Chapter 7

AN: You folks are amazing me with the reviews. My goodness! I am humbled beyond belief. (and to answer Ebascones: I wish they'd take me; you know who I'd put together!). Okay! I think this is how this is going to go: One sad chapter, one much needed chapter, one romantic chapter, and then we have some fun!! Bear with me, remember- Kricket aka HEA girl...

Penelope answered her phone without a snappy retort. She was tired, and her head was throbbing. She had been so busy for the past couple of days that she didn't have time to think of anything original to say. She needed to get it together, but that was hard with so much laying out there. Like an unsolved case in her mind, this ached for closure.

There had been no time to talk to Derek before they had to head out on the next case. This was two days ago. Penelope longed for Derek to call her, tell her that what happened in the office wasn't just an apparition on her behalf. She thought about it, thought about the blind need she saw on his face, and it gave her chills and made her want.

And that was just a kiss! Never had she ever wanted anyone like she wanted him. It was a necessity, her heart needed him as much as her body craved him. She could still feel his hands on her, still taste his kisses.

She still worried that he regretted it. She didn't deny that he wanted her. She knew he was as turned on as she was, but he must not have been ready to make that step in their relationship. She challenged him, challenged his prowess by saying she found a substitute, and he did the male thing- showed that he was still the hottest thing out there. She sighed sadly; he never needed to prove that to her.

But in her desire to have him back at all cost, she probably lost his friendship. Now that she had his kiss, she had to face up that having him as a friend was never going to be enough again. He certainly didn't need her as a girlfriend; scads of women chased him around. Thin, gorgeous scads of women. She didn't even know if he was still with Tamara. That thought made her stomach plummet. She couldn't bear him being with Tamara still. Then she realized; she didn't have a choice. She'd take him any way she could. It was bitter tasting- despiration.

She didn't get a chance to ask him either. She tried calling, but his cell was unreachable. He called one time, after midnight, leaving a short message. "Baby girl, I haven't been in cell range all day, and now that I am, it's so late that we can't talk. And we need to talk. I'll catch you when I get back, I promise."

Unfortunately, Alex called a few times a day. Now that she had a taste of "the real thing," talking to Alex was not the same. In fact, it was a little annoying. He tried to flirt, tried to ask her to go out, but she just wasn't interested. She knew she would never be interested in anyone else again. She loved Derek Morgan with all her heart, and she was never going to not love him. Like Alex had said, kissing "just proved it all the more."

She made a decision then, to save her own heart. She would offer a fling, if he wanted it. No strings attached. At least then she'd have some of him, and she would always have the memory that Derek Morgan at one time desired her.

The phone rang and her screen popped up Monroe, A. She just was not in the mood to talk to him. But, he was an agent, she had to talk. Plopping her headset on, she hit the button. "Yeah, Alex, what's up?"

"What kind of answer is that, angel face?" he purred, and her skin actually crawled. She couldn't believe she ever thought he was anything like Derek.

"Just tired, Alex. What do you need?"

"Okay, we need the stats on the number of international clinics that you can find in Colorado Springs proper. Not just the listings with "international" in the title, but the ones that have doctors that specialize in international care," he said. "Morgan, anything else?"

Penelope came alert. Derek was there? And he didn't call her, he let Alex do it? Her heart started pounding painfully and tears sprung to her eyes.

"I guess not," Alex said. "Hey, we should be done by this evening, then about three hours flight. Want to paint the town, beautiful?"

"What? Oh, sure, sure," she said, not really paying much attention to what he was saying. Seeing her heart laying on the counter bleeding away made her less conversational. "See you later."