A/N: Sorry, sorry sorry for the long delay (er, well, long for me, as it's been what? A little over a week. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it. It's a little shorter, but not by much, & has plenty of Upstead feels. Enjoy!
"Alright, thanks Max." Hailey said as she hung up the phone.
"And?" Jay asked, still sitting on the sofa where their superiors left them in the morning.
"And," Hailey began. "They said they're looking into it. Since Garrett's technically on my team, unfortunately, that means Max has his file. So, while we know he's a liar, they wanna know why."
"Ah yes, always with the 'why.'" Jay said, smirking at her.
"Uh huh," She started, as she came back around to sit next to him. "Yeah, how 'bout we make this a no Garrett zone...at least for the rest of the day? We don't have to meet with them until tomorrow anyhow." She finished, peering at Jay through her lashes.
"And what in the world do you suggest we do to pass the time, Hailey?" Jay teased, grinning at her as he pulled her back to their original positions on the sofa before they were interrupted.
"Hm, ya know, I can think of a few things..." she said cheekily. She splayed her hands out on his chest again, staring intently at him. He pulled her back down, kissing her like they had all the time in the world...because they did.
Of course, while neither minded being tangled up in each other, they did have to come up for air...and food, eventually.
"Wow," Hailey whispered, as she ran a hand through her hair. She had finally pulled away, although she really didn't want to. She was literally out of breath, and all they did was make out. Jay Halstead, a man of many talents, she thought to herself, biting her lip as she made the move to sit upright.
"You can say that again," she heard him chuckle from beside her, and she swatted his arm. "I'm kidding! Well, sort of...because that was seriously amazing." He gave her one of those genuine smiles, the ones that made her completely melt. Yeah, how was she supposed to stay mad at him? "You're seriously amazing, Hails." He added, wrapping his arm so easily around her shoulders.
"Nice save, Halstead." She responded, leaning into his touch. "Anyone ever tell you you're really good at that?"
"What?" He was rubbing her shoulders when she looked up at him. "Compliments, you mean?" When he broke into a sly grin, she knew he was kidding once again.
"You're the worst sometimes, you know that!"
"Um, I believe mere seconds ago you said otherwise, Upton."
She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile herself. He really was the best. She was lucky to have him.
"But, hey, in all seriousness. I'm really happy with you, Hailey. I can't remember the last time I felt this much genuine joy in my life. So thank you, I guess. For being really good at making me smile again."
She felt her smile widen to a new level of cheesiness, but she could've cared less right then. "I'm really happy with you, too." She kissed him sweetly, and he reciprocated. She leaned back into the comfort of his arms, and they stayed like that for the remainder of the afternoon. They didn't feel the need to be anywhere else.
"Jayyy," Hailey called to him from their bedroom. "I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm not the hugest fan of surprises."
"Hailey," Jay said in a slightly mocking tone. "I don't know if you know this about me, but I don't care."
She scoffed, ready to fire back a witty response when he came back down the hall from the bathroom. Of course, she expected him to be fully dressed when she saw him next. But no, Jay waltzed right in to their room, dress pants on, with a white button down draped over his arm.
"Forgot my tie," he defended, catching her wandering eye with a smirk as she finally met his face again.
She tried to hide her blush by actually applying some makeup on her cheeks, hoping the brush would cover the color on her face. She nodded, focusing really hard on finishing her makeup. She still caught a glimpse of him fixing his shirt and tie though, as her vanity mirror offered up the view in the top right corner. She forced her eyes back to her own face before she was caught again.
Hailey gave herself a once over, as she had finished her smokier eye, blush, and lip gloss. She let her hair run wild, as she didn't really know what she was going to where yet. Jay didn't have a set time in mind, and she still had yet to figure out where they were going. She garnered that if he needed a suit a tie, it was somewhere fairly fancy.
"And you're still not giving me any hint as to where we're going?"
He was slipping on his suit jacket when he turned to face her with an answer. "I mean, I'll give you this: it's a new place that opened downtown. I thought it'd be fun to try for our first official date, if that's alright?" Hailey saw Jay look a little embarrassed, and it took her a second to realize why, as she hadn't truly comprehended they were going out on a real date, as a real couple.
"Oh," she said, absentmindedly twirling a piece of her wavy hair around her finger. "Okay, had I known I would've picked out something else besides the black dress you've already seen me in," she said, glancing at her feet.
She saw his face perk up, and before she could ask where in the world he was running off to, he came back in with a neatly wrapped box. He looked so proud of himself, Hailey almost didn't wanna open the gift.
"You really shouldn't have," she said, feeling guilty that she didn't get him anything.
"But I did," he said genuinely, nodding at her to open it.
She carefully unwrapped the box, revealing his surprise gift to her. It was the red dress she had tried on at the mall all those days ago.
"Jay..." she said softly, not able to find the right words to articulate her feelings. It was gorgeous, but also so not what she was expecting. Because then that meant he paid attention, he actually remembered what she looked like in that dress. It was a personal thing, and she felt like she was exposed, even though the very thing making her feel naked was an actual piece of clothing.
He must have mistook her hesitancy as regret, because he bashfully looked at the ground, kicking his foot around, mumbling something she didn't quite hear. She leaned in, and he spoke again. "If it's too much, I'll take it back; I just thought– I don't know. It looked stunning on you, and I guess I just...I just figured you could use a new dress." He didn't have to finish the rest of the sentence, as the haunting night of where she wore the last dress was burned into both of their memories.
