Chapter Sixteen

Straight Back to You

Lunch went well. They discussed the case, Woody intentionally keeping the conversation light, or at least on neutral ground. He was afraid if he steered it toward anything more serious, Jordan would shy away from dinner tonight with him and instead turn to Haley.

As he walked her back to the ME's office, he paused outside the door to the offices and gently brushed her hair off her shoulder. "Thanks for having lunch with me," he said. "And I was wondering if you'd have dinner with me tonight? That is unless you have other plans?" he asked, flashing her his most charming grin…dimples fully showing.

Jordan felt her heart melt just a little. Woody hadn't looked at her like that in a long time…not since before he had gotten shot by the sniper. Exactly what tricks had Drew been playing on Woody to get him to change so quickly? She knew his temper had dissipated, but even with that and her pregnancy, he had been nothing but politely distant towards her. "Um…sure. Just let me have time to go back to the hotel and change?"

"No problem." And he sauntered back towards Drew's office, content in the knowledge that tonight she'd be eating with him.

"You're grinning like the Cheshire cat," Drew commented as Woody walked through the door.

"Good lunch," was all Woody replied as the two alpha-males sat down to wade through the rest of the case. Woody sincerely hoped that by the end of the week, he and Jordan would be on a plane back to Boston…away from this infernal FBI agent … back to everything that was familiar…

And with a little luck, back with each other.

For once the gods of cell phones and endless interruptions were working with him tonight. Not once did either of their phones ring while they were eating. Woody just let her relax through out the meal. "This seems like old times," he said at one time during dinner.

Jordan nodded, but kept her thoughts to herself. It had been well over a year…maybe even two years, since they had sat alone like this with nothing and no one bothering them. It was nice…a sweet reminder of how things used to be and bittersweet at the same time when she thought about how things might have been. She blinked back the involuntary tears that filled her eyes suddenly. And Woody seemed more like his old self than ever… corny jokes…dimpled grins…gently stroking her hand at all the right times. He continued to let her just unwind from her day, believing that maybe after the meal would be the best time to approach her about them. His opportunity came back at their hotel room.

Jordan was getting ready for bed. She had changed into her pajamas and washed her face. Then she picked up her hairbrush to run it through her messy hair…and never heard him come up behind her.

"Let me," he whispered, taking the brush out of her hand.

A protest was on her lips, but it died there as he gently worked the brush through her long, chestnut hair … a stroke with the brush and then one with his fingers. Jordan closed her eyes at the sensation it was causing. When he was through, he tossed the brush back in her suitcase and then wrapped his arms around her from behind, one arm supporting the weight of her extended abdomen, the other across her collarbone. It was like he was holding her and their baby at the same time. He buried his face in the curve of her neck and just stood there with her like that for a long moment.

. He felt her sigh and lean back against him. "Tired?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered truthfully. She felt him smile against her neck.

"Come to bed."

"I think I will." She pulled away and went to get in her bed, but he still held her hand and tugged her back.

"No…in mine."

"Woody…I don't think…"

"Don't. Think that is. Please come to bed with me. I'd just like to hold you….and our child…all night. I haven't had the opportunity to do that before now." He grinned at her. "I'll give you a back rub," he offered.

Ah…he knew how to tempt a pregnant woman. A backrub sounded wonderful after a long evening and a longer day at the FBI offices. She nodded and let him tuck her in his bed. True to his word, he rolled her over on her side and rubbed her back until she was completely relaxed and nearly boneless. Then he spooned her tightly against him and once again wrapped his arms around her protruding belly. He was rewarded with a sharp kick to the inside of his arm. His hands gently spread out over her tummy, holding it like a basketball he was getting ready to pass off to another player. He was rewarded with another kick and a flurry of small movements. "Damn…" he whispered in her ear. "Does he do that all the time?"

"She does it a lot. It will slow down as she gets bigger and there's not a lot of room left to move around with in there."

"Meantime, it's like gym time in there for him, huh?"

"I guess so. It feels like they're having a good time."

Woody was silent for a half a beat. "They're?"

Jordan chuckled and rolled over onto her back. "I'm kidding. It's either a him or a her. Not a them."

"Don't scare me like that."

She smiled up at him and caught her breath. He was very nearly lying on top of her. And from the look in his eyes, the precariousness of their positions had caught him unawares, too.

Not that he wasn't going to use it to his advantage. He reached up with one hand and gently smoothed her hair back off her forehead. "They're…him…her…What about us, Jordan?"

"Us?"

"Yes. Us. Not as parents…us as in you and me."

She glanced away for a minute. "I didn't think there was an 'us' anymore," she answered in a small voice.

"But didn't that night in your apartment tell you anything?"

"You said it was just sex, Woody. Sex. Not a commitment, not a happily ever after. Just sex."

"I've said a lot of things I didn't mean in the past year."

She blinked up at him. "So just what did that night in my apartment mean to you?"

He paused for a moment before he answered her. "That night… and the night before in the vault room – especially the vault room -- showed me we still cared for each other. Deeply. No matter how much either of us had tried to run from it, we still cared for one another. And it scared both of us…me probably more than you. I was still dealing with the issues over my shooting…my anger with the sniper…and taking it out on everyone, including you." He paused and gently rubbed her tummy. "It took this to help me gain some perspective."

"So what have learned?"

"That I still care for you…and I can't live my life in the past anymore than you can. I have to let go of the anger and look toward the future. A future that now holds my son or daughter, and hopefully you, too."

"Why do you want me?"

Trust Jordan's innate ability to go straight for the jugular to rear itself.

"Because I love you, Jordan Marie Cavanaugh. I have since the minute I set eyes on you five years ago at the bank heist. When I saw you in that red dress in your father's bar, it went from love to lust…and it's wavered between the two ever since. But when I held you that night in the vault room…and I could feel your fear…all I wanted to do was be with you and protect you from anything that might ever hurt you again. I'm not sure if that's the poets' definition of true love, but that's mine. I don't want anything to hurt you…I want to feel our children grow inside you…and I want to be the one that grows old beside you…. I want to make up for the hurt I've caused you. I don't know how…but I want to try."

Jordan could feel the tears find their way into her eyes again. "You never moved on, did you?"

Woody shook his head. "How could I when every road I moved on to lead me straight back to you?"