Coffee and something that smelled like baked bread drifted through Olivia's apartment early the next morning. It wasn't long before it reached her nose and woke her. Her eyes flickered open and they felt sore and heavy; a dull headache throbbing behind. The early morning sunshine streaming through the window wasn't helping any. She squeezed her eyes shut, which only made the splitting pain in her head worse. Groaning, she turned away from the window and rolled onto her side.
If she'd been expecting to see Flack, he wasn't there. She could hear the clinking of crockery and the faint hum of the kitchen radio. Was he cooking breakfast? God, her head was throbbing. It didn't feel this bad when she'd downed a bottle of vodka the night before.
The night before.
The breakdown.
The uncontrollable sobbing.
She hadn't lost it like that in a long time. She had never let it get hold of her like that before. Or at least not in front of anyone. The gnawing ache she still felt now, but along with it nervous anxiety was knotting up in her stomach. He hadn't asked questions but she knew he'd wanted to. She had come so close...so very close to opening up to him. The realization of that was just now setting in. He had just held her and when she'd finally stopped crying he put her to bed, kissed her on the brow and left. Or at least she thought he had. A few minutes later he had climbed in behind her, wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in his warmth and only then had she been able to fall asleep.
She had actually fallen asleep.
Only to wake a few hours later. But still, she had slept a little while; exhausted from all the crying. Or maybe it was because he had been there...holding her. But she didn't want to deal with that right now so pushed it to one side. After waking she had got up to go to the bathroom and that was when she'd realized why he hadn't come to bed right away. He had picked up the photos from the floor - every last one - and put them back into the box, Lily's box, and put it back in its place on the shelf. It touched Olivia more than it probably should have. It was as if he knew that regardless of her fit of rage, those photographs were the most important things in the world to her.
That they were all she had left.
The bedroom door pushed open and in he came carrying a tray, smiling and she felt her heart trip. She tried to stem it. It was hopeless. She would have to be careful with this one...Oh, how easy it would be.
'Hey,' Flack said warmly, 'how you feelin'?'
'Like an idiot,' she admitted.
'No need.'
He was being so nice and she didn't know how to deal with it. Wasn't used to it. 'What's this?' she said as he set the tray down on the bed. There was juice, coffee and a plate of ham and egg omelet, complete with cherry tomatoes and a side of toast.
'This is breakfast,' he said.
'I don't usually have time for breakfast.'
'This morning we're making time.'
'You didn't have to do this.'
'I figured I had some making up to do,' he said giving her an awkward smile.
'No...I think that's me,' she said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. 'How about we start with me apologizing - '
'Nothing to apologize for, Olivia. Not a thing.'
'The way I lost it...Flack, I - '
'Didn't you hear me? If anyone feels bad about last night, I do. I pushed too far and I...' Remembering the events leading up to it and the aftermath...the desolation in her eyes...it ripped into him again. He sighed, scrubbed a hand over his mouth. 'Okay, look, let's not do this right now. There's a time and place for everything. I don't think this is it. But there is one thing I want to say.' He reached for her hand. 'You wanna talk, I'll - '
'I know,' she gently cut him off. 'You'd listen. I know you would.'
'Good. Because you're not alone in this, Olivia. I'm here for you. You got that?'
His hand was gently squeezing and she had to break the meaningful eye contact between them because it was...too much...so she directed her gaze at the tray of food. 'Wow...so this looks great.'
Flack understood what she was doing but he didn't push. 'It's not like I cook breakfast for every woman I date,' he said. 'Or whatever it is we're doing.'
She met his eyes. 'We never really got round to it, did we?'
'Guess we didn't.'
'I don't want to send you any wrong signals, Flack, but at the same time...I don't want it to end,' she said quietly. Had she just admitted that? 'I like being with you...probably more than I should.' And that? 'But I'm not going to make any false promises. I can't give you any guarantees and I hope you won't ask for them. But you should know I'm the type of girl that when she says something, she means it. That's why no promises. Just more of the same and we'll see how it goes.'
