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Post by Jen on Apr 4, 2004 9:53:25 GMT -5
Someone Like You Parisgal3 (Jen) 75 chapters
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:36:22 GMT -5
I've always wanted for you what you've wanted for yourself And yet I wanted to save us high water or hell And I kept on ignoring the ambivalence you felt And in the meantime I lost myself In the meantime I lost myself I'm sorry I lost myself. I am
You knew you needed more time - time spent alone with no distraction You felt you needed to fly solo and high to define what you wanted At that particular time love encouraged me to leave At that particular moment I knew staying with you meant deserting me That particular month was harder than you'd believe but I still left…
Harley hit the power button on the radio. Her day was already off to a bad start. The last thing she needed was to hear Alanis Morrisette croon out the details of her life. She and Zach both woke up late and he ran around the house like a holy terror trying not to get dressed. Then when she dropped him off at Phillip’s, they had a huge fight about the weekend and she spilled hot coffee all over her while driving away in a rage. Luckily she picked a dark suit out of her closet this morning.
My day can’t get any worse, can it? she asked herself, then remembered where she was going.
To work. Where she had to spend the rest of the day with her annoying partner.
From the moment they met, Gus Aitoro had never failed to irritate her. He knew just how to get to her, and she hated it. He was loud, rude and totally obnoxious.
Then why had she spent the last month thinking about him night and day?
Every night when she laid down in bed, exhausted, and she closed her eyes, she would be back in the cramped office they used to share and the day they shared their first kiss.
“You seeing anyone, Coop?” he had asked her out of the blue.
“Excuse me?”
“As in socially. You go on any dates?”
“In case you missed the memo, I just got divorced and have a small child to raise. I don’t have the time or the interest to go on a date,” she replied as she slammed her drawer shut.
“The interest? What, have you decided to hit for the other team?”
“What?” she asked confused.
“You know, hurt by another man, decided maybe men weren’t the way to go anymore. I can understand that, wouldn’t mind seeing it either,” he shrugged.
Harley shook her head and stood up, “Keep dreaming, Aitoro.”
“You want to know why you have no interest in dating?”
“Oh yes, please tell me,” she said sarcastically.
“Because you refuse to acknowledge the one man you want to date,” he answered.
“And who would that be?”
Gus smiled up at her from his desk chair, “Me.”
“You?” Harley laughed, “Right,” she said, hoping to dissuade him from this conversation, but felt herself blushing and turned away.
“Me. You have no interest in seeing anyone because I’m the one you want to be with, but you’re too stubborn to do anything about it.”
“You couldn’t be more wrong,” Harley said as she turned towards the door and reached for the door knob.
Before the door could open more than an inch, a hand pushed it shut from behind her. She turned around in anger and before she knew it, she was pressed against the door, Gus’s lips over hers.
She couldn’t help but respond to his kisses. His lips were soft and warm and sent shivers all the way down to her toes.
She came to her senses quickly, however and pushed him away. For a moment, they just looked at each other. She didn’t know what to say, and didn’t want to risk saying anything that would encourage him, so she just opened the door and slammed it as she left.
The next day over lunch, they had a serious talk about it. Gus was quiet as Harley explained to him that she wasn’t interested in him that way, that she wasn’t ready to deal with any relationship at the moment, and frankly he annoyed the hell out of her. He laughed at the last part, then got serious again. He apologized for the day before and told her that he would never push her into anything she didn’t want.
“It’s just…we have to work together, you know and I don’t want what happened to affect that,” Harley said.
“I know. I’m sorry. We’ll just pretend it never happened, right?” Gus said, although he knew that wasn’t true. At least on his end.
“Right,” Harley said, unconvincingly.
Who was she kidding? After that day, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Whenever she saw him, she thought about that kiss. Whenever she laid in bed alone at night, she thought about that kiss. She thought about it all the time.
The only person she had talked to about the kiss and her mixed feelings about Gus was Blake. She knew Blake would somehow understand and would listen to her without telling her what to do. Blake told her it sounded like one of those hate-turns-into-love relationships, but Harley scoffed at the idea.
She wasn’t in love with Aitoro.
Definitely not love.
Lust?
Sure. Who wouldn’t be? He was a very good-looking guy. And he knew how to turn on the charm. But she wasn’t in love with him.
She told herself that at least once a day.
As she pulled into her parking space and got out of her car, she sighed, hoping her day would get better.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:38:52 GMT -5
Harley walked into the police station, threw her empty coffee cup in the garbage, and headed straight towards the coffee maker for another cup.
“Mornin’,” Gus said cheerfully as he snuck up behind her.
She turned around and walked back to her desk, coffee in hand.
“You look like hell, Coop,” he said when he saw the dark circles under her eyes.
“Bite me, Aitoro,” she replied as she went into Chief Franklin’s office.
“Is that an invitation?” he mumbled to himself, then regretted saying anything to her.
When Harley returned from Franklin’s office, her coffee cup was empty and she was in a little better mood.
“Look, Coop, I’m sorry I said you looked like hell, it’s just- you look really tired. Is something wrong?” Gus asked, concerned as she sat down at her desk across from him.
“No, I’m fine. Zach was just up late and it’s been a really bad morning. I’m sorry I snapped at you. You’re just an easy target,” Harley explained.
Gus smiled at her, “Gee, thanks.”
“So what do we have today?” she asked as she opened a folder that was sitting on her desk.
“We got a couple interrogations, and it’s our turn to do rounds on Fifth Street, but not until after lunch,” he told her, “Oh, and Frank’s new partner shows up today.”
“Oh, right,” Harley remembered. “I’m glad Frank has to deal with him. I have my hands full with you,” she joked as they walked towards the interrogation room.
After a morning of Gus pressuring suspects and Harley trying to calm them down, both of them were ready for a lunch break. They decided to go to Company and get food to go and then they would do their rounds at Fifth Street. They just had to drive around the block and then sit and watch a house that was suspected of being a prime center for some big drug deals.
As they were wrapping up some paperwork before they left, Frank came into the station with a tall, blonde man in a suit following him.
“Hey,” he greeted as he came up to Harley’s desk.
“Justin, this is Detective Harley Cooper, my sister,” Frank introduced him, “This is Justin Campbell, my new partner.”
“Detective Cooper, it’s nice to meet you,” Justin said as he shook Harley’s hand.
Harley looked up into the piercing blue eyes of one of the most attractive men she had ever seen, “You too. And please call me Harley.”
“Only if you call me Justin,” he replied.
Gus got up and came up between Harley and Justin, “And you can call me Gus,” he said as he stuck out his hand, “Gus Aitoro, Harley’s partner.”
“Aitoro? From the Santos trial?” Justin asked.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
Justin chuckled a little then looked back at Harley.
Irritated, Gus grabbed his keys, “You ready, Coop?” he asked.
“Uh yeah,” she replied as she grabbed her purse. “It was nice meeting you, Justin,” she said before she followed Gus out of the station.
Harley knew Gus was mad when he slammed his door and sped out of the parking lot.
“Hey, you wanna slow down a bit? What is wrong with you?” she asked.
“Please. Call me Harley,” he mimicked.
“Are you kidding me? You’re mad because I was nice to the new guy? It’s called being a human being- maybe you should try it sometime!”
“Oh, that was you being nice? Yeah, well, I know hookers that aren’t that ‘nice’ to strange men.”
Harley gasped, “Did you just call me a hooker?”
“No! God, just forget it.”
“What are you, jealous?”
“Jealous? Of that guy?” he scoffed, “That’s ridiculous.”
“You’re right, it is ridiculous. First of all, there’s nothing to be jealous of because all I did was shake his hand. And second of all, even if there was something, you have no right to be jealous. Because there is nothing between you and me.”
Gus pulled into a parking space at Company as she was talking and shut the car off at her last sentence and looked at her.
“Oh really?” he asked quietly.
Harley was shocked, but she couldn’t tell if she was more shocked at what he asked or the way she wanted to answer him. When Harley didn’t say anything, Gus got out of the car and slammed his door. Harley sat in the car annoyed that this man could get to her the way he could.
When Harley had regained her composure, she got out of the car and walked up the sidewalk to the restaurant. Gus was standing outside smoking a cigarette.
She stopped when she got past him.
“I thought we agreed we weren’t going to let this affect our work,” she said.
“What’s that? The fact that there’s nothing between us? Is that what you’re talking about?” he asked sarcastically.
“You know what I’m talking about,” Harley replied quietly.
“Don’t sweat it Coop,” he replied as he smashed his cigarette into the ground, “It’s forgotten. Let’s just get some food,” he finished as he went into Company and Harley followed him.
She was glad they decided to get lunch to go. She didn’t think she could sit through lunch with him and then another 4 hours in his car. At least they wouldn’t have to talk much while they were eating on watch.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:40:53 GMT -5
Gus pulled up alongside the curb under a tree on 5th Street after they drove around the block checking it out. Even though it was only April, the afternoon sun was hot and Gus’s old classic car didn’t have an air conditioner, so he tried to keep them in the shade as much as possible.
They had already driven around the block looking for anything or anyone that would give them any clues about this deal that was supposed to go down.
“Why would they do anything in broad daylight?” Harley asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt and slouched down in the seat, getting comfortable for the long afternoon ahead.
“I don’t know, but look at this place. I mean, even with the neighborhood it’s in it doesn’t look like a place to deal from. It’s actually a pretty nice place,” Gus replied as he took a sip of his water.
“I guess,” Harley said quietly as she looked out the window at the large house that looked too nice to be in the same neighborhood as brick buildings with broken windows.
