Hi guys! Anyone interested in a second chapter? Because I have a second chapter. See? It's right here!

Chapter 2

Halfway through the day her team caught a new case, but they left Cammie at the office to finish up a boring open and shut case that had been dropped in their laps this morning and certainly didn't need four agents to close it. She was filling out the paperwork on it when Nick wandered over and dropped a bag of Doritos from the vending machine in her lap before making himself comfortable on the corner of her desk.

"Aw." she said, scooping up the chips and lightly hugging them to her chest. "He brings me presents! How sweet!"

"You skipped lunch." he replied, shrugging. "I thought you might be hungry."

"I am." she admitted, tearing open the bag and sticking her hand inside. She drew out a chip and stuffed it in her mouth with a complete lack of the manners her mother had drilled into her as a child. "But how did you know I skipped lunch? You've been out in the field all day."

Nick smiled at her as she talked and crunched at the same time. She wasn't a slob, but if his mother happened to walk in right now she'd have a fit over Cammie's unladylike dinning habits. "I didn't. But I know you well enough by now to assume you probably had, and I needed an excuse to come over here."

She feigned excitement, gasping in an exaggerated manner and lowering her voice to a loud whisper because no one else was around to hear. "Are we having a clandestine tryst right now?"

Nick chuckled. "I wish."

She snapped her fingers in disappointment and pretended to pout. "Rats." Her fake pout turned into an amused smile as she bit off one corner of a second chip. "So, if you're not here to make out, and feeding me was just a cover, what are you really doing over here?"

"I have a question."

"Do I have to guess what it is?" she asked. "Because last time I checked I wasn't a mind reader." She paused to scrunch up her face as if she were concentrating really hard, and stared at him for a moment before shrugging. "Nope. Still not a mind reader. You're gonna have to open your mouth and speak if you want me to know what's on your mind."

"How would you feel about dinner?"

"With you?"

He nodded. "Yes, with me."

"As in a real date?" she asked. "Not just one of us going over to the other's apartment for the night?"

"Yes, Cammie." he confirmed. "I want to take you out to eat on a real date."

She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she was willing to at least entertain the idea. "When?"

"Tonight."

"Can't." she popped a broken off half of a chip into her mouth and crunched. "Mike's in town, and he's already claimed both of the redheaded Cresswell women for pizza tonight. But I can let Claire spend the night with him at Bud and Harriet's and swing by your place for dessert."

"Oh." he said, looking a little unhappy with her answer. "Okay."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." he assured her, waving it off. "Dessert's fine."

"Liar." she challenged. "You can't solve crime and not know how to read people. You're disappointed that Mike got to me first, aren't you?"

"It does sting a little when the girl you like turns you down for her ex." he admitted.

Cammie rolled her eyes. "First of all, Mike isn't just my ex. He's one of my best friends and Claire's father, and we hardly ever get to see him. Besides, it's not like there's anything serious going on between us. You and me that is."

"No." he agreed, looking down at his hands in his lap instead of at her face."But I was kinda thinking maybe there could be."

That surprised Cammie just as much as Director Vance's Savannah offer had this morning. And now she really didn't know how she felt. She liked him a lot, but he had picked the absolute worst time to tell her he wanted to change their relationship status. "Hold up. I thought we agreed no strings."

"We did." he confirmed, shifting his gaze back to her face. "But we never said we couldn't change our minds. Maybe I want strings. I haven't had a lot of serious relationships, but I'm not immune to them. I like you, Cammie. A lot."

"Oh." she said, suddenly realizing that she wanted to say yes to this offer just as much as she wanted to say yes to Savannah. But she didn't think there was a way she could have her cake and eat it too. She would have to choose one. Nick or Savannah.

"But you're not interested in strings." he guessed, misreading the troubled look on her face. "That's okay. We can keep things the way they are. But I still want to take you to dinner sometime. Maybe some dancing."

Dinner and dancing sounded great, and she hated that she had to choose between that and Savannah. "It's not that. I think we could make strings work, or at least give it a shot, but..." She broke off on a sigh, and slumped in her chair.

"If we both want it, what's the problem?" he asked. "I know you have Claire, and that complicates things some, but I like kids. And I'm not asking you to marry me. I'm not even asking you to move in with me. I'm just asking you to have dinner with me."

Cammie smiled. He was so sweet. How could she say no? "It's not Claire that makes things complicated. Yeah, I have to be a little more careful with who I allow into my life because of her, but I actually think the two of you would get along great."

"So what's the complication?"

"Savannah."

He stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out what that meant. "Are you trying to tell me you're into girls? Because I'm totally cool with that. Bring her over for dessert tonight."

She laughed and shook her head. "No. Savannah's not a person. They're opening another office in Savannah, Georgia because of the new Navy yard, and Director Vance wants me down there."

"So the meeting this morning was about a job offer?"

She nodded. "Yeah, and if I take it I leave in six weeks."

