Hi guys! Sorry about the lack of updates last week! After the holidays, going back to work and real life kid of kicked my ass. Sorry! Anyway, here is the next chapter for your (hopeful) enjoyment. Please review, alright guys!

Thanks!

The ringing phone pulled Tess's eyes away from the invoices in front of her. She glared haughtily at the receiver in front of her, wondering who dared break her concentration. It had been a relatively quiet, easy day. She had managed to accomplish payroll, scheduling, and ordering without any trouble at all. The customers today had all been pleasant and easy to deal with, and none of them had given her a bit of trouble. The guys were all in great moods, and Chibs had even changed the oil in her car for her before he took off to be with his family. It had been a good day, and if she could manage to get the invoicing done in the next twenty minutes, Tess could leave work satisfied that all of her work was done. Not bad for a Monday.

The phone rang again, and Tess sighed. She glanced at the clock as she reached to pick up the phone. 4:28. As long as this person wasn't calling to tell her that they were about to drop a disaster off at the garage, she should still be able to finish on time.

"Teller-Morrow, this is Tess," she chirped into the phone, her voice the very definition of pleasant. "How may I help you?"

"Oh, there are SO many ways you could help me," a smooth voice answered her. "But none of them can be accomplished over the phone."

"Lex!" she gasped into the receiver. She managed to ignore his not so subtle innuendo. This was definitely a surprise. He had never called her here before. "How did you get this number?"

"Google," he answered without any hesitation. "I would have called your cell, but I figured that if you spend all day with you phone in hand, you would probably get in trouble sooner or later."

"Nobody really cares," she told him quickly, still not quite over the unexpected shock of him calling her at work. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, Babe," he assured her. "But things would be even better if you would have dinner with me."

"Tonight?" she asked quickly, wondering why he hadn't mentioned anything about dinner when she had talked to him last night or texted with him this morning.

"Yeah, tonight," he clarified.

"Oh," she glanced at the clock again. "I don't know, Lex...it's kind of short notice."

"I know, and I'm sorry," he agreed quickly. "We can go wherever you want. I just didn't get to see you yesterday because of your shopping day with your friends. I guess I just miss you and was hoping to see you tonight. I have something I want to ask you about."

She smiled in spite of herself. She had a boyfriend who wanted to take her to dinner because he missed her. It was incredibly sweet. "I think that dinner could definitely be arranged."

"Good," he said triumphantly. "Because I am already on my way to pick you up!"

"What?" she squeaked out. "Lex, honey. You know I am not at home, don't you?"

"Of course I do," he laughed. "I called you at work. Luckily, Google also provided me with the address of this Teller-Morrow place."

"But…" she stuttered. "I'm not dressed! I am in jeans!"

"So am I," he told her. "You could be beautiful in anything, Tess. I am sure of it. We will go someplace casual. Don't worry about it."

She allowed a tiny smile and a not so tiny blush. "So you think I am beautiful?"

"Yes," he said firmly. "And I will be there in about half an hour to take my beautiful girlfriend to dinner."

"Okay," she agreed. "I will be out front waiting."

"Excellent," he said. "See you soon!"

Tess hung up the phone and bit her lip as she stared down at the invoiced on the desk. She had been so close to finishing.

"Fuck it," she muttered as she grabbed her bag and headed to the restroom. She had a date in half an hour, and the very least she could do was fix her makeup.

Kozik closed the hood on the little four door Ford and tossed the keys to one of the mechanics.

"This one's finished, the owner can pick it up tomorrow," he said, more than ready to be done with real work for the day. "Make sure you lock up when you are done. I will be inside."

The mechanic nodded at him. but Kozik wasn't paying much attention. Instead, he was checking over his paperwork for the car. It was somehow important to him that he make sure all the information was correct and complete. It was Tess's job to manage the paperwork and he didn't want to create more work for her if he could possibly help it. Once he had deposited the paperwork exactly where it needed to go, he figured that it was high time for a beer and headed towards the Clubhouse.

