Knocking on the door for a second time, Evan really began to wonder if Nicola was in or if he was running late or early. His watch said that it was the correct time, but he had never known Nicola to be late or alter plans without informing him. As he considered knocking for the third time he heard movement and the door opened. His eyebrows raised in mocking at the barely dressed woman in front of him. "Nic," he chastised, "You do know we're supposed to be leaving soon. You're not even dressed." She was wearing a large, over-sized t-shirt that barely covered her bum. Her short hair was scraped back with clips and successfully up; he liked it.
"I can't decide what to wear," she complained closing the door once he had entered. "Take a seat, grab a drink, make yourself comfortable. I'll be out in… a bit."
"I didn't realise you were such a girl."
"Shut up." As she left the room, Evan shook his head with a smile on his face and looking around her apartment. He had been to her place a few times, but had never really taken in the environment. More often than not they met at his place or went back there after socialising. Evan had never spent the night at hers. The lounge looked quite sparse, a few artistic looking paintings on the walls, but nothing else of colour. Her furniture was all basic, plain looking and there was nothing that stood out as a central focus. Evan was well aware that she liked the order and routine of the military, but he was surprised that something a little more her had not come out in her home. On a side table next to the couch Evan spotted two dark wooden photo frames and he slowly approached them, glancing up to see if Nicola was ready as if he were snooping around her place.
One of the photos was of a younger Nicola and a blonde. They were both smiling and laughing, huddled close together as one of them took the picture. Nicola had never mentioned any friends outside of work and Evan was intrigued as to who the curly haired blonde was. He had never seen Nicola smile so happily than in that photo. The other frame was clearly a more formal portrait of a family. In the centre was an older man, still with a head of dark hair and eyes a bit like Nicola's. There was no woman next to him or in the image that could be his wife, but there were four other men, all younger and very youthful and two girls. Evan was not sure if they were women age-wise, but both of them looked like Nicola. Clearly one was her sister, but he was not sure at first which one.
The younger looking of the girls was wearing a pretty sun dress, cut just above her knee with happy, bright yellow patterns across it. She had long, straight jet-black hair and her skin had a slightly darker complexion; she was tanned. The other Nicola look-alike was a few years older, shorter hair and paler. She also wore jeans and a t-shirt. As he thought about it Evan knew which one was Nicola, but at first glance she could be either. Apparently Nicola had always been a tomboy.
There was an annoyed growl from the other room and Evan smiled, forgetting to put the frame down as he began to approach what was presumably her bedroom. "You okay in there?"
"No!"
"What exactly is the problem?"
"Well, at first I couldn't find anything to wear. I'm more a jeans kinda girl, you know?" He was well aware of the fact. Everyone was dressing up for the night though, so he had left his own denim at home and was wearing tailored trousers and a dark purple shirt, open at the top button because it was far too warm for a tie. It was the engagement party of Mickey Menard and his wife to be, Jessica, so everyone had to be smart. Evan had grumbled to Mickey when he had informed them all of the dress code, but Nicola had been the one to fall completely silent.
"You really don't do the dressing up thing, do you?" Pausing in the doorway to the hall, he did not want to approach her room without permission. Just because they occasionally slept together it did not mean that he had the right to encroach into her private bedroom.
"No, and now I finally found something to wear, but I can't do the zipper up." She growled in annoyance again.
"Need a hand?"
"Please."
Entering her bedroom, Evan noticed straight away that the colour and personality she hid from the rest of her apartment was all hiding in her bedroom. The walls were a very loud, bright blue and there was a unit of shelves decorated with little ornaments and trinkets. He smiled and tossed the frame down onto the bed, moving to stand behind Nicola who had her back to him.
"That's my family," she clarified as he stepped right up to her and found the zipper.
"I wasn't prying," he answered, meeting her gaze in the full length mirror on the wall opposite. "Nice family."
"Not if you were part of it." She dropped her gaze and he continued doing up her zipper. "Zoe, my younger sister, she'd have been able to find a dress straight away, it would have fitted perfectly and she would have looked amazing."
"There you go," he said as he finished zipping up her dress and she met his eyes again.
"Thanks."
"You're the tomboy of the family then?"
She nodded and turned around, still standing closely in front of him. "Which also means, I have no clue how to walk in heels properly." Reaching out for his arms, she manoeuvred one foot into the shoe that was on the carpet next to her and instinctively he held her arms back ensuring that she did not lose her balance. After she put the second on Nicola stood up and was suddenly a lot taller; Evan smiled. "What?"
