A/N: If anyone is curious, this is the dress I imagined Layla wearing in this chapter. Gorgeous, no?

30-dresses-in-30-days/wedding-guest-black-tie/

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Chapter 9

Layla was putting the finishing touches on her makeup when she heard a knock at her door the following Saturday night. Hank was right on time to pick her up for the mayor's party.

"Just a second!" Layla called out, checking her lipstick in the mirror one more time while putting on her earrings and hurrying to get the door.

Hank stood on the other side, looking more handsome than ever. He was wearing a classic black suit, white shirt and black tie. The suit was tailored to perfection.

Before Layla could speak, Hank took a step inside and gestured to her dress.

"You look…"

Hank's eyes took in the floor-length emerald green dress she was wearing. It complimented her auburn hair perfectly and the thin satin fell gracefully over her curves.

"...absolutely incredible." He finished, lifting his eyes to meet hers.

Layla, feeling self-conscience, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You think so? I feel a little out of my comfort zone."

Hank stepped forward and kissed her softly. "Trust me, I'll be the luckiest guy there tonight."

Layla smiled up at him and then laughed.

"What?" Hank asked, confused by her expression.

Layla reached up and wiped her thumb across his lips. "You've got some lipstick..."

Hank nodded and watched her as she wiped it away for him. He couldn't get over how beautiful she was.

"Okay, let me just grab my purse and we can go." Layla told him.

As Hank watched her cut off the lights and grab her keys, he found himself wondering how he'd been lucky enough to meet this woman. She made him feel things he hadn't felt in years. But most importantly, now that she was in his life, he felt a hope - a hope that helped him get out of bed every morning - something that had been becoming more and more difficult since Al's death.

"Ready," Layla told Hank and locked up her apartment before they headed downstairs to his SUV.

When they pulled up to the event, Layla was surprised at the scale of the party. Men and women were pouring into the building in their finest clothes and jewelry. You could already hear jazz standards being played loudly inside.

Layla felt a little nervous about the night. Officially being Hank Voight's date, she assumed there were probably a lot of people with opinions about that. Plus, she didn't exactly fit in with the rich and influential crowd.

Hank came to stand beside her in front of the building after getting the valet ticket, and extended his arm to her.

"Ready?" He asked.

Hank smiled at her and just like that, all her nerves vanished. Wrapping her hands around his arm, she nodded and they went inside.

They immediately spotted the rest of the team at a large banquet table and went to join them.

As they approached the table, Antonio let out a whistle. "Wow. Layla, you look great."

Hank pulled out her chair and Layla sat down.

"Yeah, you sure you're here with the right guy?" Jay asked, sitting up and straightening his tie, as if he was volunteering for the job, a smirk on his lips.

Layla glanced over at Hank, who was busy grabbing them two glasses of champagne from the tray of a waiter walking past, and smiled.

"Absolutely."

Jay nodded in defeat as Hank handed her a glass and sat down beside her.

"Okay," Kevin said, leaning in towards the center of the table like he had a secret.

"Let me tell y'all what this fool did when we went to question Latoya the other day." He nodded towards Adam.

"Kev, no. Come on, man." Adam complained. Kevin was struggling to hold back his laughter.

Layla turned to Hank and asked, "Who's Latoya?"

"She's a hooker that Adam's trying to turn into a C.I." Hank told her, an amused expression on his face.

Layla raised an eyebrow and turned back to the story, interested to see where this was going.

As Kevin continued the story, Layla sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, taking a sip of champagne. When she did, the split in her dress fell to the side, exposing her well-toned upper thigh. Though the dress appeared to be conservative, this was the part that made it sexy. Or that's what the boutique owner had told Layla, at least.

Layla felt a thrill of excitement when Hank leaned in, his lips almost touching her ear, and whispered, huskily, "Honey, you're killing me."

Layla watched as Hank lifted his gaze from her leg to her eyes. For a moment, it felt like they were the only two in the room. For a moment, Layla imagined his hand running up her thigh. Hank imagined more than that.

They were pulled back to the present when the table erupted into laughter, Adam's face red as a beat.

"Look man, I didn't know she had so many places she could hide the cash!" Adam said, putting his hands up in surrender.

The group enjoyed each other's company for about half an hour before the mayor got on stage to officially welcome everyone and give a speech about his new gun control initiative.

After that, the party was in full swing. Hank, along with the rest of Intelligence, had been instructed to work the room by their deputy commissioner. The mayor wanted his campaign contributors to see how involved the Chicago PD was with his cause.

Over the next hour, Layla was introduced to so many people that they became a blur. A few seemed to genuinely be Hank's friends, but the rest he simply talked to out of obligation.

