A/N. Don't you love it when I post fics like this that're already updated? Yeah, me, too. Now for the Hate section of the program. Don't worry, it's all good in the end. Trust me.
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Ihate the way he always knows just whatI'm thinking, as if he can readmy thoughts.
I hate the way that I'll catch him watching me, pensive, thoughtful, and the way that his eyes always flick away when I try to subsequently meet his gaze.
I hate the look that he gets in his eye when he knows something about the case that no one else does, a far-away expression that heralds the impeding arrival of an avalanche of information.
And I hate, I absolutely hate the way he'll put his hand at the small of my back to lead me through a crowd, or the way he'll let his fingers brush against mine when he passes me something asinine and dull, like coffee or paperwork that's weeks overdue and only half finished. I hate the way he'll lay a hand on my shoulder, as if he needs to steady me. Buddy, get your mitts off of me, or God, help me, I'll take them off of me, and I won't do it gently. I hate the touchy-feely games he plays, and the way that he'll do it so subtly that it's not obvious to anyone but me.
Aw, who'm I kidding?
I love that way that he knows what I'm thinking, that he's so in tune with me that we can almost finish each other's sentences. I love when he stares at me: it makes me feel beautiful, not that I would ever tell him that, and I love that look in his eye, because it's earnest and helpful and without a trace of smugness, because he would never, ever want to make her feel inferior. I love the way that he finds excuses to touch me, because there's nothing that I like better than to meet his eyes and find him smiling at me, and because he would never do anything lewd or inappropriate, because he's a gentleman and all of the contact is chaste and sweet.
So there's almost nothing about Robert Goren that I don't love. There's only one thing that I hate.
I hate that I think that I'm in love with him. And, really, if you want to know a secret…
I don't even really hate that.