When Olivia reappears from Noah's room, Barba is still at the kitchen counter- scotch in one hand, staring off into space. The click of Noah's door shutting draws his eyes up to hers. He gives her a nervous smile, "Hey, look- I was thinking-"

Olivia's face falls. Oh God- he's already regretting it.

Barba shifts from one foot to the other and wonders for a moment when forming sentences became so difficult. What if she didn't want anything more than tonight? What if the question he's about to ask sends her running for the hills? Ends even their friendship.

He tries to give off the appearance of calm but the more he speaks the faster his heart beats, "Maybe we could see if Lucy's free tomorrow night. There's this place down the street-" He looks at her expectantly then realizes that his sentence doesn't really have an ending. "I've heard it's good. And maybe we could-"

Olivia smiles- amused at his sudden inability to form sentences and relieved that he's not ending a relationship they haven't even started. Somehow she found it even more attractive that a man so very sure of himself in his professional life could be so diffident when it came to personal matters. He was not unlike herself. Neither of them had had good relationship examples as children. And both had chosen work over romance- leaving them with far less experience compared to most people.

Olivia finally rescues him from himself, "Are you asking me on a date, Counselor?"

"Well, trying." He returns her smile, realizing how ridiculous this is. She's his best friend and he's acting like a hormone addled teenager.

She steps into his personal space, taking his hand, "I'd love to." He finally relaxes and smiles at her as she leans in to kiss him.

He kisses her with the same reverence as before- but this time mixed with the anticipation of what may happen next. He wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her closer as his other hand moves up her arm to tangle in her hair. His tongue runs along her bottom lip and she grants it entrance to her mouth. Their tongues tangle in a passionate battle for dominance.

He walks her back into the threshold of the kitchen and presses her back against the doorframe. That spark they've been so careful not to ignite over the past few months, hell the past few years, is now a full blown fire and they're desperately fanning the flames. He presses his body to hers- trying to get as close as possible. When her hips rock forward, making contact with his increasing arousal- it does him in. He shutters into her mouth and grabs her hips stilling them for a moment. She lets out a disappointed whimper as his lips part from hers.

In the back of his mind he realizes he needs to regain some small bit of composure. To make sure he's not about to fuck everything up. And then he realizes that there's not enough blood in the head that's on his shoulders to form coherent sentences.

Both are breathing hard- hearts beating out of their chests. He meets her eyes and finds a flurry of emotions: arousal, passion, confusion, disappointment and maybe something else. He does his best to explain himself with his oxygen deprived brain. "Is this OK?"

Olivia gives him a scandalous grin, "Oh, hell yes it's OK"

She leans back into him but he tries again. "Wait just- I really want this- not just this- I want-" He tries to gather his thoughts "I need to know you're sure. This can't-"

Olivia finally understands what has him so nervous. It's the same thing that scares her. That tomorrow they'll wake up and the other person will regret what's happened. Or worse, they'll have never wanted more than the one night to begin with. Her heart would be broken if that were the case. And she realizes now- that his would be too. She's relieved that he sees it as a big a step as she does.

She leans into him, "I know, Rafi. I want this, too. And I've wanted it for longer than I'm willing to admit. But I can wait a little longer if we need to slow down. It's OK if you don't want to do this tonight."

All his anxiety melts away as he leans his forehead against hers. "Trust me, I want nothing more than to do this right now- but not if it's just tonight."

She smiles, "You'd have to fuck this up pretty bad for that to be the case."

He can't hide his grin as he leans back in to kiss her. She pushes him away slightly and takes his hand- leading him to her bedroom.