Title: After

Author: elfluvr

Summary: It had been almost a year since a night in Roosevelt Park had left him with no appetite for other women. Follows "Gamesmanship."

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Dick Wolf, René Balcer and the actors who bring them to life. The locations (and the cab driver) belong to New York City. No harm intended, no money made.

Archive: Fanfiction - anywhere else, just ask

Feedback: Please! It's always welcome

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 1 – After

"Eames. Look at this picture." He turned the yearbook upside down from his vantage point and handed it across the desks to his partner, Detective Alex Eames.

She studied the photo then gave him a questioning look. "His brother would have known."

Bobby Goren nodded his head. "He knew. He knew about Dennis' … attractions and he … he used it to set him up."

"But the same woman? I still can't believe …" Eames stopped talking and looked up past his shoulder. From the corner of his eye, Goren saw someone standing next to his chair and turned his head to see …

"Jenni!"

He stood up so fast his chair rolled and hit the desk behind him. "Wha-What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to surprise you, Robert, and it looks like I succeeded." Her eyes darted to Eames and back before she gave him a slow smile. "I thought I'd liberate you long enough to have an enjoyable lunch." He heard the suggestiveness in her voice – he only hoped that Alex missed it.

"Ahh, Jenni …" Goren waved his hand toward his desk and his partner, "We're right in the middle of …"

Eames snapped the yearbook shut with a thud. "We're done here."

Thanks a lot, Eames. The two women eyed each other and he had no choice. "Uh … this is my partner, Alex Eames. Jenni Lorah."

"Pleased to meet you," Jenni said while resting her hand on his upper arm.

"Hello." Not good. That one word held the tone she reserved for particularly offensive suspects.

"Robert, I have a cab waiting. I thought we could just go to lunch at my place," again with a sultry voice.

"Go ahead, Robert. You two have fun." With that, Eames got up and headed toward the stairs. He could only assume she was looking for the fastest way out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the short cab ride to Jenni's place, Bobby thought about how he needed to have a talk with her – tell her to slow down. Or maybe end it all together. She was getting way too serious, going from zero to sixty in no time flat.

He'd met her a little over a month ago while at the library researching the narcotic effects of some obscure plant he'd found in a suspect's apartment. She sat across the table from him and they exchanged courteous smiles of greeting before each turned back to their own reading material. Half an hour later he looked up to see her still there.

Attractive. Even seated she appeared to be tall, with long brunette hair and a full figure. Totally different from …

"I'm sorry," she caught him staring. "Do I remind you of someone?"

"Uh, no. I'm the one who should apologize. I shouldn't be staring."

"That's okay," she smiled. "I've had the advantage of staring at you for the last half hour while you were engrossed in your book."

And that was how it started. By the second date he knew he wanted to sleep with her – by the third date he did.

Not his usual style. But it had been almost a year since a night in Roosevelt Park had left him with no appetite for other women, and it had actually been a few months before that since he'd been with anyone.

He probably had only himself to blame for her … zeal. There was a reason he usually resisted getting too physical too soon. But even so, she was getting uncomfortably attached. She'd taken to calling him at least once a day. There were times he saw her number on the display and let it roll to voice mail. When that happened, she'd continue calling throughout the day until he either picked up or returned her call.

The final indication that something needed to change came the night before last. He'd managed to get home at a decent hour, changed into sweats and a tee-shirt, and opened a beer. Planning to settle in with some reading and music, he was surprised by a knock at his door. Jenni had talked her way past the doorman – the guy would definitely hear about that – and showed up with microwave popcorn and a DVD in hand.

His initial annoyance gave way to some optimism. Maybe this would be a good thing … something sort of homey and normal. They could watch a movie (How'd she manage to get one of his favorites?), talk … find out how much they really had in common. But somehow the popcorn never got eaten and they never saw the end of the movie.

And then came his biggest mistake of all – he let her stay the night. Well, actually, it would have been boorish of him to ask her to leave, again not his style. The real mistake was having sex with her at his apartment in the first place. Before this, they'd always been at her place or, uh … elsewhere. Situations where, after an appropriate amount of time, he could use the excuse of work to leave her at her place and sleep alone in his own bed.

The next morning, she left at dawn so he could get ready for work. It was during that process that he realized just how big a mistake he'd made. He opened his medicine cabinet to find that she'd left a toothbrush and other personal items behind – she was moving in.

And now today … showing up unannounced at his work and creating the totally uncomfortable situation of Eames knowing about her.

Not wanting to discuss this in the squad room and not wanting the cab driver to overhear, he waited until they were in her apartment with the door closed. Lunch never got eaten, and the conversation never happened.

Jenni was persistent and … skilled. She knew how to use her skills to get what she wanted from his body. It was a quick physical release, totally devoid of any true satisfaction for his body or soul. He left immediately after, using the worn-out excuse of work. She didn't seem to mind.

In the cab on the way back to One PP, Bobby realized that, for him, it never was anything more than physical. He also realized that was the last time he would have sex with her. He would end it in the next couple of days – amicably, he hoped.

As he turned the corner from the elevators on the eleventh floor, he saw Eames sitting at her desk talking on the phone. She didn't so much as glance at him when he sat down across from her – not even when she hung up the phone and started tapping away on her laptop.

"Eames …" he began, but really didn't know what else to say. He just needed her to look at him.

Alex got up from her chair and Bobby thought she was walking out on him. Instead she came to his side of the desks, reached into his bottom drawer and pulled out the small bottle she knew he kept there. Placing it squarely in front of him on the desk, she leaned down and spoke in a low voice so only he would hear. "You smell of her."

Then she walked out on him, leaving him staring at his bottle of cologne.

TBC …