“No. I don’t…I don’t think so no.” You gave his pants a flashed glance, so fast your eyelashes never stopped their motion.
Rafael smirked even wider and took a deep inhale through his nose.
“Coffee?” He spoke, and you were suddenly and inappropriately reminded of Donald Trump’s “covfefe” tweet.
You snickered softly and instantly regretted it when you saw the hurt fill his eyes though no other part of his face let on to the effect of your words.
“Yes! Please. I’m sorry, I just…yes, I’d love that.” You corrected reaching a hand to rest on the Italian wool covered muscle of his forearm, giving it a reassuring squeeze as you spoke.
“Would you mind if we dropped a few things off at my office first?” His smile returned and you lit up at it’s pleasant curves.
“Not at all. Where are we going after?”
“Don’t you trust me Detective?”
“Seeing as I’ve never seen you without a cup of coffee in your hand, except for today, I definitely trust your taste in coffee. Otherwise I’m not so sure.” You teased as you helped him gather a few of his files as well as his briefcase.
“Hmmm…we’ll have to change that won’t we. Trust is very important between counsel and their witnesses.” You both pushed open separate doors to exit the courthouse reuniting closely to descend the large white steps.
The two of you didn’t go far for your caffeine fix, he took you to a little coffee shop tucked away in between some department stores. You told him what kind of coffee you enjoy and he ordered for you both seeing as he knew the menu better than anyone in Manhattan.
You both sat and sipped at your coffee when it arrived. You were right to trust his taste in coffee, it was delicious. He asked you a few mundane things, and both of you exchanged college experiences, his being surprisingly funny.
Rafael Barba was still holding back, but he found himself physically leaning into the conversations as he memorized every fact you revealed about yourself. Since you had started at SVU he had been more than a little attracted to you. It had reached a level of dire lust on a few nights and he had found himself rock hard at just the thought of you. He felt like a teenage boy, he wanted you so desperately but he almost didn’t trust himself to pursue you, that was until he caught you staring at his ass today while biting your bottom lip.
Rafael figured he would ask you to dinner after the trial, despite his own fears that you would reject him or that he would be chastised and lose his job. But that seemed too far away as he watched you tell a story using both of your hands to emphasize a point, too far away. He wanted more of this, he wanted to watch your eyes light up with excitement, hear your little giggles and laughs, to see your smile every time he spoke. He loved how attentively you watched him. Your eyes were always on him though there were many distractions.
Rafael tried harder to make you laugh and he succeeded, nearly making you spit out your coffee. He began another story in which he accidentally brought up his abuelita and he almost began to cry. You noticed the twitches and sniffs and reached a hand across to him, laying your palm on his knuckles softly. You could feel each vein as it pushed against his skin and subconsciously you began tracing them as he continued to speak though his body was frozen.
He was frozen at your touch, fearful of moving, thinking that if he moved you would move too and he would lose this connection.
A few minutes later he rotated his hand and you let yours fall into his upturned palm. You spread your fingertips along his palm, lightly dragging your nails on his skin. You didn’t want to think, you just wanted to feel. As he spoke he cleared his throat a few times while you pressed your thumb down in a massage, soothing the sore muscles and ligaments in his massive hand.
Court
Start from the beginning
