AN: Hi Everyone! The Profiler's Choice awards are here again. Please see the author's note at the bottom of the story and nominate... Here is my promotional story... Current events hit me and I couldn't help myself...I hope you enjoy!
Playing Peek-a-boo by Kricket Williams
Derek could hear snickering coming from his goddess next door. It was the naughtiest little laugh: a giggle with an occasional low snigger, punctuated by a couple of tee hees of pure glee. It was becoming increasingly impossible to do the report on the Indiana Strangler he was supposed to be writing.
Closing his eyes, he gave in to picturing her, pink-cheeked and tousled blonde curls, giving him that husky laugh of hers as she whispered something decidedly filthy and delicious in his ear. That was far, far more pleasant than any report he needed to finish. Anything to do with Penelope was a good thing. She was his General Electric: the woman lit up his life, in more ways than one.
"Oh, my!" he heard her gasp, and Derek gave up the fight. He knew he needed to head over and see what was happening in Penelope's lair. After tossing his pen on his desk, he stood, stretching his arms over his head and cracking his neck, hearing a satisfying crunch of his bones settling and his muscles releasing. It was nearly seven at night; he'd been there forever today, hunched over that desk.
He needed to be quiet so he didn't disturb her. Nearly tiptoeing out into the hall, he crept over to his best friend's office and carefully opened the door. She was hovered over her keyboard, looking at the computer screen closest to her, still giggling as she clicked her neon pink mouse. Stealthily, he weaseled his way into the room and snuck behind her to see what she was looking at.
Good Lord.
On her computer screen was a man...a naked man. He was holding his junk with both hands, trying to cover what God gave him, but he was pretty much naked. Then she clicked again, and sure enough, the man's trouser snake was exposed, like it was popping out to say hello, too. That caused another round of cackles from her.
"That is not work appropriate," he drawled behind her.
"Ahhh!" she cried, spinning in her chair to face him, her hand in the middle of her chest.
He burst into a grin, which she didn't take very well. In fact, she started to whack at him with her pen—the one with the fuzzy blue troll hair extension on it. "Don't scare me like that!"
"You shouldn't be looking at naughty pictures at work," he said, taking the pen out of her hand.
"Well, I'm the I.T. police," she retorted, her eyes flashing dusky brown fire at him, and snatched the pen back out of his hand. "I can look at whatever I want."
Ignoring her righteous indignation—rightfully so, in his book; she was looking at porn—Derek peered over her shoulder at the computer screen. "Who is that dude, anyway? Someone famous? He looks familiar..."
Penelope spun back around and shut the picture down. "Never mind."
"Pull it back up. I want to see."
She arched her brow at him and asked flatly, "You really want to see a picture of another man naked?"
"Hell, no," he said, looking and feeling disgusted. What straight guy wanted to look at that?
"Then you don't need to see," she said in a sing-song voice, returning to the computer.
"Ah, but I do," he added quickly. "I want to know who's making you blush so prettily." He grinned at her and tapped her cheeks.
"No!" she said, the blush on her cheeks rising to a new level of scarlet. "You don't need to know."
"Oh, come on, sweetness," he cajoled. "This is your Baby Boy talkin' here. You can share your secret crush with me."
It didn't seem like a big thing, but deep down, he knew exactly why he wanted to know so badly. He was weighing his competition-virtual or not.
She hesitated, but only for a second. "Oh, all right," she said, clicking the icon she had saved. Up popped the picture of the buck nekkid redheaded guy.
Derek stared at the screen again, and then he shrugged. "I still can't place him."
"You can place him," she said, pausing dramatically, "in Buckingham Palace."
He blinked. "Really?"
Nodding, she pointed at the screen and sighed dreamily. "That is His Royal Highness, Prince Harry."
Derek snorted. "He ain't so hairy..."
He couldn't resist, although he was pretty sure that was going to be the butt of jokes about that picture. That made him snicker again as his inner ten-year-old took over; he'd just thought about nakedness and the word butt.
"Oh, hush, you," she admonished protectively and then sighed again dreamily.
That sigh was starting to irritate him. "You know...he's not all that."
"Oh, he's lovely," she purred in a tone that she usually only used describing him. "And he's Royalty."
His internal scowl increased, but he pretended to be nonchalant. "Isn't he a little young for you?"
"Twenty-seven," she murmured. "I could be his sugar momma." She paused for a second and looked up at him. "Wasn't your last girlfriend twenty-five?"
She was twenty-three, but Derek didn't correct her. "He's not ripped," he said instead as he lifted his shirt and patted his perfectly-segmented abs. "That boy needs to put in a few more crunches."
"I think he's perfect."
The scowl was no longer internal. "When have you gotten into redheads?"