Gus grabbed his take-out container from the bag that sat between them and dove into his overstuffed sandwich. Harley followed his lead and got her own lunch out. They ate in silence as Harley watched the house intently and Gus tried his best to stay focused on the task at hand. Harley sitting next to him was not helping at all. Fortunately for him, the house was to the right and he could see Harley perfectly out of the corner of his eye as he looked at the house. He couldn’t stop his eyes from traveling away from the house and towards Harley. He thought she looked even more beautiful than usual today. She was wearing a dark gray suit with a short skirt and a pretty low-cut shirt underneath her jacket. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but something about the way she looked today made Gus want her more than ever. He was surprised at the feelings she stirred in him. He didn’t want to just kiss her or have sex with her, he wanted to make love to her, to hold her in his arms and make her feel as special as he thought she was.
As Harley ate her sandwich and tried to watch the house, her mind kept going back to the same memory it always found- the feel of Gus’s lips on hers in that office. Harley shook off the image and focused on the house.
Gus couldn’t stand the silence anymore, it gave him opportunity to think of what he wanted to do to Harley, and it was driving him crazy knowing he couldn’t.
“Are you going to eat those?” Gus asked as he reached over and took one of Harley’s potato chips to lighten the mood.
“Well, I guess not,” she laughed and the two locked eyes for a brief moment before Harley turned away.
For two more hours, they sat mostly in silence, only making small talk, sticking to the subject of work and avoiding any talk that would make them think of each other.
“I can’t believe we have to sit out here in the hot sun watching nothing,” Harley complained as she tried to roll down her window more.
The crank wouldn’t budge, so she looked to Gus for help.
“It sticks sometimes,” he explained and she rolled her eyes.
He leaned over and pushed and pulled the crank but it still wouldn’t budge. He sat up and put his right hand on the back of Harley’s seat for leverage and used his left hand to try to open the window.
He let out a grunt when he finally got the window open and he heard Harley’s breath catch as his breath rushed over her chest. Still leaning over, he looked up at her face, silent and Harley turned her head and looked out the now open window. He smiled as he realized she was trying to avoid his eyes. With one finger, he grazed her jawbone and moved her head back towards him so their eyes met again. She wanted to look away so badly, but his dark eyes held hers and she couldn’t fight them. When she didn’t look away, Gus made the next move and moved his lips closer to hers. She could feel his warm breath on her face and she closed her eyes. Part of her wishing he would just lean in and kiss her and the other part hoping if she closed her eyes he would disappear. The first part got its wish as he leaned in and covered her lips with his. She tried her best not to respond, but soon her lips were open and welcoming his kisses. He tangled his hands in her blonde hair and pulled her closer to him. The movement brought Harley back to reality and she pushed him away.
“Gus, we can’t,” she said as she pulled away and covered her mouth.
Gus looked at her, confused, “What? Why?”
“I just…can’t,” she stuttered as she moved as close to the door as she could.
Gus crossed his arms over the steering wheel, rested his forehead against them and let out a frustrated sigh.
“Why do you do that?” he asked her, “One minute you’re with me, and the next you stop. Why are you fighting this, Coop? I know you want me as much as I want you, just let it happen!” he pleaded.
“Stop it!” she replied angrily, “I don’t wa-“ she began, but couldn’t get the rest of the sentence out before Gus interrupted her.
“You don’t what? Want me? Yes you do, you want me so bad it scares you. I wasn’t kissing myself just now! Don’t you ever close your eyes and wonder what it would feel like to wake up in my arms? Why are you scared?” he asked as he touched her hair and Harley shook her head and pushed his hand away.
“I have too much at stake to risk it on someone like you!” she replied, almost yelling.
“Someone like me? What does that mean?”
“You’re rude, you’re obnoxious, you spend your entire life scheming up ways to get revenge on the Santos family-“
“No! I told you that’s over!” Gus interrupted.
“-you don’t care about anybody but yourself-“ Harley continued.
“I care about you!” Gus exclaimed causing Harley to shut her mouth and look away from him.
“I just can’t, Gus. I can’t do it again…” she said quietly.
“Do what?” he asked gently.
“Look, I have a son, he has to be my number one priority right now and you can’t be part of that equation. Just forget it,” she replied.
“All you’ve said to me is that you can’t. Well, you know what? I can’t either. I just can’t forget how I feel about you, I can’t forget how alive I feel when you’re in the same room as me, and I know I can’t forget how it feels to kiss you and have you kiss me back. I know you Coop, better than you think I do and I know that you can’t forget those things either, and you never will,” he finished as his cell phone rang and Harley breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t have to respond to his little speech.
“Okay,” Gus said as he hung up. “That was Patrick, they’re here. Let’s get out of here,” he explained as he started the car up and pulled away from the curb.
During the silent drive back to the station, Harley stared out the window, begging the tears filling her eyes not to fall. She knew he was right. She hated the feelings he brought up in her. She couldn’t do it. She would not let herself get hurt by another man who promised her the world and she wouldn’t do that to Zach. She would just have to find a way to get over Gus Aitoro.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:42:04 GMT -5
When they got back to the station, Gus and Harley went their separate ways. Harley busied herself at her desk and Gus went downstairs to get a prisoner he was supposed to escort to the county jail. They hadn’t spoken a word to each other since they left 5th Street and both were glad they didn’t have to see each other for the rest of the day. Just as Harley was finishing up her last case and about to go home for the day, Justin Campbell came up to her desk.
“Detective Cooper?”
Harley looked up, “Harley,” she corrected him.
“Right. Harley,” he continued. “This might sound kind of lame, but I’m new in town and I was wondering if you would like to show me around.”
“You’re right. That was lame,” she joked and Justin laughed. “Are you asking me out?”
“Uh yeah, that’s what I was trying to do. Let me start over,” he said, “Would you like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow evening?”
Before Harley could answer, a loud ruckus from the hallway interrupted them and they both turned to see what the commotion was about. Gus was pushing an uncooperative prisoner through the hall. Harley shook her head and turned her attention back to Justin.
“I would love to,” she replied. What better way to get over Gus Aitoro than to put on that focus on another man?
Justin smiled and told her he would pick her up at seven the next evening. Harley smiled back and they said goodbye, then Harley headed home for the evening assuring herself that this was the first step to getting her life back to normal.
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“Hey,” Blake greeted as she slid into the booth across from Harley at Company later that evening. “What’s going on? You sounded really grumpy this morning when I talked to you.”
“Oh, it’s been one of those days,” Harley replied.
“What happened?” the ever-curious Blake asked.
“Nothing, just forget it. So, how are the wedding plans coming along?” Harley asked, changing the subject.
“Oh, they’re good. I can’t believe we only have three months until the wedding! We have so much to do still. Oh, by the way, I was hoping maybe me you and Cassie could get together tomorrow afternoon, go look at some dresses and then we can get dinner and hang out. What color do you think would be best for mid-July? I was thinking peach.”
“Umm…that would be great,” Harley replied, “but I can’t tomorrow.”
“Oh, why?”
“Well, I have to work and then I have a date,” she answered simply.
“You have a date? With who? Gus?” Blake asked.
“No. Definitely not Gus,” Harley replied. “Justin Campbell, he’s Frank’s new partner and he asked me out, so I said yes.”
“What about Gus?” Blake wondered.
“What about him? Blake there is nothing between me and Aitoro. Justin is a nice guy, the kind of guy I should be with. He is completely different from Gus Aitoro,” Harley replied.
Blake smiled, “Oh, I get it. You’re going out with this Justin guy to try to get your mind off of Gus. Well, honey, I’m telling you right now, it’s not going to work. No matter what you do.”
“You are so not helping me,” Harley said hopelessly.
“Well, Harley, I’m not going to lie to you! Gus may be rude and obnoxious and he may be completely wrong for you, but you can’t deny that there is something there! You have this attraction to him, and it’s not going to go away just because you want it to.”
“Well, all I know is that I cannot let myself get hurt again. You know, if it was just me, maybe it would be worth the risk, but I have to worry about Zach too and I can’t do it,” Harley argued.
Blake sighed, “Whatever. But I know you, Harley Cooper, and you cannot deny your feelings for that man. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to deal with them. I recommend sooner,” she continued as she got up from the booth. “I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow. Just remember what I said.”
Harley scoffed as Blake left. Part of her knew Blake was the only one who was actually speaking the truth, but there was no way she was going to admit that to anyone, especially herself.
“More coffee?” Buzz asked her as he came by her booth.
“No thanks, Daddy. I have to go,” she said as she got up, kissed his cheek and left.
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The next day, Harley and Gus were finishing up a case and ready to leave for the day when Frank and Justin came into the station.
“Hey,” Frank said, “You guys done for the day?” he asked.
“Almost, just wrapping up the Nichols case,” Gus replied.
“Well, have fun, I’m going home,” Frank said as he kissed Harley on the cheek and left.
“Me too,” Justin added, then turned to Harley, “I’ll see you in a little bit,” he said with a wink.
Gus’s head shot up at that remark and he looked at Harley who was politely smiling at Justin.
“Bye Justin,” she said as he left and went back to the case in front of her.
Gus couldn’t help but ask, “Where will you be seeing him?”
“Um, we’re going to dinner,” Harley answered, not looking up from her paperwork.
“Oh,” Gus said, disappointed and annoyed.
Five minutes of silence later, they finished up the case and Gus grabbed his suit jacket off the back of his chair.
“I hope you two will be very happy together,” he said sarcastically as he looked Harley in the eyes then rushed out of the station.
Harley sighed then headed home to get ready for her date with Justin.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:45:31 GMT -5
“Here sweetie, color that in for me,” Harley told Zach as she got up to answer the door.
Before she opened it, she looked in the mirror and checked out how she looked. She gave herself a little pep talk, took a deep breath, smiled and opened the door.
“Justin, please come in,” she said as she stepped back and he came into the house.
