Kensi stood there, speechless. The man had some nerves, but while his smirk annoyed her, she was tempted to take him up on his offer, out of simple curiosity.
'Why should I accept? I've been dying to get out of this place ever since I got here. And that was barely 10 minutes ago.' she said, crossing her arms over her chest, standing tall but still a couple of inches shorter than him.
Marty raised his eyebrow, checking his watch. '10 minutes huh? You've been stood up haven't you? That explains the sour mood.' Marty realized, a smile beginning to form again on his face before Kensi's finger shoved him.
'How dare you?! I haven't been stood up, if you must know he had a work emergency. He's a well educated man with a career that takes up a lot of his time at unfortunate moments. Unlike some people who look like they spend a little too much time at the beach.' Kensi finished her rant with a grin, proud of her not so much hidden insult.
But her grin faltered when his answer came with a laugh.
'Guilty as charged, I do like to spend time at the beach, surfing, it's called a hobby. You wouldn't believe it but I'm actually a well educated man myself.' Marty said.
'Oh yeah? And what exactly is it that you do?' Kensi asked, snorting.
'I'm a lawyer.' He said, fishing a business card from his backpocket and handing it to her.
'Jason Wyler, Attorney at Law...' She read. 'So now I'm the rude one, awkward.' She added, scrunching up her nose, looking adorable.
'It's alright, you'll be excused if you let me buy you that drink.' Marty said, his eyes shinning with mischief.
Kensi tried to keep the smile from showing on her face, rolled her eyes to fake being irritated by his insistance and finally agreed. 'Fine. Just one.'
Marty clapped his hands and gestured her toward a table in the corner near an untouched dartboard. 'Lead the way!'
Kensi sat down at the small table, it was nice, quieter than the bar. 'Weren't you here to meet someone? You seemed in a hurry.'
Marty waved her off. 'Nah, it can wait. My clients are busy right now anyway.' he said pointing toward the crowd around the pool tables. 'So what will you be having?'
'A beer.' Kensi answered. Usually on dates she would order a fruity drink, one of those cocktails with a little umbrella, it'd fit her Tracy persona, but this wasn't a date and she was seriously craving a good ol' beer right about now.
'Hey Tony! Two beers over here!' Marty whistled at the bartender.
'Coming right up, Jason.' Tony called back.
'So I take it you're a regular here?' Kensi noted.
'In the past few months yeah, my clients like to meet here rather than my office. I don't mind, this place ain't so bad once you get used to it.' He said, taking a sip of the beer that was deposited right in front of him. 'After all it's not everywhere that you can buy flavored condoms at the vending machine.' Marty said nonchalantly.
This caused Kensi who was drinking too, to split her beer right out. 'Oh, my god!'
'Perfect timing.' He grinned while handing her a napkin.
'This place keeps getting better.' Kensi chuckled, drying the table.
'Nothing says classy like flavored condoms.' Marty said, causing Kensi to let out a heartfelt laugh, making him contemplate her before talking again. 'So, tell me more about you.'
Kensi looked over at him, he had a pensive look on his face, making him even more handsome than he already was. Kensi always dreaded that part, fearing a slip up on even though her lies were well rehearsed. 'What do you wanna know?'
'Your name would be a good beginning.' Marty said leaning toward her.
'Right. My name's Tracy.' She said.
'Hmm, Tracy...You don't look like a Tracy.' He pondered out loud, putting his hands under his chin.
'What name would suit me better?' Kensi asked while peeling the label off of her bottle.
Marty stared at her, long and hard before he found his voice again. 'You look like a Fern.'
Kensi stopped what she was doing instantly. 'Don't you dare call me Fern!' When Marty just kept on staring at her, a smirk in place, she shoved the sole arm that was holding his head, making him laugh.
'Alright, alright! Geesh, I'm gonna finish the night bruised.' He said as he held up his hands in defense, still chuckling from her reaction at the nickname. 'So Tracy, what do you do for a living?'
'I'm an Art curator.' Kensi said clearing her throat, hoping to god that he wasn't into art which would make her cover slightly complicated. She knew it was a tricky cover, considering her knowledge of the subject was pretty close to zero, but art galleries were so cool and glamorous.
'I'm impressed. A sophisticated woman, I like that.' He gave her an appreciative smile, that contrary to many men, didn't make her feel diminished, quite the opposite actually.
