AN Wow! It's been a long time since I've upated this story! My sincerest apologies. I went on vacation and didn't have a chance to write anything and then work's been so busy...but enough of the excuses! On to the good stuff! I hope you like this chapter - it was a lot of fun to write. Hopefully it gives you goosebumps because that's what it did to me!Please R&R! Thanks!
:oP NeverMind

P.S. Udjat - Our female leads are based a lot on...well, aspects of our own personalities, I suppose, though we do make them look different each time. We have a thing for strong women, in case you hadn't noticed. grin The other characters, of course, are loosely based on the CSI:NY characters, though we've taken a lot of liberties in interpreting their personalities, etc. We don't own them, obviously, but really enjoy putting them in different situations and seeing what happens.

P.P.S. This is kmfx's story, aka NeverMind

"Well, I promise I won't convince you to sleep with me."

I laughed. "Really? And why is that?"

He grinned. "Because you're Aiden's best friend and I have to work with her every day. She wouldn't give me a moment's peace."

"No, she wouldn't," I agreed. I got up and walked to the ledge so I could…I don't know. I just needed to move around. He followed me, standing just that little bit too close. Not completely in my personal space, but close enough to be dangerous.

"So, tell me about yourself," he said.

"What do you want to know that Aiden hasn't already told you?" I asked, starting to seriously suspect my friend of conspiracy.

"What makes you think Aiden's told me much about you?"

I gave him an incredulous look. "Because I know my friend."

He grinned. "Fair enough." He licked his lips and looked at me as though he were sizing me up. "Well, she didn't tell me much about your last relationship."

Ah, so he wants to know about the dirtiest part of my lie, does he? Fine then, if this doesn't put him off the scent then nothing will.

"I was cheated on, what more is there to say?" I said dismissively.

"Weren't you with this guy for quite a while?"

"Four years."

"And this was the first time he'd cheated on you."

I nodded, but to be honest, I wasn't sure anymore. "We'd started dating in our second year at college. He told me the reason he cheated on me was because he'd never had a chance to 'sow his wild oats.'"

Danny scoffed. "Likely story."

I sighed. "I know, but it was the best he could come up with. I think what pisses me off the most is how stupid he's made me feel, like I spent four years of my life believing in lies."

"You want me to try to make you feel better?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "No thanks. I already know what you're going to say."

"Oh yeah? And what will I say?"

"That I shouldn't worry. That I'm smart, funny – beautiful even."

"Nah, I was thinking I'd just kiss you."

A shiver ran inadvertently down my spine. "I thought you weren't gonna convince me to sleep with you."

"Is that all it would take?"

I laughed in an effort to break the tension in my body. This guy was good. "It must be late. I'm having trouble keeping up with your wit."

"Nah, I'm just that good." He had moved closer to me so that our arms were touching. I loathe and adore men who are this subtly aggressive.

"So tell me about you," I said, needing to at least keep the conversation away from me so that I wouldn't need to be made to feel better.

"Well, what has Aiden told you about me?"

"What makes you think Aiden's told me anything about you?"

"Because I know my partner."

"Fair enough," I conceded. "Well, she's told me that your background is a bit of a mystery, but otherwise you're a pretty normal guy – eat, sleep, sex, that sort of thing."

He laughed. I liked his laugh. "And here I thought women were prone to overanalyzing."

I grinned. "Well, she did compare you to a restaurant mint once."

"Excuse me? A restaurant mint?"

"Yeah, you know, hard and cool on the outside but soft and sweet inside."

"Oh god, is that what she thinks of me?"

I shrugged. "I guess so." My heart was racing again. This whole skin-touching-skin thing was getting to be a little much, even if it was just our arms. I wondered if he noticed that I hardly made eye contact with him.

He turned so that he was facing me and in the process put himself even closer to me. He had one elbow leaning on the edge of the wall, and now I almost had the full length of his body against my side. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, why?"

"I just feel like you've got a wall up between us," he observed.

"That's because I do," I told him, still without looking at him.

"Why?" he wanted to know.

