More, More, More

Matthew had felt something with Dr. Harvey for a while now. The way she looked at him, the way their eyes would meet, the way his stomach seemed to constrict whenever her sharp voice was directed at him. He didn't quite know what it was or what it might be, all he knew was that he wanted more.

One afternoon, Lucien was mercifully off…somewhere. Matthew came to the morgue to discuss an autopsy report with Dr. Harvey, and she was all alone with the corpses.

"Dr. Harvey, I wanted to thank you for the detail in your report."

She looked at him curiously. "Just doing my job, sir."

"You can call me Matthew," he replied, instantly cursing himself for his informality. He was on the job, for Christ's sake!

But she didn't seem offended; she blushed ever so slightly. "Well, I'm glad you appreciate detail, Matthew."

The way her voice tripped over the syllables of his name was like a drug to him. More, more, more, the voice in his head screamed. "Yes, Lucien tends to be a bit scant in the report and then just tells me the details of his findings at the station. It's much easier to have it in writing."

"Yes, well, I'm not about to run over to the police station every time I do an autopsy for you," she replied pragmatically.

"You're always welcome to come by. I'd like to see you more," he told her softly, placing his hand gently on her arm.

She jerked away from him with a gasp.

"Oh, sorry!" Matthew muttered, taking a few steps back, feeling ill for obviously coming on too strong, making unwelcome advances on her.

"No, I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I'm just not used to people touching me. Men don't seem to ever want to." She averted her gaze, ashamed at her own horrible awkwardness. Matthew was just being friendly, and she'd made a mess of things, as usual.

"I can't believe that's true," he replied in slight astonishment. "I mean…you're very lovely, Alice." Her given name just fell out of his mouth. "Dr. Harvey," he corrected. "I shouldn't have…it was unwelcome, I apologize."

She gave a gentle smile. "Please call me Alice. And it wasn't unwelcome. Just…unfamiliar. I could get used to it."

Matthew felt his insides grow warm. His mind was full of fluff, and he couldn't think straight. "Right. Well. Thank you for the report…Alice."

"It's my pleasure, Matthew," she replied softly.

Matthew Lawson limped out of the morgue with the biggest grin he'd ever had. Alice wasn't used to being touched. But she said she could get used to it. He'd be slow and gentle and help her get used to it. More, more, more. Yes, that was on the way.