A few hours later Kensi finds herself sitting outside of a beautiful modern oceanfront property, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel waiting impatiently for Deeks to arrive. She's searching through the bag in the passenger seat for a Twinkie when her phone suddenly starts playing 'I'm sexy and I know it' she laughs whole heartedly before answering the phone with an exasperated "Really Deeks? Really?"
He chuckles quietly. "Hey Fern…what's the code to get into this stinking gate? I had it written down but Monty walked all over it and now I can't read it anymore and the rent-a-cop isn't saying much. I think the alarm company is probably already calling Hetty….and I'd really hate for the cops to show up and welcome me to the neighborhood right now."
"9979, C'mon Shaggy, Hurry Up!….I'm starving here!"
"Really, Kens? Because I'm sure you've had at least one….no…. probably two Twinkies since you pulled in…my guess is that you're working on the third as we speak, since I hear you desperately trying not to crinkle the wrappers."
"Shut up Deeks!" Kensi mumbles around a mouth full of Twinkie as she hurriedly tries to hide the other two wrappers between the seats. "Oh my God! If you scratched that brand new Mercedes by tying your board to the top of it Hetty will KILL you." She exclaims as she sees Deeks pull up in her rearview mirror.
"What? I'm going to be living on the ocean….with a private beach for the foreseeable future….you didn't expect me to abstain from surfing did you?" he asks with mock innocence. "aaaand you better clean those wrappers out from between the seats because if Hetty finds your wrappers she's gonna get maaaad at you too!" He punctuates his last statement by sticking his tongue out at her and hanging up the phone.
"It's November Marty….It's cold outside….isn't surfing kind of a summer thing? Anyway…..I bet the neighbors got a good laugh out of you with that board on top of your car and Monty hanging his head out of the window…..they're probably worried about the property values plummeting." She calls out as she opens the driver's door of the BMW.
Stepping out of his vehicle and taking in a deep breath of ocean air he answers, "Ha ha ha Princess….I surf year 'round and I'll have you know Monty was the perfect gentleman on the way up the drive…..I only had to roll the windows up after he tried to jump out and chase the toy poodle and the yorkie a couple streets over…...let me set the board up next to the house grab our bags and then we'll go inside. You have your key right? If not you can always fish mine out of my pocket for me." He says waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Yeah, no, I've definitely got mine…..did you read the property description that Hetty gave us….this house is amazing! I can't believe Hetty is thinking about selling it. I can't wait to see the inside." Kensi rambles as she hands a piece of paper to him.
"This beautifully maintained and magnificently designed masterpiece sits on approx. 65 ft. of beach frontage at one of the most serene and private stretches of coastline in Malibu. With no neighboring beach homes for several hundred feet to the east, you are situated next to one of the longest stretches of private, dry sand beach anywhere in Malibu. four spacious bedrooms and three baths, including a large private master suite, elevator, as well as an entire lower entertaining level with: indoor pool (with swim jets) and spa, sauna, steam shower, large TV/movie area, and tons of deck space Dramatic whitewater ocean views from almost every room, vaulted ceilings, abundant natural light, and a private, gated street." He reads aloud from the paper. "Yeah….that gate is a pain in the ass especially if you can't remember the code, and that grumpy looking security guard at the gate who coincidentally looks like he might have eaten more than his fair share of doughnuts isn't much help…but on the bright side I can't wait to see the beach!"
"You'll probably live on the beach."
"Well yeah! What's the point of living on the beach if you don't live on it….quick lets go inside I want to go see what the surf looks like out there…even though it really won't be at its best until tomorrow morning."
"Guess I know where you'll be when I wake up in the morning, but seriously….isn't it kinda cold for that?"
"What? You mean you're not going to join me? You don't want me to wake you up when I leave? Huh?"
"I'm a big girl Marty….I'd just rather stay cuddled under the blankets…..but…..I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find you….at some point. When I'm ready to get out of bed and get dressed."
"Ok Fern, let's go see how the other half lives."
Monty starts yapping from the interior of the Mercedes reminding his humans that he was indeed still there and wanted to come inside with them.
