A/N: So yeah... this is the next chapter in this little story. enjoy it

Santa Barbara 2000

Carlton's head was bent, looking down at his watch, checking how much time he had left on his lunch break all those years ago, when he heard the shuffling of the chair across from him and felt the table move. He quickly glanced up, his hands moving automatically to his gun incase it was a dangerous villain. Instead it was a woman, younger then him with dark chestnut hair, deep brown, almost black eyes, and a smile that made any thoughts of his gun disappear.

He choked out a "Hello." Her ruby red lips grinned wider and then she spoke, "Say something that is more then two words?"

"What? You sit down at my table and order me to speak?" Carlton asked, shocked at her audacity.

She started laughing. A nice soft laugh that didn't draw too much attention to them. Carlton continued to stare at her, but if there had been any angry thoughts of being disturbed on his break, her laughter drove them away. As her laughter faded away, the smile returned as she apologized, "Sorry, but I thought it we'd look more like a couple if you made me laugh. I didn't mean to bark orders at you."

"Look like a couple" he repeated, his eyes getting wide.

"Yeah, it help us blend in," she explained frankly, trying to wave down the waiter.

"What? Why would I need to blend in?" he questioned.

"I'm not saying you need to blend in, but looking like a couple helps," she answered. "A majority of these people in this café aren't going to remember just another couple, but they will remember a man sitting all alone because of the fact they felt pity for him. It's human nature to want to have things in pair. Society wants people to be in a relationship, so you can feel complete and happy."

She expressed the last part so cynically Carlton could not help but raise an eyebrow. "So you don't think you can feel complete in a relationship?" he asked, forgetting to watch the clock.

"No, some people can, but some need two or more partners, or some need none," she clarified. "A relationship does not mean happiness."

Carlton was going to object, but the waiter came over to the table at that moment. The woman smiled up at him and ordered, "Hi, could I get a caramel mochacino with a splash of vanilla and a sprinkle of nutmeg in it? Actually, could you get one for him too?"

"What? Oh no, I'm fine," Carlton quickly told the waiter.

"Come on darling, give it a try, you'll like it," she coaxed lovingly. Carlton was too shocked by being called "darling" to object. She stated firmly to the waiter, "We'll take two."

As the waiter walked away she turned to Carlton who was just staring at her. "Trust me, you'll like it."

"I don't even know your name and you're already ordering my drinks and calling me darling," he stated with a shake of his head.

"Oh, but I know your name," she told him.

"Really?" His hand reached towards his gun.

"Yeah, you're Bob? Or Frank. And suggesting from your suit you have a rather important job, but not well paying. So, I'm guessing assistant to the assistant manager," she concluded. She glanced at him smugly, noticing something she missed before, a golden band around his third finger. "And you're married. Are you happily married?"

"Yes." That was a lie. At the moment Carlton was fighting with his wife about his work schedule.

"So you're cheating?"

"I'm faithful to my wife."

"Then you're not happy. All the happily married men are cheaters or married less then a year," she explained. "But you're faithful to your wife, so you must be miserable."

He did not want to discuss his wife anymore, at least not with her. "Not an assistant, Head Detective."

"What?"

"You were wrong. I'm not a Bob or a Frank, I'm Head Detective Carlton Lassiter," he corrected.

She stared at him, this time it was her turn to be shocked. Without even meaning to, she backed away from the table a little. Her smile was gone and Carlton suddenly started wishing he had kept his mouth shut. She stood and said, "Well, I better get going Detective Carlton, since you're faithful to your wife."

"Your drink hasn't come yet," he stated, hoping to delay her departure. Yet as he opened his mouth the waiter came with their drinks.

She glanced at her cup, and then at his. "Will you at least try your drink?"

He picked it up and took a small the sip. The vanilla seemed to off set the caramel very well. He placed the bright blue mug down and declared, "Not bad, for a girl drink."

She sat back down. "So would you order it again?"

"Probably not," he confined.

"Now why is that? Because you're a big strong manly cop?"

"Yes." Her grin finally returned, and that made Carlton smile.

"I suppose you're one of those black coffee kind of cop, aren't you?"

