The Whys and Wherefores

Mac Taylor admitted to being a creature of habit. He was analytical and methodical on and off the job. For him, that meant lists: what evidence was collected, how it was collected, who collected it.

That was just one instance. Check his desk and you would see lists on pads, all of it neatly organized. Unless it was something confidential and then it was locked away with a very short list of people allowed access.

In his personal life, he made grocery lists and to-do lists of errands. Mac, however, wasn't tied to paper. He relied on mental lists too. Sometime he preferred them because they were private.

Like the list he was making now while lying on his back with one arm folded under his head. He stared at his bedroom ceiling pondering the list he'd titled: "Why Mac Taylor should avoid intimate involvement with Stella Bonasera."

Reason number one, he was technically her boss, though no one really bossed Stella. He decided almost immediately that wasn't a valid thing to include on the list. After all, he had gone out with Jillian Whitford and she outranked him in the chain of command.

He started to add his next item: he was too old for Stella. However, that sounded too depressing to Mac. He amended it to Stella was too young for him. He could already hear her arguing that chronologically it was true, but she possessed an ancient soul. Who was Mac to argue with the Fates? That had him crossing that argument off his list.

Okay, here was one that had to be on there. Their involvement could hamper career advancement for Stella. Yes, he decided that was valid even though her conviction rate made that unlikely. Besides, they were already co-bosses in many areas.

They were too much alike: strong willed and unbending. There should be contrasts, softness and...

His thoughts were interrupted as he rubbed his nose where it felt like an itch. He shook his head slightly to calm the urge. It didn't work because it wasnt there. The hand that came out from behind his head touched a stray ringlet trying to tickle his nose.

The shooing away of that long brown hair turned into a light caress. That led to a husky voice humming, "MMMMMac"

Mac instinctively tightened his other arm around the sleeping woman. Stella was safe in the circle of his left arm and nestled over his heart. He felt her nuzzle his chest. That lush body draped itself closer to his bare body as she continued to sleep.

He mentally ripped up the previous list and instead drifted off to sleep enumerating Stella's many assets starting with her satiny, soft skin covered only by a sheet and his possessive hold Next, came her long, legs tangled with his...before he could finish the head to toe mental appreciation Mac fell asleep with a smile playing over his face.

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A/N: My first CSI:NY story and first thing I've published on this site. I hope to be active here and that people enjoy my point of view and my pairings.