Did this mean they had moved to the next level? Flack felt a spark of hope ignite somewhere inside of him. He hadn't realized he was such a hopeless romantic. 'Good enough for me. So...we're at least dating?' he said.
There was a tiny grin tugging at the corners of his mouth and it made her smile. 'You like to push your luck, huh?'
'Guy needs to get it straight in his head. We're not committed or exclusive...but we are sorta dating,' he mused and then frowned. 'I think I'm even more confused than I was before.'
She laughed gently and he leaned in and kissed her. Swallowing her laugh, taking her breath. Yes, she would have to be careful with this one...This one might just take the one thing she'd been guarding with her life.
Her heart.
She had already let him in, what was worrying her now...would she ever be able to get him out? Would it only be a matter of time before he knew her? Before he knew everything? Before he became a part of her life? Of her? He drew back and grazed his thumb over her cheek and she felt the first flush of fear setting in. It would be so easy with someone like him.
Too easy.
'Okay,' he said softly, 'no promises. Just more of the same. I can deal with that.'
But Olivia was left wondering if after everything she had said whether she was capable of sticking to her part of the bargain. He was the kind of guy she had always shied away from. The nice guys. The good ones. The ones that sneaked past your defense and while you were preparing to run while mulling over how perfectly good they would be for you, they were already stealing your heart with their gentle ways and their warm smiles and their baby blues.
'One other thing,' she said.
'Go for it.'
'Things got a little heated last night. You know? No one would have blamed you if you'd just walked.'
It still shook Flack how easily he had lost it, pressing her up against the door. But after what had come next his little loss of control didn't seem so important. 'I wasn't going anywhere,' he told her. 'Whatever you're prepared to give...I'll take.'
'You said you wanted more.'
'But making a choice between wanting more and not having you at all...' He shook his head. 'No contest.' He couldn't have walked away if he had tried. She had him. She was in his system. Now all he had to do was wait until he was in hers. 'No more talking, eat while it's hot. You know any second your phone'll be blowin' up and it's back to work.'
'Hey.'
He was by the door when she stopped him. She knew she probably shouldn't but she wanted to give him something...anything.
'Just so you know, Detective Flack, it wouldn't take a girl much to fall for you,' she told him, voice soft.
He smiled, as he felt that same spark of hope zip through him. 'Eggs'll do it every time.'
She laughed softly. 'Yeah, that's all I'm interested in.'
'And the sex. Don't forget the sex.'
'Oh, like I could.'
A look passed between them. A smile. That part of their "relationship" couldn't get any better.
'Eat,' Flack told her and left her to it.
She had just swallowed a mouthful of fluffy omelet that had her rolling her eyes, who knew he'd be such a great cook and a fantastic lover; and was spearing a cherry tomato when her cell phone rang.
'What'd I tell you?' Flack called from out in the living room.
'You put the kiss of death on it.' Reaching over she picked up the phone and saw it was Danny. 'What's up, Messer?'
'What's up is I got our warrant,' Danny told her. 'How soon can you meet me down at Master Christian's place?'
'As soon as I'm up.'
'You still in bed? Must be nice. What kind of jammies you wearin'?'
'What's it to you?'
'It's nothin' to me. Just wondering what kind of jammies you wear. Guy's curious. What you gonna do?'
Olivia rolled her eyes. 'I've told you before keep me out of your schoolboy fantasies.'
Danny chuckled. 'I'm out. Tell Flack to get his skinny ass into gear. I'll see you both down there.'
She didn't get a chance to reply to the smart remark, he had hung up. She tossed the phone down and was smiling, shaking her head, when Flack appeared in the doorway.
'Work?' he said knowingly.
'Danny got our warrant. He's meeting us down at the dojo.' She looked longingly at the tray of food, her stomach growling. 'Guess there isn't time to finish breakfast.'
Flack came inside and picked up the tray. 'Don't worry about it. There'll be other breakfasts.,' he said then added, 'Right?'
'It's those damn eggs, Flack,' she said throwing him a grin as she climbed out of bed, 'they get a girl every time.'
Level two clearance had been initiated.
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