Want You to Stay || Chenford / The Rookie

Part 27

Tim walks her out to her car after the party wraps up, and Lucy is practically vibrating with excitement. She is certain this is it. After their conversation, the intensity of their shared moment on the couch, this has to be it. If confessing she had a sex dream about him isn't enough to spur him to action, then... well... Lucy's not entirely sure what to think about that.

She turns to face him, her back against the door. Tim glances over his shoulder before stepping in closer to her, a thrill coursing through her entire body as he leans in, mere inches between them. He plants one hand on the hood of the car by her shoulder, and she sucks in a breath as he settles the other on her hip.

"You should only ever wear this." His voice is just the right side of husky again, and it's making Lucy feel some type of way. She shifts, pressing her legs more tightly together, eyes following the movement as he trails long, capable fingers from her hip over to the tie of her wrap dress. He tugs gently, eyes darkening ever so subtly as he asks, "How am I doing now?"

Lucy swallows, trying to remember to breathe as she fumbles to process the words he is directing towards her. "You're ah — yeah, you're doing great. A-plus flirting." She gives him an awkward thumbs up that she immediately regrets, and his eyes twinkle devilishly as he takes in her flustered state.

Lucy slowly blows out a breath, taking a moment to collect herself as she peels her eyes from his and surveys the area for any potential witnesses, before allowing her fingers to find the bottom of his tie. She can practically feel his surprised inhale when her finger teasingly fumble across his belt buckle along the way. She begins to wrap the fabric around her hand, tipping her head back to meet his eyes again. "Are you trying to tell me you like my dress?"

"I'm trying to tell you I'd like it better on my floor."

Lucy's heart skips a beat, her mouth dropping open in disbelief at the audaciousness of his words, and excitement coursing through her that this is finally, finally going to happen.

"Is that an invitation?"

"Do you want it to be?"

"Do you?"

"What do you think?"

"Huh?"

Lucy stares at Tim, trying to figure out when being propositioned had turned into some kind of inane debate. Tim frowns back at her, his brow crinkling to mirror her own confusion. He's just opening his mouth to say something when her phone buzzes.

She wants to scream in frustration, wants to toss her phone into a ditch, yank him down to her and kiss him until he has absolutely no doubt about whether or not it was an invitation.

She unwinds her hold on his tie and shoots him an apologetic glance as he takes a step back so she can retrieve her phone from her purse. "I'm on call; this might be about my case," she explains.

Tim nods, gesturing for her to answer as he turns away to give her some privacy.

"Officer Chen." Lucy listens as her new boss, Detective Ramirez, informs her that they've had a break in the case, sharing details on the new lead the team has uncovered.

He wraps up with, "Now, this will be nothing compared to the UC work you've done before, but, given your experience, I thought you might want to take the lead on the follow-up if you're up for a little overtime this afternoon."

"Yes. Yes! Absolutely — I can definitely do that. Thank you!"

Lucy is practically beaming with excitement when Tim turns back to her. "Good news?"

"We had a break in the high school drug-running case, and Ramirez asked me to handle the follow-up." She bounces on her toes, "I'm following up on my first real lead!" she squeals.

Tim smiles warmly down at her, "That's great, Lucy. Really." Lucy feels her stomach do a somersault at the glimmer of pride in his eyes.

She steps into him, sliding her arms around his neck and arching up onto her toes to brush her lips against his cheek. His arms slip around her waist, pulling her even closer into him as her mouth finds his ear, "And don't you dare think you're getting out of the rest of this conversation." She nips playfully at his ear lobe. "I want to see what this dress looks like on your floor, too."

Tim swallows, hands sliding dangerously low on her back before he releases her and takes a step back. "Call me when you're done. That's an order," he teases.

Her eyes twinkle, "Yes, sir — the absolute second I am done." She turns to unlock her car.

"And Lucy..." She turns back to meet his gaze. "Please be careful."

"I always am."

***

Tim heads directly into a very cold shower when he gets home that afternoon. He's obviously very excited for the opportunity Lucy is getting, but, prior to that phone call, he'd been getting very excited about other opportunities... for them both.

But what's a few more hours after months of waiting patiently. Okay, mostly patiently. Sure, their conversation had gotten a little confusing there for a minute, but he's confident they are on the brink of finally taking the next step. She'd told him about her sex dream. She said she wanted to see her dress on his floor... Maybe they weren't the exact words he had imagined her saying when she was ready to pull the trigger, but they are fine words that will get the job done, all the same.

His phone is buzzing as he steps out of the shower, and though it's way too soon, he can't help hoping it might be Lucy. She does have a knack for catching him half-naked and dripping wet.

It's the station.

"Bradford."

"Sergeant, this is dispatch. I know it's your day off, but we have a crisis situation and no available field sergeants to cover the scene. Are you available?"

***

When Tim arrives, the gas station mini-mart is already surrounded by black and whites with flashing lights and an assortment of other marked and unmarked vehicles. Uniforms, detectives, and members of the crisis response team are milling around like a flurry of disoriented ants. A disorganized mess to the untrained eye, but each person is actually executing very specific components of the crisis response action plan. He heads toward a huddle of people studying what appears to be a set of blueprints. There's a woman holding a bullhorn with a crisis response hat that he assumes is the negotiator, a few detectives he recognizes from the station, and a P3 who's been holding down the fort on the patrol response until Tim could get on scene.

They waste little time on formalities once Tim introduces himself as the field sergeant, and the uniform quickly begins getting Tim up to speed, rattling off bullets he's jotted down in his little spiral notebook.

"It's an unplanned hostage situation... situation escalated when an unidentified woman inside was shot... one armed gunman... a suspected drug runner... multiple civilians... and one undercover officer trapped inside... The UC notified her point of contact that things inside the store were escalating even before the shot was fired. The officer is ... uh..." Tim taps his foot impatiently as the officer flips a page in his notebook, "Officer Lucy Chen."

***

Author's Note: Surprise! It's a hostage crisis. Please don't hate us. We will assume you do if you don't reassure us with your comments and votes 😂😜