A/N: Thank you to everyone who continues to follow this story. Your reviews, alerts, and favorites are very much appreaciated.

Gibbs had grabbed Abby's headlamp and now slipped it over his head as he strode down the narrow hallway.

He had seen the way Abby had looked at him when he was wearing only a towel. It had made his blood heat. And now he would be spending the night with her in a candle-lit room with a cozy fire and eventually sharing a 'honeymoon' bed. He could see that it certainly wasn't going to be an easy night to control his attraction towards her. Every time he was alone with her, he found it harder and harder not to pull her close and kiss her until they were both breathless.

Gibbs took a deep calming breath as he descended the stairs to the first floor. He tried setting his mind upon seeing Abby as just co-worker, not someone he should be thinking about starting a relationship with. As far as he knew, she thought of him as just a friend. For him to press his attraction towards her, could lead to a falling out. A total devastation of their friendship. A ruined workplace connectivity that would undoubtedly affect everyone around them. It would be putting too much at risk. He should stay the course and be happy with what he currently had.

But what if she had the same feelings?

There was a small room beyond the back of the lobby that was filled with solid dry chunks of wood. No one was around, so Gibbs filled his arms and retreated back to their room on the second floor. He dumped the wood into a large wooden crate beside the fireplace. An old newspaper lay folded next to the crate and he started wadding it up to use in starting the fire.

For a few moments, he let his eyes roam around the empty room, and wondered where Abby was. She had moved the small pink table and white chairs close to the hearth. On the tabletop, she had a game of Monopoly all set up. He smiled at her choice of games.

Just as he was striking a match to the fire, Abby flew through the door. His penlight was held in a white-knuckled grip as she approached and set a bucket of ice on the table. Flicking the light off and tossing it onto the bed, she tried to catch her breath. "Too many freakin' animals in this place, Gibbs! Do you think some people come here and actually like seeing them? I'd much rather see them free and out in the wild!"

He was still intent on coaxing the flames to take hold of the wood. "What was it this time?"

"A skunk! On the floor by the ice machine. It looked so real!"

"What's the ice for, Abbs? You having a hot flash?" He was still hunkered down, but he turned to look at her with a teasing grin.

Abby wasn't feeling hot until that very moment, when she saw his sweatpants stretched across his groin and thighs. He was definitely the most well-built man she had ever seen. She swallowed hard to keep her voice from squeaking with her response. "I've got a bottle of wine." Opening the zipper on her large suitcase, she pulled out the tall slender bottle. "Was gonna share this with Jack tonight."

Gibbs stood and placed the spark-arrestor screen in front of the growing fire. As Abby slid the table closer to the hearth, he saw she already had the wine nestled in the ice and plastic cups beside it along with a corkscrew. He craned his neck to the side. "What else you got in there, Abbs? Santa Claus and his elves?"

Placing her hands on his square shoulders, she guided him back to a chair. "You never mind. I have a few more surprises," she said with a wink. "You be a good boy. Now, let's get this party started."

Abby's feistiness was contagious and Gibbs flirted back in a low tone. "What if I'm a bad boy?"

Giving a smirk, she turned towards her seat. "Then you can expect coal for your Christmas gift."

Gibbs sat and grabbed the dice, rolling them around in his large palm. There was a teasing glint in his blue eyes and a roughness in his voice. "Otherwise, what can I expect?"

Abby wiggled on the seat of her chair as she felt that their conversation could go beyond mild flirtation. "You'll have to be very very good to find out."

They started the game and Abby took the early lead because Gibbs kept landing on the square that continually sent him to jail. Abby laughed at the irony that the NCIS Special Agent was constantly cooling his heels behind bars or bailing himself out.

Eventually, Gibbs opened the bottle of wine and poured some into their clear plastic cups. "This is good, Abbs," he commented after his first couple of sips.

She raised her cup over the game board. "Here's to a white Christmas and a decent place to sleep."

Gibbs smiled and raised his cup to meet hers. "Here's to the people we spend it with." Abby grinned as they both sipped more wine. "I wouldn't want to be here without you, Abbs."

The serious look on his face sent a tingle across her skin. "Without me, you'd be stuck in some drift out on some road in the middle of nowhere."

"You're probably right. I would have kept pushing on."

Abby poured more wine into their cups. "That's what makes you a helluva good agent."

Gibbs felt uncomfortable accepting the compliment. "I don't know about that. It's what makes me a bastard to work for."

"I love working for you!"

"I'm demanding and cranky when things don't get done fast enough," he continued.

"You're compassionate for the victims, that's all. And the team doesn't function as well without your leadership."

"You know all my flaws, Abby, so quit putting me on a pedestal."

"If you have so many flaws, then why do your agents stick with you? We've worked together for over ten years and I think I know you pretty good." His eyes were lowered, staring at the game board. "You've got some baggage in your personal life, but doesn't everyone? Look at the boyfriends I've had to deal with. Quit beating yourself up over would haves and should haves. We all have things in our past we need to get over, Gibbs." Her cup sat on the table and she turned it round with her fingers as her eyes gazed at the red liquid. "It doesn't make me love you any less," she added softly.

