One Shots

Girl Scout Cookies Pt.2: The Cookie Jar

Girl Scout Cookies Pt.2: The Cookie Jar

Caroline eyes Joe Leslie out the corner of her eye as she sets up the stall she's in charge of. She has no idea how anyone managed to convince Joe to help out at the yearly school fete but that person deserves a medal for sure. With it being so early on a Saturday, all the volunteers are still setting up so she has a direct line of vision to where his large body paces out the distances to place the bullseyes. They'd never had the kid's archery corner before and so it's a good thing it's being set up at the far side of the fair with only the woodland park area a backdrop. The arrows may not be exactly lethal but she'd caught a glimpse at them and they're a lot better than those suction tipped ones from toy sets.

Just as he raises his head to look up, she diverts hers with a sigh of annoyance at herself.

She really should stop concentrating and fixating so much on him. Despite their earlier trysts, the romance had fizzled out completely. Like magnesium, they'd burn bright and hard for a short period of time before abruptly dying out. Encounters with each other had slowed, brought on by a sense of awkwardness. Her awkwardness really. He'd been clear she just had to name the time and place but every time her fingers had gone to send that text message, she immediately changed her mind. She reasoned it was because of time constraints and she couldn't just leave her daughter, Annie, at home alone. Nonetheless, there had been a few moments of weakness when her daughter was at a sleepover or had gone camping with her Scout group, that she'd turned up at his doorstep late at night. They'd never spoken of those moments after though, dawn had washed them and her out of his sheets.

That last flicker of light though was just before he'd gone away to some book event in New York. It was like her sanity returned with the removal of his presence and she'd found the good sense to cut off communication with him. Not that he pursued her exactly. Which, thinking about it now, really gets on her nerves. Does he not think she's worth pursuing and romancing? Or is he really that arrogant to believe being able to effectively use his díck will mean that women will just fall at his feet?

Argh! She doesn't care. Nope. No more thinking about him.

Thank God for the distraction of today. As her student volunteers arrive, Caroline allows her daughter to explore, just as long as she stays in her line of sight. Before long the fete is underway and she's too busy to allow any traitorous thoughts to take root.

Meanwhile, Joe hides his smirk as he swears he can almost feel the angry heat steaming off the passionate spitfire. He wonders just when she's going to give up the game. As entertaining as it has been, he's past it. He'd been thinking a lot over the past few months and maybe, just maybe, it is time to let the past lie and move on. Only it seems his díck and his mind have settled a relentless, uncouth brunette.
Ah well, the heart wants what it wants, right?

Yeah, he's definitely not in love with her but the attraction and potential is certainly there. It's a line he's fully aware of and undetermined whether he actually wants to cross it.
Either way, they need to have a chat first. One that will most probably have to wait until his shift for this event is over. God, just because he's former FBI does not mean he knows how to shoot arrows! Regardless, it's for a good cause and if he's lucky, people won't talk too much to him.

Even from the start it seems his hopes for the day are shattered when a tiny human waddles over to him. It's not her long ponytail, already sagging, the same colour as her mother's or her button-cute features similar to her mom's that causes Joe to recognise this particular kid as Caroline's- it's the fierce determination in her doe eyes. A while ago those eyes were brimming with open eagerness which he had dimmed. Maybe it's that residual guilt that has him not sending her off that very moment.