Got this part finished and I hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and the comments!
C.J. closed her eyes and her body did her dancing for her, following the beat of the music where it led and she thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of a man's arms around her holding her closely. Damn, she hadn't had enough of that in a long time. Not well, since Robert. The silver tongued, stylishly dressed cad who had returned to her life, well really he had come to L.A. to take an anchor job but their paths had crossed and va-voom!
While in college, he had seemed like just another friend of Matt's and she hadn't understood his appeal, the charisma that her sorority sisters felt whenever in their vicinity. He had been in the school's journalism program after spending two years at Rice University, Matt's alma mater, mostly chomping at the bit while working at the college's two-bit newspaper. He had always been attracted to seeing his face on live television, reporting the news and moving up through the ranks. Working his way across the United States, C.J. hadn't seen or even heard from him for a long time until he had flown out for a round of interviews with the different stations in L.A. before getting hired. She had fallen into his arms and then his bed in short order and for the first time since her boyfriend, Carl had been murdered, she had envisioned a future with a husband and family.
But all that had ended when Matt had told her that Robert had engineered a kidnapping and had committed murder to further his career. She had taken out the pain that ripped through her out on her best friend, even threatening to resign from his company. But she realized soon enough that Matt would never deliberately hurt her, unless it was necessary to protect her from greater harm. And he had given her enough space to figure that out herself. Just like a best friend would do.
She continued dancing trying to move past that failed relationship to something more pleasant but what had followed that heartbreak had been a nearly fatal bullet wound and a bout of amnesia which left her held prisoner and nearly forced into prostitution in some backwoods town. The elation of the rescue of Matt's cousin Will who had been thought dead for so many years had been tempered by the loss of her childhood friend Julia while Matt and she had been working on a case.
All those times Matt had been the steadfast presence in her life, her rock and she had done the same for him. Neither had needed to be asked either, they just offered that to each other no questions asked. So why then had he started taking her for granted? Always assumed she'd be there in the office waiting for him to return from some adventure with his new partner, Roy. Not that she begrudged the former operative because she had always been fond of him, but she felt pushed out on to the fringes of her friend's life. Even when he had gotten engaged and she had tried to talk to him about how she felt, he had interrupted what she wanted to say before she could finish. Then the wedding of the year as some media outlets had called it had never happened. Elizabeth had taken off and hadn't been seen since and Matt had returned to work the next day on a stakeout with Roy as if nothing had changed.
C.J. had grabbed any opportunity that she could to find new challenges in her life and so when Bailey had hit her up with another one of his last minute favors, she had jumped at it and had jumped on the first plane, leaving Matt a note through his staff of secretaries.
And going up against one of San Francisco's prosecutor in a preliminary hearing had been so exhilarating in ways she hadn't expected. It had been better than sex. Well, okay maybe not but the next best thing, definitely and that's when she began to think that she wanted to be a kickass criminal defense attorney like she had been earlier in her legal career. She dropped off her card and resume at some firms that she had researched on the internet and they had definitely seemed interested. And it felt nice to be appreciated for her legal skills.
"C.J…."
She could see her new life unfolding ahead of her. She would build her reputation as a tough trial attorney, buy a house on a bluff overlooking the bay and maybe start dating again…
"C.J…"
Wait, a familiar voice she thought, opening her eyes and the man she danced with hadn't been the one talking.
"What's the matter babe," he asked.
Damn, something was intruding on her reverie about looking into the most amazing pair of blue…no brown eyes she had ever seen and wavy…dark hair and…wait a minute, the guy standing in front of her in a business suit and cowboy boots with his arms folded looked awfully familiar…
"C.J…"
She blinked her eyes.
"Houston…"
She kept dancing with the exotic dancer and the tempo of the music started to slow down again and their movements changed along with it. Jill turned to Matt.
"I can see that got her attention," she said, "Well, she did have a couple of shots of tequila."
Now Matt's eyes blinked. C.J. hadn't been much of a drinker since he had known her. Even when nursing a broken heart courtesy of that murderous jerk Robert, she had stuck to juice. Something about taking her sorrows sober, but apparently his friend had bent her own rules at least when it came to having a good time.
