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Lucy tells herself she’s not going to look as Tim lifts his shirt so she can mic him up, but her eyes betray her as soon as he pulls up the fabric. It’s not the first time she’s seen that near-perfect chest, but it’s a wildly different reaction than the time before. The first time had been at Rachel’s, and her lingering stare had been fueled by the triumph of her victory of short sleeves. But now? Now it’s an attraction she finds herself having to tamp down frequently. She lifts her eyes back up, only to find Tim staring right back at her. She feels like she can’t focus on anything, and part of her wants to run right out of the van.
But, she’s a professional, and she has a job to do.
Surely the mic is attached by now? She glances back at her hands, and they’ve put the mic at the very top of his chest.
“It’s a little too high,” Tim points out.
Flustered, she snaps back with, “I know what I’m doing.” Maybe if you weren’t distracting me with your pecs, I’d be done already!
She quickly rips the tape back off, causing him to yelp in protest.
“Sorry,” she says with a smirk.
She places the mic in a better spot, but her hand can’t seem to move, and her palm remains on his chest. She can feel his heartbeat thump harder…and faster.
“I never said you didn’t know what you were doing,” Tim whispers.
Her eyes fly back up to his, and she’s met with a different Tim altogether, one with desire in his eyes, his features relaxed.
Are they actually on the same page?
No, she has to pull away. Tim is her best friend these days, rock solid and dependable when everything else had crashed around her. She is his aide. They can’t do this.
But that softness on his face. She wants to keep it there forever.
She forces herself to take her hand off of him and turn away. “So, umm, yeah, she should be here in fifteen minutes, so we should check the mic—”
“Lucy,” he says in the softest tone she’s ever heard. She feels his strong fingers gently grasp her hand, pulling her back to face him.
She swears there’s no air left in the van as she leans toward him, his hand reaching up to cup her cheek. She feels an instant fire on her skin. To be quite honest, she’s tired of fighting against whatever’s been going on between them, something that’s been slowly brewing longer than she can remember.
So she stops fighting.
Lucy lets herself brush his lips with hers, softly at first, then pulls back just enough to gauge his reaction. He looks dazed, but an uncontrollable smile takes over his face, so she passionately dives back for more.
And their flawless rhythm that is always evident when they’re on the job shows up in a much more personal way. There’s so much warmth and sweetness it’s incredible, and she can’t get enough. Apparently, Tim can’t either, because neither one gives any indication of stopping. She deepens the kiss further, her fingers trailing back up his chest. He winds his arms tightly around her, and she’s never felt so wanted.
After what seems like hours, they finally break apart, but he stays within an inch of her face, giving her one additional peck.
There is so much she wants to say, but all of her fears and reservations about starting something with Tim come rushing back, and she feels like a fool for having such a moment of weakness.
Before he can open his mouth to speak, she blurts out, “Aston will be here soon. You better go.”
Tim sighs. “Yeah, you’re right. Mic check one, two.”
“All good,” Lucy states with a confidence she doesn’t feel at the moment.
And with a pop of his collar, Tim is gone.
Lucy’s still not quite sure how she managed to pull herself together for the rest of the op. After Tim left to get into position, she set up the rest of the equipment, practicing breathing exercises while she worked. Once Aston pulled up, the panic had subsided and she put all her energy into listening to the conversation happening in her ear. She found herself unusually quiet. Before Tim had arrived, she’d been in a bubbly mood, anxious to win their bet but mostly excited to be working on an undercover op with Tim. She’d planned to feed him silly comments during the op just to mess with him, but after what was the best kiss of her life, she’d become speechless.
And she could’ve sworn that Tim’s line of “I am down to do whatever you want” was somehow partially aimed at her, which freaked her out even more.
But thankfully, at least the op had gone off without a hitch, and once they made it back to the station, they hadn’t seen each other much the rest of the day.
Until he’s waiting for her the moment she steps out of the locker room.
“Can we talk?” he asks, hands stuffed in his pockets.
Lucy sighs, still unsure of what her approach to this conversation should even be. “Yes.”
“Food trucks?”
“Yeah, ok,” she nods.
Ten minutes of silence later, they settle at a table with their food. Lucy decides to rip off the bandage first before he tells her something heartbreaking.
“Tim, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make things weird between us.”
“I’m pretty sure there were two people involved in that kiss, Lucy, and, I was the initiator.”
"No, it was me."
"How about it was both of us?"
“Ok, fine, but I'm still sorry. I just…I got ahead of myself and I assumed—”
Tim rests his hand over hers. “You assumed correctly.”
Her mouth falls open in surprise. It was a mistake, or we can’t do that again, or I don’t feel that way about you was what she expected to hear. But never did she expect this.
“That’s, um, wow.”
“Yeah. So, no, you didn’t make things weird.”
Tim’s phone rings. When he glances at who the caller is, a grimace crosses his face. “But I might,” he adds. “One second.”
He makes no move to get up and take the call somewhere more private, so she has no choice but to listen, and she’s curious what he means.
“Hi, Ashley.”
Ashley, Ashley…wait, Ashley McGrady that was at the station the other day? Why is she calling him?
“Yeah, no, I know, our schedules just haven’t quite lined up…well, about that…I gave it some thought and I don’t think we should go out after all…I’m sorry, but I actually have feelings for someone else,” he says, tossing a smirk to Lucy, who can’t help but light up at that, “Yeah, ok…you, too, and tell your dad hey for me. Bye.”
As he pockets his phone, Lucy ventures, “Ashley…McGrady?”
Hanging his head, Tim replies, “Yeah. We had kind of agreed to get dinner sometime, but I think I only asked her because she seemed nice, and I never thought you and I—”
“It’s ok, Tim,” Lucy interrupts. “Neither one of us expected any of this to happen today. I’m not upset. I am a little scared, though.”
“Maybe I am, too, but we’ll never know if we don’t try, right?”
The earnestness in his eyes melts away her fears. The truth is, she’s always believed in them, the power of them together, in whatever form they’ve taken since they met.
“Right.”
That seems to be all the encouragement Tim needs as he cups her face and pulls her closer, crashing their lips together for the second time today, and it is even better. This one is full of fire and promise.
When they finally take a second to breathe, Tim gently rubs her arms. “So, I guess this means our bet is over?”
Lucy laughs. “Like hell it is! I still plan to destroy you tomorrow.”
Grinning, Tim gives her a quick peck. “Bring it on, Chen.”