"Carlton?"

He still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that. That name. The one woman who had called him that on a daily basis now wanted nothing to do with him. The Chief only said it when she was angry, trying to get his attention, or both. "Detective" came far more often. And of course there was Spencer's utterly ridiculous and moronic nickname. "Lassie." As if he were being compared to some pathetic farm dog who had nothing better to do than show everyone Timmy was stuck in the well. Again.

But then there was O'Hara. Despite the fact that he had only ever called her by last name, and hadn't even considered doing otherwise, somewhere along the way she had slipped into calling him Carlton.

Lassiter didn't even realize he'd failed to actually respond until he heard it a second time, though slightly louder in volume.

"Carlton...?"

"O'Hara?" His voice was gruff, as if she had just interrupted a very important thought process. He hoped to God she wouldn't think enough of it to ask.

It was then that he finally registered the stack of papers she was holding out toward him impatiently, her free hand on her hip. "The paperwork you asked for...?" she prompted him, eyebrow raised slightly.

His gaze drifted along the line of that brow, suddenly itching with an unwarranted urge to smooth over it with his fingertips. Startled, he curled his fingers into a fist briefly before extending his hand to her. "Right, right... " He quickly reached up and took them from her, setting them down squarely in front of himself. It took him a few moments to register the fact that she hadn't shifted away from the desk after handing over the paper stack. "Did you... er... need something, O'Hara?"

He was dismayed to discover, upon turning his gaze upward, that she was staring at him with an expression that said "I know something's up, buster." Juliet crossed her arms, her mouth set in a firm line, the corners turned down. "Did something happen, Carlton?"

He waved dismissively, trying to sound as though she said something compeletely irrational. "Of course not."

The young woman continued to gaze at him appraisingly. "It's just... you seem, well... distracted."

Again he waved her off. "Just mulling over my case, O'Hara. A good detective thinks about his current case frequently. A superb detective doesn't STOP thinking about it. Not until the perp is behind bars." And doesn't get distracted by idiotic name ponderings, he added silently.

To his displeasure, she seemed to know there was something he was not telling her. Her fingers tapped her upper arm expectantly as she stared him down. He was suddenly reminded of when he'd been the suspect in a murder and had to be on the receiving end of an interrogation. He hoped fervently that he would not sweat now as he did then (though, at the time it was because the evidence all pointed to him, not because he was guilty). If that happened right now he might as well sign a confession confirming her suspicion that something was up.

There was also the fact that her abnormally intimidating gaze seemed to be causing... other sorts of stirrings. The instant the realization crossed his mind, he stood up, his chair sliding back so fast it almost toppled over as he scooted sideways out from the desk. "I'm uh, going to get some water. Cold water." He coughed faintly and then scowled at her to the best of his ability. "Quit gawking, O'Hara, you're wasting time."

Sighing in resignation, she gave him one last Look before turning on her heel and striding back to her desk.

Carlton started to relax as she grew farther away. Until he noticed the faint scent of fruit wafting toward him from the direction she'd gone. Then he fled the room as briskly as he could believably manage; it took everything he had not to run.

He was Carlton Lassiter, Head Detective of the SBPD, experienced and seasoned man with plenty of cases under his belt and even a few wound scars from over the years - and here he was having to will himself out of hightailing it away from a woman that wasn't even coming toward him.

Something was very wrong with this picture.