"C.J. honey now I know you're having fun but…"
She finally let the man go and turned to face him.
"Houston, what the hell are you doing here," she asked.
"I was looking for you actually," he said, "and I ran into Lindsey and she had to check on this place."
C.J. tilted her face.
"Lindsey…isn't she Jill's cop friend?"
Matt nodded.
"She's right here," he said, "She came to check up on her friends."
C.J. tripped and the dancer caught her swooping her in his arms again.
"That's nice of her," she said, "We've been having ourselves a real good time with these nice guys."
Matt turned to Jill.
"How many shots did she have anyway?"
Jill shrugged.
"I don't think she's drunk but she's sure emboldened."
Matt couldn't disagree, not recognizing the woman in front of him. Damn, she looked beautiful as she always did but when had she learned to dance like that?
Jill followed his glance.
"She had a couple wild times in college but not many…"
Cindy wobbled off the stage.
"I think I need another drink," she said.
Claire pulled on her arm.
"Maybe you'd better sit down and take a break for a while."
Cindy frowned at her.
"You're not much fun," she said, "What did you do with Claire?"
Claire just shook her head.
"Don't you know Rich is tending bar?"
Cindy looked around, squinting her eyes to see better. Then those eyes widened.
"Damn, he looks hot in that getup," she said, "And that earring looks better on him than it did on me."
Claire just looked at Lindsey.
"I think they both had too much stress to burn off tonight."
Matt studied C.J. who had started wrapping her arms around the dancer's neck drawing him closer. That rankled him and he reproached himself for that but seriously how well did she know the guy that she had done some of what had been called back in the day…dirty dancing?
"She just met him an hour ago," Jill said reading his thoughts.
"I've got to get her out of her especially if they raid this place."
Cindy's brows shot up and the other women looked at him.
"You've got to be kidding me," Cindy said, "I signed that damned petition the last time they did it. They wouldn't let me run it in the paper but I gathered signatures at work anyway."
All Matt could think of was getting C.J. off of that stage and out of the club, but that meant extricating herself from her current dance partner. Lindsey had gone to confer to Rich to see if there had been any more signs of drug dealing and other illicit activity in the joint. He watched C.J. dance with the man, her body pressed against his for a moment and then stepped up onto the stage.
"What's he doing," Cindy asked.
Jill sighed.
"Getting her away from that sleaze."
Cindy put her hands on her hips.
"He's really too hot to be slime," she said, "and she doesn't seem to mind where he's putting his hands."
Then she looked over at the doorway and her eyes narrowed in curiosity before widening in what looked to the others like horror.
"What's wrong Cindy," Claire asked.
She just pointed to the doorway where another woman stood next to a guy with a camera around his neck.
"It's the traitorous intern who stole my crime beat and the lecherous cameraman," she said.
The pair walked into the club looking around at the crowd of people while they headed to the bar.
"What are they doing here," Jill said.
"They must have gotten some tip from a source that something's going down here like some police action."
Jill groaned.
"Damn, I got to get the hell out of her before I wind up on the front page of the newspaper and my trial ends before it begins."
Cindy's nostrils flared.
"Why are you so concerned about yourself," she said, "Those creeps have stolen my beat. I should be the one getting sent to cover whatever's going to happen next."
Jill smirked.
"You can't," she said, "You're too busy gyrating with the hired help in front of everyone here."
Cindy smiled.
"I guess that's some consolation," she said, "I've still got it after all."
She started to get back on the stage but wobbled.
"Better slow down Cindy," Claire said.
Matt had stepped up on the stage which had been steadier than it appeared but C.J. appeared not to notice. She still had her attention on the dancer. Matt tapped on his shoulder.
"Mind if I cut in?"
The dancer looked at him.
"Are you the guy they hired as the CEO themed stripper?"
Matt looked confused.
"No, I just need to talk to my friend there."
The dancer threw him a disinterested look.
"She's already got a partner."
C.J. looked at Matt.
"What are you doing here," she said, "Why aren't you back solving cases in L.A?"
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I was worried about you."
She softened and she let go of the dancer.
"You don't have to be," she said, "I'm up here doing a case and I'll be back tomorrow."
He nodded.
"We can go back together," he said.