He had just reached the door when it suddenly flew open. Had it not been for his quick reflexes allowing him to jump out of the way, it would have hit him square in the face.

"Oh God," Tess exclaimed. She really hadn't expected anybody to be on the other end of the door and to say she was shocked would be an understatement. "I'm sorry! I didn't hit you, did I?"

"Hey," Kozik replied quickly. Truthfully, he hadn't expected to run into her. They were back on good terms, but he would be a liar if he said that things weren't still a little awkward. "No, I'm fine. I managed to get out of the way this time. Barely avoided another injury at your hands."

He had meant it to be funny, figuring that it brought back memories of happier days of taking purses to the crotch, but the words felt stale, and her laugh was stiff.

"Yeah, sorry," she said again. Silence followed, and not the comfortable, companionable kind. It frustrated the hell out of Tess that there was still so much hanging between the two of them. Tess wanted to scream. They had talked about this and she had thought that it was resolved and she was absolutely NOT supposed to be having these nervous butterflies, not because of HIM. It was absolutely ridiculous, and she had to get over it. "Well, I need to go. I have to close up and…"

He nodded emphatically as her sentence trailed off. "Yeah, I finished with the blue Ford and put the paperwork in the drop box. I was just going to have a beer while I wait for Opie."

"Oh, okay," Tess managed a small smile. As frustrated as she was with herself around him, she couldn't bring herself to let it show. "Thanks for filing the paperwork. You are pretty much the only one who does."

He shrugged and returned her smile, and her knees were weak for a second. Tess was about to continue and say she was going, he spoke. "Do you want to have a beer with me?"

The fact that he asked surprised her, but not nearly as much as the fact that she really wanted to say yes. She was quick to silence that internal urge and shook her head. "I can't."

He tried to hide it, but she saw the disappointment on his face, which he quickly erased. "Yeah, that's cool. I get it."

"It's just that I am waiting for somebody to pick me up, and I need to close out the computer and stuff first," she rushed to explain, not mentioning exactly who was picking her up.

"Oh," he told her, a little surprised. He didn't know that she had friends in Charming. "Alright. Are you leaving your car here?"

"Yes," she said, even though she hadn't considered it before now. "If that's okay."

"It's fine," he assured her. "Somebody should be here when you get back. We won't lock up."

"Thanks," Tess smiled. She turned when she saw the sleek black car pull in. Panic hit her. "Shit, that's my ride. I still have to clock out and-"

"Don't worry about it. Go," Kozik urged her. "I will clock you out and turn the computer off."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive," he promised. "Have fun."

Tess blushed a bit, absolutely positive that he wouldn't have told her to have fun if he had any idea who she was going with tonight. She nodded, waving goodbye as she walked toward the car.

"Hey Tess?" he called after her, and she turned around instantly, as if she had been waiting for him to call for her. "You look really pretty."

She blushed even deeper than before and stumbled over her words, before finally settling on a soft, "Thank you."

Tess was definitely thrown by the comment. It had been a very long time since anybody had called her pretty. Lex called her beautiful and hot and sexy. Tim used to tell her that she looked nice. There was something about being called pretty that made her feel a bit light headed and undeniably happy.

She was almost to the car when the driver's door opened and Lex climbed out. Tess barely had time to hope that Kozik wasn't still watching before Lex was on her, wrapping his arms around her and planting a kiss directly on her lips.

"Hello, Gorgeous," he grinned at her, and she told herself that being called gorgeous was better than being called pretty. "Are you ready to go?"

She nodded and climbed into the passenger seat. As Lex walked around the car, she steeled herself and looked towards the door to the Clubhouse. Sure enough, Kozik still stood there. She was pretty far away, so she couldn't see the anger, panic, betrayal, and sadness flash across his face as he watched her drive away with another man.

