Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, including Tim
Speedle, (sigh), but hey, a girl can dream, can't she?
Rating: R, R, and more R
Pairings: Speed/OC, Speed/Calleigh, Calleigh/?
Summary: The team searches for a serial killer before he strikes again, bringing an old flame back to Miami and destroying Tim's precarious relationship with Calleigh.
A/N: This story just would not leave me alone! I went back and re- read it the other day and decided that I could do better. Therefore, I am reposting the story with corrections, no major changes. This time, I have given a lot more backstory on the fight that broke Tim and Leanna up, among other things.
Chapter 5
Calleigh entered the break room the next morning, bleary-eyed and exhausted, not having slept a wink since throwing Tim out of her apartment. Leanna was at the table, hunched over her computer, engrossed in something she was reading on the screen.
Leanna looked up as Calleigh walked in and made her way over to the coffee maker. "Calleigh, have you by any chance seen Tim this morning?" she asked cautiously.
Calleigh's mug stopped halfway to her mouth. "No," she said a little too quickly. "Why do you ask?"
"I'm just looking for him, that's all," Leanna smiled half-heartedly, returning her attention to the computer screen.
"Well it doesn't seem like you're looking very hard." Leanna gaped at Calleigh, her eyes wide with shock. "Oh Sweet Jesus," Calleigh drawled. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"
"Yeah." Leanna took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "Look, whatever's going on between the two of you......."
"There's nothing going on between us," Calleigh cut her off, "Why, what did he tell you?"
"He didn't tell me anything, Calleigh, but I'm not stupid," Leanna's tone was defensive. "I know you're in love with him, and it's not my...."
Calleigh cut her off again, scoffing at Leanna's suggestion that she was in love with Tim. "I am not," she spat out.
Leanna shut her laptop and picked it up from the table. "Try telling that to someone hasn't been in love with him."
"Are you still?" Calleigh glared at her, then repeated. "Are you still in love with him?"
Leanna laughed bitterly and shook her head, pushing open the break room door, leaving Calleigh with her answer, alone to fight back another round of tears.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~
Horatio pushed the hotel room door open, allowing Leanna to step inside the first crime scene. Tim hung back in the doorway, watching her move through the room.
"The husband was here?" she asked Horatio. Leanna pointed to a bloodstain near the foot of the bed, "and the wife here?"
He nodded. "He was prepared," she continued. "Anticipated their every movement. The couple got onto the bed," she explained. "Wife here, husband probably kneeling or sitting behind her." She pointed to their respective positions. "The killer approaches the wife. Did you find any threads or fibers on the wife's hands?" she asked Tim.
"No, why?" he asked curiously.
"This couple was anticipating some kind of sexual relations with our killer. I just can't believe that she didn't touch him at some point."
"We know the guy cleaned up after himself," Tim stated.
"The wife was most likely wearing lipstick. Guy probably counted on the fact that the ME would remove her make-up in post, getting rid of any and all skin cells that might have sloughed off during a kiss."
Tim ran a hand through his unruly hair and sighed. "He knows forensics. Exactly what we're looking for."
Leanna nodded. "He's calculating and cocky. Probably thinks we're idiots for not having caught him yet. But he's scared too. He takes his time cleaning up, doesn't want to miss anything."
"What about the rapes?" Horatio questioned. "What's your take on that?"
"They've come back here from Tremolar, dancing all night, bodies rubbing against one another, pulsating music, alcohol – anybody in their right mind would be turned on. They get back here, getting ready for a wild night. And our killer can't deliver."
"Why can't he?" Tim asked.
She shook her head, "We may not know that till we meet him. Maybe he can't get an erection, maybe he's not very well-endowed, maybe he's got some kind of problem where he just can't have sex."
"And he's hacked off because he can't get it up, so he kills the couple who turned him on in the first place?"
She grinned at him. "Exactly."
"What instigates the killing?"
Leanna shrugged. "Maybe they laugh at him, make fun of him. And he knows they're going to do it. It's part of the game with him. He picks a beautiful young couple, people used to getting what they want."
"But why?"
Leanna stood in front of Tim, leaning in close to his ear. "For the orgasm," she whispered.
He swallowed hard, affected both by her words and her close proximity. Visions of her face when she climaxed raced through his mind, and his voice cracked just slightly as he stammered, "What?"
She grinned. "We're all adults here, right?"
