The story continues…

Busted

She awoke to the feel of sandpaper scraping a layer of skin off her cheek and brushed at it before lazily opening an eye to peer up at the perpetrator responsible for ruining her picture perfect dream. Chantilly stood on her chest peering down at her, the long-haired calico vixen blinked her large green eyes begging for breakfast – me..rwow.

She smiled and reached a hand up to scratch behind her ear. Her purring response caused her little kitten body to vibrate.

Attempting to sit up in bed, she discovered she was effectively pinned in her current position by a large arm wrapped tightly around her middle. Glancing to the side, she grinned at the figure that lay next to her. His bare chest, his curly hair rumbled, a relaxed, still and peaceful aura surrounding him, were all at extreme odds with the public posture he donned at work.

She lightly ran her hand down his arm and slowly and gently raised his arm to free herself from its protective grasp. When she finally broke free, he immediately scooted his body closer and buried his face into the crook of her neck.

"Are you trying to get away from me, Jamison?" His voice was thick with sleep, but it still held a hint of humor, even at this early hour.

"Well I was trying to get up to feed the cat, but if you'd rather her come back in here and climb all over you and get in your face, to have you do it…" His allergic reaction to cats had been mild so far, but he wasn't anxious to test the limits.

His only response was to murmur something completely unintelligible and push her away.

Snickering at his action, she leaned down and slid her feet into slippers as Chantilly wove around her legs. Murmuring softly she said, "And they say cats are fickle." She picked up the cat and turned to look back at him. If the light snores she heard were any indication, he had already fallen back to sleep. She couldn't keep from smiling at the way he had snuggled down under the comforter.

If anyone had told her she would find herself in this situation - a relationship – with a fellow detective in her squad, let alone this particular detective, she would have laughed at the prospect. They'd been little more than nodding acquaintances until a small group of detectives had taken her out for drinks and dinner on her birthday. Alex had dragged him along. The next morning, she'd found a festively wrapped gift on her desk with an attached note, Sorry this is late – I didn't know it was your birthday. It was a lacquered box of Asian design with an intricate carving adorning its lid. Stunningly impressive and yet striking in its simplicity.

Padding along the hardwood floors, she entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, hearing a pop! as the suction released. She let the kitten slide from her grasp and reached in for both a small bag of coffee beans and a can of cat food. She popped open the lid on the can of food, dumped it into a bowl, broke it up a little, and placed it onto the floor for the eagerly awaiting Chantilly. She tucked in as if she hadn't eaten in days.

Turning on the tap and reaching for the coffee carafe, she was surprised by the sudden knock on her apartment door. Who would be here at seven in the morning?

She glanced down at her pajamas to assure herself that she was dressed appropriately enough for this hour as she walked across the kitchen to the door.

She peered through the peephole on the front door and her heart stopped as she saw Alex Eames standing outside the door. With her blond-streaked hair pulled back, and jeans and leather jacket ensemble she looked ready for anything, as she clutched a steaming cup of Starbucks in her hands.

When the initial shock of her friend's arrival passed, she immediately began to worry about the man sleeping in the other room.

So far, they had managed to keep the detectives of Major Case unaware of their relationship. Now it seemed, Alex Eames – her friend, his partner - was about to discover their secret.

Alex knocked again; slightly louder this time.

"Come on, open up! I know you're in there! You didn't forget about today, did you? You, me, and the big sale at Bloomie's!"

Oh crap. She had completely forgotten about their plans to go shopping. She took a deep breath, a calming breath and pulled open the door.

"Hey, Alex. Morning."

"Girl, why aren't you dressed? My God, did you forget we had plans, again?"

She smiled at her guiltily. "Sorry. Come in for a second while I throw some clothes on. I've been really distracted lately. I did forget, but it won't take me long to get ready."

"Distracted, hmm?" Alex fixed on the pair of men's loafers lying near the coffee table and the suit jacket that was lying across the back of the sofa. A knowing grin spread slowly across her face.

"Well, I can see what one of those distractions was. Did we have a gentlemen caller late last night?"

She felt her face flush a deep crimson.

"Oh please, we're both way over twenty-one. So spill it. Information and details, please!" The woman's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "Who is it? Can I meet him?"

