(Shorter chapter after the monster last one :-) Thanks again to all of you for reading!)

Chapter 11

Danny woke up Sunday morning, eyes slowly opening to find Cassie propped up on one arm, reading a paperback book intently. She didn't look up, completely caught in her book, so Danny enjoyed watching her for a few minutes.

She got to the end of a chapter and looked up while she was turning the page, and blinked in surprise. "Hi. I didn't realize you were awake."

Danny shifted to tuck one arm under his head. "I didn't want to interrupt you. And I like watching you read." She gave him a look and he grinned at her. "Okay, yes, I like watching you in general, but watching you read is fascinating. I didn't know anyone could be that focused."

She smiled, and reached behind her to put the book on the nightstand. Then she scooted over so that she could curl up next to him; he moved so that she could put her head on his chest and he could wrap both arms around her.

"The book is good, but this right here is far more interesting," she said and enjoyed the rumble of his low chuckle.

"You'll get no complaint from me," he said.

"What's your work schedule this week?"

"There's this reception and dinner thing tonight, then I've got a couple of other meetings tomorrow and the signing with UH." She looked up at him. "You know the signing is at the Capitol. You want to walk over and see me be all official?"

"Absolutely. What time?"

"It's at eleven; I'll probably be there around ten. Hey, bring Steve and tell the rest of the team they're welcome to attend, too."

"I will do that. You have anything Monday night?" She shook her head. "Want to have dinner with me and Grace?"

"I would love to." They lay quietly for a few minutes, Danny running his fingers up and down her arm, and Cassie could tell he was thinking so she gave him the time to figure out what he needed to say.

When he spoke again, his voice was low and serious. "I wish I could ask you to stay here with me the rest of the week. I want to spend every minute I can with you before you leave." He paused. "Though to be fair, I'd like to ask you just to stay period." She tensed a little next to him and he tapped her arm gently. "I can't ask you to stay here because Grace is here most of this week. And while I want you to spend time together, having you here might feel weird to her. I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"Hey," she propped herself up so she could look him in the eye and said fiercely, "Never apologize for protecting your kid. Grace comes first."

Danny opened his mouth to say the first thing that popped into his mind, but stopped before he said them, instead addressing the second. He tried to say the words lightly. "You know, Hawaii's pretty great; I think you'd like it here."

She laughed at his sudden attitude shift about the state, as Danny had hoped she would. She put her head back on his chest, and Danny wasn't sure if she was trying to hide. Her next words were soft enough that he almost missed them.

"I don't want to get on that plane."

He wanted to say, great, then don't. But what he said was, "I would be fine if you didn't, but you have to go back, don't you?" She nodded. "So the question is, what happens after that. Are we done when you get on that plane?"

"No." She said softly but surely. "At least, that's not what I want."

"Then we agree."

She untangled herself from him and sat up, crossing her legs and creating some space between them. Her knee pressed against his leg, and so he knew she wasn't trying to pull away, she just needed a second to process everything. He let her think and when she held out her hand he sat up and took it.

"What are we talking about?" Cassie asked.

"Honestly, babe, I don't know. The only thing I'm certain of is that I want you in my life. How we do that? I'd like to figure that out together."

Understanding that he'd heard her the night before and got it, Cassie uncrossed her legs and stretched forward to kiss him. Danny wrapped an arm around her pulling her closer, tangling his other hand in her hair. They didn't talk anymore for a long time, and later on, as Danny was on the edge of falling back asleep, he thought about what it would be like to have Cassie there full time. He felt a deep sense of contentment, and for once, no worry about what was going to happen next.

After they woke up for the second time, and made it out of bed, they ended up in the kitchen where Cassie perched on the counter while Danny cooked. She cradled a mug of coffee in her hands, sighing in happiness every time she took a drink.

"You know," Danny said as he flipped an omelet, "they grow good coffee here."

Cassie looked at her mug, then at him, wondering where he was going with that statement. "Yes, I'm drinking it now."

He shrugged, not looking at her, trying not to grin. "Just saying, you move here, you can have coffee like that every day. People think everyone moves here for the beaches, but it's really the coffee."

She narrowed her eyes and stared into the cup, playing along. "That is a definite selling point. Yep, I can see moving here for the coffee." She looked at him wide-eyed and lifted her shoulders. "Don't need any other reason, just the coffee."

He turned the stove off and moved to stand in front of her, sliding a hand behind her neck and pulling her down for a kiss. "How about someone to make the coffee for you?"

She pretended to think about it. "Sure, that might be nice. I've never really been into cabana boys, but baristas? Oh, yeah."

Danny plucked the mug out of her hand and set it on the counter. He put his hands on her waist and pulled her to him. She slid off the counter and down his body, and Danny pressed her against the counter while he kissed her deeply. Danny wasn't sure that they were going to get around to breakfast, but his phone dinged, and he broke the kiss, breathing heavily.