"It's odd seeing you that level with me."
"Don't. I really do not feel comfortable."
"And I do?" He released her arms, stepped back and did a turn.
"You're wearing a shirt and trousers – it's not that different to normal. Look at me!" She turned slowly due to her footwear and he simply looked at her. The light blue dress she wore had very thin straps, cut lower than any of her usual t-shirts and so revealing more cleavage than most of the others at the party would have seen before. It was also cut to just above her knees, again revealing more than the rest of colleagues would have been used to.
"You look fine to me."
Her eyes narrowed at him and a smirk formed on her face. "You're just saying that because you want to get laid later and I've been away in LA. Unless you convinced… Kerry, was that her name? To forgive you." They had not really discussed the morning that Kerry had turned up at Evan's door, but he knew that Nicola had not needed to think about the woman's name.
"With an attitude like that, you won't ever get laid by me again."
"Wanna bet?" She stepped towards him and he smiled in reply, wondering what the hell the sexy woman in front of him was about to suggest. SG-1's mission to LA had only lasted a few days and they had spent longer apart since their friendship had developed the added benefits. "First one to suggest we leave tonight loses."
"Loses what?"
"The power over tonight."
"Any rules?"
"Nope, play as dirty as you want." She arched an eyebrow at him and swept past him, gently and purposefully brushing past him as she went. Shaking his head and smiling as he watched her leave, Evan had no idea why she did not have more confidence in her femininity. He was happy to lose right now.
Together they entered the bar where Mickey and Jessica were holding their engagement party and it was Evan who soon spotted the happy couple. With a gentle nudge he caught Nicola's attention and she nodded as they both headed towards their friends. Evan could vaguely remember meeting Jessica after the memorial for Ritter, but only briefly as she had not wanted to intrude on everyone else's grief, but ever since that first mission, as SG-11 had continued to bond, Evan had found himself getting to know Jessica a lot more. For all that he teased his younger friend about settling down and getting married at such a young age, Evan actually thought that Jessica and Mickey made a perfect couple. Jess was very slightly shorter than Mickey and the one key thing that Evan would ever think about her was that she was motherly and loved looking after people.
"Glad you two could make it," Mickey mocked as Evan and Nicola approached.
"Wardrobe malfunctions," Evan complained with a smile and Nicola shook her head.
"Leave the lady alone," Jessica chided. "Men just don't understand, do they?" All that Nicola could do was shake her head to say no because all that her mind was thinking that it was so much easier for other women to be ladies. Sometimes she hated being reminded of her gender. Jessica continued, "It is very good to see you both though."
Nicola had last seen Jessica when she had driven Mickey home from a drinking session where, thankfully, the male lieutenant had not become too inebriated; Jessica seemed like she had the ability to scold anyone like a child. "It's been a while," Nicola admitted, but then it was not often that partners and spouses were included on the regular work nights out.
"Yeah, last Sunday lunch," Evan grinned and then turned to Nicola, "This woman," he indicated Jessica, "Makes the best food in general ever. I only go over to eat, not see Mickey."
"I don't doubt it," Mickey laughed. Jessica nudged him and pointed semi discreetly over at someone. "Oh, that's Jess's way of telling me that we need to go say hi to those people."
"Sure," Evan agreed. "Catch up in a bit. Save me a dance," he smiled at Jessica.
"Always," she smiled back before walking off arm in arm with Mickey.
"They make the most perfect couple," Evan said to Nicola.
"What just like the kind of woman you'd want to settle down with eventually?" There was clearly a teasing tone in her voice.
"Me settle down? Never." And then after a beat he continued, "No, I could never be with someone who has to sit around at home, hopeless and helpless when it comes to our line of work. I mean, think about the amount of time that she won't have him because of his job. I'm not sure she understands that yet."
"She's known him since high school or something, hasn't she?"
"Yeah, but he's only been here a few months and she probably thinks that it'll get better or that he'll take a different posting once they're married or when they have kids."
"Maybe he will," Nicola argued.
"Who knows?" he admitted. "I'm just saying that I'd never take that risk." Without pausing even for a breath he changed the subject, "Drink?"