"Oh that's really sweet Houston," she said, "but it's not necessary."
"Come on, let's go back to the hotel…"
She wouldn't budge.
"I'm having fun here and I'm staying with a friend."
He folded his arms, matching her stubbornness.
"You can't drive back."
"Okay, I'll get a ride back," she said.
He sighed.
"Come back with me," he said, "We need to talk."
She chuckled.
"We talk all the time," she said, "or at least we used to…you've been very busy lately."
"So have you," he countered, "And there's talk that you're relocating."
She waved her hand.
"I was just thinking about it," she said, "I'm going to make some changes…and it's nice up here."
"It's nice back in L.A."
She just shook her head at him.
"Excuse me, I'm busy dancing," she said, "You can get back to me later through my secretary."
She returned to dancing with her partner and Matt got off of the stage. Cindy looked at him.
"She doesn't look too happy with you."
Matt knew that and wondered what to do next. He couldn't lose her to…San Francisco, not like this until he explained to her why he had kept her at arm's length well at least since his engagement to Elizabeth fizzled. Rich wandered over to talk to Lindsey.
"There's some guys packing some serious heat who just walked in," he said, "I don't know how they got past Bo."
Lindsey sighed.
"They're called hormones," she said, "and Bo is chocked full of them. He wouldn't see an army of Mafia hit men if they marched right in."
"What are we going to do?"
Lindsey hated saying the next words. They were the type that could end more than one career here.
"We need to raid this place before someone gets killed," she said, "They came here looking for a fight."
Lindsey looked around the room that was packed with women having a good time ogling men and stuffing money in their skimpy outfits while they danced.
"This isn't going to go well with the mayor," he said, "You know he's up for reelection and shut down this place and there will be a mob at his office in the morning."
"Screw the mayor."
He gave her a double take.
"Lindsey…"
She put her hands on her hips.
"No I mean it," she said, "Not literally but it's our job to keep peace and to keep the public safe."
"They're going to be putting us all on riot duty tomorrow," he reminded her.
She shrugged.
"That's then and this is now," she said, "Call in the troops pronto and we'll get started."
Rich went to phone headquarters for permission to utilize the SWAT team while Lindsey knew she had to tell her friends. If only they would listen to her. She decided to start with the easier ones.
"Claire, you're going to have to leave," she said, "There's going to be some police action and I don't want you caught in the middle of it."
Her friend nodded.
"That's great," she said, "Well be sure to keep them on the other side of the room."
Lindsey felt like throwing up her arms. Claire patted her shoulder.
"Just kidding," she said, "I'll help round up the others and herd them on out."
Matt looked up.
"I'll handle C.J."
Lindsey's brow rose.
"Need any help there?"
He shook his hand.
"I can handle it."
He stepped up on the stage and touched her shoulder. She spun around and stared at gun.
"What's up?"
He took a deep breath.
"We have to leave now."
She looked at him as if he were crazy.
"Why," she said, "We didn't come together and I'm having a great time with Jack here…"
"Joe," the dancer corrected.
"Whatever...Houston, why don't you get yourself a drink before heading back to L.A.," she said, "Put it on my tab."
The dancer looked at the both of them.
"Maybe I'd better leave you alone to work this out," he said, "But I get off at 2."
She nodded as he walked off. Then she turned to look at Matt.
"I was having a good time."
"I know."
She folded her arms at him.
"So now that you've got my attention," she said, "Where are we going."
"Back to the hotel."
She smiled then and nodded.
"Okay that'll work," she said, "You're kind of cute for an alpha male."
"An alpha what?"
She shook her head impatiently.
"Never mind," she said, "So do you want to dance?"
He felt rest her hands on his shoulders.
"C.J…"
She smiled again.
"Come on, let's dance…unless you're too shy or something…"
Damn, the situation was spinning out of control quickly. Here he was trying to get her out of an establishment before it was going to get raided and she had her mind on other things. He couldn't believe that she was coming onto him.
"C.J. we need to get out of here."
"Later…let's do some dancing first, and then I'll leave with you…"
She moved her arms down to his hips and pulled him closer to her. He sighed because he couldn't believe how good it felt for her to be that close to him. Her fingers enticed him, her cologne intoxicated him and…
Her lips brushed against him even before he saw that coming and before he knew it, she had deepened her kiss. And damn, it felt good so before he realized it himself, he had responded, drawing her closer this time.
