A/N: Ooh, Bobby and Dave finally meet. Who is this "Dave" character? How will Bobby react? Is this chapter too long? Can you tell from the story that I had hardwood floors installed last year?
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He waited till mid-morning, after 2 fruitless witness interviews and one coffee break to casually ask, "How's the remodel going?"
Alex looked up from the fax machine and granted him a smile.
"Well, I talked to Dave last night, and now that we have everything picked out, we need to find out if I need a new sub floor- the whole price hinges on that. He's going to come out tonight, pull up some carpet, and see what's what."
He was suddenly aware of his jealousy like it was a beast in his belly. Even when involved with a woman, even when involved with a beautiful woman who got more than her fair share of male attention, that particular beast had laid low, only occasionally, under extreme provocation, deigning to raise its head slightly.
Now, with those few words, it had gotten up on all fours, sniffed the air- hackles raised and teeth bared. Soon it was going to start to howl.
He felt angry and possessive and aroused. He wanted to shove his desk to the floor and stalk over to where she stood. Crowd into her, tower over her. Pull her into him so she could feel how hard he was, for her. He wanted to kiss her, push his tongue into her mouth, run his hands up and down her body. He wanted to find Dave, wherever the hell he was, and fuck him up.
Alex's laugh pulled him back from Neanderthal days. She was smiling and talking to one of the admins as they tried to clear the fax machine's paper jam.
"Jesus, calm down." he told himself, watching her.
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Later, as work started winding down, and people around started packing it in for the day, and the room grew less crowded, he forced himself to be casual and ask, "Do you want a second opinion about all this flooring? I mean, it seems like a big decision."
She seemed a little surprised, looking up at him, a slight crinkle between her eyes. He hurried on.
"I'd love to see what you've done to the place…the new paint and all. And you said you had pictures of the furniture you ordered."
She continued looking at him, puzzled. He forced himself to sit still, look calm and smile.
She grinned back.
"Yeah, a second opinion would be great, actually," she said. Her grin turned into a full-blown smile, and he felt himself smiling back.
God, she looks happy. He floated out of the building and followed her into the car.
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Bobby's good mood continued as Eames drove them towards her house. He watched her as she chatted about her remodel. He stretched his legs out contentedly.
What was I so worried about? Dave's probably some 60 year old guy- wife, kids, grandkids.
Bobby imagined meeting Grandpa Dave- admiring pictures of his granddaughter at her high school graduation and amiably listening to his grandson's varsity football record. Listening sympathetically as he complained of prostrate troubles.
They entered the house. Alex tossed her keys down on the table by the door, and Bobby carefully set his binder down next to them. He turned in a half circle, admiring the new wall color- a warm wheat tone.
"This looks really great."
"Thanks," Alex smiled. "I really like it." She grabbed a catalogue off the counter. "Take a look at the new couch I ordered." She flipped open to a page marked by a Post-it.
Heads bent together, looking over a furniture catalogue, he felt her hair brush is arm. He felt a sudden, overwhelming desire to put his arm around her, nuzzle his face into her cheek, make a teasing comment about breaking the new couch in.
Before he could act on his impulse, he heard a truck pull up in driveway, footsteps on the porch, then a knock at the door.
Eames turned to answer it, and the jealous beast in Bobby's belly which had been dozing for a few hours woke with a start when Dave walled in.
Dave was not a grandpa. Dave was mid-30's tops- dark blond hair, bright blue eyes, lean and muscular in a sickeningly all American way. Dave was smiling and standing way too close to Alex. Dave was going to get his head busted in.
Bobby took a step towards the contractor. Luckily, this coincided with Alex's brief introduction of "Dave, this is my partner, Bobby. Bobby, this is Dave."
Bobby contented himself with ignoring Dave's easy greeting and shaking Dave's hand much harder than was socially acceptable. Dave pried his hand out of Bobby's grasp and hurried after Alex, who had moved towards the back corner of the living room.
"I thought you could take up the carpet back here," she said.
Dave knelt down. "Yeah, this'll work," he said, taking an Exacto from his breast pocket. "Let's open her up and take a look," he said, motioning for Alex to join him.
I could take him. He probably has bad knees from installing all these floors, Bobby thought.
Dave pulled up a piece of carpet and began explaining something about wood integrity . Their heads were very close together.
Yeah, I would definitely go for the knees first, Bobby thought. The knees, then the larynx, he amended. He stalked around the perimeter of the living room, making sure to adjust a few knickknacks, touch some framed photographs. Look at me flooring guy, he wanted to gloat. Look at me, I'm allowed to touch her stuff. See, I can touch whatever I want!
"Bobby, quit moving all my crap around," Alex directed, then re-bent her head to examine whatever Dave was showing her. Bobby adjusted one more picture frame and then contented himself with glowering at the back of Dave's head. Was that a burgeoning bald spot he saw? He squinted.
"All right, then, Alex. It's your lucky day. No new sub floor. So I'll order the pine flooring…"
"Pine?" interrupted Bobby skeptically, his wanderings having landed him back in the general vicinity of Dave and Alex.
"Did you discuss any other options with Alex? What about bamboo?" He turned to Alex. "Bamboo flooring is very environmentally responsible," he explained.
Alex raised one eyebrow.
Dave nodded easily. "Yeah, bamboo is popular these days, but it just doesn't have the durability of hardwood. But don't worry, Bobby," Dave said as he got to his feet, and extended a hand to help Alex up. "We're using reclaimed hardwood, so no trees will be murdered to get Alex her new floor."
"Hmm. What about the staining you're doing? Are you going to be ventilating this place properly? Alex has an extremely stressful job. She can't be coming home to a house full of fumes."
