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Eli looked up to find Elliot standing in the doorway. “I thought you went home already, don’t you have Bessie this week?”

“She and Susannah were excited about painting each other’s nails, apparently they have little stick-on hearts or something they were going to put on them or something like that. I don’t know, but Bessie was very excited when she was telling me about it.”

“And you don’t want to put hearts on your nails and paint them?” he asked with a snicker.

“If Bessie asked me to I would,” Elliot said, coming into the office and dropping down onto the chair on the other side of his desk. “I've dressed up in tutus, and had tea parties with a bunch of dollies, and danced around to Disney songs. I'd do anything my little princess asked.”

“You really would, wouldn’t you? What changed? I heard about you, the way you spoke to people, the way you treated your employees, that you were always in a bad mood, and now you're the guy who turns into a puddle of goo over the small things.”

“Puddle of goo, huh?” Elliot asked, amused.

He shrugged. “That’s how I always thought of my brother and how he was with his son. With his wife too.”

“Falling in love changes things.”

“It certainly changed you.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. I can't imagine my life without Susannah in it. She might drive me crazy sometimes, but she’s everything to me.

She’s an amazing woman, an amazing wife, an amazing mother and step-mother, every day I'm thankful that she spilled coffee on my car. If she hadn't, then I don’t know what my life would be like.”

“Did you two fall in love at first sight?”

Elliot chuckled. “Actually, I think Susannah hated me at first. I didn't make a very good first impression. I may or may not have made a huge deal out of the fact that she spilled coffee on my brand new Porsche. I eventually wore her down though, convinced her to see me as someone other than the rich jerk she thought I was. But she was hesitant at first, had this notion that because we came from two different worlds that we wouldn’t work.”

“How did you convince her to give you a chance?”

“I wanted her from the moment I saw all her sass, but she had this idea that we had to do something in each other’s world before she would commit to anything.

It wasn't an easy road, especially once we found out about Bessie, but we fought for us.

Sometimes we didn't always fight in the right way, and sometimes we let other people and our pasts get in the way, but we figured things out. I think the fact that I got a tattoo just like the one she had helped,” Elliot finished with a wink.

“Tattoos, huh?” He’d store that idea away.

“Worked for me with Susannah. I take it this isn’t just a random conversation. You're thinking about the cop.”

“I haven't been able to think of anything but Florence since I met her.”

“I take it she’s still hesitant and turning you down.”

“Kind of. I picked her up last night, and we got takeout on the drive back to her apartment, and we’ve kissed a few times, I know she’s interested, and I know she feels this attraction the same as I do, but she’s scared.”

“Do you know what about?”

“I know that her childhood wasn't great, her dad left when she was a baby, and I take it her mom wasn't much of a mother. She has a brother that she seems to like, but I get the feeling she doesn’t let people get too close to her.”

“How are you going to get past her fears?”

“I have an idea.” He grinned. Before he’d made this last work call he’d made a few phone calls to set something up.

“From that grin, I'm guessing you're pretty pleased with whatever you cooked up.”

“I made some pretty awesome Valentine’s Day plans.”

“Dinner at a fancy restaurant?”

“That’s something you would do. Nope, my plans are on a much bigger scale. I have everything set up, but my biggest problem is going to be convincing her to go with me. Any tips from the expert?”

“You know you're talking about a guy whose Valentine’s Day plans are dinner at home with a five-year-old and a baby, and then if we’re lucky and the stars all align we’ll get one shot at hot, mind-blowing sex before we both pass out.”

“Beggars can't be choosers.” He grinned. “And you got the girl, so between the two of us you're definitely the expert.”

Elliot pondered for a moment. “Trust your gut and follow your heart.”

“That’s very poetic,” he said, surprised.

“I honestly don’t think there was much I wouldn’t have done to convince Susannah that we should be together.

I just felt it, I can't explain it any better than that. I know she did too once she let go of her concerns. So the question is, what is your gut telling you, and is your heart telling you it’s worth the work to prove to Florence that you two could have something real.

Only you can answer those questions.” Elliot stood and walked to the door where he paused.