Jill rolled her eyes at the sight.
"I guess they've worked it all out."
Cindy beamed.
"Bravo, way to go."
Jill threw her a pithy glance.
"She won't remember it when she wakes up in the morning with a hangover."
Cindy threw her a face back.
"Jill, when did you get to be such a wet blanket?"
Jill just turned and showed her friend her back. Claire walked up to both of them.
"We're going to have to get our butts out of here," she said, "They're bringing in the big guns to clear it out."
Cindy shook her head.
"So that's why the snot-faced intern is here right now."
The intern and the photographer were walking around talking to people but not having much luck. Cindy hoped they wouldn't come near because she felt like clobbering both of them with the camera.
Lindsey and Rich met up with some other police officers outside the joint. They had decked themselves out in riot gear prepared for the task at hand.
"When do we go in," the squad leader asked.
"When I say you do," Lindsey said, "I'll call you on the radio."
He nodded and they gathered in formation and headed to the other side of the parking lot.
Rich looked towards the club.
"Cindy's plastered," he said, "I don't want her in the middle of all this."
Lindsey sighed.
"We'll do the best we can to get them out of there," she said, "but all bets are off if those bad guys in there start waving their firepower."
Matt enjoyed the feel of his best friend's body against his own and her mouth on his, drawing him eve closer. But then the more rational side of him spoke up and he realized that he had to exercise some restraint here because for her, it was the liquor speaking. So he did the difficult thing which was to try to extricate himself from her embrace.
"C.J…I don't think."
"That's great because I'm not thinking right now either."
He sighed, as her fingers ran through his hair sending tingles down his spine. This wasn't proving to be easy not when his own body refused to cooperate.
"We can't do this."
She broke her kiss and looked around her.
"You're right," she said, "Come on; let's go back to the hotel."
He looked at her, shocked.
"I don't think so."
She frowned at him.
"Why not," she said, "I'm kissing you, you're kissing me and I really want to see what you've been hiding underneath those clothes all these years."
His face flushed as a wave of heat ran through him.
"We need to get you sobered up here," he said, "You don't even know what you're saying."
Irritation prickled through her, joining the more pleasant sensations.
"Of course I do," she said, "You know those times when you were getting dressed and I told you I never watched…"
"Yeah I guess I do."
She winked at him.
"Well I lied," she said, "But come on, there's only so much a woman can take when a guy's as hot as you…"
Hot? He liked the sound of that but clearer heads had to prevail here.
"Okay well that's…okay," he said, "but we'll talk about it back at the hotel."
Now she scrutinized him.
"For a man of action, you sure want to do a lot of talking right now," she said, "Now hush and take me back to that hotel of yours and show me what made you People's Sexiest Millionaire."
Oh, Matt's mind told him this wasn't going well but his body…well it didn't exactly agree. He took a deep breath.
"Okay…we can go back to my suite and…talk this over…but we need to get out of here because things might get a little chaotic in here pretty soon."
She nodded.
"Okay because then I can tell you about the time that we were flying to the Bahamas, you know before we got…interrupted."
Oh, she meant hijacked by a band of terrorists led by the presumed to be dead but very much alive Marquis Duval.
"I remember that quite vividly."
She brightened.
"Before we got…diverted by that horrible kidnapping, I had plans on well, seducing you at the resort. I mean we really couldn't let our time spent in such a gorgeous romantic spot go to waste."
His eyes widened.
"You did?"
She nodded again.
"So I packed some really sexy lingerie…but it's back on Marquis Island because we left our luggage there when we escaped."
"We did, didn't we…?"
She sighed.
"The best laid plans…well anyway we can go back to the hotel and make up for lost time?"
Matt decided he had to go along with it…for now because he really had to get her out of this place.
"Come on; let's get off of this stage."
He helped her step down and she wrapped her arm around his waist and they walked back to the others.
"Ready to leave," he asked the others.
Jill shook her head.
"Cindy's going to kill that intern for stealing her beat," she said, "We got to get out of here before blood is shed or hair's pulled."