“Harley, you look lovely. This is for you,” he greeted as he handed her a single white rose.
“Thank you,” she replied, “This is my son, Zach. Zach, this is Mr. Campbell.”
“Hi,” Zach said shyly then went back to coloring.
“The sitter’s running a little late, sorry,” Harley said.
“Oh, that’s no problem, I was hoping I would get to meet the little guy. Hi Zach, I brought you something too,” Justin said as he pulled a stuffed lion out from behind his back.
Zach’s eyes lit up and he jumped up to grab the toy.
“Justin, you really didn’t have to,” Harley said. “Zach, what do you say?”
“Thanks,” Zach said quickly as he sat down on the couch playing with his lion.
“How did you know I had a son?” Harley asked.
“Frank told me. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh no, not at all,” Harley replied quickly.
“So Zach, what are you going to name your lion?” Justin asked.
“Gus!” Zach answered with a big smile on his face.
Harley too, although she was shocked, couldn’t help but smile.
Justin looked at Harley, “Gus?”
“Uh, Aitoro comes over here sometimes to work on cases and he always plays with Zach,” Harley explained.
“Oh,” Justin replied as the doorbell rang.
Harley breathed a sigh of relief as she got up to answer the door. Thanks a lot Zach, I was trying not to think of Gus Aitoro tonight! she thought to herself. She opened the door and let in Sarah, Zach’s sitter, then she and Justin were off to dinner.
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Gus strolled into the station with a bag of Chinese take out under one arm and a stack of cases under the other.
“Aitoro! I thought your shift ended hours ago,” Chief Franklin said as he saw Gus come back into the station.
“Uh, yeah, but I thought I’d come back and wrap up some cases. What happened to my desk?” he asked as he pointed to his desk that was covered with stacks of files.
“Oh, sorry. Porter’s reorganizing the filing cabinets. He was just using your desk as a temporary storage place. I’ll move them,” Franklin offered.
Gus waved him off, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll just use Cooper’s desk,” he said as he dropped the bag and folders on Harley’s desk and sank into her chair.
He got his carton of rice and sweet and sour chicken out of the bag, stuffed an egg roll in his mouth and laid out the case files. He paused as he caught a glimpse of a picture Harley had on her desk of her and Zach when he was just a baby. There was something wrong with the picture though. He noticed it didn’t quiet look right, so he picked it up to take a closer look. He put down his egg roll and opened the back of the frame and took the picture out. What he got was only half a picture that looked like someone took a scissors to it. He looked at the bottom of the back of the picture and saw written in pen: Phillip, Harley and Zach- March 2000. He finally realized that Phillip had been cut out of the picture, leaving only Harley and Zach with the happy faces. He didn’t really know the whole story about what happened between Harley and Phillip, all he knew was that Phillip had hurt her bad enough to make her terrified of falling in love again. Of course, she seemed rather eager to take Campbell up on his first offer. Gus sighed as he put the picture back in the frame and went back to his Chinese and cases.
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“Follow me, please,” the maitre de at the country club told Justin and Harley and they followed him to a table in the corner of the room. He handed them menus, Justin ordered a bottle of white wine and then left them alone.
“I hope this is okay. Frank said you used to come here a lot,” Justin said as they looked over the menu.
“Uh, yeah, my ex-husband was a member. We used to come to all the parties. You know, have to keep the Spaulding name public and associated with good causes. I’m sorry,” Harley apologized. “Talking about your ex is like the biggest first date ‘don’t’ isn’t it?”
“It’s fine,” Justin assured her. “Zach’s dad? Phillip Spaulding, right?”
“Yeah, but let’s not talk about him. Let’s talk about you. What brings you to Springfield?” she asked.
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Gus closed the folder of the first case he planned on finishing that night and started a ‘done’ stack to his left. As he reached to his right to get a new case, he caught another glimpse of the picture of Harley and Zach. He reached out and touched the glass over Harley’s face gently. He pulled his hand away quickly and looked around to make sure no one saw what he did.
Damn you, Coop, he cursed to himself and he threw away his empty Chinese cartons, gathered up his files and rushed out of the station. He wasn’t going to sit around working while she was off trying to forget about him.
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“Well,” Justin began, “I was working for the FBI in New York, which I loved. It’s such a great job for a single guy, you know? And it’s so rewarding and exciting, but it got to be a little too much. I mean, you have to travel a lot, and you never stay in one place very long. And I want to settle down, I want to get married and have kids.”
Harley stiffened at the mention of marriage, but Justin didn’t notice and continued talking.
“So I decided to quit the Bureau and take a detective position. Springfield was hiring, so I applied and here I am. I think my FBI experience impressed Franklin,” he added.
Harley laughed, “I’m sure it did. So you gave up big time cases for a small town? Not something that happens everyday, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. Most people look at me like I’m crazy, but I think there’s a lot to be said about small towns. You get to know the people you’re protecting and the people you work with better. It becomes personal, I think that’s really important.”
Harley nodded in agreement, “It is. And I think it’s great that you realize that right away. It takes some people a while, and others never get it.”
“Yeah, that’s a shame. So tell me about you,” Justin pressed.
“Well, what do you want to know?” Harley teased.
“Tell me about you and Frank. He said you two are really close.”
“We are,” Harley replied. “Frank is the best. He really raised me. It was just me and him when we were kids, our dad had run off, and our mom wanted to be a movie star. And at the time, that was more important to her than we were. But Frank was always there for me, and he always has been. Through everything, I don’t know what I would do without him.”
“Well, I think he did a pretty good job. And he has a great sister,” Justin said, smiling as the waiter came over and took their dinner orders.
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Gus made a last minute turn into the parking lot of a crowded bar he passed every day on the way home. What the hell? he thought to himself, I could use a drink.
He climbed out of his car and walked around the building to the front door. He pushed his way past bikers playing pool and took a seat at the bar that was already crowded, even though it was still relatively early. He ordered a scotch, no ice and rolled up his shirtsleeves after loosening his tie. He strained to hear what was going on in the Cubs game that was on the television in the corner, but the loud music and even louder talking from the customer didn’t help any.
“Hi, there,” a brunette beauty said seductively as she cozied up next to Gus at the crowded bar.
Gus nodded as he looked her up and down, “Can I buy you a drink?” he asked as he finished his and called the bartender over.
They both ordered their drinks and when the man sitting beside Gus left, the girl took his seat.
“What’s your name?” she asked as she put her hand on Gus’s knee and leaned closer to him.
Gus took a sip of his drink and answered, “Nick. And you are?”
“Lauren,” she replied, “What do you do Nick?”
“I’m a cop,” he answered and Lauren’s eyes got big. “But I’m off duty right now,” he added with a wink.
Lauren smiled and laughed and moved closer to Gus as she took a drink.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:46:46 GMT -5
“Did you always want to be a cop?” Justin asked after the waiter set their dinners in front of them.
“No, not at all,” Harley replied. “I did a lot of things before I decided to become a cop. But it is definitely what I think I was born to do. I love it and I’m good at it. So it was definitely a good choice.”
“I agree. So, is Frank your only sibling?”
“Well, I have a half-sister, Lucy. She’s living in Europe right now with her husband,” Harley explained, leaving out the fact that her sister’s husband was also her ex-husband. “What about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters? What about your parents?”
“Well, my dad died two years ago,” he began.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Harley interrupted.
“Thanks, and my mom is living in Chicago with my only sister, Sharon, her husband Mike and their three kids, Daniel, Stephanie and Ryan,” he continued.
“Oh, well it’s good that you’re closer to them now,” Harley remarked.
“Yes, definitely. Now I can take the kids to baseball games and the park and see them more than just holidays. They’re great kids. Until my sister had them, I wasn’t sure I ever wanted kids, but I love these ones to death and now I know I definitely want to be a father.”
Harley smiled and tried to think of what to say after that comment. She settled on: “I’m sure you would make a great father.”
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Two drinks later, Lauren was starting to look really good to Gus and he no longer tried to pull away from her touches.
He was a man, and he certainly wasn’t going to wait around for Cooper to make up her mind. And Lauren was cute and nice, and actually made him laugh. She wasn’t too forward with him, but teased him enough to make him curious.
“So I was thinking about heading out of here. Do you want to share a cab?” she asked as she put her arm around him and spoke into his ear.
“Sounds like a good idea,” Gus agreed as he threw some money on the bar and left with Lauren on his arm.
There were a few taxis sitting in the parking lot just waiting to pick up people as they left the bar, so Gus and Lauren walked over to one and climbed in.
“Where do you live?” Gus asked Lauren.
“The apartment building next to Towers,” Lauren told the driver who nodded and started up the cab.
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“Would you like to come in for some coffee?” Harley asked Justin and they walked up to her door.
“Yes, I would love to,” Justin replied as Harley opened the door and they stepped into the house.
Sarah, Zach’s sitter was just coming down the stairs.
“Hi,” she said when she saw Harley was home. “Just to let you know, Zach has refused to fall asleep until you read a story to him and Gus.”
“Gus?” Harley asked, confused and so afraid that Aitoro showed up at her house again.
“His lion, he calls it Gus,” Sarah explained.
“Oh right,” Harley explained. “Was he good for you?”
“As always, he’s just not too sleepy.”
“Well, thank you, I’ll take care of that,” Harley said as she paid Sarah who said goodbye and then left.
“Mommy?” Zach yelled from upstairs.
Harley looked at Justin apologetically, “It shouldn’t take too long to get him to sleep, if you want to wait.”
“That’s okay, you go read to your son and we will have coffee some other time,” Justin said as he headed to the door.
“I had a wonderful time tonight,” Harley said as she followed him.
“So did I. I hope we can do it again sometime. Soon,” Justin said.
