Secret Lovers

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas.

Thanks to my Beta for the song prompt: Secret Lovers by Atlantic Starr

Thank you soooo much for the support - I am literally blown away by the interest in this story as I have never ventured into this pairing before.

. . .

Making her way into the plush apartment she was still struggling to think of as home, Emily dumped everything. Her hallway was soon strewn with boots, bags and her coat, nothing where it should be, instead just dropped along the way.

Heading straight for the kitchen, she opened the fridge wide. Since her return, Emily had worked hard on improving her lifestyle. Her freezer was no longer full of ready meals for one. Her coffee was decaf. And her fridge held a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables.

However, nestled alongside all this goodness was a chilled bottle of her favourite Greco wine. She reserved drinking to weekends only now, and on that thought alone treated herself to the best Italian wine.

Today, however, she was about to break her personal rule. She bypassed the salad and reached for the bottle. Opening it she took a deep breath, savouring its fruity aroma and wondering briefly if that was enough.

It wasn't!

Within moments she had a large glass in one hand and the last of a tub of Ben & Jerry's in the other. Settling herself on the couch she chided herself for behaving like this on a Monday night. Yet it was only the second time she had broken the rules since her return.

The honest truth was that she knew she was making a mountain out of a mole hill, but the more she had thought about what Dave had said the more she worried about what he knew. And the more she worried the worse it all seemed. She had struggled with accepting the relationship herself, having others know their secret somehow made it all the more real. At the moment she was enjoying the mystery and the make believe.

Now she was left waiting for Aaron to call. They had a rule. Emily did not phone him until Jack was in bed. Which meant Emily usually texted Aaron, or let him know some other way she wanted him to call - she guessed her hint in the elevator would have been enough to warrant a call later.

But that left her having to wait.

. . .

Aaron watched over his son while he had his bath. He was trying hard not to let Emily's words stop him from focusing on all that Jack had to tell him about his latest project at school. Yet there was something about the tone she had used that had concerned him.

"So what you think then, Dad?" Jack's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Sorry, Buddy, I zoned out there for a moment." Aaron focused his full attention on his ever eager son.

"Miss Anderson tells us off if we daydream in class. She says that we have enough sleeping hours to dream but few waking hours to learn. "

"That's . . . urm . . . sound advice," Aaron said with a slight smile at his son's sincerity. "So what was it you asked before?"

"I was just wondering if you would ask Miss Emily to help me with my project on Europe? 'cause she has been to so many countries."

Aaron smiled as he ruffled his son's wet hair. "Sure thing. I tell you what I'll give her a call later and let you know in the morning."

. . .

The ringing phone startled Emily from the brief nap she had started to have. She was still curled up on the couch, the remains of the ice cream melted in the bottom of the tub and the last mouthful of wine far too warm to enjoy.

Rubbing her eyes with one hand she used the other to reach for her phone. Glancing at the screen she immediately saw it was Aaron.

"Hi."

"Hi, you ok? You sound . . . sleepy."

"Yeah, for some reason I'm struggling to keep my eyes open, I can't think why that might be." She heard Aaron's soft laugh at the other end of the phone and smiled herself as she watched a series of flashbacks from the weekend flit through her mind.

"So, other than being tired, what is bothering you? I won't consider a 'nothing' as a response."

"David Rossi," she answered simply.

"Sorry?" Aaron questioned, the surprise obvious in his tone.

"I didn't know Jack was with him over the weekend. What did you tell him? What does he know?"

Emily started her barrage of worries before Aaron stopped her with a soothing shush.

"What has brought this on?"

"I had a conversation - rather I had Dave talk at me today, sharing his suspicion that he thinks you have a girlfriend. I swear he was trying to wind me up. What does he know?"

"Nothing, I swear. I told him that I needed some time to myself, that I wanted to decorate Jack's room and wanted to get things ordered and sorted so that in a few weekends time I can get the room done. Which, incidentally, I have already booked Dave's services for again."

"So you lied to him, and the sort of lie that you will easily get caught out on," she scolded.

"Not so," Aaron added smugly, "I have booked decorators and it's all sorted. We get a weekend together, and Jack gets the new superheroes room her wants. Apparently, Superman alone is not enough. I have even consulted Garcia for her comic book knowledge before I explained what I wanted. She helped me draw up the ideas and everything."

"So she knows that you are getting decorators in."

"No, she thinks I am doing it all myself. I had to persuade her that I didn't need her help with the matter, that my pride meant I wanted to do this for myself."

"Aaron . . . I don't like lying to our friends. And I still think Dave suspects something . . . I fact I think he suspects me, us."

Aaron let out a sigh. "Look, even if Dave does suspect something, I know he will not tell others. Let's just say those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

"Really?" Emily's attention was well and truly caught by this revelation. "What do you have on the Italian Stallion?"

"Enough to keep him quiet, trust me. As for the lying to our friends, there is only one thing we can do to stop that happening. We let everyone know we are together. It has been several months now and it would wipe any smugness off of Dave."

Emily was silent. She didn't know what she was to say. Aaron was right; the only way to stop the lies was to be honest. She had promised she would never lie to the team again. And she hadn't, directly, but this living a lie led to her breaking that promise.

"I . . ." Emily began.

"I know how you feel, but we can't keep it a secret forever. I would like to be able to tell Jack, and once we do that . . ."

"I know . . .its just so . . . real.

Aaron knew that Emily was struggling with the commitment, and that he needed to tread gently, but he also had to think about his son.

"Emily, let's not worry about that now. Or worry about Dave or anything else. I had an amazing weekend, thank you."

Emily smiled, she had let all of today's fuss cloud that. "Thank you, Aaron."

"Oh, Emily there is one more thing . . . Jack has asked if you could help him on his Europe project."

"Really? Sure. Maybe I should come over at the weekend."

"That would be great, and by the way, as I haven't said it today – I love you."

Emily paused before replying, "I love you too."

"Good, now we have all that sorted, go get some sleep. I like my agents to be bright and alert when on duty."

"Goodnight, Aaron."