Chapter 3 - The Stakeout Catalyst (Part II)

The squad car became Nick and Olivia's temporary home, as they camped out in front of the building over the next 12 hours. As the sky darkened, the winter air assaulted them; its wind cold and harsh. Nick and Olivia had to keep the car turned off to be inconspicuous, but despite their North Face down coats and fleece winter gear, they were both frigid.

"Liv, if you're cold, I can call Amanda. She's in the neighborhood visiting a friend, and she offered to make a hot food and drink run for us."

"Nick, I'm not that cold. I'm good." she said, not sure if she was trying to convince him or herself at this point.

"Seriously, Liv? I can barely hear myself think over your teeth chattering. Just admit it, you're freezing. I admit that I'm cold too. So should I call Amanda or what?"

She gave him a small smile, "Yeah, go ahead. I don't know who I was trying to fool, it's freezing in here." She slid closer to Nick; the movement didn't go unnoticed by him. He called Amanda and quickly put in an order for them.

He turned back to her, "Since we can't turn the car on, we should use our body heat to keep warm," he smirked, trying to appear nonchalant, even though his heart was pounding loud enough to make his ears ring. Emotionally, he and Liv were still on shaky ground after he pulled a gun on Cassidy in a paranoia-induced haze. After such a colossal cluster fuck, you'd think he would learn to tread carefully where Olivia was concerned – but not Amaro. He followed up threatening a fellow officer with alienating his partner, by putting in a partner switch behind her back. He sighed as he reflected on his recent, shady behavior. Way to stay classy, Nick, he chided himself.

Physically, however, Nick knew exactly where he stood – he was very attracted to his partner. He knew it was wrong, which of course turned him on even more. After he separated with Maria, he began putting in longer hours to take his mind off his crumbling marriage, at least that's what he told himself. Truth be told, he wanted to spend more time at the precinct because he knew she always worked late.

He gazed at her beautiful face; he was grateful she was bundled up at the moment, it prevented him from seeing her hourglass figure, with those ample hips, heaving chest and that ass—he secretly wanted to grab a cheek with each hand and give her a firm squeeze.

He could feel himself rise, and his pants tightened. Fuck! he yelled to himself. Get it together, Chico. You're a grown man, not a hormonal teenager.

Liv looked at the corner of her eye at him and gave him a sly smile. "Body heat, huh?" she said, unconvinced.

"What?! It's a scientific fact. Don't tell me you don't believe in science?"

"You're just a regular Bill Nye, aren't you Nick?" Liv teased, but inched closer to him. "Alright, it's worth a try. I'm so cold I feel like I'm going to lose a toe or a finger at any moment."

Liv feigned indifference, but what Nick didn't know was that she found him to be all kinds of sexy. She knew she shouldn't be lusting after her partner. Even when she thought he was being a complete ass, which was usually 50% of the time, he had such a charming way about him – and his boyish smile was positively devastating. But she still didn't fully trust him after the recent turn of events.

She licked her lips, and nodded her consent. He took her hands in his, and rubbed them to generate some heat. Her hands were cold but soft at the same time. He cupped his hands over hers and brought them to his mouth, as he blew hot air onto them to speed up the warming process.

While Nick was busy performing his duty as the human furnace, Olivia's eyes flicked up towards him. His calloused hands were rough against her smooth ones, and the heat of his breath sent shivers down her skin. She began to rub her thighs together and felt a heat building up as a blast of warmth shot to her core.

Fuck! she screamed to herself, What am I doing? I'm a grown woman, not some sex-obsessed teenager. This is my partner, not a hot piece of ass in a random bar. Her head was screaming at her, but her body was operating on a different frequency and responding to its own logic, and she felt a small pool growing between her legs.

Nick, oblivious to Liv's inner monologue and internal tug-of-war, looked up at her, satisfied with her increased body temperature. He noticed her chewing on her lower lip.

"Uh, Liv, you okay over there? You're chewing on your lip like it's a ribeye."

Nick's voice brought her out of her semi ecstasy state. "Hmm...yeah, I'm fine, just thinking about the case," she lied.

He nodded, pretending like he was also preoccupied with the real reason for their stakeout. He could tell that something was on her mind – and it wasn't SVU related.

"So, what was with you this morning? You were pretty crabby – even by normal Benson standards."

Liv let out a deep, throaty chuckle, and Nick felt a stirring in his crotch. God, she was sexy without even trying to be, he thought.

"You looking to get your ass kicked, Amaro?" she sassed. "Let's just say giving your date the AM brushoff always makes for awkward mornings." Liv sighed.

"Who was the unlucky victim? Did I know him?"

Liv sighed again, louder this time, and went to to answer him, before shutting her mouth at the last minute.

"Liv, we're partners, you know you can trust me. Your confession will never leave this car, I swear."

She nodded, though she was still somewhat guarded, "It was Cassidy."

A look of pure shock came over his face and he felt an inexplicable twinge of jealousy. "Wait, Cassidy...as in Brian Cassidy? No offense, but don't you think you can do better than him?

Olivia was quiet for a moment, but when she looked at Nick, her eyes flashed a silent rage.

"Yes, that Brian Cassidy, you remember him, the guy you pulled a gun on," she sneered. For your information, Brian is a great guy, but his long-time undercover assignments have changed him; they've hardened him. We just aren't...why am I even telling you this? You despise him, and you'll never see him as anything more than scum!" she spat. She was furious. The erotic heat that had crept into her cheeks was now replaced with a flush of anger.

"Well it looks like one good thing came out of this conversation, you look a hell of a lot warmer than you did before," he said half laughing. She responded with a venom-laced glare.

Way to go, Amaro. Another fucking home run, he sighed.

"Liv, I'm sorry. You should know by now that I suffer from extreme foot-in-mouth disease, he said fishing for a laugh. When he didn't receive one, he took on a more sincere tone. "For the record, I don't think Cassidy's scum. I was dead wrong for what I did, and no amount of apologies can ever erase that," he said and hung his head in shame.

She looked up at him, struck by his sincerity. She studied his body language, as he continued to stare at his lap, apparently fascinated with the sight of his hands. She took his hand into hers, and gave it a light squeeze. "I know you're a good guy, Nick, and as much as you enraged me by holding a gun to Brian's head, I know you wouldn't have pulled the trigger."

Nick swallowed hard and nodded, staring at their conjoined hands. His heart sounded like thunder crashing into his ears. They rang so loudly, he thought blood was going to ooze out of them. He rubbed a thumb against the soft folds of her palm and brought his eyes to meet her gaze.

Liv licked her lips; her throat was so dry she could have started a fire just by coughing. She tried to swallow, but the saliva was frozen in the back of her throat. She reluctantly withdrew her hand, but kept her gaze steady. "Even though I know you wouldn't hurt Brian, after your request for a partner switch, I'd be lying if I said that I completely trusted you."

He gave her a sad smile. "Yeah, I understand. I know I don't deserve your trust right now. But I promise Liv, I'll work hard to earn you."

Liv gave him a strange look at his words. Earn me? He must mean earn my trust, she thought as her brain tried to make sense of the context. But deep down, Liv knew her mind was trying to fill in the blanks with any logic it could grasp – no matter how thin. She knew that she had to believe this lie, because the underlying truth of his statement was far too complicated to consider.

A/N: Reviews are love. If you do leave one, can you please do me a favor and tell me something specific about the fic that you liked (or didn't like). I welcome any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, as I am always striving to improve my writing.

Thanks!