Suiting Up

It was Emma's nap time which meant Jules could workout a little since she never made it to the gym in the morning. She hated the thought of working out but once she did it she was so happy she did. She felt better and it kept her in shape which she liked too. Today, she might just do a little yoga to get her head clear. Lord knows she needed her head clear, she thought silently.

Jules threw on her comfiest, worn out, gym shorts and a tank top and crept passed her daughter's room.

Jogging a bit down the staircase she put on her I-pod as she went.

Nick pulled into the driveway of their home in the black Denali he uses for work. He was still on the clock from pulling a double and he was just slammed with this new task. He was summoned to testify in a murder trial and he had to be in court within two hours. He wasn't sure if showing up to the house like this was going to be a problem for Jules but he had no choice; he had to get inside to get his suit. It was a last minute re-call so he had no time to prepare Jules for his arrival. He figured if she wasn't home he could slip in and out. But, he sighed a sigh of relief when he did see her SUV in the driveway. He would get to see her after all.

Nick hopped out of the truck, pushed his keys in his pocket, and leaned down to pick up the newspaper lying on the driveway. Swinging it as he walked up his front porch Nick glanced at his watch before ringing the doorbell. He saw it was just after lunch which meant Emma would be sleeping. He had his arm extended to ring the bell but stopped instantly when he thought maybe that wouldn't be a good idea. He stood there with his arm out, staring at the bell a few seconds, contemplating which would piss Jules off more: walking in unannounced or waking up their daughter. Nick knew the answer. His little girl really could be a beast when awakened from her naps, although Nick never would admit that to Jules. He always told her "HIS Princess" was never a beast.

Reaching into his jeans pocket he pulled out his set of keys and fumbled around for the key to his front door. He opened it slowly and whispered as loud as he could, "Jules, it's just me!" He walked into the foyer a little farther and in a hushed voice said it again. Nick thought about just grabbing his suit and leaving but he didn't want to just head up the stairs and grab his suit like a thief in the night, so he walked into the living room to let her know he was in the house.

His heart stopped. He was sure it actually stopped beating. When he saw her bending over in her black, teeny, tiny, tight, workout shorts, and touching the floor with her palms he nearly had a heart attack. How he didn't gasp loudly amazed him. Instead he stood silently between the kitchen and the den and watched her blond ponytail drop and dangle over her head.

'She is so fucking flexible," his dirty mind immediately thought.

He watched silently as she held the position and he knew he should let her know he was watching. He knew it was wrong. Especially knowing that watching her body contort into that position made him have to fight the urge not to walk up behind his wife and take her from behind right then and there. He had to remind himself that they weren't like that anymore. And, he didn't want to get punched in the face again…at least not right before court.

Jules rolled back up and continued her stretching unaware of her husband's presence. She was listening to a sad song and she knew she shouldn't be. These exercises were supposed to clear her head, not give her a chance to fill it with more heartache and thoughts of Nick. She decided to just take them off and concentrate on her breathing. Tossing her I-pod over to the couch she was about to stretch again when Nick grabbed a small, plush, pink, pig off the counter and threw it at her. He was afraid if he spoke she would jump, and he wouldn't dare just walk up to her like he did last time. He figured throwing a stuffed animal might work. And it did.

Jules felt the stuffed pig pelt her in the shoulder and she turned thinking it was Trista bringing her in something for lunch.

She smiled wide and turned, "Hey! Whatchew dewin' Beeyotch!" she said in an exaggerated ghetto slang tone.

Nick raised his eyebrows, jerked his head back slightly, and pressed his lips together trying not to laugh at her.

Jules' mouth hung open when she saw him there.

"Did you just call me a bitch?" Nick smirked.

"Um, yes, CSI Stokes, I guess I did," she chuckled forgetting how much she should hate him.

But there he stood. The love of her life dressed in what could drive her to her knees no matter how long they've been together.

Jules felt her palms sweat when she saw him in his vest and all the gadgets that hung around his waist.

And something about that gun…the way it hung snuggly to his hip. She loved it. It turned her on.

She loved how it said STOKES in white across his chest and CSI FORENSICS on his back.

And she loved the way he was biting on the end of his sunglasses.

She loved…

"Babe... uh Jules, you checking me out?" Nick didn't mean to say it but he was so used to teasing her about how she thinks she is discrete when she scans him up and down lustfully and the truth was she couldn't be more obvious.

Jules shook her head as if to shake the desire from her face.

"NO! YEAH! MAYBE!" she spit out all three words fast and it made no sense and she knew it so she laughed hard.

"Yeah, well, then… I like your shorts," he smiled.

Jules looked down and saw she had on the tight, tiny, shorts that Nick always loved but warned her not to wear to the gym or she could very well be attacked. Although, he always added, she would get attacked home too but at least it would be by her husband.

Jules smiled and then realized their banter was much too friendly under the circumstances.

"I didn't even know you were behind me!" she reached up tightening her ponytail. "Were you watching me?" she smirked.

"No...nope." he gave her a Stokes' smile.

"Why you dirrr…." Jules stopped.

She almost called him "her dirty, dirty man" which was how they talked when they were left "unsupervised".

They both stared at each other. Nick rubbed the back of his neck. Jules wiped her palms on her hips.

"Um, Em's sleeping, … yeah, I guess you already know that," she said knowing Nick knows his daughter's routine just as well as she did.

"Yeah, ya know what, I'm sorry I didn't have time to warn you I was coming here…" he said apologetically.

Jules walked toward him into the kitchen. She had to try not to stare at him. "My God, Cowboy, you are one hot CSI, wow!" she hoped she just say that out loud. It wouldn't have been the first time she spoke the words she only thought she had stuffed in her head. But, thankfully, under the circumstances now, she was happy she kept her thoughts quiet.

