A few weeks later found Flack walking up to Stella's apartment after a long day. He was looking forward to a night consisting of dinner and a really good class of wine. As he headed in he ran into Mac coming out.
"She trying to convince you to let her come back early?" he asked with an easy smile.
Mac nodded. "Exactly. I told her it's not going to happen."
"I'm sure that went well."
"About as well as you imagine. See you tomorrow."
Flack shook his head, laughing, and went inside. As he closed the door he heard Stella slam the refrigerator door. "Saw Mac on the way in," he told her, trying to keep a straight face.
She turned and frowned. "I just want to go back to work. I can't sit here anymore, I can't read another book, and I need to go back to doing my job."
"I know you do, but if the doctors haven't okayed you and Mac says no…"
Stella shook her head. "I'm going stir crazy Don."
"Hmm, well it sits well on you," he said, fighting back a grin as he pulled her into his arms.
"You're teasing me. Keep it up and I won't share my good news."
He turned his attention to her neck, speaking between kisses. "Good news?"
She nodded. "Excellent news."
"What's that?"
"Well, I'm okay to go back to work. Mac's just worried it's too soon. He told me to take the rest of the week. It's so frustrating because I talked to the doctor today, and he cleared me for…" She looked up as he did and their eyes met. "All sorts of physical activity."
Flack smiled down at her. "Is that so?"
"Mmhmm. You going to do something Detective?" she asked.
"You know me, man of action."
When Stella woke hours later she found herself alone. Almost immediately she realized where Don had gone as she heard the tap running in the kitchen. . Stretching languidly she took her time before she rose, pulling on Flack's shirt and buttoning it up as she went. She found him standing in front of the fridge wearing nothing but his pants. He appeared to be contemplating the contents of the refrigerator rather intensely.
"Waiting for something to jump out at you?" she asked wryly.
Without turning he responded. "Not much to jump out. I managed to find some orange juice and hummus. You've got to go shopping and start feeding yourself better Stell." He turned and stopped in his tracks when he saw her standing there in nothing but his shirt. "Good God Stell you know how to make a man's heart race."
She smiled at him. "It's a carefully honed skill."
"No, it's completely natural. It wouldn't fit so well if it was created." He hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her in. Feeling dreamy and content, she traced her fingers over his scar and across his chest. He pressed his hand softly against her heart, where her own scar lay beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. "Guess we're a matched set now."
"Guess we are," she said, "Know what that means?"
He shook his head. "What's that mean?"
"It means you're not getting rid of me any time soon."
Flack smiled down at her bemusedly. "Why would I want to get rid of you?"
She rose on her toes to loop her arms around his neck. "Oh I don't think you would, but I thought it was only fair to let you know that even if you did, it wouldn't be an option."
"Oh really, and why's that?"
"Because," she said, pausing to kiss him languidly. "You're falling for me."
He laughed. "For someone with such finely tuned skills of observation, you can be kind of clueless sometimes." He looked her straight in the eye as he pulled her flush against him. "I was falling for you before we started this."
Dazed, Stella nodded. "Good, that's really good."
"Definitely a very good thing; amazing even."
Lost in the moment, they let a comfortable silence fall over them. As Flack bent to take her mouth she dimly thought that this slow burn she felt, that she'd been feeling for weeks, was so much better than a fiery blaze. Who wanted to burn quickly to ash when they could smolder for eternity? And who knew; maybe they'd found a safe harbor to take shelter in each other for years to come. Only time would tell, but for now they were both content to bask in the glow.