“Can I take it that you won't be in the office tomorrow?”

Eli didn't even have to think about what his heart was saying, it was screaming at him that he shouldn’t let Florence get away. His gut was also telling him what he had to do to get her to agree to his Valentine’s Day plans.

“Oh, I definitely will not be coming into the office tomorrow.”

“Hope your plan goes off without a hitch.”

“Me too.” Florence was stubborn, but she wasn't stupid, and she was already getting used to the idea that he wasn't going anywhere. If she said yes to his plans for tomorrow, then he was pretty sure that by this time tomorrow, they would be a couple.

8:53 P.M.

Her optimism this morning that this case might be wrapped up by the end of the day was over.

Justin Bates had been in custody when Jana Friedrick had been murdered, so if she was the sixteenth victim of the Dumpster Killer, he wasn't the man they were looking for.

So either the eye painted in blood at the scene was a random thing, or an attempt to throw them off the case by the real killer, or Justin wasn't the serial killer.

Florence wasn't sure which was worse.

She liked Justin for the Dumpster Killer, he fit their profile, hated women, was definitely full of rage, but he had been in a jail cell waiting to try to get bail, there was no possible way he could have killed Jana.

If the cases were related, then they were back to square one in finding the serial killer.

There was always the chance that the DNA that CSU had gotten from the blood at the apartment—which she had been correct in assuming belonged to the assailant and not Jana—would get a hit in the system, but they couldn’t count on that.

If forensics didn't work out then she didn't know where she and Jake would look next.

Dropping the file she had been poring over, Florence rubbed her temples, she was getting a headache.

Disappointment over the case wasn't the only disappointment she’d faced today.

Other than the couple of texts they’d exchanged this morning, she hadn't heard from Eli all day.

She missed him.

It didn't make any sense that she was falling for him so quickly, especially given her past and who he was, and what she’s always thought she would want in a man if she were ever to settle down.

But none of that seemed to matter.

She was attracted to him, he was a good looking guy, so that went without saying, but it went deeper than that.

She had actually had a good time with him last night on their date that she wasn't quite ready to admit was a date. He’d made her laugh, and she’d liked seeing his sweeter side when he’d talked about his family.

He was charming and undeniably cocky, but underneath that he had a big heart, and that made him kind of adorable.

Could something really develop between them?

Something real?

Something lasting?

Did she even believe that relationships could last?

Not only had her dad abandoned her and her brother, but her mother had gone through a grand total of seventeen men before she graduated high school, none of them had lasted more than a few months, and each was worse than the last.

How could she believe in happy endings when her life experience was exactly the opposite?

Her gut told her that Eli was different, that there wasn't a single similarity between him and the men who had her putting a lock on her bedroom door and sleeping against it so she’d know if any of them tried to enter during the night.

Eli might be a good guy, but he was so far out of her league it terrified her.

She’d grown up in a trailer in the middle of a field without electricity and running water, what did she know about fancy charity balls, and which fork was for salad and which was for dessert, and talking with people who had never had to worry about going to bed hungry?

Despite all of her worries, she grinned when her phone chimed with a text message, and she saw it was from Eli.

Eli

Hey, princess, I missed you today

She’d missed him too, and this time she wasn't going to let fear make her run and hide. She’d never hidden from anything else in her life, and she wasn't about to start now.

Florence

Missed you too

Eli

Success!

I knew if I tried hard enough I could get

you to admit that you liked me

Florence

Don’t go getting a big head

Eli

Too late ;-)

Florence

Are you always this cocky?

Eli

Confident not cocky, and yep!

Florence

Po-tay-toe po-ta-toe

I'm going to stick with cocky

Eli

Since you think I'm cocky anyway then

let me warn you that the next time I see you

I'm not just going to kiss you I'm going to

make you come so hard I’ll have something

to be cocky about

Her face turned beet red at his declaration.

Her body responded instantly, and she squirmed on the couch, suddenly uncomfortable and needing a release that only Eli could give her.

Eli

Got nothing to say about that, princess?