C.J. nodded and stroked Matt's face with her fingers.
"I'm all for that," she said, "Come on cowboy, let's go for a ride…"
Matt blanched. For being such a player with the women, he felt very much out of his league with this one. Whoever would have guessed?
Jill looked at the two of them.
"You've got your hands full with her."
Matt couldn't disagree but when he got C.J. back to the suite, he would make enough coffee to sober her up quickly. Hopefully leaving her with little memory of what was unfolding. C.J. however made it clear that she had other plans.
"I've always wanted to do this," she said, "Remember the day of the frog jumping contest?"
"Yes," Matt said, weakly.
"You know when you kissed me and then made that silly frog noise to get yourself off the hook?"
Matt nodded.
"Well let's just say that if Bo and Lamar hadn't been there," she said, poking him in the chest, "I would have shown you a thing or two."
He didn't doubt that now.
"I mean that Houston," she said, "Just like the time we were…"
"C.J. I don't think we really need to go there."
She frowned at him.
"But you know how romantic Singapore is in the Spring," she said, "You know we could have done all those dull business meetings and then filled the rest of our time there…doing other things much less boring."
Oh boy, C.J. had really gone on a tear here. He felt at a loss for words and truth be told, he had some confessions to make of his own but now wasn't the time or place. He just had to get her out of there.
Lindsey walked up to all of them.
"Are you ready to leave?"
They all nodded but one of them was missing.
"Where's Cindy," Lindsey asked.
None of them knew until Jill looked across the room and saw the reporter squaring off with her competition.
"Uh oh, there's trouble," Claire said.
Lindsey sighed.
"I'll handle it."
She walked off, shaking her head.
C.J. turned back to more important things.
"Houston, when I got shot and went to Hawaii to recover, why didn't you join me?"
He looked surprised.
"Join you?"
She nodded.
"It would have been great if you would have just come with me," she said, "I mean I had a great time but think about what kind of fun we could have had."
He sighed. Jill shook her head.
"She's going to be so embarrassed in the morning."
Matt knew that might indeed be the case if she remembered this night at all. Which he really hoped she wouldn't, didn't he? He ran his hand through his hair, wondering what to do or say next. Talk about navigating through a series of minefields here and he had never even seen the ones in front of him coming.
C.J. put her hand on his chest.
"Let's go take this somewhere else."
He nodded, just wanting to get out of there before the police raided and the others seemed willing to leave but not without Cindy. Speaking of which, they all heard a crash and looked over to see Cindy and the intern pushing and shoving each other with Rich rushing in to break up the fight.
"Oh lord," Claire said, going over to help.
Matt's attention focused elsewhere when he saw two men clearly packing move towards a man that Matt presumed managed the club. He looked around the room for Lindsey but she had seen them too. Rich had been busy pulling off a flailing Cindy off of the intern and making sure they both moved to their separate corners. C.J. followed Matt and he turned around to stop her.
"C.J. stay back with the others."
She rolled her eyes.
"I'm just fine Houston," she said, "and I'm not drunk but I loved the expression on your face back there."
He looked shocked.
"You mean…"
She nodded.
"You have your gun with you right?"
He looked at her warily.
"I always carry it," he said, "What about you?"
"In my ankle holster…"
"Your what?"
She smiled.
"When I dated that cop a while back, he got it for me retail."
Matt's stomach flipped and as he looked at her again, she winked.
"Come on," she said, "Lindsey might need our help."
They walked over to where Lindsey and Rich had turned over the handling of Cindy to both Claire and Jill. The lieutenant turned to Matt and C.J.
"You'd better leave," she said, "Things could get rough."
"Do you need our help," Matt asked.
"No, we're fine," Lindsey said, "The police can handle it."
Suddenly, some shouts broke through the music and everyone stopped talking and the exotic dancers froze in their positions. The mobster types that had alerted them to their presence earlier began pushing and threatening the manager of the club. One of them had a gun that he held to his side.
"It's all a misunderstanding," the manager said, "Why don't you come back tomorrow and we'll clear this up?"
The mobster men just pressed him further.
"Our boss has given you enough extensions on his generous loan to you," one of them said, "He's ready to get the deed now."
"But…"
One man jammed a gun in his waist.
