Chapter 3

The next morning Callen walked into the bullpen a huge smile on his face. He saw Lexi's stuff at her desk so he knew she was there. Sam and Deeks exchanged a look before Sam started in on his partner's good mood.

"Hey Deeks looks like G is in one hell of a good mood today."

"Have a good night Callen?" asked Deeks.

"Yes I did."

"Care to fill us in?" asked Sam with a knowing look.

"Not really." Said Callen. His cover was blown the second Lexi came walking by talking to Nell. Sam and Deeks noticed the smile she gave Callen before heading up to OPS. Callen leaned back in his chair and watched her as she went up the stairs.

"Something is telling me you made a move last night."

"Ok I made a move."

"And?" asked Deeks.

"And what?" asked Kensi sitting down at her desk.

"G here made a move on Lexi."

"Oh really." Kensi smiled at her friend. "Boy that didn't take long." Kensi looked over at Deeks and smiled at him. Deeks swallowed hard knowing she was pointing out their thing.

"I asked her out Friday night."

"I take it she said yes?"

"She said yes. Now I have no idea where to take her."

"Leave that to me Mr. Callen." Said Hetty coming to stand behind him. Callen jumped a little.

"Ok Hetty just don't go overboard ok."

"No worries I know the perfect place for a first date." With that Hetty went back to her desk.

OPS

"I can't believe he kissed you." Said Nell.

"Well you're the one that gave him my address."

"So where is he taking you Friday?"

"I have no idea. I haven't spoken to him yet today."

"I am so thrilled for you." Gushed Nell.

"Ok but don't go nuts over it. It's only one date."

"Yes but Callen likes you. I mean really likes you." Nell giggled a little. "He was so nervous when he called me to ask where you lived. And as long as I've known him I don't ever remember Callen talking about a girl."

"That's because he hasn't dated in years." Added Eric.

"Oh great what am I getting myself into?"

"Oh it's not that he hasn't had his chances. It's just hard with the job to find someone you don't have to lie too." Said Eric.

"Ok I get that. It hasn't been easy for me to date constantly being in long term undercover ops either."

"We need to find out where you're going so we can figure out what you should wear." Said Nell getting even more excited.

The case.

Granger decided that it was a good idea for Lexi to spend a week or two working with either set of partners so she could see how they did things. Thankfully the first case she was assigned to work with Kensi and Deeks. She didn't think she wanted to be locked in a car with Callen just yet.

It wasn't that she didn't like him. Callen just wasn't her type. She usually went for tall dark and muscled. Callen was tall but that was it. The case was demanding and took up most of the week. By the time she got home each night Lexi just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep.

Friday came all too soon. They had finished up the case that morning so most of the day was left for paper work. Close to six pm Hetty called her over to her office. "I understand you have a date with Mr. Callen tonight?"

"Yes I do. Although I have no idea where we are going."

"Well I have the perfect dress for you to wear." Lexi was surprised but she was learning that Hetty was always full of surprises. The dress was a grey/blue color that Lexi couldn't help think it matched the color of Callen's eyes. It fit her like it had been made just for her. The length ended just above her knees and had thin straps. The back was cut low leaving her back bare. Hetty paired it with a pair of black heels. When she came out of the dressing room Nell and Kensi were both there waiting to see what Hetty had picked out.

"Wow Callen isn't going to know what hit him." Said Kensi.

Sam came over too and let them know Callen was dressed and ready. Lexi didn't miss the smirk Hetty had on her face. *OMG! They are all in on this.* Lexi moved out to the bull pen to find herself shocked. Callen stood there in a dark grey suit. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw her. He handed her a single short stemmed red rose.

"You look amazing."

"You clean up pretty good too." Said Lexi not really trusting her mouth right now. Nell pushed a small clutch purse into her hand and everyone seemed to disappear leaving them alone.

"We should get going. Hetty made us reservations for seven." He reached down and took her hand in his and led her to the car.

