Paige looked towards the door when she heard a light knock, tensing the moment she noticed it was Mike. He was the last person she wanted to see right now. It was bad enough that Mike slept with Jessica, but he couldn't even get her team approved. What the hell had Mike spent all that time doing? Jessica was probably some frigid ice princess and couldn't get off and was holding her team hostage because of it. Or she was just that petty. Probably both.

"Why didn't she approve my team?"

"Because she knew that my heart was somewhere else."

"What?" Paige snapped, her voice being more hostile than she intended.

Mike slipped into her room, shutting the door behind him. "I just wanted to apologize again for earlier. I should've..." his voice trailed off as he moved to sit next to her on the bed.

"She made me a drink. She kissed me. I kissed her back. We got into bed."

Paige forced a smile on her face, "It's not your fault. You gave it the old college try," Paige said, struggling to keep her voice steady, when all she wanted to do was yell at Mike for sleeping with another woman. Even though she told Mike to do it, she hated that he went along with it, not caring if that made her a hypocrite. Maybe she'd feel differently if her team had been approved. But not only did Mike sleep with Jessica, he came back empty handed with only a half-assed apology for his troubles.

Mike moved his hands to her shoulders, working at her tense muscles. She closed her eyes as he continued to massage her shoulders. She focused on his touch, letting it keep her in the moment. Letting it stop her from thinking about things she didn't want to think about.

"She made me a drink. She kissed me. I kissed her back. We got into bed."

"I'm sorry," Mike murmured, pushing aside her hair before he kissed her neck.

She froze the second his lips made contact with her skin. All she could picture was Mike kissing Jessica. Touching Jessica. Fucking her. Thinking about them together made her skin crawl.

Paige took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. She needed to get over this. She was the one that sent him to her bed, but that didn't mean he had to go straight from Jessica' bed to hers. "Did you at least shower?" Paige bitterly asked, pulling away from him, moving so she was sitting against the headboard.

"Shower? No, after I talked with you I had some calls to make. I'm trying to get some resources moved around to get a team approved for you." He lightly stroked her arm, "I promise you, we're going to get your girls out." He held her gaze for a few seconds before playfully tugging on her shirt, "But if you want to shower together, we - "

"I realize I told you to sleep with her and I'll deal with that. But the last thing I want to do is help you wash her off you." It wasn't fair of her to hold that against Mike when she sent him to her bed. Did it count as cheating when it was her idea?

"Get me my team back, Mike."

"I already tried."

"Then you need to convince her?"

"What do you mean convince her?"

"I mean, you need to do whatever you have to do."

"Okay, okay. I want you to think about what you just said to me."

"I have. You know how much these girls mean to me. You've done it once. You can do it again."

"Off me?" Mike asked, his eyes filled with confusion. "What do you think happened? I told you - "

Paige held her hand out, signaling him to stop. It was bad enough knowing Mike slept with Jessica. She didn't want to know what happened between the sheets. Or on top of them. She already knew too much.

"She made me a drink. She kissed me. I kissed her back. We got into bed."

"I really don't want details on how you screwed your boss."

"Details? We didn't sleep together. I couldn't go through with it. Paige, I tried - I thought about what you said - "

"So this is my fault? Your boss is jealous and petty and somehow that's my fault?"

"You sent me to her bed! That was all you! I'm sorry I couldn't convince her that I was into her. We were in bed and we were kissing and she was touching me and all I could think about was you. And how she wasn't you and I didn't want her. Didn't want to kiss her. Or even touch her. I definitely didn't want to sleep with her. But you - you asked me to do this. So what does that mean? That whatever we have means so little to you that you could just send me to her?"

"Mike..."

"Whatever we are, I'm not sure what we are, but I know what you mean to me. I could never ask you to do something like this even if you'd already done it before," Mike said, his voice thick with emotion.

Paige drew her knees to her chin as she blinked back tears. "Just go ahead and say it. Tell me I told you so. You would never ask me to do what I asked you to do. And if you did, I wouldn't have even tried." If Mike had asked her to do what she had asked of him, she probably would've slapped him. Walked out on him. Ended whatever was going on between them. But here he was. Trying to make things right between them.

She should just end things with Mike now. Cut their losses before they both got hurt. Before she messed things up even more. She was too involved with this case and didn't have time to deal with her personal life. Or maybe that was what she was subconsciously doing. Deliberately trying to destroy them. Using Jessica and this case as an excuse to push him away before she got hurt. It felt like the only thing she had control over right now was what was going on with her and Mie.

"I know why you did," Mike quietly said, as he moved to sit next to her against the headboard.

"Don't make excuses for me," Paige whispered, blinking back tears.

"I know you, Paige. How important this case is to you. How important finding your girls is to you," Mike said. He reached for her hand, watching her carefully as he intertwined their fingers.

"You're important to me too, more important than you know," Paige confessed, squeezing his hand. She was just starting to realize how much he mattered to her and if she stopped to think about it for too long, it terrified her.

Mike put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head. "You're important to me too," Mike whispered.

Letting herself relax, she curled into him, "I'm sorry," Paige apologized. "For - for everything. I put you in an impossible situation. I'm not making excuses, but I wish you had told me about her." It wasn't hard to figure out that Mike had slept with her. She saw how flirty the other woman had been and how uncomfortable it made Mike. Even though it happened before she and Mike got together, it didn't stop her from being jealous of the other woman. Didn't stop her from trying to use the situation to her advantage. Didn't stop her from sending him to sleep with her to get resources.

"I should have. I thought - I don't know, I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry." Mike absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair as she nestled further into his embrace. "But I need you to know that what I said earlier, I meant it. I don't know if I'm staying after we're done with this case or where things are going with us. But you are more than just a passing fling. You..."

Paige lifted their joined hands and kissed his, "So are you. I hope you know that. Even with what I did today, you're more than a passing fling." She lifted her head, turning slightly so she could look up at him. "Are we okay?" Paige asked, searching his eyes for any indication that they weren't on the same page.

Mike tenderly smiled, before kissing her. "Yeah, we're okay. What was it you told me last night? I'm supposed to be cheering you up?"

She nodded at him, expectantly waiting for him to continue. "Yes."

"Just don't - don't laugh at me too much. You have to S-M-I-L-E to be..."

Laughing softly, she pulled Mike down for a kiss, "Don't quit your day job."

THE END