A/N Thanks to everyone who shared a review. I love reading your input and impressions. Thanks ever so much! Second to last chapter-here you go! :-)
Jamie knocked on the door to Eddie's apartment, feeling excited and anxious about the news from Renzulli. When she opened the door he was happy to see her wearing one of his hoodies. "I've been wondering where that went. So you're stealing my clothes now?" He said playfully, walking past her.
She kept an innocent expression. "It must have accidentally gotten mixed up in my stuff when I was staying at your place."
"You take partnership to a whole new level, Janko." But in truth he liked seeing her in it, the way it hung down to her thighs. There was something indescribably intimate about her wearing his clothing. "It looks better on you then it does on me." Jamie liked her apartment. It felt like a home, more than his own—maybe because she was in it. He felt relaxed but excited to tell her about his meeting with Renzulli. He knew it wouldn't take her long to get around to asking him about it.
She talked as she walked in to the kitchen and organized bags of Chinese takeout. "So, did you talk with Renzulli?"
"Yeah, I spoke with him."
"How did it go? Who is he assigning me to while you're grounded? Please don't say McKenna—he wears more after shave than the Yankees, but don't say I said that."
Standing in her dining room and watching her he knew he would miss her more than he could imagine. He'd miss this…these moments when they spoke in the language that only people who have been partners for as long as they have would know. "Actually, it didn't go like I had planned."
Eddie looked over at him. "What happened?"
"I never had a chance to ask him because he gave me this." He slid a hand in to his pants pocket and pulled out the gold shield down and set it down on the counter in front of her. It was one of the few times he ever saw Eddie speechless. Her jaw dropped and she looked from Jamie to the shield and back again. "Oh my God, Reagan! What did he say when he handed you this?"
He smiled in spite of himself and shrugged."He said congratulations, Detective Reagan."
"Jamie, this is awesome!" She threw herself around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and it felt good to hold her against him. He remembered the last time he touched her like this the night of their kiss. He could smell her perfume and a hint of the Chinese food…it struck him funny as a perfect combination for Eddie and made him hungry for both.
"We need to celebrate," She said excitedly. "Scotch? Oh, wait, no, I've got some champagne in the fridge!" She opened the refrigerator and spoke as she pawed through its contents, looking for the bottle."So spill it, Reagan! What did you say when Renzulli gave you the shield?"
"I told him I'd think about it."
The room suddenly got quiet and the remark fell in the silence between them as she turned around to look at him. "You said what?"
He shrugged."I said I'd think about it."
She shut the fridge door and stared at him. "I don't understand. Are you saying you actually have to think about this?"
He rolled the answer around in his head before answering. "Yeah, exactly."
Eddie forgot about the champagne and decided to pour two Scotches, and handed one to him. "Why wouldn't you jump at this, Reagan?"
He took a drink of the whiskey. "I just think there are things to consider."
She was starting to feel annoyed. He sounded more like a lawyer and not enough like the cop she knew who acted on a good hunch. "Like what?"
"Well, like if it's really the direction I want to take." He walked over to the sofa and sat down.
Eddie followed him and sat down on the coffee table across of him. "But I thought you've always wanted a chance for a promotion to detective?"
He rolled the glass in between his palms. "I did…I do. But it will change things that I need to think about."
Eddie sipped her drink and looked at him. For the life of her she couldn't figure out why he didn't accept the promotion on the spot. "Jamie, as a detective you'll be upstairs chasing bad guys and solving homicides. You'll be on the detective squad and using that amazing Harvard intellect of yours to outsmart killers and be the voice of their victims. You'll be with the NYPD's best and brightest!" Her voice was filled with excitement and pride for him.
His hesitant eyes looked up at her. "But I won't be with you."
She paused trying to make sense of his comment. They had been partners a long time and it made sense that he'd miss that, but was there more? "What?"
He took a pull from his drink and looked up at her from under his eyes. "It will change everything, Eddie. We've been side by side together for over two years. I can count on one hand the number of tours we haven't ridden together."
"It's been amazing working with you, Reagan. I love my job and I love being your partner. But you've earned this promotion. You were first in your class at the academy, you've made, like, a gazillion felony collars, and you're smart and brave and compassionate." She wasn't embarrassed to be his advocate and it showed.
"Not that you're not a little biased." He smiled at her.
"I don't care if I sound biased. You're the best cop on the force and the best cop for this job. What's holding you back?"
He felt a little unsure of how to say what he needed her to know and whether or not she would panic or throw him out. "Eddie, I can't wait to get to work every day because I get to spend the day with you. And then, after a 12 hour tour, I want to spend more time together with you having drinks or dinner or whatever." He laughed at himself shaking his head, feeling foolish but unable to stop. "You're the person I get to say good morning to, and the person I say good night to, every day." He looked at her eyes, lost in heir depths as he talked about his feelings. He stood and walked to a window and studied the drink glass in his hand and spoke as though he were saying what had been on his mind since their first kiss. "I can't imagine not having our partnership in my life, or saying goodnight to anyone else."