"You say it like it's a bad thing," he commented.

"Sometimes it is bad to follow the pack," she stated, sipping her unique drink. She stopped and flashed a lopsided grin towards him. "But then again, you're Head Detective, so you lead the pack. But you're pretty young for that job, so you're either very good or very corrupt."

"Good, I'm very determined and have a high close rate," Carlton told her proudly.

Her eyes traced him up and down till finally they settled on his ice blue ones. "Have you ever done anything bad?" He didn't answer her. "Ever been late to something, or taken just a little bit too long on a break?" He shook his head. "Done anything illegal?" Silence. "That's it, we're robbing a bank today. You've got a gun right?"

"What? No!" he cried, his eyes growing wide.

A giggle escaped those red lips. "Relax, I was just kidding. You need to loosen up, you know? What do you do for fun?"

There was a long pause while Carlton tried to think of what he did for fun. Nothing came to mind. It had been years since he had free time that was not dedicated to his wife and making his marriage work. Still, she was waiting for an answer. "Shooting range."

"Wow, you and the Mrs. need to get out more," she replied with a superior look as she sipped on the last of her drink.

It was that look that got him mad. "Hold on, who are you to judge me? I have a job that requires a lot of my time, but I help people with it. I think it's a good trade off."

"All right, all right, no need to get mad. I'm sure you're one of Santa Ann's finest."

"Santa Barbara," he corrected giving her a strange look.

"Really?" she asked. He nodded and she just let out a "huh" and bite her bottom lip. "I could have sworn he said Santa Ann. Oh well, no worries."

"Wait, are you in the wrong city?" he asked, eyeing her like a loony person.

"No, it's the right city, I just had the wrong name in my head," she explained.

"So why are you in Santa Barbara?"

"Work."

"What do you do?"

"I'm in-between jobs right now."

The confused look that passed over Carlton seemed to please her. "You came here for work, but you're in-between jobs?"

She just grinned madly at him. She had no plans to explain herself.

He leaned in and eyed her suspiciously. "All right, who are you?"

She just smiled at him and very calmly stated, "Well, this is beginning to feel like an interrogation, and I am the type of girl who likes to have some mystery about her, so goodbye. I'll leave you be, you can forget this happened, and go off and be happy and faithful with your wife."

As she stood to leave Carlton asked, "Do you really feel complete being alone and bitter?"

She paused and spun around to look at him. Suddenly he was the smug one in this conversation. It was a strange twist of fate, one she never understood how it happened. She never understood why she did what she did after he asked that.

"I was complete all my life, up until recently," she confined in him. She knew he did not have clue to what she meant, but she did not care. She wanted someone to know she felt lonely. Grabbing a pen and quickly scratching down her number and name she handed it to the detective. "I'm only here in Santa Ann, Barbara, for a week so if you're going to call don't wait the three days."

He glanced down quickly at the information and then called out after her, "Wait, how do I know this is correct and not fake?"

She turned around, with her brightest and most dazzling smile she had, she answered simply, "Because I like you."

He smiled as he watched her walk away, and then glanced back down at the napkin. Delilah. Delilah was her name, the owner of the ruby red lips and enchanting smile. Delilah was the girl who was going to change his life, whether he wanted her to or not. He was already changed after this first encounter, he was late for the very first time.

Present Day

"So you just meet, just like that?" Juliet asked, completely mesmerized by the tale.

Delilah sighed, and nodded with a smile. She never had a chance to talk about how she meet Carlton, and she never realized how much she liked talking about it. She hardly got the chance to talk about Carlton and their makeshift relationship. She suddenly felt as though this luncheon was one of her best ideas.

"And you gave him your real name? Just like that?" Juliet questioned. "Even though he told you he was a cop and married?"

Delilah flashed a sheepish grin and muttered, "Crazy huh? In my line of work to fall for a cop? Carla certainly thinks I am."

"You must have really liked him," Juliet commented.

Delilah just smiled to herself. "I feel like I'd die without him. It's pretty crazy?"

Juliet smiled at her. "Not crazy, sounds like you're in love."

Delilah mused on the thought. Love… had she ever been in love? No, she recalled she never had. Love had eluded her all her love. How could she be sure she was in love?

