My first venture outside my usual Danny/Lindsay world – which is scary but the Flack/Angell moment in the car was just too cute for me to pass up. It's so strange even just typing Flack/Angell! Hope there are others out there who found it just as cute as I did. Thanks to mel60 for the tremendous beta-help!
He walked through the hallways like he owned them. That was definitely it. That's the reason she couldn't stop looking at him, Jennifer Angell convinced herself. 'Him' being Detective Don Flack. The same Flack who, up until a few weeks ago, had barely registered on her radar.
But ever since they were assigned to trail a suspect together he had definitely left an impression. It was odd how their paths rarely crossed before then, but they just seemed to travel in different circles within the police department. Outside of a cordial 'hello' in the break room they'd never had a significant conversation, but she had always thought of him as a nice guy and good detective.
Jennifer didn't fluster easily – a lifetime with four older brothers and daily confrontations with criminals did that to a woman. So when Flack had flirted with her in the car she'd been surprised but easily teased him back, leaving him the one blushing. It didn't matter that a tingle had traveled through her body at his words about boys noticing her. She was pretty sure he had a girlfriend – one that she remembered hearing had even been involved in a high profile case awhile back. And even if he was single, wasn't inter-office dating usually a big danger zone?
They'd resumed their brief exchanges - although they seemed to bump into each other more frequently - but there was no denying how aware of him she'd become or how her heart sped up when they did talk. She'd teased him about trying his 'game' out on her but the reality was he didn't need much game to get a woman's attention. Even now with his usually sharp suit crumpled from a long day he still looked sexy as hell. Sexy? Did I just say sexy?
How had she never noticed this, she wondered. She'd been too focused on her work, she supposed. Having a detective sergeant for a father had built-in expectations that were tough to meet and being a female cop in a man's world only added to the pressure. It had taken her just three years to be promoted to detective, leaving little time to notice the opposite sex. She found herself surprised that Flack would be the one to break that spell.
Even from her desk, at the opposite end of the precinct as his, she could see his mouth was pursed, his features taut, deep in thought. Definitely a nice mouth. The rest of him wasn't bad either, she thought, watching him toss a hot dog wrapper and coffee cup into the trash. Lean, clean features and striking blue eyes combining to create the epitome of tall, dark and handsome.
Yup, definitely sexy, she thought with a shiver that had nothing to do with the office temperature. Shaking her head, laughing at herself and standing up, she decided it was definitely time to head home.
"I never pegged you as a Sudoku woman."
Angell instantly recognized Flack's voice coming from behind her and looked at the book of puzzles in her hand that helped her unwind on her subway ride home. Though unwinding was the last thing on her mind whenever Flack was around. She'd come to both despise and welcome what his nearness brought – a stirring in her stomach, an uncontrollable urge to smile, a mild loss of control of her heart rate, a ridiculous amount of goose bumps. While she enjoyed the pleasant sensations, she hated the lack of payoff her body seemingly anticipated - and would probably never come Jennifer assumed.
Doing her best to not reveal his effect on her, she stopped and turned to face him, crossing her arms. "I didn't realize you'd been pegging me at all," she said with a smirk.
Flack laughed. He didn't know much about Jennifer Angell but he knew she'd have some sort of comeback for him. He also knew that she intrigued him. That's why, when he saw her leaving, he discreetly jogged across the room to catch up to her. He felt like he was in high school again, scoping out the cute girl during class. Catching a glimpse of her in the corner, bumping into her at the lunch. And it seemed with every glimpse he got, the more intrigued he became.
During their hour in the car a few weeks back he was surprised to learn how much they had in common. Similar rise up the ranks, they could trade endless stories about working with the same CSIs, and as the son of a NYPD legend he even knew what it meant to live in a shadow of expectations. He would be lying if he said he hadn't noticed her before. Any male would have to be blind to not notice an attractive female working across the room on a daily basis. But he guessed chance and circumstance kept them from interacting in any way other than professionally.
And other than professionally is exactly how he'd been thinking about her. He did his best to ignore the wave of arousal that washed over him or how his usually steady hands slightly shook at her proximity or how, at times, all he could focus on were her very kissable lips. Despite his best efforts at ignoring all this he usually failed. Until he figured out how to succeed he would just continue his one-sided game of pursuit.
"I prefer the New York Times crossword puzzle myself."
"Smarty pants," she said, turning and continuing to walk down the hall. Flack sped up to walk in line with her.
"Are you ever not eating?" Angell asked when Flack unwrapped a Snickers bar. Ever since he'd become a fixture in her peripheral vision she'd noticed he was more often than not consuming some sort of food item.
"Hey," Flack replied defensively. "I'm a growing boy, what can I say."
"At least you're not perpetuating the stereotype by eating doughnuts."
"You should have seen my breakfast. Two boston creams, freshly baked. I have no problem with stereotypes if it means keeping me well fed."
Angell smiled. "How's the Quick Mart case going?"
Flack had been assigned to a homicide at a convenience store and excitedly shared the unusual way he solved it. "You're never going to believe this. The perp's girlfriend was with him and thinking it would be cool to win, she filled out a contest entry form for a free ipod on the counter - complete with her name, address, and phone number. We picked both of them up a couple of hours ago."
"Wow," Angell said. "The stupidity of the criminals in this city will never cease to amaze me."
Neither Flack nor Angell had noticed that they had ended up outside the building, Flack's Snickers long finished.
"So…" Angell hesitated, unsure why things suddenly felt awkward, as if there were unspoken expectations hanging in the air. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, sure." Flack said reluctantly, wanting to prolong their conversation.
Before either of them could leave an elderly man came up to them, thrusting a rose in front of Flack.
"Buy a rose for your girlfriend," he said with a thick European accent. "Only one dollar."
Flack usually brushed these street vendors off without a second thought but he couldn't help but smile this time as he fished a dollar out of his pocket.
"You know that's the second person to think that, Angell." Flack handed the rose to her.
"Think what?"
"That you're my girlfriend."
Angell swallowed hard. Heat flamed into her face, from embarrassment and something more as she remembered the woman they'd trailed also referring to her as Flack's girlfriend. Reminding herself that she did not get flustered she said, "You'd never pass as my boyfriend."
"Oh yeah? Why's that?"
"Pretty boys aren't my type."
"So that means you think I'm pretty?" Eyes narrowing, Flack tried hard to assess the woman standing in front of him despite his teasing. What was it about Jennifer Angell that had him experiencing an unusual pull, seemingly tightening by the minute, at the same moment that an alarm sounded in the back of his mind that he shouldn't care if he was her type? He didn't get as far as he had in this line of work by ignoring his instincts, which were screaming at him to act on his attraction. But he couldn't quite read Angell – get a clear signal from her – just yet.
"Thanks for the rose," Angell said with a laugh, hoping to change the subject. The last thing she wanted was for Flack to ask her what her type was and have her description sound suspiciously like him.
"Anytime."
"You're staring," Angell said, disconcerted at the way his eyes settled on her.
"You're not moving."
"Oh…right. Okay, I'm moving…I'm going now." Angell felt herself on the verge of babbling so she knew it was time to end the conversation. "Bye."
"Have a good night Angell."
Stopping and turning around Angell called out before Don entered the building, "Flack."
"Yeah?"
"You can call me Jennifer, you know."
Flack smiled. "Okay. Jennifer. See you tomorrow." It was just a name, no big deal Flack knew. But maybe that was just the signal he was waiting for.