A/N Again, thanks to garretelliot for being my beta, and to the real guys who Shaw is based off of, Gonz and Greyfox. And to all of you who review.
She had expected it to hurt, expected the two of them to have a knock down, drag out fight when she recognized that voice and the man standing next to her, looking over the Charles. But they hadn't. They had made small talk, they had gotten on quite well. He had asked her about her life and didn't even make a comment on it, didn't even really comment on the fact that she was running from the man she loved now as well, that she was afraid of a commitment with Shaw just as much as she had been with him. He had only wished her luck and flashed her that disarming grin.
She heard Garret say hi to her current significant other, and a minute later a blond head peeked in, followed by the rest of the lanky man. Shaw may not have been tall, but he was skinny as a rail and it made him look taller than he was. Baggy, ratty old jeans and tight shirts only enhanced that look. "Hey." She said, looking up at the man that she loved. Love, that was always a nice, non-committal word. She fought back a smile at that thought.
He was more than a boyfriend, but not yet a fiancee. She wanted to say yes, but she didn't want to have what came with a marriage, the commitment, the inability to turn and run if she wanted to.
"Hey." He said, sitting on her desk. "Just stopping by to tell you I can't make lunch today, got a meeting with Jon about what's next." He pulled down the top edge of the file she was reading to see what it was. "Looks incredibly-" He started and kissed her gently. "Boring." He finished and she laughed.
"Paperwork. Ick." She complained, and he grinned. His grin may not have been as boyish as Woody's, may not have been as disarming in that sense, but it was still cute, it was quirky and reached higher up on one side of his face than the other, making him look lopsided.
"I second that notion." She quirked one eyebrow.
"You're the one that works surrounded by paper." He shrugged.
"I write, I do not go through and make sure everything is spelled correctly, every I is dotted and T is crossed. That's what Jon does. Thus, I like paper, just not paperwork." She grinned. "Anyway, just came by since my lunch meeting's at the Trattoria." He gestured to his left to where the small restaurant stood just a few buildings down the street. She gave him a look that clearly told him that whatever else he wanted to ask he better ask it now.
"And you were wondering if I'd stop by tonight instead?" She asked him and again his sheepish grin crossed his face.
"Yeah." He admitted, and she kissed him.
"Now go, before you're late for your meeting, Jon's a bitch when he's angry." He nodded, knowing fully too well how true that was. He kissed her again, as she followed him to the door.
"Yeah. I'll see you tonight?" He double checked and she nodded, with one last kiss.
"Tonight." She agreed and all but shoved him out of the door, sitting back behind her desk and staring at the file in front of her, not quite seeing it, lost deeply in thought.