"Stay here for the weekend. It will give you a chance to try out the wall," Bull said to Ashton on Friday morning.
"I have work to do. I've been away and haven't done a thing for four days," she replied. "You're not the only one who takes their job seriously."
"I know that. You can work here," he told her.
"I also don't have clean clothes," Ashton reminded him. She was wearing the emergency clothes she had put in her carry on before going to Atlanta; they were the last clean items she had with her.
"You don't need to wear anything," Bull said seriously and took a sip of coffee.
"That line never worked for you the first time around. What makes you think it's going to work now," she said. Although she didn't voice her feelings aloud, Ashton was pleased that their conversations were developing into the easy banter they previously had.
"It was worth a shot," he shrugged and shook his head. "I can't believe you'd rather do laundry."
"The fact that I passed up an opportunity to sit naked in your apartment while you're at the office because I'd rather be working on a cross-section of the cerebellum will forever remain between us," she told him with mock seriousness as they both smiled.
"I'll pick you up later then," Bull replied with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Call or text me and I'll let you know," Ashton said non-committedly. "If you're serious about it, I wouldn't work late."
"Did you finish the laundry?" he asked flippantly as he settled back into a corner of the couch. Bull and Ashton were enjoying the bottle of wine she had brought along in front of the fireplace in his apartment. Bull had left TAC at a decent time and made a point of turning off his phone in front of Ashton and handing the device to her after the waiter took their dinner order.
"I did. I had loads of fun, too," she quipped. Her pun caused a grimace to spread across Bull's face.
"Mrs. Pasternak says hello," Ashton continued as she snuggled in close to him. The elderly woman and her late husband had "adopted" Ashton and Bull when they moved in next door and in return, Ashton had taken to checking up on her neighbor's well-being.
"I bet she said more than that," Bull said. In addition to chocolate rugalach, the neighbor had a penchant for conversation.
"She was concerned that something happened to me in Atlanta when I wasn't around yesterday. I assured her it was only you…which led her to remind me to be glad she isn't ten years younger," Ashton said with a chuckle. "I told her since we're divorced, she's welcome to you."
"While I'm hurt you'd give me up so easily, I have always wondered what it would be like to be a kept man," he told her.
"You want to be a gigolo?" she asked and stifled a laugh.
"It sounds crass when you put it that way," Bull replied as he took a sip of wine.
"It is an interesting Plan B. You're not quite Richard Gere but you might be able to make it work if you stop analyzing everything," Ashton mused before kissing him. They shared a few passionate kisses before she pulled away. "So…how was your day, dear?"
"The new client I met with today said I'm an arrogant son of a bitch," he admitted with a wide grin.
"On the first day? It usually takes a week or two for them to figure that out. You must have been at the top of your game," Ashton marveled aloud. Bull watched as she got up off the couch and wandered over to the stack of boxes.
"How many nights do you sleep at the office?" Ashton questioned him with her attention focused on the top box.
"When do you get notification that you passed the written part of the certification?" he asked in return, ignoring her question.
"If I passed, probably early next week," she said her attention now fully on him.
"You passed," Bull said without a hint of doubt.
"Then there is a portfolio review before I can officially be considered a CMI again, but you already know that. Are you going to answer my question?" Ashton asked.
"Not if I can help it," he told her and walked over next to her.
"You're in a rare cryptic mood. Can we open the boxes and see what's hidden inside?" Ashton said.
"I don't think I could stop you from looking if you're determined to," Bull replied.
"You could," she countered. "Say no."
"Go ahead. I have been meaning to go through them," he told her.
Ashton gave him a look that plainly said she knew better and quickly hauled the top box off the stack. She placed it on the floor and sat down next to it. Bull stood by, watching as she undid the cardboard flaps and pressed them back to peer inside.
"Better than Christmas?" he asked.
"Possibly," she replied with a quick glance upward before returning her attention to the box's contents.
"Now I know where the rest of the books went," Ashton said as she ran her fingers over a row of paperbacks lined up inside the box. "I guess I should've checked with you before buying another copy of this."
She grabbed the book in question, pulled it out of the box, and was surprised to discover some photos next to it. Reaching back into the box, Ashton carefully grasped the small stack of snapshots.
"This was a great vacation," she said as she flipped through a few of the snapshots. Curious which vacation Ashton was referring to, Bull lowered himself to the floor beside her after placing his wine glass down.
"I think you're biased. Maine was your choice," Bull said as he peered at the photograph in Ashton's hand.
"Not that it matters now, but…you didn't enjoy it?" Ashton inquired as they slowly went through the pictures.
"The lobster was great," he said. Bull watched as Ashton bit her lip and slowly turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. He gave her a satisfied smile before adding, "And I always enjoy being with you. My number one pick would be Venice."
