A/N:

What you need to know about this fic:

1.) It's set directly after I Really Need To Know, another fic I wrote. You don't have to read it to understand what's going on here, but there may be the occasional reference that won't make sense if you haven't read it. That being said, I encourage you to read it anyway. : D

2.) You will find that, somewhere in this fic, I'm pulling at least one situation from an episode that happened a while ago in the show. I wanted to do something similar and figured, why mess with something that was already done so well? I'll include the episode title at the end of whatever chapter it falls in so you can go back and relive the drama with me if you like. Just pretend my timeline is correct. : p

3.) This might get a little freaky… Let's be honest, Cal's got some major sex appeal, and I doubt he's an angel in bed. So, you've been warned: This is/will be rated M for a good reason.

4.) This is going to be one hell of a ride. I have a lot in store: fights, romance, angst, fluff, sex, and moments that are guaranteed to make you go "awwww!" So, again, you've been warned…

Disclaimer: I don't own Lie To Me.

"Hey, Gillian," Emily said as she walked down the stairs, seeing her dad's girlfriend lounging on the couch with her feet propped on the table. "What are you looking at?"

"An ad for 85 West. Look at this outfit," she responded as Emily sat on the couch next to her.

"That's really cute," Emily replied while glancing at the ad. "Umm, maybe a little young though," she added, not sure how to tell Gillian she was way out of the age range for the purple graphic tee, long black pinstripe shorts, and knee-high black buckled boots.

Gillian laughed saying, "Not for me! For you."

"Oh!" Emily exclaimed, taking the ad from Gillian and giving it another look. "In that case, this is awesome. Those boots are amazing…" she trailed off as she practically drooled over the $200 boots.

"Maybe we'll go shopping," Gillian offered, thinking it would be nice to have some one-on-one time with her.

Emily smiled brightly at her, but before she could respond Cal walked into the room, looking suspiciously at the two of them. If there was one thing he'd learned in the week and a half since he and Gillian had begun this new aspect of their relationship, it was that Gillian and Emily together was a lethal combination.

"What're the two of you up to?" he asked skeptically.

"We were just talking about going shopping," Emily replied with excitement.

Dollar signs registered in his eyes as he imagined his daughter set loose in a clothing store with his credit card and only the supervision of Gillian, who loves her dresses and expensive shoes. And who was he kidding? He loved them too, but that was completely beside the point…

"I can only imagine the trouble the two of you'd get into together if you went shoppin'," he replied, clearly uneasy about the thought.

Emily handed the ad back to Gillian, rolled her eyes as she got up off the couch, and walked toward Cal saying, "You know you love us."

Seeing his face wash blank at her words she stammered, "I'm, uh, going back upstairs," and she ran up the stairs as quickly as possible, wanting to avoid the awkward situation she'd created.

Gillian had a small smile on her face with her eyebrows slightly raised in amusement. She glanced up from her ad at Cal who was trying very hard not to show any reaction to his daughter's words. She smiled wider and turned the page of the ad, looking over the next page and seeing another shirt she thought would look good on Emily.

Cal breathed a small sigh, walked over and sat on the couch next to her, putting his arm around her. She looked up at him wordlessly and just waited with expectation for what he had to say.

Failing to meet her eyes, he looked at the ad on her lap and lamely asked, "Anythin' good?"

Gillian looked back at the ad again while her face faded to disappointment as hints of amusement danced around the corners of her lips. She wasn't really expecting him to say it. He'd had plenty of opportunities since Christmas and hadn't taken one yet; but that didn't mean she couldn't hope.

She knew what she felt for him. She knew it was real and lasting, and she knew it ran deep; but she wasn't going to name it until he did. She'd made that mistake too many times in her life, and she wasn't going to make it again. Not when it was with him. She felt like one wrong move in that arena could put their whole relationship in a tailspin. So why jeopardize something that's so good?, she told herself.

