what Reese and Carter did for a living. "Have you learned anything about Dr. Palmer?"

"No, nothing new to report other than he had two more routine checkups since the last time I reported in. Finch, I might kill myself from boredom if I don't get some action sometime soon!" She checked her wristwatch, seeing it was just noontime. Her stomach growled reminding her she skipped breakfast this morning to hurry when Finch said she had a new number. Come on Dr. Do-Right, go out for lunch so she could get some grub too!

"I'll check in with you later, Ms. Shaw." She didn't even bother to respond, she just clicked the button in her earpiece and had blissful silence. She brought up her binoculars to look into his office when she saw them shutting the lights off. YES, he and his two nurses were closing up for lunch. She was in luck. She'd follow him inside an eating establishment, force-pair with his cell phone, and get to eat. It was a win-win for her. She watched as Jacob Palmer, her query, walked towards his modest Ford Focus. His white lab coat was off, replaced with a leather jacket, on against the cool December air, making him look more masculine than before. His thick light brown hair was short on the sides and parted on the left with his longer locks combed over and gelled in place, giving him a more modern, almost preppy look. No cowlick in sight, preferable to her, while Carter went on and on in annoying detail about Reese's and how she liked his hair.

She followed his car as he pulled out of the parking lot of the office building, making sure she kept a nice distance so he wouldn't realize he was being followed. She wasn't sure why someone would want to kill this guy, he was too much of a goody-two shoes; she was sure he was the victim rather than a perpetrator.

"Ms. Shaw," Finch's voice filled her ear, meaning he was finished checking up on Reese. She clicked the button in her earpiece as she smirked as she drove.

"How's Reese?"

"His first day on the job is going….not well."

"Not well, elaborate…in detail." If she had to have the most boring number in the world, knowing Reese was being spat up on made it world's better for her.

"Ms. Shaw, how is Dr. Palmer?"

"He's taking a lunch-break thankfully, I'm starved since I rushed out this morning thinking I had an action-filled new case. But I'd see more action if paint was drying."

"Well some people in this world aren't party goers and live basic lives. Not everyone that we need to help happen to be spies, hackers, or work for a government agency."

"Yeah well, he drives like a grandfather. Finch, I have no idea who would want to kill this guy other than someone trying to put him out of his misery." She followed him through the latest stoplight, only to watch him pull up to parallel-park on the other side of the street. Okay, maybe he wasn't that good as he parked alongside the curb in front of Jimmy's No. 43. "Well, well, well, this might just have finally gotten real interesting, Finch."

"What do you mean, Ms. Shaw?" The doctor slid from his car, hurrying into the bar. She pulled up behind his car and parked.

"He's at a bar, in the middle of the afternoon, maybe the good doctor is meeting up with a bookie or something."

"Could be, Dr. Palmer might have a gambling addiction and meets his bookie at the bar, maybe he's financially strapped. I'll hack into his bank account."

"You do that, I have to get eyes and ears on him." She slid from her car, placing a good old fashioned tracking device on the back bumper of his car before heading for the entrance. She pulled out her cell phone as she entered, seeing there were a few patrons, all men, already sitting at the counter drinking. A few of them turned to look to see who entered, while she pointedly ignored their looks. Inside there was one waitress who was wiping down the small booths and tables along with one male bartender. The bartender was in his late forties, with a baseball cap on, and her number was sitting at a stool speaking with the man. She found a small table in the corner where she force-paired with Palmer's phone then listened in on his conversation.

"Hey, Jake!"

"Hi Mr. Wilson, how's your son?"

"Oh Brian is feeling much better thanks to you; I'll never be able to thank you enough for saving my son's life. If you hadn't insisted on sending him to a heart specialist, my boy might not be with us today."

"You don't need to thank me, Roy, I just wanted to know how he was doing, and did he make the honor roll?"

