It was the space that stunned her – the fact that there was space. This certainly wasn't the apartment she'd left this morning after her flying pit-stop for clean clothes. That apartment had a generous festooning of half-empty coffee cups and soft drinks cans on every surface and Twinkie wrappers and empty pizza boxes lying around artfully on the floor; it had piles of magazines teetering precariously beside the sofa , half of which was playing host to a vast quantity of clean clothes, which only had to be sorted, folded and then put away, when she got around to it. Only that moment never actually seemed to come up. But this didn't look anything like her apartment – it looked neat and tidy. And it looked clean. Hell, it even smelt clean.

"What the hell did you do?" she asked accusingly. It might have looked like a mess, but I knew where everything was. More or less. Now you've gone and ruined my system and I'll never find anything.

Marty stood in the middle of the floor, still blindfolded and raised his hands up in a gesture of submittance. "Don't tell me I peed in my pants? Not after boasting I was housetrained?" He didn't sound in the slightest but subdued, Kensi realised and felt like bashing him over the head with that enormous bunch of daisies. Only they were so pretty…

"You cleaned my apartment, didn't you?" She reached forward and pulled off the blindfold. Marty blinked at the sudden bright light and then jumped backwards when he focused in on Kensi's face mere inched from his own.

"I might have done," he prevaricated.

"You had no right. No right at all." Just like you had no right to be skulking around out there, or buying me flowers. And you certainly had no right to weasel your way into my heart. This is all some sort of game for you, isn't it? Do you get your kicks from sniffing bleach or something?

"I wanted to do something nice for you. So bite me for caring." Go on – you know you want to. Bite me on the butt.

And the crazy thing was, Kensi realised, she believed him. "You came over and spent the day clearing up my mess? And then you went out and bought me flowers?" I really don't believe this is happening. Maybe I knocked my head when Nicole drove that car at me and this is all one of these crazy dreams?

"Uh huh. I guess I should have gone with roses, only they seemed a bit clichéd." Only I saw the daisies and I just had this stupid vision of you holding thm, and then burying your face them – and that was it. I bought every single bunch they had. Maybe I was thinking of those panties you've got? The ones with the lime-green daisies?

"No," Kensi said slowly. "The daisies are perfect. They couldn't be more perfect." A bit like you. "So why did you stand me up, then? And how the hell did you get in here?"

"Hetty."

"Hetty told you to stand me up?"

"No." Marty shook his head slowly and then realised something. "Look, I actually wasn't kidding about needing to pee. I'll tell you in a minute."

"It's through there." Kensi started to explain but stopped herself. "Only you know that already, don't you? Seeing as you probably cleaned up in there too." Oh damn. And I know I left that jumbo-sized box of tampons I got on special offer lying out on the counter. What must he think?

"I might have done." He gave her a weak grin and disappeared down the hallway.

I must have been very bad in a former life. Kensi sat down on the sofa and tried to make sense of things. What kind of a man did something like this? Alright, that was actually pretty easy to answer: someone like Marty Deeks. Kind, funny, irresistible Marty Deeks. Who was so easy to love.

"You found the remote!" She picked it up with delight. "I've been searching for it for weeks."

"It was inside a pair of panties. Red, with a setting sun on the crotch?" Marty sat down beside her and clasped his hands between his knees.

Oh well, he's seen me naked – several times. Why am I getting bent out of shape because he's seen my underwear? "I was wondering where they'd got to." Kensi got to her feet and picked up the daisies. "I really should get these into water." She raised them up to her face and sniffed rapturously and Marty felt as if all his dreams had coalesced into this one moment in time.

"You like them then?" Maybe I wasn't so wrong after all. How great does she look?

"I love them." She lifted her face up and Marty saw that her eyes were shining. "That's probably the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me. Although scrubbing my toilet comes pretty close." Who was I kidding when I thought I'd done something bad in a former life? I've got this lover who cleans my apartment and buys me flowers and makes love to me like the world is about to explode. I must have done something amazing to deserve this. I must have been a saint. Only there was one thing still left hanging. "You were going to tell me about Hetty?" she prompted.

"Mmm. Hetty. Well, I kind of needed her approval, you see." Marty ahd the grace to look sheepish.

"You had to ask Hetty for permission to do some housework? Since when?"

Marty shook his head. "No, that was only a means to an end. Sort of. I mean, I didn't clean your apartment to get you into bed." You really have to learn to think before you open your mouth, Deeks. Kensi might have shot me in the butt, but I'm doing a great job of shooting myself in the foot.

"I can't wait to hear this," Kensi was through in the kitchen, searching for a vase big enough to hold the flowers. It looked as if she was going to have to use several. He must have bought up the whole shop. That's so romantic.

"I asked her if you could join the poker game. And I volunteered your place for tonight." Kensi turned around to find him leaning against the wall.

"What makes you think I'd want to join?" Who am I kidding?

"Because I want you there." We never should have left you out. So what if you're a lousy card player? This isn't just about playing poker, is it?

"Oh." Oh. My. God.." It like when she was a little girl and had fallen and skinned her knees - a couple of kisses from her mother and a bandaid and suddenly everything was better. "Oh well, if it means that much to you

"It does."

"So Hetty said yes?"

"She said yes," Marty agreed. "And then she said she'd better give me your spare key so I could come over and tidy up." He looked at her curiously. "Any particular reason you've got a photo of me on your kitchen wall, by the way?"