Chapter 7
Callen's approach should have been undetectable to Nell, after all he was trained in stealth but he could tell she was aware of his presence. Now that he thought about it Nell always seemed to have some secret power to detect his presence. He had been scaring the crap out of people for years at OPS when he would just materialize out of seemingly nowhere. But never her, she always knew when he was around. He could recall seeing her tilt her head and sniff the air before nailing him with her hazel gaze.
Sure enough there she went; head tilted to the right, cute little nose sniffing the air before she turned around. "Callen are you looking for something or somebody?"
"You, I was looking for you. Is there some reason you're hiding down here all by yourself instead of being back up at the house with everyone else?" He dropped down beside her at the edge of the pool, his feet and legs sliding into the warm silky water beside hers.
"I'm not hiding I'm just enjoying a few moment of peace and quiet here by the water." Seeing the doubt on his face Nell gave him a smile. "Look I love to swim and I don't have a pool at my place so I'm indulging myself. This is such a beautiful pool and it's nice and peaceful now that the game is over."
"Ok, I guess I wanted to make sure you weren't upset about what happened earlier. You know at the end of the game."
She gave him a strange look "You mean the kiss? Geez Callen I have been kissed before, and it certainly worked out didn't it? The expressions on their faces were priceless; I wish I could have taken a picture."
Studying her from behind his dark shades G thought she looked ok and not pissed off. "Great I was worried that you might have thought I was some skanky guy trying to put a move on you, because I wouldn't do that."
Nell kicked her foot splashing the warm water around a bit as she considered what he was saying. "So let me get this straight, you have skanky guy moves? Wow, I would have thought you to be much smoother than that with the ladies Callen. Seems like all the stories I've heard from the guys aren't true? And what's wrong with me, am I not a woman worthy of your skanky guy moves?"
His head turned to her so fast she thought he would have whiplash an indignant look on his face. "No! My moves are not in any way skanky, why my moves are legendary. Women drop at my feet when I make a move; I am a master at the smooth move. And just what kind of stories have the guys been spreading?"
"I'm going for a quick swim before dinner." As the words left her lips Nell slid gracefully into the water moving a few feet away from the handsome man still sitting on the lip of the pool. "You know I was just kidding Callen, remember I've watched from OPS when you were charming the ladies for a mission. There was nothing skanky about those moves. As for the guys, they only speak in admiration of everything you do. Except Sam when you go all Lone Wolf; he gets really vocal about that."
Watching her paddle in the water Callen couldn't stop the smirk that appeared on his face. "Yeah, he does get a little upset when I do that. Thanks Nell, you've put my mind at rest about the kiss upsetting you. You want me to wait for you to get out of the water?"
Of course he wanted to wait, he was looking forward to seeing her water slicked body in that brief blue swimsuit. Looking down towards her face he totally misjudged just how close she had gotten until her hand snaked out, grabbed his ankle and pulled him into the water. As he rose from the pool shaking his head with a menacing look on his face she took off swimming towards the pool steps laughing over her shoulder at him.
"Sorry, I just couldn't resist. Besides you deserved it for using me to score points in that game and for implying I'm not worthy of your moves. Even the skanky ones." Glancing back to look at him one more time she was alarmed not to see his face.
Suddenly she felt a powerful yank on her foot as she was dragged beneath the surface of the pool. Fighting her way upwards Nell found herself chest to chest with a very dangerous looking G. Callen. Who was laughing at her, laughing harder than she had ever seen him laugh.
"I so deserved that but I think we're even now, right?" His blue eyes sparkled with humor as he looked down at her taking in her slicked back hair with drops of water sparkling on her eyelashes. His hands settled on her hips unconsciously to help keep her steady as the waves of water pushed her into his body, their legs tangling beneath the surface.
Nell's hands had grabbed his arms as she stared into the blue eyes that had begun to darken with a hint of heat. Before she could say anything his face came closer, his lips slowly lowering to hers. A jolt of desire seared thru her body at his touch causing her hands to clutch tightly at his arms as if to pull him closer. Instinctively she parted her lips to his invading tongue as the heat pooled in her lower body.
Callen had only meant to grab a quick kiss but once he got a taste of her pouty pink lips he couldn't seem to stop. As he swept his tongue past her lips he maneuvered their bodies to the side of the pool shocked at how quickly his body was heating up. As Nell's slender legs encircled his waist, he left her lips to sear a trail of kisses down her throat pausing to bite her creamy shoulder. Hearing the small moan slip past her lips jolted him to just what they were doing and where they were doing it at.
Pulling away from her, Callen rested his forehead against hers. "Nell, as much as it pains me to say this we have to stop. We can't do this, I can't do this."
As his words sank in her small hands stopped caressing his body and attempted to push him away. A hurt look appeared on her face, her skin turning pink at the rejection she thought he was dealing her. "Right, what was I thinking? There's no way you would ever want me. "
Grabbing her by the hand he led her out of the water, picking up a towel to wrap around her body. "Stop Nell, don't ever put yourself down like that. You're a beautiful, intelligent, strong woman. Any man would be lucky to have a chance with you. Please go join the rest of the team, I'll be there shortly."
Giving him one last sad glance, she walked away her head held high determined not to let anyone see how hurt she was. It didn't matter what he said, he would never want her the way she wanted him.
Callen watched her walk away wishing he could grab her hand and go back to their friends with her by his side. Knowing he wasn't good enough and knowing that everyone there would never accept him having a relationship with Nell made him sadder than he thought possible.
"So my man, how long you going to pretend you don't care about her?" Renko walked out of the shadows and handed G a beer. "The only person you're fooling is yourself."
"Shut up Mike, you don't know what you're talking about."
"Please G, you can't play a player and we both know I've always been a bigger player than you ever wanted to be." He nudged the senior agent in the shoulder. Tipping his bottle in the direction Nell had taken he continued to make his point.
"Now that little woman and I do mean woman and not girl is crazy about you. It seems you are just as crazy about her, but for some stupid reason you are fighting it. No, don't interrupt me just listen because I speak from experience. When you finally find the right person you need to reach out and grab them with both hands and never let go. That's what I'm doing with Amanda and that's what you need to do with Nell."
"Don't even try to give me the crap about you being a beat up old man and her a sweet young thing with no life experience. We both know that's bullcrap, she works with us, she knows what you do and she's seen the ugly side of life. In my opinion she is perfect for you. So my advice is to drink your beer and go claim your woman, before someone else does."
Having said his piece Renko sauntered off leaving Callen to his own thoughts.
