Chapter 7

Maura was seated primly, her back straight, hands in her lap but still unable to meet the brunette's uncompromisingly look. She suppressed the horrible urge to fidget. Dear God, she thought with a good amount of trepidation. I can still feel the heat of her hand on my chest. Slowly, she closed her eyes, willing herself to deliberate on the facts and not the passion. Maura inhaled a steadying breath, counted to three, then forced herself to meet Jane's eyes.

"Before the situation...developed, " she carefully responded, the words falling from her parted lips, "I thought it prudent to...invalidate a preconceived...impression...I may have unwittingly given you cause...to believe."

Withholding the snicker at Maura's warily constructed revelation, Jane latched onto the glass of water and summarily drained half of it. "So, " she responded, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "What 'impression' are you talkin about?"

"I don't indulge in interoffice..." Maura looked away and exhaled. "What I'm trying to impart-"

"We're not going to date?" Jane couldn't stop the bubble of laughter from escaping. Parading her dimpled smile, she teased, "Oh, Maur, is that why you got your panties in a wad?"

"I'm not wearing undergarments, Jane."

The detective abruptly stopped smiling. What the hell...fuckin didn't I have my hands all over her? Inwardly her desire for Maura seethed, making impossible demands, clawing down her thighs and back. Jane wanted nothing more than to give in. Yet, the wooden look on Maura's face was all it took for the desire to ebb away like a wave never reaching the shore.

"Um, TMI, Maura! Jeez." When the other woman faintly drew her brows together, Jane said, "Too much information. Listen, never mind, don't worry about anything, Maur. We're fine."

"I don't feel as if I've thoroughly explained the...situation."

The waitress returned carrying a ceramic mug and a pot of coffee. When she placed a cup next to Maura's plate, she put her hand over it, shaking her head. While she poured creamer and sugar in her coffee, Jane said, "You just want to be friends, right?"

"I would like to be." she answered, voice soft. "But I feel it's my responsibility to inform you that your pheromones wreak havoc with my libido."

"I smell...sexy?" Jane was going for silly but her voice sounded like a shot of tequila felt, harsh and smooth.

Maura bit her upper lip, squirmed a little in her seat. "I certainly can control myself. With the addition of time and perhaps some space-"

"Really, Maur, it's not a big deal, ok?" Jane nearly choked on a sip of coffee. "Damn, it's hot!" Don't lose it now. Steady. As blasé as she could project, Jane began to detour the ME's thought train off the fast track. If she allowed Maura to inflict boundaries now, it would only be that much more difficult to seduce her later. "I can control myself, too. No harm, no foul, right?"

"I'm not sure what that means."

"Um, whatever...happened tonight, no grudges, okay? We'll just be friends."

Maura looked doubtful in an Oliver Twist sort of way which only started a rush of sympathy pour out of Jane's stricken eyes. "I'm not very...proficient...in these sorts of social exchanges."

Jane was cautious, keeping her hands away from the other woman, unwilling to risk pushing her farther away. As kindly as she could, Jane spoke. "I'll help you. That's what friends are for."

Maura appeared to gather herself. When she answered, she was looking into bright, warm brown eyes. "I can do that."

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At the station the next day Jane hitched her left cheek up onto the corner of Korsak's desk. Fatigued and grumpy, she hadn't exactly been Mary Fucking Sunshine when Korsak finally strolled in. Tight with sexual frustration made less jagged by a dab of regret for Maura's struggle, Jane kept reminding herself that she was in a marathon, not a sprint.

"AFIS?"

Korsak lifted his bushy brows slightly. "Meet Jeremy Casey." With a crisp snap of a folder being opened, he read aloud, "Two time loser. Did a nickel in Florida for B&E. The owners were home and he had a gun. A couple of priors not amounting to much."

"Current address?"

Frost strolled towards them. "Already got uniforms in route." The wide grin on his face didn't subside. Jane's glare was enough for him to continue. "Nothing in Langford's financials." When she huffed, he whined, "I checked them three times, Jane. Nothin pops."

