Penny closed her laptop with a sigh of frustration. She knew there was no WI-FI before opening the thing, but she hadn't been able to help herself. She had to see it for herself. But there she was. It was now confirmed. She was more or less completely cut off from the rest of the world.
She heard the shower start and corrected herself. She was all alone with Luke Alvez; sexy, funny, smart, compassionate, warmhearted Luke Alvez. How had she not noticed how many of her boxes he ticked before now? She knew the sexy box. She'd known that the moment he walked into her unit. He was the kind of guy it almost hurt to look at directly, like the Sun, or an eclipse. Somethings were just too much to witness fully, they had to be side-eyed or squinted at. She'd learned the other things as she had gotten to know him, beyond the charming, crocked smile and the dopey, milk chocolate brown eyes.
She'd known for a while that what she felt for him was more than a stupid crush. She'd never admit it out loud and she was certain if she just ignored it, it would go away eventually. That had worked in the past. The thing with Derek had been harmless but it hadn't been completely that way at first, at least not for her.
After a while, her feelings for him had gone away or at least adapted to something she could work with. In the end, she couldn't have been happier with the way things turned out for Derek.
She wasn't sure she could say the same thing for Luke. She hated seeing him with Lisa. It had bothered her more than she had intended to let it. Something was overriding her good senses when it came to him. Something she had never had a problem with before. She liked to believe that she was in control of her emotions, not the other way around.
She took her glasses off and sat them on one of the bedside tables. Then she gave her tired eyes a fitful rub. It had been a long day. Flying always made her tired.
Her mind wandered to the shower and all the exposed, bronzed, soaped up skin that was inside of it, but before she could let it linger there for too long, she focused her attention on the fire that was roaring away happily beside her chair. It was warm and comforting. Like Luke's arms had been on more than one occasion when she'd need him.
She felt her insides tighten when she thought about the fact that she was essentially trapped in this tiny little room with him, possibly for a good, long while. How the hell was she supposed to keep everything she was feeling from showing on her face? How was she ever going to hide anything from him? He spent his days reading people, scrutinizing their every move. They weren't supposed to profile each other, but what would a few hours of boredom do to someone like Luke? Would he be able to resist? Would she be able to fool him?
A few minutes later, he came out of the steamy bathroom looking exactly like he had when he went in, except his hair was wet and chemical free, giving it a tussled, curly texture and his beard was trimmed.
She got up from her place by the fire and grabbed her bag to take with her to the bathroom.
"I started your bath. Looks like that thing is going to take a minute to fill. I hope it isn't too hot. I like mine pretty steamy." He told her as he grabbed the TV remote and flopped down on the left side of the bed.
"So do I," she mumbled, taken aback for a moment by how good he smelled as he brushed past her. And now there he was stretched out on his back, with his mused hair and smelling like that and the fire was crackling in the background and every single light in the freaking, romantic, couples room resembled a candle...
He gave her a funny look and she realized she was just standing there staring at him and taking all this in with her mouth open and God knows what written on her face.
She grabbed her bag and dashed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her, effectively blocking out whatever he was doing to her.
That was until she turned around and saw that he had not only started her bath, but added bubble bath, poured her a glass of wine and left his phone on the counter playing some mix of soft jazz music that was almost hypnotic. He'd lit several, aromatic candles around the room and laid out an overly fluffy beige towel on the table by the tub.
He had made her a bath. As she slid into the warm water she had no idea how she was going to thank him for this, but she determined she would find a way.
His touch was so hot it felt like it was burning her as he caressed his way from her elbow to her shoulder. His other hand was tangled in her hair, pulling it out of his way while inhaling a deep breath. Then he bowed his head and began to move his lips along the column of her throat.
She let out a low, indulgent groan as her heart skipped a beat. He closed in on her, essentially holding her in place against the wall of her office but she certainly didn't mind. One set of blood red nails dug into his bicep while the other sank into the nape of his neck. He must have taken that as a sign of encouragement and raised his eyes to hers for the briefest of moments before he found her lips with his own full, moist ones.
One of his hands moved to her breast while he used the other to brace himself against the wall behind her. She held one arm around his neck because she wasn't sure she could trust her knees alone to hold her up much longer. Every breath he exhaled against her cheek made them weaker as he moved up her jaw with his mouth, like he was savoring the taste of her on his tongue.
Suddenly, he shifted, pressing himself more fully against her. She could feel the entire length of his burning hot body against hers and she grasped at him trying to somehow get closer still.
He tilted his head back and looked into her eyes while wetting his lips. Then he leaned in again and whispered into her ear,
"Pen, you okay in there? I haven't heard you making any noise in a while. Just let me know you haven't drowned."
She spurted a bit as her mind was jerked back to reality. So it took her moment to reply. "I'm good. Guess I must have fallen asleep."
