It had been nice getting settled back in LA. Sharon for one enjoyed having the full selection of her wardrobe to choose from once again. The warmer weather was an added bonus as well. As much as she had enjoyed wearing sexy boots up in Tacoma, it was nice not to have to bundle up in the same way in LA. Seeing Rusty again had been wonderful. She had not realized how much she had missed him in the weeks that Andy and she had been away until they got back. They celebrated on Sharon's first night back in LA by going out to burgers, although Sharon had a sneaking suspicion that Provenza had let Rusty eat burgers a lot more often than she normally did. She was just so happy to see the boy again that she let it slide this once. Ricky came down for the weekend that followed their return from Tacoma, and Emily had plans to come to LA for Thanksgiving if her schedule in New York would permit.

The first day back in the office was strange. They caught a case around midday, and it almost felt like she and Andy had never left. The work just sucked one right back in. Before they knew it, they were busy again solving a murder and chasing suspects. Sharon had been worried that it would be strange being in the office with Andy after the changes that had taken place in their relationship, but the case that they caught kept them so busy that there was absolutely no time to worry about their personal lives in the first few days. She had asked Andy for some space and time and he seemed to have gladly given her both. On Friday night when they finally closed the case, Sharon realized that she hadn't even unpacked her bags since coming back to LA. Then Ricky arrived and she was busy the entire weekend spending time with Rusty and him.

Andy's fingers itched to call Sharon every night, but he decided to give her the space that she had asked for when they had been returning to LA. He understood her need to spend time with her family, but it didn't make him miss her any less. In the weeks that they had spent in Tacoma, he had gotten used to having her around in the mornings and evenings, and he found that he missed their daily talks. He just missed having her there all to himself every day, and more recently, waking up to her and being able to kiss her whenever he wanted to. In order to keep himself busy, Andy went to his meetings and reconnected with his sponsor, who was happy to hear that Andy was fine and had been out of touch for several weeks because he had been in the witness protection program.

The week after was no less busy for the team and for Sharon and Andy. They caught another case on Monday, and this one was tough on everyone because the victim was a 10-year-old child. After an intense and very long few days, they caught the dirtbag who had committed the murder, but he had decided to end his own life rather than give himself up to the police and that was always hard on the team. That afternoon Sharon sent the team home early since they had closed the case, and stayed to finish up the paperwork by herself. She had given the team instructions not to show up before noon the next day since they had had a few very long days and could all use the rest. Andy had gone home too, but after a few hours when Sharon was packing her stuff and getting ready to go home, she saw her phone flashing with Andy's caller ID.

"Hi Andy" she said in quite a tired voice. She was happy to talk to him, but it had been an emotionally taxing day.

"Hey. Are you ok?" he hadn't meant to ask that, but she sounded so sad that he could not help but feel a bit worried. He felt a pang of uncertainty as well. They had not really talked about anything non-work related since they had come back to LA.

"Yeah. I'm ok. Just finished here at the office and I'm about to head home for the day."

"I see."

"How are you doing Andy?"

"I went to a meeting. I think I needed one after the emotional turmoil of the past few days and I'm feeling tired but ok."

Sharon smiled at that. She hadn't really had time to miss him since coming back with the cases and Ricky and Rusty being at her place but now that she heard his voice she realized that she actually missed not having him around every day.

"Listen Sharon, I know you're probably really tired but I was wondering if you wanted to come over. I'm about to cook my mom's famous Bolognese sauce and there's going to be plenty. It'll be a vegetarian version but, uh… anyway you're welcome to come over for an early dinner if you want…" he trailed off, feeling awkward all of a sudden. It had been a long few days and he had hoped that she'd want to spend time with him today, but now the invitation sounded stupid in his ears. She was probably as exhausted as all of them were and just wanted to get home.

"Well, Rusty is at a friend's house tonight, studying until late and there is absolutely no food waiting for me in the fridge at home, so I would be happy to Andy" she smiled into the phone. She really missed him all of a sudden, and an evening alone with him sounded perfect. She did want to get out of the heels and jacket just to feel more comfortable, but she could always run home and change before going over to Andy's.

"Oh, ok. Well that sounds good then."

Sharon could hear Andy's smile in his voice as she walked from the elevator towards her car.

"I'm just going to go home real quick to change into something a bit more comfortable and I'll come over after that" she smiled, imagining the grin on his face. She was already looking forward to spending some quality time with Andy.

"Ok great Sharon. Well, I'll start cooking and hopefully the food will be ready by the time you get here."