"I'll just grab his food and water bowls and his doggy bed…if you're sure that you've got the bags."
"Relax Fern; I'm not going to drop your Twinkies."
"Funny boy!" She laughs as she gently smacks him on the shoulder before opening the passenger door of the blue Mercedes freeing an overly excited Monty.
Monty springs out of the vehicle and runs in circles around Kensi and Deeks' feet while happily yapping before he gets distracted by a sea gull and takes off towards the beach chasing it.
"Deeks! Your shaggy mutt is headed towards the beach already. I figured you would have at least had him on a leash."
"Monty!"Deeks hollers before letting out a shrill high pitched whistle that causes the little dog to stop dead in his tracks and trot happily back towards the two of them.
"Amazing" Whispers Kensi in awe "He really is very well trained…..too bad you're not!"
"Touché, but Now now Fern, we've been through this numerous times I am amazingly well trained….I cook…I clean…I change the toilet paper roll which is definitely more than you can say for yourself." He chuckles and winks while waiting for her to open the door.
Kensi swings the door open wide and a bright sunny entryway and a wall of windows overlooking the ocean is revealed.
"Impressive…Hetty really does know her real estate." Kensi says as she sets out followed closely by Monty to explore the house.
Deeks drops the bags in the entryway and proceeds to the windows overlooking the beach. He's still tied up in knots over this assignment, while he knows it's going to be nice to live in this amazing house with his partner but these are some really bad guys they're dealing with and that scares him. The merciful thing about the whole Siderov ordeal is that while he had known things could go wrong, he didn't have to sit around for weeks and think about what could happen to him…or worse to Kensi if they did.
Kensi sees him staring out over the ocean, and by the set of his shoulders she can tell that he is troubled. He is overly tense, and that is the polar opposite of the usually fun loving man that she is used to dealing with. She walks up behind him and wraps her arms around his waist and leans into him. Laying her cheek on his shoulder and pulling him close she can feel some of the tension leave him. She knows they really should talk about what's bothering him, but once again she takes the cowardly way out and deflects. "It's beautiful, yeah?" She asks.
He turns around to face her and leans his forehead against hers while looking into her concerned eyes. "Nowhere near as beautiful as you." He closes the distance between them and brushes his lips gently against hers. He feels her surprised gasp against his lips before deepening the kiss even further and backing her up against the window.
When her foggy brain realizes that she needs to breathe Kensi breaks off the kiss. "Marty….are….are you ok?"
"Yeah Kens….I'm good." He says as he looks past her.
"If it was going to bother you this much….make you this unhappy…why did you do it?"
"Excuse me? Do what? What are you talking about?" He questions genuinely confused.
"If the thought of being an agent makes you this upset…..why'd you do it. Why'd you sign those stupid papers?" She clarifies in an unsteady voice so terrified of his answer that she's literally shaking.
"That's what you think this is about?" He chuckles.
"Well…yeah…I did until you laughed at me…..isn't it?"
"No it's not….but to answer your question, I did it because I wanted to…because I was ready. I did it for you….for us….but mostly for me. I haven't been LAPD for years…not really. It was just a formality that I would have gotten around to anyway, Granger just forced the issue. So uh yeah….where did we need to put Monty's bed?" He asks and just like that he's gone, pulled away from her physically and emotionally and she already misses the warmth and security of his embrace.
Upon hearing his name the shaggy little mutt trots over to the two of them with his leash in his mouth and starts prancing in circles around their feet while yapping happily.
"Um…. I guess we can put the bed in the living room, but it looks to me like Monty wants to see the beach just as much as his master does."
After hearing his name again and the word beach Monty redoubles his efforts and begins to yip in a new octave while bouncing from paw to paw excitedly.
"Ok…ok….lets go." Deeks sighs while opening the glass doors leading out onto the deck overlooking the perfect stretch of private beach. "You coming too Kens?"
"Um…sure I'll come out for a few minutes, but then I guess I need to get ready to go out with the guys tonight."
