Chapter 6

It had been a long, wonderful weekend and Chelsea looked down at her painted fingernails for the hundredth time that morning as she entered the precinct. She knew Eddie wasn't going to let her hear the end of it, but she was just glad he wouldn't be able to see her pedicure, too.

She and Raven had spent their time making love and getting to know each other better. When the designer found out how long it had been since she had last been to a salon, she insisted that they get manicures and do a little shopping. Her feelings for Raven were growing rapidly and she was pretty sure she would have agreed to just about anything at that point.

After making herself a cup of tea, she sat down at her desk and checked her messages while she waited for her partner to arrive. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep the fact that she was seeing Raven a secret for long, but she hoped today wouldn't be the day that she would have to tell him. If dating a celebrity was anything like she thought it would be, plenty of people would know about it soon enough.

"Morning, Chelsea," Eddie said as he breezed into the precinct.

"Morning," she returned as she watched him get settled at his desk. He had a stern look in his face as he logged into his computer. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

Eddie looked through one of his desk drawers and slammed it a little harder than necessary. "Fine."

Chelsea furrowed her brow. The last thing they needed was another misunderstanding due to Eddie's attitude. "Tell me what's wrong," she said, deciding not to let him off the hook.

Eddie sighed loudly and stopped what he was doing. "Chantel and I got into an argument this morning."

"I thought you guys settled everything?" Sometimes Chelsea wondered how their relationship survived at all.

"I thought so, too, but now her mom is butting in," he said.

The phone on Chelsea's desk rang before he could continue and she gave him an apologetic look before answering.


Later on that day, Chelsea returned to the precinct after volunteering to buy lunch. She was immediately hit with an incredibly strong odor.

"What is that smell?" she asked disgustedly as she made her way to her desk with the food.

Eddie rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Some guy they brought in for questioning."

"Well, you can have my lunch. My appetite is completely ruined," she said, watching in disbelief as Eddie happily dug into the extra food.


After her shift was finally over, Chelsea called Raven and asked if she would meet her at her apartment with the promise of picking something up for dinner. When she arrived, they met in the parking lot and held hands.

"You look beautiful," Chelsea complimented as they made their way inside. It was no surprise considering she was a fashion designer. Her clothes were always beautiful.

Raven smiled shyly. "Thank you."

"How was your day?" Chelsea asked after they entered the apartment. She sat the food on the small dining room table and gave her attention to the designer.

"Pretty hectic," Raven said as she gathered Chelsea close. "I have to leave for L.A. soon. I was thinking maybe you could meet me there Friday."

"Shouldn't be a problem," Chelsea said as they finally shared a hello kiss.

Raven tightened her hold around the redhead as they continued to embrace. Having someone to share her day with was something she missed terribly.

After her breakup with Jordan, she realized that a lot had been lacking in their relationship from the start, but she had been, too, much in love to realize it. She had been so in love, in fact, that she had almost considered telling Jordan that she was psychic. Luckily, her instincts had stopped her from doing so and it would have been a disaster if she had. The supermodel had even gone so far as to bash her in a few interviews after their breakup and she couldn't imagine what the woman would have done with the knowledge of her being psychic. It had been a very difficult time in her life and career and she was thankful it was over.

But she was pretty sure she had gotten it right this time with Chelsea. She was a normal person, untainted by the ways of fame and celebrity and Raven was glad she hadn't listened to Muffy after all. She wasn't interested in dating someone for status. She simply wanted an honest to goodness love and she was confident she had found it in the detective. Now, it was just a matter of telling her. A part of her was nervous considering how her last relationship had ended, but Jordan and Chelsea couldn't be any more different and she wasn't going to let her ex ruin a new chance at love.

Oblivious to Raven's internal thoughts, Chelsea slowly ended the kiss before pulling her into a long hug. She rested her head on Raven's shoulder and inhaled her lovely scent, her eyes closed in complete contentment.

"Raven?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Hmm?" the designer responded as she slowly rubbed her hands across Chelsea's back.

"Do I stink?"

Raven pulled away and looked at the redhead with a furrowed brow; half confusion, half amusement. "What?"

"There was a guy at work today and he smelled awful. The entire squad room was filled with B.O.," she explained.

"Well, fortunately, it didn't permeate," Raven said. She playfully buried her face in Chelsea's neck and placed a few kisses there for good measure, causing the redhead to laugh.


"Feel better?" Raven asked a while later as Chelsea came out of the bathroom freshly showered.

