June 27, 1939

Later turned out to be much later. After Nick kissed her and got out of bed to shower, after Jen then took her own bath and hurried through the morning to make up the time they'd used up in bed, they went back to their regular routine. As if nothing had happened.

Jen had been the one to set that tone, she was sure. For all that Nick was a quiet person, he was very direct. He wouldn't have let things fester. Jen wasn't like that. She was perfectly content, most of the time, to push things aside and ignore them so long as she could get on with her life. And in this case, she obviously could.

The truth of the matter was that they'd had sex. And it had been incredible. But that didn't change anything. It couldn't. They were still Trish and Wesley Claybourne. They still had to run the shop as a front for the backroom activities. They still had to act undercover for the FBI. There were still more than two months left in their directive. And just because Jennifer had been stupid enough to fall in love with her partner didn't mean that she didn't still have a job to do.

So that's what she did. She got dressed that first day and Nick made breakfast like usual, and Jen had very intentionally not made herself available for conversation. After all, they couldn't talk in the shop because, despite their business being a cover, their store was actually quite successful. And running it was sort of nice. Jen had never worked in a shop before this, and she thought she was pretty good at it.

But of course, they couldn't pretend everything was normal. Jen had to go to get something from inventory for a customer and Nick came out to handle the register, and they nearly collided in the doorway. Only a few hours after their bodies had collided in bed together, being so unexpectedly close to him nearly knocked the wind out of her. It seemed that anytime he was near her now, her heart pounded in her throat and she could hardly breathe. Now that she'd opened the floodgates on her lust for him, she couldn't deny the power effect he had on her whenever they were within a foot of each other.

So yes, Jen was fine ignoring a problem until it started affecting her ability to do her job and get through her day. And now it was certainly affecting her ability to get through the day.

It took all of three days for her to throw in the towel and quit pretending. She knew Nick could feel it too, but he was better at hiding it than she was. He watched her. He would stand a little closer to her than he should have. But Jen was the one dropping things and jumping like a cat whenever he was close by.

"I forgot to get eggs at the market. We should go after we close up. Before dinner," she told him that afternoon when they had a lull in customers.

Nick looked at her carefully and seemed to understand what she meant. "Alright," he answered. He didn't say anything else. She hadn't expected him to.

Jennifer felt herself buzzing through the rest of the day as she anxiously awaited the inevitable confrontation. It wasn't even that she worried about what would come of discussing their predicament. It was that she had no idea what was going to happen or what to expect, and few things bothered her more than feeling at a disadvantage from being unprepared for what was to come.

The day dragged on but mercifully ended eventually. "We can lock up from the front and head to the market," Nick offered. It was mostly for the benefit of the recordings. They could relax a little when they weren't in the company of others, but Jones did review all the tapes, and Nick and Jen knew better than to let themselves be caught being anything less than professional and keeping their cover.

But as soon as they left their building, they were free. They were just any two people on the street. They were the Claybournes, as far as the neighborhood was concerned, but they could talk without being overheard by the FBI and that was the freedom that they needed now.

"You alright?" Nick asked softly as they started down the block.

Jen tried to decide how best to answer. "Dunno," she decided. "You?"

A small hint of a smile appeared on Nick's lips. "The same."

Nick reached out to take Jennifer's hand. Touching her helped ground him. Though it was also tempting much more than that, which was part of their problem.

In the three days since they'd woken up in bed and had some of the most incredible sex of his life, they'd barely spoken or touched or done anything other than what was required to keep their FBI cover. And even though it was only three days and they still spent all their time together, Nick found that he missed her.

It was stupid, really, that he was a grown man who had slept with plenty of women, but somehow one roll in the hay with this one left him a lovesick teenager. He hadn't let himself think about it before, but there was no denying it now. Nick had fallen in love with Jennifer. He wanted to marry her for real. How that would work, he had no idea. But living with her undercover and having this fake life together led him to the only conclusion possible: he wanted a real life with her. He wanted to go to bed with her every night and wake up with her every morning. He wanted to come home to her after work and cook together and eat together and everything else that real people who get to live real lives get to do.

But instead, they were trapped in this half-life. They got to pretend to be man and wife all day and enjoy all the fun of it without the truth of being themselves. Nick Buchanan certainly wasn't anything like Wesley Claybourne, just as Jennifer Mapplethorpe wasn't anything like Trish Claybourne. They'd done a good job showing the world that Wesley and Trish were in love, but Nick knew that he had fallen in love with Jennifer. And there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. Anything they did on a personal level between them could put their operation at risk. Nick was a cop, and Jen was a private eye, and they both knew better than to mess things up with the FBI.

That morning they'd spent in bed, the majestic wonder he found in her body when they came together, it was all he could think about sometimes. He tried not to get too close to her, but he couldn't help it. They were playing with fire, and every time he touched her, he risked burning them both up.

But Jesus Christ did he want her.

They couldn't go on like this, he knew, but he had also learned enough of Jennifer in the last few months to know that he couldn't push her. She'd come to things in her own time. She was a smart dame.

Nick was glad she had come up with this opportunity for them to talk. He'd tried to have her start by asking if she was alright. But she didn't know if she was alright. Nick didn't blame her. He didn't know if he was alright either.

"Jen, we gotta talk about this," he said, ducking into an alley so they could have a little privacy. This wasn't a conversation they should have out on the street.

"I know," she answered with a sigh. "We can't go on like this, practically avoiding each other for fear of something happening again."

"I know we shouldn't have done it, but I don't regret that it happened," he confessed.

"I agree."

"And I want it to happen again." His voice fell quiet and went thick with emotion.

"I agree."

They stared at each other. Her voice had been hardly more than a whisper, but he heard her. He felt her. And he couldn't stop himself from leaning in to kiss her.

Their lips moved in concert. They'd made a habit of this already. It felt like coming home, like everything in the world was gonna be okay if he could just kiss her. Nick felt her clutch the lapel of his jacket with one hand as her other hand slip up to the back of his neck to hold him against her. His own arms wrapped around her. All he wanted in the world in this moment was to be as close as possible to her and never, ever let her go.

But obviously they couldn't have that. Jen pulled away, and Nick reluctantly let her go. He felt his body try to follow her, but he took a step back. They were both glassy-eyed and breathing heavily.

"Nick," she lamented.

"I know," he answered, smoothing his hair back as he tried to get ahold of himself.

Jen shook her head. "The more we avoid this, the worse it'll be."

Nick wasn't entirely sure what she was saying. But he also knew she was right. If they tried to keep away from each other, they'd break worse than before.

"I think…maybe we have to find a way to make this work," she suggested.

"We do?" Nick swallowed thickly.

"We keep quiet. I think we did alright the other day. Not every morning or every night, but I think, if we want to, we can…"

"Let it happen," Nick said, finishing her sentence.

Jen nodded. "I don't know how we can get through another two or three months otherwise. These last few days have been torture."

Nick couldn't help but smile. "Hard to give it up when we know how good it is."

She pressed her lips together, obviously trying not to smile. A little pink tinge appeared in her cheeks. "It was very good," she muttered. His smile grew into a smug grin. That made her laugh and smack him in the chest. "Stop it," she insisted.

He chuckled happily, sneaking a swift kiss to her lips and wrapping an arm around her waist. "Come on, let's go buy a carton of eggs to keep up the cover."

They left the alley and walked down the street hand in hand. Nick felt lighter than he had in a long time. Light and happy. And somehow hopeful. Like this would all somehow be okay. He just hoped he was right.