"He did, he made his mother and me proud." She smiled to herself. So the man was on his lunch break, but rather go doing something for himself, he was checking up on one of his patients, making sure they were better. She squashed the smile immediately, what was the matter with her? It had to be Reese's fault, he was starting to rub off on her. She didn't do smiles, sympathy, or sorrow the only emotion she did was anger. There was only one time she could say she felt something, what it was she wasn't exactly sure, but it had been with that little girl…Gen. She liked it better when she didn't feel anything at all, which she was aiming for from now on; Gen was a one-time deal. Period, end of conversation.

"Hi there sweet thing." She pulled her eyes from the doctor to the man sitting nearby. He had to be an alcoholic, had to be if he was sitting in a bar at one in the afternoon with nowhere else better to be. She eyed the drunk from head to toe as he stood up to make his way over to her.

"I suggest to you sir, to take a hike because I don't wish to be bothered." she stated calmly and coldly.

"Ms. Shaw, please don't do anything rash." She smiled at Finch's voice in her ear. He knew her so well. She liked to shoot first than ask questions.

"Oh, the pretty kitten has claws," his words sounded slurred already. "Good thing I'm a lion tamer, I will tame the pretty kitty." he laid a hand on her thigh. Shaw smiled as she leaned forward, but not too close because his breath reeked, eyeing the bloodshot brown eyes of the man that was currently touching her.

"You take your hand off me before I break every bone in it."

"I got it wrong, you're ain't no kitty, just a pussy. You're just a bitch aren't you?" Well, she tried to be nice. She grabbed his hand and twisted hard. The drunk screamed as she heard a loud crack, but his screams were drawing looks her way. And as much as she wanted to keep her promise of breaking every bone in his hand, she needed to beat a hasty retreat because her new number just spotted her.

"I asked you politely to take your hand off me, and you aren't and never will be man enough to tame me," she said softly and deadly just before she shoved the man backwards. He was so drunk already he fell neatly into a pile on the floor. She kept her gaze off her number who was staring at her. "I've been made," she whispered to Finch as she hurried to leave. She just made it out the bar and onto the busy sidewalk before her number caught up with her.

"Hey ma'am, hey hold up." She sighed as she turned around to eye the doctor looking at her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, you should be asking the man that laid his hands on me if he's alright. He's the one that needs help," she asnwered turning away. But this doctor hurried to walk beside her.

"I'm Jacob Palmer and you would be...?"

"Going..." she replied, refusing to give her name, causing him to smile.

"I did rush out here to make sure you were alright, doesn't that count for something?"

"No."

"Oh come on, other guys wouldn't have cared."

"Which I would be grateful for."

"I'm a doctor; it's in my nature to make sure everyone is alright."

"A doctor, going to a bar in the afternoon? I say you need to seek Alcoholics Anonymous to help you with your issue, good doctor."

He laughed. "I could say the same thing for you, but I wasn't here to drink."

"I really don't care if you were or not." She said as she got to her car, but when she went to go open the door he stepped in front of it. She sighed as she looked at the man. Jacob Palmer was even better looking up close and personal; his eyes were a beautiful mixture of bluish green, nice full lips, dimples on each cheek, and a cute little scar over his top lip making her wonder how he got it. Her dark gaze traveled up his handsome face to his eyes where she saw male interest. "Move." she hated the tingling feeling that was growing inside her. Damn it, why did she have to be attracted to this guy? He was a god damn goody-two-shoes, their new number, looking for a wife, not a sex partner.

"Only, if you will give me your name."

"Julie."

"Your real name."

"Hannah," she stated just as quickly.

"Your real name," he laughed.

"How come you don't believe me? Are you stalking me or something?" she demanded. She got an unexpected reaction from him; he stiffened and a shadow crossed the handsome man's chiseled features.

"No, I'd never do that to a woman," he murmured quietly before his face changed back to happy again. "I just think you're answering a little too quickly for those to be your real name."

"You're shockingly smart, since that's exactly right. Now move, I don't wish to kick your ass too."

"I'm not drunk so it will be a bit harder for you." She smiled, inwardly knowing without a shadow of a doubt she could kick this man's ass.

"Whatever, just move." She motioned with her hand exasperated, with the tall, gorgeous, and highly annoying man.