I finally turned my head to look at him. He really was hot. I liked the hard lines of his face and the edge of his attitude that made him kind of intimidating in spite of his smaller size. And that smirk was just killing me. I gave up. "Because otherwise I'll do something stupid like this," I said, leaning in and kissing him. His lips responded favorably, but I could tell that the smirk never left.

"Are you trying to convince me to sleep with you?" he asked when I'd pulled away.

I gave him a coy grin. "No. Just wanted to see if it would make me feel better."

You could have cut the sexual tension with a knife. When I looked in his face again, he already had those hungry, almost glazed over bedroom eyes. I was feeling devoured by those eyes and I liked it. But I wasn't gonna make it that easy. I might've been on the rebound, but I wasn't desperate. Not yet anyway. Getting there, but not quite yet.

I sighed; feeling more than a little conflicted. Part of me wondered if I was heading down the same path Jake had decided to take. The other part just thought, screw Jake. I can do whatever the hell I want to do.

I wanted to kiss him again, but decided that I'd laid enough of my cards on the table. He could take it from here if he wanted to.

"You don't feel any better, do you?" he asked, moving a strand of my hair away from my face. Damn him for reading me so well.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"You really like those 'why' questions, don't you?"

"It's my job," he said.

"So what, I'm evidence now?" I tried to joke.

"You want me to give you the cheesy answer for that?" he asked.

"Sure, go for it."

"You're evidence of a broken heart," he said in his sappiest voice.

I burst out laughing. "That was bad."

"That was bad, wasn't it?"

"Really bad."

"I better make up for that one quick," he said, moving in so that we were in that tantalizing almost kiss moment. Our lips touched once, then again and then my resolve broke. I turned my body into his and just let the moment take over. His hands found all the right places on my back and neck and I could feel his lips curl into a smile every time a small moan escaped my mouth. Jake had never kissed me like this. Even his kisses had been pretentious. This was – just the right amount of barely restrained passion. Every nerve in my body was on fire and it was the best I'd felt in months.

Next thing I knew, we were on one of the lounge chairs, a tangle of arms and legs. I was surprised that he was keeping his promise so far. Our clothes were still on and he wasn't showing any signs of changing that, even though I probably wouldn't have argued. God, this felt good.

But I was still thinking of Jake.

I pulled away from him with a frustrated sigh. I was straddling him, so I sat back on my haunches and ran a hand over my face. He had his hands on my hips, his thumbs caressing my belly. I thought he'd be mad, but that damn smirk just never left his face. It had an understanding quality to it just then.

"Still thinking about him?" he asked. Is this guy really reading my mind or am I just going crazy?

"How can you tell?"

"Well, I know I promised I wouldn't convince you to sleep with me, but this is usually the point where you're supposed to be convinced and only pulling away from me to get out of your clothes."

I smiled weakly. "Sorry."

He tisked my apology away. "Nah, don't be." He pulled me down so that I was lying beside him on the big chair. "Jake has no idea how good he had it," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"If I just got out of a four year relationship, I wouldn't want my ex to sleep with some strange guy the first time she met him."

"But would you still sleep with other women?" I wanted to know.

"Probably," he admitted.

I smacked his stomach. "Men and their double standards."

He yelped then laughed. "You didn't let me finish! I was gonna say 'But not if I'd been dating you.'"

"Oh brother, you're just full of them, aren't you?"

"What? The charm's not working for you?" he chuckled.

I just rolled my eyes. "You don't even know me."

"Maybe not, but I wouldn't mind getting to know you, and, you know, maybe trying again to convince you to sleep with me," he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

I propped myself up on an elbow so I could look at him better. "Did Aiden put you up to this?" I asked.

"What? No, she'd never…"

"Yes she would. In a heartbeat she would."

He grinned. "Will you be mad if I say yes?"

"No."

"Well, it doesn't matter because I ain't saying either way."

"Bastard."

"Bitch."

I stuck my tongue out at him. But he caught me off guard by suddenly pulling my head down and lightly biting my tongue before kissing me again. This was even better than the first time. He had one hand tangled in my hair and the other was traveling the full length of my back right down to the back of my knee. Everything started slipping away in my brain and was replaced by what felt like explosions of light on the back of my retinas. By the time he pulled away from me I was almost completely overcome.

