18

They barely made it through the front door before they were all over each other. The closest from the restaurant, they agreed on Jamie's apartment for a night cap, but who were they kidding? The soft caresses and the way their eyes would repeatedly lock over dinner was a silent indication of how they wanted the night to end - in each other's arms.

They took things slow up until this point, dating and reacquainting themselves with each other after months apart. They limited themselves to hand holding, sweet embraces and long, slow kisses, always breaking apart before they crossed a line that would take their relationship to the next level, but it didn't take long for them to decide that they were ready for more.

Eddie moaned against Jamie's lips as his hands slid the tight, thin sweater up along her flat stomach. Their lips separated and Eddie pulled her hands away from where she had been caressing Jamie's bare chest, raising herself up to help him remove the garment. Jamie's breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight of her in a lacey pink bra, then his lips dove for hers again. They would soon need to move things to the bedroom, but neither was willing to let go of the other as hands roamed across newly exposed skin.

Jamie's heart was pounding in his ears. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd be here like this with Eddie.

"Oh, Jamie," she moaned as his hand worked at the button of her jeans.

The pounding continued in his head and Jamie attributed it to the prospect freeing Eddie from the rest of her clothing...until he heard a quiet, faraway voice. Jamie stilled, his eyes roaming over the edge of the couch and into the dim apartment while Eddie continued with her own ministrations.

Then he really heard it.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

It wasn't his heart, but someone at the damn door.

No, not now, he told himself and returned his attention to the beautiful woman beneath him. He wasn't expecting anyone, so whoever it was could go away.

By then, Eddie heard it too, pulling away to question him. "What was that?"

She didn't realize where the noise was coming from and he planned to keep it that way. "Ignore it," was all he said before kissing her again.

Eddie sighed against his lips; if he was raring to go, so was she. And, boy, was she ever!

"Come on, kid!" came the muffled cry.

Jamie froze again, anger washing across his face. "I'm going to kill him," he whispered.

"I know you're home! Let me in!"

Eddie's eyes widened as she recognized the voice coming from the other side of the door, but Jamie quickly pressed a finger to her swollen lips hoping she'd remain quiet so that his pesky brother would give up and go away.

The apartment was silent until Eddie quietly hissed her displeasure. "Seriously! Does he have someone telling him when we're together so he can come barging in?" she asked, referring to the last time Danny Reagan interrupted a potentially important moment between them.

Jamie shook his head silently, still hovering over her as he willed his brother to get the hell away from his apartment door.

"Come on!" came the persistent whine.

Eddie's head fell back against the cushions, resigned to the fact that they wouldn't be taking this any further tonight. "He's not going to go. You better get that," she conceded quietly while reaching up to caress Jamie's right cheek.

Another set of hard knocks was followed by a frustrated, 'Jamie!'

"Only if you'll help me hide the body after I kill him," Jamie commented through gritted teeth. He really was going to kill his brother.

That brought a smile to her lips, he really was as ready for her as she was for him. It both delighted her and disappointed her, considering that their date was over. Eddie leaned up to give him a long, hard kiss before sending him off. "Go, before he picks the lock." She wouldn;t put that past the troublesome detective.

Jamie groaned in frustration and carefully eased up and off of her. He searched for his shirt, finding it on the other side of the coffee table and slipped it on as he padded over to the door. He turned back to confirm Eddie was dressed again before undoing the locks and pulling the door open.

"What do you want?!" he growled at his intrusive older brother.

"Is that how you say hello?! It's about freaking time, too! Took you long enough...what the heck were you doing in here anyway?!" Danny ranted as he pushed Jamie aside and made his way into the apartment, coming to an abrupt stop as soon as he spotted Eddie Janko sitting on the couch. His eyes narrowed at her slightly mussed hair as she quickly slipped on her boots. Danny comically looked between the pair while pointing a finger at the ex-partners. "Am I interrupting something here?"

Their reaction was instantaneous: both Eddie and Jamie looked away in embarrassment and a blush rose on their faces at what they had been doing while Danny Reagan waited outside.

"Oh," Danny replied sheepishly when their silent reactions confirmed exactly what the pair had been up to. He held his hands together in front of him in a display of penitence but made no move to leave the couple alone. He'd been in this same position many, many times before living in a house with two curious and rambunctious boys. When the mood was killed, there was little chance of anything starting up again...at least that's what he told himself because he really didn't want to make the drive to Staten Island tonight.

