by Jet MacLeod
Gracie stood there staring at her not sure what to say to what Reagan had just said. She couldn’t believe that Reagan would be short with her just and just walk off. It didn’t seem like Reagan’s style and that bothered Gracie. She could only imagine what Reagan was thinking about her now that she was just being stupid and territorial. Grace didn’t know why but she was irked by her own reaction to Reagan’s reaction to her behavior. Then, the strangest thought passed through Gracie’s head and it just wouldn’t go away no matter how much she tried to shake it. She stood there dumbfounded and stared at Reagan, who just stared back at her.
“What is it?” Reagan demanded.
“Nothing.”
“Gracie? What’s wrong?” Reagan asked, her entire demeanor changing with her words.
“It’s nothing,” Gracie lied.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it is just this case. It is infuriating trying to find someone with no real evidence. I hate this. Ah, never mind, Reagan, let me go. I’ve already been pain enough for you for one day. I just need some sleep. I am sorry for being rude to you earlier and yesterday,” Grace said.
“I understand that the job can be frustrating sometimes. Mine is, too. You don’t have clients yelling in your ears that their whole server went down and they don’t know what to do. They’re losing money, so you are too,” Reagan stated.
“Yeah, you’re right. I just have all of society breathing down my neck because they want all the pervs and rapists and sometimes murderers off the street. I have a captain on me all the time to find the one thing that will make it all come together and on the case I got now, I can’t find it. It is like it isn’t there. I have reviewed everything that I have, everything that we found at the scene, everything that I can and I can’t find it,” Gracie explained.
“You will. You’re good at your job, Gracie. You’ll get the bastard, I know it.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but this guy isn’t sloppy. He knows what he is doing and he had perfected it. That is what is pissing me off the most. I know that he is out there laughing at me because I can’t nail him yet. But, he will make a mistake, they always do.”
“And, when he does, Gracie, you’ll be there to get him. Don’t worry about it. You’ll give yourself an ulcer if you do. Did you eat yet?”
Grace looked at Reagan whose mood had totally changed. She arched an eyebrow at Reagan’s question. Dinner sounded so good, but Grace doubted that she would be good company through a meal. Hell, she didn’t know if she could be good around Reagan.
“No, I haven’t eaten,” Gracie said, coolly.
“Do you want something?” Reagan asked.
Gracie just smiled at herself, thinking that it was loaded question and she wasn’t quite sure how she was going to answer it. Grace shook her head, because she was hungry but in more ways than one. She suddenly wanted Reagan, but it wasn’t love, it was pure lust.
“Well, do you want something?”
“Yeah,” Grace managed to breathe out finally.
“I can make something, if you want,” Reagan offered.
“That would be good,” Grace answered, trying not to smile.
“What is it?” Reagan asked.
“Nothing.”
“Then, why the hell are you smiling at me like the Cheshire Cat?” Reagan asked.
“I have no idea,” Grace lied.
“Sure. Right. You have no idea why you have that idiotic grin on your face.”
“Okay, so maybe I do, but I am not telling you,” Grace replied.
“Figures. Some things never change, do they, white bread?” Reagan asked.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Never mind. It didn’t matter then, and is sure as hell doesn’t matter now.”
“If you say so,” Grace said.
“I do. Now, do you want food or not? I am willing to cook you something,” Reagan said.
“Why?”
Now, it was Reagan’s turn to be taken off guard. She wasn’t sure how she wanted to answer that question, especially when it was coming from Grace. She wasn’t sure that she could trust herself if she tried to answer and not blab out something stupid.
“I repeat: why?”
“Because I don’t mind.”
“Is that all?” Grace asked.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Reagan retorted.
“I wasn’t. I was asking a simple question, a question which it seems you really didn’t want to answer. Did it make you uncomfortable?” Gracie asked.
“I am not the criminal, so stop trying to interrogate me,” Reagan stated.
“Fine,” Grace said.
She closed the distance between them. She was so close to Reagan that she could smell Reagan’s perfume and it was driving her wild. Grace grabbed Reagan and pulled Reagan into her. They stood there staring into each other’s eyes trying to figure out what the other was thinking, but they weren’t getting anywhere. Reagan tried to pull away but Grace just strengthened her grip on Reagan’s arm. What happened next frightened and excited them both. Grace leaned down to Reagan to kiss her but Reagan kissed her. She did it without thought but only feeling. They were both enjoying it. Grace deepened the kiss to make her arousal know to both of them. It was then that Grace’s beeper went off.
“Damn it,” Grace said, checking the offending communication device, “I have to go.”
Grace didn’t even give Reagan a chance to say anything. Reagan stood there in the expanse between their houses on the lake and watched Grace run back to her truck and away. Reagan wasn’t sure what made Grace kiss her, but then again, she didn’t really care.
Chapter Thirteen
Grace drove like a bat of out a hell to the precinct. She didn’t care how many traffic laws she broke on her way there. Reagan had kissed her so she wanted to get this over with and be back with Reagan to figure out what the hell was going on between them. She had to shake the thoughts that were running through her head of wanting to take Reagan to bed. She knew they were bad and she didn’t really care at the moment because Reagan had kissed her.
