Hold You Close: A Jay Halstead Story

CHAPTER TWO

Jay felt like his eyes were going to cross permanently while they scanned the open file in front of him. The last three days had consisted of sitting at one end of the long table under the shitty fluorescent lighting of the new storage room, straining his eyes to read the shitty notes of shitty criminal cases in shitty detective handwriting. He was not used to his job being this monotonous and dormant.

The only saving grace was sitting across from Della Caputo, who gave him some social stimulation when he felt his eyes starting to cross or close. He really couldn't get over how pretty she was, but he was just enjoying getting to know her. He tried to refrain from talking to her non-stop, but he did allow himself some social interaction every so often, which included lots of harmless flirting, fueling the innocent little crush that had continued to develop.

Over the last few days, he learned that she and her husband had moved to Chicago from New York six months ago, that they didn't have any children, which Della indirectly blamed on her husband's demanding work schedule, and that she was an excellent cook, crediting her grandmother, a native of Italy, who always forced her to help in the kitchen when she visited.

He stared at her as she chewed on the corner of her lip, hyper-focused on her task. Her long eyelashes batted softly against her skin as her eyes ran down the length of the page in front of her.

Jay felt his heart rate increasing, which he thought was ridiculous since he was just watching her work on a mundane task. Was he starved for sex or something? He knew he needed a distraction from his attraction when a strand of her hair fell into her face and all he could think about was how much he liked the way she tucked it behind her ear.

"Cats or dogs?" Jay blurted out.

Della looked up at him. "...what?"

"Cats or dogs?" He repeated. "Pick one."

"Dogs?" She answered with an uncertain intonation. Her brows pulled together in confusion.

"Same," Jay added. "Beach or mountains?"

Della narrowed her eyes curiously. "Beach."

"Eh, I'm more of a mountains guy," he countered. "Pancakes or waffles?"

She let out a laugh. "Pancakes, but what is happening right now?"

Jay laughed; he was wondering how long she was going to play along before she questioned him. "You've never played 'This or That'?"

"Not since I was a kid, I guess," she replied.

"Erin and I play when we feel like we're about to lose our minds," he explained. "It's a good distraction that doesn't require too much brain power."

She dipped her chin inquisitively. "Do you feel like you're about to lose your mind right now?"

"A little," he answered. "Not used to sitting still for so long like this." It wasn't a lie but it wasn't the whole truth as to why he felt like he was going to lose his mind.

She nodded, thinking for a moment. "Laundry or dishes?"

His nose scrunched. "What? Neither!" A booming laugh escaped his lips. "You are terrible at this!"

She started chuckling. "Well I don't know the rules! I'm just trying to help."

With a shake of his head, his laughter died down. "I like to pick between two good things, not two awful things. But for the sake of the game... I choose laundry."

"Dishes for me," she answered. "Okay, let me try again... TV shows or movies?"

"Much better." He smiled on the verge of a laugh. "TV shows."