Chapter Ten

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There was something different about Steve this morning, thought Danny as they walked into the office having met outside. He looked – happy! He was smiling more instead of the usual frown on his face.

At one point Danny had even caught him looking at his phone with a sappy smile on his face, and when he had peered over Steve's shoulder to spy, he had immediately turned away pretending he hadn't seen what he had. It had been a picture of Naomi, looking rumpled and sexy even though it had been just of her covered in a sheet sitting on the bed, only her shoulders visible. Steve had caught his look and put his phone back, giving him a dirty look.

"Hey" said Steve as his cheeks colored.

Danny couldn't help himself and started to giggle. "What?" Steve asked again. That's when Danny burst into laughter.

"What the hell are you laughing like a hyena for?" Steve got up from the stool he had been sitting on.

"I'm laughing at how much of a non-ninja like sap you are at the moment. Its quite nice actually" Danny came over and sat with him as Chin walked in.

"Aloha brah" he greeted them both and picked up on what Danny was laughing at. "That picture looks like it's professional" he commented straight-faced.

Steve got up, "What picture?"

"The one that makes you look like a 'non-ninja like sap' brah" he grinned at Danny.

"I think I'm gonna have to start knocking at his door before barging in now" Danny said on a chuckle at the embarrassed expression on Steve's face. It was hard to imagine Steve being embarrassed; the last time he had gotten laid he had been cocky about it, not shy.

It was probably because Naomi was special. Danny had seen the way Steve had responded to her at the party; the chemistry between them was great. Over the last few months, he had gotten to know her, and even though she was shy she was friendly, and slowly had started to open up with rest of the group.

Steve's happiness was making him aware of his own loneliness. He basically lived for Gracey, but he was a man. He had no problem dating women on a casual basis, but he wanted something more permanent, although he was afraid to admit it to himself.

-X-

Steve's phone rang as he and Danny were driving to a crime scene, he looked at the screen and a picture of her that he had taken in the morning popped up on the screen. She looked sleepy and her hair was windblown from the walk on the beach, she wore no make up and she had a huge grin on her face.

"Hey baby" he said when he activated his phone.

"Hey, I hope I'm not disturbing?" she asked.

He caught Danny's smile, "No you're not, I'm just driving with Danny somewhere" he told her.

"Hi Danny. I haven't seen you in ages" she spoke a little louder making Steve smile.

"Hi sweetie. Between college and Steve you don't get to see normal people, I can understand why you miss me" he teased her and they heard Naomi chuckle.

"Actually I was thinking of having a dinner at home. My roommate is away for the whole month so I have the house to myself".

"Sounds good just let me know when".

"I will and you'll have to bring Grace as well" she said.

"Will do sweetie" Danny smiled and Steve took over the conversation.

"You alright babe? Need anything?" he asked wondering if she called for anything specific. Usually it was him that called her during the day.

"I'm fine. Just wanted to let you know that I'm finishing late tonight. I picked up an extra shift, so I may not be able to see you".

"Do you want me to pick you up?" even though he never said it, he didn't like her working the late shift at the café/ bar she worked at.

"I'll be fine, I'll get a lift with Shayla who lives down the road from me" she told him. "Alright my class is starting so I have to go. I love you".

"I'll see you tomorrow. Bye babe" Steve disconnected.

"Ah! The 'L' word" Danny mumbled.

Steve looked at him, "What'd you say?"

"Nothing. Just wondered why you didn't say the 'L' word back?" Danny looked at him from the corner of his eye.

Steve remained quiet. He actually didn't have the answer to that because he wasn't sure if he was in love with Naomi. Yes he liked her a lot, he felt protective towards her, and he enjoyed spending time with her more than he had with any other woman, even Catherine.

And he couldn't forget the feeling he always got when he thought about the time he had first seen her, when his team had rescued her. He knew that if anything were to happen to her he would find it hard to deal with. That may be love but he had no idea; he had never said it and no one apart from his family had said that to him.

"She knows how I feel, I don't have to shout it out" he defended himself, and he knew that it was a stupid excuse.

"Babe, you have no idea about women if that is what you think. She may not say it but she expects it" Danny chuckled under his breath.

Steve thought about it, "She has never said anything though".

