That afternoon, Parker and Lauren drove back to the city. Neither had wanted to leave, but they needed to open the clinic the next morning. Sara had stayed, taking a vacation day, and Jared was going to bring her into town.
Lauren smiled when she looked at Parker. The last time they'd left, she'd felt like she was leaving the only home she'd known for a long time, but this time…she felt like she was on her way home.
He smiled back at her. He really wanted to be with her tonight, but didn't know how to approach it. Well, it was now or never.
"So…um…I was wondering." he started.
"Yes?"
"Well, you have some clothes packed, right?"
"Yes…"
"And so do I." he cleared his throat.
"Okay…"
"Well, I was thinking, maybe you'd like to sleep over tonight. Or I can come to your house. Or not, I mean, you know, whatever…"
God, he was cute.
"Um…yeah. I think we should go to your house." She told him.
Awesome. "Oh, okay, that sounds great. Yeah, great." He looked over and was pleased to see her blushing. God, she was cute.
He smiled the rest of the way home, and his fingers tapped the steering wheel as he pulled into his driveway.
He turned to her. "Are you sure?"
She leaned over and kissed him.
"Okay, yeah, you're sure. Good." He kissed her back.
They carried their bags inside, and he motioned for her to follow him down a hallway and into his bedroom.
Big guy…big bed. She smiled.
He set his suitcase down and moved to turn on the lamps beside his bed.
She set her suitcase down as well, feeling nervous, but excited.
He came to stand in front of her and pulled her into a hug. She pressed her hands to his back, and he moved to press his lips against hers. She ran her hands up to his hair, and he pressed his tongue against her bottom lip. She groaned and her fingers tightened.
He moved his lips down her jaw to her throat, then moved to press right behind her ear.
"I can't decide…" he whispered.
"Hmmm….what?" she moaned.
"I can't decide whether I want your hair down, I love it…or if I want it up, so I can kiss you like this." He pressed his lips down her throat.
"Well" she gasped, "there's always next time."
He pulled back and smiled.
"You're right…there is next time. I keep thinking of everything I want to do to you, with you, and there's no way we could do it in one night…what's wrong?"
She'd tensed a bit.
"Skills…what is it?"
"You…you really want me that much?" she asked him.
"What?"
"You really want me that much that you've, you know, thought about it, and you have…things you want to do?"
"Yes…oh yes…how can you doubt it?" his eyes conveyed his sincerity.
"I don't know, I guess…I've just never been with any man like you. Never been with anyone who wanted me, really wanted me, not just sex, I guess."
He pressed his knuckle under her chin and brought her eyes to meet his.
"I love you, and I want you."
She swallowed. "I love you too."
"And?"
"And I…I want you."
He kept his eyes on hers, and reached down to begin unbuttoning her sweater. His fingers fumbled on the tiny buttons. He looked down and groaned; there were like 20 more buttons. He moved his thumbs underneath both sides of the neckline. She saw the heat in his eyes.
"Hey…no…I like this sweater. Cara just gave it to me today. It's pretty."
He pressed his forehead to hers.
"It is pretty, but…it's also pretty annoying."
She laughed."You can't rip it."
"Okay, so you do it." He told her, taking a step back.
"Rip it off?"
Oh, God… "Um, no, unbuttoning it will be fine."
She smiled and blushed, moving her hands to the top button.
She saw the heat in his eyes and froze again.
"Parker."
"Yes?"
She stood there.
"Lauren…are you afraid of me?"
"No!. No, Parker, of course not. I just…I'm really afraid I won't please you."
He looked at her.
"Okay." He stepped back and walked out of the room.
What? "Um, okay." Great, she'd ruined it before it had even started. No surprise there. She turned to walk out of the room and ran into him as he was coming back in. He had a wire hanger in his hand.
"What is that?"
"You'll see." He pulled on the hanger until the wire formed the shape of a circle. Bending the hook slightly, he hung it on his door, creating a hoop. He pulled a pair of socks from his drawer and tossed them to her. "Okay…one point each. Every time we score a point, the other one has to remove one item of clothing."
