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Chapter 4 – Go big

Detective Andy Flynn was feeling pretty good this morning as he arrived a little earlier than usual. He had a few things to do before the Captain arrived and wanted things in place. Provenza wouldn't be in for another half an hour so, leaving Andy free to stick to his original plan.

Sharon Raydor pulled into the parking garage and found a spot further away from the elevator than usual. Turning off her engine, she pulled her rearview mirror down to check her make-up. She felt a little nervous knowing she would have to face Andy this morning after last night's stake-out incident. She knew she would have to play it cool.

Swallowing hard, she exited the car with her briefcase and took her time approaching the elevator. No reason to rush in, Sharon reasoned. When it came to work-related matters, she was assured and ready to deal with nearly anything but matters of such a personal nature rocked her confidence a little, particularly when things were anything but clear-cut.

Andy heard the familiar sound of quick clicking heels coming down the hallway. He smiled to himself knowing he had just completed the second-to-last item of this morning's plan. The fresh pot of coffee had nearly finished brewing as Andy waited with two prepared cups, neither intended for Provenza. There was only one thing left unchecked on his list.

Standing in front of the large brewing machine, Sharon didn't see Andy as she passed by the break room and he made no attempt to catch her eye. Let her get settled in first, he thought.

"Good morning, everyone," Sharon said warmly to the few staff members already at their desks before heading straight into her office. It appeared Andy was not in yet. Good, she thought. She needed a little time to herself to prepare for the inevitable meeting between them.

"Lieutenant Provenza, you're here earlier than usual," Detective Tao observed as he unpacked his satchel and dropped a stack of notes on his desk.

The elderly detective shot Tao a quick frown. Provenza was early arriving well before 8 am, a full twenty minutes earlier to be exact.

"You don't miss a thing, do you, Tao!" Provenza shot back. He glanced at the Captain's office. Her door was closed, her window blinds closed but the lights were on.

"Is the Captain in?" Provenza asked Sykes. If anyone would know for certain, it was Sykes.

"Yeah, she's in, just two minutes ahead of you" Sykes answered without looking up, a phone pinched between her jaw and shoulder, fingers poised to punch in a call. She's always ahead of me, Provenza realized.

"Good morning to you too, Lieutenant," Sykes added.

"Oh, good morning, Sykes. Sorry," Provenza murmured as he walked over to Andy's desk. Searching in Andy's top drawer, he found a square sticky pad and a sharpie. He quickly scribbled a single word on the purple note, "Don't!" and drew an arrow below it. He stuck it on Andy's chair seat insuring only Andy would find it with the arrow pointed in the direction of Captain Raydor's office.

Satisfied with his concise warning, Provenza ambled over to his own desk, took a seat, and waited with a faint sense of dread as he popped open his cup of blistering hot McDonald's coffee and took a small sip.

"Shit, that's hot," Provenza muttered. Tao smirked to himself.

Provenza killed time unwrapping his egg and bacon McMuffin and bit into trying to soothe his barely burned upper lip. Before he could ask Sykes whether Andy was in, Andy appeared out of the break room.

"Ah, there he is!" Provenza announced with a mouthful of food. "Didn't think you'd be in today, Andy."

"Now why would you think that?" Andy said in a playful tone to his partner. "Fresh pot of coffee in the break room if you want some." Andy raised both cups of coffee in a gesture to explain where he was.

"One of those for me?" Provenza asked.

"Of course not," Andy teased.

Provenza rolled his eyes sarcastically. "I bet I can guess who that's for!"

"And you'd be right, Louie." Andy sounded downright relaxed.

"Get over here," the older man gestured impatiently. Andy did as he was asked.

"What?"

"Don't play cute with me! You were going nuts last night and now you're …you're all mellow and chillaxed!"

"I'm fine, Louie. I took your advice. I didn't bother her last night. I gave her space, just like you said."

"That's because I wouldn't tell you where she was!" Provenza huffed. "Annnnnd, you never called or texted me any scores of the Knicks game last night!"

"Sorry, I totally forgot," Andy said sincerely. "I didn't even bother watching it myself. Sort of preoccupied if you know what I mean."

"No shit, Sherlock! What did you do if you didn't pester the captain?

"A little reading and that's all you need to know, old man!" Andy patted Provenza's shoulder before heading back to his own desk. Noticing the Captain's office door was closed, Andy pulled a manila file folder out of his desk's bottom drawer, tucked it under his arm, picked up the two coffee cups and headed to Sharon's office. He managed to knock on the door without spilling either coffee.