"I told you I want a name and then I'll move." She eyed the man, finding him infuriating as well as attractive and intriguing.

"Ms. Shaw you are going to have to give the man a name. Give him your clean cover." She sighed when Finch's voice of reason drowned out her decidedly better idea of just kicking this guy's nice ass so she could get into her car.

"If I give you my name then you'll move out of my way so I can get going?"

"Yes."

"Fine I'm Sameen, Sameen Roberts. Happy now? Now move."

"I'm ecstatic. It's nice to meet you Sameen."

"I wish I could say the same," she said, motioning with her hands; he finally moved from her car door with a wide grin. She climbed in and he waved at her, which she blatantly ignored and drove away. "Finch, he's got a stalker."

"How do you know?"

"I made that comment about if he's stalking me. He's not a very good poker player, it's written all over his face and in his eyes that he's being stalked. We need to check more into his ex-wife, she might be the threat to him."

"I looked up some preliminary information; they had gotten married at the age of twenty-one, had been high school sweethearts. She filed for divorce nearly a year ago; it was finalized four months ago. She goes by her maiden name now, Isabella Wycek. But here's something interesting, Ms. Shaw, she was slapped with a restraining order from Dr. Palmer when she physically attacked him in the courtroom six months ago."

"Why did she attack him?"

"She attacked Dr. Palmer when he had his lawyer prove she was sleeping with another man, which was in violation of her prenuptial agreement she had with him."

"Wait. This guy had a prenuptial agreement drawn up for his high school sweetheart?" That sounded odd. If they got married at twenty one, he wasn't even a doctor by then, so why the need for a prenup?

"Yes, I did a little research as to why as well. His late grandmother took care of him when he was growing up because both his parents died in an auto accident. His grandmother was well off, she had millions of dollars. When his grandmother died, he was the only grandchild, so he inherited two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the rest was donated to several charities of her choice. The prenup was to protect his inheritance, but he added a clause that if she was not faithful she would not get one single penny from him at all."

"Always read the fine print, or at least if you're going to be sleeping around, be sure you're not being followed by a P.I. and being recorded." She rolled her eyes.

"Or just don't be unfaithful," Finch retorted.

She shrugged. As she saw it women had needs just like men did, and she couldn't possibly see how one single man could sate all of those needs.

"Well she's got motive, Finch. I mean she has to be pissed off she didn't get a dime from him out of all those years with him." Shaw continued driving, but with her GPS chip on his car, she could see where he was going at all times. He was going back to the office, which was where she was going to head after she talked with the ex. "Get me an address or a place of work for this Wycek broad, I'll go find out if she's the threat to him or not."


She leaned her head back against the headrest of her car. Her case was taking one boring turn after another, and she couldn't even switch with Reese. No thank you, he could have the little ankle biting, snot dripping, awful smelling, crying until your ears bled case any day of the week. She was currently waiting for Isabella Wycek to finish her booty call with her apparent boyfriend who was a far cry from Jacob Palmer. This guy was not very good looking, he worked for a car wash, and he lived in the basement of his friend's house. Maybe he was good in the sack? Maybe that's why she gave up Palmer, which would help with her attraction to the guy. If Palmer wasn't good in the sack then he had no value to her.

She needed something to do, and what was better than to annoy Reese? She connected with him and waited one ring until he answered. "What is it Shaw?" Yep, decidedly grumpy, this was perfect for her amusement and entertainment. But before she could even start annoying him, she could hear Carter's voice in the background and she sounded like she was yelling at him.

"Is that Carter yelling at you, what did you do this time? Please don't tell me you got to break and enter or shoot some kneecaps!"

"No," he sounded wistful too. Reese and she shared that in common, probably the only thing they did share. They both enjoyed the rush they got when their lives were at risk and doing something illegal. It was a definite thrill. "Worse, I got a date with Peter's mother." Her brows rose high.

"Wait, you got a date with the new number's mother?" This was getting better and better.

"It's not that big of a deal, Shaw."

