This comes from Tumblr. Over there, some lovely soul has done some research and found Raul Esparza has a different cologne for each of the characters he has played. The Barba one is top secret, but this lovely soul found a sample and says it smells like a sexy lumberjack. I've spent two weeks trying to figure out a story about that. It finally hit me last night.

All my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

-Peter Gabriel (In Your Eyes)

She blew into his office, ready to get her week started, only to find it empty. She glanced around, looking to see if he had even arrived yet. She saw his suit jacket hanging on the coat rack, meaning he had been here for some time, working hard first thing on a Monday morning.

She didn't really need to be here. It had been a slow weekend, for once. She had needed the rest, the time with Noah, but she had also realized Sunday afternoon, she hadn't spoken to him since Friday night, hadn't seen him since that morning. And that realization made her heart hurt a little bit. She leaned against the wall of his office, sighing. She had been having more of those moments recently. Moments when he wasn't there but she found herself wishing that he was. Like when she would be standing at her sink washing dishes or walking through the park with Noah.

She inhaled deeply, trying to get her mind right when it hit her. A scent. She realized it was coming from his suit jacket. Something that was appealing to her. She looked at his jacket, just hanging there innocently, but at the same time, provocatively. She leaned in slightly, inhaling again. What was that? She found herself being drawn closer to his jacket, starting to reach her hand up to grab it when…

"Liv?" She stood straight up, finding him standing there, staring at her, coffee in one hand, file in the other. She ran her hand through her hair, glancing harshly at his jacket one last time.

"Nothing. I just… what?" She shook her head, meeting his confused gaze. "Sorry, Barba. I think I just need another cup of coffee." 'And to take a moment to regain my sanity' she thought to herself, walking around the corner to grab a cup from the outer office. By the time she got back in there, he was sitting at his desk, writing away. "What's going on?" he asked as she took a wide berth around his coat rack.

The slowness continued, for the moment. It gave them all a chance to breath, to get caught up on paperwork and to take advantage of some of the overtime they had all amassed. She looked at the clock just after 5, finding she was done for the day. She started to gather her things when her phone buzzed on her desk. She grabbed it, finding a message from him – the first one today. Her heart beat double time for a second and she smiled widely.

It would seem my work is done for the day. Come back and have a drink with me.

Not a question. A demand of sorts. She found it attractive. And so him. Whatever this was she felt for him made her hesitate. And for a while, he hesitated too. But not recently. Recently he had stopped asking and started telling and she found that sexy. She quickly typed out her reply and headed back to his office.

By the time she got there, the noise had quieted and the offices had mostly emptied. Carmen had even left for the day, so she just walked right in. She glanced over at his jacket, still hanging on the coat rack. Again, with the wide berth and she heard him chuckle from behind her. She turned to find him sitting on his couch, two drinks on the table in front of him, legal pad on his lap.

"Why are you acting like my jacket is going to jump off of that and strangle you?"

"I'm not" she said, trying to act confident when she was anything less than that as she sat down next to him. He laughed quietly as he set the legal pad down, pushing her glass toward her. She grabbed her glass off the table, taking a long sip as she glanced at him, leaned back against the corner of the couch, arm stretched over the top. She leaned back and she could feel the heat of his hand against the back of her head. There went her heart beat again. She turned her head to say… something, anything… and that scent hit her again, but stronger and harder than this morning. She couldn't help herself. She leaned in slightly, inhaling longer, placing her glass on the table.

She watched his eyes widen and darken a bit and she was sure her cheeks flushed at that. "What is that?" she whispered.

"What?"

"That… scent. I've never… and this morning it was on your jacket and now…" She swallowed the lump in her throat, wondering when she had stopped talking in complete sentences around him.

He shifted slightly and she felt his fingers sweep against her hair. It took all of her willpower not to lean in to his touch. And that was all the willpower she had left, she was sure of that.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly, dropping his glass on the end table next to him. "Oh. That. I was wandering through some store in Midtown on Sunday and this aggressive sales associate kind of cornered me with this cologne. I can't remember the name of it, but she said it reminded her of a sexy lumberjack, so I couldn't resist. You like it?" That look in his eyes as he asked her that took the last remaining shreds of her willpower and shoved it right out his window. She slid closer to him and she gave in to the want of leaning into his hand when he ran his fingers through her hair.

She inhaled deeply again, turning to lean her shoulder against him. "Yes. Yes I do. I like it a lot. I missed you over the weekend." That last thought fell out of her mouth before she could stop it. Apparently, her filter had followed her willpower right out the window. He smiled, leaning his head to one side.

"Missed me?"

She nodded. "I realized on Sunday that we hadn't spoken since Friday and I can't remember when the last time was that had happened." He nodded.

"You could have called me" he replied, dropping his hand to her shoulder, pulling her closer.

"I didn't need anything. I didn't want to bother you."

"You don't bother me, Liv. You can call me whenever you want."

"What would we talk about?"

He smirked at her. "The weather. Noah. How I could have come over for dinner and helped you put Noah in bed and then kissed you senseless against your front door as I went to leave." That last statement paused her breathing. "I may have missed you too this weekend" he whispered, dropping his gaze to her lips. She grabbed him by the tie, pulling his lips to hers, winding her free hand into his hair as he pulled her flush to his body, kissing her senseless on his couch. She pulled back when the need to breath trumped her need to kiss him. He opened his eyes and the dark green made her blood boil.

"So, the new cologne did the trick then, huh?" he asked, rubbing his hand up and down her arm.

"I may have to ban you from wearing that at work. I may not be able to stay away." He yanked her across his lap, resting her back against the arm of his couch.

"Well, Liv, I guess that's a risk I'm willing to take" he replied, assaulting her lips again.