Many couples who approached them to talk were Hank's age. While the men talked, some of the wives would cast Layla judging looks. Hank, of course, noticed this early on and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry about them."

Layla smiled at him. "It doesn't bother me," she assured him, pressing herself closer to his side and rubbing her hand across his back.

As they continued their rounds, Layla spotted Kim across the room and they smiled at each other. The two women hadn't had a chance lately to catch up so they had plans for brunch and pedicures the following day. Layla had also invited Trudy but she wasn't sure yet if she was going to come.

When a man approached them and Hank hugged him fondly, Layla turned her attention back to him.

"Layla, this is Jamal Tyson."

"Nice to meet you." Layla smiled, shaking his hand.

"Jamal and I worked together when he was a rookie on the brand new cyber crimes unit," Hank told Layla, smiling when her expression changed from bored to interested. "Now he's running a Fortune 500 IT company."

Jamal looked embarrassed. "Yeah, that seems like a lifetime ago doesn't it?" Jamal asked Hank, who laughed and said, "You're telling me."

"Hank taught me a lot," Jamal told Layla. "Helped me out of jam or two, if I recall." The two men nodded at each other in recollection.

"So what do you do, Layla?" Jamal asked.

When Layla explained her role at the department, Jamal started asking her a million questions. Hank couldn't follow most of it but he did enjoy the way Layla's face lit up as they talked. He regretted that he hadn't asked her more about her job earlier, and vowed to do so in the future.

"That's amazing." Jamal said. "Things sure have changed from when I was with the department."

"Well look," Jamal slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and handed Layla a business card, "if you ever want to see what's available outside the department, please call me. I'm always looking for new talent."

Then turning to Hank, Jamal said, "I never pictured you with a computer geek, Hank."

Hank smiled and looked at Layla affectionately, "Things change, Jamal."

Jamal smiled. "That they do. Listen, it was great to see you. Don't be a stranger, okay?"

Hank agreed and the two men hugged.

"It was nice to meet you, Layla." Jamal said, shaking her hand before he made his way across the room.

"I like him." Layla said, turning to Hank now that they were alone.

Hank turned to her and smiled, an expression of contentment on his face.

"You've been incredible tonight." He told her.

"Just don't quiz me on anyone's names cause I got nothing. Except Jamal."

Hank nodded, amused.

Almost everyone was on the dance floor at this point, the night becoming more relaxed.

Layla thought it was strange when Hank checked his watch before asking, "Would you like to dance?"

She smiled at him suspiciously but took his hand, allowing him to lead her out onto the dancefloor. They ended up next to Antonio and Kim, who were laughing more than they were dancing.

Shortly after they stepped onto the dance floor, the recognizable opening rift of "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton poured out over the speaker system. The song was very different from what the DJ had been playing all night and many guests picked their heads up to look around.

Layla did too, confused, before her gaze landed on Hank's face. He was smiling.

"Did you do this?" She asked, impressed.

Hank just shrugged and Layla felt her chest tighten with happiness. She couldn't help the huge smile that spread across her face.

As they danced, Layla leaned in and whispered, "If you're trying to get lucky tonight, Sergeant, your odds are looking really good."

Hank raised his eyebrows in surprise and cleared his throat.

"What are you to whispering about?" Antonio asked, where he and Kim were still dancing a few feet away.

"Mind your own business, Dawson." Hank told him.

When the song ended, Hank said, "I'm going to go to the bar and get us some real drinks. I'll meet you back at the table in five."

Before Hank could leave, Layla snaked her hand up his chest and pulled on his tie, bringing his face closer to hers. She kissed him once, smiled devilishly, then let him go.

Back at the table, Layla found herself alone. The rest of the team was still either on the dance floor or socializing.

Taking a moment to check her phone, Layla smiled when she saw a text from Cindy. It included a picture of a drawing from her niece, Annabelle. Cindy captioned it "A Portrait of Aunt Layla." It was just a bunch of squiggly crayon lines but it made Layla's heart full.

Sensing someone approaching and, figuring it was Hank, Layla started talking before she looked up. "You have got to see this picture Annabelle drew, it is…"

Layla stopped once she looked up and realized it wasn't Hank, but her boss, Jerry, who'd approached her.

"Oh. Jerry. Hi. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Hi Layla. Yeah, my cousin is an alderman who is pretty close with the mayor so…"

He said it with such ego that it made Layla want to roll her eyes. She resisted.

"So I see you're here with Hank Voight." Jerry stated. It wasn't a question.

"Yes." Layla said, wondering why it was any of his business.

"Hmm." Jerry nodded, processing that. "So what is it you hope to gain by sleeping with the head of the Intelligence Unit? You want their ever-vacant IT spot? I think you have to be a cop for that but you never know… maybe you're more talented than I imagine." Jerry raised his eyebrows suggestively and looked her up and down, slowly.