"Ok Andy. See you soon." She smiled and got in the car.

SsS

"Hey" Sharon smiled as Andy opened the door for her wearing an apron.

"Hey you" his eyes lit up as his eyes raked her from head to toe. She had changed into a comfortable looking blue top and pants that hugged her figure. She looked gorgeous as usual and all he wanted to do was to press her against the wall and kiss her senseless. He wanted to do a lot more than that actually, but they had agreed to take it slowly.

"Food is almost ready. Make yourself comfortable." He said without touching her at all.

"Thank you Andy" she smiled at his domestic appearance and followed him into the kitchen where he proceeded to pour a cranberry soda for her. It had become a habit in Washington for her to have a soda with him every now and then in the evening. Without asking him, she started setting the table and preparing the side salad that they'd eat with the Bolognese sauce and pasta. It was another habit of theirs that they had gotten into in Washington. Andy usually cooked the warm dish and Sharon prepared the salad. It felt oddly domestic to share these mundane little rituals and to know the other person so well. Andy felt hyper aware of Sharon's presence and pretty much just wanted to pull her against him.

"Here, you wanna try?" He offered a spoonful of the sauce to Sharon to taste when the salad was done and she was just watching him finish up with the sauce.

She hummed in response and her face lit up, as she tasted the sauce. The sight of her tongue licking her lips for the last little droplets of the sauce was Andy's undoing and he discarded the spoon in the sink and pulled her close to him.

"I take it you approve?" he looked at her with those brown eyes as he felt her warm body against his. Her hair had the familiar scent of her shampoo and he tucked an errant strand behind her ear. She was intoxicating and he had missed her so much since they had come back from Washington. It was hard being near her at work, yet not being able to touch her or show his feelings. When Sharon didn't resist at all, but almost melted against his front he found her lips greedily and gave her a long soft kiss. Not wanting to scare her away before the evening had even started he left it at the one kiss and turned around to drain the spaghetti, although what he really wanted was to switch off the stove and take his time kissing her thoroughly.

Sharon wanted to whimper at the sudden loss of his body heat. She had not realized how much she had craved the physical closeness that they had gotten used to during the last week of being in the witness protection program until Andy kissed her. Being near him was both relaxing and exciting at the same time.

They ate dinner in a comfortable silence, both just enjoying the flavors of the sauce. After they finished, Andy covered her hand with his and traced circles on her open palm with his index finger.

"Thank you for dinner Andy. That was lovely." Sharon gave him that wonderful smile of hers that had Andy's toes curling.

"My pleasure."

"It's been a bit busy since we came back, hasn't it?"

"Yeah. With Ricky's visit and all, I don't know how you have managed to catch any sleep at all since we came back."

Sharon just hummed in response and started tidying up the table to take the dishes back into the kitchen. Andy got up and stepped closer to her. He lifted her chin up with a finger and gave her another soft kiss. Her hands stilled and came to rest against his chest. At the same time, his hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her a bit closer. They kissed for a good while, until Sharon gave Andy's chest a gentle push.

"We should load the dishwasher before the dishes dry."

"You're such a romantic" Andy replied playfully, tapping her nose gently with his index finger.

When the dishwasher was loaded and Andy was satisfied with the cleanliness of the counters he turned around and saw Sharon watching her from by the fridge. She was looking at him almost shyly. At that moment Andy felt such a strong wave of longing for her that he couldn't help but take a deep breath. It had been a long time since he had had a woman in his LA kitchen like this, just spending a nice quiet evening with him with no pressure. At work Sharon was always very much in control, but when she let all of that drop in her private life she was such a fascinating mixture of sensuality, humor and vulnerability.

"Can I offer you some tea?" He asked and smiled at her. He had to remind himself that she had no idea what she was doing to his insides.

She hummed in response, knowing that he would not offer her anything caffeinated this late in the evening. It would most probably be chamomile tea that he would make. She was actually thinking that she would prefer just making out on the couch, but that wasn't a very mature thing to say out loud, or even think. She hummed and gave him a small peck on the lips when he turned and offered her a mug. Her immature thoughts had her blushing a bit. She made her way to the living room and sat almost in the middle of the couch. Andy squeezed himself between the armrest and Sharon and laid down his mug on the table. She put her cup down as well, and leaned against his arm lightly. Spending time with Andy like this was nice.

"So how have you been since we got back?" Andy started hesitantly, reaching forward for his cup after a moment. They saw each other almost every day of the week, but they hadn't really talked since coming back.

