"I'm tired of going through these files. C'mon."
I looked up from my own two foot pile of manila folders as Danny sauntered over to my desk. We'd pulled New Year's Eve duty together—seems like it was the favorite night for people to up and disappear and we were on call for the local authorities. Since the night had been quiet so far, we'd been—encouraged—by Jack to use the down time to clean out some old cases and get them ready to be boxed for cold storage. Not the way I'd wanted to spend New Year's, but at least I was with the one person I wanted to be with, even if it had to be all business.
I stood up and tried not to smile at him—but it was hard. "Yeah? Wanna stretch your legs, get some coffee?"
Danny cocked his head to one side and gave me a sly half-grin that had me swallowing hard. It was a look I recognized.
"Something like that."
I gestured toward my chair. "Do I need my jacket?"
The grin widened. "Definitely not."
With a shrug that looked a lot more casual than I felt, I followed him down and the hall and into the elevator where he pressed the button for the eighth floor. We stood the requisite two feet apart, our hands clasped behind our backs and our eyes fixed on the middle distance. The door opened and I trailed after him once again, finally figuring out our final destination as we approached the end of the hall. With a finger to his lips and a wink in my direction, Danny eased open the door to the supply room. Just before he hooked his hand around my wrist, I had a chance to glance at my watch—11:57. Things in Times Square were probably pretty wild right now, but that was probably the last place on earth I'd want to be.
We left most of the lights off and I let him pull me past the metal racks filled with paper and pens and toner and all that other crap—I think I'd only been in here once before. Danny was still leading me, his grip slipping down so that we were handfast as we worked our way to the dusty northeast corner of the building.
"Here," he said finally, pulling up next to a small, dirty window. "If you look out this window with your head kinda turned this way—" he tilted his head to an improbable angle and peered out the through the grimy glass "—and you close one eye, you can almost imagine you can see Times Square from here."
There was just enough light from the fluorescent bulb near the door for me to see the softly teasing smile on his face as he straightened up to place his hands low on my hips and pull me close. No, we couldn't see a thing, but I could imagine that damn ball descending just as our lips met in our first New Year's kiss. I could practically hear the crowds chanting as my mouth opened, as his tongue slipped in to caress mine in a gesture so tender I couldn't suppress the sigh that rose inside me. There were probably fireworks now, but they were nothing compared the flare of desire between us as my hand skimmed up his strongly muscled back to trickle through the hair at the nape of his neck.
"Happy New Year," I whispered against his mouth. He kissed me again and then hugged me close enough to place his lips against my ear.
"Happy New Year, Martin," he murmured. "Know what? I think this new year is gonna be the best one ever."
I closed my eyes and held him tighter, wishing I could believe him. "Yeah?" I said hoarsely. "You sure?"
A small kiss was placed on my neck. "Positive. Now let's get back to those files before we're evaluating our retail abilities again."
I faked a shudder and let him go. "Enough said. Let's go."
We'd just reached the door when Danny stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. "Later, right?"
The little hitch of insecurity I heard in his voice hurt—he wasn't as sure of me as he should've been. I nodded firmly, reaching up to brush the back of my knuckles against his cheek. "Definitely."
The half-grin reappeared.
"Cool."
Three minutes later, we were back at our desks. Jack had decreed that we could leave after one, so as I worked through the pile of dead cases, I kept one eye on the clock. Danny had assured me the best year ever, and tonight wasn't too soon for him to make good on that promise.
I couldn't wait.
It's all Tiriel's fault. *vbg*
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