She blew into the SVU squad room with a frenzy. French and Danica were already there waiting on her. They both looked up as she blew by them.
“What’s up?” French asked.
“You tell me,” Gracie said, “You beeped me.”
“You look like you were on a hot date. Did I interrupt something?” Danica asked.
“Don’t know yet. I’ll get back to you on that one. So, what the hell is going on?”
“Nothing. I didn’t beep you,” French told her.
“If you didn’t, then did you, Danica?”
“Nope, it wasn’t me. You didn’t give your number to anyone, did you?” Danica asked.
“No, you two and the office are the only ones who have it besides Reagan.”
“Reagan?” Danica asked.
“Yeah, the break in next door, I gave it to her in case she felt scared and needed to talk or something. She wasn’t the one who beeped me. And, if it wasn’t you, then who would have beeped me? I don’t get it.”
“How do you know that it wasn’t this Reagan that beeped you?” French asked.
“Because I was with her.”
“Well, then, that makes sense. But…wait, I’ll call headquarters and see if they need anything,” Danica said pulling out her cell and dialing the numbers.
“What the hell?”
“Calm down,” French said.
“You calm down. I don’t know what the hell is going on, and the woman I may be falling for or something, is back at her house wondering why I left her and so am I. I am losing my mind, Frenchy. I don’t want this. I just want to do my job and live my life,” Grace said.
“What do you mean about that? You think you are falling for her or something? You don’t know?” Frenchy asked.
“That’s right I don’t know. I care for her. I don’t think that I should, but I do. Damn it, Frenchy, I don’t know what
is going on with me or with us. I just know that she kissed me and I really liked it. Then, I left her to come here, for apparently no good reason,” Grace said.
“Well, headquarters said that they don’t know who beeped you, but it wasn’t them. I don’t know what to tell you. So, what did I miss?” Danica asked.
“Grace is in love with her victim neighbor,” Frenchy said.
“Really?” Danica asked, arching her eyebrow.
“I don’t know if I am. I don’t know if I am not. I know that I am not with her and I am here for some reason that no one can tell me. So, I guess if y’all don’t need me, I am going back home to see what the hell is going on with my neighbor. If that is okay, with you, Danica?”
“Sounds fine. I’ll see you later, Grace. Just check in with us tomorrow. I’ll call your cell if I need you, so you will know that it wasn’t me that beeped you,” Danica said.
Grace didn’t wait for a goodbye from French. She took off and headed back home trying to calm herself down the entire way. She did manage to do the speed limit this time. She didn’t want to do something stupid on the way home and wreck or something.
Grace pulled past her house on the cove and drove straight down the two miles by road to Reagan’s house. She didn’t want to leave anything to chance. She wanted to get everything out in the open. She knew that she needed to talk with Reagan, so she didn’t see any better time than the present to do it. She needed to know what the kiss meant to Reagan. Grace could only hope that by Reagan defining what it meant to her, then Grace could figure out what it meant to her.
Grace ran out of her truck and up the stairs to Reagan’s front door. She debated for half a second whether to ring the doorbell or knock on the door. She decided she should knock, and nicely, on the door. She didn’t want to disturb Reagan by ringing the bell. Grace stood in front on the door, after she knocked, and primped herself up some, smoothing her clothes, and running her fingers through her hair.
Reagan came to the door. Grace about fell down when she saw her. Reagan was dressed in a tight ringer baseball style short sleeve shirt and a pair of short jean shorts. Her long blond hair was flowing down her back. Grace thought that she looked like a college sorority girl from USC. She had to remind herself that this was Reagan Knightley, the woman who just kissed her.
“Hi,” Grace said, almost, breathlessly.
“Hello there, yourself,” Reagan said, looking Grace up and down.
“Sorry. It was a false alarm. I came back here because I didn’t want you to think that I was running off or running away,” Grace said.
“I didn’t. I heard your beeper, too. Don’t worry about it,” Reagan said.
“I am sorry. I didn’t want to leave,” Grace told her.
“I could tell. Don’t worry about it. I understand. You had to go. It is your job. I totally understand. You don’t have to explain it to me, Grace. It’s cool.”
Grace stood there dumbfounded. She didn’t know what else to say or do. She was putting herself at the mercy of Reagan. Reagan was being nonchalant about the whole deal. Gracie couldn’t really get a good reading on her. It was worrying her because she couldn’t tell what Reagan thought of the kiss, either. It seemed that it didn’t matter to Reagan.
“I just wanted you to know. Well, I’ll be going. Call if you need me,” Grace said.
“Grace, wait. Don’t go. I am sorry, too.”
“What do you have to be sorry for?” Grace asked.
“A lot, when it comes to you,” Reagan answered.
“Like what?”
“The way I’ve treated you lately. You just remind me of the girl I once knew, the girl I went to high school with, the spoiled little rich girl who wanted nothing to do with me. I guess sometimes I see the old Gracie in you and it pisses me off. I can’t control it, because I don’t want to be hurt by you, again. That is why I called you ‘white bread.’ Can you forgive me?”
“Hurt you again? How did I hurt you the first time?” Grace asked.
