Undeniable Feelings

Karen forced herself to think straight when she saw Lassiter walk across the station to fill his mug with coffee… she couldn't believe where things had almost gone the other morning. He had been so warm, and gentle, and the spicy sent of his aftershave drove her crazy… and when she could feel…

She clenched her fists and listened to the cracking of her old school pencil… "Damn… that's the third one…" she muttered to herself as she reached over to grab another one. Looking up she found herself unintentionally making eye contact with the detective. Her face turned a scarlet red and she spun her chair around quickly, forcing herself to breath properly, "My God Karen, you're acting like a lovesick schoolgirl." She scorned herself, grimacing. Turning back around she was relieved to see that Lassiter was no longer standing so close but instead was at his desk, turned in the opposite direction from her office.

Shivering at the difference between her body temperature and the air around her she scowled at the way she was behaving and broke yet another pencil.

The kiss… it had been two days and Lassiter couldn't get his blasted mind away from the day he almost made love to his boss… the sweet passionate kiss that tasted sweet and sugary… the feel of her soft cheeks beneath his rough palms. The furry robe she was wearing… the slow, lingering, fiery kiss… she had such a sweet taste and it only intensified as they played tongue tag…. Looking up from his paperwork (things had been incredibly slow the past few days) he glanced into her office to catch her gaze with his. A rush of blood fled downward and he mentally cursed as he looked away.

Cracking his knuckles loudly he grabbed the fork he'd used for lunch and stabbed it into his leg, sighing inaudibly when the blood flow returned to normal.

God… he could not keep doing this… he was starting to get tired of taking cold showers.

"Lassiter? Could you come into my office for a minute?"

Shit… he stood and made his way over, "Yes Chief?"

"Close the door please?"

What is she? Crazy? His eyes grew wide but he did as she told. When he turned back he noticed that she'd turned her chair around so she wasn't look at him. Ok… maybe she's not.

"Care to tell me when you got injured? You know it's part of protocol, to ensure that I don't send you on a case that could make it worse in anyway."

He mentally relaxed as he answered, "It was three days ago, I got angry and forgot I was holding a fork in my hand. Just four very minor stab wounds, nothing to be concerned about Chief."

She stood up and he tensed, but didn't turn around, "I guess I can let it slide this time, but next time you get angry, please, try not to stab yourself in the leg, it may be a knife next time for all we know."

"Yes Vick, understood."

"Good to hear it, back to work then, who knows when we'll get some crazy case so let's finish up the last of the paperwork that's been building up."

"Yes Chief," he replied, but didn't turn to go… which ended up being a bad decision, because she turned around. Locking eyes they stood there staring at each other for a moment each unable to break contact in time before they stepped to each other and their lips met. It ended just as fast as it started, both remembering where their last kiss had almost landed them, and Lassiter grunted as he straightened his jacket, "Back to paperwork, got it."

Karen's heart skipped a beat as she caught sight of Lassiter coming around the corner from the filing room. She could feel her face flushing and her heart rate began to speed up. Reaching into her drawer she grabbed a brand new pencil and snapped it in half, trying to regain control of her straying thoughts… Three kisses… the last one was a week ago… so quick, yet so… so… She looked back up to find Carlton watching her, again. "Damn it!" She cursed to herself as she tried to remain calm. Smiling at her head detective she nodded then forced her eyes away from him and looked aimlessly at the papers that were cluttering her normally very tidy desk.

Damn these emotions… damn the divorce… damn life… damn nature… damn it all…. This is so… so… not… not morally correct that's what. It's not right.

Looking back up she cursed herself when she found Lassiter still staring in her direction. Her face flushed an even darker crimson and she grabbed a piece of the pencil she had just snapped in two, and broke it in two again.

Lassiter looked up at the sound of a door opening and shuddered when he saw Vick stepping from her office, heading (most likely) in direction of the restroom. Her back was to him and though he tried to look down at his desk he found his eyes settling their gaze on her ass… the way her hips swayed so slightly as she walked, her muscular thighs and calves… but by golly her ass was fine… he cursed wildly to himself at the increase of blood flow to the lower half of his body and scooted closer to his desk. Tearing his eyes away he grabbed a stress ball from the corner of his desk and about ripped it in half in efforts to calm down.