"Yeah…um I mean if you don't want to….we don't have to go"
"Marty….I want to go…I really do… I want to celebrate…everything."
Kensi and Deeks strolled on the beach for a few minutes before they were approached by another young couple and their small daughter.
"Goggy! Goggy! Me wanna pet Goggy!" Squealed the little blonde.
Deeks chuckles while kneeling down next to Monty, "Do you want to pet the doggy sweetheart?" He asks.
The little girl suddenly realizes that the strange man is talking to her and shyly hides behind her father's legs. When she peeks back out she nods her head emphatically causing her ringlets to bob, "Me wanna pet goggy!"
"Ok princess….his name is Monty….and he loves little girls. Why don't you come over here and pet him?"
"Hi Monty…my name Mandy. Me pet you!" She says as she hesitantly walks up to Monty and pats him on the head a couple times before wrapping her arms around him and squealing.
Deeks stands and extends him hand out to Mandy's father. "My name is Martin Squire and this is my girlfriend Makensi. Nice to meet you"
"I'm Craig…this is Connie, and you have met our little Mandy."
Connie pipes in "It's nice to have someone finally live in that beautiful house. It was such a waste for it to sit empty for that long."
"Yeah….we fell in love with it the first time we saw it. I just knew I had to live there, and Marty here…well I think he's more in love with the beach here than he is with me."
"Not a chance sugarbear." Deeks says with a wink.
Kensi takes an almost instant dislike to Connie, of course that could have to do with the way that the other woman was ogling Deeks. She was perusing him from top to bottom and taking far too long for Kensi's liking. The woman didn't even try to hide her interest. "So Martin…"
"Call me Marty…all my friends do."
Damn him, intentional or not it seems Deeks was actually encouraging her.
"Ohhh anyway Marty.."
The woman practically purred when she said his name and Kensi was seeing red or was it green..Either way she gracefully moves closer to Deeks and wraps her arm around his waist laying her head on his shoulder and pretends to be oblivious to the other woman's flirtation.
"I hear through the grapevine that you're coming to Plaster Burke & Squire. Such a shame about your dear sweet brother."
The woman has the audacity to step into her partner's personal space and place her palm on his chest.
"Your brother was the sweetest man; I um…assisted him several times." Connie says stepping even closer and tilting her head up at Deeks. "So...if you need any help….assistance of any kind, you just let me know and I will be more than willing to…"
Kensi actually growls a little as she swats the woman's hand away and pulls her partner back a step. "Thanks for your offer, but your grapevine obviously neglected to mention that Marty here already has a personal assistant…and a girlfriend…so trust me if he needs any assistance…any at all…he'll be getting it from me."
Connie who is largely unaffected by Kensi's outburst, just giggles and looks at Kensi as if she is some silly girl, before turning her attentions back to Deeks. "The offer still stands….anytime." She adds before turning back to her husband.
"I'll uh…I'll remember that." He calls out to her retreating form, only to realize Kensi's no longer by his side and is striding back towards the house purposefully.
"Kens?" He calls out.
She doesn't stop or turn to him, she's entirely too keyed up to try to have any kind of conversation right now. She's mad at herself for getting so worked up about something so silly but she can't seem to stop the hot angry tears streaming down her face. Damn it, why now? Why does this assignment have to happen now when she's entirely unsure about where they stand, unsure of just about everything except that she is in love with him. She's too distracted by her own thoughts to hear him running to catch up with her. "ohhh Marty I'd love to help you out with anything that you might need." She mumbles under her breath sarcastically.
He wraps his arms around her from behind pulling her tightly up against him and nuzzles her neck placing feather light kisses on her neck, "Kens….princess…trust me…"
She spins around on him. "You…I trust..her not so much." She swipes angrily at the tears on her cheeks with the sleeves of her sweatshirt. "I do trust you Marty…I do…with everything, but it's not going to make this any easier."
"No…I have a feeling that nothing about this assignment is going to be easy." He uses the pad of his thumb to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye. "Except maybe….this." He says as he closes the distance between them and ghosts his lips over hers pulling her flush against him.