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Jordan squealed as Nigel caught her in his long arms, knowing her most ticklish places. She playfully tried to get away, their shared laughter making it hard to breathe.
"Alright, alright! I concede!" She shrieked, her smile hurting her face. They collapsed on the couch, and she curled up in his lap, his willing captive, "Star Trek is better than Star Wars."
"I can't believe you'd ever say that space opera was better than the depths and culture of my beloved Star Trek. Especially consider you hate them both, luv." He retorted, kissing the side of her head. She leaned into him, her sigh content.
A knock interrupted the moment, and they froze.
"Jordan?"
Jordan's brow knit, "Lily?" She mouthed. Nigel looked to the door.
"I know you're home. C'mon Jordan, open up."
Tripping over herself, Jordan hurried and pulled Nigel to his feet, "You need to hide." She began pushing him towards the bedroom.
He turned around, noticing now just how open her floorplan was, "Where should I go? Not too many hiding spots, sweetheart!" He furiously whispered.
"Jordan, I can hear you in there."
Jordan tsked as she muttered to herself, her heart racing, "Just, go! Behind there!" She pushed him towards the bedroom and pointed towards the wall of colorful glass panes.
"Oh, yes, she will never see me through that." He quipped as she gave him a final shove and rushed towards the door, stopping only long enough to stuff his jacket behind the couch.
"Lily!" She greeted, her voice higher than she meant as she threw open the door. Jordan stood at an angle, trying to keep her friend from venturing in, "What—what're you doing here?"
"I found your cell on the floor outside your office; you must have been in some rush not to notice it." Lily rummaged through her purse to retrieve it, "I know you are on call tonight, and I thought it might come in handy." She smiled brightly.
Jordan accepted the small phone, "Thanks, Lily, you're a lifesaver!" She leaned against the frame and pulled the door almost closed behind her.
Lily rose a skeptical brow, "You alright?"
"Yeah, fine."
Lily nodded, concern etching her face, "Mind if I come in?"
"Uhm…" Jordan looked over her shoulder and clicked her tongue as she weighed her options, "Sure." She smiled, not wanting to make Lily too suspicious. Jordan could just picture Nigel silently cursing her, dropping his head against the wall as he wondered what the hell she was doing.
Lily stepped in, her eyes quickly taking stock of the small studio. She turned to her host, her worry easing, "Do you have company over?"
"No, course not. It would ruin my carefully crafted spinster veneer." Jordan began tugging at her ear as she moved to the fridge, "Want something to drink?"
"No, I'm good." Lily pulled off her purse and set it on the couch, growing more curious when she saw the leather jacket carelessly thrown behind the couch, "Are you sure I'm not interrupting anything?"
"Of course, why do you think you would be?" Jordan took a swig of her Guiness and slyly tried to slide a pair of men's shoes under the coffee table. Of course, Lily immediately noticed this.
"Well, for one thing, you're horrible at hiding the evidence. Secondly, goth has never really been your style." She pointed at the very masculine clothes strewn about to one side of the bed before turning back towards the door, where two familiar motorcycle helmets sat on the bench above a mix of his and hers shoes, "And I'm pretty sure you don't own a motorcycle." She crossed her arms, and looked at Jordan with calculating eyes and a knowing smirk, "How long has Macy known?"
"Known what?" Jordan smiled, trying to play it off.
Lily nodded and she took a shot in the dark, "Hi, Nigel." She stared down the stain glass.
There was a muttered curse before the tall Englishman appeared, looking quite sheepish, "Hey, Lil." Lily turned back to Jordan, smiling triumphantly as she waited for the explanation.
Jordan sighed, "We—we just weren't really interested in giving the gossips any new material to work with, not with everything else going on with Devon and our cases and, besides, it isn't anyone's business but ours anyway!"
"How long has this been going on?"
"Couple months." Jordan mumbled.
"Since October." Nigel, knowing lying wasn't any use now, fetched himself a drink and took up the couch. He retrieved his jacket from the floor and caringly dusted it off, shaking his head at Jordan's thoughtlessness. His companion just rolled her eyes.
Lily looked between them, quite amused, "And Macy knows?"
"He, eh, sort of figured it out." Confusion caught her and she looked to Nigel, "At least, I think he did?"
He shrugged, "He hasn't said anything since the shirt incident."
Lily's eyes grew, wondering what the story was there.
"Lily," Jordan folded her hands together as if in prayer, "Please, we—" Nigel gave her a small smile and nodded his consent before she continued, "We aren't ready for everyone to know. Things have just started to settle down at work." Jordan walked over and placed her hand on Nigel's shoulder, his hand found hers and gave it a comforting squeeze, "We want to enjoy it a bit longer." She tried to explain, hoping Lily would understand.
Lily nodded, her face bright, "Of course. Your secret is safe with me." She reached for her purse and looked back at her two friends, "I just…I just want you to be happy."
"We are." Jordan answered, smiling as Nigel kissed her hand.
Lily beamed even as a twinge of jealous captured her. Hopefully, one day, she'd have what they found, "Well, I'll let you get back to whatever it is you were doing." She chuckled, lingered only a moment more as they bid her goodnight before seeing herself out.
Jordan exhaled slowly and squeaked as Nigel pulled her onto the couch. He laughed as he caught her, "Well, she did tell us to get back to what we were doing."
"She did…" She hummed, tracing his jaw. Jordan had just leaned in when the all-to-familiar ring sounded. With a groan, she dropped her head against his.
He laughed and kissed her forehead, "Raincheck?" Her smile was dry as she reluctantly pulled herself away and reached for her boots.
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