Tony DiNozzo always had something to say. But in this moment, he was speechless.

He'd be a liar if he didn't admit that this was the kind of thing his dreams were made of. And his daydreams, for that matter… and even a nightmare or two. Specifically the recurring one he had, where he'd show up to work late, only then to realize he was entirely naked from the waist down. He had that one quite a bit.

Ziva David had intrigued him from Day 1. She was truly unlike any woman he had ever known. It wasn't often that a woman could make him flustered, yet she had somehow managed to do so a number of times within their first conversation alone. It really didn't help his case that she opened by asking if he was having phone sex. That she told him about how women picture men naked, too, while at the same time giving him those elevator eyes. That she had to slouch so damn provocatively in her chair with that sexy smile on her face. Even when she became a person of interest and Gibbs had ordered him to follow her, he couldn't help but still feel attracted to her, despite the job at hand. He was only human, after all. And, to be perfectly honest, he had always been the kind of person to want what he couldn't – or, in this case, shouldn't – have.

When she became a part of the team, his intrigue only grew deeper. He discovered that she was skilled at his game, and she played it well; he'd test her boundaries, and she'd test his right back. He'd try to make her blush, and more often than not he was the one left flushed and flustered. He'd never admit it, but Ziva David definitely made it onto the list of women who could intimidate him. It was a short list, consisting of only her, his own mother, and divorce attorneys. But his mother had long since passed, and he had never been divorced. So Ziva effectively dominated the field.

She was an exotic beauty, but even worse than that was that she knew it. Even worse, still, was that she used it to her advantage, but only when it came to Tony. She would never flirt like she did with him with McGee, or Gibbs, or any other male in the entire Navy Yard. Tony was her special target. And Tony knew this. Which was the one thing, other than his own hard headedness, that gave him the confidence to continue to bait her. To give her those lingering looks, the kind of smoldering stares he'd occasionally throw her way that would reward him with the rare victory of seeing her become the flushed and flustered one. Yes, he had seen her blush. And he liked it. Sometimes he would watch her, wondering if it was just her cheeks that turned that lovely light shade of pink, or if that hue would then slowly spread itself over her entire body, beneath the collar of her shirt and the hem of her pants, where he would occasionally glance when she stretched or bent over just right…

She always looked so soft there…

"Tony!" Ziva snipped.

"What?" Tony jumped. His mind had wandered and had gotten himself all tightly strung. He looked away, wondering if she noticed his newly agitated state. Wondering if she noticed him blushing.

"Where should we start?" Ziva repeated, the tone of her voice indicating that she had indeed noticed, and rather enjoyed it. Dammit.

"Convincing," Tony replied, stuck on that word.

"Right."

"Boss-man wants us to be convincing."

"That is what he said," Ziva affirmed. "Is there a problem?"

"He does this kind of thing, you know. Where he'll 'officially' say one thing, but then mean something else. At least, I think he means something else. I still haven't completely figured out how he does that."

"So… you are not sure just how 'convincing' Gibbs wants us to be? Is that correct?"

"Yeah," Tony admitted. "Basically."

"Well I believe he left that up to us, yes?" Ziva asked.

"No…" Tony replied, shaking his head in disbelief. "All that stuff he said about boundaries. And acting professionally… But then again, he did say he trusted us to handle it. And to be… I mean, he wouldn't seriously ask us to… No. Unless… Would he?"

"As I said," Ziva said calmly, "I believe that how we portray the Raniers – their demeanor, their habits, their level of… intimacy – has been left to our own best judgment."

Tony could hardly believe what he was hearing. All of a sudden his clothes felt a little too tight.

"So what, then, Ms. David," Tony began, trying his best to sound calm and collected, "Do you suggest we do?"

"I suggest we be, as Gibbs said, convincing," Ziva stated.

"Hmmm?" Tony pressed out, despite having heard her perfectly clearly. He swallowed harshly once more; he could swear his mouth was drying out.

"It would make sense for a young, healthy, childless couple to be regularly intimate, would it not? Particularly when they are away from home, in a nice hotel suite, with nothing to do but wait for a phone call, or a letter, or whatever it may end up being. I would assume that they would… keep themselves busy, in the meantime. Do you not agree?"

"I do agree," Tony said, his voice a tinge huskier than he would have liked it to be. Ziva continued.

"Now, this is not to say that we have to actually have sex. We just have to be—"

"—Convincing." Tony finished her sentence. Simultaneously relieved and disappointed and utterly confused.

"Yes," Ziva concluded. "Fortunately we can conceal ourselves under covers for the actual act, but there are certain things we cannot fake. Which means that we will definitely have to kiss, for starters."

"Right," Tony agreed, still unable to shake that damn husk from his voice.

"It would make sense that we would touch each other intimately as well. While we were kissing. Before we made it to the bed. So you have my permission to, what is the phrase, feel me down?"

"Mmm-hmm," Tony agreed, despite her getting the phrase wrong. It was not worth the effort to correct her, as he was not sure if he could trust himself to speak real words anymore. His composure was beginning to fracture.

"And do I have permission to do the same to you?"

Images immediately ran through Tony's mind of what that would possibly be like. Her hands fisting in his hair, fingers running down his chest, her fingernails scratching slowly down his back… He was barely able to manage another, "Mmm-hmm."

Ziva was not oblivious to his unraveling. In fact, she was enjoying it very much. This was probably the most she had ever gotten under her partner's skin, made much easier by the promise her words held. Unlike when she teased him before, this time they both knew it would result in something, which really took away from Tony's ability to play it cool. Hell, it had to result in something. It was now their job. Tony still had a difficult time believing that any of this was happening.

She continued, a wicked grin on her lips. "And I think it's unavoidable that we will see each other naked, yes?"

Tony felt at least a good portion of his blood rush south at that thought. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. His only response was to look at the ceiling tiles and nod.

"I look forward to it," Ziva breathed. And there were those damn elevator eyes again, all over his body. Tony almost began to wonder if she could actually see him through his clothes already. He couldn't possibly think of what to say, so he nodded once more.

"Well, actually, it is a bit unfair," Ziva continued. "You can basically leave your underwear on. And you probably should, I suppose. That way there is something between us. Especially if you start catching a tent."

"Pitching a tent," Tony corrected her this time. It was the first sentence he uttered in a while. "And I won't… Jesus, Ziva, I'm a grown man, I can control myself."

Ziva gave him a look similar to the one she gave him earlier in the bullpen, after he tried convincing her that he needed rubber bands only to organize his field kit. Before proving to her that his behavior was far from a grown man's. Let alone one who had any sense of control.

Tony picked up on this. "Well, I can," he insisted. Refusing to acknowledge how his body had reacted to the mere thought of her only moments ago, and how it was only just beginning to calm down.

"Alright," Ziva conceded.

"Well what about you, then?" Tony pushed. "Who's to say you can control yourself once I turn on the DiNozzo charm?"

"The… DiNozzo charm?"

"I've got some moves, Ziva, I'll just warn you now. Ones that I might have to use to be properly—"

"—Convincing, right," Ziva said, amused.

"I'm serious!" Tony asserted. "Just be prepared, that's all that I'm saying."

Ziva smiled at him and nodded. "Okay, Tony. I will 'be prepared.'"

"Good."

Ziva turned back to the file on the table in front of her, scanning it again for more information. Tony wasn't satisfied.

"You should be," he added, before reaching for his own file and flipping through its contents.

Ziva smiled once more. This time to herself.