I Didn't Mean to Love You

Chapter 4

The work week started before dawn on Monday for Gibbs and his team. A dead Sailor found floating in the Potomac was not exactly how they would have chosen to start the week. When a second body was found floating in the Tidal Basin the day went from bad to a lot worse. The team spent all morning at the crime scenes and all afternoon tracking down background information on their victims. By seven o'clock when Gibbs finally sent them home they were all exhausted.

Tuesday and Wednesday weren't much better than Monday but at least no more dead guys showed up. What little evidence they had wasn't leading them anywhere and Gibbs was getting frustrated with the slow progress they were all making. Being busy kept his mind off Kate and also meant he hadn't had time to talk to Ducky or Abby about anything but the case. They finally got a break on Thursday afternoon so at least they had an idea of who they were looking for.

Gibbs did not want to work on the weekend so they pushed ahead late into the night on Thursday and finally found their suspects Friday morning. By noon they had arrested two of the victim's shipmates and after some quality time with Gibbs in the interrogation room the younger of the two caved in and gave up their story. The four had been in on a smuggling ring together and when things got too complicated they all turned on each other. Tony and McGee took the two off to lockup and Gibbs finally had time to visit Ducky.

"Well, Jethro, it took all week but you finally got the killers I understand. Good work my friend."

"Took longer than it should have but yeah, we finally got 'em."

"Jethro, about last Friday. . ."

"Don't worry about it Duck. How's your mother?"

"She's fine. You do know of course what happened."

"Yeah, I know but I think Kate told Abby some story about meeting a nice guy there so don't blow it for her."

"Well, what really happened?"

"Kate and I had a couple of drinks, some burgers and just talked for a while. We had a nice time and I took her home."

"And?"

"Nothing. That's it."

"Are you going to see her again?"

"I don't know. Maybe. You do realize I'm probably old enough to be her father right?"

"I don't think that matters in this day and time, Jethro."

"Matters to me. Seems unlikely she'd be interested anyway."

"Abigail disagrees. She's pretty sure Kate is indeed interested otherwise we would not have perpetrated such an elaborate ruse."

"Well, do me a favor and don't do it again. Night Duck."

"Goodnight, Jethro."

Gibbs intended to get out of the building before Abby cornered him but he wasn't quite fast enough. She caught up to him in the parking lot.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, I wanted to talk to you all week. I know you know Ducky and I set you and Kate up last Friday and I hope you're not mad. I know you don't really want anyone to know your personal business but I just really thought you and Kate deserved another chance to get to know one another. You're not mad are you?"

"No Abs I'm not mad. It was nice to see Kate but I don't think you should expect anything to come of your matchmaking."

"You like her don't you, Gibbs?"

"Abs." There was a warning tone in his voice with which Abby was very familiar.

"Okay, I'll leave it alone. Have a good weekend."

"You too, Abs."

Jethro was glad to have the week behind him and to have talked to both Abby and Ducky and gotten that whole Kate situation handled with them. All the way home he had a nagging thought; why did the two people who knew him best both think he and Kate should get together? Were they right? Was he missing something that those two were seeing? He reminded himself he had had a good time last Friday and Kate did seem like she had too. He had told her they could do it again so what was wrong with calling her for lunch?

By the time he got home Jethro had talked himself into and out of calling Kate at least six times. When he walked in the house he pulled out his phone and before he could change his mind he called her. He didn't give any thought to the fact that it was Friday night and she might be out with someone else. When the voice mail came on he hung up without leaving a message.

Jethro grabbed a beer and headed upstairs to change clothes. Sitting on his bed he thought about why he was so reluctant to see Kate. Dating wasn't really a problem for Jethro. He didn't do much of it but when he wanted to go out with a woman he never had any trouble getting a date. There were two or three women he could always call on; friends he'd made and kept over the years whom he enjoyed and who seemed to enjoy his company as well. None of those ladies were interested in a long term relationship and that fit perfectly with what Jethro wanted as well. He enjoyed female company on occasion but did not want to do the work required to maintain a serious relationship with a woman.

In Jethro's estimation, Kate did not seem to be the kind of woman who would want just a once-in-a-while sort of thing with him. She was young enough to still be looking forward to marriage and children; something Jethro was definitely not looking for. On the other hand she was in a career that didn't exactly lend itself to a normal home life so maybe once in a while would work for her. But, would it work for Jethro? Something about Kate seemed to get under his skin and he wasn't sure he would want to let go if he ever really got hold of her. Jethro didn't like sharing so he knew if he was seeing Kate on any sort of regular basis he would not easily accept her seeing other men too. Why am I worrying about that? I haven't even asked her on a date yet.