“It was a long time ago and it doesn’t matter now.”
“It obviously does, if you are this upset about it”
“Gracie…”
“Reagan, just tell me. We can’t get past it if we don’t discuss it. Besides, I wasn’t exactly the greatest person in high school. I am sorry for that, too.”
“You thought I was weird like everyone else. I really didn’t give a reason for you not to think that, but damn it, I had the biggest crush on you back then and I didn’t know what to do. When you left after high school, I never got the chance to say anything to you. It isn’t your fault. It is mine. I know that. I need to move on and deal with that.”
“So, what about that kiss, then? Do you want to move on from that? Or, do you want me to forget it?” Grace asked her, pushing the subject.
“Right now, I don’t know. I don’t know what I want to do. Gracie, I just don’t know what I want. I hate that I put you in this position. I…just…damn it. I was never good with words,” Reagan said.
Grace took a step inside the house and closed the door behind her. She grabbed Reagan’s hands and pulled Reagan to her. Grace looked down on the blond hair as Regan hid her face. Grace snaked a hand up to Reagan’s chin and tipped it up, so that Reagan was looking into Gracie’s cobalt blue eyes.
“Reagan, don’t worry. If you want this, I won’t push you. I am sorry if I was such a brat earlier, but I don’t know what I am looking for either,” Grace said.
“Grace, I don’t know,” Reagan said.
“Look, I understand. Calm down,” Grace said, she gently kissed Reagan, “I am not going to push anything. I promise. This is your game, you set the rules.”
“My rules?” Reagan questioned.
“Yep,” Grace answered.
“Then, we are going out tomorrow night. No questions asked?”
“Tomorrow night, no questions,” Grace stated.
Chapter Fourteen
Grace sat at her desk. She was daydreaming and anyone in the office could tell. She wasn’t really trying to hide it. She knew that she would have to take it really slow if she wanted anything to work with Reagan.
She spent the majority of the day looking back at high school and wondering what she would have done if they had both know each other, better, back then, what would have happened between them. Grace could only think that this was Fate’s way of bringing them together, again, for when they were meant to be together. She had to be thankful that they were being given this chance together, again, and she would have to try and not blow it.
“Gracie?”
Grace snapped back to reality and just stared at French.
“Earth to Grace, come in, Grace, you there?” he teased her.
“Ha ha ha, very funny. What’s up? Something going on that I should know about?”
“Nope, just wondering where you were right then? It definitely wasn’t the office. Wanna share?”
“You should know that a woman never kisses and tells,” Grace answered.
“So, you kissed her then?”
“Damn, it, Frenchy, let me be or tell me that something is wrong so I can deal with it.”
“Okay, little-miss-touchy, I will leave you alone,” French answered.
“Hey, who are you calling little?” Grace asked in mock anger.
“Whatever, Tiny, you know.”
French walked away leaving Grace to ponder what sort of punishment she could conjure up for her smartass partner. Grace shook her head and smirked at him. She was glad that she had a partner that she could laugh at and with. She was glad that she had someone like French that made it a point to get to know her and help her whenever he could.
She was slipping and she knew it. Her walls were tumbling down around her and for once, she didn’t really care. French and Danica had made their way in because of the job and making it a point to get inside her head. It was the thoughts that she kept having about Reagan that were scaring her. She didn’t want to be hurt again and she
didn’t want to hurt anyone either. It just all seemed like a vicious cycle and there was nothing she could do about it.
Her phone rang. She stared at it for a moment before she decided to pick it up.
“O’Shea, special victims, can I help you?”
“Yeah, officer, can you tell me what time you are getting off tonight?”
“Reagan?”
“Don’t ask questions, remember? You only get to answer mine. So, what time are you getting off tonight?” Reagan asked, again.
“I should be getting off around seven, why?”
“Remember I told you no questions asked. My rules remember? So, seven o’clock. I’ll pick you up at the station house, then, around seven-ish. Until then, officer,” Reagan said, hanging up the phone before Grace could respond.
“Um, okay,” Grace said, out loud, as she hung up the phone.
French looked up from his desk at the perplexed and visibly flustered Grace. He pondered the reaction he saw before he decided to say something to her. And, French couldn’t help himself.
“Cat got your tongue, Tiny?”
“Nope,” Gracie replied.
“Ah, then it must be a woman that made you that flustered,” French said.
“And, if it is, then what?”
“Nothing, just wanted to rag you about it. I hope that she has fun with you later. You really need to lighten that load, if you know what I mean,” French added and then asked, “Wanna cup of joe? I am about to go get one.”
“Sure, Big Guy, while you’re going, coffee sounds good.”
“No problem,” he replied, laughing as he walked away.
Reagan sat at her desk, smiling, almost like an idiot. She was surprised that Grace was giving her this much leeway when it came to their budding relationship. She wasn’t sure how Grace would react to her “no questions” rule. The only problem was that Reagan had no idea why she was enjoying the thrill of being in charge of Grace and what the hell she was going to do tonight on her date with Gracie. She had set up the time that date was supposed to begin, but she had nothing else ready or planned for the evening’s events. Reagan decided that it was time to call in reinforcements.