Matt looked uncomfortable but C.J. wasn't about to miss a word of Randy's answer to Crystal's question about the massage parlor. She hadn't known that anyone had spotted Matt and her making a quick getaway from the establishment which the vice squad had raided. Yes, Matt had been only wearing a sheet around his muscular body but that hadn't meant that he had done anything illegal.

Randy just glanced over at Matt.

"Yes apparently it is true," he said, "though neither myself nor any members of my vice unit ever saw him in the facility while we were conducting Operation Lube job."

Crystal's smile remained glued on her face.

"My that's a catchy name for a police bust."

Randy shrugged.

"It was my idea but anyway, that's why I'm here, to question Matt about what he was doing there. Was he getting a massage, was he getting some fringe benefit action or…"

Matt cleared his throat.

"I was helping out a friend."

Crystal leaned towards him, obviously intrigued.

"How so?"

"A friend of mine complained to me what had happened when he had gone there to get a massage, on a referral from his doctor."

"Really."

Matt nodded.

"Yes but while they did start massage his back muscles as prescribed, they moved onto other locations not specified on the prescription."

"Like…"

Matt paused.

"Am I allowed to say it on the air?"

Crystal nodded.

"As long as you use the…clinical terms for what you're describing."

"The masseuse asked him if he wanted a hand job."

Crystal placed her hand on her chest in mock surprise.

"You're kidding so you decided to help him out by going there and trying the services out yourself?"

Matt looked irritated.

"Of course not, I went undercover as a prospective client to determine whether or not there was really anything going on."

Crystal chuckled.

"And when the masseuse offered you…similar services what did you do?"

C.J. just watched the entire conversation rolling her eyes. She had her moments when she'd wanted to take throttle Randy and this was one of them. How could he, a professional vice detective be spilling such intimate details about a police operation on the airwaves all over L.A.?

Crystal, well nothing could help her, she'd do anything to get higher ratings for her talk show so she could launch herself on a faster trajectory to late night TV probably in some larger market like New York City.

Matt looked out into the camera.

"I turned her down," he said, "told her I wasn't interested after I asked her how much it cost."

Crystal folded her arms.

"Oh really Matt, you're sitting on a table apparently naked and a woman offers to get you a service and you say no?"

He nodded.

"Yes, I wasn't interested and not only because it was illegal," he said, "I'd already decided who I wanted."

Crystal perked up.

"Oh? So there was already a woman waiting in the wings for you?"

He just smiled at her.

"I don't kiss and tell about my relationships but yes, I'm seeing someone."

C.J. felt the warmth soak through her when she heard him say that. Crystal just digested them and then leaned forward again.

"Is it your ex Elizabeth," she said, "I did hear somewhere that she dropped an application to have your baby."

Matt shook his head.

"It's not her," he said, "and that's all you'll get from me."

The director signaled for another commercial break and Crystal ordered another latte. Downing it down like a shot, she looked at her two male guests.

"That's going to win us the Emmy for sure," she said, "and please the syndicates."

Randy shrugged.

"Well I got to head back to the station," he said, "I'll follow up on what I need from you for the investigation later."

Matt frowned.

"There's not much to say about it," he said, "I went to the massage parlor, I didn't get a massage and I left."

Randy shook his head.

"You left out the rear window wearing a sheet with a beautiful young woman with dark hair who could only be C.J.."

She walked over to the men.

"Maybe the two of you should get your own talk show," she said, "You're quite a team."

Randy beamed at her.

"Thanks C.J.…you going to the Vibe tonight."

She shook her head.

"No just out for early happy hour with Sonia and then I might call it a night."

Randy narrowed his eyes.

"No wild parties…no dancing on the tables in those sexy outfits you wear."

C.J. saw Matt tense at Randy's words but she just smiled at the vice cop, stretching her arms.

"Not tonight, but I heard you've been really busy since the massage party bust."

Randy sighed.

"Hell yeah…we've followed a couple leads to who really owned it and it might be mobsters from Vegas."

C.J. arched her brow.

"Really, it looked like a dump."

"Don't let the appearance fool you," he said, "We think there might have been money laundering going on too. We've got more evidence to review."

C.J. smiled at him.

"Then I'll leave you to that," she said, "Houston I might need you to help me with…something in my office in a few."

Matt nodded quickly.

"I'll see you later Randy…"

Crystal just looked over at him.

"Where are you going," she said, "the first segment was totally awesome stuff, how about doing the other half of the time slot?"

Matt had decided he had enough public exposure for one day.

"Another time," he said, "I'm a working man and I've got a lot on my plate today."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, let's keep in touch," she said, "I guess we'll just pack up and call it a day…maybe interview some passerbys on the street about what they think of the massage parlor bust."

Matt thought she could do whatever she wanted, what he wanted waited for him in C.J.'s office.


He finally knocked on the door and C.J. told him to come on inside so he did and he closed the door behind him. Then he locked it.

There would be no one walking in and interrupting them.

She sat at her desk, reading over some files but when she saw him, she got up and approached him.

"Some show you put on there."

