Next Morning
It was the sun that woke Scotty.
Bright rays of light shone through the big window on the bedside, warming his face and coloring the inside of his lids in a myriad of different shades. While slowly drifting awake, he felt the warmth of the sheets and sensed a presence nearby. Nevertheless, it wasn't before an unfamiliar weight settled on his knees that he abruptly came awake, shaking off the last remnants of sleep and jerking up his head.
He stared around in wild confusion.
This wasn't his bed – wasn't his room – this wasn't his apartment at all.
The light colors of the walls, the arrangement of furniture – it seemed vaguely familiar put he couldn't put his finger on it right now. His gaze travelled around the bedroom, took in the heaps of clothes lying halfway to the door on the floor – his, unmistakably – and then down to the purring weight on his legs.
Olivia.
Olivia? What the…
Memories came flooding back within seconds.
First Thursdays. Joey's Tavern. Miller and Lil laughing, Lil asking him something. His car, her face, her lips – crap.
Lil's apartment. Lil's bedroom. Lil's bed.
For a split second, Scotty just sat there, staring at the pillow next to him. Obviously, someone had been sleeping on it. He couldn't remember how the hell he had entered Lil's apartment. He couldn't remember how they had ended up in her bedroom. But he remembered everything else clearly. He shivered.
Her pale skin, shining softly. Her hands in his hair, her lips on his lips, the sounds she made when he kissed her face, her breasts, when he kissed her everywhere…
At these memories, his whole body started to burn again with longing. Absentmindedly, he stroked Olivia's back and the cat purred loudly, perfectly happy.
Scotty's mind whirled. What was he supposed to do now? Of course, he could always just get up, collect his belongings and leave. That's what one normally did after an one-night-stand. The problem was he knew perfectly well this hadn't been a first-timer, so leaving seemed wrong. Crap. Lil had made him promise it wouldn't happen again, this kind of intermezzo, after what had happened two weeks ago. After they had ended up in bed together for the third time. The first time had happened in a rush – he laughed inwardly: Rush – in the heat of a fight they had had about something Scotty couldn't even remember anymore. The second time followed closely. Lil had called it "a mistake". The third time, she made him swear he wouldn't try to seduce her again. He had promised. He hadn't even broken it. He hadn't tried to seduce her – she had seduced him. The way she walked, the way she talked, even when she was angry – it actually was when she was angry Scotty had to restrain himself so hard it hurt. He sighted awkwardly. So what now?
He picked up his boxers, jeans and T-Shirt and got dressed quickly. Lil's clothes weren't to be seen anywhere. In a hurry, he almost fell over Tripod.
"Sorry!" He apologized to the disgruntled cat which limped past him and joined Olivia on the bed. Trying not to make too much noise, just in case, Scotty descended the stairs and entered the kitchen. Lil wasn't there. She wasn't in the living-room, either. Staring around in confusion, he stood still, wondering where his partner might be – or if she had left – when he heard a soft noise coming from upstairs. Mentally cursing himself for having forgotten the bathroom, he climbed the stairs again and approached the closed door at the end of the corridor. The faint noise still was far too soft to understand anything, but he didn't need to. It was a wordless noise, underlined by the rush of shower water, a quiet moaning. His heart skipped a beat.
Lil was crying?
Before his brain told him what was the right thing to do – to turn around and leave – his body had already acted. A sharp knock resounded as his hand hit the door.
"Lil?", he called out unhesitatingly. "What's the matter? I'm coming in!"
Before she had the chance to reply, he opened the door and strode into the room. The soft sound stopped immediately.
"Lil?", he said again. "What's the matter? Please stop crying. We can work it out somehow – I'm sure we can. Just don't…"
He stopped dead when her head appeared around the shower curtain. Her golden hair was plastered into strands around her beautiful face and his heart skipped a beat as his brain realized she was completely naked in there, hot water running down her porcelain skin… Stop that, he told himself angrily. This sure as hell isn't the right moment. Yet he couldn't help imagining her lying in his arms.
Blue eyes stared at him intently, almost surprised.
"Scotty?"
He was taken aback.
"Yes."
"What are you doing in my bathroom?"
Something was wrong.
"Well, I was looking for you..."
"I'm taking a shower."
"I know. I can see that. I just heard you crying and I thought…"
For another split second, she just stared at him. Then she asked with an undertone: "You heard me crying?"
