AN This chapter may just be gratuitous reasons for me to have Danny Messer wearing as little as possible. Sorry…needs to be done…turn your head if you must. lol
The following few weeks everyone in the lab worked multiple shifts. Danny and Lindsay hardly saw each other unless it was work related. However, they usually managed to talk to each other before going to bed each night. It was a transition for both of them as well as a bit of a challenge trying to keep their budding relationship away from the lab gossip.
Lindsay walked by the AV lab where Danny and Adam intently watching some surveillance footage. She stepped in and gently tapped her fingers on Danny's arm. He looked down at her and smiled. She returned the smile put a coffee down next to his hand then turned and left.
"What was that?" Adam asked as watched Lindsay leave the room.
"Huh," Danny absent mindedly took the cup and had a sip, "What was what?"
"That!" Adam pointed, "Your nubile little coffee bearing partner, who looked at you like she wanted a side order of Messer for dinner."
He stared at Adam for probably longer than he should have but it was taking a moment to process what the tech had said, "Side order of Messer?" He finally said with a smirk then motioned to the monitors in front of them, "Rewind that back and zoom in right behind that rack of Magazines."
Lindsay meticulously put her evidence out in front of her organizing it by importance, knowing which item she wanted to process first. She hardly noticed them at first but then it became quite apparent. Looking up from where she was pulling trace off of a pant leg she eyed the three tab techs who were staring at her, "Can I help you?" She asked good naturedly.
"We just wanted to know if you…" One started.
"And uh, Danny…" Another added.
"You know." The third finished.
Lindsay crossed her arms in front of her and tried not to laugh, "No I can't say that I do know. If Danny and I what?" She raised an eyebrow.
"We heard you went out on a date."
Finding it very difficult not to laugh at these women she just stared, "And?"
"We just, well, I mean, it's Danny."
"Ladies I'm sure you can see that I have a lot of work to do here so you really are going to have to arrive at some sort of point."
"Come on," One of them conceded in almost a whine, "We just want to know, he usually doesn't," She paused, "take out fellow CSI's."
Lindsay just shook her head with a sigh and went back to her tape lift. She heard one of the girls mutter something about it being obvious that the date was just a rumour. She wasn't worried was she? He'd assured her that this wasn't a game and after meeting Rosie it was pretty apparent that he didn't bring girls over to that particular restaurant, ever. She was almost sure she was different than his other girlfriends, almost. Wait, was she even his girlfriend? All of a sudden she wasn't totally sure.
Later on that day Mac called the team out to a new crime scene with about a dozen suspects; Danny and Lindsay road to the scene together.
"I think Adam was pissed that you didn't bring him any coffee." Danny said giving her a sidelong glance trying to focus on manoeuvring through traffic.
"Well then, he'll have to take me to a better restaurant than Rosie's before I consider bringing him anything." Lindsay retorted.
Danny chuckled, "Adam's not that smooth."
"Oh you're smooth now are you Messer?" She asked regarding him with a grin. Despite her concerns she loved flirting with him. There was something about getting a reaction out of him that made her feel nicely warm.
"Definitely," He agreed with a smirk, "Introducing you to Rosie was an intricate way to get you to like me." He pulled into a spot near the crime scene and looked at her.
"While that helped," Lindsay said as she opened her door, "It was hardly necessary." It wasn't, she'd been toying with the idea of being interested in him since the moment he had introduced himself way back in the tiger cage on her first day. She'd brushed it off for so long, but after that night in the bar it'd been impossible to ignore.
An officer greeted them to brief them on the scene so there wasn't another word said about it.
A few hours later Danny strode through the lab hall after Lindsay who was stomping quite fiercely to the locker room.
"Danny that was completely unnecessary!" Lindsay fumed as she pulled her locker open with force.
"Unnecessary? He practically had you up against the building!" Danny was shaking his right hand, it really hurt.
"I was handling it okay," Lindsay pulled her coat and purse out of the locker and slammed it shut.
"Oh yeah sure you were," Danny scoffed, "Politely telling him to move was not handling it!"
"Oh and punching him in the face was?" She rolled her eyes, "Grow up Messer, one kiss doesn't make me yours." She walked out of the locker room needing her distance from him.
He leaned his forehead against the cool locker and sighed, "Damnit." He rubbed his hand, what was she doing to him?
Lindsay threw her keys onto the table still incredibly angry. They were at the scene questioning a number of suspects when one of them got aggressive asking her for a date. She hardly had a moment to react to the man when Danny hauled off and punched him. It wasn't the fact that Danny had punched the guy it was the fact that they were at work and instead of letting her handle it and ask for help when needed he'd gotten all possessive of her. He didn't have that right, not yet.
She needed to calm down and decided to take a shower hoping it would calm her nerves. Letting the water cascade down her skin she closed her eyes and tried to breathe. She wasn't sure what upset her more, that Danny had been so jealous or that he had made it painfully obvious to the entire squad that he had feelings for her. She wasn't sure she was ready for the influx of 'new girl sleeping with the lab heartthrob' rumours. Pulling out her favourite large fluffy towel she dried herself off. She was just getting the moisture out of her hair when she heard the buzz of her intercom.
Her heart leapt up into her throat. It couldn't be, could it? She slipped out of the bathroom and pushed the button, "Hello."
"It's me."
"I don't want to talk to you." She said less defiantly than she wanted to.
"Don't make me beg Linds." He said evenly. There was silence for what felt like a long time before the loud buzz of the door unlocking made him smile.