"Guess that's it then. I'll fill out the cold case paperwork, get the Lieutenant to sign off on it." Tiredly she rubbed her hand across her yawning face. "I need some caffeine."

Maura selected the table best suited to watching the entrance when she visited the station's cafeteria. The previous night had sapped most of her strength. So much so, it would hardly appear she had slept at all. Her body was still demanding gratification. Whenever she recalled dancing with Jane, a weak tremor chased up her spine, from bottom to top. "...and I'd be so eager..." Maura's back muscles contracted, sensitizing her skin so acutely she caught her breath. She tried, very diligently, to apply the meditation techniques she learned at yoga class but whenever she closed her eyes, the sight of Jane's hips lightly swaying against her own came to mind.

"Aw, honey, you look like you could use a cup of tea!"

Maura's eyes opened in surprise.

"My name's Angela." She took the ME's hand within the shelter of her own. "Angela Rizzoli."

Maura's eyes slid shut again. She took a fortifying swallow before she calmly said, "Hello. My name's Maura."

Without asking for permission, Angela grabbed a nearby chair and took a place at the table. "You're such a pretty little thing! I bet you have to beat 'em off with a stick!"

"Excuse me?"

Angela forged on. "Now, my Janie, she's a beaut. All curly hair and legs! But I don't think she's been on a date in months!"

Oh, dear God. "I...know Jane, Mrs. Rizzoli. I'm the new medical examiner."

Snapping her fingers, Jane's mother exclaimed, "I knew you were new around here! My boy Frankie, he's a beat cop and Frost-that's Jane's partner-were havin coffee just the other day!" Laughing, she clapped her hands. "You're new in town, aren't you?"

Maura was feeling shell shocked. The surrealistic slant to their meeting had taken did not evade her attention. Had she not been so achingly tired, so emotionally strung out she may have possessed the intelligence to take her leave. I just need some sleep.

"Ma!"

And the hits simply kept coming. Maura recognized that voice, its insidious huskiness rubbing up against her, mocking her. Exhaling a frustrated sigh, she massaged her temples and gathered her armor.

"Jane! I was just visitin with your friend, Maura!"

"It's a conspiracy, Maur." she teased through the corner of her mouth as she took an empty seat. "Might as well get used to it."

Angela halfheartedly swiped at her daughter and stood. Grabbing Jane's face between her two palms, her mother gently squeezed and tilted her head from side to side. The frown complimented the way her lips contorted into a poor facsimile of a fish as Jane pushed her mothers' hands away.

"It was nice meetin yah, honey!" she called on her way back to the counter.

Jane arched a brow. "So, you met my Mom."

"She's...friendly."

"Um, that's a polite way of saying it." The detective fiddled with a sugar packet.

"I wasn't sugar coating it."

Jane's head snapped up. She looked at the blue packet between her fingers. A small smile played over her lips. "Is this you makin' a joke?"

"Well, it's more of a pun, really-"

"It was cute." Jane cleared her throat, released the sugar packet. "So..." She left the sentence unfinished, hoping Maura would fill in the rest.

"I probably should be getting back."

Disregarding an inner alarm, Jane quickly encircled the blonde's wrist with gentle fingers. "I wish you wouldn't bolt like that. There's nothing to feel...awkward about."

Maura made an effort to relax. Logically, she knew what Jane had spoken was the truth. Feelings could make one irrational. A deluge of sensations could make one...desire. The warmth of Jane's skin on hers sent a tiny current of longing through her body. Although she was fairly certain Jane's intention was to soothe her, Maura was having difficulty controlling her wanton reaction. That hand was pressed...against my chest. And, oh, how I had wanted it to slide down. The image burned behind her closed eye lids.

"Maur, where are you?"

With extreme care, she retracted her arm. "I really should be going."

Jane screwed up her face, puzzled. "Well, ooooo-k." When the medical examiner prepared to depart, she said, "Hey, I forgot to ask you. Can we go to the museum on Saturday instead of Sunday?"

I am quite literally in hell. "Of course."

Jane tracked Maura's progress across the room, enjoying the view. She had expected the blonde to renege on their outing. Hmm, goin' better than I planned.