"You've made an excellent choice sir. Shall I wrap it up for you?" The smarmy attitude of the sales clerk was getting on Reid's last nerve.
"Ah… yes and thank you." He stammered feeling his face getting red.
"Very good…" The clerk pulled a black gift bag with gold foil lining and the name of the store in gold letters on one side, from an invisible drawer beneath the display. He shook it out dramatically. Reid could imagine what Morgan would say if confronted with his man.
The platinum haired clerk rang up the charge and Reid handed over his credit card. He noticed the clerk wore a gold ring on his pinky finger with a large square ruby in the center. The blinding white shirt he wore with a dark blue suit, had cuff links that matched his pinky ring.
"There you are sir. I'm sure the young lady will appreciate your selection." He looked down his long nose at Reid, and his tone was extremely condescending.
"Thank you," Reid took the bag and joined the last of the Valentine's Day shoppers heading out to their cars.
The whole experience had left him light headed and sweaty palmed. He decided to blame it on their last case. He hadn't meant to leave the shopping till the last minute, but it couldn't be helped. Also, he couldn't make up his mind what to buy.
His car was on the second parking level, and although the garage wasn't bitter cold, like outside, he shivered under his favorite dark brown corduroy blazer.
His faithful old Volvo started up on the first try. He backed the car out of its slot next to a pea green pickup truck with rust spots all over it and a brand new, dark blue Mercedes on the other side. The sky had been grey and threatening all day, but it looked like the danger of snow was over when he pulled out of the garage and onto the street.
When he got to the little house in Arlington, he parked across the street and looked at the empty driveway. It didn't look like she was home. The lights were off and he thought it looked deserted. He'd wait patiently since it was barely seven pm. He waited for an hour, and then went to the door to knock, even though he knew she wasn't there. Maybe he misunderstood what she said to him the day before.
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His apartment building looked decidedly un-friendly and lonely. It was his own fault; he should have made sure she was going to be home. Well… it was too late now. He'd have to give her the gift at work and hope he didn't completely humiliate himself in front of her and the rest of the team. Of course the probability of getting through that without Morgan making a smart remark was about one in a billion! Sure… the world could come to an end, and Morgan might not say anything, but Reid wasn't counting on it.
Somehow he got to his own front door without realizing he'd left his car. He was carrying the gifts he bought for her which he shifted to one hand. The keys to his apartment seemed to have disappeared, and he had to put everything down to fumble through his satchel for them. He eventually found them in his right pants pocket.
He opened the door, and was completely shocked to see the inside of the apartment lit with wavering candlelight that threw shadows over all of the light grey walls of his living area. The candles were all shapes and sizes and they were scattered all over the room. His hands were empty and sweating before he realized he'd dropped the satchel and the gift bags. His mouth finally closed with a snap when he noticed the shoes on the floor about three feet from where he stood.
His hand had been hovering over his gun, but the shoes told him that whoever lit the candles wasn't there to hurt him. They were black, high heeled women's shoes and they were familiar somehow. Of course he could be imagining that they were familiar and this was a trick.
One hand reached out to pick up a shoe. It was polished to a mirror shine. It looked brand new, so how could it be familiar? He touched the inside of the shoe and then yanked his hand away.
The candles fluttered a little, and then burned steady. In one of the shifting shadows he saw what looked like an article of clothing. It was black and lying just around the corner to the hall. It lay in the direction of his bedroom. When he stepped across the doorway and picked up the clothing, her scent filled his nostrils. He brought the garment to his face and inhaled deeply. The feel of the silky material on his face made his whole body shudder.
A few steps down the hallway he found black lace panties lying on the carpeted floor, then a matching bra hanging from the door knob of his bedroom. They all smelled like her, the scent of vanilla and cinnamon that always followed her, wherever she went. His hands were shaking when he reached out to pluck off the bra from the knob.
It was strange! He never felt this scared, or excited to go through a door with the team even when they didn't know what was ahead of them. It was a very curious, but strangely exhilarating sensation. The door knob turned under his hand, and the door opened to a large bedroom with light grey walls and eggshell colored blinds on the windows. The king size bed right in front of him was made up with white silk sheets and a black, red and white patterned quilt. The pillows were covered with matching cases. There were more candles placed around the room, and their light worshipped the golden beauty of the woman that lay there.
JJ was lying right in the middle of the bed, wearing one of his dress shirts and nothing else. The shirt was one of his favorites, dark blue with white pinstripes. It reached to just past mid-thigh of her beautiful legs.
"You going to stand there with your mouth open, or are you going to join me?"
He dropped the dress and her underwear on the floor and slipped off his shoes. "I t-thought we agreed t-that you and I w-would meet at y-your house." He tried to respond with nonchalance, but the thumping of his heart made his voice tremble.
JJ opened the top button of his shirt and he swallowed loudly. "No… we agreed that you were going to cook for me." She reminded him as he slipped off his mismatched socks.
"I distinctly remembered it the other way around." He slipped onto the bed and stopped her hand from opening the next button on the shirt.
"I thought you had a photographic memory Spence."
"I do, but it's more for what I see, not hear," He informed her, taking over the job of unbuttoning his shirt.
"Remind me next time to write down any change of plans and stick it under your nose."
"Um hmm…"
"Are you listening to me?"
One button remained, "No…" he pushed the shirt off her shoulders and captured her mouth with his. He let her breathe again, eventually. "Do you have a problem with that," He whispered in her ear, while his hands found her hair and twined in its silky golden abundance.
