A/N: Here's more or less a filler chapter. Red and Lizzie spending more time together and Red taking care of Lizzie. I love sweet Red. Thanks for the reviews and follows. I hope you guys will hang in there with me.

Chapter thirty-one

Red still felt slightly exposed by what he'd shared with her. He felt unsure of himself. Lizzie seemed to understand and gave him some space. She'd told him she was going to go for a swim and that he was more than welcome to join her if he wanted. She'd teased him by saying that this time they were all alone and wouldn't have an audience.

A couple of minutes later he watched her saunter past him in a very thin, white dress. Underneath he could see some purple material. She was a vision and so alluring. He watched her walk away, Jethro following her obediently, but all he saw, was her. Outside, on the porch, he followed her every move. He watched the sway of her hips, the way the thin dress flowed around her body, her long legs carrying her across the sand. She was a vision and he yearned to call her his in every possible way. She'd called him by his given name for the first time since they'd met. It was only then that he'd realised he'd been waiting for her to call him Raymond. It felt intimate and right and he'd longed for it.

Knowing he couldn't resist such temptation much longer Red turned back inside to change into his swim shorts. After closing up her house Red made his way through the sand to Lizzie. In his hands he had two big towels, sunscreen lotion and a toy for Jethro. He spread the towels on the sand next to Lizzie's and sat down. He watched Lizzie play with Jethro, splashing around in the shallow water. Today she was wearing a purple bikini. It looked just as beautiful on her as the red, though he would always prefer her in red.

"Come on in, Red." Lizzie called to him from the water.

However, her enthusiasm caused Jethro to run up to her. Lizzie was focused on Red and didn't see her Big Dane running towards her. She was too late to avoid him and Jethro seemed to think that his boss would catch him as he jumped at her.

"Jethro!" Lizzie yelled, but she was too late. The dog hit her, pushing her backwards into the shallow water. That's when her back hit a rock.

Red, who'd seen the impact coming was already on his feet when Lizzie got hit, ran into the water to her. He expected her to quickly resurface, but she didn't and it worried him. Jethro was shaken up too. It seemed as if he was trying to dig through the water to get to his boss. Red had reached them quickly and immediately pulled her out of the water. Lizzie immediately started coughing up water after resurfacing. Red was holding her up with his arms around her. After a while the violent coughing stopped and Lizzie got air back in her lungs.

"You okay?" Red asked her. He held her close against his chest, rubbing her back. That's when he felt a liquid other than water running down her back. He turned her around to examine her back. He saw some small cuts and scrapes that were slightly bleeding, but there were a few bigger cuts and those were the cause of the blood running down her back. "You scared me for a moment." He grabbed her by the elbow. "Looks like you hit some rocks. Let's get you out of the water and home. I need to look at those cuts."

Lizzie nodded her agreement. She felt Jethro pushing against the palm of her hand. He needed some reassurance that she wasn't mad at him. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm okay." She ran her hand over his head.

Out of the water, Red guided her to their towels. He grabbed one to dry her, but Lizzie grabbed the towel from him. "I can do it myself."

There was his stubborn Lizzie again, always reluctant to let someone take care of her. "I know." He said, grabbing the towel back from her. "Let me do this for you, okay?" He waited for a nod which he got. "Do they hurt?" He asked her as he dried the front of her body.

"Yeah." Lizzie admitted. The cuts were starting to sting. Having Red towel dry her was nice even if the circumstances were different from how she'd imagined it.

Red carefully dried her back. He looked at the cuts. Luckily they didn't look too bad. The bigger ones worried him a bit at first, but now after a closer look, he knew they wouldn't need stiches. "Come on, let's get you home." Red grabbed their stuff and took Lizzie's hand in his.

At her house Red guided Lizzie quickly into her bathroom. He positioned her next to the sink. He grabbed the first aid kit and took out the supplies to clean and treat the cuts. With a washcloth he gently cleaned the cuts. He saw most of the cuts had stopped bleeding already. After drying the cuts he applied some antibiotic cream on the cuts that he thought might get infected. He then put a bandage on the cuts and he was done. He put away the rest of the first aid kit and stepped up to her. He made sure his chest didn't touch her back afraid he might hurt her, but he stood close enough to feel her body heat. He caressed her arms from her shoulders to her hands and back up again. He smiled when he saw the goose bumps appear on her arms.

"You cold?" He whispered in her ear.

"No." She whispered just like him.

Red leaned in and kissed her bare shoulder. "You look beautiful in purple."

"Mmm…" Lizzie hummed. She enjoyed his sweet caresses. He always managed to make her feel so much with a mere touch. "Glad you liked it."

Before he could say anything Jethro started barking loudly. Red groaned. It seemed like the universe was set on interrupting them. "Next time when we go swimming Lizzie, it's going to be the two of us. Jethro will stay here. Abby will not be here either and that is it. I don't want anymore interruptions."

Lizzie giggled at his frustration. "Promises, promises." Lizzie turned around, kissed Red's cheek and opened the bathroom door. She greeted her Big Dane and together with him she walked to the kitchen leaving Red standing alone in the bathroom.

TBC...