Stella sighed internally and considered telling the very persistent man in front of her she was gay. If she could avoid these official functions, where she was almost expected to flirt with every high ranking male in attendance, she would. Unfortunatly, Mac insisted. And she was much better at playing the game than him.

Just as she contemplated how exactly she was going to word her refusal to accompany her conversation partner to his place in the Hamptons, Flack appeared by her side, two glasses of what passed for wine at the event in his hands.

"Here's your drink, Stel," he said casually with a smile and a quirk of one eyebrow.

She accepted the drink and his presence with a smile of her own. "Thank you, Detective."

The three of them stood in silence for a long moment. Stella slid a glance up at the man beside her, hiding her smile in her glass as he sent her a quick wink. It was effortlessly easy to act as though they were the ones being interrupted.

Eventually the other man glanced down at his glass and cleared his throat. "I think I need a refill. Excuse me."

As soon as he was out of earshot Stella sighed in relief. "Thank god, I was about to resort to desperate measures."

The man beside her shrugged and sipped his drink. "You looked like you needed a hand."

She turned to face him. "Thank you Flack," she said, reaching up to place her hand on his cheek in a spontaneous display of affection. She sent him a quick flirtatious wink. "You're my hero."

She could tell from his wince that he didn't particularly enjoy that designation. "It was nothing," he told her, but he didn't pull away from her hand, even as she glanced in the direction her would-be suitor had taken. "What are you doing?" he asked.

She kept her hand on his face, idly noting that he hadn't shaved that day. "Double checking," she told him, watching the room. "Besides you saved me- albeit from a middle aged Captain in Traffic- so I think hero is exactly the right word to use."

Ascertaining they weren't being observed- at least by that particular officer- she glanced back up at him. And grinned. "Are you blushing?"

He looked down at his drink. "Christ, Stell," he growled.

As she watched, the faint pink tinge to his cheeks deepened and she pulled her hand back. "You are. No point denying it Flack, you're turning bright-"

He discarded his glass, and reached up to wrap one hand around her wrist, silencing her with the sudden change of mood. She looked up into deep serious eyes. "Flack?" she asked, surprise quietening her voice.

He smirked at her. "He watching us," he told her, his eyes never leaving hers. "Play along, Stella." He pulled her a half step closer with a hand on the small of her back and lowered his lips to hers.

It took her a long moment to relax, to decide to ignore the crowd of NYPD brass milling around them and let herself sink into the kiss. Then it was easy to forget how long it had been since she had kissed a man. Since she had felt this incredibly familiar spark, this heat, between herself and another.

He broke the kiss, pulling back mere inches to smirk at her while she stared at him in something akin to shock. "Now who's blushing?"

She could feel the heat in her cheeks, but the snap of her quick fire temper reacted first. "Don't play games with me, Flack."

His thumb brushed down the inside of her wrist and he let go, releasing his hold on her. "No games," he promised.

He turned away and she raised an eyebrow. "Flack?" she asked, as coolly as she could while her blood was still racing.

He turned back to her with a smirk. "I'll see you later, Stel," he told her. "Like tomorrow at seven. For dinner."

It was more of a statement than a question; she nodded and watched him walk away. Picking up her glass, she quickly drank the rest of the wine, glancing to a clock on the wall. It was time to leave.

She had had enough of playing games.

--

Believe it or not this is my first post in over a month! I've been hard at work on my mutichapter fic Running, which is slowly being written. It's going to be my longest fic yet! Please review and keep my spirits up while I slave away on this endless story!