"Yeah. Oh," Jamie repeated with a glare.

That got Danny to take a step back in case his brother decided to pounce. He wasn't oblivious to the muscle Jamie had put since he started training. He would never say it out loud, but the kid was likely to whip his ass, given the chance….and he might have just given him an invitation to do that.

Jamie was distracted from boring a hole into Danny's head when Eddie approached him with her coat and purse in hand.

"I should go," Eddie said. She too felt that once the mood was broken, it was hard to get back, especially when their unexpected visitor seemed to have no plans to leave any time soon. The look she gave the detective sent him another step back.

Danny cursed himself for coming over here, but he was certain his brother would be home alone on a Saturday night. The kid's whole life revolved around STS these days. Who knew he had company? And who knew he and Eddie were a thing? He never mentioned her since he left the 12th. If he wasn't so secretive, none of this would have happened!

"No, don't go," Jamie begged, desperate to make tonight happen somehow. He'd get rid of Danny, even if he had to tackle and hogtie him before dragging him to the basement of his building. He'd been learning lots of new moves from his instructors.

Eddie passed through the door, which Jamie still held open, taking his hand to pull him out into the hallway. Jamie closed it partway to allow them some privacy.

"I got work in the morning anyway. You don't," Eddie reminded him while trying to convince herself that it was for the best. She was fully prepared to spend the night and leave early in the morning, but now there was a third wheel and the mood was broken. What's worse is that they hadn't even gotten that far and she still felt like she just did the walk of shame, and in front of a detective, no less! She hated to go, but she preferred to relish their first time together. Eddie looked down and intertwined her fingers with his.

"I'm really sorry about this," Jamie sighed. He couldn't blame her for wanting to run.

"Unless your plan was to have your brother break down your door while we were halfway to naked, then you got nothing to be sorry about," she shot back with a smirk.

"I'm still going to kill him," he swore as he lowered his head, cradling hers between his hands while capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

When they broke apart, Eddie only had one thought. "To be continued, Reagan," she promised with a seductive smile.

"So long as it's soon. This isn't one of those TV dramas that can wait a week to continue the action," he kidded, but he really meant it. He needed to see her again soon.

"I'll call you after tour tomorrow," she laughed and went up on her tippy toes to give him one last peck on the lips. She had no intention of waiting long.

"You better," Jamie grinned and watched her until the elevator doors closed and whisked her away. Then he let out a big groan, his face hardening as he turned to deal with his pesky brother.

Danny flinched, stepping even further into the apartment when Jamie slammed the door with tremendous force, causing the small, metal sculptures on the wall to shake. He watched Jamie carefully in case he came at him, but instead, his brother stomped over to the living room and dropped onto the couch, rubbing his hands roughly over his head and face.

Jamie said nothing, he just sat there deflated and it confirmed to Danny how badly he screwed up this time. He tentatively approached the edge of the couch and offered his apologies. "Sorry, kid."

But nothing came from Jamie. He was silently lamenting over what could have been.

Danny never handled silence very well, so he continued, "So…you and Eddie, huh? I didn't know you two were a thing. How long's that been going on?" he inquired as he slipped out of his winter coat and threw it haphazardly onto the side chair.

Jamie was too annoyed to share the details of his love life with Danny. "You have a real timing issue, Dan," he complained.

"I said I was sorry!" Danny cried. When Jamie refused to respond, Danny carried on. "Really, I am! If I had any idea you had a girl up here -"

That irked Jamie further and the pointed glare returned with full force. "Eddie's not just some girl," he corrected.

Strike two...Danny needed to tread carefully or he would be driving himself home tonight. He also knew Eddie wasn't just any girl to Jamie. Anyone with eyes could see that the kid had a thing for her back when they were riding together, he just didn't realize they were an item now. "I'm sorry, you're right," Danny conceded. The sincerity in his voice deflated Jamie's anger.

"Alls I'm saying is that I had no idea you'd be busy tonight," Danny added.

"It's Saturday night!" Jamie argued.

"Sorry, kid," Danny snorted, "but most Saturdays you're out with the guys having a beer, in Bay Ridge hanging with two older guys or…" Danny paused to figure out how to say the last option gently and still earn a seat on the couch.

"Home, alone, like some loser?" Jamie offered, since that was where his brother was going. All of the anger seeped right out of him, because before he ran into Eddie a few weeks back, Danny's presumption was spot on.