"No… I… What were we talking about? "
"Nothing important…"
"You're wearing too many clothes, Spence." She pouted, relishing the feel of his hands in her hair.
"Am I… Why don't you help me with that," His deep brown eyes captured hers with their passion and made her heart stutter.
"I think I can handle that," She grinned wickedly and yanked down the zipper on his cords.
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"Did you like your present?" JJ asked rather breathlessly.
They lay tangled up in each other. Reid lifted his head from its resting place on her abdomen and smiled up at her. "Yeah… that'll do for starters."
She smacked the top of his head. "What makes you think that you get anything else today?"
"It's Valentine's Day. I want my present and a card." He whined.
"Geez… you're such a baby Spence."
"Yeah… but you love me anyway."
"Watch it, or you won't get the gift in your desk drawer."
She laughed at the child-like excitement in his eyes. Those eyes were capable of so much emotion, but she liked the positive ones the best. It was so wonderful to see them pain free for a change. God she hoped it lasted for awhile.
He untangled himself from her and jumped naked from the bed. He dashed over to the desk in the corner of the room.
"Nice ass Dr. Reid," She giggled!
"Hmm…" He muttered opening the all the drawers till he found a heavy square object in the last one. "What is it?" He wondered, strolling back to the bed and tripping over one of his shoes.
"Watch it babe," She laughed when he fell on to the bed instead of the floor.
"Very funny Agent Jareau. What is it?" He shook the gift, wrapped in red and gold stripped paper that the shiny and slick to the touch.
"Open it… I'm not going to tell you. Where is the fun in that?"
He glared at her and she grinned back. "Okay… I'll open it. He carefully peeled back the tape on one flap of the paper.
"Oh God Spence… don't tell me that you're one of those people." JJ rolled her eyes when he looked up inquiringly at her.
"What kind of people?"
"The kind that won't rip the paper because they have to save everything," She said.
"No… I'm not a pack rat." He assured her.
"Then why aren't you ripping the paper off like a normal person."
He flushed red and wouldn't look at her till she put a hand on one bare shoulder. "This is the first Valentine's Day present I ever received." He said hoarsely.
"Oh… I'm sorry baby… I didn't realize…"
"I know that JJ. When I was thirteen and noticing girls, I was in college. There was a girl that lived next door to the family I was staying with. She was so pretty and I really liked her, so I bought her a Valentine's Day card and somehow got the courage to give it to her. She laughed at me, called me a freak in front of her friends and threw it back in my face."
JJ wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry that happened to you."
"Don't worry about it; it was a long time ago. It doesn't matter anymore."
"Yes it does," JJ sat up angrily. "And don't tell me that kids do mean things to each other all the time. That's no excuse for that kind of behavior and -"
Reid stopped her with a searing kiss. "It's not important because I have you. I love you Jennifer Jareau, and some girl in the past isn't going to change that."
"Well okay… So are you going to keep me in suspense for ever?" She looked pointedly at the gift in his hands.
"Oh right…" He pulled at the paper, getting it off intact.
"Wow… this is so great. How did you know? How did you get this? I think it's out of print!" He held up the book?
"Emily has great connections." JJ told him.
Reid turned the leather bound volume of Marcel Proust's, "The Past Recaptured," in his hands. It was the only one he hadn't read.
"Thank you JJ." He leaned in for another kiss and the happiness was back in his eyes again.
"You're welcome." He got up and pulled on a robe. "Where are you going?"
"You'll see. Just relax for a minute." He placed the book lovingly in the bookcase in one corner of the room, and left her looking at all the books he had scattered around the room.
He came back with two gift bags. "Yay… presents," She cheered.
"I h-hope you like it," Reid stuttered, leaving them on the bed next to her. He sat down on the other side of the bed and watched her pick up a larger red gift bag. "Wait… I forgot… That's mine." He snatched it from her.
"You bought yourself a Valentine's Day gift." She raised her eyebrows.
"What's wrong with that," but he was blushing crimson.
"Let me see that," she demanded. He gave it back and she pulled out a red heart shaped box of chocolates.
"Spencer Reid…"
"Why should women corner the market on chocolate on Valentine's Day? I want chocolaty goodness and all the love chemicals contained therein." He informed her.
"You're very strange at times, you know that right," JJ said.
"Yes… but you love me anyway."
"I do… but that won't get you out of sharing that chocolate."
"Fine, but I get the creams." He insisted.
JJ heaved a huge sigh and reached for the black bag. Her eyes noted the name of the shop and her face went pale. "Spencer… what did you do?"
"Open it and you'll see," He said very calmly.
JJ pulled the small black velvet box from the bottom of the bag. Her hands were shaking and her heart was thumping so loud that Spencer probably heard it. She opened it and was happy to see that it wasn't a ring. Instead there was a gold monarch butterfly pendant.
"It's beautiful Spence…Thank you so much." He helped her put it on.
"I knew it would look great on you." He said looking more relaxed at her happy expression. "Are you sorry it's not a ring?"
"No… of course I'm not sorry. You of all people know that we're not ready for that." JJ said, snuggling into his arms.
"Yeah… but maybe someday…"
"Yeah… maybe someday…" She echoed. "Now… are you going to make me dinner?"
"Is food all you think about?" He wondered.
"No… I have other interests as well." She reminded him coyly, while pushing his robe off his shoulders.
"Is that all I am to you," He said, pulling the knot from the belt "A sex object."
"Yes… You got a problem with that," She pushed him on his back.
"No… just be gentle."
JJ laughed, "Happy Valentine's Day Spencer!"