Just a quick Dave/Em one-shot that was requested by a dear friend who wanted the pair with snowflakes, ice-skating, New York store windows, and The Christmas Song as prompts. Somehow the thought of Dave Rossi on ice-skates was too funny and tempting to pass up! Hope you like it!
Song prompt: "The Christmas Song" by Nat "King" Cole (Is there another version, seriously?)
The Christmas Song
The weather was chilly to the point of making anyone who was outside want to go back indoors and wrap their hands around a hot cup of cocoa. But the wind had stopped and the sky had cleared enough to let the stars decorate the navy blue sky. It was a beautiful night.
Still, Dave Rossi couldn't fathom why he was sitting on a bench in the middle of Central Park lacing up ice-skates. There were many other things he could be doing right now than setting himself up for disaster.
"Tell me again why I am doing this," he asked the brunette sitting beside him.
"Because I accompanied you to your book signing and the party afterward. Remember that you agreed to do things that would make me happy." Emily Prentiss double knotted her lace and stood up. "Ice-skating will make me very happy."
Dave adjusted his foot in the boot. "Watching me fall and bust my ass will make you happy?" he wondered incredulously.
"You're not going to fall."
"I haven't skated in years. There is nowhere for me to go but down."
Mischief danced in Em's dark brown eyes. "I'm sure you're exaggerating. I happen to overhear you telling Morgan that you were a helluva skater when you lived in Commack." She did a pirouette to test her skates.
"Do you know how long ago that was? I don't even think that pond exists any longer." Dave stood up and tried to get his center of balance.
"You haven't thought about taking a spin or two on that lake out near your cabin?" she teased.
"No."
"I have."
"Oh really?" Shifting forward, Dave felt himself wobble unsteadily. He reached for Em's arm. "It's not too late to chuck the skating and go caroling like I first suggested."
"'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire; Jack Frost nipping at your nose'," Em sang. "You mean to tell me that that is more exciting than this?"
"I would rather listen to you sing," he said honestly. "I like your version better."
"Ha! You're not getting out of it that easy. Come on!"
"This is not going to be pretty." He cast an apprehensive glance at the skating rink. Christmas carols came over the speakers.
Em took his hand in hers and held tight. "Just hold on. I won't let you fall," she promised.
"Famous last words," Dave muttered as they began to move forward.
******
"I thought you promised not to let me fall," Dave said as they paid for the hot drinks Em insisted on having now that they had finished their excursion into ice-skating.
"I did. You were the one who let go of my hand to show that you had the hang of it."
"What can I say? I was disillusioned by a flashback to my youth," he defended. "I honestly thought I could do that spin. How hard could it be? Really?" He gingerly rubbed his backside.
"I guess it wasn't as hard as that ice," Em joked. "How bad are you hurt?"
"They haven't invented a word to describe the pain you experience when you fall and bust your ass, so I'm going to have to go with 'ow' for now," Dave grumbled as he walked gingerly down the sidewalk. In his hands was a hot Styrofoam cup of cocoa. He used it more to warm the tips of his fingers than to drink.
"I think you did quite well," Em sipped her cocoa and slowed her pace to stay by her friend's side.
"Compared to the six year old who was doing figure eights while I lay prone on the ice?" he asked sarcastically. "Or the grandma who did a double toe loop? Then yeah, I think I did quite well."
"For a guy who can't skate, you know the terms."
"I like watching figure skating during the Olympics. Sue me."
"Have I managed to peel back a layer of the mysterious Dave Rossi?" Em asked with a laugh.
"Just because I don't announce it, doesn't mean that I'm ashamed of it. I do like to keep some things private. It's nice to keep people guessing."
"Kinda like you asking me to come up to New York City with you?" Em finished her drink and tossed the cup in the wastebasket.
"I thought it might be nice to spend some time with you. Now that you are with the State Department, I feel that I can ask you out without having the Hoover Building's tongues wag with scuttlebutt." Dave took a long drink of his cocoa which was now growing cold.
"Oh really? I thought you didn't care about rumours. In fact, I recall that you were the basis for most of the rumours that swirled around the FBI."
"That was then and this is now. I'm older." He winced as he finished the drink and threw the cup to join Em's. "I'm definitely older," he groused.
"Not that old," Em argued.