"It was wonderful to spend time with my boys on the weekend."

"I'm sure it was. How is Rusty adapting to you being back?"

"I think he is just happy to be home with me. He mumbled something this morning about living with me having perks over living with Provenza. Had something to do with the general cleanliness of the place."

"Ah yes." Andy smiled. Provenza wasn't exactly famous for having a neat and tidy place. Andy had on occasion had to give the kitchen a good scrubbing before cooking for the old man.

Sharon just hummed and leaned against Andy's side. She was craving the physical aspects of being with him more than she had cared to admit to herself. Andy snuck a hand around her shoulders and pulled her head onto his shoulder, marveling at how perfectly she fit there. He was holding the warm cup of tea in one hand and stroking Sharon's hair with the other. This was definitely something that he wouldn't mind getting used to.

"Personally, I like to think that he just missed me." She smiled and pressed her head against Andy's neck. She inhaled the smell of his cologne and closed her eyes.

I miss you, Andy wanted to say but kept silent. The last thing he wanted to do was to spook her. He let the silence settle around them like a warm blanket. It was comforting, just feeling her body heat against his and sipping the tea from his cup.

It had been a long day at the office, as their days usually were. Everyone else had wrapped up and gone home, but Andy was waiting to make sure that Sharon left at a somewhat decent hour. Her door was open and he could hear the soft hums as she filled out some final stacks of paperwork. He got up and knocked on her door softly.

"Hey" he smiled at her.

"Hey" she looked up and smiled.

"Need help?"

"Sure" she said and pushed a few files to the edge of her desk. Instead of sitting across from her, he pulled up a chair and sat next to her. He didn't say anything, just smiled at her surprised expression. They read in silence for many long minutes before Andy glanced at her. Her face was partially obscured by that luscious hair and he could smell her perfume. He took a deep breath in to smell it better. She had discarded her jacket a while ago, and Andy wondered what color her underwear was under the purple silk shirt. He cleared his throat to get himself to focus on what he was reading. He really had to get a grip.

"Something distracting you Andy?" Sharon said in a sensual voice, and laid her hand on his wrist gently. Andy felt his pulse jump under her fingertips. He was positive that she had felt it too. She moved her hand to his neck and pretended to adjust his shirt collar and then tie a bit. He knew that she was just looking for an excuse to touch his neck. Their eyes met, and then Andy's hand was on Sharon's thigh, squeezing softly.

"No nothing at all Sharon…" he said gruffly. Her hand moved from his tie down to his abdomen. It was coming dangerously close to his waist. His hand gave her thigh a gentle squeeze and slipped upwards under the tight hem of the black pencil skirt.

"Got something on your mind?" he asked, pulling her chair closer to his since hers was the one with wheels. His hand was teasing her thigh gently, moving closer and closer to where he wanted his hand to be. He brushed her panties very lightly, so lightly that he could just barely feel their silky material. Was it his imagination or did she open her legs apart a fraction to welcome his touch?

"Andy…" she sounded out of breath. He closed the distance between their lips and hungrily kissed her. Now she was definitely making more space for his hand to drift up the her core. He could feel the wetness through the material.

"Well this feels nice" Sharon hummed against his neck and Andy was jerked from his thoughts. He blushed furiously but luckily Sharon didn't notice a think with her face pressed against his neck. He decided to blame her warm body against his for the fantasy that had just started playing out in his mind.

"Yeah" That came out raspier than Andy had meant. He wanted to turn her in his arms. He wanted to press her body against his own. His thoughts were interrupted by Sharon's soft voice.

"Have you spoken to Nicole recently?"

"Yeah, a couple of days ago. She's fine. The step-sons are keeping her busy."

"Have you talked to your sponsor?"

"Yeah, we met for coffee over the weekend, and we've talked on the phone a few times. He was relieved to hear where I had been. It's been almost 20 years but I think he still fears that I'll fall off the wagon one day."

"One step at a time, one day at a time, right?"

"Yeah, that's right" He said as he turned to kiss the top of her head. This woman understood him so well. It made him sad to think that it was because she had had to watch her former husband struggle and fail with his own addiction.

Sharon didn't say anything else to that. She was content just resting her head against Andy's shoulder and listening to him sip his tea and breathe. She let several minutes pass in comfortable silence.

"Andy?"

"Hmmh?"