"Now, go to the safe and get the deed to this establishment and we'll handle the transaction right now."
The manager in the face of some impressive firepower didn't know what else to do so he obeyed. Lindsey sighed and got on her radio telling the team to move in.
She and Rich rushed over with their guns on the mobster men and after taking the stance, yelled orders.
"Freeze right now."
Matt and C.J. looked over at them.
"Where are the rest of the police," she asked.
He didn't know so they kept an eye on what was going on. Claire tried to get Cindy to leave but in true journalistic style, the reporter had taken out her notepad and began taking jotting in it. The cameraman came up to her.
"Go get some front page shots," she barked at him.
He meekly obeyed.
Lindsey stared dead on at the mobster men.
"There's no other option for you but to surrender," she said, "so drop the weapons."
They just looked at her mutely.
"Right now would work well for me, how about you?"
They looked at each other and one of them began to lower his gun. The other turned and scowled at him.
"Don't be a wimp," he said, "What will your father think?"
The other man turned to him.
"I don't want to go out in a blaze of bullets," he said, "I'll get out of prison eventually."
Lindsey nodded.
"Wise choice," she said, "What about you bucko?"
The other man just glared and aimed his gun and took a shot. It went wild and missed everyone. But Matt took no chances and went to force C.J. on the ground to take cover. But she beat him to it and pushed him down first. The woman always had tripwire reflexes in dangerous situations.
"Hey this is kind of nice," she murmured, as they waited for the man to either surrender or keep firing.
He kept firing and everyone had to duck but he was such a bad shot that Lindsey and Rich just stood to the side, then Lindsey aimed her gun and fired once hitting him deftly in the shoulder and he dropped on the ground.
Both C.J. and Matt looked up from where they lay on the ground with him naturally shielding her body with his own. He looked around as the dust cleared and put his own gun away. Everyone began to get up again and talk excitedly until the doors opened and a flood of armed troops swept through the building and everyone had to lie down on the ground again while they cleared away the dangerous men. Lindsey handed off the wounded one to them and Rich had handcuffed the other. But everyone remained on the ground until the SWAT team could make sure there were no other mobster men hiding among them.
C.J. looked at Matt from where they lay.
"We could be here for awhile," she said, "How about a little pillow talk to pass the time?"
"What?"
She smiled.
"You know, I loved how you looked when I was talking to you back there…"
He appeared skeptical.
"I thought you were saying all that because you're drunk," he said, "but clearly you're not."
She smiled wider.
"You blush nicely when you're bashful."
"I wasn't bashful, I was…"
"Confused," she filled in.
"Hopeful…"
She looked him over.
"Say again?"
He sighed.
"Part of me really…appreciated your candor…but I couldn't do what you thought you wanted…"
"But I have a clear head and I know what I want," she said, "and I meant what I said, every word."
Now he blushed again and she stroked his face.
"You did?"
She nodded.
"I did a lot of thinking when I…ran away," she said, "There are so many things I wanted to say for so long…you know I almost did that day I spoke with you before your wedding."
"C.J., I never meant to shut you out and push you on the edge of my life," he said, "I think I just needed to do some thinking of my own."
They heard some yelling and saw that Cindy had been pulled to her feet to be frisked by the SWAT team before being led outside, but not before she asked the photographer if he got any good shots.
He answered from his position prone on the ground.
"I'll email them to you," he said.
"Later," she said and walked on out of there.
Matt turned back to C.J.
"I definitely don't want you on the fringes of my life," he said, "I want you as my partner…in every sense of the word."
Her heart jumped at that but she remained calm.
"Okay, I think I can work with that," she said, "if I go back to L.A."
Matt hoped that she would rethink her decision not to relocate to San Francisco and he would do anything necessary to persuade her that her home remained in L.A. with him. And he had quite an arsenal to work with, he thought with a smile.
The SWAT men grabbed them to be frisked and they stood still, allowing them to do that eager to be out of the club and on their way. Finally they walked out into the darkness of the parking lot which was crowded with confused and more than a few intoxicated people milling around. Some nuns had shown up with plenty of hot coffee, warm food and some coats for the exotic dancers.
Matt got some coffee and handed a cup to C.J.
