Chapter Fifteen

Settling In

Woody looked over at Jordan, who was lying on the beach, her face tilted up towards a late summer Boston sun. Then he shook his head over the series of events that had brought them to this place on the Massachusetts shore.

I just know that we keep ending up with each other because any other relationship is always second best. And we're both too stubborn to settle for that – Jordan's comment rolled through both of their heads that evening at her apartment. They both were well aware of what it meant. How to make it happen – or even if – to make it happen were the issues.

The ifs – What would happen if they both risked their hearts again? And if it would work, how would it work? Those questions were the most daunting. As the days passed and they worked more cases together, it seemed natural for Woody to keep his hand at the small of her back at crime scenes. It seemed just as natural for him to find himself gazing at her at off moments, when she wasn't aware of his stare. And when she did catch his eyes, the atmosphere would nearly spark with electricity. The physical attraction was still there. But would their hearts engage? Would emotions go to that place where their bodies seemed more than willing to venture?

And neither he nor Jordan was willing to go there until they both were sure about their hearts. They knew what they both had felt in the past, but was there enough of that left to resurrect it and bring it to the present? Or even push it into the future?

So in some ways, the dance began again. Only this time neither was allowing another partner to cut in…at least until they had played out all their quarters in the jukebox.

But one particular quarter, once inserted, played an all-too-familiar and tearful song.

There was a bank robbery. A hostage taken. Woody was on the scene. As the hours passed and the event played out, he knew that Jordan was very much aware of what was going on. He was even more aware that it was probably taking both Garret's and Nigel's persistence to keep her away from the bank. Then the robber made a run for it. Leaving through a back exit at the bank, the guy began sprinting for a patch of trees behind the building when the Boston PD fired shots.

The man fired back….with deadly aim. One of the bullets hit Woody in the chest. The force made him hit the ground with a thud.

Thank God it wasn't armor piercing bullets this time. Thank God for Kevlar. And thank God another police officer was able to bring the man down before anyone else got hurt.

Woody had just stood up when out of nowhere, there she was. Slightly bemused at the way she pushed the paramedics away, he was even more amused by the way Jordan struggled to get his Kevlar vest off. "Hey…hold on," he told her. "I'm fine…"

"I have to see," she replied, her voice cracking just a little. "I have to see…." With one final tug the vest had come off and without hesitation, she had unbuttoned Woody's shirt nearly to the waist. "Oh…"

He saw her tears before they hit her cheeks. While he was fine, the impact of the bullet had left a nasty red whelp on his chest, right above his scar. In time, Woody knew the whelp would turn into a bruise, but right now, Jordan's fingers were tracing the scar and lightly running over the new injury. "It's okay," he said, gently putting a hand on each of her arms. "I'm fine…"

But just as Sarah's baby had churned up all the emotions over Joanna and Jordan for Woody, this encounter with a bullet had brought Jordan back to the day she had been sure she had lost him – perhaps both physically and emotionally. "I'm fine…" he repeated, a little firmer and with a slight shake to her shoulders.

"I know…it's just…oh damn….hold me. Please. Please…just hold me and don't tell me to leave."

She didn't have to ask twice. Woody pulled her to him and held her for long minutes, just letting her cry it out. When he felt she had herself back under control, he gently lifted her face and brushed back her hair. "I'm fine…I didn't get shot…everything's okay…" he told her softly, reassuring her one more time.

"Yeah. Okay. I guess I should let you get back to…" she gestured to the scene. "I just heard over the scanner in the office…and I had to … and ….Are you sure you're okay?"

To anyone else, it would have seemed like rambling. To Woody, she had just made perfect sense.

He nodded and moved her away long enough to button his shirt back up. "I'm fine…honest."

"That's gonna bruise…."

"I know….I know." He looked deep in her eyes with his last statement, hoping to convey that he knew her reaction to the shooting was out of more than just simple concern.

"You do?" She had caught his innuendo. He could read it in her eyes.

"I do."

So when she showed up at his apartment late that night, it didn't surprise him either. He kind of expected she would drop in and check on him. "Where's Joanna?" he asked after letting her in and taking her coat.

"Lily's and Bug's. I came to check…"

"It's fine. I'm fine." Barefoot and in blue jeans he walked over and stood in front of her, unbuttoning his shirt so she could inspect his chest.