Tim nodded furiously and Horatio smirked, thoroughly enjoying the Leanna's taunting. She continued, "The thrill of making love, the excitement. The intense emotion that rips through your entire body when you're about to climax – is how our killer gets off. Raping her, however he's doing it, that's just the intercourse. The killing is the orgasm."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*
"My brain hurts, and I'm tired," Leanna complained, stepping into the hallway. Horatio had just ended the team's latest meeting on their killer. With only two full days left before they expected the killer to strike again, Horatio was putting the investigation into overdrive.
"I'm starving," Tim countered, shoving his hands in his pockets.
She nodded in agreement, "I'm that too."
Tim started to say something; then changed his mind. "What?" she questioned.
"Nothing, it's just that we're both hungry, and I remember that eating alone isn't your favorite thing."
"Tim, I don't want to argue with you anymore," she said weakly.
"I don't want to argue with you either, Lea," he said, taking her hand. It felt so right in his and Tim ran his fingers over hers. "I actually had something else in mind."
Leanna sighed. "Tim, I don't know if this is such a good idea."
"You don't even know what I have planned and you're already saying it's not a good idea," he laughed. "Trust me," he begged gently.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*
Tim opened the door to his apartment and led Leanna inside. He shut the door behind them while Leanna looked around in wonder. "You haven't changed much in here," she commented, stepping into the living room.
"I took down all the photos of us," he answered, stepping up behind her and moving her hair away from her shoulder with his finger.
She inhaled sharply and closed her eyes. His simple motion stirred an overwhelming feeling of desire deep inside her. "I noticed," she said quietly.
Tim smiled and walked into what was once their kitchen, flipping the light on near the refrigerator. "Spaghetti okay?" he asked, opening the refrigerator door and taking out a bottle of wine.
Leanna maneuvered around the kitchen, taking out the spaghetti pot and filling it with water. Tim's mind flashed back to countless nights in the kitchen, Leanna whipping up some new recipe and Tim sitting on a barstool keeping her company. It felt so right, so natural, having her here again.
"What are you doing?" he asked, finally noticing what she was doing. He took the pot from her and handed her a glass of red wine.
"Making spaghetti," she answered with a look of amazement.
"I'm cooking," he corrected her, placing the pot on the burner and turning it on.
"Tim Speedle, cooking me dinner." She took a sip of the fruity wine and grinned, "I never thought I'd live to see the day."
"Why does everybody think I can't cook?" he said irritably, tossing the pasta into a pot of boiling water "My father does own not just one restaurant, but a whole chain."
"We lived together for two years, Tim. I never saw you so much as pick up a spatula."
"You seemed to enjoy cooking so much, I didn't want you to know I was a better cook than you," he teased.
"Ha!" she scoffed. "At least I didn't set my father's restaurant on fire."
He planted his hands firmly on the counter next to the stove and glared at her. "I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.
She grinned devilishly. "Little Timmy Speedle, not more than eight years old, decides he's going to make a Mother's Day breakfast." She was teasing him now, and he relished every moment of it. He leaned against the counter and stirred the pot. "Everything was going fine, until Timmy decides to spray the frying pan.........."
He cut her off, "Which I'd seen my father do a million times."
"Not with the burners on," she laughed, the sound music to his ears.
He swallowed the grin forming on his lips and feigned insult, "Okay, now I've had it."
"And why did you think you needed all FOUR burners on, Tim?"
"Shut up," he said playfully.
"Really, now that's just overkill," she teased, her green eyes twinkling with her laughter.
"Lea, I'm warning you."
She leaned in closer to him and whispered, "Living in New York had its advantages. Your parents told me everything. I hear the fire department said it was one of the biggest fires they'd seen all year."
"You are in so much trouble now, woman." He grabbed Leanna by the wrists and pulled her close to his body. She was collapsing in a fit of laughter and he spun them around and pinned her against the counter. "Whatcha gonna do now, Le-Le?"
Their bodies were pressed so close together not even air could fit between them. Tim had caught their hands between their bodies and his fingers rested on the swell of her breasts. Leanna's hands splayed out on his chest and she fingered the soft fabric of his shirt. He wanted desperately to kiss her, to feel her lips on his again, to taste the sweetness that defined her. His eyes locked on hers and what he saw behind her eyes sent him over the edge. "Lea," he said quietly, nuzzling the tip of his nose to hers.