"Much," the detective said as she took a seat on the couch next to the designer. She put an arm around her and settled in to watch the movie that was on. "It feels kind of surreal that you're sitting here with me in my apartment."

Raven smiled as she looked at Chelsea. "I promise I'm a normal person. Being here with you is like heaven right now," she said, and she meant every word of it. She still enjoyed some of the perks of being a celebrity, but the older she got, the more private she became. Her secret demanded it anyway.

Chelsea leaned in to kiss Raven's lips softly. She loved Raven's lips. Full and soft. Sexy. They continued to kiss slowly, but were stopped by the buzzing of a phone and both looked to the coffee table to see whose it was.

"It's me. I'd better take this," Raven said before stealing one last kiss.

The detective sighed happily as she watched the designer wander into the bedroom before heading to the kitchen for something to drink. As she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, there was a knock on the door. Thinking that it might be Mrs. Ryan from down the hall, she quickly answered it, but was shocked to find her partner standing there instead.

"Eddie…what are you doing here?" she asked, her eyes darting to the partially closed bedroom door.

"Sorry I didn't call first," Eddie said as he walked past her and into the living room like he had done many times before. "This thing with Chantel is messing me up, so I went for a drive and ended up here." He plopped down onto the sofa and pulled out his cell phone to make sure he hadn't missed any calls.

Chelsea could only stare as she shut the door.

Eddie finally looked up from his phone when he realized he heard talking that wasn't coming from the television and a smile lit up his face. "Is that your mystery person in there?" he asked.

"It won't be a mystery for long," Chelsea mumbled as she watched the door open and Raven walk out into the living room. The smile slipped from Eddie's face and Raven stood there seemingly uncertain about what to do.

"Ummm…" Raven was at a loss for words, knowing perfectly well how Detective Thomas felt about her.

"So…Eddie…Raven is my mystery person," Chelsea finally confessed.

Eddie was completely aware of the fact that Chelsea dated women, but he just wondered why it had to be that woman. He watched as his partner made her way over to stand by the fashion designer and grabbed her hand.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything?" Chelsea asked, wanting the awkwardness to be over already.

Eddies sighed and sagged even further into the couch. "What am I gonna do about Chantel?" he asked exasperatedly.

Chelsea and Raven exchanged confused looks before Chelsea moved to sit next to him. "Tell me what happened," she asked, deciding to take advantage of that fact that he was, too, wrapped up in his own problems to care about who she was dating.

Raven listened as the two detectives spoke and was suddenly pulled into a vision. A few minutes later, she was back in the present and quickly looked around to make sure they hadn't noticed.

"Um, excuse me," she said as she took a seat on the sofa next to Chelsea, a small smile forming on her face. "I think I might know how you can fix things with your fiancé."

Eddie looked at her suspiciously. "I doubt it considering you don't even know her."

"Well, that may be true, but I've overheard plenty and I am a woman. Women know women," she said matter-of-factly.

Eddie continued to eyeball her, but acquiesced. "I'm listening."

Chelsea just watched as Raven grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

"Well, first of all, detective, you need to put your foot down," Raven said as she lightly slapped at his knee. Eddie just stared as if she were crazy. "You need to remind her of why you two fell in love in the first place and make her realize that if it's real then that's all you guys need," Raven said, remembering her vision. It appeared that Chantel was a romantic at heart and those words coming from Eddie would make her melt.

"It's not that simple," Eddie said, shaking his head.

Raven knew it would be difficult to make him take her advice. "Tell you what…if you go home right now and tell her that and she still doesn't listen to you, I'll design her wedding dress…for free," the designer said confidently.

Eddie and Chelsea both looked shocked. It was easy to forget that they were sitting there with a famous fashion designer who was rich because she was very good at what she did.

"Uh, Eddie, if I were you, I'd take that bet," Chelsea advised.

"Deal," Eddie said, standing up and holding out his hand for Raven to shake on it. "You better start designin', girl!"

Raven and Chelsea watched as he let himself out of the apartment without so much as a goodbye.

"That was interesting," Chelsea said as she turned to face a smiling Raven. "What makes you so sure Chantel is going to listen?"

Raven desperately wished she could tell Chelsea how she knew, but it was still too soon. "Perceptive," she said, smiling secretively.

"Oh, really?" Chelsea said as she pulled the detective closer. "Then what am I thinking about right now?"

A knowing grin spread across Raven's face as she leaned in to kiss the detective slowly.