This might go down the path of M… Be forewarned.

Chapter -6

Alex Eames always treasured the time when she and Bobby worked on a stakeout. It was as close as she imagined they'd ever get to the placidity of a romantic dinner or a morning after breakfast. This time was turning out to be a bit of an exception though. Alex couldn't put her finger on it, but Bobby Goren was acting weird.

Weird.

Yes, weird was a term most people would normally use to describe Goren if they didn't know him well enough to sort through his quirks. Alex's definition of weird pertained to how jumpy and spacey Bobby was the last few days.

This new case had them following a murder suspect in Upstate New York, near the Catskills. A man had supposedly murdered his wife so he could move on with his mistress. Bobby and Alex were sent to monitor his whereabouts at his mistress' vacation house. Local PD could just as easily done the job, Alex surmised. But Ross seemed particularly bent on solving this one fast. The brutality of the murder may have been a factor. The victim was beaten and shot.

Alex and Bobby drove the two and a half hour trip from NYC to the country in virtual silence. Alex could swear Bobby kept staring at her, more than what was ever considered his norm in the past. As soon as she tried to connect the eye contact, he'd look down or away. She knew they had some unspoken tensions still lingering between them. It was over a month since she blasted him about keeping Julia Michaels a secret. She also couldn't forget the flirtatious and revealing phone call they had a few nights later. Both incidents swept under the rug for safe keeping. Alex wondered what became of Julia. She certainly knew better than to ask and Bobby knew better than to tell. Based on his behavior lately, Alex had a gut feeling that Julia was no longer a nightly guest of the Goren bedroom. Bobby was quiet and sullen. He also lately, seemed more than eager to work, and very eager to go on a few day long stakeout, sixty miles away from his "sweetie". The thought of Julia made Alex nauseous. She didn't like things to make her so emotionally vulnerable, hence it's placement under the rug.

After a fruitless day of surveillance, both detectives checked into their motel rooms. Alex felt the place was very "Bates Motel" in it's ambiance. She had Bobby entered their rooms without even saying goodnight to one another. Once in the seclusion of her space, Alex felt flustered. She wasn't tired enough to call it a night yet. She stepped out of her room to look around outside, when she caught site of Bobby, two doors down. The moonlight cascading over his large frame, tendrils of smoke rising from him. She stared at him for a moment, taking full advantage of the fact that he was lost in his own little nicotine laden utopia. He was so handsome. That, she could never deny. Even when he was heavier and depressed with three days growth of beard, she still found him attractive. Alex enjoyed soaking in the sight of him without his knowledge. Or at least she thought he didn't see her….

"You bored too Eames?" Bobby asked without turning his head to look her way.

Alex gasped with surprise. "Um… yeah I guess, a little." She started making her way towards him. He turned to take her in. The intensity of his stare made her footing shaky as she moved in his direction.

"Not much to do around here it seems. Maybe that's not such a bad thing. The isolation can be comforting." Bobby surmised and stamped out his cigarette.

"I guess." Alex stood next to him and folded her arms across her chest. She knew she might regret the next words out of her mouth, but felt compelled to say them anyway.

"Might be a nice place to take Julia someday when you get some time off."

Bobby looked down at the dirt parking lot and kicked some stones around with the ball of his foot. "Yeah…. well that's not going to happen anytime soon. She gave me my walking papers awhile ago." Bobby gave his little boy lost smile and gazed at Alex for her response.

"Oh." Alex tried her best to sound surprised and knew she was failing. "I'm sorry to hear that." She couldn't find anymore words and looked down so Bobby couldn't read her mind.

"Don't be sorry. She was right…. Julia pointed out some obvious truths about me that I've been hiding from the last few years." Bobby locked eyes with Alex yet again.

My priorities…. My intentions….. They've been a little skewed I guess."

Alex moved her body closer to Bobby's, resting her hip against him. She kept her eyes locked with his. "Are you okay?"

She heard the breath catch in his throat in conjunction with the physical contact.

"Right now?" His voice, a sultry whisper that sent chills through Alex. "Right now, I'm probably a little too okay…" He pressed into her hip with his body a little harder and brought an arm up to rest around her waist, hoping she'd fall into him even more.

She did.

Leaning into his embrace, she brought her arm up, as well and caressed his back, grazing a finger, then two, under his shirt. She could swear she felt him shudder.

They stood like that, leaning into one another, lightly stoking each other's backs for what seemed like an eternity. Headlights from a car pulling into the lot, broke the spell. As if on cue, the two detectives broke apart, standing so there was air and space between them..

"You know it's not like Ross is coming here to catch us." Alex observed with a small chuckle.

"Catch us doing what?" Bobby's expression was humorless and he focused his dark gaze back onto Alex. The intensity of him in this moment, made her nervous.

"Um.." She stammered. "I guess you're right. We weren't doing anything…..wrong. I guess I'm gonna hit the sack." Alex started to back away gesturing toward her room.

Bobby nodded returning his eyes to the parking lot, trying not to acknowledge her leaving.

Alex stopped moving. "Goodnight Bobby."

"Night Eames." Bobby continued looking out at the parking lot.

Alex felt a little anger start to swirl in her belly. She found it annoying and childish that he wouldn't look at her, wouldn't give her a proper goodnight.

She stalked back toward Bobby, placing herself in front of him.

"Goodnight Bobby!" Alex repeated, the annoyance in her voice, rather obvious.

Bobby finally gave in and looked down at her. "I said goodnight Eames…"

Alex felt dizzy, like the parking lot was spinning. She held Bobby's gaze and reached for his face. Her first intention was to only give him a kiss on the cheek. But their lips were drawn to one another like magnets. The kiss was chaste at first. Alex strained a little to meet Bobby's height. Then she felt Bobby's tongue slide across her bottom lip, his hands were venturing up her back. She opened her mouth and let him inside. They took turns tugging and pulling on the other's bottom lip. Bobby's hands tangled in Alex's hair. All that could be heard were the sounds of heavy breathing and lips smacking. Finally both parties had to come up for some air.

"Wow." Eames huffed. She backed away and smiled at Bobby's disheveled hair and lost expression. " Now that's how to say goodnight."

Bobby was speechless.

Satisfied, Alex turned and headed back to her room, for a night of fitful sleep.