"…I have to get a suit. I have court in a couple hours. Last minute call back so I have to be there," he explained.

"No, no, it's fine, I have two that are still in the dry cleaning bags. Or do you have a 'lucky one', Mr. Expert Witness?" she laughed as they both headed into the hallway and to the stairs.

It was a joke between them. He looked at her and smiled softly. Jules gave him a closed mouth smile back.

They chatted softly as they went upstairs.

It felt strange having such a normal conversation with him. She wanted so badly to jump her CSI right there on their staircase. The demeanor between them was sweet…which was definitely strange considering what went on the other day.

Jules went to Nick's closet and he followed. She pushed some of his things to the side and grabbed the suit that was still in an ARISTOTLE DRY CLEANER plastic.

She fumbled through his shirts, grabbed one and then reached for the tie he always wore with it.

When she reached up for it, Nick couldn't help but scan her body up and down. Her little shorts rode up her butt revealing her tan lines.

Jules needed to put his stuff in a bag so she bent down to fish out a department store bag. As she bent down Nick could feel the rise in his pants. He had to mentally stop it. It was a difficult task since those shorts rode up her just perfectly.

"Stop looking at my ass," she said while digging around, without even looking back.

"I wasn't," he laughed.

"Riiight," she laughed too before leaning back up and turning back to him.

He was close behind her and she was startled by the close proximity of the two of them.

"Uh, you can use this for your tie and socks and uh, stuff," she stuttered.

Nick wanted to grab her and pull her to the bed. He wanted her so badly again he found it hard to concentrate on simply breathing.

Jules wanted him so bad it hurt. Seeing him in that uniform made her hot every time. He used to stop home in it sometimes just to watch her come on to him. She would swear he was teasing her now, but she knew this time he really needed his suit.

"Here, here ya go…" Jules handed him an empty, Delilah's Destiny Boutique shopping bag and scooted passed him quickly.

Once everything he needed was placed in the bag and his suit over his arm, Nick headed out of the room first. Walking down the stairs they were quiet so they wouldn't wake Emma. Almost at the bottom of the stairs Nick turned to tell her that he forgot his tie clip but Jules wasn't expecting him to turn and they nearly smacked heads.

With their faces only millimeters apart, they both froze in front of each other. Jules was a step above him bringing them directly at eye level with one another. No words left their mouths. There was pure silence.

Jules' hand disobeyed her mind and she reached out and brushed the LVPD patch on his vest with her fingertips. She dragged them down over the pocket that held his swabs and drops and whatever else he had tucked inside.

Their eyes were locked onto one another.

Nick closed his eyes and sucked in his breath…their faces so close that the air he breathed was hers.

The heat began to permeate from them.

He rubbed his nose against hers.

They rested their foreheads on each others and they both closed their eyes as if it would help them turn off what they felt for each other.

Jules let her hand rest on his shoulder and felt it slip down over the reflective stripe on the back of his vest.

She leaned her head forward a tiny bit allowing her lips to slightly brush over his. They weren't completely touching but they were definitely hovering over dangerous territory.

Nick's suit was starting to slide off his arm.

Jules put her hand to his face before caressing it back to his neck.

Their lips touched and they began to kiss slowly…

Perhaps that kiss would have escalated had Trista not walked in carrying a Lola's Luncheonette Take Out Bag.

They didn't even hear her come in the front door. Standing directly behind them in the doorway, she looked at both of them and yelled loudly.

"I fuckkking knew it! As soooon as I saw your fucking truck I said it! I KNEW IT!" she shook her head. "You are un-fucking-believable Stokes, ya know that!?" she leaned down, picked up the suit that had slid to the floor, and jammed it into Nick's arms before looking over at Jules. "AND what the hell is wrong with YOU? You have no self respect? This is the man who we BOTH saw with that blond chick…not to mention her tits were in his hands. HELLLLLO!?"

Nick grasps the suit tightly and faces Trista with a frown.

"Whoa, whoa, enough, Trista! It was a kiss goodbye. Nothing more! Last time I checked it wasn't illegal," he snarled. "And she is still my wife!"

"Keep telling yourself that, tough guy!" she snarled back.

Trista loved Nick. Absolutely adored him She got to know him well when they spent so much time together at the hospital. He was a great guy. He made her laugh, he was smart, he was easy on the eyes but most importantly, he loved her best friend with a love she could only hope to find. Ok, so, he was a little too organized for her liking but hey, he and Jules worked well so whatever…"at least they used to work before he fucked around on her," she thought in her head.

Trista had no tolerance for cheaters. She had her own heartache because of her ex-fiance cheating and she couldn't bear to see Jules go through it now too…not to mention from a guy who seemed like the real deal.

"Trista, he's leaving, calm down. He's right….Really, it was just a kiss," she nodded.

Trista twisted her mouth and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well both of you can kiss my ass…" she grumbled and walked into the kitchen with the Lola's bag.

"Good luck in court, Nick," Jules said and ushered him out the door and away from Trista's disgust.

Jules closed the door behind Nick and leaned her back up against it while looking at the ceiling. She sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

Trista yelled out from the kitchen when she heard the front door close.

"My best friend is an idiot. How do I have a best friend that is a fucking sucker? Who are you and what did you do with my best friend? You know, the one who had control over herself!"

Jules slightly smirked. She figured she might as well make light of it, especially since his kiss was just too good to regret yet, so she yelled back into the kitchen at her pissed off friend.

"Well, I told you we could never be left alone unsupervised!"

"IDIOT!" Trista yelled back. "Now come in here and eat!"