Chapter 4 - Wining and Dining
Aaron Hotchner was given the shock of his life when the timing on everything he'd planned turned out perfectly.
Twelve minutes later, the food had arrived, and the instant after he'd taken everything out and put everything into nice serving dishes...the doorbell rang.
Hotch brushed his hands on his pants and then opened the door...to reveal JJ wearing a simple black dress and heels, but looking absolutely stunning, nonetheless. She walked in and he quickly closed the door behind her.
JJ was surprised that he'd cooked and she took a deep breath.
Wait a second...she knew that smell. It was one that she was great friends with on her nights out with the girls.
She followed Hotch into his dining room and bit her lip at the sight in front of her.
Everything was beautifully placed and he had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to make it look like that he'd cooked for her, but she couldn't resist. As he pulled back her chair for her and she sat down, she gave him a sly look from the corner of her eye, and then said,
"So...Lao Tzu's apparently has fast delivery time. I'll need to try it sometime."
She watched in some amusement as he nearly missed the seat of his chair as he was sitting down.
Hotch, at first, glared at her, obviously upset at being found out, but the look quickly dissipated into one of embarrassment.
"That obvious, huh?"
She shook her head, letting out a small chuckle. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! But," she quickly amended, "You made some great choices. They're all my favorites..."
He gave her a look of surprise. "Really? All of them?"
JJ nodded, not quite believing the luck that he'd had when he'd ordered, and then motioned with one hand towards the kitchen.
"And I can still see the empty containers..."
Hotch turned and looked and let out a groan at the sight. "I knew I had forgotten to do something..."
JJ just smiled and began to dig into the food, sharing a glance with Hotch as they ate and found herself surprised by how comfortable she was with him. Everything was turning out quite nicely, and the two of them chatted about small things, and eventually their discussion turned to their boys.
"I mean, apparently Jack is trying to make friends with this kid...and I don't know what to do. He's...he's growing up, you know?"
JJ nodded, understanding exactly what he meant.
"I know what you mean. I mean, Henry isn't Jack's age, but he's growing so quickly that I'm scared that one day I'll turn around and he won't be a kid anymore, you know?"
Hotch nodded in agreement, and then noticed that they'd both finished their meals. He stood up, taking her empty plate and his towards the kitchen.
"Would you like some wine?" he called over his shoulder, and heard her reply in the affirmative.
After placing the dishes into the dishwasher, he walked over to his pantry and looked at the few bottles that he had, wondering whether she preferred white or red. On a hunch, he pulled out the red, a Brachetto that Rossi had brought him back from one of his trips to Italy.
Grabbing two wine glasses from one of the shelves and popping the bottle opener into his back pocket, he walked back into the dining area and smiled as he saw JJ look up at him, a smile at the corner of her mouth.
He motioned the bottle in her direction.
"Red?"
The smile at the corner of her mouth stretched completely across her lips at this. "You're on a roll tonight, Hotch...I do prefer red."
He gave an exaggerated sigh of relief and placed the wine glasses on the table, pulling the bottle opener from his pocket.
"What a relief," he said as he popped the cork. "If you had said white, I don't know what I would have done..."
He grinned and she returned it, obviously not offended by his brand of humor. He quickly, but carefully, poured them both some of the wine and then sat back down at the table, taking a small sip of the wine and his eyebrow arched in appreciation at the flavor that ran across his tongue.
JJ, not realizing it, mimicked his expression as she took a sip as well, and then looked over at him.
"I'm impressed, Hotch...it seems you have excellent taste in wines."
She gave him a small toast and took another sip, wondering at his small laugh at her comment.
He rolled his eyes slightly, and JJ's eyes were suddenly drawn to his fingers that were carelessly caressing the stem of the glass that was in his hand.
"I wish I could take the credit, this time, but you'll have to thank Rossi for this one. It was his gift to me when he came back from Italy a few months ago."
JJ smiled, yet again, and Hotch realized that he almost never saw her smile at work...which was a shame, because she had a wonderful smile and it seemed to be natural and not the least bit forced, which told him that she really was having a good time.
He took another drink of the red liquid and leaned back in his chair, savoring the comfortable silence between them.
Their eyes caught one more time, and they shared a small smile.
Yes...this was definitely something that he could get used to.
Part 4/?