“I would like that,” Harley said, and she was almost sure she meant it.
“Good,” Justin said, then stood there awkwardly.
Soon, he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Harley’s lips which she returned.
“Good night,” he said as he opened the door and left.
Harley waited until his car left the driveway, then shut off the outside light and locked the door.
That was a nice kiss, she said to herself. Not a kiss from Gus, but it was still nice, she thought then cursed herself for even thinking that. She sighed and headed upstairs to get Zach to sleep.
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By the time the cab got to Lauren’s apartment, her tongue was practically in Gus’s ear and he was enjoying it. When the driver stopped in front of the building, Gus handed him the fare and followed Lauren up to her apartment.
Kissing, they tumbled into Lauren’s apartment and headed straight for the bed. Lauren quickly stripped off her shirt, and soon, Gus’s shirt and tie were also on the floor, her hands heading for his belt.
Lauren unbuttoned his pants as she kissed his chest. With his hands tangled in her long, dark hair, he whispered, “Harley,” breathlessly, but not loud enough for Lauren to hear.
When he heard Harley’s name escape his lips, he pushed Lauren away.
“I’m sorry, we shouldn’t do this,” he said as he buttoned his pants and looked around for his shirt.
“What?” Lauren asked, confused and out of breath.
“I can’t. It’s just, there’s this girl that I’m trying to start something with, and I can’t do this. I can’t do it to her, and I can’t do it to you. It’s not fair. I’m sorry,” he said as he hurried into his shirt and left the apartment with Lauren standing in the room confused and shocked at what just happened.
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After Harley had read a story to Zach and “Gus”, she kissed Zach on the cheek and told him to go sleep.
“Don’t forget to kiss Gus,” he said as he held the lion out for Harley to kiss.
Harley almost laughed at the irony of it, but kissed the lions nose to appease Zach.
“Good night, sweetie. Shut your eyes,” she insisted as she shut out Zach light and went to her own room.
When she crawled into bed and closed, she should have been thinking about the wonderful date she just had with Justin. But she wasn’t, like she usually did when she closed her eyes at night, she was thinking of Gus and how good it felt to kiss him.
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Gus threw his keys on the desk in his motel room, stripped out of his clothes quickly, and fell into bed. After tossing and turning a while, his eyelids fell heavy and he spent the night dreaming of Harley Cooper.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:47:32 GMT -5
Bright and early the next morning, Harley walked into the station yawning and downing her first of many cups of coffee for the day. She was up half the night tossing and turning trying to push Gus Aitoro out of her mind. She was unsuccessful and seeing him sitting at his desk, his tie undone and his hair wild from running his hands through it made her remember what she was thinking about all night and she knew it was going to be another one of those days.
She decided to suck it up, put the thoughts of him out of her head and get down to business.
She walked over to him and hit him gently with the file folder she was holding.
“Hey,” she said and he looked up and smiled her.
She looked exhausted, but to him, she was still beautiful. He thought about what he almost did last night and had to look away.
“Morning,” he replied quietly.
“We have to go check out Fifth Street before we do anything else,” she told him and he quickly got up and grabbed his suit jacket.
“You driving or am I?” he asked.
“I’ll drive,” Harley said and they headed out the door.
They stepped outside just as Frank and Justin were coming into the station.
“Good morning!” Justin greeted cheerfully.
“Morning,” Harley replied, a little tense.
“Where are you two going?” Frank asked.
“Fifth Street rounds,” Gus answered, looking intently at Justin.
“Oh, well have a good time,” Frank replied as he headed into the station and Gus and Harley headed towards Harley’s car.
“Oh, Harley, wait a second,” Justin said, causing Harley to stop and turn around and Gus to pause momentarily, but he decided to keep walking, slowly.
“I was hoping we could grab lunch together today, have that coffee,” Justin said with a wink.
Harley slyly looked past Justin at Gus walking towards her car and decided to take Justin up on his offer.
“That sounds good,” she replied with a smile. “Unless something comes up, we’re on for lunch.”
“Good, I’ll see you later,” Justin said, then went into the station.
Harley put her hand to her forehead. She wanted so badly to want to go out with Justin, but she was kind of regretful that she wasn’t going to have lunch with Gus that day. She sighed and headed to the car where Gus was waiting impatiently for her.
They drove to Fifth Street in silence and when Harley parked the car along the curb, they tried to no avail to make small talk.
After another round of silence, Gus decided to ask what was on his mind.
“So…how was last night?” he asked cautiously.
Harley hesitated, “Come on, you don’t want to talk about that.”
“Well, we have to talk about something,” he replied.
Harley sighed, “Honestly? It was nice.”
Gus nodded and looked out the window.
Harley continued, “He brought Zach a stuffed lion and guess what Zach named it?”
Gus looked back at her, “Justin?” he asked with a hint of contempt.
Harley laughed at him, “No. He named it Gus.”
“Oh he did, huh?” Gus smiled. “Sorry.”
“About what?”
“Okay, we’re being honest, right?” Gus asked as he turned in his seat to face her.
Harley nodded.
“Okay, I don’t want you to go out with Justin. Honestly. And I’m sorry about that. Because I care about you enough to want you to be happy. I just want you to be happy with me. But obviously, you don’t feel you can be. But it kills me to see you with him. It kills me to think of you being with him. And I’m sorry about that. And I’m sorry that I can’t be a man that you can be happy with,” Gus rambled.
Harley sat speechless as he talked and when he was done she didn’t know what to say.
“Gus…” she began quietly, but he stopped her.
“You don’t have to say anything,” he said, “I just needed to tell you that.” He faced forward in his seat again and put his seatbelt on. “I think we can go now,” he said as he let out a big breath.
Harley nodded and started the car again. As she drove away she thought of what Gus said. As much as she hated to admit it, she was honestly touched at his little speech. Here he was, apologizing for being himself when he wasn’t even the whole problem. It was as much about her as it was about him, but it occurred to her that she never told him that. Every time they’ve argued, she made it all his fault and his willingness to open himself up like that after everything she’d done to push him away broke her heart.
Part of her wanted to stop the car and apologize to him, but the stubborn side of her refused to do it. And she knew if she apologized, she would end up back in his arms and she couldn’t do that. She was so confused inside. On one hand she had Justin, a nice, stable guy who looked like he was perfect for her, and on the other hand she had Gus. Someone who everyone hated and who would probably end up breaking her heart.
As they pulled up to the station, Harley decided to give Justin a chance, but not to push Gus away so much. Maybe they could be friends now without the awkwardness between them. And as they walked back into the station and did their work as usual, she thought she was right.
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“Hey Daddy,” Harley greeted Buzz as she and Justin came into Company for lunch.
“Hey kiddo, long time no see,” Buzz replied as he looked over the man with Harley.
“Yeah, I know. Dad, this is Justin Campbell, he’s Frank’s partner.”
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Justin said, sticking his hand out.
Frank told Buzz all about Justin and that Harley and Justin had gone to dinner the night before.
“Call me Buzz. It’s nice to meet you too,” he said as he handed them menus and they sat in a booth.
“So, how was your morning?” Justin asked.
“Oh, it was fine. Nothing out of the ordinary,” Harley answered.
“It must suck to be stuck on a stakeout for hours with Aitoro,” Justin quipped.
Harley surprised herself when she got defensive at Justin’s remark, “What does that mean?”
“Well, he’s not exactly a pleasant guy to be around.”
“Well, you don’t know him very well. He takes some getting used to,” Harley explained.
“Yeah, like you get used to the stink of gym socks?” Justin joked as he looked over the menu.
Harley decided to change the subject, “Dad’s famous for his Buzz Burgers.”
“Sounds good,” Justin said as he closed his menu and smiled at Harley.
After their food had come, Harley looked up and saw Blake and Cassie coming through the door.
Oh no, she thought and hoped they wouldn’t notice her sitting there.
Of course, Blake and Cassie noticed their best friend right away and joined Harley and Justin at their booth. Blake slid in next to Justin and introduced herself as Cassie sat next to Harley.
“Hi, I’m Blake Marler, this is Cassie Winslow, we’re Harley’s best friends, and you are?” Blake asked.
“Justin Campbell,” Justin stuttered, surprised by the fiery red head who suddenly appeared beside him.
“Hi girls,” Harley said, “What are you doing here?”
“Well, for lunch of course,” Cassie answered. “You don’t mind if we join you do you? It’s pretty crowded and we don’t want to take up another table.”
“That’s fine,” Justin answered and Cassie and Blake spent the rest of the lunch questioning Justin.
Before they could finish their meals, Justin’s cell phone rang. It was Frank, they had to go do their rounds on Fifth Street.
“It was nice to meet you ladies,” he said as he slid out of the booth, “I’ll see you back at the station,” he said to Harley, who smiled at him as he left.
“So?” Blake asked curiously.
“So what?” Harley wondered.
“How was last night? Are you guys officially a couple? Did he kiss you? What about Gus?” Blake continued.
“Gus? What does Gus have to do with this?” Cassie asked, confused.
“Last night was good. He’s very nice and polite and he was the perfect date. We are not a couple and yes, he did kiss me. And Gus,” she said, shooting Blake a look to kill, “has nothing to do with this.”
“Yeah right,” Blake said. “So are you going to go out with him again?”
“I don’t know!” Harley said frustrated. “I should. He’s a great guy, but…” she trailed off.
“…He’s not who you want to be with,” Blake finished for her.
“I didn’t say that,” Harley replied quickly and defensively.
“You didn’t have to,” Cassie added.
Harley sighed and put her head down on the table, “Why is my life so complicated?” she whined as she looked to her two best friends for help who ended up being no help at all.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:50:37 GMT -5
Over the next two weeks, Harley had decided to give Justin a chance and try her best to stop thinking about Gus. It didn’t work of course, she still thought about Gus all the time. Justin had been the perfect gentleman the last two weeks. They continued going out every once in a while and Justin even spent one Saturday at a Cooper get-together playing with Zach and grilling burgers with Buzz.
