"You'll have to stay with Detective O'Hara."
"What!" Juliet's head snapped up, unsure if she had heard correctly.
"What?" her statement was echoed by the man in the fedora sitting next to her.
"Mr. Spencer, there has already been an attempt on your life, until this is over you'll need police protection," explained Chief Vick patiently, "and since Detective Lassiter is more than likely going to harm you himself it makes sense that you will stay with Detective O'Hara."
Shawn looked over at her, but Jules kept her face forward.
"Jules?" he wanted to know how she felt about all of this.
"Are you sure?" she asked the chief. It wasn't that she didn't like Shawn; on the contrary, she liked him. A lot. And that may have been the exact problem. She liked Shawn too much to have him living in her small apartment where they would be so close, near a bed…and a shower. It was too much temptation for her liking and almost as if he was reading her thoughts, Shawn leaned in and whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.
"Don't worry, I won't invade your shower." She could hear the laughter in his voice but it didn't stop the crimson color from slashing across her cheeks as the images of her and Shawn in the shower infiltrated her mind.
"Whatever you think chief." She conceded, knowing from the look on her superior's face that she was fighting a losing battle.
"Very well, Mr. Spencer, Detective O'Hara will escort you to your apartment so you can collect some of your things."
Shawn smiled as he stood and turned to Juliet, offering her a hand to help to stand.
She looked at him for a moment and couldn't help but smile at his appearance. He was wearing a black fedora with a red feather, black dress shirt, jeans and his trademark sneakers. He looked like a gangster from "The Godfather" from the waist up and had been using every opportunity to quote the movie in a bad accent. Even though it was slightly annoying seeing as they weren't sure if the mob had anything to do with it or not, he did look sexy in the fedora.
"Jules?"
She'd looked at him too long and now he was staring at her like she had two heads.
"Coming." She mentally slapped herself for staring at him like a teenage schoolgirl, but she couldn't help it. Ever since the "close talking" incident she had a hard time not thinking about him kissing her.
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"Shawn," she started as they drove to his apartment in her car, "there's only one bed in my apartment so…"
He cut her off mid-sentence.
"Don't worry Jules, I'm a great snuggler."
She hated her lips for finding that funny.
"No, you are sleeping on the couch."
"You don't wanna snuggle?" he asked her, sounding a little put out.
Why was he so cute? If any other man tried to pull off some of the things he said or some of the stuff he did, they would have been threatened with her gun already, several times, but for Shawn, it worked.
"No."
He pouted on his side of the car and she hated her lips for finding that funny too.
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He took a miraculously small amount of time to collect his things and when they arrived at her apartment, he took it all in with a smile.
It wasn't overly girly, or overly masculine, it was…well he wasn't sure of the word but it fit Jules just perfectly. All the walls were a soft cream color, with matching carpets. Her couch was a dark chocolate brown and looked extremely comfortable.
Her kitchen was small but well stocked and clean; everything about her apartment was clean, without looking sterile. He instantly felt at home.
"Welcome to my apartment, Shawn." She greeted him as she slid her jacket off her shoulders and hung it up on the coat-rack in the corner.
"Thanks Jules." He replied with a small smile, feeling very nervous all of a sudden.
"You want a tour?" she asked him and he nodded gently.
She took his hand in her own and showed him every aspect of her apartment that she loved. The view from the one large window, overlooking the streets, and at a distance, the ocean.
She reluctantly showed him her bedroom, after much sweet-talking on his part. It was painted a dark crimson color, making it feel warm and cozy. Her bed was a four-poster with curtains and everything, and her sheets were…black satin?
He quirked an eyebrow at her and she noticed the sheets and blushed furiously all the way to the roots of her blonde hair.
"It's laundry day and I had to wash my cotton ones, these were the only ones left." She defended herself, dropping his hand.
"You sure they aren't there because I was coming to stay?" he asked her suggestively, leaning into her a bit. Her blush intensified and she shook her head, but didn't move away.
"No, laundry day." She told him, but she didn't sound very convincing when she was so very distracted by how close they were, to each other and to the bed with the satin sheets. He noticed her discomfort, and backed away. Now, normally he would make her more uncomfortable, but he had a feeling that she would get revenge while he was asleep, so he gave her the distance she didn't ask for.
She smiled over at him as he took a step back, grateful. He smelled so delicious that she just wanted to eat him and she knew that was a very dangerous thought that she could very easily voice if he had stayed that close.
"So now what?" he asked her, becoming slightly bored and she giggled as she shook her head, ushering him out of her bedroom before he thought of another lewd remark.
"I don't know, but you need to get out of my bedroom."
"Okay, but Jules, laundry day, really?" he asked her, turning to look at her over his shoulder as her small hands pushed against the small of his back.
"Yes, now get out of here!" she was laughing; he took that as a good sign.
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A few hours later, after a dinner that Jules cooked they were settled on her couch, sitting close but not so close that she felt uncomfortable. Shawn's arm was lying across the back of the couch, and while he didn't exactly have his arm around Juliet they both knew what he was doing.
Shawn laughed at a part in the movie on her television screen but Juliet was too distracted by him to even notice what the movie was.
He smelled so good, and the slight stubble on his chin that normally she would find a turn-off only managed to turn her on. She knew that if she made the first move he would readily respond, might not even pause to understand or question her motives, and that thought scared her out of her skin. She knew that if she made the first move they would end up testing out those black satin sheets that she really did only use on laundry day, and that would be bad.
She shouldn't be having these thoughts about a co-worker. Even the sexy co-worker that was sitting next to her, who could make her laugh with a single word and melt with a single look.
"Jules?"
He was giving her a look that was going to reduce her to a puddle at his feet and she knew it.
"Huh?" she asked, trying to register if he had asked her something.
"You okay, you look a little…" he trailed off and gave a motion with his hands that she understood.
"Yeah, I'm fine, really, just thinking." She shrugged and he smiled wickedly at her.
"About those satin sheets and all the fun we could have with them? Me too." He winked at her. She blushed and looked away, unsure of how to respond, with the truth? Or she could lie to him and tell him it would never happen, even though she wanted it too, badly.
She responded in the only way that she made sense to her in that moment. She swung one of her legs over his, straddling him and brought her lips crashing down onto his.
He sat completely still for a few seconds before burying a hand in her hair and wrapping an arm around her waist, holding her over him.
She smiled into the kiss; she knew that she was going to see fireworks when she kissed Shawn but…wow. His kisses were intense, focused, passionate, and if Juliet had her way he would never stop kissing her for the rest of their lives.
But, sadly, they were human and needed to breath, effectively breaking Juliet's wish, as they pulled apart. The both of them were panting heavily and smiling wide.
"Jules?" asked Shawn, not complaining, but a little confused.
She stood up, stepping away from him and held out her hand.
"Let's go test out those sheets." She suggested and he took her hand with a small laugh and she led him to the bedroom.
And as the naked skin of her back hit the cool, smooth sheets and Shawn's warm front covered her own, she decided that Shawn wasn't going to be sleeping on the couch his entire stay at her apartment.