"No, no, no!" Danny tried arguing despite being right. "That's not what I meant! You've been eating and breathing STS lately, I didn't think…" he trailed off as he ventured further into sensitive territory.

"You're right, you didn't think," Jamie sighed but gave Danny a tight smile to let him know he was forgiven.

Sort of.

"I didn't know you and Eddie were together," Danny finished his statement as he eased onto the far cushion of the sofa. "Sorry about coming over here."

"It's alright," Jamie shrugged and moved on so that the nosey detective didn't pry into his love life any more than he already had. "What are you doing here anyway? Like you said, it's Saturday night. Shouldn't you be with your wife and kids?" he questioned. His sudden appearance this late on a Saturday night was odd.

"Linda took the boys to see her mom in Jersey. They've been gone since yesterday afternoon," Danny reminded him.

"Oh, right," Jamie said, recalling last Sunday's gathering during which Linda filled them in on her mother's upcoming surgery. Jamie brought his feet up onto the coffee table and turned to his brother. "How's she doing?"

"She's fine. The hip surgery went okay and she's already home."

"Good."

"Yeah," Danny sighed as he relaxed against the back of the sofa. "So I just got off a double and I am F-R-I-E-D, fried. I didn't think I could make the drive home to Staten Island," he commented. That was the God's honest truth and why he was so insistent at the door, that and he hoped to make plans with the kid tomorrow. Now, had he known he and his former partner were canoodling in here, he would have driven a few more minutes down the road and burst in on a pair of old guys he also knew were sure to be home on a Saturday night.

Now was when Jamie saw it - the absolute exhaustion on his brother's face. He was no longer angry because the last thing he wanted was for Danny to get hurt because he fell asleep at the wheel. "You need a place to crash," Jamie surmised.

A tired smile stretched across Danny's face. "I'm glad you asked, kid! I would love to take you up on your offer!" Danny bounced up and down on the cushion to test his sleeping accommodations. Considering the trouble he caused, he wouldn't bother asking for the bed.

"Comfy," he declared through a yawn. "Anyway, since I was going to stay over and Linda and the kids won't be back until dinner at dad's tomorrow afternoon, thought I'd see if you were up for another trip to the range in the morning. It's been a few weeks since we've been out together."

Jamie considered his very busy schedule - which didn't take long at all since Eddie would be working - before answering. "I guess, sure."

"You guess? I figured you'd wanna run some drills on the range. You gotta know how to use those big guns in high-stress situations!" Danny stressed for the millionth time. The kid was a good shot, but using a sidearm was a hell of a lot different than handling special weapons - something he needed to qualify as an expert in to make it to ESU.

Before their first trip to the range together, Jamie had already reported to Rodman's Neck for weapons training and got an opportunity to handle the high-powered weapons in ESU's arsenal. However, a few sessions does not an expert make and that much was clear when they'd hit the range together. He'd improved since then and the kid was taking his training seriously, but he had to put in a hell of a lot more practice so that handling those weapons became second nature under any stressful situation and any adverse condition, day or night. If there was one thing he could continue to share with his kid brother from his time in the Marines, this was it.

"Yeah, that'd be great, Danny, but you're really up for the drive?" Jamie questioned. He appreciated the help and liked running drills with his big brother. Seeing Danny's skills with automatic weapons was something special and it gave Jamie some insight into his brother's former military life. Danny shared small tidbits of his time in Marines during their sessions, to help him better execute the exercises he had him running. Danny Reagan didn't share much about his deployments and the action he saw overseas, so to be on the receiving end of those tales, even for training purposes, meant a lot to Jamie. It was proof of how far their relationship had come since his first few years on the force when they could hardly tolerate each other.

But considering the hours Danny put in, he didn't want to push him.

"Of course! And I figured we could go to Rodman's Neck instead of Gerry's range since it's closer. After I get a good night's sleep and you cook me breakfast in the morning, I'll be fine. Besides, it's Sunday and the traffic should be good. You can drive us there and back."

"Alright, then," Jamie agreed. At least he would be preoccupied most of the day until he could reconnect with Eddie later in the afternoon.

"Good," Danny sighed and brought his feet up onto the coffee table to mirror Jamie's relaxed pose. "So," he started with a mischievous grin, "Eddie, huh?"

Jamie tried but failed to contain the smile that formed at the mention of her name.

"Good for you, kid."

Damn, that Daniel Reagan for spoiling Jamko's fun! LOL, but it doesn't appear that they' plan to wait long to see each other again.