FIC: Competition, PG, 1/1
Title: Competition
Rating: PG
Summary: Of all the sexist things Jim could have said, that’s the one thing that makes Catherine want curl into his arms and stay there forever.
Notes: This follows Mugs, Disappointment, Tension and Negotiation. Yes, I’m still in denial.
Disclaimer: Zuiker and company own the rights to CSI and its characters. I own too many books.
~*~*~
Catherine is standing next to her car in the parking lot, a smile plastered to her face while she scrambles for something to say. She needs to figure it out soon, because Wendy is finally getting to the point of a question she started to ask five minutes earlier.
It’s not as though Catherine hasn’t seen this coming. From the moment Wendy introduced herself, she’s been very open about her interest in Catherine. Three months later, Wendy is apparently comfortable enough with her place in the DNA lab to ask for a date. Ordinarily, Catherine would just blow her off the way she blows off anyone who doesn’t interest her, but a month of quiet dates with Jim has softened her in a way she never imagined possible.
It pisses Catherine off when she thinks about it for too long, and then she tries to take it out on Jim, which never works. He just grins at her, looking like a complete sap, and she finds her anger dissipating as she grins back, no doubt looking just as sappy. Given how good graveyard is at spotting clues, Catherine is surprised that none of them has twigged to what’s happening between them.
That lack of awareness is responsible for this morning’s impending awkwardness, and Catherine wants to kick Jim for being the one to suggest they keep their relationship quiet. If they’d let it be known, Wendy wouldn’t now be in the position where she’s about to embarrass them both.
“So anyway, I was thinking that --“
“Catherine?”
Jim looks amused, and Catherine is sure he’s been standing somewhere out of sight, listening for just the right moment to interrupt. She directs a stern glare at him. “Is there a problem?”
“Nah. Just wanted to see if you were ready to get some breakfast.” He passes Wendy and gives her a pleasant smile before reaching Catherine to give her a toe-curling kiss.
The kiss disarms her, something Jim knows all too well. While Catherine wants to get upset over that, the truth is she’s almost glad of his ability to do that to her. There’s something comforting in having someone in her life who knows exactly which buttons to push at just the right time. As Jim deepens the kiss, one of his hands -- the one Wendy can’t see -- gets busy with her nipple, and she lets out an involuntary moan.
His apparently point made, Jim ends the kiss with a low noise of his own and without moving just yet, says to Wendy, “Sanders tells me you’re hell on wheels in DNA.”
Wendy is blinking quickly at the display she was just treated to, and she stammers, “Uh, he does?”
“He does,” Jim says easily. Keeping an arm around Catherine, he turns to face Wendy, and it’s all Catherine can do not to react when Jim’s hand travels downward to fondle her ass. “It takes a lot to impress Sanders. He still thinks that’s his lab.”
“Um yeah.” Wendy laughs a little and grabs the line Jim threw her. “He’s always stopping by to check on me.”
“If it gets to be too much, just let Grissom know.” Jim’s fingers slip lower, and Catherine moves back hard enough to trap his hand between her ass and her car. She is not going to let him get her off in front of a colleague. She bites her cheek against the moan that wants to escape, because that thought, that beautifully dirty thought, is almost enough to bring her to orgasm, fingers or no fingers.
“Oh. Sure.” Wendy’s eyes cut back to Catherine for a moment and then back to Jim. “I guess I should get going. Got things to do. Um, have a nice breakfast, okay?”
As Wendy escapes, Catherine mutters, “I thought you didn’t want anyone to know.”
“I didn’t, but Gil mentioned I was about to get some competition, so I figured I’d better get over my shyness.” Jim shifts so that they’re face to face again and kisses her.
Drugged by Jim’s mouth, it’s a full minute before Catherine processes his explanation. “Wait --“ Jim captures her lips again, and she has to step back so she can think again. “What do you mean Gil mentioned competition? Why would he do that? How could he do that?”
Jim chuckles. “Sweetheart, I know you and the others think Gil’s an idiot when it comes to human interaction, but the man’s a damn good poker player.”
“I don’t get it.” Catherine reaches out to play with the buttons on Jim’s shirt. Though she really wants to take him home and get horizontal, they’ve chosen the cautious route with each other. Actual sex isn’t in the cards quite yet, but it will be soon if Catherine has anything to say about it.
“He watches people all the time, pays attention to the way they behave around each other and in different situations. Can’t help it. He figured us out before your Christmas party.” Jim pulls Catherine back to him. “He was the one who told me to get there early and talk to you.”
“Is that why you kissed me? Because Gil told you to?” Catherine can feel a full head of steam building up, and she’s not happy to have it diffused by another of Jim’s kisses. Aroused, yes. Happy, no.
With a soft nip of her lower lip, Jim ends the kiss. “Gil thought talking would be a good idea. Me, I’m not so good with words.” This is true. He’s much better at using his mouth in other ways.
Catherine leans her forehead against Jim’s and tries to catch her breath. “Either way, you’re saying we have Gil to thank for -- for us?”
“Sort of.”
“And you don’t mind that Wendy’s going to share this with everyone?”
“It’s better this way,” he says, his hands getting busy again with her ass. “I won’t have to worry about people trying to ask my girl out.”
My girl. Of all the sexist things Jim could have said, that’s the one thing that makes Catherine want curl into his arms and stay there forever.
