Author's note: AU extension of Broken Wind (3x20)
Girl With Lilies
They were the first thing Paige noticed when she walked into the garage.
A vase of pure white calla lilies, reminding her of a Diego Rivera painting
she'd once seen, sitting on the corner of her desk.
She knew immediately who had put them there. Though she was confident the
whole team had heard her declare the flowers as her favorite when she and
Happy had been dangling 150 feet off the ground in the gondola. . . Only
one of them would have filed that fact away in his brain.
He was at his desk, his eyes glued to his laptop screen as if his life
depended on it. They had stayed late the night before, going over the wedding
to-do list. Commiserating over the fact Happy had done nothing so far, except
to compose the list.
Wedding Partners in Crime. Late nights. Weekends. Whatever it took. She'd
smiled when he'd said it last night and she smiled as she remembered the
hopefulness in his voice as he'd said it.
He'd shared the neatly organized binder of Best Man research he'd done.
She'd chuckled over his obsession with details, marveling at the time and
effort he'd spent on it, not even knowing if Toby would ask him (but still
arrogantly certain the shrink would). It made her wonder if he was as meticulous
in other areas of his life. Like when he. . .
Her skin flushed with heat. She gave herself a shake as she took off her
coat and stuffed her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk. Taking her
seat, she reached out and moved the vase of flowers closer. A faint, sweet
scent tickled her nose.
She fussed with the flowers, straightening an already straight leaf, curling
an already curled petal. When she looked up, he'd given up any pretense
of doing anything else but watching her. A shiver ran through her, unnerved
a little by the raw need she glimpsed in his stare.
He quickly averted his gaze, but not before she noticed the flicker of
fear underneath his desire. With one last tweak of the calla lilies, she
moved the vase back to the corner of her desk. Sneaking another peek at
Walter, she watched as his mouth twisted into a grin as he kept his eyes
trained on his computer.
Biting her lip, she closed her eyes. Just when she thought she couldn't
fall any further, he proved her wrong.
A girl could get used to being wrong.