"And she won't. But she will be thinking about it. And every time she says it she expects you to respond".

Steve maneuvered the car into a car park, "And if you're wrong about this?"

"You are free to do whatever you like" Danny seemed to think about it a minute, "Except shoot me or cause me bodily harm".

Steve laughed at that, "You know for all the Jersey toughness you project, you are dead scared of getting hurt".

"Oh no my ninja friend. I am not scared of anything" he made a show of pulling up his sleeves, "You haven't seen me go all Jersey on your ass before".

"Do I really want to? Would it be as scary as those housewife women on TV?" Steve and Naomi had become addicted to that show.

"You have no idea" he puffed his chest out.

Steve laughed at his partner's antics, "Whatever I believe you".

Danny seemed to take offence to this, "You think I'm kidding, Steven?"

"No I'm sure you're serious" Steve tried to keep a straight face.

"You damn straight I am. But having both of us high strung would probably not be such a good idea. One of us has to be the voice of reason with you trying to throw people off building rooftops" Danny finished.

They both got out of the car, "That was one time!"

Danny snorted, "And the grenade on the door? What was that? A firecracker?"

"No one got hurt. And besides it made the guy talk".

Danny didn't say anything further, just looked at him and shook his head.

"What?" Steve said as he followed his partner.

-X-

Naomi looked around her dinner table and smiled. She had bought the new dining table only a few days ago from the antique furniture store and it was beautifully crafted from old floorboards, which were at least three inches thick. And around the table sat her friends – Kono, Chin, Danny and his daughter Grace, and some of her friends from college, Shayla and Adam who also worked with her. And most importantly, her handsome boyfriend Steve.

She had to sometimes pinch herself; feeling like it was a dream. She had never imagined that Steve would ever be more than her rescuer and her friend, even though she had hoped for it. If she was totally honest with herself, she had fallen in love with Steve the moment she had laid eyes on him when he had rescued her from that hellhole. She understood that they could not spend as much time with each other, especially with her busy schedule and his crazy work hours, but they did spend as much time as they could. And those times were her favourite.

She loved spending the weekends that she didn't work at his place, or even when he came to her place after work, tired and they would enjoy a meal together then go to bed.

Oh and what went on in that bed. She had never thought that even before her kidnapping she would enjoy sex that much. Steve was very patient and so considerate that she could not imagine her fiancé being that way. He always made sure she was comfortable with whatever he did. And whatever he did was magic. The nights they spent together, she did not want to get up the next morning because she was always exhausted.

She was brought out of her haze as she was surrounded by laughter at something Danny said.

"So Kono when do we meet this new guy?" asked Danny.

She rolled her eyes at him, "I think I'm going to keep him away for a while. I don't want to scare him away"

"Oh come on we're not that bad" Steve said beside her as he sat relaxed with his arm draped on the back of her chair.

Kono only snorted, "Not that bad? The last date I brought to your party only received glares and growls from you all that he never called me again!" she complained, "And he was cute besides he was a surfer".

"He had funny eyes" Chin said quietly.

"There was nothing wrong with his eyes" Kono defended.

Danny pointed out, "Except that they wandered all over the place to women who were not you".

"Really?" She looked shocked.

Naomi had to jump in now, "Kono don't listen to them. He had eyes only for you".

"Well not anymore. Last I heard he had met some swim wear model just after me" she frowned a little, then smiled broadly, "But who cares. This new guy I'm not even telling you his name so you cant check him out" she pointedly looked at Steve and Chin.

Both of them said at the same time, "What?"

"Oh please. Like I don't know what you do every time I talk about a guy one of you does a background check" Kono reached for the wine bottle. "Oh and by the way Naomi, Steve did a background check on James".

Naomi turned to him, his face had a hard expression on his face, "And this is after I asked you not to".

"I did it after that night he slapped you" he defended himself.

"So why did you not tell me? Was it part of an investigation?" for some reason the fact that Steve had gone behind her back pissed her off.

"No it was not part of an investigation, but something about the guy didn't add up". Steve turned to Kono, "Thanks for starting this".

"Anytime" she sipped her wine.

It was Danny who came to everyone's rescue, "Okay kids. Time to get back home" he turned to his daughter who was busy playing Angry Birds, "I have to drop you at your moms tonight, so we should get going".