She just managed to pull a tank top over her head when he knocked on her door. She walked over and pulled it open, "I don't even know what you're doing here."
He still held his hand and watched her in cute sweat shorts and a tank top, wet hair hanging down her back and tried to maintain his composure, "You don't know what I'm doing here?" He was incredulous, "Are you serious?"
Finally she saw him standing there holding his hand which was rapidly swelling, "For godsakes Danny haven't you dealt with..." She sighed and grabbed his arm to pull him into the kitchen. "Stay there." She instructed as she reached into the freezer for an ice pack. She broke it and moved the material around then grabbed a tea towel from the counter and wrapped it around the ice pack. Grabbing hold of his hand she yanked him forward and placed the package on his hand.
He let her do all of that with silence because he just liked watching her. Despite the fact that she was quite angry with him she was still concerned. This made him smile. He looked down at her and tried not to wince at the pain the cold brought, "Thanks," He said quietly.
She concentrated on his hand letting the ice pack sit on the top she softly rubbed the palm, "You're an incorrigible, hot headed, an idiot, and," She inhaled trying to control the pounding of her heart that always increased when he invaded her personal space. His scent and the feeling of his breath, she exhaled then finally admitted. "You make me crazy."
He didn't really need to wait for another invite. The ice pack dropped to the floor as he grabbed her face and kissed her. She gasped against his mouth not expecting the contact, still assuming they were supposed to be mad at each other. Then all of a sudden it didn't matter, her worries and concerns were shoved deep into the back of her mind. The feeling of his body up against hers was much more important at the moment.
He ignored the pain in his hand as he pulled her up to wrap her legs around his waist. He thoroughly explored her mouth with his tongue as he made his way through her apartment to her bedroom. He stopped at the door and held her up with his uninjured hand. Brushing the hair away from her face he smiled, "Can I call you mine now?"
She smiled at him and licked her lips slowly, "Not yet," She swooped in and kissed him then bit his lip, "But you're getting there."
"I put you on that bed you aren't leaving for awhile Montana." Danny said giving her an out if she would choose it.
She kissed along his jawline then sucked on the lobe of his ear, "Prove it." She whispered.
It was three in the morning and Lindsay was finding it difficult to sleep. She propped her head up on her hand and watched Danny breathe for awhile. Trying to stop herself from running her fingers down his chest she sat up and grabbed his shirt from the floor where she had thrown it. She inhaled his scent before putting it on and padding quietly out of her room.
She picked up the ice pack from the floor and put it up on the counter. The smile on her face seemed to have permanent residence there and she really didn't care. She was restless and figured hot milk might help her sleep, not that the man in her bed hadn't worn her out completely. She was stirring the milk in a pot on the stove when a feather like touch moved the hair away from her neck and lips made contact with the nape of her neck.
She closed her eyes and leaned back into him, "You were sleeping." She practically groaned.
"Yeah, but you stopped watching me," He said his voice had a low growl to it, a mixture of sleep and desire. "Couldn't sleep then."
Rhythmically she stirred the milk silently enjoying the fact that he was wrapped around her, "Sorry," She finally said turning the element off and moving the pot off of it. She turned to look at him. Since she was wearing his shirt he wasn't so she took a moment to enjoy the view. "I got to thinking then I couldn't sleep."
He raised his eyebrows, "You got to thinking?"
Her fingers did the trek along his chest that they had been desperate to do earlier. She watched them not really wanting to make eye contact with him just yet, "Yeah, just about how fast we are probably taking this."
He nodded and stepped away from her to grab mugs from her cupboard. He poured the milk into them and handed her a mug, taking her hand her pulled her into the living room and sat down on the couch motioning for her to join him. "Is there a correct pace?" He finally asked.
"I never know," She admitted, "I mean we've only actually gone out on one date and…" she swept the room with her hand, "Had one fight."
"Very heated," He agreed with a smirk when she blushed. "While you counting everything we've done is cute there's more to this thinking you've been doing isn't there?"
"I just," She looked down at her mug then back up at him, "If we decide to do this Danny we have to keep it out of the lab."
"If?" He asked, "Are we still deciding?" He put his mug down on the coffee table, "I kinda figured we'd already decided."
She watched his face, "Did we?"
Taking the mug out of her hand he then pulled her gently toward him. He maintained eye contact as he ran a hand up her thigh and placed it on the other side of his waist so she was straddling him. He watched her close her eyes as one hand went underneath his shirt and ran traces around the small of her back. His other hand cupped her face his thumb running along her lips, "Well I decided." He finally said.
Her eyes lazily opened as she tried to concentrate on words when most of her was highly tuned to what his fingers were doing, "We're doing this?" She asked, "You mean?"
"Do you need me to pointedly ask you to be my girlfriend?" He asked with a chuckle.
Putting both hands on either side of his face she made contact with his lips and thoroughly enjoyed exploring his mouth before answering him, "No," She said, "This'll do."
"Good." He said finding it difficult to string any more words together. When she arched her back in response to his touch he picked her up and brought her back to the bedroom, "You wanna start that counting now?" He asked once she was underneath him on the bed.
She laughed and looked up at him, "You keep up this stamina we could hit a half dozen by morning."
"You have no idea." He growled and silenced her with his mouth.
AN Oh boy…find a plot Dream…go find a plot. There will most likely be one more chapter…I think…after I have a cold shower and get back to dialogue. lol
