Chapter 37

Deeks and Kensi finally pulled up in front of Casa Del Mar. They'd had to go back to his place three times for something one of them had forgotten. Twice for her, once for him and now they were running late. Cassie had already texted Kensi four times asking for an ETA. Cindy, who had gifted the brides with her services as their make-up artist and hairdresser, was almost done with everyone else. Deeks sent Kensi up to the room the hotel was providing for the bridal party to get ready in. He went to the registration desk to check them in, finding Eric already there. Deeks grinned to himself, wondering if he was here so much later than everyone else hoping to avoid anyone finding out how many rooms they'd booked. They had to have heard some scuttlebutt about the betting going on, they heard everything else. He sidled up behind the analyst silently and blatantly eavesdropped.

"I'm checking in for Nell Jones and Eric Beale. "

He was disappointed. He really had hoped the two of them were together and had placed his bet on one room and that Eric would be the one to let that cat out of the bag. He cleared his throat and smirked when Eric jumped and gasped. His friend turned around and said "Dude, don't do that! You know people can actually die from fright!"

"Sorry man, I didn't mean to scare you. You and Nell checking in? I don't see her anywhere."

"We were a little late so she went right up, I'm checking in for both of us. Where's Kensi?"

"Same. She headed up as well, leaving me to do the heavy lifting. Have you seen Admiral Shelton, Sam or Callen?"

"Yeah, they're all here and checked in." Turning back to the counter, Eric took both keys and picked up their bags. "I'll see you in the bridal suite after you guys get dressed?"

"Yup. We'll be there." Deeks replied. Eric disappeared towards the elevators. Deeks turned back to the desk and gave the woman their information. Once he had his keys, he started to turn away when a thought hit him. Giving the woman his best smile he looked at her name tag and asked "Caroline, do you offer adjoining rooms?"

Caroline just stared at him, her mouth slightly open. Deeks tilted his head and said "Caroline?"

She blinked several times and said without thinking "Oh, yes, we do. But your friend just took the last two we have available for tonight."

Deeks thanked her and walked to the elevators. He wondered if that would count as one room or two and if the adjoining factor negated all bets. In addition, he wondered why they would get adjoining rooms if they were together. For that matter, why get them if they weren't? He shook his head; he was never going to figure out how the minds of those two geniuses worked. He couldn't wait to tell Kensi to get her take on it.

Once he got to the room, he was pleased at how beautiful it was. This was going to be a great romantic weekend for the two of them. He carefully placed her dress in the closet and hung his suit over the bathroom door. All he had to do was put it on. Kensi and the rest of the girls were getting hair and make-up done. Then they would go back to their own rooms to dress, anyone not staying would dress in the suite. He figured he'd wait for her to get here before starting to get dressed himself. No sense in sitting around in tails, risking getting something dirty. He quickly unpacked the few things they had brought with them for their overnight stay. The items from the go bag may have taken just a little bit longer to make their way into the bureau. Once done he texted her their room number and plopped down on the couch. He wondered if he should just watch some television or go check out the hotel. The hotel won. He sent a group text to the guys to see who was doing what. Sam and Callen quickly responded that they were down by the pool. He hesitated; he'd brought his suit but didn't want to have to shower again. He sighed and left it in the drawer where he'd placed it and left the room.

Reaching the pool area, he found Sam and Callen, along with Admiral Shelton, sitting in lounge chairs enjoying the view. Said view being a tossup between the ocean and the girls in bikinis. Catching Sam watching a beautiful woman in a tiny red bikini, Deeks nudged him. "Do I have to tell Michelle what you do when she's not around to watch you?"

Sam grinned. "Just cause I'm on a diet, doesn't mean I can't look at the menu, Deeks. Besides, Michelle knows I love her and she has nothing to worry about."

Deeks looked over at Callen and the admiral. John held up his hands and said "What menu? I've just been sitting here, minding my own business, watching the waves roll in over the sand." Deeks snorted and looked at Callen who just smirked at him, not giving anything away per usual. Smiling, Deeks sat in an empty lounge chair that faced the ocean. The others looked at him in surprise; they figured for sure the surfer would be eying the ladies. He appeared to be lost in thought so they just continued their prior conversation around him.

Deeks startled when his text notification went off. He looked at his phone and saw that Kensi was done and on her way back to the room with no way to get in. He jumped up and said his goodbyes to the others. They watched him sprint away with smiles on their faces. The two of them never could stand to be separated for too long.

He reached the room just moments before she did and waited for her to reach him. He opened the door and bowed her in. She looked amazing even though she was still dressed in t-shirt and yoga pants. Her hair was up in some complicated do and his hands itched to pull it down. He actually raised a hand towards it only to have Kensi knock it away. "I spent too much time having my hair yanked this way and that for you to mess it up Deeks." She smiled enticingly at him and continued softly. "You can do it later tonight." He just about swallowed his tongue. He moved towards her for a kiss only to have her back away. "Make up Deeks! Don't smudge all Cindy's hard work!" He sighed and moved away, putting some distance between them so he could think.

"When do the brides want us to be back in the suite?" he asked her.

"In about an hour. They want to do more pictures before the wedding starts at one. We should start getting ready. You're going to have to help me put on the gown so it doesn't mess up my hair and make-up and no, that doesn't mean you get to mess them up. Yet."

"Okay, you first and then me or other way around?"

"Why don't you dress first?" Kensi settled herself on the bed to watch the show. When he took off his t-shirt, she gulped. Hearing the small sound he turned and looked at her. He recognized that look and found himself responding to it. Smiling, he slowly unbuttoned his cargo shorts then gradually unzipped them, not even realizing he was swaying to music only he could hear. Her eyes followed his every movement, her eyes getting wider. When he finally dropped the shorts to the floor, she flushed and licked her lips. He felt his heart stutter in his chest. No other woman had ever been able to make his heart do that with just a look and a small action.

Kensi snapped out of it when she realized he was heading towards her with one thing on his mind. "Wedding! Wedding! We don't have time for this! You need to finish getting dressed and stop with the strip teasing!"

"You started it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

They stopped and grinned at each other, both wishing the wedding was over and they were back in the room, alone with nowhere they had to be. Deeks turned away and finished getting dressed, leaving the top hat, cane and gloves on the bed to be put on later. "Your turn Princess."

Kensi stood up and held her arms up. He looked at her in confusion. A few minutes ago she had said no. "I need you to help me get this t-shirt off without messing everything up." He closed his eyes and groaned. How the hell was he supposed to do that and keep his hands off her? "Come on Deeks, time is wasting!" He took a deep breath and reached for the bottom of her t-shirt, pulling it up and over her head as she protected it. Seeing the flush on his face, she felt kind of bad. Sounding somewhat apologetic, she said "I guess I should have worn a button up shirt, I just didn't think."

He managed to squeak out "Yeah, yeah you should have." Looking at how his eyes were dilated, Kensi couldn't help but feel powerful. This man could bring her to her knees with a smile. It felt good to know she had the same impact on him. Deciding to put him out of his misery, she moved away from him to finish getting dressed. The dress was complicated and required both of them to concentrate, allowing their pulses to settle back to normal.

Once she was in the dress and all buttoned up, she turned to look in the full length mirror on the door. He moved in behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist loosely so as not to wrinkle anything and locked eyes with her. She sighed and said "We look like a Victorian novel." He expected her to snort laugh but instead she leaned back into him, smiling gently.

"Yeah. It's a love story." He said softly. Her eyes widened in surprise at the memory his words invoked.

~,~,~~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,~,

A.N - Please review if you like this story (or don't like it)! Also, leave prompts if you think of something!