Cassie bowed her head so that her forehead pressed into Danny's chest. She said, "If that's Steve, tell him to go away." She felt him laugh. She lifted her head, and kissed him quickly. "See what your partner wants, and I'll get everything on the table."

Danny checked his phone and sent a quick text off while Cassie cut the omelet in half, plated it, and carried the plates to the table. She grabbed their coffee and a bowl of sliced fruit, and sat down as Danny read another text from Steve. He put down the phone and joined her.

"So apparently our art thieves aren't interested in the art they took. Someone called in a suspicious package this morning, and HPD found the paintings leaning up against a tree in a park, carefully wrapped."

"Well, that's weird," Cassie said.

Danny nodded. "Steve and Kono are following up now."

"When are you going in?"

He appreciated that she asked that question matter of factly and not with any judgement. He showed her his phone with a text from Steve that said: We've got it covered. Cassie and Grace, those are your priorities today.

She nodded and said, "I don't think I said this last night, but I like your family, Detective Williams."

Danny replied, "They like you, too, babe." He leaned back in the chair and placed a hand on his chest. "I'm still on the fence, of course, but you're growing on me."

Cassie wadded up a napkin and tossed it at him. He deflected it, and pulled her in for one more kiss.

The rest of the morning was relaxed. Cassie drank more coffee while she read over her speech for the next day one more time. Danny, knowing that she was happy with it and was just practicing, teased her about the coffee and suggested things she might include in her speech, like bad space jokes. She rolled her eyes at him and eventually resorted to sitting in his lap and kissing him to make him be quiet.

It was more or less a perfect morning, which meant that when it was time to go, Danny felt the loss keenly. He was quiet leaving the house, and after he put Cassie's bags in the car, he hesitated while opening her car door.

She wrapped her arms around him, and said, "You know I'm coming back here, right?"

He pulled back enough to search her eyes, and saw certainty there. "Promise?"

She put a hand on his face and said seriously, "Promise." Then she grinned and added, "After all, you did say you would make me coffee every day." She pretended to think about it. "You bringing me coffee, preferably in bed, preferably wearing nothing…" She trailed her fingers down his neck in a feathery caress. "Yeah, that's worth coming back for."

He backed her up against the car and said in that low voice that sent vibrations through her, "In this little fantasy of yours, who is wearing nothing?"

She kept stroking his skin, drawing her fingers lightly down into the open neck of his shirt. Her voice was a little breathless. "Ideally, both of us, but you're making the coffee, so, you know, wear whatever protective gear you need for that."

He laughed while he kissed her, pressing her against the car, not caring if they were giving the neighbors a show. When he broke, breathing heavily, he said, "Thank you for that mental image, babe." She laughed and Danny thought about dragging her back inside the house, but they were already running late.

He kissed her again, reverently, less frenetic passion and more a promise for the future. When they broke, he looked in her eyes and saw reflected there what he felt, even though it was something neither of them were quite ready to put a name to yet.

It was even tougher leaving Cassie at her hotel. Danny knew she felt it, too, and if it weren't for another call from Steve and her scheduled work event, Danny was pretty sure he would have stayed there until time to pick up Grace. They made plans for Monday night, and Danny left before he could change his mind about going.

He stopped by the Palace. Steve's call had been about another robbery; he had wanted to give Danny a heads up. Danny had an hour to fill before picking up Grace, so he checked in with the rest of the team to see what he could do.

Chin was at the smart table, and Kono was with Steve at the new crime scene. Lou was at the crime lab with the recovered paintings.

Steve called and filled Danny and Chin in: a high-end jewelry store had been robbed. The store wasn't open, and none of the employees were there when it happened. No alarms had gone off; the only reason the robbery was discovered is that the owner stopped by to pick up something and noticed that the door separating the back office from the showroom was open when it shouldn't have been.

Several of the display cases were open, not broken, but only a few pieces from each had been taken. There wasn't a pattern among the pieces; most of them were expensive, but they varied in type, setting, and jewels.

Danny helped Chin run some checks on store employees and talk out some potential theories, but nothing resonated with either of them. The store owner sent over all his security camera footage, and Danny left Chin to look through it, after Chin reiterated that they had everything covered and Grace was his only concern for the night. So Danny picked up his daughter and spent a quiet evening at home with her.

Later that night, after Grace was in bed, Danny texted Cassie to see if she was where she could talk. His phone rang about thirty seconds later. They talked for a while, Danny telling her about the latest development in the case and Cassie told him about her work dinner. It was just a normal conversation, nothing earth-shaking, and, right then, it was the thing Danny wanted most in the world. Granted, he wanted it to be in person, but he'd take talking to her on the phone any day over not talking to her at all.

They had a moment at the end of the call where neither of them wanted to hang up, and Cassie laughed for a solid minute about their "you hang up first; no, you hang up first" moment. Danny took the sound of her laugh to bed with him, and though he wished she were there, he was still happy just thinking about her.