He cringed.
"You made my promise this wouldn't happen again but still we're here and I thought…"
"Crying?"
Her tone bore such incredulity he made a few steps back, intending to leave the room as fast as possible.
"Sorry. I didn't want to… I did, but I didn't want to… I'd better leave."
That's when she started laughing.
Totally bewildered, Scotty stared at his partner breaking down laughing in the shower.
Lil laughed so hard her whole body shook. She had to hold herself upright at the shower curtain, unintentionally revealing more of her perfect body Scotty thought was fine for him to see at the moment. She continued laughing and quickly climbed from the shower, sitting down on the bathtub edge. Scotty stared at her bewildered and somewhat hurt and wished the thoughts of how her lips tasted would finally leave his head.
"I don't think that's funny, Lil."
She gasped for breath.
"I'm sorry, Scotty, I just was…"
She started laughing again. Scotty decided it was time to leave.
"I'll better be off now. I'll see you later."
Her hand caught his T-Shirt. "Hey, Scotty, wait!"
She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"I'm sorry I laughed. It was just so… so…"
Searching for words, she brushed away some wet strands of hair. Unable to look at her further, Scotty turned away, grabbing a huge towel, and handed it to her. She draped it around her shoulders and covered herself mostly. It still wasn't enough. It was difficult to decide what was worse at the moment: the desire to touch her or the desire to run.
Scotty settled with just waiting. He sat on the far side of the bathtub, as far away as possible, and crossed his arms.
Finally, Lil had calmed herself down.
"I'm sorry I made you promise not to let this happen again, too. Especially after what happened last night."
She looked as if she didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.
"I guess you really had the best intentions, didn't you."
Memories returned distinctly.
Lil's hand on his arm. Lil dancing so close to him he could feel the heat coming from her body. Lil's blue eyes flickering, throwing him flirtatious looks, Lil's lips next to his face, Lil smiling at him invitingly. Lil's hand in his jeans…
"You wanted to seduce me!", he accused her, not knowing if he was supposed to be angry or amused. His partner's face darkened.
"I didn't mean to."
He watched her intently.
"You regret it?"
He found it impossible to regret any moment he had spent with her. Even if she would kick his ass and never again talk to him, he wouldn't regret last night. Or the night two weeks ago. Or…
It seemed to last an eternity until she shook her head slowly.
"No. I guess it's useless to fight it. Maybe it's just a…"
She fiddled with the towel.
"Something like momentary attraction. Maybe it'll… just fade away again."
Relieved she hadn't shouted at him, hurt because she thought he wasn't being serious, he leaned forwards and kissed her full-force. Under the pressure of his lips she moaned softly, a sound which made him shiver in anticipation.
"It's sure as hell not momentarily", he growled at her. Her cheeks were flushed. She hesitated again. "But Scotty, we… We can't… We're partners!"
"So who cares?" He asked and traced the skin on her arms with his fingers. He could feel goose bumps arise under the soft pressure. "We're both old enough to make our own decisions. We can keep privacy and job apart. There's no reason why this shouldn't happen. Because I want this, Lil."
She hesitated. "But…"
He silenced her.
"I want this", he repeated, slowly and clearly and faced her seriously. "Tell me you don't want it."
She still didn't look at him. His heart skipped at the thought that she didn't want to be with him. Finally, she looked up. Her eyes refused to meet his as she whispered: "I want it, too."
Relief flooded him and he leaned forward again, increasing the force of the first kiss. Lil almost fell from the bathtub edge as their lips met hungrily. She steadied herself by grabbing his arms. Her nails dug into his skin and she pressed herself against him, searching for skin contact. Her soft moans almost drove him crazy but with an enormous amount of willpower he wedged himself away and forced her to look at him.
Her white cheeks were flushed; her lips were parted in anticipation. Something in her eyes made him want to continue immediately but he restrained himself.
"So now tell me…"
"What?"
She was breathless.
"Why have you been crying?"
He hadn't forgotten. Apparently, she had. Lil stared at him blankly for a second and started laughing again. Sighing in desperation, Scotty pulled his hands back and raked his hair.
"I really don't get the joke."
"I always knew I was bad", Lil giggled. "But I didn't think it really was that bad. I'd better stop singing in the shower."