The movie finished, and Dimitri glanced at his watch; just gone five o'clock. Erin looked up at him, her hand finally moving a little further from his. "Wife and kids to get back to?"
He smirked. "Well, yeah." His grin gave him away. "But I was also just thinking about dinner." Early for him, not so much for Rosie.
Erin smiled back at him, and tried to pull back the memory of what she had been planning before he'd turned up. A takeaway.
"We were just going to order in if you want to stick around."
Dimitri's arm tightened briefly around the body at his side and a small giggle erupted. Rosie sat up a little and turned to him. "You mind if I stay?" he asked.
She shook her head enthusiastically; enthusiastic enough that he could see she was still happy to have him around; he was glad.
Erin and Dimitri forced themselves off the sofa, and he followed her into the kitchen with the empty popcorn bowl. "This day isn't doing wonders for my figure," he frowned as he set the bowl down on the counter. She turned and he followed the comment up with a laugh and then a grimace of mocked pain as she hit him in the chest.
Erin looked up at him, her face suddenly growing a little more serious. Making the first move had always worried her a little more than she would care to admit. Having a daughter usually sent men running in the opposite direction, and she was worried that the same feeling would hit Dimitri any second. He was only thirty, and whilst he may have stuck around until now, it would only take a few seconds for him to quickly change his mind.
Dimitri seemed to sense the increase in tension, and he stared at her for a few seconds. Then, he popped his head outside the door and pulled it shut a little. He closed the distance between them in a couple of strides and took her hands in his. He hadn't planned on revealing so much so soon, but he saw the apprehension in her eyes. Either this would elevate it, or eliminate it. Which one, he couldn't be sure.
He looked down at their hands for a few seconds, then back up to meet her gaze. She was frowning at him, wondering what was to come. He placed a short, light kiss on her lips, then looked back down to their hands.
"Dee,-"
He interrupted her. "I love you." His gaze was still fixed on their hands, but he slowly let it drift upwards until he was looking her straight in the eye.
Her face gave away nothing. "What?" Not the best response a guy could hope for, but hey, he could work with it.
He lifted their intertwined hands and rested all four of them on his chest, realising it wasn't a great move as he felt the quickened beat of his heart through the flesh. His gaze flickered away for another second before he was able to answer. He took in a long breath. "I know it's not necessarily what you want to hear right now, and I'm sorry for that. I know you're my boss and it's probably already wildly inappropriate" – not strictly true. In fact, office relationships were almost encouraged for spies, it saved the security risks presented by telling a partner or significant other about their work for the service – "But I also know that I love you. And I love Rosie." He'd loved her almost since he'd first met her. It was hard not to fall in love with such innocence.
She opened her mouth to speak but his finger was there before she had to chance to make a sound. "So," he looked down again. "I'm sorry if it complicates things, and I don't want you to say anything back, but I'm in love with you."' Working with Erin nearly every day for the past few months had had that effect on him. Satisfied that he had said what he wanted to, he finally let the finger slip from her lips, reclaiming its space on his chest.
She opened her mouth to speak, closed it again. Struggling for something to say, she resolved to settle for showing him. She leant in a little, waiting for him to close the small space between them; and he did.
Dimitri leant down to press his lips to hers again. They were soft and gentle on hers as his mouth moved slowly with hers. She lifted a hand to play in his soft hair, and let out a sigh as he let his hand drift down to settle on her hip. He pulled away a minute later, just enough so that he could lean his forehead against hers.
A/N: Okay, whilst the number of hits on this fic is so far pretty high, I can't tell how many of you are actually coming back to read. Thus, I have no idea how many would like me to continue. If you would, pleassee leave a very quick review; a simple good or bad; yes, continue or no, don't bother would suffice. Thanks.
