Maggie parked her car in a secure lot, grabbed her bag and began walking the ten blocks to Gibbs’ place. She smiled thinking of what tonight would mean. Her mind kept flipping from images of his rakish smile, to his authoritative way of leading, to the sight of his backside, to the look on his face when he told her he wanted to try to work things out. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she almost didn’t hear the thugs approaching her. Almost.
“Oh, ho, ho, what do we have here?” the taller one said, eyeing Maggie from top to bottom. He licked his lips. “Primo bitch,” he said to his friend, who laughed.
“You have no idea,” Maggie said. “Listen boys; I’m not interested. This is the only warning you will get from me. If you try to come near me you will regret it. Not someday. Right here, right now. That’s a promise,” she said sternly.
“Oh, baby, that sounds good to me,” the stocky man said, leering at her. “Right here, right now.” He and his buddy exchanged glances and began to advance on Maggie. In a move so fast they didn’t even see it; she drew her Kimber 1911 from the holster on in inside front of her pants and aimed it at them.
“I’m a federal agent,” she informed them. “If you attack me in any way, I have the authority to arrest you. If you resist, I can and will shoot you. Now, what was that you wanted? Because I haven’t gotten to shoot anyone in over a week; I’m due,” she said seriously.
The men immediately turned and ran down the alley at full speed.
Maggie laughed.
“That was impressive,” a sexy voice interrupted her laugh. One she recognized very well.
“Hey, Jethro,” she said quietly. “How’d you find me?”
“Trade secret,” he said. He moved to her side, took her bag from her, tucked her in to his side, placed his hand on her bare back and began walking her toward his place. He continued, “I could tell you, but what fun would that be?”
“It was very chivalrous, thank you,” she said with a smile.
“I could have just picked you up,” he said.
“I can take care of myself,” she reminded him with a smile in her voice.
“Clearly,” he agreed.
They walked in silence. He was making small circles on the bare skin of her back with his fingertips. She shivered. He pulled her in closer to him.
“Cold?” he asked.
“No,” she answered, her voice quivering a little bit. He smiled.
“Almost there,” he said in a low voice.
“Good,” she answered.
“By the way, you look incredible,” he said over the lump in his throat. She smiled.
“I know,” she said. His throaty laugh was lower than normal and sent chills of anticipation down her spine.
“It appears Ms. David is otherwise occupied.” Ducky’s voice broke through to Ziva and she realized he, the director and Noah were all staring at her.
“I’m sorry, did I miss something?” she asked.
Jenny gave her a sideways look. “Ziva, are you alright?”
“Yeah, it’s just… I think Tony’s on a date with McGee’s sister,” Ziva said, stretching to see over the heads of the people between them and the table at which she had spied her coworker.
“Are you serious?!” Jenny said, sounding like a teenager gossiping with a friend. They were all straining to see.
“I believe Anthony may be asking for trouble,” Ducky commented.
“I just feel so badly for him,” Jenny said, before catching herself.
“You don’t think he’s over Kate?” Ziva questioned.
“Of course not,” she said. “But we probably shouldn’t discuss it.”
“That’s no fun,” Noah said, weighing in with his two cents.
“Well, fun or not it wouldn’t be professional for me to talk about any of you, would it?” she asked, turning the tables on them.
“Of course not,” they all mumbled under their breaths, thinking of the things she could tell on them if she took a notion to.
“Tony’s lucky Tim and Abby begged off,” Noah said, changing the subject back to the situation at hand.
“I don’t know,” Ziva said, “it would be fun to watch.”
Maggie closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Jethro, that smells incredible,” she said. They were almost to his place and she could smell the dinner he had put together for them.
“I hope you like it,” he said almost shyly. “I made it myself.”
“Then I know it will be great,” she said convincingly. “You don’t do anything halfway.”
“After tonight I’m sure you won’t forget that,” he said seductively.
“Don’t start,” she warned him. “I’m hungry.”
“So am I,” he said, intentionally twisting her meaning. She chuckled.