The ride was quiet and Callen kept glancing over at Lexi. He couldn't believe how beautiful she was. He didn't want to say the wrong thing and scare her off. He pulled his car up in front of a beach side restaurant. He knew the place and also knew it cost a good bit to eat here. He wasn't worried as Hetty had handed him the black credit card and told him to enjoy the evening.

"Wow this place is nice." Said Lexi once they were inside.

Callen gave his name and they were let to a table on the patio that overlooked the beach and ocean. A bottle of what Callen figured was very expensive wine was soon brought out to the table. They ordered dinner then things got quiet again.

"So tell me about yourself." Said Callen.

"Well I grew up in a small Pennsylvania town. My dad still lives there and owns a general store."

"What was it like to have Gibbs as a brother?"

"Well he really didn't like me." Lexi said. "His parents adopted me when I was ten. My mom was his mom's best friend. When she got sick she asked them to take me."

"Guess that explains why Gibbs didn't like you." Jethro is 9 years older than I am. He wasn't really around that much as he joined the Marines right out of high school."

"So how did you end up with NCIS?"

"Well I was the black sheep of the family. Got into a lot of trouble as a teen, almost ended up doing jail time. My dad had enough of me so Jethro had me come live with him and his family. It got me away from the friends that would most likely gotten me jailed or killed." Lexi looked a bit sad as she started the next part.

"I was living with them when his wife and daughter were killed. Shortly after that Jethro left the Marines and joined NCIS. It seemed like a cool job so I started taking criminal justice classes and joined when I graduated. I got put into undercover work almost right away and have been doing that for years."

Their dinner came and they each started to eat. "So what about you what's your story?"

"My mom was killed when I was three. My sister and I were brought to the US from Romania and were put into foster care. My sister died two years after we were in the system."

"You were never adopted?"

"No just bounced around from foster home to foster home." Callen took a sip of wine. "I went to work for the CIA when I was 20 then joined NCIS a few years ago."

They continued to talk as they ate. Neither wanted desert so they decided to go to Venice and walk the boardwalk. As soon as they were out of the car Callen took her hand. Lexi was not as nervous as she had been before.

"So enjoying yourself?" asked Callen.

"Well sense it's the first date I've been on in about three years I think it's going pretty good." Callen seemed shocked to know she hadn't dated in a long time.

"The last relationship I was in was on an undercover op. I had to use her to get close to her brother." Lexi looked at Callen and noticed the hurt in his eyes.

"You got too close I take it?"

"Yeah, I never did figure out if it was real or the act I had to put on." Callen stopped walking and looked out at the ocean. He turned to look at Lexi. "I am very attracted to you." He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and cupped her face. Leaning in Callen kissed her gently. He slipped his left arm around her waist and pulled her as close as he could and deepened the kiss. Lexi leaned into him and let him deepen the kiss as much as he wanted to.

She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and sighed. They broke apart when the need for air became important. Callen took a deep breath before speaking. "Wow." Was all he could get out.

Lexi laughed and Callen leaned in to kiss her again. Once they broke apart he took her hand again and they started walking back to the car. Callen refused to let go of her hand the entire drive. They pulled up into her parking lot and she saw her car there. Hetty must have arranged for someone to drive it home for her.

Callen walked her up to her door and waited for her to unlock the door. Once the door was open he followed her inside. "I should go." Said Callen. "If I don't go now I don't think I'll be able to."

Lexi smiled at him and stared into his eyes. This was more than she had expected to feel for him. Did she want him to leave? She wasn't sure. Callen leaned in and kissed her again pulling her in as close as he could. When they broke apart Callen groaned. He ran his fingers over the bare skin at her back and started to kiss down to her neck. He had to force himself to pull back and step away from her.

"Ok I'm really going now." He opened the door and turned to look back at her. "Be ready tomorrow morning I'm taking you to the beach."

"Ok what time?"

"Eight am. We'll get breakfast first."

Callen walked to his car as fast as he could before he changed his mind and ran back to her. Tomorrow was going to be a great day.