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A/n here's the next chapter kiddies. Please enjoy...

How to eat Ice Cream

Reid looked up from the stack of files on the table. The suspect pool they had to work with was very large. The rapist they were looking for was clever. He didn't seem to have a type. Age, race and looks didn't seem to matter to this guy.

He jumped when Emily slapped down a file and went to the window. "Why does it have to be so hot in Phoenix this time of year?" She snapped.

He opened his mouth and then shut it with a click when she glared at him with a look that promised death if he dared speak the statistics he'd been considering.

"They could at least have a fan set up in here."

"Maybe we could ask for one." He suggested.

"Oh right… The wimpy feds ask the local LEOs for a fan in March."

He shrugged his shoulder and went back to looking over the stack of files allotted to him. He was deep into the fourth name on the list when he knocked his highlighter pen off the table. When he popped back up with the pen in hand, his chin nearly hit the ground.

Emily's fingers were working at opening the top button of her dark blue blouse. The button popped open and her fingers moved down to the next one so slowly it was as if someone had turned on a slow motion effect in the movies.

She used one of her thinner files to fan her face and visible cleavage under her open blouse. The fan wafted air around her head and fluttered her hair up and down. The strap of her matching bar peeked out as she fanned making the hair stand up on the back of his neck. She smiled at him and he had to cross his legs at the glimmer in her dark eyes.

"Emily…"

"This blouse is choking me Reid. It's so hot in here." She pouted.

She dipped one finger into the revealed cleavage and slowly pulled it out again. "You're sweating Spencer… Is the heat bothering you?"

He gulped and dropped his highlighter again. It fell with a clunk and rolled across the floor to the doorway. It stopped because JJ entered the room at the same time and she stepped on it.

"Watch it!" She glared at Reid. "Are you trying to trip me?"

"Sorry JJ…"

She bent down, picked up the highlighter, and tossed it at him. He caught it very awkwardly as Morgan walked back into the room allotted for them to use. "Good one Reid. My coaching is finally paying off."

"What?" He squeaked, trying not to look at Emily.

"Catching…" Morgan said as if he was half-bright. "You're finally learning how to catch stuff. We'll have you ready for the baseball team in no time this year."

Reid glanced over at Emily. Her face was half-hidden by the file folder/fan. She smiled at him as Rossi and Hotch hurried in with a new lead for them to pursue.

"Come on…" She said as they all filed back out again. "Get your game on Spencer." She whispered and slapped him on the backside with her file folder.

It was going to be a very long day!

---

"May I help you?"

Reid yanked his hand away from the rack of clothes as though they meant to burn him. The young woman standing in front of him smiled coyly. The fingers of her right hand played with the ends of her long dark brown hair as she spoke to him.

"Um… I was looking for some blue jeans."

Her dark green eyes widened. "I have just the thing for you handsome."

She took his elbow and towed him away from the slacks. He found himself standing in front of a wall holding more pairs of jeans than he'd ever seen in one place. They were stored in box-like niches in the wall and ranged in color from light grey to dark blue and black.

"What color were you looking for?"

"I don't know!" He squeaked. "I've never had a pair of blue jeans."

"You're in luck," She said, twirling the glasses she'd been wearing with one hand. "We're having a sale today. Why don't you try these?"

She reached up and pulled a pair of light blue colored jeans and one pair of black from the storage spaces. "There's a change room available in the back. Just follow me back there." She said

"How do you know the size?"

She looked back over her shoulder and winked. "It's my job honey."

He took the jeans from her and entered the changing room. This was a really bad idea. He was going to look like a total idiot. He sighed; he could put on the jeans and ask the girl outside if they were okay. She should know. He felt the blood rush to his face. She seemed overtly friendly. Were sales clerks supposed to be that friendly? It was probably her job to flirt with the customers. It probably helped her sell more clothes.

He decided to try on the light colored pair first. The size was perfect he noted. How did she do that? Was profiling a job requirement?

He peaked out the door of the changing room. If there were other guys, better looking guys out there he didn't want to be seen looking like a joke in front of them. The pants felt much tighter than his cords for some reason and he didn't want anyone to see him and think he was trying to be sexy

His face went red and he shut the door. He should just put on this cords and get the hell out of here. "Are you okay in there?" A female voice said. "Do you need another size?"

Oh… It was the sales girl. He might as well get out there and let her laugh so he could go about his business. "Um… I'll be out in a minute."

She stood there waiting for him as he sidled out of the door. "Come over to the mirror?"

He stepped aside to a mirror that included three panels so he could see from all sides. "Looking pretty hot." The girl said, as she looked him up and down appreciatively. "Can't believe this is your first pair."