Frank was probably the biggest cheerleader for Harley and Justin’s relationship, if you could call it that. He thought Justin was a great guy and just perfect for Harley. Daily, he would ask Harley how things were going and hint that she should stick with Justin. While Harley found this annoying, she knew her brother was just looking out for her.
Things with Gus had gotten a lot less strained too. Ever since he opened up to her while they were on Fifth Street, he had stopped pushing her and making comments. They worked together in peace, and they worked well together. Instead of Harley dreading spending the day with him, she actually looked forward to it. She still was a little tense around him because she knew she still had feelings for him, and instead of them diminishing, she felt they were growing deeper and it scared her.
She enjoyed going out with Justin. He was nice and sweet and fun, but there was always a part of her wishing she was with Gus. She made sure things didn’t go to far with Justin. At least not yet. They kissed, but it never went further than that. Harley’s excuse was that she wasn’t ready for a big relationship yet. Which was true, she just left out the part where she was thinking of Gus, not Justin, day and night.
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One afternoon in the beginning of May, Gus and Harley sat in a surveillance van on Fifth Street. Their case about the drug deal was progressing. One of the officers had gone undercover and managed to get into the house under the guise of a customer and had planted a bug in the room where they suspected the deal would happen and rumor was the deal was going down sometime in the next few days, so SFPD was on surveillance 24 hours a day, and it was Cooper and Aitoro’s shift. Since it was the middle of the afternoon, the suspected house was quiet. No one had been seen coming or going, so Gus and Harley had a pretty easy job. Just keep one ear and one eye on the house.
“Mind if I turn on some music?” Gus asked, “I can’t stand the quiet.”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Harley said as he reached over to the little radio they had in the van and tuned it to find a station that came in clearly.
All he could find was country, so they settled for that. They watched the house closely and each kept one ear listening to the headphones for any conversation inside the house. There was nothing.
I'm so scared that the way that I feel, Is written all over my face, When you walk into the room I wanna find a hiding place… …now a smile and a touch of your hand, Just make me come unglued, It's such a contradiction, do I lie or tell the truth, Is it fact or fiction the way I feel for you
The lyrics of the song that just started playing caught Harley’s ear and she listened closely.
It's so complicated, I'm so frustrated, I wanna hold you close, I wanna push you away, I wanna make you go, I wanna make you stay, Should I say it, should I tell you how I feel, Oh, I want you to know, But then again I don't, It's so complicated.
Harley looked over at Gus who was stirring his coffee with his pen, watching one of the surveillance screens. The singer might as well have been singing about her and her feelings for Gus. She was so confused about how she felt about him. One minute she wanted to be in his arms, the next she wanted him to leave town.
Just when I think I'm under control, I think I finally got a grip, Another friend tells me that, My name is always on your lips, They say I'm more than just a friend, They say I must be blind, Well I admit that I've seen you watch me, From the corner of your eye
I hate it 'cause I've waited so long for someone like you,
Should I say it, Should I tell you how I feel, Oh I want you to know, But then again I don't, It's so complicated.
The song had taken Harley away from the case and put her into deep thought about her life. She felt something for Gus Aitoro, something strong and she couldn’t deny that. But she also couldn’t admit it. Not yet, she wasn’t ready. Harley sighed, thankful the song was over and again focused all her energy on the case.
Gus could tell she was thinking about something other than work and cautiously pressed her to talk to him.
“Whatcha thinking about?” he asked her.
Harley quickly came back to reality and blushed at what she was really thinking about.
“Oh, I was just thinking how boring this was,” she covered with a laugh. “I just wish we could break this case once and for all. And I wish we could get out of this van,” she added.
“Well, Frank and Campbell should be here soon to relieve us,” Gus said, watching Harley for a reaction at Justin’s name.
“Good. I am ready to go home,” was all she said.
About an hour later, Frank and Justin showed up and Gus and Harley were on their way back to the station.
Harley drove home, made herself dinner since Zach was at Phillip’s for the night and settled down on the couch for a quiet evening to herself.
She opened a new mystery book she had bought and began to read it. She didn’t get very far before her mind wandered back to that afternoon in the surveillance van and that song that was playing. She put the book down and went upstairs to take a nice, relaxing bubble bath. Maybe that would take her mind off of her troubles.
The bath didn’t take her mind off of Gus and Justin, but it did clear her head enough for her to make a huge decision. Now she just had to talk to Gus and Justin about it. She decided it could wait until tomorrow, and changed into a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top, crawled into bed and tried to read again.
She had just gotten to an exciting part of the book when her doorbell rang. She looked up at the alarm clock next to her bed that read 10:50. It was pretty late, so whoever it was, it must be important. She hurried downstairs and opened the front door.
Gus Aitoro rushed in as soon as the door opened.
“Coop, it’s going down. The deal- 2:30 am. Come on, we gotta-,” he informed her, but stopped talking when he looked at her. Her hair was pulled up in a cute ponytail with a few tendrils framing her face. His eyes traveled down her body and a tiny grin came across his face. She wasn’t even wearing a sexy nightgown or anything, just plain cotton shorts and tank top, but Gus thought she never looked sexier.
“Um,” he cleared his throat, “We have to be there. You, me, Frank and Campbell are taking care of it.”
“Now?” Harley asked.
“Yes, now. Come on, get dressed, I told Frank we would be there at 11.”
“Why do all four of us have to be there?” she asked.
“Because it’s a big deal, Coop. This is the biggest drug bust Springfield has ever seen. Don’t you want your name on it too?” he asked.
He knew she did, “Alright, let me change,” she agreed as she hurried back upstairs, Gus’s eyes following her.
He sat down on her couch and told himself to stop dreaming. She had made up her mind. She wanted nothing to do with him, at lease nothing more than a partner at work. She was with Campbell now, he reminded himself
“Alright, let’s go,” Harley said as she hit the bottom step.
Gus got up and followed her out of the house.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:52:20 GMT -5
“You’re late,” Frank said as Harley and Gus climbed into the surveillance van with him and Justin.
“Blame your sister,” Gus said as he sat on one of the benches in the back of the van and checked out one of the screens.
Harley squeezed next to Gus on the bench and shut the door.
“Well, excuse me for trying to get some sleep,” she shot back at Gus.
Justin looked up and smiled at her when he heard her voice. She politely smiled back and went back to looking over the transcript of a conversation in the house with Gus.
“How are we all supposed to sit in here for three hours? This van was not meant for four people,” Harley complained.
“Why don’t you guys take a break,” Gus suggested. “Go get some coffee, stretch your legs, Coop and I can take over for awhile.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Frank agreed. He patted Justin’s shoulder, “Come on, let’s go get some coffee.”
“Okay,” Justin said as he followed Frank out of the van. He turned around before he shut the door.
“Harley, did you want anything? Coffee? Water? Food?”
“Coffee would be good,” she replied.
“Black, sugar, cream?” he asked.
“2 sugars, light cream,” Gus answered for her. “And I’ll take one too, Campbell, thanks, you can just bring like 10 packets of sugar back, that would be great. Oh and grab some donuts too,” he added.
Justin just looked at Gus and shook his head, “You gonna be okay here?” he asked Harley.
“Yes,” Harley replied with a laugh. “He’s harmless, just a little rude.”
“Right…” Justin said, then shut the door.
Harley moved over to another bench across from Gus and looked at him.
“What? I wanted coffee too. You know, that guy is just falling all over himself for you. You find that attractive?” he asked, then stopped himself. “I’m sorry. I promised myself I would butt out. Forget I said anything,” he continued than made a motion that he was zipping his lips.
Harley didn’t say anything, but leaned over and kissed him. Gus was so shocked, he didn’t know what to do. His arms laid at his side and he didn’t know if she was trying to trick him or if this was for real. Soon, he responded to her kisses and his hands made their way to her head.
When she pulled away, Gus was speechless.
“Ah, I finally found a way to shut that big mouth of yours,” Harley joked.
“What?” Gus asked breathless. He looked around the van. “Am I on candid camera or something? Cause you can’t do that to me, not when you always yelled at me for doing that.”
“Look. I know this isn’t a good place to talk about this, so I won’t say too much, but we do need to talk. I’ve been thinking a lot the last few weeks, well, actually since you blew into my life. The truth is, I’ve been going out with Justin to get my mind off of you. I thought if I went out with another guy, I wouldn’t be thinking about you. But it didn’t work,” she finally admitted. “Because every time I was with Justin, I wanted to be with you. And when he kissed me, I wanted it to be you who was kissing me. I know that I have treated you horribly, and I don’t blame you if you want nothing to do with me, but…”
This time it was Gus’s turn to stop her rambling with a kiss. As he kissed her, he pulled her over to him and she sat in his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck. When they broke the kiss, Gus leaned his forehead against Harley’s.
“I like when you don’t push me away,” he breathed.
“Me too,” she replied as she kissed him gently on the lips.
“We should stop,” Gus said, pointing to the surveillance screen.
“Yeah, I guess we should. Frank and Justin will be back soon. Listen, I’m going to talk to Justin, either tonight or tomorrow, but I’m not going to tell him about you. First of all because it’s none of his business, and second of all, it really doesn’t need to get out at work.”
Gus put his head down at her last comment, “You ashamed of us, Coop?”
Harley reached out and lifted his face with her hands, “No. Not at all. It will just be easier for us if no one at the station knows about it. It’s probably against the rules anyways,” she joked. “And I don’t really want to make Justin uncomfortable, especially since I’ve pretty much been using him the past two weeks,” she added.