Thanking the man behind the bar for her fresh glass of wine, Nicola took a sip and then turned around to survey the room. Not being a big wine drinker, it was actually the best drink for at an event such as an engagement party. Bottles of beer always seemed inappropriate on the rare occasions that she wore a dress, similar to how she felt whenever she was in her dress uniform and at a function. Although she hated the skirt more than she hated any dress in her closet.
It did not take long for her eyes to find Evan standing with a small group of men she recognised from work. Whilst complaining about her own attire, she had joked that his clothing was not that different to his usual, but there was something different about how he looked. It was the dark purple shirt and how it perfectly fitted him, open at the collar by maybe a button or two, but enough to see just a little bit of his chest. She could not help but watch him as he talked and laughed with his friends and Nicola found herself unable to take her eyes from him.
He glanced over and she immediately smiled very slightly and then turned her back to him, leaning very slightly on the bar and taking another sip of her wine. It would do no good for him to think that she was staring at him and not just for the bet she had set. Nicola had managed friends with benefits before, sex buddies was possibly more apt for back when she was younger, but there was something different about Evan and quite frankly it scared her. She was not supposed to form attachments to anyone, not after the pain of her best friend dying in her arms years ago. On occasion the image of her dying, blonde haired best friend flashed into her mind, but often it now morphed into Janet Fraiser dying on some random planet for an equally random reason as her best friend. It had been all that Nicola could do to cope, turning to Evan and then using him as a distraction. She had needed the thoughts, feelings and images to go away and he was the only way for that to happen.
No matter how hard she had tried, though, it was starting to become complicated. Sex with Evan was no longer purely about distraction, about feeling something other than pain. It was becoming something more than that. It was not just the fact that she was enjoying their evening of baiting one another, although the cab journey where he kept absently stroking her thigh had been enjoyable, rather than just using it as a means for sex. The number of entire nights that they had spent together was not very high because Nicola always made an excuse or simply awoke and ran away; it was part of the distraction. One night had been because they had both been far too drunk to do anything other than pass out after they had sex and the second time was because Evan had stopped her.
It was that night that caused her concern. After her nightmare where he had actually awoken, he had refused to let her leave and it disconcerted her. Nicola Carpenter did not want a relationship. The only ways that she knew how to deal with thoughts or events out of her control was to distract herself with sex or drink herself into oblivion. Looking at the glass of wine, she put it down and moved away from it slightly.
"Hey," a voice said in her ear and she turned her head slightly to see Evan incredibly close to her. He moved away and leant sideways against the bar. "You watching me, Carpenter?"
"And if I was?"
"It won't help you win this bet."
Stepping closer to him, pressing very slightly against his front, she sighed. "I'll have to try harder, but you don't seem to have tried anything yet."
They both stood up straighter and he called the barman over, asking for two shots and passing one to her. Without a word they both downed their shots, eyes meeting each other afterwards. "Maybe me staying away is my method."
"Not getting me drunk then?" He raised an eyebrow at her, put a hand on her hip with a gentle caress and then leaned in to whisper into her ear.
"Wait and see." A shiver went down her spine and she felt his lips next to her earlobe before he pulled away, smiled cheekily at her and walked away. Suddenly all thoughts of complication and confusion vanished from her mind; Nicola was going to make Evan lose the bet.
Forcing himself to walk away from her, Evan had to admit that he had hoped the bet would be over by now. It was not that he did not want to be at his friend's party, but there was something about Nicola in a dress that made him desperately want to get her out of it. After an initial conversation with a group, Nicola had then ended up moving away with a few people and since then, and their brief moment at the bar, they had not spoken since arriving. In all honesty he was not sure what the next move would be on his part, but he figured that he had left the ball firmly in her court.
He paused in his walk across the room when he saw a friend he had not seen for a while and they began catching up on what each had been doing. As he tried to listen and pay attention, movement from the corner of his eye caught him. It was as if every sense in his body had been set to the frequency of her and he noticed every single little thing if it involved her. She had been speaking to someone earlier, laughing out loud and he had watched her covertly the entire time. He was on the verge of losing the bet just for the fun of what would happen afterwards.
Watching as Nicola walked away from the bar, his eyes flicking to the empty wine glass she had left behind, he clenched his jaw slightly as he saw her start a conversation with a man. It was no one that he recognised, but she seemed to know him. A few minutes into their conversation, Nicola looked over and saw Evan watching her. They smiled at each other and Evan tried his hardest to pay attention to his friend until Nicola innocently put her hand on the man's arm. Evan was unable to prevent the glare he sent across the room and quickly made an excuse to his friend.