Everyone left, while Shayla stayed back to help her clean up.

"So that is the handsome Steve you always talk about" Shayla bent to put some stuff in the dishwasher. "He's yummy" she grinned.

Shayla had slowly become a good friend although Naomi hadn't told her about her past. She was very helpful at work and had sort of taken Naomi under her wing to teach her the ropes. It didn't hurt that she was also the weekend manager.

"So how did you guys meet?" she asked.

Naomi hesitated, "Actually we met when he rescued me".

"Rescued you?"

Naomi decided to come clean, "Yes. A few years back I was kidnapped and Steve's SEAL team was sent out to rescue me. Then at the start of this year I met him again and we became close".

"Wow. To fall in love with a real knight in shining armor" she sighed.

"I cant complain" Naomi smiled broadly.

Just then the object of her affections walked in, "Hey there girls. Need help?"

Shayla turned and said, "All done".

"Do you need a lift back home?" he asked politely.

"Thanks but I just live down the road. After the way I stuffed myself I need a walk" Shayla hugged and kissed Naomi goodnight and then said bye to Steve. As she walked to the door she turned to Naomi and winked at her. Naomi blushed because she knew what she meant.

"Alone at last" Steve groaned as he reached for her and pulled her into his arms. He buried his face on her neck and breathed in deeply tickling her. "If you cook like that all the time, I'll never be able to run after bad guys".

She hugged him close nuzzling his ear, "I have a confession to make". He raised his head and looked at her, "I didn't cook. I ordered in".

Steve only smiled, "Your ordering is amazing. You can do no wrong".

She smiled at his silliness, "You're great too. Although I hope I can become one of those women who can cook for her man" she reached up and kissed him. It soon turned into a heated and passionate kiss as he lifted her against his chest. When he freed her mouth she sighed, "I Love You".

All of a sudden Steve's expression tensed as he put her down.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Steve walked to the balcony and she followed him. He stood with his hands planted on the railing; she went behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Steve what's wrong?" she asked again.

He turned around within her arms, and then disengaged himself from her. He had never done that before.

"Look Naomi, I think we're moving too fast" he said as he sat down on the comfortable couch.

"What do you mean we're moving too fast?" she asked feeling really dumb.

"Don't you think its too soon to fall in love?"

Naomi felt numb. She had no experience outside of her disastrous engagement of how to deal with a relationship. She had never thought she was doing anything wrong.

"Steve I don't know. I have never done this before. I just told you how I feel" she sat opposite him on one of the stuffed chairs and folded her hands in her lap.

He remained quiet and that only made Naomi more nervous.

"I had no idea that there was a time frame within which one would be required to express their feelings" she said unable to remain silent.

Steve looked at her, "Look I just feel uncomfortable when you say it. I don't know how to respond".

Naomi looked up at him and saw his frown, "Do you think I say it to hear the words back from you?"

"Why else would you say it?" he asked shaking his head.

Now she got mad, "Hasn't a woman ever told you that she loved you just because she did?"

"Not really. No"

Naomi stood up and looked down at him, "I never expected anything from you. I fell in love with you the first time I saw you. And if you cannot deal with that, then too bad".

As she turned her back and walked toward the kitchen she heard him follow her, "Maybe you only fell for the hero that you think I am. Wake up princess, I'm not. I was only doing my job".

She whirled around to face him, trying her best to mask the pain she was feeling, "I fell in love with the man who helped me. The man who then became my friend and made me realize I could change my life" she looked him up and down taking in his casual checked knee length shorts, white t – shirt and converse sneakers, "You are not that man. You're behaving like a scared little boy".

"I am not scared. I just don't want you to expect anything from me" he said harshly.

She was shocked, he had never spoken to her that way, "Well you know what? I don't expect anything from you" she collected herself and for some reason she did not feel like crying. Maybe it was a sign of her strength, "You've done enough. You helped me get over a particular phobia which was a hurdle for me, and thank you for that Commander". She looked coldly at him, "Now if you leave me alone I have some studying to do".

She stood and stared at him, meeting him eye for eye and refused to show any weakness. To his credit Steve didn't argue or make excuses. He looked angry and somehow confused.

Without another word, he turned and left.