She gave herself a shake, emptied the lukewarm water from the tub, dried off and got herself dressed again. He'd never called her 'Pen' before. It was intimate and familiar and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.
She threw her cozy Pjs back on and took a look at herself in the mirror. She was about to leave the room with no makeup, her messy hair in a messy ponytail and not in the most flattering of outfit choices. She looked at her bag and considered her options. She could go through the trouble of reapplying her makeup and sleeping in it, despite the fact that it was terrible for her skin. Was a breakout and some oiliness worth letting Luke see behind the curtain?
She stepped closer to her image with careful scrutiny. It wasn't terrible. The bath had given her skin a warm, pinkish tone. Her complexion was clear and glowing, cooperating with her for once at least. The humidity had done incredible things to her hair. What wasn't in the ponytail was drying in pretty little ringlets around her face, framing it nicely.
Her t-shirt was baggy, but it was also v-necked, giving a descent view of her cleavage. The pants were the furthest from flattering. But the shirt came to her mid-thigh. She opted against the pants it was warm enough now. Instead she grabbed a pair of purple bike shorts and left behind the fuzzy socks as well.
She was arranging her hair when she dropped her hand and asked herself what the hell she was doing. She admitted that it looked a lot like she was fancying herself up for a man. But that couldn't be what she was doing because that was not what was happening here. Here was just two colleagues stuck together because of circumstances. That was all this could be. It was all it ever would be. Anything else had to be put out of her head.
She wondered, as she looked at herself so closely, if Luke had done the same earlier. Then she laughed off the idea. Why would he? Luke had never looked at her like that. She wasn't even on his radar. He was wonderful. And she was well...
Wonderful, too, but not wonderful enough for the superhero in the next room. He was out of her league. She knew that.
She splashed some cold water on her face to cool her warming cheeks and flipped the light off on her way out.
He was sitting crossed legged on his side of the bed, remote in hand but not moving as he munched on a piece of chocolate. A glass of wine sat half empty on his bedside table. She refreshed her own empty glass, then topped off his as well.
"What are we watching?" she asked as she settled herself conveniently on her favorite side of the bed.
He glanced at her as he went to hand her the remote and did a quick, yet subtle double take.
"I just stopped here. It's all yours," He pulled it back when she went to reach for it. " With a string attached, otherwise you'll have to fight me for it."
"What is this string you speak of?" she asked, eyeing him cautiously.
"If we are stuck here tomorrow night, I get to watch the game."
"Fine," she easily agreed, reaching for the remote again.
"And no stupid Sci-Fi movies from the fifties." he added.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine. I suppose I don't really have a choice, now do I?"
"You could just take it from me." He offered.
She snorted out loud. "Yeah. And then you get the remote the whole time because we both know I can't take that from you."
Something passed over his face as he turned to fully look at her. She wasn't sure what it was, but what he did next jolted her to her core. He leaned a little closer to her and said in a low, gravelly voice, "Oh, you could, Chica. You just might have to get creative."
Her eyes dropped to his lips. They were so unbelievable soft-looking. And for a moment, just for a moment, it felt like he was going to close the distance and let her feel them. But he pulled back like he'd abruptly changed his mind and handed her the remote.
He cleared his throat and his wine glass. "I was just kidding. Of course you can have it. Watch whatever you want."
She took it from him and said a quick thank you before turning her attention to finding something to watch.
Boy he had been acting weird. She wished she was brave enough to find out why. Was he playing with her? Did he secretly know what he did to her? Was he the kind of man that would use that for his own amusement? Of course he wasn't. That was ridiculous. She knew him well enough to know that without question. So why was he acting crazy? One minute he was flirting outrageously. The next he was acting like she had cooties. It was infuriating.
She was flipping through the stations. The clock on the wall said it was ten o'clock so it was no wonder most of it was news. She stopped long enough to hear the weatherman talk about the unprecedented winter storm they were currently in the grips of before moving along. Her thigh was already uncomfortably warm where Luke's knee was resting against it. This was going to be torture.
After searching for nearly half an hour and finding nothing, they both finally settled on the antique looking radio on the dresser. He settled on something soft and easy and left the volume up just enough to be heard. It was exactly how she would have set the radio and she couldn't help but be impressed with that.
"So what now?" she asked when he sat back down, facing her this time.
"We could just talk," he offered.
She adjusted herself to face him as well. "About what?"
"Tell me about you," he suggested. "I still don't feel like I know you very well and we've been working together for a while now."
She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. "I will concede that it does appear that you will be staying around."
"Now, three years and you're going to concede that now?" he asked.
She nodded solemnly. "I suppose you've proven yourself as more than a Newbie."
He shifted, causing his knee to brush hers and she involuntarily glanced down at the offending appendage. Apparently he read her reaction wrong because he moved again immediately. This time carefully not touching her.
"Does that mean I get a new nickname?"