She stared at the screen dreamily. "Since about midnight Vegas time..."
Derek scoffed. "Dude has skinny legs."
She didn't even bother looking at him."He's Royalty."
"No tats," Derek growled, glowering. "You like tats."
Still not looking. "He's Royalty."
This was ticking him off like nothing ever had before. Lord, he was in a pissing match with a picture of a man on the internet. He and the Prince of Wales were having it out over Penelope Garcia...and Derek was afraid he was losing.
He gritted his teeth and ground out, "His pecs aren't impressive."
"He's Royal—"
"I've got him beat," Derek snapped, interrupting her.
That finally got her attention. "What did you say?"
Derek felt his gut hit the floor "I have him beat," he said again, calmly, not clarifying that statement for her. She was smart; she'd get it.
Sure enough, Penelope glanced between his legs. She stared for a minute, her cheeks blossoming scarlet again, and then she looked up at him. She appeared flustered, but her eyes said it all. Somehow, he knew they'd say...
Prove it.
"Seriously?" he asked, his forehead wrinkling in surprise anyway. This was definitely something different when it came to their friendship!
She didn't say a word, but he was watching her with an eagle eye...and then he noticed it—a barely perceptible nod.
Unable to back down from the gauntlet he'd tossed, he reached back and locked her office door.
Penelope turned stark white, and her eyes widened to saucers. "Oh...my...God..."
He paused for a second to give her a chance to say no, but she didn't. Instead, she stared as furtively as she had been staring at her naked Prince. So, unabashed, Derek dropped his hands to his belt and began unbuckling it. He undid the button of his black jeans next and then unzipped the fly.
"Ahh!" she cried before his pants hit the ground. She put her hands over her eyes and squealed, not even bothering to look.
A second later, he pushed his black boxers down and stood there, waiting for her to take her hands away from her eyes.
"You're naked still...aren't you?" she squeaked.
"Half-naked," he answered honestly. And aroused, he could've added, but he didn't.
"Oh, God!"
He waited for another minute before realizing that she wasn't going to look. Regardless of her bravado, Penelope Garcia was far more innocent than she let on to be...and in a way, he was disappointed. He'd kind of hoped this might have been the turning point in their relationship, a chance that she might see him as something more than a tease. He'd been ready for a while to take their relationship to another level.
Apparently, she wasn't.
With a sigh, he bent over and pulled up his boxers and his pants to cover himself. Then, reaching forward, he squatted in front of her, gripped her wrists, and pulled her hands away from her eyes.
"I'm decent again," he said, smiling at her. "You can stop playing peek-a-boo."
"I can't believe you did that!" she exclaimed, still a sizzling red color.
Chuckling, he leaned forward and kissed her scarlet cheek. "I'd better get back to work."
As he left her lair, his phone beeped. A message from her...
You do have him beat...and my office video tape proves it.
Gasping, Derek turned around and walked back into her office. She had him pulled up on the screen, side by side with His Royal Highness.
She continued to blush, but she was grinning at him, too. "Very, very impressive."
"You little shit..."
"Don't worry, my love muffin with the massive chocolate chip," she said, popping the P dramatically. "No one but moi will ever see this. This is going in my private file for future viewings on long, cold, lonely nights."
"You're going to view that," he asked with an arched a brow, "yet you couldn't look at me in person?"
"I'm a hacker, Derek." Her blush increased. "Sometimes it's just easier doing things through a computer screen."
"Crazy girl," Derek said with a laugh, shaking his head. "Just...be careful with that tape, okay?"
"I will," she said softly. "But seriously, Hot Stuff? You got it all over him."
"But he's Royalty," Derek mocked teasingly.
"Derek..." She stood and walked over to him; her smile was so radiantly beautiful and filled with love, it made his breath catch in his chest. "He may be Royal, but you're my Prince Charming."
He folded her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "That's good, Baby Girl," he replied huskily, "because you're my princess."
"Thanks, sweet cheeks."
They stood there in the artificial light of the lair, holding each other. Derek asked, "You got plans for dinner tonight?"
"Nothing but Lean Cuisine."
"Come with me? I'll pay," he asked, giving her a final squeeze before releasing her. Paying made it feel more like a date.
"Sure," she said, stepping out of his embrace. She grinned wickedly at him. "Afterward, maybe you can show me how you stack up against His Royal Highness again?"
Derek gave her a roguish half grin. "I think I can do that."
"And Derek?" she said, the tip of her tongue perched sensually on her upper lip. "I won't even play peek-a-boo this time..."
"I'm holding you to that," he said, winking at her just before he stepped out the door. He meant what he said, too: this time he was going to do it right.
He put his hands in his pockets and whistled his way back to his office to finish his work. Things were just starting to get a whole lot more interesting...
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