You Matter More Than Any Rule

When Tim Bradford parked his truck at the station, he watched Lucy Chen lean over the center console and place a hand on his thigh.

"Babe, we got here early," she pointed out.

"Early is on time," he responded.

She rolled his eyes and angled her face closer to his. "I'd rather be late."

Lucy's lips were so close to his, but he shifted back. "Babe, we're at work. I'm not really a fan of PDA."

"I hold your hand walking in and out of the station all the time."

"I know how much you like holding my hand, and that's different than kissing me at work."

"Technically, we're not at work yet. We're in the parking lot, and may I remind you that you were the one that pulled me into the supply closet last week."

"No one could SEE us in the supply closet," Tim countered.

"I don't care if anyone sees. I love you," Lucy responded and brought her lips to his.

Just this once, he broke his "no PDA rule" and kissed his girlfriend, because she loves him, and their morning had been too rushed for him to get his usual fill of love from Lucy.

"If you're gonna hook up in your car, drive to one of the far spots," Angela interrupted her route into the station to yell through the driver's side window at the couple while smirking at them. Instead of waiting for a response, she continued walking into the station.

Tim blushed, clearly flustered, and stammered as he broke away from Lucy, "S-see, this, this is why I'm not a fan of PDA."

She tried not to let his words bother her as she stepped down from his truck, but she wanted to be honest with him, so she moved to stand right in front of Tim and asked, "Is it me?" He flashed her a confused expression. "Do you not want to kiss me in public, because you'd be kissing ME?"

"Baby, what are you talking about?"

Lucy shifted her weight and touched her side as she tried to gather her thoughts. "I...I remember once, you kissed Rachel in the middle of the station, but you won't kiss me in your truck outside of the building...I mean, I know Rachel's beautiful, but if you're ashamed of me..."

Tim's mouth dropped open, and he reached out to cradle her face. "Woah, hang on. I'm NOT ashamed of you, Lucy. I love you. So much. And, I think you're the most gorgeous woman in the world. For the record, Rachel kissed ME that day, because of that missile warning, and it was just in case the world ended. My 'no PDA rule' isn't about you. It's about me trying to maintain that at work, I'm serious. I'm not some unprofessional guy who makes out with his hot girlfriend all the time."

"Hot?" She asked to confirm that was a word he used to describe her.

"Smoking hot," Tim confirmed. He checked their surroundings to find that officers were filtering in and out of the station due to the shift change. Just to make her feel better, he pressed his lips to her forehead for a quick second. "I swear you make it very hard for me to be a professional. Sometimes, I just think about pinning you against the nearest wall and...you know," Tim blushed.

"I would never object to that," she smiled.

"That's VERY unprofessional, Lucy."

She shrugged, "Guess I wasn't taught how to act like a serious officer. My Training Officer was pretty bad. Didn't teach me anything."

"That's not funny. I was a GREAT Training Officer." As much as he wanted to stay and talk with her for another hour, they had to enter the station and change, so he took Lucy's hand and started walking with her. "I drilled into you everything you need to know to be a smart, professional cop."