Three Nights

Kensi sighed as she surveyed the king-size bed in the undercover house. It was one thing to work all day with Deeks, trading insults and chasing bad guys, but posing as a married couple in suburbia was really pushing it. Hetty's warnings about the strains of forced intimacy rose up in her mind.

She squared her shoulders. I can do this. I'm a professional. She unzipped her garment bag and hung some clothes in the closet. Sure, she had stayed overnight at Deeks' apartment and vice versa. It was part of their partnership "thing" – being there for each other after a crappy day or when an operation went south. Unwinding over a few beers and a silly movie.

This was different. Having to act all lovey-dovey. Share a bathroom and a bed. A bed, for crying out loud. Hetty should pay me more for this.

At Deeks' apartment, she'd fallen asleep on the couch, sometimes with him and sometimes without, but that was because he didn't want her to drive after drinking. That was just common sense, wasn't it? Or was it something more that neither one of them wanted to acknowledge at the time?

Deeks sauntered into the bedroom, interrupting her self-analysis, and dropped a box on the floor. He then bounced onto the bed like a ten-year-old on a backyard trampoline.

"Yep, can't wait to christen this nice comfy bed tonight. What do you think, Fern?" He wore his usual goofy grin.

"Don't call me that." She narrowed her eyes at him.

Deeks put his hand over his heart and pretended to be crushed. "Aw, sweetie, honey, we could make a little ninja assassin right here. A little Marty or a little Kensi." He ran his hand over the striped comforter.

Kensi glared at him. Probably any number of beach bimbos or yoga bunnies would love to trade places with her. On some level - one she didn't want to examine right now - that thought disturbed her.

"Deeks, shut up. We need to get out and meet the neighbors so we can identify this Russian agent. Then I can get back to my normal life."

"What's normal about our lives, Kensi? We hunt criminals, lie to people, and sleep with a gun under our pillow."

Kensi stood with her hands on her hips. "Okay, I'll give you that. But this seems weird, too."

"Hip young couple in the 'burbs seems weird? What planet are you from? Never mind, that was a rhetorical question."

DING-dong.

Deeks jumped up and took her arm. "Come on, honey. Time to play the loving couple."

11:50 p.m.

They had met the neighbors on either side, gone grocery shopping, and eaten dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant. Deeks was propped up in bed wearing a tee shirt and pajama bottoms. He was working on his tablet.

Well, working, was a loose term. He'd checked e-mail and started reading a file from Hetty. But the sound of the water running in the shower distracted him. He imagined Kensi's perfect body naked and lathered up with some flowery-scented gel. He groaned and closed Hetty's file. To drag his mind out of the gutter, he pulled up a game where he could aggressively hunt down and decimate space aliens. Oh yeah, that was better.

Kensi ran the brush through her long hair and studied her reflection in the mirror. In the bedroom, she heard Deeks playing a game. Every few seconds it was "Take that, you slimy bastard!" or "Eat my dust!" or some other juvenile comment. She smiled and shook her head. She could almost picture her and Deeks living like this, a normal couple, annoying each other and sharing inside jokes.

Whoa, where did that come from? She frowned at herself. She was just tired and stressed out about the next few days. Hetty's warnings about unfamiliar feelings and emotions again flitted through her head. She needed to get her defenses back up and focus on the job. This was a job, after all and not a vacation. She turned off the light and entered the bedroom.

"Who said you could take the left side?" she demanded.

Deeks looked up and smiled. No doubt about it. His partner was hot. Like Las-Vegas-sidewalk-in-August hot. Her hair was loose and wavy, just the way he liked it. His eyes slid over her body-hugging tank top and sleep shorts.

Viven. She wore those on purpose to torture me. He wondered if he could share this bed with her for who knew how many nights and not cross their invisible line. A man could only take so much.

"I always sleep on the left." He closed the tablet and set it on the nightstand.

"Says who?"

"Come to bed, Kensi. We've had a long day." He patted the space beside him. "I'll even fluff your pillow." He grabbed one and started punching it.

"That's ridiculous. It doesn't need fluffing because my head has not even touched it."

Deeks smirked. He enjoyed nothing better than pushing Kensi's buttons.

"I want you to have a good night's sleep, that's all."

Kensi stalked over to Deeks and snatched the pillow, holding it against her chest like a shield. "Goodnight, Deeks." She retreated to the right side of the bed and flopped down, promptly rolling away from Deeks.

"What, no goodnight kiss?" He sounded so pathetic that she couldn't help but smile. Not that she'd let him see that. Instead, she snorted and adjusted the pillow.

Unable to leave it alone, Deeks plows ahead. "You know, they say you shouldn't go to bed mad."

"I've always wondered who 'they' were," Kensi murmured.

"All the relationship experts."

"You don't have to worry your shaggy head over it since we are not in a relationship."

Deeks turned off the bedside light, plunging the room into darkness. He slid down onto his back and put his hands behind his head. "Fern, that was cruel."

No response from Kensi's side, but Deeks smiled to himself. We are in a relationship, but you're too stubborn to admit it yet. No problem. I can wait.