Cal noticed the disappointment and clenched his jaw as he looked at her. Not like that, he thought.

It was moments like that, when he knew what she wanted but he failed to deliver, that made him feel like he didn't deserve her. It made him think of Burns' question to him after Cal had asked why he was in Gillian's life. Cal wanted to make sure it wasn't just for the sex, and Burns asked him, "You can't say the other word, can you?" Cal had ridiculously replied in a higher voice than normal, "Love…" as he gestured with his hands and somewhat nervously moved about. It sounded almost painful as it tumbled out of his mouth.

He knew it had to be right when he said it. The time had to be right, the surroundings had to be right. It couldn't just be a flippant, passing remark.

"Maybe," she finally responded to his question. "I like these boots for Emily, and she seems to like them too," she said as turned the page back so he could see them.

"Bloody hell, Gill! They're $200!" he exclaimed.

"I know, but every girl deserves to have one pair of expensive shoes," she said as she justified herself.

"Even when that girl is 17?" he asked.

"Especially when she's 17. She's in the throws of building a perfect wardrobe!" she countered as she glanced up at him. "I'll buy them, so don't worry about that. I just have to make sure I get the right size."

"You're gonna buy my daughter $200 boots?" he asked with a hint of surprise.

"Yeah, why not?" she asked as she looked up at him and held his gaze. Feeling unsure about the idea now and not at all liking the distancing, possessive language he'd used, she added, "Do you think it's a bad idea? Would she think it was…strange?"

"Nah, I think she'd love it," he replied. "Neither her mum nor I would ever spend that kinda money on her for shoes. She'll love havin' someone that spoils her."

Gillian furrowed her brow in thought as she looked back down at the boots. "I don't want her to like me because I spoil her. I don't want it to seem like I'm spoiling her at all," Gillian said as she started to re-think the purchase.

"She already likes you, love," he said as he pulled her to him. "Always has."

She looked back at him again and leaned her head on the couch, wondering what his daughter really thought of her. They'd had their share of interactions and honest conversations in the past, but she was sure their interactions weren't unique. Emily was in general a very friendly person, so it only followed logic that she'd had similar interactions with others.

Gillian hated that she overanalyzed the situation, but she knew if she ever wanted things with Cal to work, a good relationship with Emily was going to be very important; and she couldn't help wishing she had a closer relationship with her anyway. All the things she felt for Emily – pride when she accomplished something, protective when Cal was in some asinine situation, empathy when she was in the middle of a teenage crisis – they all left her with a very maternal feeling. And how could she not want a better relationship with the person who triggered that?

How in the world did you get closer to a teenager that was constantly running out of the house to go do something though? She found herself thinking how much easier this situation would be if she'd had a child of her own. Despite the fact that she'd been around for most of Emily's life, watching a child grow and being involved in their growth are two very different things. And certainly it would be easier if you'd been eased into this situation as the child grew, rather than jumping in head first when the teenage years were in full swing.

Seeing the concern and thought on Gillian's face, Cal leaned in, gave her a quick kiss and said, "You've got nothin' to worry about."

She bit her lip and gave him a small smile, so thankful for the unspoken portion of their relationship. He smiled back at her, and they both looked toward the front door when they heard Emily bounding down the stairs.

"I have to run to Anna's," she informed them. "I left my Stats book there. I'll be back!" she yelled over her shoulder as she exited the house, not waiting for any response. Then she popped her head back in and asked, "Are you going be here later, Gillian?"

She turned back toward the door and replied, "I think so."

"Ok, we'll talk about shopping later then," she said with a smile, and then she was out the door again.

Cal looked at Gillian again as his eyes told her, See? Nothin' to worry about.

She smiled at him and re-focused on the ad.

###############

The next day, after checking what size shoes Emily wore, Gillian found herself at 85 West on her lunch break. She thought a lot about the boots, and decided they were way too cute not to get. And, since Emily had stayed at Anna's longer than she'd planned, they hadn't had time to talk about shopping. Gillian figured that was the perfect excuse to surprise Emily.