Leanna closed her eyes against the voices screaming in her head. Her stomach tumbled and their lips touched, just briefly. Oh God, her head reasoned, somebody has to stop this, now. "Tim......," she said weakly.
Her eyes were sad and apologetic when he pulled away, spilling over with the longing and regret she felt.
Dejected, he released her from the counter and went back to stirring the pot. "Old habits die hard, I guess," he laughed bitterly.
Leanna hung her head and swallowed hard, fighting back tears. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "I shouldn't have been teasing you like that."
He emptied a jar of spaghetti sauce into a smaller pot. "No, it's fine."
She placed a hand on his shoulder, and leaned toward him. "Tim?"
"Leanna." Tim only called her by her first name when he was upset. "I said it's fine."
She removed her hand from his shoulder and backed away from the counter. "Maybe I should go."
Tim shook his head and laughed bitterly. "Yeah, that will fix everything, won't it, Lea? Leaving?"
"I never wanted to leave you, Tim, and you know it," she answered. "I'm not having this fight with you again."
"Who is he, Lea?" he asked.
"His name is Jonathan," she answered.
"Jonathan, what?" Tim asked bitterly.
"You going to do a background check on him or something?" she asked sarcastically.
He glared at her; then began gently seasoning the sauce.
"Parks," she answered quietly. "Jonathan Parks."
"He a fed too?"
She nodded. "I met him when I transferred to D.C. He's a field agent."
"How long?"
"A little less than a year. How about you and Calleigh?"
Tim wondered how she could possibly know about he and Calleigh. "What are you talking about?"
Leanna rolled her eyes, "Christ, Tim, I'm not stupid."
"I'm not involved with Calleigh," he said defensively.
"But you're sleeping with her?"
Tim stirred the sauce slowly before answering, considering just how much he wanted to tell her. She'd always been able to see through his lies and this time wouldn't be different. "Every once in a while," he finally admitted.
"She's in love with you," Leanna said quietly.
Tim turned to face Leanna, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeing her suspiciously. "And how exactly do you know this?"
"It's written all over her face, Tim. Open your eyes," she laughed.
He turned back to the stove. "I'm not in love with her," he said, shaking pepper into the sauce defiantly, and then slamming the jar back onto the counter.
"I didn't say you were." Leanna crossed her arms over her chest. "But for the record, why aren't you?"
"Because I'm in love with somebody else," he sighed and leaned back on the counter. "And I have been for a very long time."
"Some other girlfriend I don't know about?" she spat out, then instantly regretted her outburst. She had no right to be jealous of whoever he was in love with.
"Yeah, that's it, Lea, another girlfriend you don't know anything about," he answered sarcastically.
"Then who?" she asked quietly, dreading the answer she knew he was about to give her. When he didn't answer, she finished his thought for him. "Me?" she asked quietly.
He smiled weakly. "I guess that's why they pay you the big bucks, Lea."
Even though she'd anticipated his answer, Leanna still felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She bolted out of the kitchen, unable to deal with Tim's revelation.
"Leanna?" he raced out of the kitchen behind her, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around to face him. The sight of tears streaming down her beautiful face left him heartbroken. "God, Baby, I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered.
"Why?" she asked painfully.
He took her face in his hands, wiping her tears with the pad of his thumb. "I swear to you, I've tried to stop loving you, but I can't," he answered honestly.
Leanna brought her fists up to his chest in an effort to push him away. "Everything would have been fine if I hadn't come back here."
"But you did," he argued, capturing her wrists. "You did come back."
"No," she shook her head violently, tears streaming down her face. "You can't love me, Tim. You can't. I don't want you to," she sobbed.
Tim touched his forehead to hers and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Do you love him, Leanna? Just look me in the eyes and tell me that you love him, and we'll never talk about this again. You can go back to D.C, marry Jonathan and have a great life, but I promise you, it won't be half as good as the life you could have with me."
Leanna's sobs wracked her body and she collapsed slowly to the floor, pulling Tim down with her. "I can't do this," she cried, "I can't."
"Do you love him?" Tim asked again, more urgently this time, gathering her into his lap. Leanna struggled against his grasp, then relented, sinking deep into his embrace.
"Please stop," she begged, resting her head against his shoulder. "Please just stop." He couldn't tell if she was talking to him or to herself, but he held her there for what seemed like an eternity, gently rocking her and kissing the top of her head, quieting the sobs and tremors while she cried.
"I'm tired," she said sometime later, her voice void of emotion. "Take me back to the hotel."