"John, that woman was all over you." Carter's voice was loud, so loud she nearly had to take the earpiece out. From Carter's reaction it was a big deal. Reese was dumb when it came to women, they could be practically in his pants before he realized they were into him. Carter dropped hint after hint, but the man needed a damned brick thrown at his head to realize Carter just as into him as he was into her. It was hard to think of Reese being naive, but maybe he was!

"Joss, she was not all over me."

"I was there, remember?" Okay now this was entertaining, and she didn't even have to annoy Reese. She leaned back a little and listened as the two argued about it. These two sure knew how to argue, she wondered if the makeup sex was out of this world, since they sure went at it a lot. "She took one look at you; a gorgeous looking guy, holding her son, and that was it. She was so obvious, while you were so oblivious until the moment she asked you out. Where was the stuttering, you stuttered like mad when you asked me out, but when you said 'yes how about tomorrow' you didn't stutter, not once!" Shaw laughed softly at Carter's imitation of Reese's voice. She was pissed.

"Are you jealous?"

"No, I'm not jealous! I just think it's a little desperate to be all over a man that just started working at a daycare your son goes to and then ask him out. And you laid it on a little thick about wanting to work with children because of wishing to have a child of your own! She ate that up like catnip."

"Shaw, doesn't it sound like she's jealous?" Reese asked into the earpiece. Carter did sound jealous, but she wasn't jumping into their argument. Even she knew where to draw the line from being annoyingly intrusive to just plain stupid. Plus, Carter was amazing, she would always choose her side before Reese's on everything.

"Oh no Johnny boy, don't include me in this. 'Bros before 'hos, I'm on Carter's side on this; besides I'm just listening in for my amusement."

"Did you just call me a…ho?" he demanded. She smirked at his agitated tone. But before she could irritate him further, Joss's pissed off voice rang through her ears rattling her teeth. "I'll show you jealous, John!" First she heard muffled noises, then a soft moan, and then he disconnected with her. Well damn, they were just getting to the good part. Maybe it was for the best since the woman she'd been waiting for the past half hour finally made it out of the back of her boyfriend's car. The woman blew a kiss towards the man, while Shaw took a photo of him to send to Finch to find out who he was. She connected with Finch while she followed Isabella as she drove away from the car wash parking lot.

"Anything, Ms. Shaw?"

"I just sent you a photo of Wycek's new beau; see if you can get me a name and any information that you can on him. I'm going to have a nice long chat with the ex-wife." She slid from her car when the woman entered a hair salon she currently worked at. Shaw entered, seeing the place was moderately busy. Two other hair stylists were hard at work.

"Need some help?"

"Yes, I just need a trim."

"Head on back, I'm Isabella; I'll be your stylist this afternoon." The woman grinned at her, she was pretty, had long blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes that mirrored Reese's, and a heart shaped face. No wonder Palmer married her, but she didn't seem the revenge seeking type. She followed the woman to the salon chair in the back, before sliding to take the seat yanking her hair out of the ponytail. "You have gorgeous hair." She ran it through her fingers and Shaw had to resist the urge to snap at her to get her to cutting rather than playing with it. She didn't have all day to waste getting her hair cut. It was starting to get later in the afternoon, close to the evening time and she wanted to get back to follow Palmer home and once again, try to find some time to get some food, boy, she was hungry.

"Thanks, I got a date tonight, with a really hot guy."

"I just love first dates."

"Yeah, you single?"

"No, I'm in a committed relationship." She eyed the woman through the reflection of the mirror. She sounded happy.

"Well, he'll be my first date since I got divorced a few years back. I swore off men for a while, but I think I'm ready to try again," Shaw said, seeing what type of reaction she would get.

"I'm divorced too. I found my true soul-mate, unfortunately I found him after I married a man that I thought was my soul-mate."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, my ex-husband didn't see it coming; I just didn't love him anymore. I met Maurice and that was it. I never believed in love at first sight until I met him." Could she gag now or later?