"Nothing compared to the one that'll be happening in here."

She folded her arms before he could get it started, so he stood there, muscles tensed, libido charged up and the desk looking awfully tempting.

"Houston, this is a working environment, I really don't think…"

That's when he took that final step towards her and slid his arms around her waist before she could say anything about it, his mouth brushing against her soft lips. She sighed and wrapped her arms around him, their bodies molding to each other. She furrowed her brow and looked downward and he knew why.

She'd just felt how much he wanted her right now.

"How long have you been that way?"

He smiled at her kissing her a couple times, grabbing her lower lip with both of his before releasing it slowly, over and over. She gasped then, and when he moved back, her chest rose and fell more rapidly.

"Not…long….won't be much longer."

She chuckled, her mouth nearing his face this time, and this time she kissed him and he tasted her, which sent his senses spiraling to where he couldn't keep up. Damn her kisses intoxicated him in ways that he didn't want to stop. His hands slid underneath her black top, up past her ribcage straight to her bra.

"What color are you wearing?"

She just smiled and looked at him in mischief.

"I guess you'll just have to find that out…tonight."

He frowned.

"Why not right now, right here?"

She sighed.

"Houston, I know we're lovers now but I think when we're in the office, we should still be business partners and act accordingly."

He stroked her face, looking into it for any signs of weakness that he could exploit. Because he wanted her so much right now, his skin prickled, he ached and he couldn't think of anything else let alone work right now.

He traced a finger along her neck, while he came up with an alternative. He knew if he wanted to change her mind on her ban on sex while in the office, he had to diffuse her reservations gradually. But if couldn't be in the office, maybe someplace else.

He looked at his watch.

"Why don't we take an early lunch?"

She just looked at him, clearly wondering whether he'd found another way to get into her pants. He hoped she'd be liking the fact that he did come up with an alternative plan.

"It's only 11."

That hardly fazed him.

"Great, I'll tell you what," he said, "Why don't we go to the Hotel Buenaventura and grab a bite to eat?"

She looked skeptical.

"Matt, I know they have a great restaurant but why there?"

He stroked a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Oh we're not going to the restaurant," he said, "What I had in mind was more along the lines of room service in between courses."

"Courses?"

"I'm more concerned about other appetites than that for food," he said, "Sexual appetites."

She sucked in her breath, her eyes widened slightly and he knew he had her especially when she casually ran a hand through her hair.

"Oh…well…I guess that'll work but as long as we're back because I have a ton of cases…"

He interrupted her with another one of his kisses, the kind that made a woman forget she even had a voice let alone what she'd planned to say. She just relaxed against him as he tasted her.

By the time he finished, she'd couldn't get out of her office fast enough.


The hotel room had a king sized bed with a high thread count for its sheets, not to mention old-style décor surrounding it. But neither Matt nor C.J. paid much attention to it. When they unlocked the door, all they could think about was what they'd be doing with each other.

He leaned the bed as she just looked at him, and then peeled her shirt off of her revealing a pale pink bra.

"You like pink?"

He moved closer to her, close enough to touch her.

"I love pink…but I like what's underneath it much better."

He unsnapped t he clasp in front of it and her breasts spilled out into his hands and the weight of them in his palms made him want to remove all her clothes. Moments later, he lay on the bed, his hardened body flat on the surface but his erection waiting for her. She moved closer to it, her breasts swaying gently as he watched before she carefully sheathed herself over him, closing her eyes. She loved the way he felt as she took him inside her, the way his body felt. Its hardness filled her in ways that made her feel charged inside, like a spark that would combust into something that aroused and terrified her at the same time.

Not that Matt scared her but the powerful attraction she felt for him, the need she had to feel his erection move inside of her. She leaned forward to kiss his mouth while he lifted up to meet her halfway, and reveled in how his pelvis rubbed against his in passing. Oh god, she definitely liked that.

"Oh Houston…."

He responded by lifting himself up and wrapping his arms around her, while she moved against him. His lips met hers and they kissed, their mouths feeding each other's excitement. Their bodies pressed more tightly together, her breasts caressed by the hair on his chest, slickened by their perspiration.

She moaned against him as he kissed her neck, trailing flickers of the promise of more pleasure down her neck while she caressed his back She felt as close to him as she thought she'd ever feel.

"You close?"

She nodded, and gasped as he pushed her back onto the mattress and gently opened her thighs so he could slide in between him. The shift in their roles send more shards of pleasure through her body, as he quickened the tempo of his own thrusts, pressing her firmly into the mattress with each stroke. She reached her hands down to grab him as his body moved like the tides gliding in and out of the shore.

"Oh Houston…please…"

She needed her release and when he thrust this time, she felt him rub her where she craved him and she opened up further to him, grabbing at his back.

Until that moment when she felt herself falling, only instead of fear, she felt elation, the sheer freedom of the pleasure that engulfed her as surely as it must him…

She grabbed hold of him while she came down, even as he reached his own heights and in the aftermath of what they shared, their lips found each others again, as they headed on to what felt like home.