Rating: R, R, and more R
Pairings: Speed/OC, Speed/Calleigh, Calleigh/?
Summary: The team searches for a serial killer before he strikes again, bringing an old flame back to Miami and destroying Tim's precarious relationship with Calleigh.
A/N: This story just would not leave me alone! I went back and re- read it the other day and decided that I could do better. Therefore, I am reposting the story with corrections, no major changes. This time, I have given a lot more backstory on the fight that broke Tim and Leanna up, among other things.
Chapter 5
Calleigh entered the break room the next morning, bleary-eyed and exhausted, not having slept a wink since throwing Tim out of her apartment. Leanna was at the table, hunched over her computer, engrossed in something she was reading on the screen.
Leanna looked up as Calleigh walked in and made her way over to the coffee maker. "Calleigh, have you by any chance seen Tim this morning?" she asked cautiously.
Calleigh's mug stopped halfway to her mouth. "No," she said a little too quickly. "Why do you ask?"
"I'm just looking for him, that's all," Leanna smiled half-heartedly, returning her attention to the computer screen.
"Well it doesn't seem like you're looking very hard." Leanna gaped at Calleigh, her eyes wide with shock. "Oh Sweet Jesus," Calleigh drawled. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"
"Yeah." Leanna took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "Look, whatever's going on between the two of you......."
"There's nothing going on between us," Calleigh cut her off, "Why, what did he tell you?"
"He didn't tell me anything, Calleigh, but I'm not stupid," Leanna's tone was defensive. "I know you're in love with him, and it's not my...."
Calleigh cut her off again, scoffing at Leanna's suggestion that she was in love with Tim. "I am not," she spat out.
Leanna shut her laptop and picked it up from the table. "Try telling that to someone hasn't been in love with him."
"Are you still?" Calleigh glared at her, then repeated. "Are you still in love with him?"
Leanna laughed bitterly and shook her head, pushing open the break room door, leaving Calleigh with her answer, alone to fight back another round of tears.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~
Horatio pushed the hotel room door open, allowing Leanna to step inside the first crime scene. Tim hung back in the doorway, watching her move through the room.
"The husband was here?" she asked Horatio. Leanna pointed to a bloodstain near the foot of the bed, "and the wife here?"
He nodded. "He was prepared," she continued. "Anticipated their every movement. The couple got onto the bed," she explained. "Wife here, husband probably kneeling or sitting behind her." She pointed to their respective positions. "The killer approaches the wife. Did you find any threads or fibers on the wife's hands?" she asked Tim.
"No, why?" he asked curiously.
"This couple was anticipating some kind of sexual relations with our killer. I just can't believe that she didn't touch him at some point."
"We know the guy cleaned up after himself," Tim stated.
"The wife was most likely wearing lipstick. Guy probably counted on the fact that the ME would remove her make-up in post, getting rid of any and all skin cells that might have sloughed off during a kiss."
Tim ran a hand through his unruly hair and sighed. "He knows forensics. Exactly what we're looking for."
Leanna nodded. "He's calculating and cocky. Probably thinks we're idiots for not having caught him yet. But he's scared too. He takes his time cleaning up, doesn't want to miss anything."
"What about the rapes?" Horatio questioned. "What's your take on that?"
"They've come back here from Tremolar, dancing all night, bodies rubbing against one another, pulsating music, alcohol – anybody in their right mind would be turned on. They get back here, getting ready for a wild night. And our killer can't deliver."
"Why can't he?" Tim asked.
She shook her head, "We may not know that till we meet him. Maybe he can't get an erection, maybe he's not very well-endowed, maybe he's got some kind of problem where he just can't have sex."
"And he's hacked off because he can't get it up, so he kills the couple who turned him on in the first place?"
She grinned at him. "Exactly."
"What instigates the killing?"
Leanna shrugged. "Maybe they laugh at him, make fun of him. And he knows they're going to do it. It's part of the game with him. He picks a beautiful young couple, people used to getting what they want."
"But why?"
Leanna stood in front of Tim, leaning in close to his ear. "For the orgasm," she whispered.
He swallowed hard, affected both by her words and her close proximity. Visions of her face when she climaxed raced through his mind, and his voice cracked just slightly as he stammered, "What?"
She grinned. "We're all adults here, right?"