He reached behind him for his glass of wine. It reminded her of her own and she did the same. This would be easier with more alcohol.
"I'll take your request under consideration. Newbie doesn't fit you any longer. I'm sure I'll come up with something appropriate though."
"That was a brilliant bit of deflection there. I'm impressed. But I still want to know about you." He told her.
She took a giant drink from her glass. "Like what? What do you want to know?"
"What do you do when you aren't saving the day with your trusty keyboard and mouse?" He chuckled.
She joined him. "I'm not a hero. You guys are the heroes, out in the thick of it, facing down evil, getting shot at. I'm just tech support."
He leaned in a little closer to her. "You just did it again. You really don't like talking about yourself, do you?" Before she could answer, he stopped her. "By the way, what you do is just as important to this team as what I do, more sometimes. I couldn't rush in to save the day if it weren't for you telling me where to rush to."
"Well, that is true, I suppose." She smiled, and hoped she wasn't blushing even through she could feel her cheeks warming. She wasn't the shy, bashful type. There was just something about being complimented by him that turned her into pure goo. "I don't actually do much outside of work. I mean to. I keep telling myself that I'm going to get out more. I just haven't been doing that much lately."
He shifted and took a drink from his glass before fulling both glasses up again. "Are you seeing someone? I can't believe I don't even know that."
She took a drink before nodding her head. "No, I haven't been dating. It's like when I leave the office I'm so beat the last thing I want is to deal with the bar scene or worse, the club scene. I mean I'm not not looking. But I'm not actively looking either, I guess."
"I get that. As a member of the newly single, one of the things I am not looking forward to is having to date again." He took another gulp. "I've never been very good at it."
"That can't be true." She waved him off. "You can't tell me you have a problem finding a date. I mean look at you." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Those were telling words, incriminating words. What was she thinking? A glance at the glass in her hand told her the answer.
He was giving her a funny look when she ventured to cast her gaze back up at him. She wasn't sure what to make of it. His mouth was open like he was about to say something but nothing was coming out. He was just sitting there staring at her.
"I didn't mean," she sputtered. "I just, you know, you're an attractive guy. You know that. I'm just saying, it can't be that hard for you find a date."
Suddenly, he ran his hand through his hair nervously. "You think I'm an attractive guy?"
The words hung in the air between them for a minute before she was able to pull herself together enough to answer. There was something going on. She could feel the butterflies fluttering in her stomach and her pulse was pounding in her chest.
She thought about teasing him. If he was just fishing for a compliment he'd gotten it and he wasn't getting any more than that. But it felt like there was more to the question. Luke wasn't the type to fish anyway. She had no idea how this had gotten so weighty but it had so she decided to just go with the truth. "Well, yeah," she said around dry lips. "Of course you're attractive."
He looked away from her. "I've never really seen that." he admitted. "People have told me that before, but I've never gotten it. And yeah, I am truly horrible when it comes to women and dating. I never know what to say or what to do."
She took a deep breath and let it out before going back to her wine. "Sounds like you're overthinking it. You just gotta be you. If that isn't good enough she isn't worth it."
He found her eyes again. "Sounds like you're over simplifying it." He countered.
"Maybe but that doesn't make it not true," she shot back. "If you feel like you can't be yourself with the person you're with, then you aren't really with that person. You're just pretending and they have no idea. It isn't fair to either of you."
"That sounds like the voice of experience."
"It is." she said, quietly.
He drained his glass and put it aside. "We've had an entire bottle of wine." He commented, off-handed.
"Lightweight," she huffed despite the fact that she could feel her head spinning. She drained what was left in her own glass and set it aside.
"We are going to be screwed tomorrow if the lady downstairs was wrong and we have to work in the morning."
She shrugged. "It'll be fine. Besides, she didn't sound like she was guessing."
He stretched, the movement causing his shirt to rise. Penny tried not to see the trail of hair that lead from his navel to the waistband of his sweats. She realized she was unsuccessful when she look up to find him watching her watching him.
He looked like he was going to say something, but suddenly his entire demeanor shifted and he looked towards the radio. "I love this song. I know it's the wine. But dance with me."
He was around to her side of the bed before she could argue. And then she was in his arms and they were swaying easily to the dulcet sounds of John Legend singing about being in love and it was magical.
That was what all this had to be. A magic spell woven with wine, a cozy fireplace, a storm roaring outside a window, and John Legend. It all combined to make a powerful force. One that made her look up into his face when she felt his breath on her hair.
She felt herself melting into the pools of his chocolate brown eyes, eyes that had seen too much not to be a touch clouded in cynicism and pain, but still managed to not feel haunted by it. Out of her peripheral vision she saw him wet his lips with the tip of his tongue.
Neither of them said a word. Now they were just two people dancing in front of a fire in a boojie hotel room with the strains of All of me playing in the background.
Shit, how did she end up here?