Kensi was confused to realise that she was sad to be lying to him about that. Especially since she was the polar opposite of a sophisticated woman, she was a tomboy as she grew up and today still, she was the only woman out in the field at work where she was surrounded by men, she was as they said one of the guys. The rare times she was dressing up or using her sexuality were when undercover or when she was out there on a date or on the prowl.
Marty saw that he had lost her to her thoughts after mentioning her work so he decided to skip the subject and distract her from whatever was on her mind, not ready for the night to end yet. He enjoyed the company, more than he should. 'What do you say we give this dartboard a go huh?'
'That sounds fun!' The sound of his voice startling her back into the present.
'You any good?' He asked her as he got up and fetched the darts.
'I'm decent, I'm a little bit rusty tho.' Kensi said, knowing that she was much better than she let on, one of her specialities being to throw knives, darts would be a walk in the park for her.
'Well if you need assistance, I'll be happy to help you out.' Marty said with a cocky grin. 'Ladies first!'
'Look at that, chivalry isn't dead.' She grinned at him before concentrating and throwing her first dart. 'Not bad.'
And it really wasn't. She couldn't help herself and totally fail. She wanted a challenge and somehow she knew Jason would be able to compete without feeling threatened by her skills.
Marty followed suit, but was a tad less successful than Kensi. 'Aw man.' He said running a hand through his golden curls.
As she went to take her next shot, Kensi bumped his shoulder with hers. 'You know if you need assistance, I'll be happy to help you out.' She said challenging him.
Marty shook his head smiling, liking how she was trying to rile him up. When he saw that she was about to go for the kill he spoke up. 'Show me what you've got, Fern!'
As expected the nickname she already loathed made her miss the board altogether. 'Dude!' She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. 'Is that how you wanna play it? Dirty?'
Marty invaded her personal space and whispered in her ear. 'That's the only way I know how, Sunshine.'
Kensi watched him as he backed off, grinning from ear to ear. She was boiling, her competitive strike surging up and other feelings that she wasn't too keen on exploring caused by his recent proximity. The game went on, both taunting the other as much as they could, giving it their best shot to surpass the other. In the end Marty won, by being the most creative when it came to messing with his opponent. Although a few more bruises were sure to appear soon enough throughout his body.
'Jason Wyler, for the gold!' Marty cheered himself on after his victory.
'Don't brag too much, there was some serious unsportsman like conduct going on.' Kensi said, not loving the fact that she did loose, fair and square.
'Aw, Sunshine, don't be a sore loser. Want another beer to soothe your pain? As the winner I should be the one to get a free drink but hey I'm willing the be the bigger person here.' Marty said with a cocky smile that made her want to either slap him or grab him and kiss him.
And on that note she decided to bid him farewell before she did anything she might regret. 'I should get going, early morning tomorrow.' She said, picking her jacket from her chair.
Marty's smile fell. He was glad that her back was turned so she didn't see the pathetic look that was sure to be on his face at her words. Schooling his features he ran a hand through his hair, a nervous habit he seemed to have picked up around her tonight. 'Oh, sure, of course, no problem. I have stuff to do here anyway, work stuff as I said earlier.' He finished, clearing his throat, trying to get his brain to start working again.
'Right.' Kensi said, amused to see him babble.
'But you know if you wanna try your luck again at a darts game, you got my number. On the card I gave you earlier, in your right back pocket I think.' He finally finished, bitting his tongue to stop himself from adding anything else and embarrassing himself furthermore.
'Duly noted.' They both walked toward the bar's entrance, ready to part ways but not that willing. 'I had a nice time tonight, even though I've been stood up.'
'I thought you weren't stood up? I mean, nobody in their right mind would do that.' Marty said making Kensi blush at the genuine compliment.
'Well, whatever it was, I'm glad it happened.' She smiled shyly at him. 'I'll see you around then. Not around here that's pretty sure but you know, around.' Kensi said, opening the door.
Marty laughed, glad to see he wasn't the only one struggling to find the words to finish this evening. 'Got it. Goodnight!'
Kensi waved at him as she walked out the door. Once she reached her car and sat behind the wheel, Kensi looked back to the bar's sign thinking that 'The Hangout' wasn't such a bad place as she first thought it was. One Jason Tyler sure did brighten the place up. The smile that graced her lips as thoughts of blue eyes and golden hair invaded her mind, didn't wane until her head hit her pillow.