"What a night," he said.
She winked at him.
"It's still young and I still haven't seen the inside of your suite."
Excitement filled him but he kept it in check. He rubbed her arms, looking at her.
"Okay we'll go back there…but only to talk," he said, "It's been a long day."
Claire wondered over.
"Well Jill's filling Cindy up with coffee until Rich gets off and can take her home," she said, "I like to say it's been nice but I think I'll just say never a dull moment in San Fran."
"I can see that."
Lindsey walked up to them.
"The place has been cleared out, the perps taken to jail and…I probably will not have a job tomorrow."
C.J. folded her arms.
"They can't do that," she said, "You just did your job."
Lindsey eyed her critically.
"You sure sobered up quickly."
Matt and C.J. just looked at each other and smiled.
"We'll get out of your hair now," he said.
C.J. nodded.
"Yeah we got other things to do," she said, smiling, "Other sights to see."
"His car broke down," Lindsey said, "I gave him a lift over here."
C.J. shrugged.
"I'll give him a ride back to his place."
Matt looked over at C.J.
"I'll drive."
C.J. just threw her hands up in the air.
"See, he always wants to take control," she said, "Do all the driving and…"
They both walked to the car and she handed him the keys quietly as they both got inside the car and drove away from the club.
They headed back to the hotel and after getting off at the top floor, stopped in front of the presidential suite. And indeed when C.J. saw the inside of it, she believed it to be as impressive as she had heard. At that point however, she was only interested in one room of it.
She looped her arm in his and started leading him towards the main bedroom.
"Come on," she said, "Show me those fabulous moves of yours…"
"C.J. I don't think…"
"Relax, I'm just kidding," she said, "When did you get so uptight anyway?"
That left him speechless. She headed to the generous couch and sat on it, patting the spot next to her.
"Come here," she said, "So we can have this discussion you wanted."
He sat down on the couch and she sidled on closer, not that he minded.
"So what did you have to say?"
"Well, you look very beautiful…"
She smiled at that.
"Thanks, that's very sweet," she said, "You always look great."
He sighed, feeling suddenly flustered.
"I meant what I said," he said, "I want you in my life. I want to work with you like we used to do and then…"
"You want us to have fun in other ways?"
She began stroking his hand in ways that heated his blood. But he really had to control himself here because after all, this wasn't one of his casual flings here; this was the woman that meant more to him than anyone ever had. And somewhere along the way, he had realized that.
"Well, I want to do what do they call it?"
"Date?"
He nodded and she seemed to think about that.
"Okay, I'll go out on a date with you," she said, "In fact, we can just start right now…though maybe we should think about breakfast after…"
Her fingers moved to his chest. He didn't know whether it was here or the liquor making her behave this way so he had to slow things down before his libido kicked into gear and did what it had wanted to do for so long.
"I want to start off slowly with this…"
She looked at him incredulous.
"Why," she asked, "I mean you…you're L.A.'s biggest stud…well one of the biggest…And I've seen you, you're like a runaway locomotive."
This time he touched her, gently brushing the hair off of her face with his fingers. She closed her eyes in response.
"I know…but that's how I feel about you," he admitted, "I really want to enjoy the whole experience of well…moving our friendship to the next level and not skip over any precious moment of that."
Oh, she liked that. He had a better way with words than she thought but then she saw his words and knew he wasn't playing…he meant what he said and her heart quickened.
"Okay…no sex tonight…then," she said, "But then we really haven't had that talk about our histories and…"
He finished her statement with another kiss and she wrapped her arms around him drawing him closely to her. When his lips left hers finally, he stroked her mouth with his fingers.
"I hope you like that…because there's more where that came from."
Her breath caught.
"Good," she said, as he pulled her closer to him so that her head rested against his chest.
"You've had quite a day," he said.
"It got a lot better towards the end," she said, and he heard sleepiness in her voice.
He smiled as she closed her eyes and snuggled closer, knowing that the next day would shine brighter, the birds would sing and their new lives together would begin. He would call the pilot of his Lear Jet to fuel her up for the trip to L.A. and make sure to stock up on some champagne and pizza. His last thought before closing his own eyes for the night would be excitement at what lie ahead for the both of them.