She looked back down at the dress before smiling at him. She was really grateful for him, that he would put so much thought into something for her. "Thank you, Jay. I mean it, sincerely. This is," she paused, getting oddly choked up by her emotions. "This is the nicest thing anyone's done for me."
He gave her a signature half smile, and took a couple steps closer to her. She still held the box in her left hand, but he pulled her into him anyway, her right arm still able to hug his waist and back. "You're welcome, Hailey."
They broke apart, and he left her alone for a minute to get changed. Once she slipped into the dress, she fluffed her hair one last time, and they headed out for a lovely evening.
They had returned home for the night, but Hailey's mind was still buzzing. About how good Jay looked in that suit, and more importantly, how much she wanted him to be out of it. She felt the physical sensations overwhelm her mind, as Jay's hand ran lazily up her arm on the couch. Goosebumps erupted on her skin, all the way down to her fingertips. One innocent touch was all it took, as her next move was to get her lips on his, eagerly kissing him, pawing at his tie and shirt buttons.
She had moved from his lips to his jawline when her name was a breath on his lips. "Hailey,"
"Hm?" She hummed, the vibration making his body stiffen against hers. His arms wrapped around her back, pulling her over to him.
His fingers had laced themselves in her hair; then one of his hands had come around to the small of her back. He was taking his time, but she was feeling frenzied, almost frantic with need.
"Jay," she whispered his name harshly, finally getting his shirt unbuttoned and sliding it off his body. His hands went torturously slow down her back, before he teased her by running them over the tops of her thighs. "Please," she could hear the desperation in her voice, but at that moment she didn't really care. She'd never wanted to be with someone this much in her life.
"Someone's excited," he joked, smirking at her. He couldn't help but notice how her skin was burning, he could feel the heat radiating off her body. Suddenly, he had a perfect idea. Much to her dismay, he held up his finger, signaling one minute, before she whined as he slipped out from under her.
"Just relax, I'll be right back. Trust me, you'll like it."
She pursed her lips, a little unsure, but she nodded anyhow. She tried to get into a comfortable seating position, but her dress and her desire were making it almost impossible. She decided to sneak back to their bedroom, hoping he'd know where to find her.
She was right. Just as she had gotten comfortable in bed, she heard his footsteps in the doorway. "Hi," she said.
"Hi Hailey," he said, a lilt in his voice.
"So what is this thing I'm going to like now?" She inquired, arching her right brow up in curiosity.
"Trust me?" He asked, as opposed to before when he stated it.
"Of course," she replied, feeling those nerves tick back up again.
"Then close your eyes." There was a steadiness in his voice that she hadn't heard before. Almost like a demand, but still with enough softness to know he was genuine.
She sat up a little straighter, but closed her eyes like he asked. She could see from behind her eyelids that he had turned the overhead light off, leaving a dim glow of the lamp. She felt the bed shift as he sat down, next to her, of course, as she could smell mint.
She felt like she was waiting on pins and needles, as every atom of her was desperate to know his next move. She barely got the chance to ask him what he was waiting for when he took control, attaching his lips to hers.
She only gasped when she felt the cold drop of water hit her tongue. She was a little confused at first, until she realized it was actually water. Well, melting water, from an ice cube, that is. She felt her shoulders tense up as the coolness mixed with their breath.
Just when she thought she'd officially gotten used to the newness, the cold hit her neck, as the mostly melted ice cube on Jay's lips was now trailing down her skin. Her head dropped back instinctively, and she was too engrossed her feelings to notice he had unzipped her dress. That is, until she felt the fabric open up underneath her back, which was pushed back into the bed now.
She quickly pulled the straps down, dying for her body to move while her mind felt frozen in time, as she was singlehandedly focused on the insane sensations she was feeling. She moved her hips up, trying to get out of it further, momentarily forgetting she'd meet his in a second. He had dropped his head into the crook of her neck though, cursing, which brought her back to reality.
Her name was a rasp on his lips, and she used the tiny pause in activity to wiggle the dress off. What she didn't expect was for Jay to have more surprises up his sleeve. She had closed her eyes for a moment to take a breath, but she quickly opened them once she felt his mouth back on her skin. Only this time, he was traveling lower, the ice making its way down the center of her chest. His lips had reached her navel when her hips bucked the first time.
She only cursed his name when his laugh sent vibrations from head to toe. He had caught her eyes once before going right back to business, which apparently was making her see just how long she could last without losing it. She sank further down into the pillow, biting her lip as he reached the most sensitive spot.
"Fuck," she whispered, the dual temperatures overwhelming her. She knew he knew what he was doing, as it didn't take much more for her to come undone.
Once she came back down from her high, she knew exactly what to do to get him back. Her hands found the ice, and her lips found his skin, running it along each of his abs, trailing just close enough to the waistband of his boxers to get him riled.
"You don't play fair," he said through gritted teeth.
Now it was her turn to chuckle. "Hey, you started it. I'm just making sure we both finish."
Hailey woke up the next morning to find Jay right where she hoped he'd be: by her side.
His arm was slung around her waist, and she was warmed by his body against hers. She stayed like that for a moment, feeling his heartbeat against her back as his chest moved against her body.
She'd stay in his arms forever if she could, but she knew that once this deal was over with, she'd have to go back to reality. And reality was a world without Jay – or at least it was, until last night.
Because now that her two worlds had collided, how was she supposed to choose? Did she want to go public with this new relationship? Hell, did he want to? She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure of anything, except for how she felt wrapped up in his embrace. And there, she felt safe, loved, and comforted.
She just hoped when he woke up he'd feel the same. If not, she didn't know what was going to do without him as a part of her life.
If only she knew…