Sharon brought her hand to his cheek. She stroked the day-old stubble and smiled. She wanted to be kissed by this man. She pressed herself closer to Andy and touched her nose to his, her hand going to the back of his neck. No further invitation was necessary. He lowered his head and kissed her gently, all the while stroking her hair with his vacant hand.

Sharon deepened the kiss by touching her tongue to his lips gently, asking for permission. He opened his mouth and Sharon could taste the gentle flavor of the tea. Andy reached towards the table and put his cup down, bringing his now vacant hand to gently touch Sharon's arm. He was leaning against the armrest and she was basically leaning against his chest now. Andy felt as though he had died and gone to heaven. Here his was, on his couch after a long day at work with this amazing woman in his arms. It felt so right. They made out like teenagers for a good while, until things started getting a little bit heated. Andy broke the kiss on purpose and pushed her back an inch from her shoulders.

"Sharon, I think we need to take a little break here…" he said, slightly out of breath. His pants were starting to feel a little bit uncomfortable and they needed to calm down if they were not going to take this further tonight.

"Uh, yeah. Right. I'm sorry, I got a bit carried away there for a minute." It had been more like 20 minutes, but Andy was not about to point that out to her. He smiled at her and looked at her slightly ruffled appearance. Her hair was slightly out of place and her lips were swollen and wet. Whatever lipstick she might have been wearing earlier today was now long gone. She was probably the most desirable woman in the world, he thought, and here she was on his couch making out with him. He felt like whooping and doing a little victory dance.

"What?" Sharon asked, baffled. She blushed a bit. "I must look awful after the long day."

Andy waited until she made eye contact with him again. She was so adorable when she got shy like this all of a sudden. It was the vulnerable side of her that he so rarely got to see.

"Sharon… you are so utterly adorable and I was just thinking how lucky I am to have you here like this" he couldn't help it slipping out. He felt so much for this woman, yet he couldn't vocalize it for fear of her balking. She blushed, this time quite visibly.

"I am the lucky one here Andy" she whispered and kissed him gently again.

Somewhere in her purse she could hear her cell ringing. It was getting late and she should get going anyway before things became too heated with Andy. She was tempted to stay while longer and see where things led. They had only been together that one night after Linda's Halloween party, and she wanted to make more memories like that, but she also wanted to take things slowly with Andy. Rushing into bed would not accomplish anything, and she wanted this relationship to have a solid foundation before anything else.

"This was a lovely evening Andy, but I think I should get going."

"Yeah, I uh… I know we agreed to take this slowly."

She leaned in for another gentle kiss before getting up and making her way to her purse to check who had called. She knew it wasn't work since they had just closed a case that day.

"Oh, it was Pete who called." She was pleasantly surprised. Pete had called her over the weekend when Ricky had been visiting, so she hadn't had much time to talk to him but he had mentioned something about calling her back at a better time during the week.

"Oh?" Andy was surprised, but managed to keep the jealousy from his voice.

"Yeah, oh I completely forgot that we had agreed to talk this week about some case that he wanted my input on."

"Oh?" Andy was even more surprised when she provided this information, and couldn't help but wonder if Pete was just calling for work or if there was more to it. He was a nice guy in great physical shape for his age, and Andy had had a feeling in Tacoma that Pete had a small crush on Sharon. Sure, the guy had kept a respectful distance to Sharon, thinking that Andy and she were married, but now all bets were off since he knew that they had been pretending for the sake of their cover story.

"Yeah, I better call him from home so that I can focus on what he wanted to talk about properly." Sharon smiled at him and patted his cheek gently, turning to put her coat on. She was completely oblivious to the churning that was going on in Andy's mind at the thought of Sharon talking to Pete after the wonderful evening that they had just spent together.

Jealousy was an ugly feeling that Andy didn't want to experience, but it was definitely jealousy that had him press Sharon against the wall and kiss her thoroughly once again. He deepened the kiss on purpose, wanting to brand her as his. He didn't know where these primal feelings were coming from, but he wanted her to feel the passion and desire in his actions. By the time they came up for air, Sharon was panting and her pupils were definitely dilated. It was desire that Andy saw in her face, and it made him feel slightly better. At least he still had that.

"Right, ok. Well… good night Andy." She smiled at him again, feeling hot and aroused.

"Good night Sharon. See you at work tomorrow." He looked at her and let some of the desire he felt show in his eyes. He needed her to know that he wanted her in every possible sense of the word.

With that she smiled again and turned to walk to her car that was parked in the driveway. It took every ounce of her self-control to start her car and drive away instead of going back inside and asking Andy to take her to his bed.