Tim nodded furiously and Horatio smirked, thoroughly enjoying the Leanna's taunting. She continued, "The thrill of making love, the excitement. The intense emotion that rips through your entire body when you're about to climax – is how our killer gets off. Raping her, however he's doing it, that's just the intercourse. The killing is the orgasm."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*
"My brain hurts, and I'm tired," Leanna complained, stepping into the hallway. Horatio had just ended the team's latest meeting on their killer. With only two full days left before they expected the killer to strike again, Horatio was putting the investigation into overdrive.
"I'm starving," Tim countered, shoving his hands in his pockets.
She nodded in agreement, "I'm that too."
Tim started to say something; then changed his mind. "What?" she questioned.
"Nothing, it's just that we're both hungry, and I remember that eating alone isn't your favorite thing."
"Tim, I don't want to argue with you anymore," she said weakly.
"I don't want to argue with you either, Lea," he said, taking her hand. It felt so right in his and Tim ran his fingers over hers. "I actually had something else in mind."
Leanna sighed. "Tim, I don't know if this is such a good idea."
"You don't even know what I have planned and you're already saying it's not a good idea," he laughed. "Trust me," he begged gently.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*
Tim opened the door to his apartment and led Leanna inside. He shut the door behind them while Leanna looked around in wonder. "You haven't changed much in here," she commented, stepping into the living room.
"I took down all the photos of us," he answered, stepping up behind her and moving her hair away from her shoulder with his finger.
She inhaled sharply and closed her eyes. His simple motion stirred an overwhelming feeling of desire deep inside her. "I noticed," she said quietly.
Tim smiled and walked into what was once their kitchen, flipping the light on near the refrigerator. "Spaghetti okay?" he asked, opening the refrigerator door and taking out a bottle of wine.
Leanna maneuvered around the kitchen, taking out the spaghetti pot and filling it with water. Tim's mind flashed back to countless nights in the kitchen, Leanna whipping up some new recipe and Tim sitting on a barstool keeping her company. It felt so right, so natural, having her here again.
"What are you doing?" he asked, finally noticing what she was doing. He took the pot from her and handed her a glass of red wine.
"Making spaghetti," she answered with a look of amazement.
"I'm cooking," he corrected her, placing the pot on the burner and turning it on.
"Tim Speedle, cooking me dinner." She took a sip of the fruity wine and grinned, "I never thought I'd live to see the day."
"Why does everybody think I can't cook?" he said irritably, tossing the pasta into a pot of boiling water "My father does own not just one restaurant, but a whole chain."
"We lived together for two years, Tim. I never saw you so much as pick up a spatula."
"You seemed to enjoy cooking so much, I didn't want you to know I was a better cook than you," he teased.
"Ha!" she scoffed. "At least I didn't set my father's restaurant on fire."
He planted his hands firmly on the counter next to the stove and glared at her. "I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.
She grinned devilishly. "Little Timmy Speedle, not more than eight years old, decides he's going to make a Mother's Day breakfast." She was teasing him now, and he relished every moment of it. He leaned against the counter and stirred the pot. "Everything was going fine, until Timmy decides to spray the frying pan.........."
He cut her off, "Which I'd seen my father do a million times."
"Not with the burners on," she laughed, the sound music to his ears.
He swallowed the grin forming on his lips and feigned insult, "Okay, now I've had it."
"And why did you think you needed all FOUR burners on, Tim?"
"Shut up," he said playfully.
"Really, now that's just overkill," she teased, her green eyes twinkling with her laughter.
"Lea, I'm warning you."
She leaned in closer to him and whispered, "Living in New York had its advantages. Your parents told me everything. I hear the fire department said it was one of the biggest fires they'd seen all year."
"You are in so much trouble now, woman." He grabbed Leanna by the wrists and pulled her close to his body. She was collapsing in a fit of laughter and he spun them around and pinned her against the counter. "Whatcha gonna do now, Le-Le?"
Their bodies were pressed so close together not even air could fit between them. Tim had caught their hands between their bodies and his fingers rested on the swell of her breasts. Leanna's hands splayed out on his chest and she fingered the soft fabric of his shirt. He wanted desperately to kiss her, to feel her lips on his again, to taste the sweetness that defined her. His eyes locked on hers and what he saw behind her eyes sent him over the edge. "Lea," he said quietly, nuzzling the tip of his nose to hers.
Leanna closed her eyes against the voices screaming in her head. Her stomach tumbled and their lips touched, just briefly. Oh God, her head reasoned, somebody has to stop this, now. "Tim......," she said weakly.