A couple seconds passed before Gibbs reached across the table and gently took hold of her fingers. When her eyes lifted to his, he wanted to make the same declaration in return, but the words caught in his throat.

Abby doubted whether he really understood the love she had for him, so she quickly smiled and laughed and pulled her hand back. "This is getting WAY too serious. We've got a game to play here. I'm winning, so quit distracting me."

Gibbs gave a small sideways grin. "It's your turn. Roll."

As she rolled the dice and moved her game piece, Gibbs got up to lay a few more pieces of wood on the fire. Her eyes drifted from the board to his large strong hands that expertly arranged the wood upon the flames. He was hunkered down on the small stone hearth and her gaze eventually roamed up his sinewy arms and down his long lean back to his butt.

She wondered how on earth she was supposed to share the same bed with him and resist the temptation to touch. She almost moaned aloud when she thought of grabbing his fine ass and grinding against him.

When Gibbs stood and replaced the screen in front of the fire, she quickly finished her turn then took a couple of swallows of wine to try and calm her racing heart. As he sat and studied the game board then rolled the dice, Abby poured more wine.

"You're getting it nice and toasty in here now," she quipped. "Or maybe it's the wine," she giggled. "I've got to take off this heavy flannel top."

Abby noticed that Gibbs kept his eyes locked on his property deeds as she unbuttoned and removed her pajama top. "Whew! That's better." She lifted the dice and shook them noisily between her hands. Raising them to her mouth, she blew on the dice and continued to rattle them as though she were trying to dislodge the white dots from the two cubes. Her eyes studied the board. "Abby needs a seven!" she announced.

Gibbs was chuckling softly as he looked up, but his mirth quickly faded when he saw the black satin camisole that hugged Abby's curves. Her breasts were jumping as she rattled the dice and he felt the immediate affect rush through his body. His blood heated and careened south.

Abby threw the dice onto the board as he reached for his wine. "A seven!" she screamed, and her hands flew into the air as she half rose out of her chair.

For the brief time that her hands were stretched above her head, her camisole rose up, revealing her naval and a pale strip of skin above her waistband. Gibbs' cup stilled in mid-air as he swallowed, desperate for something to wet his arid mouth. His body was responding in all the right ways… wrong… wrong ways, Gunny! When the wine finally reached his lips, he gulped it down and refilled his cup.

Meanwhile, Abby settled in her chair and reached across to his side of the board to move her game piece. The reach wasn't that far, and she didn't have to, but she leaned forward over the table, allowing Gibbs to gaze down the front of her top. Her eyes suddenly rose to his and caught him peeking. When she winked, he nearly came unglued!

Gibbs felt his ears redden and he wanted desperately to push away from the table in order to get away from the temptation that was SO within his reach. But had he slid his chair back and stood, Abby would have surely noticed his uncontrollable hard-on.

He figured the next best tactic was intimidation. With a glare and a warning growl of "Abby…" he hoped she would retreat. Instead, she lifted a hand and scraped a nail along one side of his jaw. When her finger would have risen to glide over his lips, Gibbs jerked back. "Stop it!" he demanded. "That's enough!"

With a smirk, Abby withdrew and sat back in her chair. "What's the matter, Gibbs? You know what we both…."

"No!" he cut in. "You've had too much to drink."

"Oh, c'mon," she scoffed. "I've had a little wine. And now I'm having a little fun. Aren't you having fun?" she teased.

Gibbs began gathering up the game cards and pieces and putting them back in the box. "This game is over," he said in a more gentle tone. "I'll clear up. Why don't you read your book or something."

Abby stood and suddenly felt embarrassed and dismayed. How could she have been so wrong? He was actually refusing her, turning her away! She must have misread his looks and reactions. Picking up her flannel top, she moved to the couch and watched him from behind.

Gibbs slowly and carefully put the game back in the box, giving his body time to calm down. He knew he had hurt her feelings, which was a clear indication that he was indeed a bastard! But now he was pretty certain of how she felt about him. Damn it! She definitely wanted more than just friendship. Damn it! It's what he wanted, too. Damn it!

All the reasons NOT to get involved with Abby, rolled through his mind even though he wanted it… wanted her. A relationship would complicate things at work. He was her boss. He couldn't risk starting something unless he was certain that it would last. Their friendship is what held him together through the bad times. He was no good at relationships. Three divorces had proven that. He had a boatload of baggage and she certainly didn't deserve that.

Abby sat quietly and watched him close the lid on the game box, then he stood and went out the door. If there had been a basement with a boat, she knew that's where he would have headed.

She slipped on her flannel top and buttoned it up. From her suitcase, she pulled out a brand new bottle of bourbon and drug both chairs closer to the fire. Pouring herself a small portion, she stared into the flames and sipped at the amber liquor. Her feet rested on the other chair, closer to the heat, making her feel warm and relaxed. After pouring more bourbon into her cup, she raised it into the air and mumbled, "Here's to one helluva screwed up Christmas Eve, Sciuto."

She sat for over an hour, drinking and thinking and wondering about Gibbs. She had tried and failed to seduce the man. No harm done… hopefully. Eventually, the warmth of the fire combined with the liquor was putting her to sleep, so she capped the bottle, set it on the table and crawled into the heart-shaped bed… alone.

A/N: To be continued...