He unlocked the door and escorted her inside. “This is it,” he said as he led her down the hall and put her bag in his bedroom. She was pleased with what she saw of his place. It was mostly Spartan, with a few personal touches here and there. It suited him. It smelled of sawdust, cleaning solution and man. Jethro, specifically. Maggie imagined that if she ever felt lost or alone, a few hours with that smell would bring her right back to herself. Presently, his place smelled primarily of dinner. Maggie let him lead her to the kitchen where he had set a lovely table.
“It’s lovely,” she said, looking at all the work he had put in. She gasped, “You made boxty!” She giggled. “And soda bread and… mmmmm… is that beef stew?”
“Family recipe,” he said with a hint of blush in his cheeks.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely. She suspected this was not a normal date with Jethro Gibbs. Of course, nothing about their relationship was normal by any stretch of the imagination. They had gone from an intense, but denied, physical attraction to distrust and suspicion, and then to anger, to friendship, and finally to this. Whatever it was.
Dinner was comfortable, but far from relaxed. There was an undercurrent of tension that was almost tangible. The air practically crackled with the intensity in their long looks and suggestive glances. Maggie chuckled again as the background song changed from Ella Fitzgerald to Eric Clapton.
“I have eclectic tastes in music,” he explained.
“You made a mix CD?” she asked incredulously.
“Yep,” he said.
“Without help?” she overemphasized her disbelief. He gave her a warning glance.
“You’re pushing your luck,” he threatened.
“Oh,” she teased. She stood and sauntered toward him seductively. “What happens when I go too far?” she purred.
“Push and find out,” he challenged, meeting her heated gaze. She slid between him and the table and gently pulled him to his feet. There was so little room between her and the chair that it left them mere centimeters apart. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace. He lifted her and sat her on the edge of the table as he leaned in to her, capturing her mouth in a deep, soft kiss. Maggie marveled at how different this was than their first kiss. Although equally passionate, this kiss was as thorough as the first was desperate. She whimpered when he stepped away from her, making him chuckle. Taking the hand he held out to her, she hopped off the table and allowed him to lead her into the living room. There was a beautiful fire in the wood-burning fireplace. He had made a pallet on the floor in front of the fireplace with several pillows and a soft blanket. She smiled as she watched him walk around the room, lighting the candles he had set out before her arrival.
“Wow,” she said.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he promised.
“Hey, that tickles,” Abby said, pushing away from Tim and splashing water all over the floor in the process. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean that up,” she quickly said.
“Abs, the last thing I’m worried about right now is a little water on the floor,” he said with a gleam in his eye.
“Oh really,” she said as she climbed over and sat on his lap. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. “What ARE you worried about?”
“Right now?” he asked. “Nothing at all. Everything’s perfect,” he continued, kissing her deeply. She moaned in the back of her throat as she returned the kiss.
“You should do this for a living,” she said, when he finally broke the kiss. He chuckled, and then kissed her again.
Just as things were getting interesting, his phone rang.
“Just ignore it,” he said, trying to continue kissing her.
“Tim, what if it’s important?” she asked, turning her head to the side.
“Okay,” he finally agreed. He stood up, taking her with him and making her laugh out loud. He carried her, both of them dripping water and bubbles all over the place.
“Hello,” he said, surprised someone had actually let the phone ring twelve times.
“Tim? It’s Sarah,” he heard his sister’s frantic voice.
“Sarah?!” he said. He sat Abby on her feet. His eyes met hers, with every bit of the concern he felt showing through. “What is it?”
“I think I did something really stupid,” she said.
“Are you in trouble?” he asked, still concerned about the sound he detected in her voice.
“No, I’m fine,” she assured him. “It’s just… Never mind.” She quickly disconnected the line.
“She hung up,” he explained to Abby. “She said she was fine, but that she had done something stupid.”
“Call her back, sweetie. You know you won’t be able to rest until you know that she’s okay,” Abby reasoned.
“Okay.” His fingers raced across the number pad as he dialed her sister’s mobile number. “No answer.”
“Sarah, it’s Tim. Call me when you get this,” he left a short message.
“I’m sure she’ll call back if it’s important,” she tried to smooth things over.
“I hope so,” he said with a hint of worry in his tone.
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