The Gift

Nell insisted on buying herself flowers.

She liked to give herself flowers – the simple gesture of flowers brought so much joy to her than anything else he ever did. But this Valentine's Day, he assured that she didn't need to buy flowers. She wasn't too happy with him for that, but her curiosity was piqued.

So, here he was, trying his best to snuck in the bouquet when he saw it. Two tickets to a hiking trail along with a basket of candies and chocolates.

He shook his head, smirking a little, and carefully placed the bouquet of flowers on her desk. Oh, Nell, he thought, aren't you sneaky?

"G!" She leaned over his shoulders, startling him. "You really shouldn't be doing this. What if someone catches you? You really can't think a way out of that, G," she whispered, letting her lips touch his earlobe while slipping her hands down to his chest.

Callen held her hands in his. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Nell, if we are ever caught, it'll be 'cause of your public display of affection." He stared deeply in her eyes, warning her not to do this again. In public, anyways.

"Whatever you say, G."

"Glad to hear that."

"You, uh, got me flowers?" She drew the flowers out, sniffing the sweet licorice smell. "Not bad taste for an unromantic man."

"Hmmm," he muttered, "but it looks like you beat me to it."

"G, I didn't get myself anything." She threw him a look. "What I got myself isn't here." Wink. Wink. Wink.

"No kidding!"

"If you're, uh, wondering about the basket, it's a gift from the café owner. He had a small crush on me," she said, smiling innocently at the confession, "And the tickets; those were from a contest giveaway that my cousin won, but didn't want them."

"Hiking?" He rose an eyebrow.

"I was wondering," she said, twirling the loose tread on his shirt, "if you, uh, wanted to be my hiking buddy."

"Don't know, Nell, hiking isn't really my thing."

She inched herself closer to him, and pressed her lips closer to his cheeks.

"Still no?"

"Still no. 'Afraid I can't really change my mind," he replied, looking at her for second time, and tried to resist the smirk crossing his face.

Callen titled her head, and lowered his head to her face. He traced the outline of her lips with a finger. And closed the distance between their lips. The kiss was tender and brief as Callen suddenly pulled away leaving a breathless Nell in the process.

"G, got those files."

Nell composed herself, hiding the fluster from the kiss, while receiving an amused look from Sam.

Sam wasn't staring at me like that, Nell wondered, was he? She shook off the thought; it was absurd.