"Well my ex saw it coming. He was cheating on me with another woman. I can't believe how many times I believed his lies about where he was going. His name was John, he was screwing a woman he claimed was just a friend, and I believed him until I saw them interact with my own eyes. It was so obvious they were banging one another, so I hired a private investigator to follow him, and I couldn't even be mad at him for cheating on me."

"No?"

"No, because as hurt and angry as I was, by the photos and tapes that my P.I. gathered for me I could see the love in his eyes for her. I guess I just didn't make him happy anymore."

"You are a bigger woman than I could be. If I found out my husband was cheating on me I think I'd cut off his….well you know," Bella retorted. Shaw didn't respond as she starting trimming her hair. So this broad was a hypocrite, it was alright for her to go fucking any guy she had the hots for, while the man better not or he was going to be castrated. "But Jake wasn't like that. He was a good guy, a sweet guy to me, but I just fell in love with Maurice." Okay she just couldn't do the sweet approach anymore, it wasn't getting her anywhere, and it just wasn't her way.

"Is that why you cheated on Jake with Maurice?" The woman paused with the scissors in her hand, their eyes met in the reflection of the mirror.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me; I said 'is that why you cheated on Jake with Maurice?'"

"Who are you?"

"I'm a concerned third party," she answered as the woman went on to finish doing her hair. She saw the irritation on the woman's face, but even being confronted about cheating she was continuing to cut her hair. She wasn't the threat. "Your ex-husband is in trouble, I was making sure you weren't the threat."

"Me," she squeaked, pausing once again in cutting her hair. "I couldn't hurt a fly."

"His restraining order against you says differently."

"That is bogus, Jake was hurt and upset."

"So you didn't attack him in court, you weren't thrown in jail for contempt?"

"No, I was. But I attacked him when he made me out to seem like a whore, I'm not a whore. I fell in love with Maurice, I didn't mean to hurt Jake, it just happened."

"It just happened because he figured out you were cheating on him, he proved it to court so you couldn't get a dime. Talk about motive for wanting him dead."

"No, no I was willing to tell the truth, but Maurice told me not too." Shaw blinked in surprise but covered it up. She slid from the salon chair, and stood up.

"Your boyfriend said to keep it to yourself?"

"Yeah, I was going to tell Jake the truth before I filed for divorce, but Maurice said that I deserved money for living with a man that I was unhappy with. He told me to keep quiet, we'd be careful, and we could be happy." For the love of god, didn't this woman smell the con from a mile away? This guy found out she was married to a rich guy, screwed her, got her to fall in love with him, and wanted the money. Had she been awarded the settlement from Palmer, she bet this Maurice would have stolen the money, and disappeared never to be heard from again. But it fell apart when Palmer got wise to the game, hired the P.I., she needed some info from Finch on this guy, Maurice.

"You're a moron! First off, Jake is way hotter than Maurice whose penis is probably small so some of the money would have gone into penal enlargement." The girl's eyes widened, crimson stained her cheeks. "Yes I saw you two going at it in the backseat of his car. Secondly, can't you see the con, lady? He found out you were married to a doctor who was loaded. Talk about being taken for a damned sucker. Thanks for the trim…and information. You helped me eliminate you as the possible threat, because, honey, you aren't bright enough to kill a fly let alone a person." She threw money onto the counter near the register, while all the other stylists and patrons in the salon watched on with interest. "Keep the change for your tip." She turned and walked towards the exit.

"Ms. Shaw, was embarrassing her in front of her co-workers, name calling, and revealing yourself to her really called for?" Finch demanded as she exited the salon. He was upset with her tactic, but what else was new? She couldn't remain the sweet oblivious woman any longer. "Haven't you ever heard of the saying: 'you'll catch more bees with honey'?"

"Nope, besides I don't care to catch them, I care more about stomping them into the damned ground. But you heard her, she had no idea that Maurice was conning her, did you get a last name?"

"Yes, I ran his face through a facial recognition app; his name is Maurice Landry, he's got a long rap sheet. His worst offense was assault with intent to harm, otherwise the rest were all misdemeanors."

