The day went on and neither of them mentioned the cuddling. It was like it had never happened, except Maura found herself constantly drawn to Jane, always seeking something, even if it was just a hand on her shoulder. After so much time without any intimacy, every touch left her craving for more. She wanted to feel a pair of arms embracing her again, wanted to hear the slow breathing of another person. She simply wanted to be close.

They returned back from an early dinner, and Jane went to check her phone. She loved going out without any connection to the real world, even if it was just for a few hours. After all, it was her vacation. That night she had a missed call from her mother and she decided to call back. She excused herself to Maura and went down towards the water while she waited for her mother to pick up.

"Hi honey! How is paradise?" Angela answered after a few rings.

"Well… it's paradise, I can't complain" Jane smiled.

"Good! Is everything going okay with you and Maura too?"

"Yeah, it's going great. No problems at all." She hadn't been able to keep the whole trip a secret from her mother, and when she first found out, Jane had told her everything. "Ma… I kinda need to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what is it?"

Jane couldn't believe what she was about to do. She never talked with her mother about stuff like this, but if she couldn't tell someone soon, she would go crazy. She sighed and shoved her hand in her pocket. "I think I'm falling for her…" It was silent on the other end. "And it freaks me out a bit. I'm in such a mess right now."

"Does she know?"

"No! Of course not. And I'm not gonna tell her either! She'll probably freak out too and we still have a few more days here. I don't want it to be all awkward between us…" She waited for a response, but the waves crashing against the shore was the only thing she could hear. "Ma… please say something…"

"I'm not sure what I should say, Jane. You seem to know what to do… and I agree. You shouldn't say anything. She is just pretending to be gay. Unless she has done something to indicate she might have feelings for you too. Has she?"

"I… I don't think so. I don't know, it's probably just wishful thinking."

"What is? You can tell me."

Jane hesitated for a few moments before she sighed and caved, telling her mother everything that had happened the night before.

Maura stood by the open doors in the bedroom and watched Jane pacing down by the water. Something was clearly bothering her, but eventually she hung up the phone and sat down on one of the sun beds. Maura waited a few minutes before she walked down to Jane. "Would you like some company or do you want to be alone?" she asked softly as she approached Jane.

"No, please stay. I like your company."

She sat down on the bed next to Jane and looked at her. "Everything okay with your mother?"

Jane nodded and smiled. "Yeah, everything's fine."

Maura didn't want to be too nosy so she turned her eyes towards the sun and the ocean. She wanted to be brave and tell Jane exactly how good it felt to fall asleep in her arms the night before, but the words didn't seem to work with her. All the small touches from that same day played on repeat in her head, and she decided to take another approach. "You probably noticed I was a bit clingy today… I'm sorry if it was uncomfortable for you."

Jane quickly looked at Maura and smiled. "It wasn't uncomfortable, Maura. Don't worry."

So she had noticed. "Good. It was just nice to finally be… close to someone again. It's been a while."

Jane nodded slowly. "I know what you mean."

They both kept their eyes on each other a few seconds, and Maura needed to know if Jane had the same thoughts as she did. It was just too awkward to actually say the words. She needed a way to say what she wanted, without saying it. She was good with words, it shouldn't be a problem for her. Except it was. She stared down at her hands, trying to think of something to say.

"Actually…" Jane interrupted Maura's thoughts. "Sometimes I wish I had someone I could just… cuddle with. I mean, we all need it from time to time. Someone I'm comfortable with, and things aren't awkward or tense or anything. Just easy… watch a movie maybe."

Maura couldn't help but smile, the words were like music, sweet and uplifting. "Or just watch the sunset…" she replied with ease. She looked back at Jane who was smiling.

"Come on" Jane almost whispered and reached out her hand. "Let's pretend your parents can see us…"

It took a lot of effort, but Maura managed to casually move herself over to Jane without looking too eager. She sat down between Jane's legs and slowly released a deep sigh when Jane's arms wrapped around her waist. "Now all we need is the champagne and chocolate covered strawberries."

Jane laughed behind her, but didn't say anything. And Maura didn't mind. She could happily sit there and watch the sun go down for the night. Strong arms around her, warm breath against her cheek and peace all around.

"This week hasn't been too bad, has it?" Jane asked as the sun was almost gone.

"Not at all. It has been fun. And I obviously picked the right woman for the job of fooling my parents. Even though I still can't believe I actually went through with this."

"No kidding" Jane laughed. "I can't believe it either after I've gotten to know you a bit better."

Maura smiled and was baffled over how easy it was with Jane. She was in Jane's arms, watching the sunset on the beach, probably looking like a couple, and still it wasn't embarrassing or awkward to talk about how they had pretended to be a couple for a week.