But he did not head towards her. She was either being friendly, interested in someone else or playing Evan, tempting him to break the bet first and he was not going to fall for it. Instead he walked in the opposite direction and out of the main room. It was quieter slightly outside although he was now on the direct path to the toilets. Leaning backwards against a cool wall, Evan sighed and closed his eyes. After a few minutes he thought he could smell the scent Nicola was wearing. Upon opening them he saw Nicola standing a few feet away.
"You okay?" she asked and he nodded, pushing away from the wall.
"Yeah, it's just a bit hot in there," he lied. This was about to become some epic battle of wills and he was not sure who was more stubborn. He decided to try and push her a little more. Stepping closer to her, their faces inches apart and level because of her heels, Evan smiled. "How are your feet?"
Looking down at them as if she had forgotten about wearing heels, Nicola stumbled ever so slightly and Evan steadied her with his hands on her elbows. Her fingers fanned out, gripping the insides of his elbows and then their eyes met. "Uh, yeah," she stuttered. "They're not hurting yet."
"Good, that's good." He pulled her ever so slightly closer to him, almost imperceptibly, but he could feel the difference. "You think it's hot in there?"
She shook her head, a tiny wisp of hair that had fallen out of its clip gently tickling Evan's cheek and he released one of her arms to tuck it behind her ear and he felt her shiver at the touch.
Grinning relentlessly, Evan leaned towards her ear to whisper into her ear again. "Shivering, are you cold out here?" Purposefully Evan allowed his lips to brush her earlobe again, well aware that he was using the exact same tricks as she had by the bar. They seemed to be the right tricks which worked. Goosebumps sprang up over her exposed skin; he could see them on her shoulder and feel them on her arm near his hand. Contemplating kissing her gently on the neck or shoulder, Evan was interrupted from his game when the door from the main hall suddenly opened. Nicola jumped away from him and quickly exited back into the main room.
He would get her to break with the next turn.
Nicola had lied when she had said that her shoes were not hurting her which, when added to the numb feeling she now had in her legs made her seek out a chair on which to sit. She quickly spotted Menard and a few other SG officers and made her way to them, taking the last seat available at the table. She had already spoken to most of her colleagues since arriving and had got all the blushing from their comments out of the way. Now she did feel slightly more comfortable in her dress, although it was still odd to be wearing it when sitting around and joking with people she normally considered herself as one of the guys with. In her blue dress Nicola was most definitely not one of the guys.
"Want a drink?" Bob, who was sitting opposite her, asked the entire table and she was the only one to order a glass of white wine with all of them having beers. If only she could get away with a bottle of beer. Her father would slap her for taking the shot at the bar with Evan earlier. It was the only feminine thing he had ever taught her – when supposed to be a lady, drink like one. He was the same father that had taught her exactly how to keep up with the boys.
Before Bob could return, Evan had appeared from out of nowhere and took his seat.
"How you doing there, Nic?" he grinned at her. He thought he was going to beat her.
"Feet got a bit sore and needed to sit down. You?"
"Went outside to try and cool down. It didn't work."
"Shame. Maybe you need to go home and have a cold shower." He did not answer her. After keeping eye contact and drinking a mouthful of his beer, Evan turned his attention to his neighbour and they began an animated conversation.
A few moments later Bob returned with a tray full of beers, plus one white wine, and he grabbed a nearby empty chair, placing it at the end of the table and sitting on it. Soon, he and Nicola were deep in a trivial conversation about random memories of the Air Force and lies they had used to cover up Stargate related incidents. There was still a slight throbbing in her feet so, underneath the table, Nicola slipped off her shoes before an idea hit her.
Focussing fully on Bob and their conversation, forcing the most innocent of looks she could summon onto her face, she reached her right leg out until it bumped against something and she hoped that it was Evan's leg. Shifting slightly so that her line of sight was still firmly on Bob, but she could see any reaction from Evan out of the corner of her eye, Nicola began to stroke what she hoped was Evan's leg.
It took only a second before a look crossed Evan's face; a momentary blankness with an element of shock. She refused to smile when she could see on his face how he was torn between turning to look at her and remaining impassive. It almost made her want to laugh out loud. Continuing to stroke and caress his leg with her bare foot, she laughed at something Bob said and Evan finally looked over.
