CHAPTER FOUR: HIS TRUTH

He had to remind himself how his partner disliked being cornered. How careful she was to show decorum at work, and how she hated to be pushed.

When he'd reached out and touched her face and wrist, it had been partly a desire to comfort and partly the inability to resist. At the very moment when he realised how the tight space plus his presumptuous caresses might backfire on him, he saw her body betray her and tell him the truth of how she felt about him.

But Alex's feelings did not dictate her actions. It was one of the things he most admired about her. The fact that now he knew she wanted him, perhaps even loved him back, didn't actually mean anything.

She might still prefer the status quo.

With effort he resisted the urge to pull her to him, show her the depth of his passion for her, touch his lips (I saw you staring, Alex!) to hers. Instead he eased the pressure of his fingers on her face, loosened his grip on her wrist, and knelt perfectly still, regarding her.

He watched as, eyes closed, she worked to calm herself and regain control. Admiration swelled in his chest as he saw the look of panic slip away. He felt regret too; was this the end of their conversation so briefly raw and real? Had he been mistaken? Missed both their chances? Should he have pushed his way in before the door closed?

"Alex…"

"No, Bobby." Her rasping denial seemed to confirm his fears, but when her eyes opened he saw yet a trace of softness there. He decided to take a risk. Carefully.

"Alex, your feelings are none of my business…" It felt weird, letting his brain do the talking, when everything in him was screaming for his own feelings to guide his body. "…And I'm not asking you to decide what to do…" It was an important lesson to him, patience. With perps, suspects, witnesses, patience was one of his most important tools. But his need to know, to control, to apply pressure to force an outcome, had been his worst enemy in his personal life. "But please, can't you just tell me how you feel? Please, just tell me the truth about how you feel about me."

He saw her tense to begin a squirm, but she resisted it. He saw her jaw twitch, her head tilt a little as she looked away… classic Alex.

Alex, not Eames. What he was seeing was the woman that wriggled under the uniform of the officer.

"Bobby," she murmured, and the harshness of the past few minutes was gone, leaving the husky, unbearably womanly voice that he'd heard only a few times but thought of often. "It's – hard – for me…" She was clearly uncomfortable, but he had to press.

"To say the words, you mean?" He whispered. She nodded, and Bobby felt his heart open up with awe. The knowledge left him instantly hard, burning to give in to the instinct to press his advantage, lean in and push them both beyond the point of no return.

But that would only make her shut down, use her 105 lbs that she wielded like twice that to push him away. If he wanted to have her, he'd need to live in the uncertainty and let her come to him in her own time.

And yet… he couldn't bear to leave it all in her hands. If she was going to choose the status quo for both of them, so be it, but he was going to make sure she could never pretend this had never happened.

"I understand," he said softly. Then, "Well I guess we should get back to it, huh?" He saw the confusion on her face as she realised he was backing off. Good. Off-balance Alex might tip his way.

He swivelled as if to get up, then turned back to her. "Just one thing," he said. "May I kiss you?" Her mouth opened in shock. "One kiss. If you don't want to, just say so."

He watched barely breathing as a parade of emotions played across his partner's face. Temptation warred with hesitation… He had a moment of surprise when Alex moved first.

She reached out and cupped his cheeks with her little hands so sweetly, a gesture that went straight to his groin. When had he last been touched with such affection and reverence? And by someone he loved? He leaned in a bit then paused, watching her gaze drop from his eyes to his lips. He wanted to let her set the pace, but when she kissed him he couldn't help but reach out to touch her waist, even as her fingers wandered into his short curls.

He had meant for a chaste exchange, but she kissed him open-mouthed, begging reciprocation. She closed her eyes as her lips, so expressive, so controlled, played over his. His eyes were open, putting together the sight and feel of her still-smooth skin with her clean, lightly-perfumed scent.

Parting from her was really almost painful, the only upside seeing his discomfort mirrored in his partner's face.

"When… If you want, I'd like to talk to you about what I – what we – want." He stood up without too much difficulty and kissed her gently on the crown of her head. "Until then, I'm here for you – for us – like always."

He left her there in the stall to compose both herself, and a suitable lie for the curious. She didn't appear for a long while.

o.o.o.o.o

For both their sakes, despite the legion of thoughts and emotions competing for his attention, when he regained his desk Bobby made an effort to focus on work.

Captain Hannah had noticed their absence, but upon inquiry Bobby demurred, hinting that it was Eames's story to tell, if she wished, and reassuring their boss that everything was OK.

After the conversation with Hannah, he started on a pile of evidence recently provided by the employer of a vic whose case another team was working on. Hannah had nothing for them, so for now both he and Eames would be expected to provide support on other cases.

It was only when he heard the familiar clip-clop of his partner's shoes that he had to really work to concentrate.

He couldn't risk looking at her, not yet. Just knowing she was in the same room with him brought back intense, thoroughly distracting memories of the kiss they'd shared, and her sweet, husky words. It's – hard – for me…

Perhaps the most cryptic confession of love ever to send a man over the moon.

Because yes, that's what it was. And when he finally did look up, to see his partner's unfocused eyes, dreamy look and beestung lips that she was worrying with her teeth, he allowed himself to believe that she wouldn't keep him in suspense indefinitely.

The realisation made him calmer, and he finally found it possible to settle down.

"Do you have the originals of the incorporation papers?"

He glanced up to find his partner looking testily at him, her appearance a bit frazzled after a morning fidgeting and sighing at her desk. The knowledge of which made him distinctly serene.

"Jovo took them a while ago. I think…" He pointed to a buff folio peeking out from beneath a pile of papers on the corner of her desk. "…He – there they are."

"Thanks," she muttered, not sounding at all grateful. Bobby smiled.

Hannah ordered in lunch to keep his troops on point, and much later Bobby felt his partner's eyes on him once again.

"So you, um, what…" Bobby had disciplined himself all day to keep his attention to himself, but he allowed his focus to shift from his work to the pinched face of his partner. She looked as though she was on her last nerve. "Do you, ah… any plans for tonight?"

He looked off over her shoulder, pretending to think for a moment. "Nah, nope, no plans, Eames. You?" When you want, Alex. When you want.

"No," she said, her voice soft and wistful. Bobby felt a tug of arousal, of empathy, and felt himself caving a little. He schooled his face into a bland expression that belied his impatience, his anticipation… and told his body to stand down. C'mon, Alex. When you're ready. Please, please be ready.

But she moued and turned back to her work. Bobby copied her with disappointment.

"Wanna get a burger later?" Bobby wasn't sure he'd heard correctly, Eames was still buried deep in her piles of corporate jargon.

Then he saw the deep crease between her eyebrows, her tense lips, and decided it was time to quit teasing. He'd meant to play it cool so as not to spook or smother her… to give her the space to make the next move. He hadn't meant to play hard-to-get.

"Eames?" She just grunted in reply. "Alex?" When she finally looked up, he let his mask of bland supportiveness fall away, and her breath shallowed at the sight of the raw passion that lay beneath. "I would love to," he said.

Remarkably, she looked away and blushed, sucking in air through her teeth. "Maybe we could, um, pick it up? And, eat at my place?"

"We absolutely could," he replied, thinking of her big bed.

Out of PSA ideas. Just pretend that a sanctimonious cartoon character is admonishing you to review. ;-)

~.~.~.~.~

A/N: Sorry, they took a little longer than I thought. Smexytimes next chapter.

WORDS: 1612 UPLOADED Friday, May 3, 2013