She had been back for little over a month now, and was still trying to get her head around the changes that had occurred in her absence. An outsider would dismiss them as insignificant, but she was no outsider, and so to Emily, they were nothing short of earth shattering.
She stifled an exasperated sigh as the very object of her musings sat down at his desk in front of her, completely absorbed in whatever work had his brilliant mind occupied.
The young doctor certainly hadn't been this hot when she had left. Sure Spencer Reid had always had a certain boyish charm, which coupled with his handsome face, had meant that he had had – for the lack of a better word - a very unique appeal. But now, ever since she had come back from the 'dead', Emily couldn't stop the sharp stab of desire that gripped her whenever he was in the vicinity. Seriously though, how was it possible for somebody to go from cute to devastatingly hot over the span of a few months?
In fact, the Reid's transformed physicality had grabbed her attention from the moment she had walked into the round table room after so many months. Even the news that her dear friend JJ had separated from her husband, and that her boss and fellow profiler were dancing around each other didn't quite manage to eclipse the amount of brain space that had been awarded to recording and analyzing every little change about the good doctor.
However, it had been at the welcome party that Garcia arranged that her attraction towards him had advanced into full-blown lust. Reid had turned up in a simple black, long-sleeved t-shirt and dark jeans, a far cry from his work attire, the shadow of a beard emphasizing his strong, square jawbone, hair in stylish disarray. Immediately she had to fight down the urge to run her hands through those unruly locks, among other things. Thankfully the ongoing discussion about their most recent cases kept her occupied, and by the time dinner was announced, she had somewhat reigned in the urge to thoroughly ravage unsuspecting genius.
After dinner they had all gathered in Rossi's living room with their wine glasses, just relaxing in front of the fire. It was then that Morgan and Garcia had started pleading with Reid to play the piano for them. The rest of the team was quick to add their pleas as well. This left Emily feeling strangely out of place, for the Reid she had known would have easily been bullied into complying with the team's wishes. Requests and pleas weren't usually offered to him, seeing as he rarely said no to anyone anyway.
She hadn't had opportunity to ponder upon her genius' newfound self-confidence however, when said genius, after a long suffering sigh, sat at the piano and started playing. The dulcet tones of Beethoven flowed smoothly in the room then, and as everybody else settled comfortably to enjoy the music, Emily took the time to observe – appreciate really – the way his fingers danced over the keys, almost as if in a loving caress. She couldn't help imagining how those long, thin, musicians' fingers would feel against her skin, and shivered deliciously at the thought.
Needless to say, she applauded louder than everyone else when he stopped playing, offering him a wide grin when he looked her way. The half-smile he returned was about as effective as a bucket of ice-cold water. It wasn't the open, beatific beam that was his trademark. It was guarded and uncertain; distrustful almost. It reminded her that this wasn't the, shy, almost prudish boy she had left behind. She was now faced with a man who had been betrayed by a friend, one who had been devastated by the betrayal. Shame and guilt threatened to overtake her then. She, Hotch, and JJ had gone along with their plan without a thought about how this would affect their loved ones. They hadn't deserved it, least of all him. He had been abandoned by so many people already; she should have known that he would take the loss hard.
From then on, Emily had fought to keep a tight control over her less virtuous thoughts and impulses around the young profiler. He wasn't just eye candy, devastatingly handsome though he was. No, he was much too good for that. He was Dr. Spencer Reid, resident genius and one of - if not the most – important members of their team. He was her friend and confidant, who was in the long process of learning to trust her again. She wouldn't screw up the relationship she had with him for the sake of her attraction.
First things first. She had to convince him that she was back for good, that she wasn't going to pull another soap-opera worthy 'dying' act on him. She had to get her best friend back. Then maybe, just maybe, if she played her cards right, she could fly into the sunset with her genius. The FBI jet had to come in handy sometime right?