Her thoughts reeled as she tried to envision the possible fallout of Alex finding out this way. Resigned to the inevitable, but not feeling up to explaining, she walked over to the sofa, reached into the jacket pocket, and pulled out a small object. She tossed the object across the room to Alex.

Alex caught it easily with her left hand and held it out in front of her to examine it more carefully. She knew its size and shape immediately – she had one of her own – it was a badge. Flipping it around she saw and recognized the badge number.

"Oh my god. Oh my GOD! OH MY GOD!"

"Shhh, really Alex, I wanted to tell you. In a way, I've wanted to tell everyone, but…"

"Blake Jamison! How long has this been going on?"

"About two months," And 4 days, 11 hours, and 17 minutes. "Since my birthday."

She could see the wheels spinning, Alex was running through everything she could remember from the last two months to see if she'd missed any clues along the way.

Blake took the opportunity to duck down the hall and into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. She crossed the room quickly to the side of the bed nearest Goren and knelt onto the floor beside him.

"Goren," she spoke to the sleeping form. "Goren, wake up." Her only response was a slight groggy moan.

"Goren," she tried again, "Alex is here."

That did it.

One eye opened, and seeing the serious look on her face, he realized she wasn't joking. "What?" As he opened the other eye, he replied, in a voice that was still sleep roughened.

She smirked at him. "Alex is here. Just thought I should warn you before you provide her with the answer to the age old question of – boxers or briefs. Or commando."

"Something tells me Alex has never wondered that."

"Well then I have something to tell you. You'd be surprised at some of the things Alex has wondered about."

He looked at her as he tried to make sense of what she just said. He couldn't and thought it might be better for his peace of mind not to pursue that line of questioning.

She frowned in frustration at him before rising to stand to go join Alex in the other room. He's not taking this very seriously.

He stood as well, pulling her into a gentle kiss. She still looked slightly upset and she questioned him in a worried tone. "It's just, what's everyone going to say once word gets around about this, about us? It's been such a luxury not to see 'those looks'. I really hate this. This is why I've never gotten involved..."

"Jamison, look at me." He said this in a firm tone, all teasing gone from his voice, replaced instead by complete seriousness. "Do I look worried? We'll take everything in stride. Ok? It will be fine."

She looked at him for a long moment before giving him a slightly stubborn nod of her head.

He looked at her closely as he traced the outline of her lips with his index finger before leaning down to kiss her again, this time a little deeper, a kiss meant to reassure. "I'm going to grab a shower."

Again she nodded as she watched him walk away – wearing neither boxers nor briefs. She changed quickly, throwing on a pair of jeans and a brown sweater, and emerged from the bedroom to find Alex sitting at the counter in the kitchen.

"I still can't believe I didn't know about this!" Alex sighed dramatically. "All this time and I never had a clue. How is that even possible? I thought I knew his every mood. I thought I knew his schedule. I should have been able to pick up on this!"

"Well, we've both had a lot of practice at keeping people at a distance and we're both good at covering our tracks." Looking up at Alex she added, "And you've had a few distractions of your own."

Alex stared at her for a long moment before speaking. "I suppose that's true. But still…" Changing tracks, she asked, "So, tell me something… how … I mean … how is the sex?"

"ALEX!"

"Oh come on, don't be such a prude. I need details! I told you all about Rick from Homicide."

She opened her mouth, closed it and then whispering fiercely as she looked down the hall to see the still closed bedroom door, "Goren's your partner! Rick was not my partner and I didn't have to work with or see Rick everyday whereas you…"

"You call him Goren? What's he do, call you Jamison?"

"Uh, yeah. I know it's a little…"

"Weird? Impersonal?"

"Well… no. It's not like that, really. It's … it's just… it fits." She shrugged.

Alex shook her head, "A rose by any other name…"

"Better than you could possibly imagine."

"What?"

"The sex. Better than you could possibly imagine." She blushed furiously and surprised herself by actually saying it aloud.

"I have a pretty good imagination." An extremely loud squeal escaped as Alex did her best to stifle the noise with her hand.