Layla's mouth fell open. For a moment, she couldn't form words.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"Well, I mean, I've asked you out a dozen times and you don't want anything to do with me. I'm the one with connections." Jerry gestured towards the mayor. "Voight is a dinosaur. So you must be after something."

Layla stood up, getting angrier by the second and stepped closer to Jerry.

"I am not trying to sleep my way into anything. I like Hank."

"Besides," Layla said, looking Jerry up and down, "you never had a chance."

At her words, Jerry looked like he'd been slapped and didn't say anything for a moment. Layla's heart was racing and she tried to still her shaking hands.

"Everything okay here?" Hank's voice said as he approached them, coming to stand beside Layla. He had seen them from across the room and could tell something wasn't right.

"Ah, here he is now. Hank Voight." Jerry tried to regain his composure. "The man who got me kicked out of cyber crimes."

Voight rolled his tongue and turned his head to one side. "Jerry. You not being able to keep it in your pants got you kicked off cyber crimes. I was just solving my case."

Jerry nodded, clearly not agreeing with Hank's version of the story.

Hank, tired of this prick, took a step forward, angling himself between Jerry and Layla.

"Jerry. Why don't you walk away before this goes in a direction you're not going to like."

Jerry smirked, satisfied that he'd gotten a rise out of them both.

"Some things never change, Voight." Then turning to Layla, he said, "See you Monday."

As Jerry walked away, Layla let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

"What happened?" Hank asked her, concern clouding his expression. Layla put her hands on his arms and he could feel them shaking.

"He said I was trying to sleep my way into Intelligence's IT spot or something like that. Then he…"

Hank started to turn and go after Jerry, her words starting a fire of rage in his chest. But before he could follow him, Layla grabbed his arm.

"Hank, please… Don't."

Hank hesitated, but when he looked back and saw the apprehension in Layla's eyes, his anger deflated.

"He said if I wanted to get ahead I shouldn't have turned him down because he's the one with connections."

Hank scoffed.

"Should I be worried?" Layla asked him, feeling very unsettled.

Hank's face hardened, pissed that Jerry had her feeling this way.

"Look, I'll take care of it…"

"No. Hank, I've only been at this job for two months. I really like it. Maybe I can just file a complaint with HR and he'll step back."

Hank didn't think so but he could see she didn't want his help.

"Okay. Maybe. But if he does anything," Hank put his hands on her shoulders and tilted his head down to make direct eye contact with Layla, "and I mean anything out of the way, you call me ASAP, you understand?"

Layla bit her lip and nodded, hoping that never happened.

"You want to get out of here?" Hank asked, sensing that Layla was done with the whole party scene.

"Yes, please."

Hank drove back to Layla's apartment. Like the first night they'd kissed, the ride was mostly silent, but this time there was a peaceful feeling between them. Hank held her hand on the console between them as he drove.

When they got there, Hank walked her to the door. He'd ditched his jacket and tie as soon as they'd left the party, unbuttoning the top few buttons of his dress shirt and partly rolling up his sleeves.

He hesitated when she unlocked the door and started to go in. It was after midnight and he figured she'd want to call it a night, especially after what happened with Jerry.

Layla turned back when she realized he didn't follow her in and walked over to where he stood in the doorway.

She stood close to him for a second, just looking into his eyes before her hands made their way to his chest. "Aren't you coming inside, Sargeant?"

The playfulness he loved about her was back.

Deciding to play into the role, since she seemed to like calling him Sargeant when she was feeling flirty, Hank said, "Is there a crime you need to report, m'am?"

Layla threw her head back and laughed as they made their way further into the living room, delighted that he was playing along.

"Yes." She said, walking towards another room and looking back at him over her shoulder.

"It's a crime that I'm still wearing this dress, don't you think?"

She winked at him before entering the bedroom and leaving his sight.

Hank stood there for a minute, an impressed grin on his face, before following her into the bedroom.

That night, Hank and Layla made love for the first time.

What started out as playful seduction turned into something tender and beautiful. They both felt a piece of themselves return that had been missing for a long time.

For the first time since Jake's death, Layla felt whole. She felt comforted. She felt loved.

Hank kissed her tenderly as she climaxed, muffling her cries with his lips as she rode the wave of pleasure. Her urgent cries turned into satisfied whispers as she said his name over and over, her hands roaming his back and his sides. Hank came soon after.

As he laid beside her catching his breath, Layla rolled onto her side and trailed her fingers across his chest. They laid in bed like that, trading gentle kisses and whispers, until Layla fell asleep in Hank's arms.