The Early Hours
CHAPTER FIVE
Moving to look Sam in the eye, Jo noticed the crimson blush on her cheeks, but something about her didn't quite fit the embarrassed act she was putting on.
"If it's making you uncomfortable I could stay in the other room if you want," Jo offered, realisation dawning as she observed Sam's dilated pupils struggling to look her in the eye.
"No, I couldn't stand to- I mean, uhm, I don't really want to be on my own in a strange house?" Sam replied, her statement ending up as more of a question than an answer.
"Okay then, staying here it is, wherever you want me!" Jo teased, carefully observing Sam's reaction.
Oh God! I know where I want you...
"Tell you what, GadgetGirl, have a go at this, see if you can find something to listen to," Sam said as she dug her iPod out of her jeans pocket, handing it to Jo. "I can't concentrate on my paperwork if I'm listening to music anyway."
"So which buttons do I press then?"
All of mine, for a start! God Jo do you realise what being in the same room as you does to me?
"I'll leave you to work that one out, keep you out of trouble" Sam winked, picking up a pile of forms.
Idly glancing at the building opposite, Jo carefully examined the iPod. Noticing the hold switch along the top edge of the player, a playful smile grew into a cheeky grin as a cunning plan began to form in Jo's mind.
Letting Sam settle into the mundane pattern of filling out the duplicate forms, repeating the main details on each different form the cases required, Jo stared blankly out of the window, the occasional smirk flitting across her impassive features as she mentally recounted past experiences with Sam. Even when they had fallen out over Jo's informant she had still felt the attraction to her Sergeant, the feisty blonde's passionate defence of her actions driving Jo mad, her mind disagreeing so strongly, while her body... well, let's just say it had other ideas.
Looking at her watch, Sam reckoned it was getting a bit late to have the main light on in the room, considering that the blind wasn't fully shut. Switching on the desk lamp on the coffee table, Sam rose and turned the main light off, assuming that Jo's statue impression was her listening to music and watching the apartments, so she would have been unable to hear her had she said anything.
Looking up as the light went off, Jo was quietly triumphant that it was now sufficiently dark in the room to pull up the blinds. This allowed her to watch Sam in the reflection in the window, whilst giving her the excuse of watching the building if Sam looked up from her work and noticed. Taking her time with her casual observation, Jo examined the reflected image of the woman working behind her, marvelling in the gentle beauty of her delicate frame.
Movement outside catching her eye, Jo squinted out of the window, before adjusting the camera to compensate for the internal reflection within the window pane. Looking through the viewfinder, Jo logged the arrival of another tenant, an elderly man with a walking frame, hardly a likely candidate for a violent rapist. Noticing the increase in the room temperature for the first time, Jo was glad of the adjustable thermostat, although what with her previous musings, she was now getting uncomfortably warm. Undoing one of the buttons on her jacket, Jo settled back to toying with the iPod once more.
In the meantime, Sam has been struggling with her paperwork. Every time she looks up to find the next form, she can't help but cast her eyes over Jo's attractive outline, sitting so naturally in front of her. Even when she tries to concentrate on what she is writing, Sam finds her attention wandering; trying to work out what Jo's jumper reminds her of. The scent of what Sam eventually concluded was 'just Jo' was seriously hampering her ability to do any work. Raging hormones making her acutely aware of the increase in room temperature, Sam went off to check if her clothes were dry. Unfortunately she had found the only radiator in the flat which was broken, so had to move the still sodden items into the kitchen, and hung them over the boiler cupboard door. Returning to the bedroom, she sat back down in front of her by now entirely unappealing paperwork, and sighed discontentedly.
Taking this as her cue, Jo turned in her seat to look half over her shoulder towards Sam.
"How do you turn it on Sam?" she asked, her tone wickedly seductive. Yeah Sam, how to get turned on...
"EH?" Oh God, with a look Jo, that's all it takes from you... Erm, the iPod...right...
"I wouldn't have thought you would have any problems with that DC Masters," Sam teased back, "Just treat it like a woman."
"How's that then, DS Nixon?"
Stalking slowly towards the hapless detective, Sam continued her instruction, "Soft strokes and the occasional push of the buttons" she said with a wink.
Thoroughly scandalized, Jo just stared at her Sergeant, desperately trying to ignore the images that appeared in front of her eyes, barely able to believe that Samantha had actually said what she had.
Confused by Jo's apparent over-reaction, Sam was about to ask Jo what was so wrong with what she had just said when a few mental images of her own appeared, and realisation dawned. Blushing scarlet, the adrenaline from behaving so outrageously gave Sam unusual courage. Taking Jo's hand in her own, Sam subtly slipped the hold switch into the 'off' position, and pressed Jo's thumb down on the middle button, turning the player on. Stepping closer to Jo as she looked over her shoulder at their intertwined hands and the iPod, Sam gently swept Jo's fingertips across the click wheel, scrolling through the options, both onscreen and in her mind.