"Doesn't exactly sound like a murderer or stalker, but who else would want to kill Palmer? I already eliminated the ex-wife, she's too dumb to be the threat." She climbed into her car.

"You are going to have to get close to Dr. Palmer." She stabbed her key into the ignition switch but paused from turning her car on.

"What does that exactly entail, Finch?" She knew how close she wanted; no clothes, skin on skin, sweaty, and wrapped between Jacob Palmer's sheets. But her 'close' and Finch's 'close' were probably two different things, since she had a pretty good guess as to what he meant.

"Well it was quite obvious, Ms. Shaw, that Dr. Palmer was smitten with you. Maybe going on a date with him would allow you to get close enough to him, to learn who else might wish for him to perish from Earth." She hated to admit it but Finch was right. Palmer was attracted to her and she had to admit that she was also attracted to him. They needed to find out who the threat was before something happened. He had a stalker; maybe Palmer knew who was stalking him, and could help narrow down the suspects. But that meant she had to go out with the damned goody-two-shoes and not screw him; they had absolutely nothing in common, besides a mutual attraction. She turned her car on driving towards his office building. Maybe Dr Palmer was not the goody-two-shoes she thought, Shaw hoped she was wrong.

"Fine, I'll bump into him when he's leaving the office, make small talk and flirt with him until he asks me out."

"Ms. Shaw, will you be able to…handle this part of your cover?"

"Are you saying I don't know how to pick up a guy?"

"N-o, no, of course not, I just meant that well, you are you, Ms. Shaw, and he's, well, he's not anything like you." Tell her about, she could already tell their 'date' will crash and burn. She didn't do dates, she had sex and that's it.

"I'll play pretend, get him interested, get him to open up about whose stalking him and then that'll be it. He'll be a distant memory." She finally arrived at his office building once more, parking on the curbside. She looked around the surrounding area trying to find a perfect place she could be exiting. She saw a sandwich and soup café close by, making her stomach growl to remind her she was still on an empty stomach. But no time to eat, she needed to figure out a path to run into him. She found his car in the parking lot, deciding if she timed her exit from that café just right, she could run into him 'accidentally' on her way back to her car. "Finch…"

"Yes, Ms. Shaw."

"I see a way I can casually bump into him. I'm going to set the date up for tonight so I can get this over and done with." She had better things to do then pretend to be some investment banker who was looking for love. "What a waste of my evening."

"Why not tomorrow night?"

"Easy Finch, tomorrow night I have Bear! I'm not wasting a night with Bear for this guy." He was so transparent! Finch was trying to convince her to give up her night with Bear, so he could sneak another one in. Not happening. If they ever stopped working together they'd have to have a written visitation agreement.

"Well, I'll just have to send in Detective Fusco as your backup."

"Lionel? No I want Carter."

"She's already going to be on a stakeout tonight." Finch sounded amused by something. "I could try again to advise her that she's not needed, that I'll be there for John; however I have a sinking suspicion it will go unheeded, …again."

"Whoa, hold up, that chick that asked Reese out this afternoon wants the date to happen tonight?"

"Yes, Mr. Reese agreed to it because the child's number came up and he needs to know who is after her that would use the child against her. She doesn't have a father listed for Peter on the birth certificate, so the threat must be coming for her."

"Where's she taking Reese, to Chuck E Cheese?" she sneered.

"Ambiango's." She knew that place; it was very expensive and very romantic. She eyed her watch, she would have to text Carter to tell her to use the taser that she had duct taped to the bottom of the passenger seat of Finch's car on this woman if needed. It was show time for her, Dr Palmer's last patient had to be up since it was nearly five at night. She muted Finch as she exited her car running into the café. She ordered just a half-sandwich and a bottle of water. She looked through the window waiting for the right moment to run into Palmer. When she saw the two nurses and him walking out, waving goodbye to each other, it was the exact moment she left the café. She walked nonchalantly towards her car. She exhaled loudly catching his attention.

"Oh god, not you!"

His face lit up and she was somewhat surprised at how happy he seemed to be to see her. "Sameen, it's my lucky night."