"How about we go for a few drinks to celebrate your successful plan?" Jane suggested. "It's Friday after all… and we should take advantage of the amazing drinks they have here with the colorful umbrellas."

"I'd like that" Maura chuckled. "I believe it will be a long time until I can go to a bar on the beach again."

"Exactly!"

"But only if you let me pay for everything." Maura knew Jane would object.

"No, I can't let you do that, Maura. I want to pay for myself."

Maura smiled for herself and shook her head. "Not acceptable. You sacrificed over a week of your time to do this, it's only fair."

"Yeah" Jane scoffed. "I sacrificed a week where I had nothing planned, just to go to paradise and pretend to be your girlfriend. What a sacrifice…" She laughed softly when she heard the words out loud.

"Jane… I insist. We're not going drinking unless I pay for it. Deal?" She waited a couple of seconds, and when she didn't hear anything, she knew exactly what Jane was doing. "And don't roll your eyes at me!"

Jane burst out laughing. "Holy shit, do you have eyes in the back of your head, or what? How did you know that?"

"Like you said, nothing gets past me" Maura smiled and knew she had won.

Maura stared down at the tiny glass filled with clear liquid and she scrunched her nose. "I don't see why anyone would do this. It tastes horrible!" She wiped her hand on her jeans before she turned to Jane.

"Well, you're not supposed to taste it!" Jane laughed. "You're supposed to just throw it down. This is the first time I've ever seen someone take a sip of tequila!" She couldn't stop laughing even though she tried. "I'm sorry, Maura, I don't mean to laugh at you…"

"But I like to try things first" Maura smiled. She knew Jane didn't mean to make fun of her in any way.

"Oh, I know! You did ask me to kiss you, remember? I still wonder what would've happened if you did freak out… But okay, so now you've tried tequila. Ready to do it properly?" Jane slowly pushed the salt closer to Maura and smiled.

Maura wasn't really sure, but she decided to try. She nodded and took a deep breath. "So, first salt, then the tequila and the lime, right?" She looked at Jane who was grinning.

"Yup! You're a fast learner, Isles." Jane grabbed the salt and turned to Maura. "Okay, so first, lick the skin between your thumb and forefinger." She demonstrated on her own hand, Maura followed her instructions. "And now the salt…" Jane sprinkled salt on their hands. "Then you hold the lime in the same hand."

Maura carefully picked up the lime and held it. "And now the tequila I assume." She got an affirmative nod and lifted the glass with her right hand.

"Alright, when you're ready, breathe out, lick the salt, down the tequila and bite the lime." Jane felt pretty smug for having talked the fancy Maura Isles into doing tequila shots with her, and even paying for it! Well, maybe not the last part, but at least it was Jane's idea to go drinking. "Ready?" she asked and smiled at the look on Maura's face.

"I suppose so…" she sighed and breathed out.

Jane watched as Maura did the shot, and when Maura bit down on the lime, her eyes closed and she shuddered and coughed next to Jane.

"Oh my god!" The sour taste of the lime combined with the tequila made her do all sorts of faces, and Jane laughed. "Why did you make me do this?" Maura laughed and finally opened her eyes only to find Jane still with her glass full. "And why haven't you done yours yet?"

Jane grinned. "I wanted to watch you do it first. And that was priceless! Cheers!" She lifted the glass before she did the same as Maura, but without all the faces at the end. Maura was already sipping on her exotic drink that looked more like orange juice than a drink, obviously trying to get rid of the taste.

"You made it look so easy!" Maura complained as Jane put down her glass.

"I've done it before, baby" Jane smirked but instantly looked away when she heard what she said. She cleared her throat and laughed shyly. "One more? Or have you had enough already?" she asked in an attempt to drown out the new nickname.

"Maybe later. I need to recover from this one" Maura smiled and shoved the glass further away from her. "But now I'm curious. What if I had freaked out when you kissed me? What would you have done? Would you still have gone through with this… charade?" She turned slightly on the chair so she was facing Jane.

Jane nodded and reached for her own drink. "Yeah. We didn't have a choice, did we? It would just have been a bit awkward instead. And I probably wouldn't have kissed you later that night."

"You didn't think it was awkward to kiss a complete stranger?"

"You didn't feel like a stranger…" Jane smiled and carefully turned her head to Maura. It wasn't even close to a lie. Almost a week later and Jane could still feel the touch of Maura's lips against hers, and it still surprised her how easy it had felt. An instant connection, like they had been kissing for years.

Now Maura was the one looking away, seemingly shy. She smiled softly and stirred in her drink with the straw. She really had no response.

AN: Sloooooooowly getting there ;) But the night's not over yet!