She smiled. "Okay…" she tossed it in. "Take off your pants."
He laughed. "Not so fast, missy."
"Hey, you told me to say that to you."
"True, true. Alright…fine." He took his shoes off…pointing at her to do the same to keep it fair, then reached for his belt. He slowly removed it, and then lowered his pants to the floor. Bending over, he picked them up and tossed them toward his clothes hamper.
She smiled at his legs in his boxers, almost covered by his white dress shirt, and at his feet covered in striped socks, an annual gift from Booth she'd learned about that morning.
He held out his hand for the socks in her hand, and she gave them to him. Without looking, he tossed them over his head, and they went in. She narrowed her eyes, and he knew he was golden. He winked.
She took off her socks and raised her eyes to his.
"Cute feet." he winked.
She smiled and held out her hand.
She reached over her head and threw the socks, and they went in again.
He pulled his shirt over his head, and she stared…
"Are you still going to play?" he taunted.
She tossed him the socks. He turned and walked toward the door, allowing her to admire the way he moved in his boxers and reached up and placed the socks through the hoop. She smiled and took a chance, taking her pants off as quickly as possible.
Keeping her gaze on his chest, she nervously pressed her hands down her sides. She could see his feet moving closer to her. He caught his hands in hers against her legs and moved his down to her feet.
"You have the most amazing legs. I…"
She took a step back.
"Lauren…"
He stood.
"I don't want to play anymore." she took another step back.
"Okay." He said.
"Parker…sit on the bed, please."
He raised his eyebrows, but, did as she asked.
"Parker, I can only do this if you aren't touching me."
"Okay…"
He kept his eyes on hers and she undid one button, then the next.
He kept his hands to himself, but told her how he was feeling.
"Remember when we went jogging on Thanksgiving?"
She nodded.
"I wanted you."
She gasped and undid two more buttons.
"Remember when I was wrapping your ankle?"
"Yes" she breathed.
"I wanted you."
Growing bolder, she undid the next three buttons in a hurry.
"Remember when I was sitting behind you in church?"
"Parker" she bit her lip.
"I wanted you" he growled.
His eyes had stayed on hers, but she could see his jaw working and his hands clenching at his sides.
She undid the rest of the buttons on the sweater and let it fall from her shoulders to the ground. Walking toward him, she put her hands on his shoulders.
He moved his hands to her hips and pressed his face to her stomach.
"I'm not small" she said.
"Neither am I" He moved them so she was laying against his pillow, his body pressing hers to the mattress. "I'm bigger than you actually."
"Most places" she swallowed. He flipped them so she was on top. She gasped as his hands moved toward her hips and he squeezed.
"Lauren, a man has to have something to grab onto." She smiled as she leaned down and kissed him. He let her do this for about thirty more seconds before flipping them back, quickly removing the rest of their clothes.
She gasped as she felt him, all of him against all of her.
He kissed her lips.
"Don't you get it? We fit, in everyway. I love that I can be with you and kiss you and feel your legs all along mine at the same time. I love you, everything about you."
She wrapped her legs around him, and he groaned. "See?"
Okay, yeah, so…she was starting to get it. She reached down to press his hips, letting him know what she wanted. He wasn't going to let her off so easy.
"What do you want?" he asked her.
She kissed him. "I want us to fit…in everyway."
He made it happen, and she gasped. "Amazing."
He smiled. "Not even the best part, baby."
She smiled and kissed him.
"Merry Christmas."
He laughed and pressed. Then again. Again. She ran her fingernails down his back. Again… Soon they were both panting, his body collapsed on hers.
She laughed.
"What's so funny" he said into her neck.
"Oh…I was just thinking that you did rock my world."
He smiled, and she felt it…ooh…all over again. She gasped, "Maybe I should start calling you Skills"
He chuckled. Hmmm…