"Six weeks?" He repeated. "Wow. I mean, congratulations, but wow. Six weeks? Why so soon? They haven't even started building the Navy yard yet, have they?"

"No, but we have to switch some things around to accommodate the new office." she explained. "Savannah will be taking over some cases from Jacksonville and New Orleans, and if I take the job Director Vance wants me in New Orleans to help sort it all out."

"Makes sense."

"Yeah, and I might be able to squeeze a few more weeks out of Vance since I have to take Claire into consideration. We have to have a place to live and I have to find a good school for her, but I haven't taken the job yet." she said, and gave him a mildly irritated look. "And you just gave me another reason to consider turning it down."

"Don't turn it down because of me!" he insisted. "This could be a great opportunity for you."

"I won't, but I have to take you into consideration now too." she said. "I told Vance I'd try to have an answer by the end of the week."

"I don't think you should base any part of your decision n me, but okay." Nick said, reaching for her hand. "How about we do dessert tonight, and I'll take you out to dinner on Friday to celebrate whatever decision you make? And then we'll go from there."

She considered the idea for a moment, and then smiled. "Deal."

"Hey!" Gibbs snapped, irritation floating over the wall that divided his team from hers. "Torres. Stop flirting, and get back over here. We've got a murder to solve."

"Flirting?" Nick said, feigning innocence. "I wasn't flirting. I was just offering advice, and making sure she wasn't starving to death."

"Just get back to work." Gibbs said impatiently. "And Cresswell?"

"Yeah?" Gibbs wasn't her boss and she knew him much better than she knew Director Vance, so she wasn't nervous with him and her brain allowed her to remain relaxed.

"Rule twelve."

"Uh..." she said, racking her brain and coming up with nothing. She hadn't learned his rules as well at the others since she didn't spend as much time with him as they did. "Is this a quiz?"

"Never date a coworker." Gibbs supplied. "Remember that."

Cammie nodded as Nick slid off her desk and walked away. "Yes, sir."

Maybe they hadn't been quite as subtle as she'd thought. Then again, they had been talking about their relationship at a normal volume in a relatively quiet room, and Gibbs, who seemed to notice more than most, had apparently been sitting just a few feet away. Why did he have to be so damn quiet all the time?

"Blows up in your face every time." Gibbs added as he grabbed his ringing cell. "Yeah?"

Cammie doubted every single workplace romance ended badly, but based on what she'd heard about the ones that had taken place in this office she thought Rule Twelve was probably good advice. She munched on another chip as she wrote it down on a Post-It and stuck the little piece of paper on her computer where it would serve as a reminder. But no matter how much sense it made it didn't make it any easier for her to decide what to do about Savannah because there was still a fifty/fifty chance that she and Nick wouldn't blow up.

With a heavy sigh she stuffed another chip in her mouth and went back to her paperwork, deciding to worry about her dilemma later.

%%%

"Do I look okay for pizza with Daddy, or should I change?" Cammie asked her five-year-old as they walked into their little apartment.

Cammie had just picked Claire up from her parents' house after work, and she didn't have much time to change before Mike picked them up for dinner. They were going to a family pizza place that had a playground for the kids, so the outfit she had so carefully picked for her meeting with Director Vance would be fine. But even though what she was wearing was acceptable for the venue, she didn't want to, or really have time, to change, and she knew Mike wouldn't care, she always liked to give her little fashionista a chance to put her two cents in.

Claire, who was already very interested in clothes at the tender age of five, studied her mother for a long moment, considering her outfit, and then gave her a thumbs up. "You look nice, Mama."

"Good." Cammie said. "Why don't you go chill out and watch some cartoons until Daddy gets here? I'm gonna go freshen up a little, and we'll be good to go. Do you need to potty before we leave?"

"No." Claire said, shaking her head.

"Okay. Let Daddy in if I'm not ready when he gets here, but don't forget to make sure it's him before you open the door." Cammie cautioned. "Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good girl."

Cammie dropped a kiss on top of Claire's head and left her in the living room with her cartoons while she ducked into the bathroom they shared to wash off the makeup she had put on this morning.

Once her face was clean she put more makeup on, and made sure her hair didn't look like crap. It had been holding curl much better since she'd been taking better care of it, and thankfully the curl had only fallen out a little. It still looked presentable, so she simply smoothed out some of the fly-aways and fluffed it up a little with her fingers. With one last look in the mirror she deemed herself worthy of being seen in public, and was headed for the couch to watch Scooby-Doo with Claire when the doorbell rang.

Well? Did you like it? Do you want more? I hope so because I have at least one more chapter already, and I've managed to sort of figure out some other things, so I really hope y'all like the story enough to keep reading. Anyway, reviews, suggestions, polite corrections, and constructive criticism are always welcome, and how about that beautiful cover art? Huh? I'm a little biased since I'm the one who made it, BUT I'm super proud of how it turned out so I feel justified in my bragging. And now that I've got that out of my system I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Bye guys! See you next chapter! ~SG