"I dunno, I guess I might be in the early stages of love, but I know he doesn't feel the same," she confessed. "I'm crazy about him, but he sees me as just a plaything."

"No, no, I'm sure you're wrong," Juliet assured. "Carlton's not the type to have… a plaything."

She smiled and replied, "Thanks, you're sweet, but let's face it, do you really think righteous by the book Carlton Lassiter could fall in love with a known contract killer?"

Juliet tried to picture her partner falling for criminal, though it wasn't coming to her. She frowned and glanced at Delilah. Delilah seemed so deep in thought at the notion of Carlton not truly caring for her. Her deep brown eyes glazed over, and her hair falling gently in her face, going along with the gentle curves of her face, Juliet thought Carlton would be a fool not to be in love with her.

"He's happy though, he's happy," Delilah thought out loud. "He's happy not being seen with me, he's happy having no one know about us and he's happiest that we're not an official couple, we're just together. He's happy though, he's happy and that makes me happy even if I hate it."

Juliet's eyes darted over to her lunch companion, surprised to see tears in her eyes. "Delilah, you're…"

"Crying, I know. People don't expect me to cry, but I cry just normally I'm in private. And I'm only tearing up, not crying yet," she explained, dabbing away the held back tears. "I'm not allowed to cry, really. When I started in this business my trainer told me I was never allowed to let anyone see me cry, and I haven't, you know, until now. I just miss crying, 'cause you know how sometimes it just helps?"

"Yeah, I do know," Juliet agreed softly. "Could you have talked to someone?"

Delilah nodded. "Yeah, I talked a little to Carlton, but you know I couldn't tell him everything. And then there's my best friend, Carla, but I can't talk to her so much anymore. Especially with her being wanted in a few states. Plus, she doesn't like him. She thinks I threw my life away for him."

As soon as Delilah said it, it clicked in Juliet's mind, the reason a successful contract killer would just turn herself in, for no apparent reason.

"And you want to know what's worst? I thought I could talk to someone, actually talk to someone at the FBI, but I can't. They all just seem me as this harden killer. I asked them if there was anyway I could get an organ donor card, since I don't even have a license and I just want my organs to be put to good use after I die. They laughed at the suggestion, like I was telling some sort of joke. They find it so unbelievable that I might want to do some good that they thought I was joking. Sometimes, I wonder why I ever gave killing for these pricks."

"You turned yourself in for Carlton, so you could be together, didn't you?"

"Well when you say it all sappy like that it sounds pretty pathetic," Delilah muttered, resuming her harden persona. The red, agitated eyes were the only evidence left she had been almost crying.

"It's not pathetic, it's romantic," Juliet cooed.

Delilah rolled her eyes, but smiled despite herself. "Well, you better get going, your lunch hour is almost over. I'd hate for you to be late."

Juliet nodded and stood up. She gripped the back of the chair for a little a while. She stared at Delilah, debating on to say it or not. Delilah stared back, with a curious smile. Juliet swore she had never seen anyone smile as much as Delilah did, except maybe Shawn.

Juliet smiled to herself at the thought of Shawn's lopsided, carefree grin.

"You're thinking about a boy," Delilah deduced.

"No," Juliet objected, trying to force her smile off her face.

"It's all right, if you ever need to unload or talk, I guess I owe you one," Delilah informed her casually.

"Actually, maybe we could do lunch again, make it a regular thing," Juliet suggested. "It might be good for you to have someone to talk to who's not a criminal or Carlton."

Delilah smiled up at her. "Yeah, I would really like that. How about once every two weeks? It's spaced out enough that people aren't going to get suspicious. 'Sides, you probably don't want people knowing you're eating with a low life like me."

Juliet cringed at her own words. "Listen, about what I said yesterday-"

Delilah shook her head, and waved her off with a hand. "Forget it, I've been called much worse and if he ex-wife ever finds out about me, I'll be called a lot worse. So just go, and I'll see you in two weeks."

"Okay, bye Delilah," Juliet called and walked out of the café.

"Bye Juliet, and thanks," Delilah replied softly.

Juliet returned to work smiling.