"That was bloody delicious," Tess breathed as she leaned back in the booth. They had ended up at a diner about half an hour outside Charming. The food was homemade and greasy and fantastic and exactly what Tess wanted.

"Bloody, huh?" Lex laughed. "I think you have been spending too much time with that Irish coworker of yours."

"Scottish," she correctly quickly. She had made the mistake of calling him Irish before and he had been more than happy to set her straight. "Chibs is Scottish. And he isn't just my coworker, he's my friend."

"Irish, Scottish, it's all the same," he brushed off her correction and it irked her, but she let it go. "And your friend, huh? Almost enough to make a guy like me jealous."

Tess rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Don't be jealous. Besides, Chibs wife may be little, but she's a scrapper. I am pretty sure she could kill me with a look."

"Maybe it's better to just avoid the lot of them," he joked, or at least she hoped he was joking. "Anyway, can I interest you in dessert?"

"Oh, I am pretty sure I couldn't eat anything else," she told her. "Unless you want me to explode."

He laughed loudly at that, and she couldn't for the life of her understand why the thought of her exploding would be so funny. He saw her puzzled look and shook his head.

"Sorry, sorry. Just remembering something. That's all," he quickly sobered up. "Anyway, if I can't tempt you with dessert, maybe I can tempt you with something else."

She raised an eyebrow, the thought of explosions gone and replaced by anticipation. "Yeah?"

"Yep," he grinned and took her hand across the table. "Go away with my this weekend."

That surprised her. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it sure hadn't been this.
"Go away? Really? To where?," she asked, her questions coming rapid fire, one right after another.

He chuckled. "I rented a villa on the coast for the weekend. Very private and secluded. The weather is supposed to be beautiful. If you can get the day off on Friday, we can drive over in the morning and have the whole weekend to ourselves, swimming and relaxing in the sun."

"Wow," was all she could think to say. It sounded like heaven. "I am just not sure I can get Friday off."

"But you can ask, right?" he asked her. "You work so hard there, Tess. I just want to give you a chance to get away for awhile."

She smiled, touched by the consideration. He was incredibly sweet to her, and if she was honest, she really, really did want to go. A weekend resting and relaxing with her boyfriend sounded like perfection to her.

"I will definitely ask," she assured him. "Thank you for doing that, Lex. I can't wait."

"Me either," he squeezed her hand. "It will be an unforgettable weekend."

Tess was still on cloud nine when they pulled up in front of Teller Morrow a little over an hour later. True to his word, Kozik had left the gate unlocked and the lights on. She couldn't see anybody, but she assumed some of the guys or the mechanics were inside. Lex came to a stop and told her to stay put. He walked around the car and opened her door, and his chivalry made her giggle.

"You'll call me tomorrow and let me know if you can leave Friday?" he said as he stood close to her, both Tess's hands in his.

"Absolutely," she answered. "And even if not, we can leave after work on Friday and still have most of the weekend."

"I can't wait," he said quietly, he mouth close to hers. "A whole weekend in the sun, you in a bikini. I can't think of anything better."

She managed to shake off the moment of panic over the fact that she had a grand total of one swimsuit, and it was an old one piece. She made a mental note to ask Fiona or Tara or Gemma to go shopping with her for the second time this week.

"Thank you for dinner and for this weekend and for being amazing," she smiled up at her. Instead of answering, he kissed her. It was the sort of kiss that made her swoon and when it was over, she missed it.

"There will be more of those this weekend, that's a promise," he assured her.

Tess giggled and told him to drive home safely. She dug through her purse until she found her keys and she watched him drive off the lot. She walked to her car and began to unlock it, before reconsidering. Kozik had told her that he would clock her out and close up the computer, but her inner perfectionist needed to be sure. Besides, if she could fit in fifteen minutes and get her work from this afternoon finished, she figured it would go a long way when she asked to take the day off on Friday.

