Chapter Ten

"Prepared to be wooed Emily. I'll see you tomorrow at work." He said and then turned and opened the door.

Emily stopped him with a hand on his arm; he turned his head to look at her again.

"Thank you." She said with a smile.

"For what?" He asked.

"For stopping… I'm not sure I would have been able too."

"I think that is the best thing you could have said to me." He said before kissing her gently on the lips and then he turned and left.

Emily closed the door behind him and leaned against it; much like she did the last time he had walked out of it, but this time she had a smile on her face. She really couldn't wait to see what he had in store for her.

Thirty minutes later Emily's phone rang just as she was getting into bed.

"Prentiss." She answered without looking at the caller ID.

"I just wanted to call and tell you goodnight Emily." Hotch's husky voice said from the other end of the line.

Emily laid back on the pillow and smiled.

"Hi." She said quietly back to him.

"Are you already in bed?" He asked.

"Well yes but I wasn't asleep yet. Are you in bed?"

"Yes. Like I said I just wanted to tell you goodnight before I turned in myself." She could hear the smile in his voice, which made her smile wider.

"Are you sure that is why you called, Aaron?" She said not even realizing she had called him by his first name.

"I like the way you say it." He replied, confusing Emily.

"What?"

"My name… I like the way it sounds when you say it. You never call me Aaron, so it is nice to hear you say it."

"Ah… I will have to make it point to call you that more outside of work. If I do it at work people might start talking, don't you think?"

"I don't care who knows Emily. I won't hide how I feel for you. I am not ashamed for finding love again. And I definitely am not ashamed that it is you that I love." He told her with a certainty in voice that she could not mistake for anything else.

"You love me?" She asked in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

"Yes I do Emily. I love you Emily Prentiss and I will prove to you that I do, no matter how long it takes for you to believe that it is true."

Emily felt her heart start to race and her palms began to sweat. She wanted to tell him that she loved him but she would wait for him to prove to her how much he loved her.

"You don't have to say anything Emily. It is enough that you are giving me a chance to show how much I care. Will you spend the day with me and Jack Saturday? We can go to the park and just get to know each other better. You can call it step one in my wooing Emily Prentiss mission." He said and Emily couldn't help but laugh at this side of him.

She was used to SSAIC Aaron Hotchner, but this was a whole new side of him. A side he let very few people see and she felt privileged to be able to see it.

"I would love to spend the day with you and Jack. I haven't seen him since you started dat…" she stopped herself.

"Since I started dating Beth." He finished for her.

"Yes." She whispered.

"I'm sorry Emily. I should never have let anything come between you and Jack. You both had gotten so close and whether I was in a relationship or not, it should not have stopped you from spending time with him."

"Aaron it's okay. I understand how it could have looked to Beth with me spending so much time with him. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy Aaron. I never would have done anything to jeopardize that, no matter how much it hurt to see it."

"Let's forget about it and promise to move forward and not dwell on past mistakes." He said to her, trying to reassure her.

"Deal… I Emily Prentiss do solemnly swear to move forward from this day forward and hold nothing against Aaron Hotchner for his past stupid mistakes or impaired judgment."

"Very funny Emily; I am not the only one who has made stupid mistakes Emily. I do seem to recall a certain agent having a thing for a certain other agent by the name of Mick Rawson."

"Oh come on Aaron, I never had a thing for Rawson, he might have tried to get in my pants but that doesn't mean I let him. JJ tried to get me to go out with him but I decided to get a cat instead of the hassle of having a relationship with that man. Besides I didn't find him all that attractive any way." She paused before continuing.

"You on the other hand I find extremely attractive. One might even say that I find you… quite temptingly hot." She breathed huskily.

"Goodnight Aaron. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Emily. Sweet dreams." He replied before hanging up.