Dave looked at Bobby, then turned quizzical eyes to Alex. She shrugged and rolled her eyes.
"I'm moving in with my parents for a few days while the floors are being installed and stained, Bobby." She narrowed her eyes and shot him a look that clearly said "What the hell are you doing?"
Dave looked from Alex to Bobby, then back to Alex. "OK," he said slowly. "Well, I think that should do it. I'm just going to re-check my measurements. Do you have a tape measure handy?" He patted his pockets. "I forgot mine."
Bobby smirked. Unprofessional, he gloated inwardly.
"Sure, I've got one back in there," Alex said, gesturing to her office doorway. "Hang on a sec. I'll grab it."
She trotted off towards her office.
Dave watched Alex leave the room and glanced nervously at Bobby. Bobby watched as he visibly cast around for something to talk about.
"So, you and Alex are partners?"
Bobby took a step forward..
"Yeah, for six years," he replied, walking forward another step. "She's my partner, best friend. The one person who understands me. The one person who accepts me."
Bobby took one final step closer, now definitely violating his personal space. "Do you have anyone like that in your life, Dave?"
Dave swallowed. "I think…" he paused and glanced towards the doorway where Alex had disappeared to. "I think…I mis-judged this situation."
"Do you think so?" Bobby replied mildly.
"Yeah, I do", Dave said. "Speaking as a contractor, if there's a…a job I want, I go in with a strong bid. But sometimes there are other…um...interested parties…that I wasn't aware of…and they…"
"They have guns," Bobby finished helpfully.
Dave's eyes strayed nervously to Bobby's holster.
"They have guns and a history of erratic behavior." Bobby leaned in, eyes bright.
"Yeah," said Dave. "Anyways, Alex can't seem to find that tape measure, and it's getting late, so maybe you could just tell her I'll e-mail her a final estimate tomorrow?"
Dave edged towards the door.
"Sure," said Bobby, smiling politely as Dave fled through the door and out into the night. Good ole Dave, he thought affectionately.
Bobby cheerfully rocked on the balls of his feet and only managed to wipe the smile off his face when Alex re-appeared in the living room. She looked around.
"Did you scare Dave off?" Her eyes were unreadable.
"Oh, he had to go. Too bad, he seems nice," Bobby said in a chipper voice.
Alex's eyes narrowed and she looked at him suspiciously.
"Don't worry, he's going to e-mail you the complete estimate," he said soothingly.
Alex rolled her eyes and plopped down on the couch, kicking off her shoes. Bobby sat down next to her, watching while she rolled her neck and flipped through her mail.
He cleared his throat and she looked up. OK, this is it, he told himself.
"Do you want to get dinner tomorrow?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Sure, that sounds good. Do you want to bring over the Wagner files and look through those phone records? Because I think…"
Oh crap. OK, what had the article he had read at the gym the other day said? He took a split second to reflect that it was a sad day when he had to turn to articles in Men's Health & Fitness for dating advice, but let's face it- desperate times call for desperate measures. For all he knew, Dave might be on his way back with free crown molding. Bobby glanced nervously towards the door.
The article had said If you want it to be a date, act like it's a date. All right, it's time to go all in.
"No, he said. "Not take-out. Not work. No files. I mean…I am asking you to dinner. Purposely. "
Alex looked puzzled. "Bobby, the way you phrase things sometimes….You want to purposely eat dinner?"
He took a deep breath.
"No- I am purposely asking you to have dinner with me. There are reservations; I pick you up; we don't split the check." He felt his face flush. "That kind of dinner."
"That sounds like a….?" Her voice trailed off.
"A date. Yes." Bobby replied with a firmness he didn't feel, watching her closely.
Alex blushed, looked away, and then looked back at him.
"After all these years…a date?" she asked softly.
Bobby fidgeted. "I don't know where else to start...I want to show you…I don't know how else I can…"
"You want to go out on a date?" she repeated, interrupting him.
"Oh God, how many times is she going to ask me that?" he thought miserably.
"And it's not just that," he said, completely uncomfortable. "I want to go out on lots of dates. In a row. With each other. Enough dates that…"
He looked up from his miserable introspection of the floor when she started laughing.
His wounded look gave her pause.
Still laughing, she managed to say, "Purposely eating dinner, not once, but several times in a row? Bobby, you are…"
Taking in his pained expression, she moved closer, and placed one hand on his chest. She was no longer laughing out loud, but she still smiled. "There's a rumor going around that you can, you know, actually be charming."
He placed his hand over hers, caught it and kept it, snug against his chest, and finally met her warm, laughing eyes.
"Bobby," she said. "You don't seem…you don't look very happy about any of this."
She, on the other hand, did look happy. Very happy. Something inside of him loosened.
"I'll be very happy if you say yes right now to dinner. To dinner tomorrow night and, yeah, to the whole in a row thing."
Bobby swallowed, meeting her eyes as she gazed back at him. There would be no arm's distance with her. Any relationship would be almost beyond intimate. He began again.
"Look, I know…I know this is terrible timing. OK, I know that. I just want you to know that I know that. But the thing is that it will always be terrible timing. And I know …"
"Wait," she said, "just wait." She placed one hand on each side of his face as she said this, and so he waited.
"I..what you are saying…it makes me so happy. But if we….if we…there's no way back. No way. We can never go back." He saw that she was taking a deep breath, and meant to say more, so he interrupted her.
"Thank God," he said and kissed her, finally.
A/N: That last line is so melodramatic, but it was sooo satisfying to type. I'm a cheeseball, what can I say. Next chapter is pretty much 100 smut, hooray! Since this story has no plot, I don't feel too bad giving that away.