Title: Cooking

Disclaimer: These don't belong to me, just borrowing them

Pairing: Benson/Cabot (though if you're reading this and still haven't figured it out…come on)

A/N: Part Four (wow) of my "Actions" series. First is "Running", Second is "Dancing" and third is "Inviting". And any mistakes are my own, this is un-beta'd

-=-

Olivia bounced her leg, looking up at the clock for the hundredth time in the last two minutes. Nope, the minute hand still hadn't moved much farther then it did the last time she'd looked. Maybe that was a good thing, put off going to this. It was one of the few times that she wished for a crime scene…though she then felt extremely guilty for wishing harm on an innocent just so she'd get out of a dinner.

'Maybe just a simple kidnapping where we'll find the guy in say…four hours with everyone fine and the guy would go quietly?' By then she'd be too late to go and no one would be hurt. Good all around.

Frustration peaking Olivia stood up and walked over to the coffee pot, glaring down into the sludgy depths and rethinking her plans for coffee. 'I'm twitchy as is…this stuff would probably make me have a heart attack. Well then I'd have an excuse.' Shaking her head again she poured some hot water into a mug and went over to her locker, pulling out a small box of teabags she kept in there just in case. Dunking one into the water she walked back to her desk and sat back down, turning her attention onto the piles of paperwork in front of her. 'There's no way I can focus on these. I can barely do that on a good day.' She wondered if she was blowing this out of proportion. It was just dinner with a friend and her niece, just two colleagues eating together.

'Except I want to kiss said colleague until neither of us can breath…and damn near did that last week.'

Her phone going off startled the detective badly, drawing a raised eyebrow from her partner who'd been watching her with growing confusion and worry for the past ten minutes.

"Benson," She gruffed into the phone, before clearing her throat and saying it again.

"Olivia?"

"Yes?" The voice was high and unfamiliar, puckering Olivia's brows as she tried to figure out who was on the line.

"Hi, it's Danny. I was calling to see if you were still gonna make it tonight."

"Dan…Oh hi Danny." Moment of truth. 'I could always just say that something has come up, not like she'd know.' A pair of puppy dog blue/green eyes swam into her memory and Olivia sighed. "Yeah I am. I'll be leaving work in a few minutes."

"COOL!" Olivia jerked the phone away quickly as Elliot's head snapped up. "Great, I'll tell Aunty Lexy you're on your way. Be careful, see you. Bye."

"Bye," Olivia barely got out before Danny hung up. She was left staring at the phone in confusion before flipping it closed.

"Who was that?" Elliot asked.

"That was Alex's niece, Danielle. She had invited me to dinner and was calling me to see if I was still coming." She looked up to see his face still fully confused and went on to tell him about yesterday in the coffee shop.

"Ahh that's cute," Elliot finally said, earning a paper ball to the head. "Is that what's had you so jittery today."

"I have not been jittery." It was a bald face lie, they both knew it but she'd be damned if she were going to outright admit to it.

"Uh huh, sure. Whatever you say, Liv," Elliot mumbled, easily ignoring the dirty glare thrown his way. "Go ahead and get outta here. I'll finish up here."

Olivia paused, shuffling the papers on her desk. She couldn't bring herself to move even though she knew she needed to. She was nervous as all hell, but maybe there was nothing to be nervous about. Maybe this was the perfect chance to get back to how they used to be, just two friends hanging out. Yeah, everything would be fine.

'Just keep telling yourself that Benson.'