Her eyes were sad and apologetic when he pulled away, spilling over with the longing and regret she felt.
Dejected, he released her from the counter and went back to stirring the pot. "Old habits die hard, I guess," he laughed bitterly.
Leanna hung her head and swallowed hard, fighting back tears. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "I shouldn't have been teasing you like that."
He emptied a jar of spaghetti sauce into a smaller pot. "No, it's fine."
She placed a hand on his shoulder, and leaned toward him. "Tim?"
"Leanna." Tim only called her by her first name when he was upset. "I said it's fine."
She removed her hand from his shoulder and backed away from the counter. "Maybe I should go."
Tim shook his head and laughed bitterly. "Yeah, that will fix everything, won't it, Lea? Leaving?"
"I never wanted to leave you, Tim, and you know it," she answered. "I'm not having this fight with you again."
"Who is he, Lea?" he asked.
"His name is Jonathan," she answered.
"Jonathan, what?" Tim asked bitterly.
"You going to do a background check on him or something?" she asked sarcastically.
He glared at her; then began gently seasoning the sauce.
"Parks," she answered quietly. "Jonathan Parks."
"He a fed too?"
She nodded. "I met him when I transferred to D.C. He's a field agent."
"How long?"
"A little less than a year. How about you and Calleigh?"
Tim wondered how she could possibly know about he and Calleigh. "What are you talking about?"
Leanna rolled her eyes, "Christ, Tim, I'm not stupid."
"I'm not involved with Calleigh," he said defensively.
"But you're sleeping with her?"
Tim stirred the sauce slowly before answering, considering just how much he wanted to tell her. She'd always been able to see through his lies and this time wouldn't be different. "Every once in a while," he finally admitted.
"She's in love with you," Leanna said quietly.
Tim turned to face Leanna, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeing her suspiciously. "And how exactly do you know this?"
"It's written all over her face, Tim. Open your eyes," she laughed.
He turned back to the stove. "I'm not in love with her," he said, shaking pepper into the sauce defiantly, and then slamming the jar back onto the counter.
"I didn't say you were." Leanna crossed her arms over her chest. "But for the record, why aren't you?"
"Because I'm in love with somebody else," he sighed and leaned back on the counter. "And I have been for a very long time."
"Some other girlfriend I don't know about?" she spat out, then instantly regretted her outburst. She had no right to be jealous of whoever he was in love with.
"Yeah, that's it, Lea, another girlfriend you don't know anything about," he answered sarcastically.
"Then who?" she asked quietly, dreading the answer she knew he was about to give her. When he didn't answer, she finished his thought for him. "Me?" she asked quietly.
He smiled weakly. "I guess that's why they pay you the big bucks, Lea."
Even though she'd anticipated his answer, Leanna still felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She bolted out of the kitchen, unable to deal with Tim's revelation.
"Leanna?" he raced out of the kitchen behind her, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around to face him. The sight of tears streaming down her beautiful face left him heartbroken. "God, Baby, I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered.
"Why?" she asked painfully.
He took her face in his hands, wiping her tears with the pad of his thumb. "I swear to you, I've tried to stop loving you, but I can't," he answered honestly.
Leanna brought her fists up to his chest in an effort to push him away. "Everything would have been fine if I hadn't come back here."
"But you did," he argued, capturing her wrists. "You did come back."
"No," she shook her head violently, tears streaming down her face. "You can't love me, Tim. You can't. I don't want you to," she sobbed.
Tim touched his forehead to hers and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Do you love him, Leanna? Just look me in the eyes and tell me that you love him, and we'll never talk about this again. You can go back to D.C, marry Jonathan and have a great life, but I promise you, it won't be half as good as the life you could have with me."
Leanna's sobs wracked her body and she collapsed slowly to the floor, pulling Tim down with her. "I can't do this," she cried, "I can't."
"Do you love him?" Tim asked again, more urgently this time, gathering her into his lap. Leanna struggled against his grasp, then relented, sinking deep into his embrace.
"Please stop," she begged, resting her head against his shoulder. "Please just stop." He couldn't tell if she was talking to him or to herself, but he held her there for what seemed like an eternity, gently rocking her and kissing the top of her head, quieting the sobs and tremors while she cried.
"I'm tired," she said sometime later, her voice void of emotion. "Take me back to the hotel."