"That one was your choice," Ashton replied absently and turned her attention back to the photo in her hand when she realized he was teasing her.
"If I remember correctly, you had a good time there...not that it matters now," he said continuing to needle her.
"There was no way I wasn't having a good time. I waited for over six months for that trial to end so I could finally go on my honeymoon and have you to myself for a while," she laughed.
"Too bad none of those photos survived. It'd be nice to go through them," Bull said, curious to see and hear her reaction. While Ashton had left the plates and forks in the same place in her home, he noticed that photos and mementos, like the Venetian glass sculpture they had brought back had disappeared.
"Maybe they're in one of the other boxes. It doesn't seem like much has got thrown away," Ashton said vaguely and ended Bull's opportunity to make any assumption of her feelings on the subject. His unexpected comment regarding their honeymoon photos had immediately put her on guard. She knew, as well as Bull did, that those particular photos were not in his boxes and her non-answer left him to wonder about the fate of the honeymoon pictures.
The psychologist knew better than to press the issue and they went back to looking through the rest of the photos that were in the box, occasionally murmuring to one another or laughing as a memory came flooding back.
"We should do this more often," Bull said breaking the silence that had settled in the apartment after Ashton put the pictures back into the box where she had found them.
"Do what?" Ashton asked with a puzzled expression.
"This," Bull said and gestured nonchalantly. "You. Me. Doing nothing in particular."
"This would be much easier to do if you didn't work twelve plus hours every day and then hold seminars and lectures on weekends. Speaking of, what time are you leaving tomorrow?" Ashton answered.
"In a hurry to get rid of me?" he asked.
"Not at all. Although I am looking forward to spending some quality time with the cactus. I bet it has some really great stories about you," she dead-panned.
"You can come along if you'd like," Bull said.
"No. I have my laptop to catch up on work and Skype with the kids, plus I have a boxful of books to work through. If I get really bored, I'll go home," she told him.
"Ashton," he protested. Hearing that she might leave and he would come home to an empty apartment bothered Bull more than he would have guessed.
"I'll send you a message before I go," Ashton said. She had been only badgering him and expected a sharp reply in return but upon detecting a look of honest concern on his face, she chose her next words carefully.
"I'm fine on my own, Doc. You know that."
"I know," Bull replied trying to shake off the uncharacteristic unease he felt. "Ready for box number two?"
"Let's leave it for the next do nothing night," she said and gently bumped his shoulder with her own. As Ashton turned her head to look at Bull, he brushed her dark hair away from her face and leaned in for a kiss.
"I'm surprised. No darts or drinks with the seminar attendees," Ashton said to Bull as he removed his coat. She was seated at his desk with her laptop open, working on the cerebellum she had teased him about the day before.
"You've been here all day by yourself," he reminded her.
"Sort of," she replied and pulled her attention away from the drawing on the screen and focused on Bull. "Cameron thinks you have the best. apartment. ever. due to giant windows and a climbing wall."
"He's much easier to impress than his aunt," Bull said of his godson. "You should bring him by when they come for a visit."
"I don't think there's enough Windex in the city for that," Ashton laughed.
Before heading out for dinner, Ashton convinced Bull to change into a pair of jeans and forgo the usual cardigan in favor of his white button-down untucked and topped with a suit jacket. For herself, she donned the black skirt and lavender wrap sweater she had packed in her bag on the off chance Bull might have time for something that resembled a date. The double-take she received from Bull when he looked up from the papers he was reading let Ashton know she made the right choice of outfits.
After an intimate dinner, they decided to walk for a bit. "Are you ever going to open the thank you note I gave you?" Bull asked as they strolled hand in hand.
"One day," Ashton answered without hesitation or surprise.
"The only way to get over a fear is to do the very thing that scares you," he told her.
"I know that. Agreeing to meet you for lunch after talking at the coffee shop…that was terrifying. I gave myself a gold star for that," she admitted before telling him, "I have my reasons for not opening it."
"And you're not going to tell me what that is right now, are you?" Bull said.
"Nope," Ashton said and squeezed his hand. "And you're going to do your best not to analyze my every word, look, and expression to try and figure out what those reasons are."
"Are you okay?" he asked slowly and deliberately hoping to squash the uneasiness that was starting to creep back into his mind regarding her feelings.
"I'm fine," Ashton quickly replied. When Bull didn't respond immediately, she turned to look at him. "Jason, it's all good. In fact, this weekend has been wonderful."
Somewhat satisfied with her answer, Bull dropped Ashton's hand and put his arm around her. "Let's make it even better," he said. As she felt his arm tighten around her waist, Ashton gave Bull a sideways glance. "We're going to climb my wall."