Chapter 26
Jane finished the last swallow of the amber ale as she watched Maura glide through the front door of the restaurant. Maura scanned the inside of the establishment; her face instantly broke out into a relaxed smile once she spied Jane at a table in the corner.
The doctor had changed into some casual clothes after the autopsy, but still managed to look flawless, as always. She knew Maura had endured just as long a day as she had, most of it up to her elbows in the exposed chest of Ronald Stevens. She glanced at her watch. Fifteen minutes. She waved at the glass of white wine across the table from her as Maura settled into her seat, "Your Sauvignon Blanc, madam."
Maura's eyes sparkled back at her, "You remembered." The waiter swooped by them and placed their respective meals in front of the women. Jane ordered another beer from the waiter before he left and watched as Maura properly unrolled her utensils from her napkin and laid it across her lap.
"I've eaten enough meals with you to know that you prefer that wine over your normal Chardonnay when you have a Caesar Salad," Jane said as she watched the doctor spear her first bite of the salad. "Something about grapefruit notes and complimenting the lemony facets of the dressing …or something to that effect," she waived her hand dismissively at the beverage, "I can't remember exactly."
Jane sat back and watched as Maura dipped the forkful of salad into the small stainless steel cup of dressing before she wrapped her lips around the bite. Damn. She could even make eating a salad look erotic.
"Hmm…that's very observant of you," the doctor wiped her lips with her napkin. "I guess that's what I should expect if I'm dating a detective."
Jane huffed, "What? The attention to detail," a slow smirk curled onto her lips, "or the somewhat creepy stalker-like tendencies of remembering every minor thing?" Jane sawed through her steak and stabbed a bite before looking up from her plate. "Sometimes they are hard to differentiate." She popped a piece of steak into her mouth and chewed as she grinned at the doctor.
"Definitely the former." Jane seemed pleased with the doctor's answer and relaxed as she took another long drink of her beer.
Jane sliced through another morsel. "So…did you come up with a murder weapon yet?"
The doctor tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and observed as Jane shoveled another bite into her mouth. "Is this a work dinner, or a date?"
Jane quickly chewed the steak and put up her hand in defense. "Whoa, Maur." She swallowed, "Of course this is a date. " She wiped at her mouth with her napkin. She shrugged her shoulders slightly; "It's just that we already know everything about each other so I thought…" she waited for Maura to nod her head in agreement, but the doctor just stared back at Jane flatly. "…So I thought incorrectly, apparently," Jane gave an exaggerated nod of her head as she grimaced, "that we could kill two birds with one stone and get caught up on the case."
Maura looked back down into her salad and moved a few pieces around with her fork, "We don't know everything about each other, Jane."
"Really? You're kidding me…right, Maur?" Jane leaned in towards the doctor. "You know me better than anyone. You know everything about my family." Jane straightened back up. "What else on earth could you possibly want to know about me?"
The doctor's eyes flashed back up to meet Jane's questioning look. "There is one important element in our new relationship that hasn't been discussed, Jane." Maura's eyebrow rose as she waited for Jane to realize what she was implying.
Jane's brow furrowed as she looked at the doctor.
No. She can't be talking about…
The detective scrutinized the smaller woman more closely. Maura's head tilted slightly.
Oh my god…she really does mean…
Jane's eyes widened at the realization of what topic of discussion Maura was alluding to with the quirk of her eyebrow.
"Um…Maur…," Jane winced, "that's not really appropriate dinner date conversation, either."
Maura shrugged and went about preparing another bite of salad. "I just thought it might be nice if we had a discussion about likes and dislikes in the bedroom." She popped in a small bite of salad into her mouth and chewed. She waived her hand dismissively as she swallowed, unsure of why Jane thought discussing sex during dinner would be unacceptable. "It makes sense for couples to discuss this type of thing."
Jane's eyes intensely focused on cutting her steak as she shook her head and mumbled half to herself, "I am NOT having this conversation right now…"
"Jane…," Maura admonished the brunette, "why wouldn't you want to share with me some things that you like or don't like so that I can accommodate you?"
Accommodate me? Jane's jaw dropped down and she looked at Maura like the doctor had just sprouted another head, "Okay…right now…this," she motioned her hand between the two women, "I don't like talking about this." Maura quirked her head at the detective again. "I'm not kidding, Maur." Jane sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Not sexy."
"I'm not trying to be sexy, Jane." Maura looked up at the ceiling and pursed her lips, "I'm just on a fact-finding mission." She scrunched up her perfectly shaped nose, "I like data. Does that surprise you?"
"Really?" Jane ran a hand through her unruly hair, an exasperated expression etched on her features.
Maura folded her hands in her lap and waited patiently for Jane to answer her question. She had the patience of a saint. She could wait all night.
Jane groaned in frustration as she realized Maura wasn't going to let it rest until she appeased her, at least a little.