"Um yeah… I never really thought about wearing them before now." He said as he craned his head around to look at his backside. The jeans made his butt look weird. He couldn't wear something that made his butt look weird.

"You look great." The sales girl enthused. "Trust me."

She's probably saying that because she's trying to make a sale.

He didn't think so! She looked like she really admired the way he looked. Perhaps he wasn't as hideous as he thought. Emily seemed to like him just as he was so perhaps the jeans were a good idea. He decided to try on the black pair. It couldn't hurt.

---

Reid took off the towel he'd hung around his waist after his afternoon, pre-date shower and pulled on his boxers. His new jeans hung in the corner of his closet.

The sales girl had talked him into buying both pairs along with a couple of polo shirts, one in dark purple and the other in dark blue. He'd seen Morgan and Rossi wear shirts like these to work. He had a date with Emily so he thought the light blue faded pair with the purple shirt would be the best. She'd told him that she really likes purple.

He finished dressing added some "Night," cologne and went to find his shoes. If he hurried, he would make it to where they were supposed to meet.

He entered the ice cream parlor just fifteen minutes before Emily parked. The early April sun was beginning to set. So far, work hadn't interrupted his plans with a new case. Hopefully it would stay that way. He ordered the big bowl of Ice cream he wanted, nearly drooling when the waiter set it in front of him. He'd ordered the same thing for Emily. It arrived just as she entered the shop.

She stopped to stare at him as though she'd never seen him before. "Is that jeans you're wearing?" She asked in disbelief as she walked around to his side of the table.

"Yep…"

"Yep?"

"Yes… They're jeans!"

"Since when do you wear clothes like that?"

"I decided to broaden my horizons."

"You decided to broaden your horizons."

"Yeah… Do you have a problem with that?"

"No… Um, it's fine with me. What's with all the ice cream?" She asked, clumsily changing the subject.

"You like chocolate right?"

"Yeah… I love the "Death by Chocolate" you ordered." She sighed as he played with the ice cream.

"Good… I thought we could have our first ice cream break of the new spring."

He finally scooped up a spoonful, sniffed it like the cork of a wine bottle and pushed it into his mouth. He closed his eyes and smiled as the ice cream melted in his mouth.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Emily asked, very amused as she took her seat across the table from him.

"No…"

"You look like you're having way too much fun with that." She pointed at the bowl of chocolate fudge swirl ice cream with chocolate chips and chocolate sauce.

"You can't just dig in." He protested. "You have to experience it."

"Really?"

"Yeah... The first thing you have to do is swirl the spoon around the edge so that all the fudge sauce collects in the middle."

He demonstrated, moving his spoon very slowly around the edge of the round bowl in front of him. "The next thing you have to do is sort of sculpt it like this." He continued to play with it making swirls and curly cues in the chocolate goodness. "Then you take a bite and just savor the taste on your tongue." He closed his eyes and smiled.

When he opened his eyes, Emily was staring at him as if something had cut the wires between her brain and her mouth.

"I didn't realize you had such a complicated ritual for enjoying your chocolate." She finally managed to say.

"Where's the fun in just eating it?"

"Nothing I suppose."

He watched her try to eat the ice cream, but she couldn't seem to take her eyes off him. His heart started beating very fast at the hungry look in her eyes. He decided to keep enjoying his treat as if she wasn't there.

"Reid…"

"Hmm…"

"Spencer!"

"What?"

"Hurry up and finish that ice cream. "

"I told you… Don't rush perfection."

She watched him finish the large bowl of cold, creamy goodness, forgetting about her bowl. He licked the last spoonful clean and let it clatter into the empty bowl. "There… That was almost perfect."

"Almost!"

"Yeah…"

"Why? What else does it need?"

"Whipped cream!"

"Really? You should've told me. I happened to have a whole can of whipped cream at home."

"You do?"

"Yeah…"

"Why are we still sitting here?" He asked, trying not to squeak.

"Because you still haven't told me why you decided to change your fashion sense."

He finally went very pink in the cheeks. "I figured turnabout is fair play after our last case in Phoenix."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, all that stuff about it being so hot and unbuttoning your blouse."

"Oh… I have no idea what you're talking about." She scooped up her melting ice cream.

"Yes you do!"

"No… I don't remember any incident like that occurring. I wouldn't do that during working hours."

"Okay… I guess I'll just pay for my ice cream and go home. Hope you enjoy the rest of your dessert. You better hurry or it'll melt away into soup." He began to stand up.

"Alright… I'm sorry about Phoenix!" She put out a hand to stop him. "Come back to my place and I'll make it up to you with that whipped cream."

"Okay…"