“It will be our little secret,” he whispered with a kiss.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:52:34 GMT -5
At 2:30am on the dot, two men walked up to the house they were watching and knocked on the door. After a small conversation at the door, the man inside let the visitors inside. 15 seconds later, Gus, Harley, Frank and Justin were rushing towards the house. Gus and Harley stood at the front door with their guns drawn and Frank and Justin were on either side of them. There were some uniformed officers surrounding the house watching their backs.
Gus reached forward and knocked on the door. They heard some rushing around inside and soon the man who lived there opened the door like it was a normal Sunday afternoon visit.
“Put your hands in the air!” Gus yelled. “Get face down on the ground, hands behind your back.”
The man listened and Justin held him down on the ground and cuffed him until another officer could come over to watch him. Gus, Harley and Frank all rushed into the house and pulled out the two visitors who joined their friend on the ground along with two black duffel bags. One filled with cocaine, and the other filled with money.
The arrests went off without a hitch and in less than thirty minutes, everyone was back at the station filling out paperwork making sure these guys stayed locked up for awhile, at least until their trial.
Finally, at 4am, they finished up the last of the paperwork and were ready to go home.
“Harley, do you need a ride?” Justin asked.
“No thanks, Gus is going to drop me off. It’s on his way,” she replied then walked Justin to the door. “Do you think we could meet for lunch? Maybe at 1 at Company?” she asked.
“Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll see you then,” he said as he turned and left.
Gus came out of the station, “Ready?” he asked before they walked to Gus’s car and headed towards Harley’s house.
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When they got to Harley’s house, Gus walked her to the door. It felt like the end of the first date, both of them wanting to kiss, but neither wanted to make the first move.
“Well, you should get some sleep,” Gus said as Harley unlocked the door.
“Yeah, you too. Listen, I’m having lunch with Justin, and I’m going to tell him. But I wanted to talk to you, because there’s some stuff we need to work out. I don’t know what I want from you. I don’t think I’m ready for a huge relationship. All I know is that I have give you a chance, I have to give us a chance. But I don’t want you to expect too much. I want to take this slowly, and let what happens, happen.”
“Harley, whatever you are ready for. I would never pressure you. I just want to be with you. I want to be able to lean over and kiss you without getting slapped,” he joked. “If you want to take things slowly, then we will. So can we slowly plan a first date?”
Harley laughed, “I will call you after I talk to Justin,” she promised.
“Now don’t you go changing your mind on me,” he said.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she replied as she grabbed ahold of his shirt and pulled him in for kiss that told him she wasn’t going to be changing her mind.
“Sweet dreams,” after he kissed her forehead, then walked back to his car, flashing her a smile over his shoulder.
Harley went upstairs, changed, crawled into bed and for the first time in months, slept peacefully.
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Later that day, Harley walked into Company a few minutes after one and saw Justin at a booth waiting for her. She slid into the seat across from him and said hello.
“Hi, did you get some sleep?” he asked.
“Yes, I slept wonderfully,” she answered honestly. “Justin we need to talk,” she added seriously.
She went on to apologize to him for using him to try to push another man out of her mind. She explained that she had to take a chance with this other guy and she hoped he understood and they could still be friends. Justin was, as usual, the perfect gentleman, and wished her luck with the other guy and quietly got up and left. Harley felt bad, but knew in her heart that she made the right choice. She found her cell phone in her purse and dialed Gus’s number.
“Hello,” Gus answered sleepily.
“Did I wake you up?” Harley asked.
“Yes,” Gus replied, “but I’m glad you did.”
“So I talked to Justin and everything is fine.”
“Good,” Gus said as he yawned and rubbed his eyes.
“I’ll let you go back to sleep, but I wanted to know if you still wanted to make plans.”
“You bet. How about dinner, tomorrow night?” Gus suggested.
“Dressy or casual?”
Gus thought for a moment, “Get all dolled up for me, okay?”
“Okay,” Harley smiled.
“I’ll pick you up at 7.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow night,” Harley said before they both hung up.
She got up from the booth and went over to the bar where Buzz was refilling coffee for customers.
“Hey daddy, can you watch Zach tomorrow night?” she asked.
“Sure. You going out with Justin?” he asked.
“Um, no, not Justin. Actually, Justin and I just broke up. If you can even call it that, cause we weren’t really seriously dating.”
“So who’s the lucky guy?” Buzz wondered.
Harley hesitated for a bit, then remembered what she said to Gus about not being ashamed of him, “Gus Aitoro. We’re going to dinner, and hopefully, we will be going to dinner a lot, so get used to it. And I don’t want to hear any comments. If you can watch Zach, that would be great, if you can’t, then I’ll get a sitter.”
“I’ll watch Zach,” Buzz replied, “Aitoro?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yes. Aitoro. Are you going to keep him for the night too? Or do you want to watch him at my house?” she asked.
“I’ll keep him overnight- but that doesn’t mean you have to…you know.”
“Daddy,” Harley stopped him. “Thank you. Phillip has him until tomorrow, but I’ll bring him over around five?”
“I’m going to be here all day, so I’ll come by and pick him up.”
“Thanks Daddy. And thank you for not bugging me about Gus. He’s a good guy, and hopefully one day you will realize that,” she said as she kissed his cheek then hurried home for a relaxing evening, hopefully without anymore drug busts.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:54:45 GMT -5
Harley left Zach in the living room, playing with his trucks to answer the door the next afternoon.
Blake rushed in, flustered, “What’s wrong, what happened?” she asked worried.
“Blake, Blake, calm down. Nothing’s wrong, I just need your help. I called Cassie too, she should be here soon,” Harley replied.
Blake breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh thank goodness. What do you need help with?”
“I’ll tell you when Cassie gets here,” Harley said and as if on cue, the doorbell rang again.
Cassie stepped into the house, “Hey guys, what’s up?”
“Okay, you two better sit down,” Harley said and Blake and Cassie sat on the couch. “I need your help because I am going to dinner with Gus tonight and I have no idea what to wear!”
“You’re going out with Gus? Since when?” Blake asked.
“Since yesterday,” Harley answered.
“What about Justin?” Cassie asked.
“Justin…well, let’s just say you guys were right, I was wrong, I wanted to be with Gus, not Justin. Justin is done, over with. I’m giving me and Gus a chance.”
“Well, it’s about time! When is he picking you up?” Blake asked.
“Seven,” Harley answered and Blake looked at her watch that said 3:15.
“Well, we don’t have much time! Let’s find you something to wear!” Blake exclaimed.
“Okay, well, I have it narrowed down to these dresses,” Harley said as she went over to the stairs and picked up four dresses. “I figured if we could pick the dress first, then we can worry about shoes and jewelry and nail color.”
“Okay, why don’t we bring down all your shoes and then we can try different shoes with the dresses as you try them on,” Cassie suggested and within minutes, she and Blake were carrying down all of Harley’s dress shoes while Harley put on the first dress.
Harley came down the stairs in a knee length, navy blue sheath dress with a high neck.
Cassie and Blake both looked at each other and made a face.
“What?” Harley asked.
“Honey, that’s not a first date dress, that’s funeral dress,” Cassie explained.
“You’re too…covered. You need to show a little more skin,” Blake said.
“Fine,” Harley said and headed back upstairs to put on the next dress.
Next up was a pink chiffon spaghetti strap dress with an asymmetric hemline and subtle beading in patterns.
“That is gorgeous,” Cassie said. “I’ve never seen that one before.”
“It’s new. Well, I bought it on sale a few months ago and haven’t worn it yet.”
“Okay, that one is definitely moving on to the next round, time for dress 3,” Blake said.
Dress 3 was a burgundy chiffon knee length dress with a draped neckline.
“That’s pretty, but I’m not feeling that color for tonight. That might be more of a fall or winter dress,” Blake critiqued.
Harley sighed, turned around and went back upstairs.
“Okay, last one,” she said as she came down the stairs in a simple black halter top cocktail dress. The back of the dress was longer than the front and the neckline fell low on Harley’s chest.
“Wow,” Cassie said.
“Okay, that’s one is definitely moving on too. Talk about your little black dress,” Blake added.
“Hmmm…we could spice that up with some silver bangles, silver hoops and of course, silver shoes. I know you have a pair of those here somewhere,” Cassie said as she looked over Harley’s shoe collection and found a pair of strappy silver heels.
Harley slipped the shoes on and jewelry and stood in front of the mirror. “Okay, it’s good. I like this.”
“Okay, but I still like the pink one too!” Cassie said, “Put that one back on.”
Harley slipped back into the pink one and put on the pink shoes Cassie had waiting back downstairs for her. They finished off the outfit with tiny pink and silver earrings and played around with Harley’s hair, pinning it up and letting tendrils fall around her face.
“Zach, what do you think?” Blake asked him as he continued to play quietly with his toys.
“Mommy looks pretty,” he said with a big grin.
“Oh, thank you sweetie,” Harley said as she bent over and gave him a big kiss.
“The man knows what he likes. I say go with this one. It’s cute, it’s feminine…” Cassie began.
“Dressy enough for dinner and dancing but casual enough for a stroll on the beach should the situation present itself. And it shows just enough skin to make him curious,” Blake continued.
Harley looked in the mirror, “Yeah, I think this is the one,” she concluded.
Soon, Harley’s finger and toenails were painted to match the pink dress and between the three of them, they had put up Harley’s hair perfectly. She just had to be careful how she moved for the rest of the night.
As they were waiting for the polish to dry, the doorbell rang and Cassie got up to answer it.
Buzz was coming to pick up Zach and when he walked in the living room, he just stared at the mess of shoes and nail polish in front of him.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“We were helping Harley get ready for her date!” Blake explained.
