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Prompt #20: Exasperation - He drove her nuts, making her want to pull out her hair, shoot him, or kiss him - all at the same time.

Words: 522

It takes a special kind of calm to deal with her partner.

Kensi Blye closed her eyes and tried thinking of happy thoughts. Twinkies. Snickers bars. Kicking bad guy ass. Kicking her partner's ass.

A good thought, but not helpful here.

Deeks was playing up his part of manager too much again, trying to sell Kensi as a rehab-needing singer so they could search for their suspect. Once again, she was Kiki of the Panther Girls. Once again, he was laying it on too thick.

Kensi hid her grimace and tried to remember her alias. Kiki. Singer who had a lot of work done.

"So yeah, she's got a little too much nip, a few too many tucks..."

And she reeeeaaaalllly wanted to kick Deeks's ass right now.

The receptionist smiled knowingly. "Of course, Mr. Gates. Would you please come this way?"

Kensi hadn't been paying attention, so she missed the movement. Deeks slid his hand around her waist and guided her down the hallway.

And now she had to think of something else to stop the heat his touch created. Hetty. Dead bodies. Idiot cops. Deeks.

Dammit!

Returning to the objective, Kensi began scanning the spa for their suspect. She felt Deeks's hand tighen on her hip and thought he'd seen her, but he'd only seen a group of towel-clad women leaving the showers. Kensi smirked, knowing exactly what had run through his mind.

"If we have to chase her, I'll take the showers," she murmured to him. "Save your baby blues from another round of torture by pepper spray."

He scowled at her, remembering his last encounter with spa showers and the dreaded man-repellant. "Not funny, Kiki."

"Just reassuring you, Mr. Gates," she replied with a smirk. "Wouldn't want another encounter, would you?"

"That depends. Would you be in the showers too?"

He was lucky she didn't have her gun on her.

When he ducked out for a "phone call" again, she smiled warmly at the receptionist. "He'll be right back."

The lady grinned back. "He's very good to you, your manager."

Kensi smiled at her partner's back. "Yeah, he is," she admitted.

He walked back in with a glint in his eye. "Okay Kiki, let's go," he said, putting a hand on the small of her back. "Can we see some of the facility?"

Kensi had to concentrate so as not to grab his collar and kiss him.

He drove her nuts, but Kensi wouldn't trade him for anyone else.

He could make her laugh.

He could make her want to shoot him.

And sometimes, on occasion, he's one sweet gesture away from getting a hug and a kiss from her.

But only on occasion.

The feeling of wanting to shoot him in the ass was far more frequent.

Eh, it's alright. Up to 20 chapters and 105 reviews! Keep them coming!