She followed him and stood beside him. "And you think I don't feel those things? I love being your partner. But we don't have to have a patrol car to sit next to each other in our lives, Jamie." She reached out and took his hands in hers. "We can sit next to each other having coffee, or watching old movies on Sunday, or going to the park." Her voice became so quiet it was almost a whisper. "We can sit beside each other at a dinner table….or the breakfast table…" Her sentence trailed off but he looked at her and clasped her hands in his. "All I'm saying is," she continued, "I know how you feel but don't let this thing that we have be an obstacle to your dream. You're the finest cop I know and I'll never work with another officer who I respect as much I respect you. But you deserve this promotion."
He thought about the amazing contrast between Sydney and Eddie. He secretly felt he owed Sydney a debt of gratitude for leaving him, because now he realized he no longer had to look around her memory to see the woman who really was the best thing that ever happened to him.
Eddie waited. "Well? What are you thinking?"
A grin turned up the corners of his mouth. "I was just thinking about something my mother was trying to tell me, about paying attention to things that are right in front of me." He reached up with his hand and brushed a fly-away strand of hair away from her eyes. He slowly leaned forward and tentatively touched his lips to hers, once…twice…and then a third time letting their lips slide together. Her teeth softly nipped at his lips and tongue until their mouths watered together with heat and breathless sighs. His arms circled around her waist, pulling her up against him, his hands exploring the curves of her back as she melted herself against him.
The sound of his phone chirping in a pocket wasn't enough to pull them apart. Her fingers slipped in to his hair and he kissed her deeper. Eddie could feel her pulse sky rocket and was lost on a wave of emotions and electricity crashing inside of her and shooting down through her fingers and toes. She reached her arms up around his neck and felt his hand move underneath the hoodie, the warmth of his palm caressing her back as his fingers tips traced over her shoulder blades. Her back arched her up against him until a moan vibrated from his chest and in to her mouth and her legs nearly buckled beneath her.
His phone chirped again and again in his pocket. He stopped and pressed his forehead against hers."Damn," he cursed, sounding out of breath. "I'm sorry but I should check this." He hated taking an arm away from her but had to retrieve the device from his pocket. He glanced at the screen. "Renzulli," he breathed out.
"He probably has us under surveillance," Eddie joked as she placed several small kisses against his neck, still finding refuge in his arms.
He brushed his lips along her hairline, murmuring against her warm skin. "I need to go. I promised him I'd give him an answer tonight." He kissed her hair. "I'm really sorry, Eddie."
"It's ok." She smiled up at him. "More Chinese food for me."
He tugged her hands in his as he walked to the door, trailing her behind him. "What are you doing on Sunday?"
She was still catching her breath. "I don't know. Apparently nothing. Why?"
"If you're not busy I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner at my family's house?" He smiled at her. "Help me celebrate with them. Try out the next phase of our partnership…we can sit next to each other there, too."
"Oh, I don't know, Reagan. It might be awkward, so soon after your promotion. I mean, technically, we're still partners and…"
He cut her off with a soft, chaste kiss. "Think about it," he whispered against her lips. "And maybe afterward we can come back here and finish this kiss."
Eddie lost all sense of reason or will power for the next five minutes as he convinced her to say yes.
Renzulli was seated at his desk when Jamie stepped inside the doorway. "Hey, boss. Is now a good time to give you my answer?"
The sergeant looked up from under his glasses, happy to see Reagan. "Yeah, sure. Come on in. You can sit down if you like."
Jamie decided to stand. "I've given the promotion a lot of thought and I just wanted to say I'm grateful for the opportunity and eager to get started."
"That's what I like to hear, Reagan. We're going to miss you but the 6th is a great unit. Unless I'm mistaken I think your old man was a member of the 6th back in the day."
"I think that's right, sarge." Jamie hadn't recalled that, but liked the connection.
Renzulli stood up. "I was just going over the roll call roster looking at suitable replacements to partner up with Janko. Would you like to hear he list?"
Jamie nodded, already feeling slightly jealous. "Yeah, sure."
The sarge read out the first name. "McKenna."
Jamie remembered Eddie's 'after shave' remark and had to suppress a laugh. "Possible but I think he got low scores at his firing range quals. Who else you got?"
Renzulli read the next name. "Rigetti. They've rolled out together several times."
Jamie liked Rigetti but remembered that he was single. "Didn't he graduate at the bottom of his class at the academy?"
Renzulli nodded. "Yes he did…in the same class where you graduated at the top." The sergeant set the list down. "Who would you nominate, detective?"
Jamie smiled. "As a matter of fact, boss, I can think of someone who would be the perfect police partner for Officer Janko."
A/N Thank you for hanging in there with this story. :-)