"So, have you done it in any of the interview rooms yet?" She asked once she could breathe again.

"Absolutely not! And you will not tease Goren or me about any of this. Ever. Do we understand each other?"

Looking chastised, Alex nodded and then grinned as she crossed her heart. "I won't. Just tell me this. Does anyone else know?"

She grimaced as she nodded her head, "Yeah, Ross knows."

"What? How'd he find out?"

"I… I had to tell him."

"Why?"

"Remember when you were out sick for a few days a couple of weeks ago… and Ritchie was on vacation? Ross was going to send the two of us out on a case together… I … I had to tell him. I know the chances of it being a problem in the short term like that would have been was exceedingly small, but…" she shrugged as her explanation trailed away.

Does…" She pointed down the hallway to the bedroom. "does he know that Ross knows?"

Shaking her head, she admitted, "I wasn't sure how he'd take that news, so I haven't told him yet. Especially seeing that it was Ross." Everyone in the squad knew there was an uneasy truce between Goren and Ross.

Ten minutes later, the door to the bedroom opened and Goren stepped out into the hallway. He'd showered, shaved, and was ready for what awaited him in the kitchen.

He rounded the corner into the kitchen, to see Jamison and Eames talking across the kitchen counter.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my partner. Out and about, with a demented Cheshire cat grin on his face."

"Yes well, unfortunately that is the only door out of the apartment." He pointed over his shoulder to the door Alex entered a little while ago.

Alex opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone.

He pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open without reading the caller I.D.

"Goren."

"Goren?" A familiar sounding voice questioned from the other end of the line.

"That's what I just said isn't it?" You called me, you should expect me to be the one to answer.

"Excuse me Detective Goren, but why are you answering Jamison's cell phone at 7:45 in the morning?"

Realization slowly dawned on him. It was Jamison's partner, Detective Ritchie.

Shit.

In the background, he could hear scrambling and then Logan's voice near the phone. "Goren answered Jamison's phone? No way! Ha ha, It never ceases to amaze me!" There was more scrambling and a few words of argument from Ritchie, when suddenly Logan was on the line.

"Goren, you are so busted." Logan boasted.

"Yeah, I got that." he grunted.

"Oh my god, wait until Alex finds out! She is going to FLIP!"

There was laughing and then the line went dead.

Goren flipped the phone shut before tossing it to Jamison. "So, I guess this is your phone..." A sheepish grin appeared on his lips. "I think the entire squad knows, with the possible exception of Ross, or will in about two minutes."

The two women exchanged a look.

"What?"

"Ah..hmm, Ross already knows. I … I had to tell him a couple of weeks ago, he… he was going to team us up while Alex was out sick."

She stopped as she took in his appearance, "Are you going into work today?"

Goren grabbed his badge from the counter where Alex had set it down and prepared to leave.

"I thought I would go through the witness statements again on the Douglas case. I should get going and let you two get to wherever you were going today. I'll see you both later." At this, he leaned down and placed a kiss firmly on Jamison's lips. "I should be done early, I'll… I'll call you and we'll get dinner somewhere." He leaned down again softly kissed her again, before softly saying, "I love you."

Distracted, she muttered as she nodded, "Okay. That sounds good."

With that, he grinned down at her and said, "See ya later, Eames." He turned and left.

"Later, Bobby." Alex spun back around to face Blake. "All right, the stores open in an hour. We need to get a move on if we're gonna get any of the good stuff."

"Hmmmm..."

"What? Are you ok?"

Without warning, she looked up to fix Alex with a questioning look. "What did he just say?"

"Well," Alex started hesitantly, "He said he'd be finished early and he'd call you. Then something about getting dinner and then he said he loved you and left... Oh My God! Was that the first time he…"

She nodded as she stood rooted in place, in total shock.

"Don't you have something you need to tell him?" Alex asked. "If I were you, I'd run after him before he gets too far away." Blake sprinted to the door and yanked it open. She was gone.

"Oh new love, isn't it sweet, Chantilly?" Alex leaned down, scooping the cat up off the floor and carried her to the doorway, dancing with her down the hall. She meowed in protest and scrambled away.

"The bigger they are, the harder and farther they fall…"

More to come…