I own nothing regarding the Blacklist. This is just for personal fun, and hopefully people will enjoy reading this story. I'm new to this so I'm sorry if it's badly done. I'd love to hear your perspective on whether I should try for more chapters.

After a year of working with Raymond Reddington, Elizabeth found herself irritated with him for a completely different reason than she was expecting.

For a year she had spent practically every waking hour with him working on capturing the criminals on his list and he was constantly giving her a headache with his remarks; sometimes ones of hidden sexual undertones, other times genuine compliments on her clothing choices for the day or the way she did her hair.

He continuously drove her crazy, whether he was realizing he was doing it or not.

They had gotten closer this past year. She and Tom had divorced after him finding out she knew he was a lying, manipulative bastard, and ever since then she had been single and living alone with her dog. It had taken her a good five months to adjust to life as a newly single woman again; Tom and Liz had been married for two years, they had met in high school, and she never once thought the day would come where they wouldn't be together anymore.

She didn't want to be tied down with memories of life spent with her husband in their house, so she had moved into a smaller place fit for one person and their aging dog.

Liz thought Red was flirting with her, all the times they were in the same room together. All the little subtle things, like glancing her way and deliberately stepping into her personal space. Touching her, bumping into her, staring at her mouth whenever he listened to what she was telling him, and the way his baritone voice tended to get deeper and more seductive when he was addressing her into the conversation.

Red hardly paid anyone else as much attention as he did Liz. He seemed to know everything about her, he had invested into her private, personal life, and what type of man does that unless they are somewhat attracted to the woman in mention?

Just last week, she had been discussing with him the potential motives of one of their targets when he rapped her on the knuckles figuratively to steer her in the correct direction, slipped in behind her while she was leaning over the desk, and put his hands on the table around her so she felt completely blocked and consumed by him. Harold Cooper had watched them, and Liz almost feared he could read how flustered she was.

What irritated her most of all, was that she was positive he had feelings for her, and yet he never did anything about it. He never asked her out on special dates outside of work. He never made any move towards her but in a room, he constantly made sure he was the only one she paid attention to.

The frustrating thing for Liz was that she enjoyed the added attention he gave her and found herself wishing something would happen. Liz had been single for a while now, her job took up most of her time, and the only thing sleeping in her bed next to her at night was Hudson, the dog.

She was sure the man was somewhat attracted to her and, although she had tried to fight it for a while, she couldn't deny that she felt attracted to him. It was just doing something about it that was the hardest part. But not tonight. Liz was determined; Things were going to change between them, whether she had to aggressively shove herself at him or not.

She slipped into a black halter neck dress, fixed her hair up into a loose chignon, pushed her feet into a pair of heels, and decided tonight was the right time to finally make the move. She dabbed on some of her favorite perfume that she wore mainly on special outings and instantly, she felt like a young woman empowered.

Hudson, who wagged his tail at her, seemed to be egging her on too. Liz couldn't possibly imagine anything going wrong.

When she arrived at the hotel room he was staying at for the night, she felt those nagging feelings of anxiety settling in. What was she going to say? What was Red going to say? Was this even such a good idea? Ignoring all those niggling little questions in the back of her mind, she knocked on the door of his room and waited, listening carefully.

She heard movements from inside and she backed away restlessly, peering along the hallway. The hardest thing for Liz had always been letting herself become vulnerable to somebody. Also, letting someone into her heart and allowing herself to be open to getting her heart broken. Tom was the only man who had seen her naked, he was the only man she had ever let herself be intimate with, both emotionally and physically, and look how that turned out...

Tom Keen wasn't even truly Tom Keen.

She didn't think she would ever feel the same way about any man after what she had found out about Tom deceiving her all along. But miraculously she did, and those feelings were for Red.

She clasped a slender hand over her chest to calm her erratic heart. Then she heard a bolt slide open on the other side of the door and she considered making a run for it. If only she hadn't chosen to wear these ridiculous high heels that were impossible to run in.

xxx

Red was indulging in a glass of scotch while peering out of the hotel room window, until he heard a hesitant knock coming from the door to his hotel room that pulled him out of his thoughts. He checked the clock on the wall, then set his glass down on a coaster before sliding his legs off the ottoman they were perched comfortably on and getting to his feet. It was 12.30 at night. Usually he hardly had such late night visitors. Dembe had already gone home and he had been left in peace and quiet for some time. His vest was unbuttoned and the top button of his trousers was undone.

Clearly he hadn't been expecting any late night visitors otherwise he would have been better prepared.

He unlocked the door, flung it open, and was momentarily shocked to find Elizabeth standing there, dressed like she was going out to a party- or had at least already headed out to one earlier. The black dress she was wearing was stunning and fitted to her slim figure, and Red felt a strange surge of envy for whichever man who was lucky enough to be in her company for the evening. Last time he checked, it wasn't her birthday so it wasn't a matter of her heading out for any special occasion. There was still two months and eight days until her birthday came around, and yes, he was counting.

"Lizzie, do come in." He moved aside to let her in and she entered, looking around the room for a moment nervously. "To what do I owe this unexpected, yet exciting...?" The words died on his tongue as he took in her strange disposition.

Something was off about her, and he wasn't sure what. He scrutinized what she was wearing a little more closely, and it came to him. Ah, she must have had a hot date with probably some young-spirited, spring chicken more than half his age. The idea didn't please him, but he hid it well, and felt some semblance of satisfaction as he took in her expression. Her face was tight, strained, as if she was anxious and on-edge. He took that as a sign that the date hadn't gone down too well.

"Are you okay, Lizzie?"

She turned to look at him and shook her head. Strands of her dark hair came loose with the movement of her head, dangling an inch from her collar-bone, and her lips parted.

"What is it?" He held his hand out towards her in a placating gesture, because he wasn't sure if she was going to start crying. He absolutely hated it when she cried. "Tell me what's happened."

She looked around his hotel room again before stepping closer to where he was standing. Red was surprised by the dramatic change in her expression; She now looked determined, as if she was convincing herself mentally to do something challenging. Before, anxious and uncertain about coming into his hotel room, she had looked soft, vulnerable. But now she looked hard, and determined. Her eyes flitted back and forth, alternating between meeting his eyes and staring at his mouth. There was a fire in her light eyes for him, one he hadn't seen before from Liz.

Then blowing Red's concern out of the water, she leaned up and kissed him on the mouth. It was a hesitant and innocent kiss, one that lingered for a blissful second or two. Red was particularly enamored by the perfume she was wearing; a sexually provocative, rose and jasmine based sweet fragrance that he recognized as Chanel. Then she disengaged her mouth quickly from his, searching for his reaction with her eyes uncertainly. The fire was still there, but it had dimmed a little. Red was baffled and felt speechless, for once in his life.

"Lizzie, I don't know if that was such a good idea. I'm... far too old for you. Not to mention this would only be incredibly messy for both of us."

"Too old? I'll be the judge of that," she murmured, rather breathlessly. "See you at work."

Leaving him flabbergasted, Liz turned without another word and moved towards the door she had only just entered in. She turned to look at him once before she left, and Red saw the faintest hint of a smile on her face.

Red stared at the door vacantly after she left. Then he closed his eyes and scratched the back of his head. He could still feel the warmth of her lips on his, smell her perfume, see her fire. In steamy times like these, he needed a cigar. He wasn't sure whether he had dreamed the entire thing, but if not, it should make working together all the more interesting.

He certainly wouldn't be able to look at her mouth in the same light ever again.

I'm sorry if this was terrible, I'm really anxious about this. I would love to know if this is something I should continue with? Thanks for reading.