“You’re dragging other people into this now?” Buzz directed at Harley.
“Daddy, please.”
Buzz waved her off and turned his attention towards his grandson, “Hey Zacheroo. You ready to go to Grandpa’s?”
“Uh huh,” he answered excitedly.
“I’ll get his bag,” Harley said as she started to get up.
“No you won’t- your nails are still wet. I’ll get it,” Cassie said as she went upstairs.
“Aunt Blake said Mommy needs to show skin,” Zach said out of the blue as he and Buzz got some of his toys together.
“Oh did she?” Buzz asked. “Well, Mommy needs to stop listening to Aunt Blake.”
Harley and Blake laughed as Cassie came back downstairs, “Here you go,” she said, handing Buzz Zach’s overnight bag.
“Come on, Zach, let’s leave these crazy ladies to their madness,” Buzz said as he started to chase Zach out the door.
“Hey, hey, get over here and give me a kiss,” Harley said and Zach ran over and jumped in her lap.
She covered him with kisses, “I love you. Be good for Grandpa.”
“I love you too,” he replied as he jumped off her lap and grabbed Buzz’s hand.
“I have to be at Company tomorrow morning, so I’ll bring him home around 9,” Buzz said and Harley nodded.
“Thanks again Daddy,” she called after him as he and Zach left.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:57:02 GMT -5
Harley checked her makeup in the mirror before she answered the door. She straightened her dress and took a deep breath.
Gus rang the doorbell, then stepped back from the door. Then he checked his breath and rearranged the bouquet of flowers he held to his side.
“Are you trying to run away?” he heard Harley ask after she opened the door.
“Not a chance,” he replied as he turned and smiled at her, “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said shyly, “Come on in.”
“These are for you, of course,” he said as he stepped into the house, holding out the bouquet of colored daisies for her.
She reached out and took them, “Daisies- they’re my favorite.”
“I know,” Gus replied.
“How did you know?”
“I asked Blake,” he whispered putting his finger to his mouth.
Harley laughed, “They’re beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” he said as he leaned over to kiss her cheek but she turned her head just a bit to catch his lips with hers.
“Thank you. And not just for the flowers,” she replied as he played with a strand of blonde hair that hung down from her up-do.
“You’re welcome. Are you ready? We don’t want to lose our reservations,” he asked.
“Where are we going?”
“Towers,” he replied.
“Sounds good. Is it cold out?” she asked as she opened the coat closet.
“Not yet, but you might want to bring a sweater in case my old clunky car breaks down,” he teased.
“I’m driving,” she added.
“No you’re not,” he said smiling, “Come on,” he finished as he opened the door and they left the house.
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With his hand on the small of her back, Gus led Harley into the dining room of Towers.
“Reservation for Aitoro,” he told the maitre de who then led them to a small table in the middle of the restaurant.
“Would you like to see the wine list?” the waiter asked.
Gus looked at Harley, “How about champagne?”
“Even better,” Harley replied and Gus told the waiter to bring them champagne.
After they ordered their dinner and their glasses were poured, Gus held up his glass and Harley touched it gently with hers.
“You know, I’m still waiting for you to come out of this trance and tell me this was all just some cruel joke,” Gus said.
“I’m not going to do that,” Harley assured him, touching his hand. “I’m sorry that I spent so much time pushing you away…” she began.
Gus quieted her by putting his finger to her lips, “It doesn’t matter. We’re here now.”
Harley smiled and looked toward the dance floor where a few couples were swaying to the music.
“Are you wearing your dancing shoes?” she asked him.
“The question is, are you?” he winked as he got up and led her onto the dance floor.
He took one of her hands in his and placed his other hand on the small of her back and her other arm went around his neck as he pulled her close to him.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” Gus whispered in her ear.
“Just a couple times,” Harley replied, “You clean up real nice, Aitoro.”
“I think after the first kiss, we can be on a first-name basis. Harley,” he said.
“After our first first kiss, or our first kiss tonight?” she asked.
“Either way, we’ve already done it.”
“That wasn’t really a kiss earlier,” Harley argued playfully.
“Well, then, we’ll have to fix that, won’t we?” Gus said as he leaned down and kissed Harley softly.
He pulled away and looked in her eyes.
“That wasn’t really a kiss either,” she said quietly as she pulled his head back down and kissed him deeply, her tongue pushed through his lips and met his.
When they broke off the kiss, she looked up at him, “Now that was a kiss. Gus.”
Gus nodded as she wrapped both of her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. For the rest of the song, they didn’t talk, just enjoyed holding each other and moving to the music.
When the song was over, they went back to their table, hand in hand and sat down just as Frank, Marina and Eleni walked into the room.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Harley said as they sat back down.
“What?” Gus asked as he turned around and saw Frank giving him a look to kill. “Oh goody,” he said as he turned back to Harley.
After Eleni and Marina sat down at their table, Frank was over at Gus and Harley’s table.
“Harley, what’s going on?” Frank asked with an edge in his voice.
“Well, good evening to you too Frank,” Gus said.
“I’d like to talk to my sister,” he replied, not even looking at Gus.
“I’ll be right back,” Harley said with a smile as she got up and followed Frank into the small hallway at the back of the room.
“You do realize that you are interrupting my date, right?” she asked angrily.
“Yes, and I’m very glad. You’re dating Gus Aitoro? Sis, what is wrong with you? And you were touching him!”
“Frank, I’m not discussing this with you. My social life is none of your business. Yes, I am here on a date with Gus Aitoro, yes I was holding his hand and had you walked in a few minutes earlier, you could have had a heart attack over a kiss we shared.”
“What about Justin?”
“Justin…is not the one I want to be with. Deal with it. Now, excuse me while I get back to my date,” Harley said as she headed back to the table she shared with Gus, leaving Frank looking on, speechless.
“I’m sorry about that,” she apologized as she sat back down.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“It’s fine,” she assured him as she grabbed his hand again, but they were interrupted by the waiter bring their dinners.
They ate dinner and talked and laughed and completely ignored Frank who was still giving Gus dirty looks and couldn’t take his eyes off of their table.
After they were finished with dinner, Harley leaned over.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said.
“You got it,” Gus said as the waiter handed him the check and he promptly handed it back with a credit card.
“So, where would you like to go?” he asked as he took her hand and they walked to the elevator.
“Hmm..let’s go to the lake,” Harley suggested as Gus pushed the button for the lobby.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 21:57:52 GMT -5
“What are the chances of you having a blanket somewhere in this car?” Harley asked as Gus pulled into the parking lot of the beach.
“Actually, very good,” he replied as he got out and pulled a blanket out of the trunk.
“I’m impressed,” Harley said, smiling.
“You should be,” he replied as he took her hand and they walked towards the beach. “Do you want my jacket?” he asked.
“Yes, please,” Harley answered shivering and she put the jacket on.
“I think we might be breaking a law being here after dark,” Harley noticed the sign at the gate that blocked the beach from the parking lot after dusk.
“Well, we might just have to pull out our badges if we get caught,” Gus said as he jumped the gate and helped Harley over.
“Oh yeah, this is easy in a dress!” Harley laughed as she stopped and took off her shoes. “Okay, let’s go.”
They found a spot clear of rocks and laid the blanket out. Gus sat down and pulled Harley down with him.
“You know I’ve been in this town for over a year and never been to this lake, except for the docks,” Gus said. “I never had a reason to come sit on the beach and look at the stars before,” he continued as he ran his finger along Harley’s jawbone.
Harley smiled and laid back on the blanket. Gus propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at Harley.
“Aren’t the stars beautiful out here? It’s like you can see forever,” Harley said dreamily.
“They’re beautiful,” Gus replied, never looking up at the stars.
“You weren’t even looking at them,” Harley corrected.
“No, I was looking at something more beautiful.”
“You just know all the right things to say, don’t you?”
“Sometimes,” he said as he leaned down and kissed her.
When they finished the kiss, he laid on his back and put his arm around Harley. She rested her head on his chest and within minutes was playing idly with the buttons on his shirt.
“This is just perfect, Gus,” she whispered as he kissed the top of her head.
“Harley…was it supposed to rain?” he asked a few minutes later.
“Why?”
“Because I just felt a drop,” he replied and before they knew it, rain came down in sheets.
They both jumped up and Harley grabbed her shoes and held Gus’s jacket over her head as she ran back to the car with Gus behind her, covered with the blanket. This time, she didn’t need help jumping the gate and they jumped into the car.
“So much for perfect,” he teased as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.
By the time they got to Harley’s house, the rain had let up and they could walk to the door without getting soaked.
“Do you want to come in or are you sick of me?” Harley asked as she opened the door and stepped inside.
Gus followed her inside, “What do you think?”
Harley smiled and threw his jacket on the back of the couch, “How about some wine?” she asked and when he nodded, she walked over to the wine cooler that was on the bottom shelf of the armoire.
“Ooh, fancy,” Gus said as he joined her.
“One of Phillip’s toys, but I got to keep it,” she winked as she pulled a bottle of red wine out and went to get two glasses out of the kitchen.
“Where’s Zach?” he asked as they sat on the couch and Harley poured them each a glass of wine.
“My dad is watching him for the night.”
“Oh, he must not have known you would be with me.”
“No, he knew,” Harley said as she took a sip of the wine.
“Tell me about Zach,” Gus said as he sat back on the couch.
“What?”
“Tell me about him. About the day he was born, what his first word was, you know, all that stuff.”
“Why do you want to talk about that?” Harley asked.
“Because he’s a part of you. And I want to know you, Harley. I don’t want to just be some guy you go out to dinner with every once in awhile. I want to be a part of your life, and that includes Zach.”
Harley smiled as she leaned against him and told him about the day Zach was born. She also told him all about Susan. He was shocked that she had an older daughter, but he listened and held her while she opened up to him.