"Evan," Bob said, "What's the lamest excuse you've given to someone to cover up work?" As Bob's attention remained on Evan and he answered, Nicola leaned back in her seat and allowed herself to fully look at Evan as she continued her caress, working her way slowly up his leg. She could see him resisting the urge to squirm in his seat. There was a dark, clouded look on his face and she knew that he could not be far from breaking. Or at the least walking away. Every few seconds his eyes flickered to hers, but he gave nothing away about what she was doing under the table. She had edged past his knee and began running her foot more horizontally, hoping that her leg was long enough to reach as far as she needed to.
Suddenly Evan coughed and moved causing her foot to fall to the floor. He stood up and she smiled triumphantly as he was giving up. She would continue this kind of action until he had no other option but to give in. Moving to stand next to her, Evan held a hand out to her. "May I have this dance?"
Her mouth dried. "Sure," she managed to say after finishing the last bit of her drink and then fumbling about putting her shoes on. She could curse him for being able to shift the power so easily, but as she took hold of the hand he held out she refused to let him take all the power back. Taking a couple of longer strides, Nicola strode out in front of him and led him onto a spot on the dance floor, nearer the back and further away from their seated friends. If Evan thought he could get out of her physical teasing that easily he was very wrong.
It was him that pulled her to him when he decided they were in the right place. His left hand settled on her waist whilst his right kept hold of her hand and they began moving in time to the music. There was a slither of distance between their bodies, but both seemed to refuse to look the other in the eye.
"How are your feet?"
"I just needed to give them a stretch."
"Oh, that they did."
"How about you? Was something over there making you feel… uncomfortable? You looked a bit squirmy." The music was louder on the dance floor and they were speaking directly into each other's ears to be heard without shouting. Her eardrum was tingling from the noise, the rest of her shivering involuntarily every time that she felt his warm breath on her skin.
Without warning Evan spun her outwards from his right hand and then back to facing each other before dipping her briefly. When she was back standing upright, a look of mild shock on her face, he grinned at her. "I'm fine."
"Good," she agreed, "I wouldn't want to think that you were about to give in."
"I don't lose."
"Neither do I." For a second time he spun her outward, but this time on the return he caused her to end up with her back to him and an arm wrapped around her midriff, pinning her comfortably to him, which was when she grew concerned that he was going to win. Swallowing in concentration, Nicola forced her eyes closed and attempted to breathe slowly as their bodies began to move together in time to the music. The beat and song were lost on her as all she could feel was the heat of his body pressed up against her.
He moved his hands to her waist and as one forced her body to stay in time with his and the other very slowly began caressing down to her hip. Feeling her shiver ever so slightly, he smiled and let out a little laugh, causing her to shiver again which was when he realised that his mouth was right next to her ear and he was breathing directly down onto her neck, brushing her earlobe.
"You don't play fair," she murmured only just loud enough that she could be heard over the music and he grinned again; she could feel it against her neck as his facial muscles moved. Moving her own right hand, she found his that was stroking her hip ever so gently and she placed her hand over his, intertwining their fingers and she forced his hand to stop. It was one thing to be caressing her, but another to be doing that at the same times as breathing hotly onto her neck; the two combined was too much.
"You said there were no rules," he laughed into her neck and her hand clenched around his. Placing a featherlight kiss onto the skin underneath his breath, he pulled her tighter to him by his hands essentially grinding her bum into his groin.
"Watch it or I'll stand on your foot."
"Just to get me off? To try and win?" An annoyed growl escaped her lips as she decided to regain the control. With their hands still joined, Nicola spun on one foot to bring herself face to face with Evan, his arm across her back and the hand he held almost behind her too. "Nice move."
"Thanks." Moving her free hand to his chest, Nicola was not about to lose the new found control as she caressed upwards and towards the back of his neck – his weak spot – to get him to give in. She had not planned for his free hand that went to the small of her back before slowly starting to edge downwards and she smiled at him. "Really?" she asked, "The cliché that is the bum?"
"Nope," he responded and smiled at her confused face. As she opened her mouth to question his tactics, he stopped her by kissing her very gently and only for a second. Even so, when he pulled away he was pleased to see her standing there with her eyes closed for a moment before she recovered. "I'll do it again," he promised with a smile.
Her jaw clenched tightly closed as she considered quite how far he could take their game with no rules and there were far too many people around. With their hands still entwined, she turned slightly and began to move away, forcing him to follow her. "We'll just have to go home then, won't we?"
She sounded angry which simply made him smile.