No, he told himself, he didn't need to get involved with Kate or anyone else at this point in his life. He was content with his life and didn't need the stress a relationship would undoubtedly cause. Sometimes he thought about how nice it would be to come home to someone who was glad to see him. Or what it would be like to have someone to do simple things with such as going for a walk on a nice evening, but then he would talk himself out of it and go on and pretty soon another year had passed and he was still alone. Jethro was used to being alone and figured it was really too late to change that now. He accepted his lot in life and for the most part was happy being alone. But, every now and then he wondered. And every now and then he missed what a woman brought to the equation; the softness and grace and gentleness that was missing in his life. He missed having someone to take care of and having someone around who wanted to take care of him even if he didn't want to let her.

Jethro shook himself and banished all those thoughts from his mind. He vowed to stop thinking about Kate and concentrate on his boat and his job and just keep putting one foot in front of another. Pulling on some comfortable jeans and a tee shirt he headed to the basement to work on his boat.

While Jethro was convincing himself he was fine with his life the way it was, Kate was letting a steaming shower wash away the fatigue of a very long week. She was extremely glad this was her last week on protection detail. Next week she was taking a week off and then she started a new job in the investigation division. That meant more regular hours and much less travel. Kate had long ago tired of being gone from her own bed for days and weeks at a time and was looking forward to a more routine lifestyle. While she was not necessarily ready to "settle down" with a marriage and kids, she was certainly ready to spend time at home and maybe with a special someone.

Thinking about a "special someone" brought Jethro to her mind. She had been out of town most of the week so had not given much thought to him or another date. She did want to see him again and she wondered if he would call. She wasn't opposed to calling him if he didn't take the initiative. Kate stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a big, fluffy towel. Once she was finished in the bathroom, she put on some old sweats and a tee shirt and headed for the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of wine and searched the cabinets for something to eat. Nothing really sounded good so she settled for some cheese and crackers. Wine and snacks in hand she went to the living room and settled on the couch to find something on television.

Kate checked her phone as she surfed the channels and saw she had a missed call. There was no message and Kate didn't recognize the number so she started to ignore it as was her habit. She put the phone down and concentrated on the television for a few minutes but her curiosity got the best of her and she reached for the phone. Pulling up the missed call she hit 'call' and waited.

Across town Jethro was on his second Mason jar of bourbon and had worked up a good sweat sanding on his boat. His phone beeping at him was the last thing he needed. They weren't on call but that never stopped dispatch from calling him. Without looking at the ID he snatched up the offending creature and flipped it open.

"Yeah Gibbs."

"Jethro?"

Definitely not dispatch he thought.

"Kate?"

"Yes, hello. I had a missed call."

"That was me. Hi."

"Hi yourself. How are you?"

"Okay. How was your week?"

"Long and tedious and I'm very glad it's over. I'm off next week and start a new job the week after. Did you have a case?"

Jethro put down the sanding block and leaned back against the workbench. He closed his eyes and pictured Kate in his mind.

"Yeah, double homicide. Took all week to get it closed. What do you mean a new job?"

"I'm leaving the protection division and going to the investigative division. Not as much travel and more regular hours. More time at home."

"Sounds good. If I'd known you wanted to investigate things I would have offered you a job at NCIS."

"Who knows, if I decide to leave the Secret Service I'll let you know."

"You better."

"So, you called earlier?"

"Yes, would you like to go out sometime?"

"Yes, I would. What do you have in mind?"

"How about dinner, tomorrow night?"

"That would work. I'd like that."

"Great. I'll pick you up at seven."

"Sounds good. I'll see you then."

"Night Kate."

Kate remembered from working with him that Jethro always ended his phone calls rather abruptly so she wasn't surprised or offended to hear the phone click off before she could respond. She sipped her wine and thought about going out on a real date with Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. She wondered how the date would be different since it was their own idea instead of a set-up by their "friends".

Jethro poured himself another drink and contemplated a real date with Caitlyn Todd. He wondered what he was really doing; was he taking her out because he wanted to or because a couple of people he trusted thought he should? He told himself over and over again that night he wasn't going to get "involved" with Kate. He was going to take her to dinner, maybe take a walk with her and then kiss her goodnight and come home. Maybe in a few weeks he'd see if she wanted to do it again. That was all, no great romance just a few dates to get her out of his system and then she'd figure out he wasn't right for her and they'd go their merry ways. No harm, no foul. Just a few dates he told himself. Four at the most.

What about sex? The little voice in the back of his head kept pushing that question the rest of the night. Maybe, was the only answer he could come up with. If she wanted to, if it felt right, but maybe not. That tended to complicate things and lord knows, Jethro didn't like complicated. Just keep things simple and honest and all would be fine. Jethro would have been willing to bet his partially finished boat that by the time they'd had four dates Kate would be ready to move on.