The detective rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked around the restaurant to make sure no one could hear their conversation before she leaned toward Maura and said in a hushed tone, "No morning sex. Lights are always out," she took one final glance around and lowered her voice even more, "and I prefer some music to drown out the uh…noises." Jane tossed her napkin onto the table, signaling the end of her foray into the discussion.
"Thank-you," Maura smiled. "Was that so hard?" She grinned at the uncomfortable detective as she chewed through another small bite of salad.
Jane took another long pull on her beer, "Yes, actually it was." She noticed the doctor biting her bottom lip, trying desperately to hide a smile.
"You can ask me anything you'd like," Maura offered as she wiped the corner of her mouth with her napkin.
Truthfully, Jane ventured to guess that Maura had relatively little listed in her 'dislike' column. And whatever was listed there, she was almost certain was on hers as well, so it would never come into play.
That, and the fact that there was no way in hell Jane wanted to hear Maura open the flood gates on her likes and dislikes in a public setting. The woman had no filter. Jane squirmed in her seat as she thought of a way to silence the doctor.
"That won't be necessary," Jane straightened her shoulders and took a cleansing breath. "I'm pretty confident my police training will come in handy." Jane bit back the smirk. "I think I'll stick to using my detective skills to figure out what you like, Maur."
"And how to you plan on doing that?"
"You know how I love to solve mysteries." Jane traced the beer label with her finger. "I have my methods." Jane looked up to meet Maura's bemused expression. "Observation, gut instinct, going over different scenarios in my head, you know."
"Oh, like fantasizing?" Maura quipped.
Jane narrowed her eyes at the doctor, "No…like trying to read your mind. Determining what makes you tick…what kind of things illicit a response." Jane leaned in closer and spoke to the doctor in her low, raspy voice. "You know…find your triggers."
Maura's breathing had deepened at Jane's words.
"What if that doesn't work?" Maura's voice creaked out quietly.
Jane leaned across the small table and took the doctor's hand in hers. She slowly traced around Maura's wrist as she spoke.
"Well then, normally Frost and I would take a difficult subject in for questioning."
Jane peered deep into Maura's darkened eyes. "You'd be cuffed." Jane noticed the small tick in Maura's eye. "Tied down to the table. Completely defenseless."
Jane flicked her hair out of her eyes, "I'd get in close to your face and ask you questions, make you answer them until I was satisfied. If you were being uncooperative I would walk behind you and place my hands on your shoulders and lean down until you could feel my hot breath reflecting off the skin on your neck. I'd tell you about all the terrible things I could do to you to if you didn't cooperate."
Maura squirmed slightly in the chair.
"You'd eventually cave and give me everything that I wanted. And I do mean everything."
Maura's bottom lip quivered slightly as her eye lids fluttered shut, "And then what would you do to me."
Jane leaned in even closer so she could whisper her answer to the doctor, "Absolutely nothing."
Maura's eyes flashed open. "Nothing? Why?"
Jane moved back into her chair and shrugged, "Because Frost would be in the room with us. Duh, Maura." Jane laughed as she took another swig of her beer.
Maura drew in a breath to steady herself, "I like your method better. It does have its merits."
Jane's mouth curled up into a smile, her dimples appeared even darker than usual in the dim lighting of the restaurant.
A familiar buzz went off on her belt, interrupting the moment.
"Oh, shit." Jane looked at her phone and shook her head. "Speak of the devil…it's Frost." She groaned as she read the text. "Our suspect is supposed to be on a flight leaving Logan at the ass-crack of dawn." Jane typed out a reply to Frost. "I have to meet him at the station at 3:30 in the freaking morning."
Maura's face fell in disappointment at the news. "I guess you'd better get some sleep then."
Jane snapped the phone back onto her belt and ran a hand over her face, "Yeah, I guess I should." She looked apologetically at Maura, "Sorry this date had to end so early."
Maura offered a weak smile at the detective, "Not a problem." She stopped to think for a moment. "Third date is supposed to be the charm anyway, right?"
"Yeah, something like that," Jane offered.
Maura raises her chin, "Then, go out with me tomorrow, Jane." Maura watched as Jane threw some bills on the table to cover the check. "There's a film I'd like to take you to see."
Jane shrugged her shoulders, "Okay, it's a date." They made their way out of the restaurant to the parking lot.
Jane's brow furrowed as they stepped alongside the Prius. "You said a film…not a movie. Should I be worried?"
Maura laughed and she playfully slapped Jane on the shoulder, "Don't worry, detective. I'll make sure you have a good time tomorrow night."
Jane grabbed the smaller woman by the hands and leaned down and placed a quick kiss to her lips. "I'm counting on it." Jane took a step away from the doctor towards her cruiser, but stopped quickly before adding, "And Maur?" Jane scrunched up her nose at the subcompact Toyota, "Make sure you pick me up in the Mercedes tomorrow night."