10. The one night stand you had last night? That's your target.
If you had told Will Herondale he'd meet his next one night stand at a book signing, he would have laughed in your face.
Not because he didn't think it was possible, but because, as a general rule, Will didn't do one night stands. When he went to bars-which was rare-he flirted, he teased, he danced, he bought drinks for women and waved when the bartender pointed him out. But at the end of the night, he either walked them or paid for their cab ride home.
But they'd stood in line next to each other for more three hours. He'd started talking because he was bored and she'd smirked at him. By the time they reached the front of the line, they'd talked about all their favorite books and coffee shops and learned they both had family in London and he'd fallen in love with her laughter. Afterwards it was eleven p.m. and he'd taken her to his favorite diner where they'd had burgers and pie and he'd fallen even more in love with her. And after that he'd held her hand when he walked her home and she'd blushed adorably when she invited him up.
He hadn't been able to say no and she'd brought him to the coziest loft he'd even been in. They'd had wine and she kissed him first and this morning he woke up in her bed with sunlight streaming through sheer curtains and his phone ringing insistently from where it was still in his pants pocket across the room.
She murmured something incoherent and burrowed her head beneath the pillows. He was loathe to leave her bed. It was hugely more comfortable than his own and her sheets were so soft and the naked girl in it was perfect in every possible way, even if her head was buried beneath a mountain of pillows at the moment. But his phone kept ringing and he wasn't sure if she was a morning person and if she wasn't he didn't want her to be angry with him.
He stumbled across the room, taking in the bits he'd missed when he'd been absorbed in her soft skin the night before. There were pictures scattered across the built-in vanity where, if his sister was any kind of example, other girls would keep their makeup and hair brushes. She'd used beautiful and exotic looking tapestries to cover the white walls and his feet were on a very old Persian rug. It was the kind of room that looked like it help a thousand secrets and it reminded him of her smile.
He didn't get to his phone in time to answer it before the call went to voicemail, but the number was from the General. Fortunately, the message was short. He had a new assignment and was going to be debriefed on the files in his email at 13:00. He glanced up at the clock on the wall as the General blathered on about the importance of this mission and how it was vital to national security that he not be late and grinned. It was only nine now.
He pulled on his pants and his undershirt and poked around her equally cozy and brightly decorated kitchen for tea things. Her kitchen was laid out much like his own and making tea and toast was as easy there as it would have been in his own kitchen.
He brought her breakfast in bed and she smiled at him when he pushed a mug of tea into her hands and kissed her forehead. It didn't feel like the morning after a one night stand. It felt like they'd been having breakfast in bed with each other for years. They'd spent the morning cuddling and talking and having more sex before she'd sighed and told him that she had to get ready for work. When he began collecting his things, she took his arm and pulled him into the tiny bathroom with her.
The shower was barely big enough to hold one person, but they'd managed. She washed his hair for him and sighed when he massaged soap into her back and shoulders. She'd moaned into his ear that she really needed to get ready for work, but he cut her off with a kiss. There had been more sexing while the water went from screaming hot to icy cold and they were both shivering for reasons other than the cold water when they were done.
She'd braided her hair and brushed her teeth and sheepishly offered him her toothbrush in a gesture that seemed more intimate to him than anything they'd done that morning or the night before. When they finally got dressed they exchanged numbers and promised to call later that day.
He'd barely made it to the sidewalk in front of her building when she'd texted him a smiley face and a "Can't wait to see you tonight." that had left him smiling all the way to Castle. He was so occupied with planning the proper date he'd take her on soon that he didn't bother to open the files in his email.
He was a little early to the meeting, and instead of checking his email, he used the databases at his disposal to see when her favorite author was coming to town next. The General arrived just as he'd finished printing off the intel necessary to reach out to the author at home. When he admitted that he hadn't read the files first, the General rolled her eyes and tossed a thick manila envelope at him. He was almost humming when he opened it, but the notes got stuck in his throat.
Tessa, the girl he'd spent the night and the morning with, was peering up at him from a rap sheet a mile long.