DOUBLE TAKE

Chapter 3

Honolulu

Callen was surprised when Nell Jones turned up at Chin's house. Never in a million years would he have thought she would follow him there. He had decided to get away from LA, to think things through. He had feelings for their Intelligence Analysis for some time, but felt with his history and her confidence in who she was, she wouldn't see him that way. Although he had noticed how she got flustered on occasions when he caught her looking at him. To find out that she felt the same for him, had boosted his confidence that something could happen. Four weeks with Nell Jones was going to be his best holiday ever.

Nell had booked a motel room near the beach and Callen decided to join her. They were adults after all.

Chin had been happy for him to go, in fact he had smiled at them seeing how happy they were together. It made him think of his wife Melia, and suddenly really missed her. Since her death, Chin had thrown himself into work to forget what had happened. He had welcomed Callen's companionship and offered him a room for his holiday; but he also knew how short life was, and how precious time was with that special someone.

Nell was really nervous when she knocked on Detective Chin Ho Kelly's door. She didn't expect Callen to answer, so she was speechless when he opened the door. All she could do was smile. Callen returned her smile and welcomed her inside and offered her a drink. Callen had asked her if she had somewhere to stay, and was surprised when he asked if he could join her. All she could do was stare at his ocean blue eyes. Heat moved up her body and she was sure she had flushed in her face. She opened her mouth as to speak, but only closed it again. What could she say, no? After all she had done to follow him on his holiday to be with him, so why not just go for it. She could only nod her head and Callen smiled brightly at her response.

They spent their first day together sightseeing around the island. She had hired a car, and although it was small, she and Callen enjoyed the freedom of getting about on their own. It was an unusual experience for Nell to drive Callen around places, and she felt shivers run down her spine when she knew he was watching her. She tried hard to concentrate on driving and ignore his intense blue eyes on her.

Callen on the other had, was used to having Sam drive him around at work, and actually enjoyed his driving—-although they found themselves many times in pursuit of some known terrorist or killer. When Kensi drove him around, Callen felt dizzy and nauseas; so when he found himself being driven around by the young Nell Jones, he was curious as to what kind of driver she was. Yes, they were on vacation, so they weren't chasing any bad guys, so comparing Nell to Kensi or Sam wouldn't truly be accurate. However, he did notice that she was a little speedy going over the speed limit most of the day. Was she normally this fast, or was she nervous? he pondered. He just hoped for her sake she didn't get a speeding ticket. He was hooked, he knew, on Nell Jones. Here he was on vacation, worrying about whether she would get a speeding ticket or not. He shook his head in wonder.

Nell had noticed Callen shaking his head. "Is everything okay, Callen?" Had she done something wrong? She was so nervous being alone with him.

Callen smiled back. "You amaze me, Nell Jones."

Nell had just turned off the road at one of the many lookouts on their drive. She turned and looked at him eye to eye. "How so?" She asked him. She held her hands firmly in her lap to hide the fact that they were shaking.

Callen noticed Nell's hands shaking, although she was trying hard to hide the fact. But it was part of his job to notice people's body language. He gently placed his hand on top of her hands. "Nell, you're shaking. Are you okay?"

Nell blushed and found herself for the second time that day, speechless. Callen could see she was struggling to hold it together. How am I going to make her feel comfortable around me? She's nervous like hell.