Bastard.
Rating: PG
Summary: Of all the sexist things Jim could have said, that’s the one thing that makes Catherine want curl into his arms and stay there forever.
Notes: This follows Mugs, Disappointment, Tension and Negotiation. Yes, I’m still in denial.
Disclaimer: Zuiker and company own the rights to CSI and its characters. I own too many books.
~*~*~
Catherine is standing next to her car in the parking lot, a smile plastered to her face while she scrambles for something to say. She needs to figure it out soon, because Wendy is finally getting to the point of a question she started to ask five minutes earlier.
It’s not as though Catherine hasn’t seen this coming. From the moment Wendy introduced herself, she’s been very open about her interest in Catherine. Three months later, Wendy is apparently comfortable enough with her place in the DNA lab to ask for a date. Ordinarily, Catherine would just blow her off the way she blows off anyone who doesn’t interest her, but a month of quiet dates with Jim has softened her in a way she never imagined possible.
It pisses Catherine off when she thinks about it for too long, and then she tries to take it out on Jim, which never works. He just grins at her, looking like a complete sap, and she finds her anger dissipating as she grins back, no doubt looking just as sappy. Given how good graveyard is at spotting clues, Catherine is surprised that none of them has twigged to what’s happening between them.
That lack of awareness is responsible for this morning’s impending awkwardness, and Catherine wants to kick Jim for being the one to suggest they keep their relationship quiet. If they’d let it be known, Wendy wouldn’t now be in the position where she’s about to embarrass them both.
“So anyway, I was thinking that --“
“Catherine?”
Jim looks amused, and Catherine is sure he’s been standing somewhere out of sight, listening for just the right moment to interrupt. She directs a stern glare at him. “Is there a problem?”
“Nah. Just wanted to see if you were ready to get some breakfast.” He passes Wendy and gives her a pleasant smile before reaching Catherine to give her a toe-curling kiss.
The kiss disarms her, something Jim knows all too well. While Catherine wants to get upset over that, the truth is she’s almost glad of his ability to do that to her. There’s something comforting in having someone in her life who knows exactly which buttons to push at just the right time. As Jim deepens the kiss, one of his hands -- the one Wendy can’t see -- gets busy with her nipple, and she lets out an involuntary moan.
His apparently point made, Jim ends the kiss with a low noise of his own and without moving just yet, says to Wendy, “Sanders tells me you’re hell on wheels in DNA.”
Wendy is blinking quickly at the display she was just treated to, and she stammers, “Uh, he does?”
“He does,” Jim says easily. Keeping an arm around Catherine, he turns to face Wendy, and it’s all Catherine can do not to react when Jim’s hand travels downward to fondle her ass. “It takes a lot to impress Sanders. He still thinks that’s his lab.”
“Um yeah.” Wendy laughs a little and grabs the line Jim threw her. “He’s always stopping by to check on me.”
“If it gets to be too much, just let Grissom know.” Jim’s fingers slip lower, and Catherine moves back hard enough to trap his hand between her ass and her car. She is not going to let him get her off in front of a colleague. She bites her cheek against the moan that wants to escape, because that thought, that beautifully dirty thought, is almost enough to bring her to orgasm, fingers or no fingers.
“Oh. Sure.” Wendy’s eyes cut back to Catherine for a moment and then back to Jim. “I guess I should get going. Got things to do. Um, have a nice breakfast, okay?”
As Wendy escapes, Catherine mutters, “I thought you didn’t want anyone to know.”
“I didn’t, but Gil mentioned I was about to get some competition, so I figured I’d better get over my shyness.” Jim shifts so that they’re face to face again and kisses her.
Drugged by Jim’s mouth, it’s a full minute before Catherine processes his explanation. “Wait --“ Jim captures her lips again, and she has to step back so she can think again. “What do you mean Gil mentioned competition? Why would he do that? How could he do that?”
Jim chuckles. “Sweetheart, I know you and the others think Gil’s an idiot when it comes to human interaction, but the man’s a damn good poker player.”
“I don’t get it.” Catherine reaches out to play with the buttons on Jim’s shirt. Though she really wants to take him home and get horizontal, they’ve chosen the cautious route with each other. Actual sex isn’t in the cards quite yet, but it will be soon if Catherine has anything to say about it.
“He watches people all the time, pays attention to the way they behave around each other and in different situations. Can’t help it. He figured us out before your Christmas party.” Jim pulls Catherine back to him. “He was the one who told me to get there early and talk to you.”
“Is that why you kissed me? Because Gil told you to?” Catherine can feel a full head of steam building up, and she’s not happy to have it diffused by another of Jim’s kisses. Aroused, yes. Happy, no.
With a soft nip of her lower lip, Jim ends the kiss. “Gil thought talking would be a good idea. Me, I’m not so good with words.” This is true. He’s much better at using his mouth in other ways.
Catherine leans her forehead against Jim’s and tries to catch her breath. “Either way, you’re saying we have Gil to thank for -- for us?”
“Sort of.”
“And you don’t mind that Wendy’s going to share this with everyone?”
“It’s better this way,” he says, his hands getting busy again with her ass. “I won’t have to worry about people trying to ask my girl out.”
My girl. Of all the sexist things Jim could have said, that’s the one thing that makes Catherine want curl into his arms and stay there forever.
Bastard.