August

Chapter Nineteen

It all made sense now, she wasn't crazy, it was his cologne. She was a bit scared of how fast she was able to recognize it, even more scared now that she discovered it belonged to him. She was so happy to finally see him again, even thought she would have definitely preferred to see him in front of a drink in a bar.

"The first question that came into my mind was -what are you doing here?- but I guess it's pretty obvious" he chuckled running a hand through his hair.

He looked so different, his shirt all buttoned up, the tie around his neck, the black jacket and trousers, he looked really professional but on the other hand she did too. They had been used to see each other in more comfortable clothes, even in less clothes, so they looked really strange now. He was still really handsome, even more maybe.

"I guess I'm your new partner, if you need a hand with the case" she chuckled back.

She understood now, why he couldn't tell her his job, he might have had the same questions she had been wondering about the whole mont, he might have even been the person Crown told her about, the one who asked him about partners in real life too... did it mean he was actually thinking about her as a potential girlfriend? Maybe. On the other hand she wasn't sure it was him who asked about it so she didn't have to overthink. What she did know was that if they had really started this relationship it would have meant they had to talk to Crown about it and act really professional around each others. As Derek said relationships between partners were allowed as far as they were reported and extremely professional.

"How can I say no" he smiled at her, that smile she had been used to, the one she could still recognize and that made him who he was, even with different clothes and in a professional place.

"i'm sorry if I haven't texted you this morning, I haven't even checked my phone, I was kinda busy" she explained, taking a chair and sitting next to him at his desk.

"Don't worry, I totally get it. Can I say that you look good or is it unprofessional?" he whispered once she was near enough to hear it.

"I guess that as far as no one hears you, it's ok... and thank you, you look good too" she whispered back, giving him a shy smile.

Whispering cheesy things was probably unprofessional too, but a random compliment wouldn't hurt anyone as far as they could concentrate on work... hopefully they will. On one hand she knew she could have been totally professional, but on the other hand just seeing him smile made her heart skip a beat, she was still in that phase of deep crush where everything about him made her smile or made her heart race, she could even spend an entire day just looking at him.

Cal started to tell her about the case, she found out that when everything happened it was his first day and Crown gave him the case as a test, he had had to work on it for a couple days alone and then he could have asked for a partner or just for advices or help. Looked like she arrived in time.

They started investigating together, sharing ideas, she could tell Cal was already good at his work even though it was his first week, but on the other hand it kinda was her first day too. She had been away for six years, then the time they spent to solve her case and the whole summer, she had to get used to work again after all that time. Plus, technology had improved over the previous years so she didn't really know how to make some things work properly, Cal had to help her with them too. She had to be professional. She couldn't listen to the shiver that run down her spine whenever their hands touched, couldn't lean against him when he helped her with something on her computer she couldn't understand yet.

"Can I ask you something?" she said as they started their lunch break.

They had decided to eat a sandwich in the break room together. Everyone else would have thought they were just bonding as new partners but they were so much more and she feared that sooner or later everyone would have found out. It was the way they talked near each other, the way her eyes watched his lips every now and then, how his hand brushed against hers every time he showed her something. She didn't want everyone to know, everyone would have started spreading the news and they would have definitely seen it as unprofessional, something that they weren't. Moreover, she didn't want Crown to know from someone else, before they even had the opportunity to talk about it properly and see if their relationship could work.