Tentative fingers reached not for the now bruising whelp, but for the scar that Riggs' bullet had inflicted on him…and them. Before this afternoon, she hadn't seen it since that night at the Lucy Carver Inn. The scar had been more pronounced then…an angry, raised, red area. The years had faded it to a fainter, silvery line. Woody heard his own breath hiss when her fingers slid across his skin.

The noise brought her eyes up to his…now a deep blue. A blue she found herself losing herself in.

And didn't care if she ever found her way out. When his lips sought hers Jordan heard herself moan with pleasure and release…release of worry … that not only was Woody just fine, but so were they. It was time to quit wondering about the if's and the how's.

It was time to just let things happen.

So when his hands played with the hem of her shirt, she willing raised her arms to let him take it off. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders in return, and guided his hands to the front clasp on her bra. Woody pulled back and gazed in her eyes for a moment before releasing the lacy garment.

She moaned again when her nipples hit the smooth heat of his chest.

Perhaps they should talk…get more out in the open before taking this next step, but deep down, Woody knew there were no more words left…at least for right now. Words…promises…explanations would all come later. Before either one could second guess this first choice, he lifted her up and felt her legs wrap around his waist as he carried her to the bedroom.

Shoes and jeans followed the discarded shirts…until Jordan was down to only a black thong that hid little and he was down to his boxers. Woody moaned in approval this time as her hands found their way inside the waist of his underwear and she gently stroked him. "Jordan," he whispered between kisses.

She stopped and stilled. "I was so scared today, Woody. Scared I had lost you again. That even if the bullet didn't hit you, you'd still push me away again."

"No….that was the past. And I was a fool. I think I've wised up since then." He traced her lower lip with his thumb. "I never want you out of my life again. Ever. I want you here…with me…always."

"No matter what, we always end up together, don't we?" She smiled at him through a glaze of happy tears.

"Because neither of us will settle for second best. We're stubborn, you know."

Jordan nodded and found his mouth again as her hands pushed his boxers the rest of the way down, catching them with her foot and pushing them completely off his legs.

He returned the favor, letting his hand stroke slow and easy trails from her knee to her thigh, finding her center and stroking it until he felt her buck beneath him.

Then feeling her body bow into a curve when he took the peak of one breast in his mouth and began to suckle.

Jordan felt the first wave of pleasure take her, leaving her trembling against him. Blindly, she pulled his head up, seeking his lips as her hands guided him into her. Sighing with relief when he found her and began to move.

There had been no words spoken as they matched each other stroke for stroke, aiming to please each other. No words…just emotions. It wasn't until Jordan felt her orgasm building that his name came out on a throaty whisper.

The simple sound of his name on her lips drove them both over the edge.

And that had been a year ago.

Now Woody glanced out to make sure Joanna was okay. She was playing at the shoreline, at the place where the little waves meet the sand. Satisfied that the six year-old child was occupied and safe for the moment, Woody turned his attention toward Jordan, who was almost asleep. They were taking a last minute vacation before school started back. One last chance to loll in the sun and laze during the day before the "real" work started, or so Jordan said. According to her, working mothers and dealing with school-aged kids was more than a handful.

Woody had been urging her to go to part time. It wasn't like they couldn't afford for her to do that. But the glint of the diamond ring on her left hand brought him back to more pressing matters. "A date?" he prompted out of the blue.

"We go on dates all the time," she teased from behind her sunglasses.

"No…a date for the wedding. Are you ready to set one yet?"

"Can't we just go to Vegas?"

"No." Woody had no desire to see Danny McCoy again. "Besides, your daughter would never forgive us. We promised her she'd be the flower girl."

"She'd get over it. She gets over most things." Jordan took her glasses off and eyed him warily. "What's the rush? I was thinking maybe next spring…"

"Valentines."

"I can't plan a wedding by then…"

"Get Lily to help you. Something simple."

"Simple…sounds good."

"Soon sounds even better. That way we can all be settled in the new house by Easter…"

Settled in…The words that once would have caused Jordan Cavanaugh to run, now caused her heart to beat a little faster. Second best had never been good enough for either she or Woody. Now settled in seemed just perfect.