She slung her purse over her shoulder and headed to the office. She had barely rounded the corner when she found herself face to face with Kozik. Panic set in and she froze for a minute. He was leaning against a broom handle, and it looked as though he had been sweeping the mechanics bay. She found it odd, since that was usually one of the other guy's jobs, but even if she wanted to say something about it, the look on his face stopped her.

"Oh God, Kozik," she breathed instead. "You scared me."

"Sorry about that," he told her, leaning the broom against the wall. "Didn't mean to surprise you. Again."

She laughed. "Yeah, you're good at that."

"It's a talent," he agreed. It was quiet for a moment, and she could tell that the real questions were about to start. "Did you have fun tonight?"

"Oh, um," she stammered. "Yeah, I really did. Just went and got dinner. Good food."

"That's good," he said to his feet, unable to look her in the eyes. "I am glad that you had a good night."

"Me too," was the best she could come up with. "I um, I was just going to go finish up some of my work from earlier. It bugs me to not have it done."

"I should have known. You are kind of a perfectionist like that," he said softly.

"Yeah," she smiled as she opened the door, daring to believe that maybe he wasn't going to say anything about Lex. She was almost in the office, home free, when she heard him speak up.

"Tess," he called her back. "That guy. Is he your boyfriend?"

She bit her lip. She couldn't shake the urge to brush it off and say that he was just a guy she was dating, but she and Lex were more than that. They were at the point in their relationship where they were going away for the weekend. Despite the fact that she really didn't owe him an explanation at all, she wouldn't lie to him. She didn't wait to hurt him, despite their history.

"Yeah," she told him, and a int of sadness lingered in her voice as she said it.

He couldn't pretend that it wasn't a blow. IIt hadn't really been all that long ago that he had been with her, and now she had another guy; a boyfriend. He was quick to bury his feeling and he smiled at her. "Good. That's good. Everything is very...good."

"Is it?" she whispered. She couldn't stop the words from spilling from her mouth. "Are you okay with it, Koz? Really? Because after we...well. I just met him in the grocery store and he was so nice to me and he wanted to be with me. He is nice and sweet and smart. He treats me so well."

Kozik finally looked right at Tess, and he could see how torn she was. He didn't want this to be hard on her; she didn't deserve that. The way he figured, he had hurt her enough.

"Does he make you happy, Tess?" he asked, his tone more gentle than she had ever heard it before.

She nodded. "He does."

"That's good," he took her hand and squeezed it once. "I want you to be happy, Tess."

She threw her arms around him, almost throwing him off balance, but he hugged her back fiercely. He couldn't stop himself from inhaling the scent of her hair deeply, because he wasn't sure he would ever get another chance.

"I am gonna head out," he said, letting her go. "Let you finish up your work."

"Oh, okay," she said, offering him a tight smile. "Thanks for leaving the gate open for me."

"No worries," he told her as he walked off. "I've got your back, Tess."

He made his way over to his bike and strapped on his helmet, allowing his forced smile to slip away. As he cranked the bike, eager to get road under his tires, he tried not to think on the day would only make him angry and anger would do him no good right now. He deserved this; every bit of this. As hard as Kozik tried, he couldn't keep his mind off of Tess, of the look in her eyes and the desperation in her voice. He was so distracted by thoughts of her that he didn't even notice as he drove past the sleek black sedan parked down the block.

Inside of the car, Lex watched the blonde biker whiz past and smirked. He picked up the phone and dialed. His call was answered on the second ring.

"Did things go according to plan, Alexei?" came the voice of his boss on the other end.

"Exactly," Lex replied. "Things are falling into place."

"They are," the other an agreed. "The inside hit will happen Friday and Belfast will follow soon after. Once the rats are scurrying, we will strike. It will happen perfectly. You need to make sure you play your part with the girl. We need to have her in case things don't go according to plan."

"I understand," Lex responded. "It will be done."

"I know," said the man.

Lex was smiling as he hung up the phone, anticipating what was to come.