Provenza froze in mid-chew, eyes wide with worry. No no no, Andy!

Sharon saw the faint shadow fall cross her narrow window's closed blinds. She recognized the knock on her door. She pleaded mentally, Please don't be Andy, don't be Andy, don't b….

"Good morning, Andy." Sharon said quietly as he entered without waiting for her to tell him to come in.

"Good morning, Sharon," Andy replied as he closed the door with his foot and brought both cups of coffee to her desk. "Thought you might want some of this." Andy nodded at the cups. I hope he means the coffee, Sharon let go of the thought when she noticed he had closed the door. Well, here we go. This is it, Sharon thought.

"Thank you, Andy. Very thoughtful." Sharon took the cup carefully, avoiding any contact with Andy's hand or eyes. She took a small sip then glanced up nonchalantly at Andy who was still standing on the other side of her desk. She didn't invite me to sit, Andy realized.

"Can I help you?" Sharon said uneasily. It felt like Andy had decidedly taken control of the situation and wasn't going to waste any time getting to last night's incident.

"I'd like to discuss yesterday's stake-out and when I kis-," Andy began. Stop him before he says that word!

"Andy, you're not in trouble. I believe you." Sharon interrupted. "You did what you had to do to maintain cover and I… overreacted." She had practiced those sentences on her drive in that morning and now felt a certain amount of relief in finally saying them to Andy.

"Really?" Andy smiled broadly and took a seat in front of her desk. Oh crap, he's not finished with this yet, Sharon thought as she watched him pull the folder out from under his arm and lay it on the chair next to him out of Sharon's view. "I'm really relieved to hear you say that."

"Really, Andy. I just wasn't prepared for…" Sharon could feel her face getting hot as she spoke. Don't you blush! "…and I, I guess I'm still a little jumpy with uh Stroh on the loose… and Rusty refusing the protective detail…" She quickly slid her glasses on hoping to disguise the blush somehow.

"Wow, Sharon," Andy grinned. "I have to admit I was just as surprised as you were. I really don't what possessed me to do that but I completely understand how I put you in an awkward situation both personally and professionally." Andy looked a little bashful and she could swear she saw his neck turning red. Was he man-blushing?

Sharon frowned a little and squinted at him. "Personally?"

"And professionally." Andy quipped.

"What do you mean 'personally'?" Sharon took off her glasses, set them on her desk and leaned forward a bit, crossing her hands together behind the coffee mug.

"I mean I crossed a line that we hadn't crossed before," Andy said calmly. Sharon didn't quite know how to respond to that.

"We, you and me? We hadn't crossed before?" Sharon clarified.

"Yes, exactly." Andy smiled.

"We?"

"Yes, Sharon, you and me. We."

"I'm not sure I get your meaning, Andy," Sharon needed a moment of clarity right this minute.

"I mean it wasn't how I had planned on kissing you."

Sharon's eyebrows arched, her chin dropped. How he had planned it? He thought about kissing her before all this?

Andy realized his slip with a frown. Setting his coffee cup on her desk, Andy rose and walked around to her side of the desk. What the hell? Sharon thought. What the hell! Andy decided. Before Sharon could react, Andy placed a hand on the top of her desk chair, pushed it out of his way as he leaned toward her causing her chair to spin her toward him.

"An-," before Sharon could finish, Andy grasped her arms above the elbows, pulled her out of her chair in one quick motion into a tight bear hug. Sharon was completely speech-less!

Before she could utter a word, his mouth was on hers…again. But this time it was different. It felt very different. Detective Andy Flynn, her friend, her confidente and, more importantly, her employee was kissing her. In. Her. Office!

Sharon's mind reeled. She froze, unable to react as she became aware of the scary-yet-incredibly-wondrous sensation on her lips. As his tongue explored her lower lip, an unfamiliar but not unpleasant ache grew below the small of her back. In that overwhelming moment, only her senses commanded her full attention.

As the kiss ended, Andy nuzzled her temple with two small kisses before telling her he was resigning.

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Loving the reviews. Thank you for letting me know specifics you liked in past chapters. Feel free to comment as much as you like. The more detailed the comments, the more I can't wait to write the next chapter. Sorry for the cliff-hanger (okay, not sorry.) : )

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