He knew she had first kissed him because she was reminded by what she had with Simon Donovan, his alias when he had been pursuing a petty officer with an obsessive streak. He knew that he first kissed her because he felt guilty for disappearing on her when they had finally gotten over irritating each other beyond belief. He also knew that they couldn't keep kissing because they were both lying to each other and to themselves.
But, she had called him after their unplanned encounter at a mutual friend's party and invited him to dinner. And he had accepted.
After a nice meal, he offered to walk her home. He had to pretend that he didn't know the way and he also had to ask questions to learn things he had already learned.
He knew he shouldn't kiss her again, but she had tucked her hair behind her ear, her elegant fingers highlighting the sleek line of her neck. He never could resist when she drew attention to her neck; she had driven him insane once and she was doing it all over again.
When their second kiss ended, she pulled back and smiled. "Would you... like to come in? I can't guarantee that I'll get to stay the whole night, because national disasters tend to rain on my parade, but then, you can't really guarantee that you'll get to stay, because I know you're a busy man... but... we could... go in and pretend to have coffee for a little while."
Jethro chuckled at her suggestion. "I like an honest woman," he admitted.
"I used to be a press secretary," she reminded him as she stepped so close that their bodies were touching, so she could slide her hands from his chest to his shoulders and shatter his reasoning skills. "I wasn't all that honest before---"
"I liked you, then, too," he blurted out in a gruff voice, before his mind could filter what his heart and voice wanted.
CJ's eyes widened. "What?"
"I... uh... watch a lot of C-SPAN."
"No... that's not exactly it," she said quietly, eyeing him suspiciously after stepping away. She sucked in a sharp breath and then asked, "What is your real name?"
He knew he had been caught, so he sighed and told her everything she needed to know.
"You lied to me," she whispered.
He nodded. "I did."
"I should hate you," she said quietly.
"Yeah," he agreed.
"You... you should have told me the truth."
He nodded again. "Yeah, but I'm not allowed to break cover."
"I... I... you kissed me... and then... you made me think we were meeting for drinks... and you died!" she hissed, poking him in the chest. "I could have handled it, if you told me the truth! I had codeword clearance and now I have clearance that tops yours! What? I couldn't be trusted with the truth?"
He sighed. "It was the plan... we were sticking to the plan..." he trailed off and reached out to grab her hand. "And then I saw you at Jim's and---" After stopping short, he shook his head. "You get under my skin," he hissed. "Damn it, CJ, you get under my skin! I should have walked away but I heard you laugh and it was like being your agent again! And we had that disagreement over... over... the latest op-ed in the Post and I remembered coming back from Helsinki and---do you know how crazy you make me! I shouldn't have stayed at the party! I shouldn't have kissed you! I shouldn't be here right now! But logic doesn't apply when you're---"
He couldn't talk any more because her lips were on his and her arms were around his neck. He groaned and pursued a deeper kiss as he put his hands on her hips.
When she pulled back, she had tears in her eyes. He reached up to brush them away as they stained her cheeks.
"I didn't just kiss you because you remind me of him... of you, back then," she whispered. "I mean, that was part of it... but I like arguing. It's kinda like foreplay when it's done right. And you can do it right."
"I can do other things right," he pointed out.
Her face lit up. "Oh, yeah?"
"Brew the perfect cup of coffee... use hand tools to build a boat... and---"
"So, you're good with your hands and you can brew good coffee," she interrupted. Her smile stretched to a grin. "I think you should come in... and show me both of those skills. First your hands... and then... after some sleep---"
"Coffee?"
She nodded, still grinning. Jethro found her smile contagious, as he always had.
He kissed her again and then lifted his hand from her waist to take her hand. "I can make us coffee in the morning. It'll be strong though," he told her.
"I'll need strong coffee," she whispered, "because I don't think either of us will be getting much sleep."