"Say my name," he said softly, his mouth mere millimeters away from mine.

I had to think about it for a second. "Danny," I finally managed.

He grinned. "Getting better." He kissed me lightly, teasing me, and then sat up.

"You're cruel," I told him, wondering whether I'd be able to regain control of my shuddering heart and over stimulated skin.

"I guess I am. Shouldn't have made that promise," he said, standing.

I eased myself up. "What? I had no affect on you at all?"

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "If I thought Aiden would let me take a cold shower here, I would."

"Hmm, you being naked in the next room wouldn't help much with the promise keeping thing," I agreed.

"Exactly," he said, taking my hands and helping me up.

We walked back downstairs, but I stopped him before he went inside the apartment. "You're really gonna keep your promise?" I asked. It seemed weird to me. Everything was going in that direction, and yet, he seemed intent on leaving without finishing what we'd started.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because I like you."

I scrunched my face. "I don't get it."

He chuckled. "I don't either, but it just seems right."

He opened the door and we went inside. Sheldon was passed out on a couch and Aiden and Flack were trying to play checkers. I had to smile. If you know Aiden at all, you know not to play checkers with her because she always cheats. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised to hear Don mutter, "You're a stinking cheater!"

Danny went over and whacked Sheldon with a pillow to wake him up. He shot up as though someone had fired a gun in the room. "I need to go home!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, you do," Danny told him. "You have to work tomorrow."

I wasn't actually sure that Sheldon was really awake, but he grabbed his jacket and immediately walked out the door.

"Ha! We're leaving!" Don said triumphantly. "Now I don't have to lose to you anymore."

Aiden just laughed and started chanting, "Flack is a loser, Flack is a loser," over and over again.

Danny snuck me a kiss before joining his friend at the door. "Thanks for the ride in your car," he said with a wink.

"Anytime," I said with a wink back. "See you around?"

"Absolutely."

"Promise?"

He laughed. "Oh, I promise all right."

And with that, he was gone.

Aiden had her arms around my waist and her head resting on my shoulder. "You kissed him, didn't you?"

"No I didn't."

"You're a terrible liar."

"So what if I kissed him? You put him up to it."

"What? I did no such thing."

"You're a terrible liar."

"Well, so what if I did. I always thought you and he would get along great."

"I can't believe you're setting me up."

"That makes me sound so meddling."

"You do meddle."

"I'm just trying to help you out. Tell me you didn't like him and I'll back off."

I didn't answer her.

"Aha! See? I knew I was right."

"You're jumping to conclusions. I'm totally on the rebound right now. It doesn't matter whether or not I like him, it doesn't count if it's a rebound thing."

"You are so pessimistic."

"Yes I am. What do you want from me? Guys haven't exactly proven to be the most trustworthy people in my life."

"Did he convince you to sleep with him?"

I opened my mouth to argue and had to shut it again. "No."

"Ha! Haha!" she gloated.

"But only because he doesn't want to tick you off," I came back. I hate letting her win almost as much as she hates letting me win.

"Now why would that matter?"

"Because he has to work with you, jerk."

She scrunched her face. She was either too tired or too drunk for a quick comeback to that one.

"Aha." I announced. "See? You said so yourself – eat, sleep, sex. The three staples of any man's life. He won't sleep with me until just before I go back to DC. Then he doesn't have to see me anymore."

"But I'd still be ticked off."

"Maybe, but because I won't be around all the time anymore, you'd only give him a hard time about it for maybe a week. That's way better than a whole month of you bitching at him."

She was getting flustered. "Well, I never said you had to see him." She walked off to the kitchen in a huff.

I followed her and smiled as she started muttering to herself, moving dishes from one side of the sink to the other.

"What?" she shot at me when she saw me standing there.

"Thank you," I said with a grin.

She narrowed her eyes at me, then threw the tea towel at me when she finally caught on. "Bitch."

I had to laugh. She was so cute when she was mad. "I love picking fights with you," I said.

"Only because I never win."

"It's the one game you can't cheat at."

"Go to bed before I decide to tell Danny what you're really like," she threatened.

I went over to her and kissed her cheek. "Yes, mom."