"Tesoro, tell that to my backside when I can't get out of bed in the morning. I have a feeling the bed in the hotel is not going to be my friend." He rubbed his hands together and blew on his fingers to warm them.
"Maybe I should get you to return the favour since I went against my better judgment and donned ice-skates for the first time in forty years," he teased with a crooked smile.
"And what would that favour entail?" Em wondered. She took his hand in hers and rubbed it.
"I don't know…a back massage comes to mind." The touch of her hand on his was enough to make him lose his concentration.
"That sounds good. I can feel it now."
Dave's eyes narrowed. "I meant for me."
"Oh. Well, that makes a difference."
A soft wind began to blow, so the pair began to walk. Silence fell between them as they strolled down the busy sidewalk and looked at the decorated windows of the New York stores. In the distance horns honked and music played, while a Salvation Army bell ringer set the tone of the season.
"Oh look!" Em cried out happily as she hurried to the picture window of the FAO Schwarz. "A train!" Enthralled, she watched as the engine and cars chugged around the decorated tracks. Her eyes shined with joy as she held her breath.
"So, Emily Prentiss has a weakness."
"I like trains. I always wanted one, but my parents didn't think it would be…acceptable that the daughter of ambassadors would be playing with a toy meant for a boy," she recalled wistfully. "I literally had to beg for the cap gun and police shield for one Christmas."
"Aren't you a wealth of secrets," Dave commented as he watched her face. "Guns, police shields and trains. I would have tagged you for princess dolls and easy bake ovens."
Em laughed out loud. "You might want to go back and brush up on those profiling skills you claim to be an expert at."
Dave took her hand, rubbed it, blew on her finger tips. "I can tell that you like Christmas and everything that goes with it. You like the songs and decorations and ice-skating followed by hot chocolate bought from sidewalk vendors," he pointed out matter-of-fact.
Her heart pounded with nervous excitement. "You are good," she breathed. "What else?"
"You are like me."
"How's that?"
"You try to pretend that the holidays don't matter, but you hate spending Christmas alone." He brushed a lock of hair from her cheek and pushed it behind her ear. "What would you say if I asked you to spend your two week holiday stand down with me?"
Em's cheeks flushed bright red. "I… Dave…I don't know."
"Just two friends hanging out and having a good time in the Big Apple. And maybe - if I'm lucky enough to be standing in the right doorway - I might be able to steal a kiss or two."
"Just a kiss or two?" she quipped.
"Or more," he confessed. "That is, if you'll let me."
Em sighed, shrugged. "Unfortunately, I don't see any mistletoe."
"Well, it was a good idea."
"A great one." Something soft and wet tickled Em's face. Blinking quickly, she looked up at the sky. "Oh my!" she exclaimed softly on a laugh, "It's snowing!" Stepping back from the store window, she spun around in a circle in the snowfall. "What can be more beautiful than New York City at Christmas with snow?"
Dave caught her, bringing his face close to hers. "You," he answered. His body pressed against hers as people rushed all around them. But all Em could think about was the heat from Dave warming her body.
"I do have one wish that you might be able to help me with," his eyes held hers.
"What's that?" she asked.
"What do you say to grabbing a bag of roasted chestnuts, heading back to the hotel room, and ringing in the holidays with room service and champagne?" he wondered aloud.
"I think I might like that." She went to move, but her foot slipped on the soft snow. Dave caught her in his strong arms. "Whoa!"
"Hold on. I got you. I won't let you fall."
"Returning the favour?" she asked saucily. "I seem to recall that I let you fall too many times to count."
"Tesoro, I fell long before you took my hand on the rink," he returned. His eyes smoldered with desire so hot that Em almost forgot to breathe.
"Oh…really?" she managed to say, although her heartbeat raced and her blood boiled hot.
"And then some." Dave flicked his gaze to the sky and then back to the beautiful woman in his arms. "It's not mistletoe, but would you mind if I kissed you under the falling snow?" he asked.
"I can't think of anything better," she chided.
"Maybe you can finish singing 'The Christmas Song' to me," he suggested.
"Or maybe you can let me kiss you under the mistletoe, later," she reasoned.
"Deal," he said before his lips covered hers for a kiss that could almost guarantee that New York might not see a white Christmas.
But neither seemed to mind.
The End.