As she walked to the shoe section, a tall, muscular young man walked up to her and introduced himself. Gillian immediately noticed the contrast between his clear blue eyes and his jet black hair, something she'd always found incredibly attractive.

"Hi, I'm Steve," he said with a noticeably sexy, low voice as he looked over her purple, form-fitting dress. Then, looking back in her eyes, he asked, "Can I help you find something?"

Gillian could see he was all too eager to help her find whatever she wanted. Giving him a knowing smile she said, "I'm looking for a pair of black knee high boots with buckles," she said, deciding it would be faster if she just let him help her.

"The ones from the ad? Those are over here," he informed her as he led the way down another aisle. Reaching the boots he asked, "What size are you?"

She again laughed at the notion that anyone thought she would be wearing these boots and said, "Oh no, they're not for me. But I need a size 8."

Steve looked a little disappointed as he looked her up and down again and wondered what was underneath that amazing purple dress. "Really? You could totally pull these off," he flirted.

Giving him an amused and flattered look she asked, "How old are you, Steve?"

"Twenty-eight," he replied, and then asked as he casually leaned against the wooden shelves, "What's your name, gorgeous?"

She couldn't help smiling at that. While she had absolutely no interest in this guy she had to admit, being called gorgeous by someone that young and handsome, well that just felt good. "Gillian," she replied.

"Well, Gillian, I think you should consider getting yourself a pair of these boots. You'd be doing the world a favor," he said as he looked at her calves, causing her to shift her weight. "But," he continued as he once again looked back in her eyes, "Since you're getting them for someone else, I'd recommend a 7 ½. They tend to run a little big."

Gillian pursed her lips in thought and decided to stay with the 8's, figuring she could just exchange them if necessary. Steve walked her back to the front and checked her out, in all meanings of the phrase. As she walked out the door with her bag he said with a grin, "I'll see you when you come back for the 7 ½'s."

"Thank you, Steve," she called over her shoulder with a smile.

###############

Once she was back at the office, she tucked the boots away in a corner and sat down at her desk. Just then, Cal walked in.

"Where'd you disappear to?" he asked as he sat down across from her and propped his chin on his hand.

"I went shopping," she casually replied.

"You got the boots," he stated as more of a fact than the question.

"I did, and Emily was right – they are amazing."

"Well they better be for that price," he said.

"Oh stop with the price!" she exclaimed. "When you buy a suit–" She stopped herself, thinking, Cal doesn't wear suits… She then continued, rephrasing her thought, "If you were a man who bought suits, you wouldn't buy a cheap one, would you?" Realizing this line of logic still held a huge flaw for the person she was talking to, she quickly added without giving him a chance to respond, "The same thing goes for shoes!"

He looked at her, wanting to tell her just how faulty her logic was, but appreciating that she was trying to make a connection with Emily beyond what they already had. He got up, walked around her desk, and kissed her on the on top of her head before walking toward the door.

Just as he was about to walk out she playfully said, "I might go back and look at some shoes for myself." Cal stopped at the door and turned around to face her as she continued, "There's a very helpful salesman named Steve that seemed all too interested to get me in a pair of those boots." She licked her lips as she looked at him and tried like hell to fight the smile playing at the corners of her lips. She failed miserably, but she still got the desired reaction: jealousy.

He narrowed his eyes at her and stepped back in her office, looking over at the couch before re-focusing on her. "Oh yeah?" he asked, jealousy saturating his words.

"Mmm hmm," she replied as she nodded and smiled sweetly at him.

Knowing what she was after, he flatly said, "Alright," and turned to walk out the door again.

She smiled at him as he walked away and then focused back on her work thinking, I should really take Cal with me next time.

A/N: This is not the scene I was talking about in my A/N above, but the Cal/Burns exchange I referenced was from Exposed.

Hope you like it so far, and R&R if you feel like it. : )