Before they knew it, it was three o’clock in the morning.
“I should go,” Gus said as he kissed the side of her head and started to get up.
“Wait a second. Do you think you should be driving? I mean, we did just drink a whole bottle of wine and it’s raining. Why don’t you just stay here?” she asked.
Gus thought for a moment, “Uh, that’s probably a good idea. This couch looks comfy enough.”
Harley laughed, “You don’t have to sleep on the couch,” she said. “There’s a guest room upstairs,” she teased and he looked at her like she was serious.
“I’m kidding,” she said, “Don’t be thinking you’re gonna get lucky though. I saw that bag of laundry in your trunk. I’m hoping it’s clean and you have something you can sleep in. Lock the door when you come back. It’s the first room on the right,” she said as she headed upstairs.
“I’m sure I do, I’ll be right up,” he said as he went out to his car and came back with a t-shirt, a pair of gym shorts, and clothes for the next day.
When he got upstairs, Harley was in the bathroom, so he quickly changed and laid his clothes for the next day out on the chair against the wall. A few minutes later, Harley came out of the bathroom in boxers and a tank top.
“Do you always wear that to bed?” Gus asked, remembering it was what she was wearing the other night too.
“Usually, but I have other things for special occasions,” she teased and she brushed her hair. “Is that what you always wear?” she asked pointing to his shorts and t-shirt.
“Not even close,” he said as he came up behind her and kissed her neck.
They climbed into bed and Gus wrapped his arms around her body as she laid her head on his chest.
“Now this is perfect,” he whispered before he kissed her and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
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Post by Jen on Jul 12, 2004 22:00:54 GMT -5
Harley fell asleep in Gus’s arms, but when she woke up a few hours later, he wasn’t in bed with her anymore. She sat up and called his named quietly, then heard him lightly snoring at the foot of the bed. She crawled to the end of the bed and looked down at him. He had grabbed the square pillow and small blanket off of the chair Harley had in her room and had made his bed on the floor.
Harley reached down and ran her finger along his neck. When he stirred, she said, “Oh great, you snore!”
“Do not!” he said as he opened his eyes slowly.
“You do too, but maybe it’s just the hard wood floor. What are you doing down there?”
“I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable or freak out when you woke up with me next to you,” he answered quietly.
She grabbed his hand, “Get up here,” she said as she pulled him back up onto the bed. “I want to wake up next to you,” she said as she kissed him and snuggled closer to him.
“Well, who am I to argue with a smart lady?” he teased.
Harley looked at the alarm clock behind her.
“Dad’s bringing Zach home around 9, so we have to be up and dressed before that,” she informed him.
“Oh good, so we have like 3 hours of sleep left,” Gus replied. “You know, I could get used to this,” he said as he kissed her gently on the lips.
“Me too,” Harley said, “and to be honest, it scares me a little.”
“Don’t be scared. Not of me and not of us. Remember we’re going to take this slow. If you think it’s getting to be too much, tell me and we’ll work it out. But please don’t be so afraid that you don’t give us a chance.”
Haley sighed, “Please don’t break my heart,” she begged almost inaudibly.
“I’m not planning on it, ever,” Gus promised her, then after a long pause, he continued, “Tell me what happened with Phillip.”
Harley looked up at him, and he could see the pain in her eyes at the mention of Phillip, “Not right now,” she said, “That might be more of a second date conversation,” she added.
“Oh.”
“So that can be when? Like tomorrow?” she asked with a smile.
Gus laughed, “Whenever you want me, you got me. How about we spend today together, with Zach. We can go to the park and have a picnic or something.”
“That would be wonderful, but Zach has swimming lessons at 11 and I promised Blake and Cassie I would have dinner with them. Ross is going to watch Zach,” Harley replied, “But maybe we can do the park and picnic thing Sunday?”
“You got it,” Gus said as he brushed some hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. “Now let’s get those three hours of sleep so you’re all rested up for the interrogation you’re going to get from your father and Frank and Blake and Cassie later,” he teased.
“Well, they can interrogate all they want, I don’t care what they think or say. I am right where I want to be, and they are not going to change that,” she assured him. “Besides, Blake and Cassie were the ones telling me to take a chance with you.”
“Oh really? Some more smart ladies.”
Harley laughed and yawned at the same time. Gus took Harley’s hand and threaded his fingers through hers.
“Perfect match,” he observed, then kissed her cheek, “Good night again.”
“Night,” Harley replied and they quickly fell back asleep.
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A little after eight that morning, Harley woke up snuggled against Gus’s chest with his arm flung over her body. For a moment, she had to stop and think about where she was and what she had done, or not done, the night before. Her mind cleared and she settled back into Gus’s arms, with a content smile on her face. She had completely forgotten that Buzz would be bringing Zach home in less than an hour until the phone next to the bed rang, bringing Harley back to reality and waking Gus. Harley rolled over and grabbed the phone from the nightstand.
“Hello,” she said sleepily as she sat up.
“Good morning!” Blake’s perky voice came through the phone, “I just wanted to see how last night went and make sure we’re still on for tonight.”
“Hey,” Harley replied as Gus sat up beside her and began kissing her neck, “Hold on one second,” she said as she covered the mouthpiece of the phone and kissed Gus good morning. “Shh,” she said as she placed a finger over his lips and went back to talking to Blake.
“Sorry. Yes, we’re still on for tonight,” she replied. “We’ll be over around six.”
“Okay, so how was last night?” Blake asked again.
“Good. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Good? That’s all you’re going to say?”
“For now,” Harley replied.
“Is he there?” Blake asked, “My God, did you sleep with him?”
“I’ll see you tonight. Bye Blake,” Harley said as she hung up the phone and turned towards Gus.
“Does she know I’m here,” he asked.
“Probably.”
“Uh oh,” Gus said as he laid back against the pillows again, pulling Harley with him.
“I can’t believe I’m letting you see what I look like first thing in the morning after our first date,” she laughed as she pushed her hair behind her ears.
“I know. You’re so hideous I can barely stand to look at you,” Gus said as he ran his finger down her cheekbone and kissed the tip of her nose.
He moved his hand from behind her back and ran it down the side of her body until he hit the skin of her leg where her shorts ended. He teased her skin with his fingertips as he kissed her deeply. Harley melted under his touch and kissed him passionately. Gus’s hand traveled up her leg under her shorts as her fingernails scraped the skin of his lower back. She could feel herself falling away and stopped this contact before it was impossible.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she pulled away, “I gotta get up. Zach will be home soon.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Gus apologized, “I shouldn’t have-”
“Don’t,” Harley stopped him. “I’ll take a quick shower and then you can,” she said as she kissed him quickly, then crawled out of bed and went into the bathroom. She knew the first part of her shower would have to be cold.
God, what that man made her want to do, she thought as she stepped into the shower and turned on the water. She closed her eyes as she thought back on the last twelve hours with Gus. Dinner was wonderful and the beach was even better, even though they got rained on. For Harley, the best part of the night was just talking to Gus. He was so easy to open up to and he actually listened to what she said. As she reached over and shut off the water, Harley knew that if their first date was any indication of what their relationship would be like, she would never regret giving Gus a chance.
While he was waiting for Harley to get out of the shower, Gus occupied himself with a photo album he found sticking out from under the bed. It was Zach’s baby book and most of the beginning of his life was filled in, his birth announcement, his length, weight, eye color, all the statistics, but after his first birthday, there were only a few pictures and memories. He looked under the bed again, found a box of photographs and looked through them. Most of them were of Zach, some of Harley, Zach and Phillip, a few of Zach and Susan.
Gus looked up when he heard the bathroom door open. Harley came out in a short silk robe, drying her hair with a towel.
Gus held up a picture of Susan and Zach, “She looks just like you,” he said.
Harley looked at the picture and sat down next to him on the bed, “That’s what everyone says.”
“Does she visit you a lot?”
Harley shook her head, “It’s hard for her, with what happened to Jim and everything,” she explained. She had told Gus about Susan’s adoptive parents both dying, but left out anything having to do with Phillip or Beth.
“I’m sure that’s hard for you, not seeing her,” Gus said.
“It is,” Harley replied, “but I talk to her a lot on the phone.”
“I hope you don’t mind, I found this under the bed,” Gus said, flipping through Zach’s baby book.
“Zach’s unfinished baby book,” Harley laughed. “It kind of got forgotten for awhile. I’ve been trying to catch up.”
“What’s this?” Gus asked as he pointed to a picture of Zach and Harley with cake all over their faces.
“That was Zach’s second birthday. The first party. I got Zach with some cake on his face, he got me and before I knew it we were both covered,” she explained.
“You look cute covered in icing,” Gus teased. “Did you say the first party?”
“Yeah, we had one for him at Company where everyone was invited, but of course Alan refused to come and he had to throw Zach an even better party at the mansion, so he had two.”
“I see, and these are the pictures from the Spaulding party?” Gus asked as he pointed to a picture of a clown making faces at Zach who was crying.
“Yep, clowns, magicians, a piñata. The whole works. Zach was scared to death of the clown- he cried the whole time.”
“I don’t blame him. Clowns are scary for little kids. I don’t know why people think they’re cute or funny,” Gus said.
Harley laughed, “So I shouldn’t get a clown for your birthday?”
“Definitely not,” he replied.
“When is your birthday?” she asked.
“April.”
“I just missed it,” she replied and he nodded. “There’s always next year,” she added as she rested her chin on his shoulder.
He looked over at her and smiled, “Yeah,” he said as he kissed her.
“I should go get that shower now, huh?” he asked as he looked at the clock that read 8:40.
“Yeah,” Harley said as she got off the bed. “There’s a towel in there for you to use.”
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