This… was torture… never had he ever felt this way about someone… not even Victoria…

Three weeks… three weeks of cold showers. She couldn't believe it, something was wrong with her, there had to be something wrong… no way could she be naturally feeling so strongly for Lassiter… it wasn't possible… it wasn't right! She shivered as she stepped under the icy spray reveling in the frigid feeling that overtook her. His eyes… his mouth… the way he furrowed his brow… his ass… she loved his ass… his clean shaven face, the dark hair… she slammed her fists against the wall of the shower, not wanting to believe she was still thinking about him.

Every single time he walked by just barely in sight, her heart stopped, when their gazes met all she wanted to do was kiss him… when they would bump in the halls all she wanted to do was to leave their second kiss in the dust in comparison. She turned the water on even colder and prayed that she wouldn't end up catching a cold.

Four weeks… four whole weeks of cold showers. He couldn't believe it, couldn't comprehend the insanity he had been tossed into, there had to be something wrong… no way could he be naturally feeling so strongly for her… his boss… it wasn't possible… it wasn't right! He grimaced as he stepped under the icy spray hoping to get his mind off of the disturbing matter at hand.

Her deep chocolate hazel eyes… her carnation pink lips… the way she chewed the bottom one sometimes when she was in deep thought… her ass… the sexy way she walked… dear God did he loved her ass… her golden hair… he slammed his fists against the shower wall, not wanting to believe that he was still thinking about her. Even under a cold shower he could feel the heat building in his nether regions.

Every single time she walked by at a distance his breath would catch in his throat. When their gazes met all he wanted to do was kiss her, passionately… when they would bump in the halls he desperately wanted to leave their second kiss a long way from being remembered because of how wonderful they would be together. He wanted to make her his, he wanted to take away the hurt her husband had left in her heart and fill it with the intensity of the love he felt for her…. Carlton cursed profusely at himself and turned the water on even colder, praying he wouldn't end up catching a cold.

"Lassiter? Care to grab some lunch before we head over to the conference?" Carlton heard Karen ask.

Looking up he swallowed then glanced at his watch, two hours before the time the conference was supposed to start… "Sure."

"We'll take my car, I'm driving, get your work, let's go," She said seriously before heading to the front of the building.

Oh man is she… He ground his teeth together and while picking up his reports for the conference he prayed that there would be ice in his drink. Lots of ice.

Lunch went by without any problems as they averted their eyes from one another and kept silent, but as they came back to the precinct (a bit earlier than expected) after she parked, Karen laid her hand against his arm, "Detective Lassiter, we need to talk."

He sighed and leaned against the seat, "Yes, I think we do."

"We can't keep dancing around whatever is in the air. I haven't been sleeping, and it's starting to make me edgy."

"Yeah, and I've been taking cold showers for the past four weeks."

There was a small pause before they both spoke at the same time, "It's morally not correct (proper). I'm your (You're my) boss and it's not right (sane)… yet… why does it feel so right (nice)?"

They looked at each other, the surprise in the other's face matching their own. Time seemed to slow and he reached to cup her cheek in his palm, bringing her closer to him. She parted her lips ever so slightly and leaned in the rest of the way, making their lips touch in a fiery moment of crazy emotions being uncorked all at the same time.

Pulling away breathless, Karen's cheeks became a rosy shade of pink and she turned to look away, "Carlton… we're adults, both divorced, let's not do anything rash. Let's start slow and work our way from there."

"Agreed."

"How about dinner? Tonight, my place. Iris will be there since I have full custody and she'll be a helpful reminder of figuring things out before trying to fully commit ourselves to something."

Lassiter found a smile tugging at his lips, "Why Chief, are you asking me on a date?"

She turned to smile as she pushed open her door, "I guess you could call it that if you wanted."

A/N: So whaddya think? Again, I've had this story for a long time, it's nothing new. It's posted to a different site that for some reason or another it's running anymore last I checked, so I'm posting it here.