Emily lead Derek into the backroom of the bar and made up a bag of ice, offering it to Derek for his knuckles.

"Thanks," he murmured, holding the ice to his fist.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't think I broke anything, but it's not exactly an orgasm," he joked.

She then proceeded to punch him in the shoulder. "You idiot!"

"Idiot?" he repeated. "Why?"

She huffed. "I told you I had it covered. I don't need you to be my knight in shining armour."

"What?" he said with a little laugh. "Are you for real right now? I just stopped that guy from getting to third base with you and you're pissed off?"

"I'm pissed off because you almost cost me my job," she said flatly.

His brows leapt up his forehead. "Cost you your job?" he said incredulously. "Are you really blaming me for this? In case you missed it, I very nearly got fired!"

She gave him a pointed look. "And I had to stick my neck out to save you, in case you missed that..."

He huffed. "I didn't ask you to do that!"

"Fine!" she said, "In the future I won't bother."

"Good."

For several moments, the two of them stood there, staring daggers at each other. Then – and neither could have said exactly how – in the next moment they'd both surged forwards, lips crashing together in a heated kiss.

Emily wrapped an arm around his neck, nails scraping at the back of his head, while her other hand fisted in the material of his shirt, holding on as if for dear life. For his part, Derek didn't seem to know what to do with his hands, given the fact that Emily was mostly naked and putting his hands anywhere on her body seemed inappropriate.

His tongue delved into her mouth and she readily granted him access. She tasted of tequila and cinnamon gum and all he could think was that he wanted to taste her lips forever.

There was no telling how much further they might've gotten, if it hadn't been for the bartender opening the door, effectively interrupting the moment.

Emily sprinted from the club to her car, doing her best to avoid getting soaked by the torrential rain spilling down from the sky. All she wanted was to get home and wash off the events of the night and have a good stiff drink. She was even considering waking up Jayde so she could cuddle her back to sleep.

The universe, though, had other ideas...because when she turned the key in the ignition, the car refused to so much as shudder with life. "Fuck!" she shouted, slamming her palms against the steering wheel. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Struggling to resist the urge to cry, she buried her face in her hands, her body heaving with the threat of oncoming tears. She didn't have AAA, buses didn't run at this hour, and if she had to pay for a taxi, that would cost her half the night's earnings...

She was startled by the sound of a knock on her window. "Need help?" Derek's voice called out to be heard above the steady pounding of the rain.

"It's fine," she lied, not entirely sure why she was lying, only that she was in no mood to face him after their kiss.

"What's wrong?" he persisted.

She heaved a sigh. "Car won't start..."

"Pop the hood," he instructed. "I don't know much about cars, but I can take a look if you want... Could just be a loose battery cable, which is a quick fix."

She shook her head, still not sure why she was refusing his offer of assistance. "Don't worry about it," she repeated, "I'll call AAA, it's fine."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Fine. I was just trying to help..." He shook his head, sighed. "Look, if you need a ride home, it's not a big deal. It's on my way."

She opened her mouth as if to tell him off for a third time, but seemed to think better of it. With a sigh, she nodded once, grabbing her purse and following after him.

There was silence in the car but for the patter of rain on metal and the shushing spray of cars driving through the rain pooling at the side of the road. At first, Derek had turned on the radio, but Emily had quickly turned it off, saying she really couldn't handle any more noise than absolutely necessary after a full night of pounding bass notes making her skull throb.

Derek was the first one to break the silence, clearing his throat, then saying in a rush of air, "I'm sorry I kissed you..."

"What?" Emily said, brows leaping up her forehead.

He sighed, looking like he really didn't want to repeat the words, but doing so anyway. "I'm sorry for kissing you. It was inappropriate."

She laughed a little, though humourlessly. "If you'll recall, I kissed you..."

"Well, I'm sorry anyway."

"Was it that bad?" she asked, not entirely sure why she let the words fall past her lips, but curious about the answer all the same.

He glanced over at her, seeming unsure of the motives behind the question. "Believe me, it was a good kiss," he insisted. "I just... I don't think it was appropriate of me to kiss you at work when you were emotional and possibly traumatized by some sleazy pick up artist assaulting you and almost losing your job over it..."

She gave a small snort of what might've been laughter. "Yes, well...I never did have good timing."

He was curious as to what she'd meant by that, but didn't press the matter. "Anyway, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

She arched a brow as she studied him. "Why don't I believe that?" she asked and it was almost a joke.

"What? You don't think I'm a man of my word?" he asked.

"Actually, I think you're a man with a crush," she retorted.

He pretended to scoff. "You wish, Princess...you wish." Then, for good measure, he winked at her, making her roll her eyes. But she also smiled for possibly the first time that night.