"Please call me Sam, I hate my name," which was the truth, she hated her full name. "Seriously, you have got to be kidding me, are you sure you're not stalking me?"

"I should ask you the same thing, Sam, since I work here."

"You work at the café? I thought you were a doctor. So you lied, trying to get me to go out with you, I should have guessed!" She rolled her eyes as she went to walk around him.

"No, I don't work there. I work here, as a family practice doctor, it's my own business." He pointed to the office building she was walking past, sounding a bit proud of himself but not egotistical. This guy was too good to be true. He walked beside her towards her car. "Wait, were you thinking I was going to ask you out?"

"You were so obvious, it was kind of pathetic."

"Was it the type of pathetic that gets a pity date out of you?"

"I don't pity date any man," she explained. "If I want to go out with a guy, I go out with him."

"So if I asked you out, would you go out with me?"

"I don't know, it depends, since you haven't asked me out" she pointed out as she stopped about halfway towards her car.

"Well Sam, would you like to go out with me sometime?" He had a crooked smile on his face, flashing his cute dimples, and white teeth. She tried to squash the budding flutter in her stomach. She hated being attracted to THIS guy.

"No," she answered quickly before beginning to walk towards her car once more.

"Ouch, you know I have feelings." He hurried to catch up to her. "Why not, since I can clearly tell you like me?"

"Ooh, I like you now?" She laughed at that trying to cover up her surprise again that he could read her so easily. It was another strike against him as to why not to bed this guy for a night. She had a feeling just one night wouldn't be enough and that rattled her just a little. No one she ever bedded could keep her interest for long, but this guy was even interesting out of the sack.

"You followed me."

"I did not follow you," she assured even though it was a lie. "It's just been that sort of day for me, a bad one."

"Come on just admit it, you like me."

"I would if it was true."

"You try really hard not to show it, so is this your version of courting me, because I like it." She snorted with laughter. "But you don't need to try so hard; I'm just a mere man." His smile as he flirted with her made her squirm. Was it hot outside? She needed to take her coat off because she was heating up, and she refused to believe it was this man. He was just another number!

"You must enjoy living in a dream world, where all the women want you."

"No, just where you want me," he flirted. "I only want you, Sam."

"Oh god, are you going to start sprouting off bad pickup lines?" She groaned as she came up to her car and turning to eye him.

"Would they work? I have some doozies."

"If I go out with you, would you promise me NOT to say them?"

"Yes,"

"Fine, I'll go out with you, tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Is that a problem? It's Palmer, right?"

"Call me Jake, and no, of course it's not a problem. I just don't think I can set up a reservation at a nice restaurant on such short notice."

"I didn't say I wanted dinner at a restaurant, I like men that can cook for me, so if you can't cook me dinner then I guess we shouldn't go out."

"Oh, so that's how you going to play it? If you're thinking because I'm a doctor I don't have enough time to learn how to cook, you're wrong. I can assure you Sam, I'll knock your socks off tonight."

"If you're lucky you might get to take something else off." She purred and his eyes darkened in interest. Yep, she had this guy right where she wanted him. "Give me your address; I'll see you around eight." He grinned, pulling out a pen and some paper, writing down his address (though she didn't really need it), and waved goodbye to her.

"See you later, Sam." She didn't bother responding she merely climbed into her car and sped away. She needed to head home and change, while she mentally shook herself for thinking that tonight was going to be her first date she was actually anticipating going on.


Author's note: Sigh, I tried Gretchen, if you hate it let me know and I'll write you any Careese fic at any setting, with any plotline you want. I went the route of having an opposites attract thing with Jake and Shaw, I thought a guy that was everything she thought she disliked and yet was still attracted too was a fun idea to play with. Plus I just like the idea of Jakes, a guy that likes to have fun, flirt, and is a sweet in nature man :)

Well I hope you guys could enjoy it...I had fun making up Jake, plus the added Careese always makes me SQUEE since they are my babies :) :) Thank you for reading, there is 4 chapters in total for this, all of them are long except for the final chapter :D