Chapter Six

Victoria's Secret… the thought and vision of the place kept crossing Woody's mind the next three days….She had returned to the morgue with two of the pink and white bags and would let no one, except Lily, take a peek. He had begged. He had pleaded. She had merely grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Anxious?" she had teased.

"Curious…" he replied.

"No way," she finally told him, swatting his hands away from the bags. He pouted. She had finally taken his hands and said, "Woody, I want it to be a surprise…you've put a lot of thought into this weekend…and I've done the same with what I'm going to be wearing…at least for a while."

So he had returned to his office and spent countless minutes imagining…Funny. He had thought about Jordan with her clothes on. And God knows he had fantasized about her with her clothes off. But the in between stage he had given little thought to. Obviously, she had. He had always truly considered her a boxers and t-shirt or a pajama bottoms and t-shirt kind of girl. Maybe he had seen her in scrubs too much…or maybe, despite the fact that Jordan was beautiful, she was more tomboyish in her demeanor. He had never delved into the vision of her in satin and lace getting ready for bed. He swallowed hard. It was going to be a long three days.

And it was a long three days, but it had finally arrived. They boarded the small prop plane to Martha's Vineyard then took a rental car to their bungalow. They spent the first part of their day lying in the sun and playing in the ocean. Woody finally got to see her in a bathing suit…albeit was a one-piece. And while he appreciated the view of her legs, he was more concerned with her feelings about the whole situation. She seemed to be relaxed and enjoying herself. But he wanted her to know that if she was in anyway having doubts or second thoughts about tonight, he understood.

He caught her in the kitchen, before she headed upstairs to shower in her bathroom. Backing her into a wall, he kissed her hard, and caught her chin with his fingers. He looked in her eyes for a long minute before he spoke. "Jordan…if you have any problems with tonight….any issues…if you're afraid you might run afterwards… I swear, I'll just hold you tonight…that's all. No pressure. Not from me."

Chuckling at him, she drew his head down for another kiss…this one long and slow. "No doubts with me. What about you, detective?"

Woody shook his head. "I just want you to be happy…"

"Then get your sweet ass upstairs and get a shower." She turned him around and slapped him on the rear. Obediently, he went.

He was waiting for her in the master bedroom…thinking about the night ahead of them and the carefully crafted script he had laid out in his head. Woody's father had never been a vocal man. Although Woody knew that his father loved his sons, he had never been particularly good at expressing his emotions. So the few times that his dad had been open with Woody, they were remembered well.

His dad had told him that one of the first things that happens when you fell in love was that you begin to put that person's interests and needs ahead of your own. And Woody could honestly say he had with Jordan. He had tried to the best of his ability to plan a weekend where not only her needs were taken care of, but they were met in such a way that there would be no doubt in her mind about how he felt about her. He loved her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

But his carefully crafted plans nearly went out the window when he saw her walk into their bedroom. The Victoria's Secret catalogue models had a new rival….and her name was Jordan Cavanaugh.

If he had imagined…fantasized for a hundred years, he could have never come close to what she looked like right now. She was in black…in the back of his mind, he had expected that. Trimmed in pink. And little else. The peignoir was sheer and fell to the floor. The gown under it wasn't much better. He took a deep breath and tried to keep a grip on reality as he held out his hand and she took it. He pulled her in front of him and allowed his eyes to roam…from the top of her head, where her hair was piled up, held together by a few hair pins and hope, down her face, past her shoulders….to her breasts and waist, and finally to her legs before sweeping back up to meet her eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it.

"Will I do?" she playfully asked, grinning at the bemused expression on his face.

"Umm…Jordan…," he stammered, trying to regain some of his composure.

"Yeah?"

"You look….you look….beautiful."

She tilted her head to one side. "Not exactly the response I was looking for…"

He pulled her to him. "Then what?"

"I don't know….hot…sexy….but I guess beautiful will do."

"You're all that, too," he replied, gently letting his hands glide down her arms before settling at her waist. "I just don't think too clearly when there's a gorgeous woman that has dressed in revealing lingerie for just for me…in my arms. It's a fault of mine."

"I think I can forgive that fault…as long as it's only with me."

He laughed against her lips. "Only you….and only in your arms," he said before kissing her.

And struggled to catch his breath as he felt her respond. Her mouth opened and drew him in as her hands softly traveled over his bare chest, up his neck, and finally tangling themselves in his hair. He pulled her closer and untied her robe, letting the lacey thing slide off her shoulders and onto the floor. Wordlessly, and still kissing her, he backed her to the bed, the playful atmosphere in the room evaporating into nothingness as their emotions for each other took over. He kissed his way down her neck, across her collarbone to the hollow at the base of her throat…pulling back to look in her eyes, before he untied the tiny ribbons that held what there was of her nightgown together. After holding her gaze for a moment longer, he allowed his eyes to travel, down her body, to her navel. Catching her gaze again, he saw her biting her lower lip, an anxious look in her eyes. His hands reached for her hair, pulling it down slowly, pin by pin, then kissing her again. "You are beautiful….perfect." He felt her let out the breath she had been holding and her lips curved into a smile. So that's what she was worried about…what I'd think…she has no idea how nervous I am. She pulled him back down to her again, and kissed him until he couldn't think….then her hands went for the towel he had on, undoing it at his side and pushing it away.

They spent a long, slow evening getting to know each other on another level…until finally the passion and tension they had been holding at bay for three years erupted. And when it was over, they held each other until they both came back down to earth. Woody rolled over and pulled a sleeping Jordan onto his chest. Then making sure the sheets were securely wrapped around them both, he finally slept, too.