A couple months later

Neldah was a cultured, intelligent, and delicate woman, all of which were traits Goren had seemed to be attracted to in the pasts. She was also a murderer, a fact Eames was desperately trying to comfort herself with.

Eames was certainly no murderer, but she also had never heard the terms "cultured" or "delicate" used in a sentence with her name attached. Tough, smart, and sarcastic, she heard plenty. So, why was this well traveled, ridiculously well read, beautiful man sitting in a Thai diner with her and not out finding a non-murderous Neldah?

The pair sat in the back booth and Eames picked at her chicken pad Thai with a plastic fork. She could feel his eyes on her from the opposite side and he leaned slightly across the table.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You know Deakins was worried you were getting to close to her."

He watched her with parted lips and a raised brow. She hated that look because she knew in that one glance he could strip her completely naked.

"And…and so did you," he said. "Eames—"

"Bobby, I've watched you flirt with suspects before. This was different…given the right situation you could have—"

"She's a murderer…and I'm with you."

"But if she wasn't? I've seen some of your old girlfriends and she fits the bill a hell of a lot better than me—"

"So what the hell have we been doing the past two months?"

"I don't know. That's the point. We keep saying we're going to sit down and talk about our…relationship or whatever this is—"

"Whatever this is?" Goren's voice rose. "What do think that…that I've been using you?"

She was surprised by the hurt in his voice, but didn't soften her own.

"Were you attracted to her?"

"So what if I was. It doesn't mean that I would automatically want to pursue a relationship with her or anything else for that matter…and I know I would never love her."

"You don't know that!"

"Yes! I do, because I—" he pressed a hand to his lips, pushing the words back in.

"What? You what?"

He lowered his hand and caught her eyes with his.

"Because I love you…I'm in love with you."

Eames sat back in her seat. "I…"

"I've never…I've never been good at saying the words, but I've wanted to for…for a while…and please say something."

"I…I guess were having that talk."

He gave her an unsure smile.

"I'm sorry if I took it too far with Neldah. I never intended to worry or hurt you…"

"Can you take me home?"

"Uh…what?"

She pulled out some cash from her pocket and placed it on the table. Then she slid from her side of the booth to his and twined her fingers with his.

"I'm not good with the words either."

He studied her for a moment with that same naked look and then followed her lead as they walked hand-in-hand to his apartment.