*GLEEEEEE*
So maybe this idea had been better in his head than playing out in reality.
Turns out trying to stay upright and the ability to stop are both hampered by adding extra weight. Who knew?
So while Juliet was laughing during the slide, the crash at the end was accompanied by a gasp on her part when she realized they were going to hit the wall hard, and an, "Oof!" of air leaving his lungs when he managed to spin and come between her and said wall.
She made a valiant effort to keep the both of them upright but, well, they were wearing socks and socks on wood floors were slippery.
Thus the point of the whole exercise.
They went down in a tangle of limbs. She gasped again and he went, "Oof!" again. He blinked up at the ceiling until she put her lovely face in between him and his view of pale paint texturing.
"Shawn?" she said. "Are you okay?"
Wow. She was so close . . .
In fact if he lifted his head just a little bit- He got within a breath of her lips, could almost feel the heat coming off of her skin.
And stopped.
He'd already stolen two kisses without consequences—yet—but had no illusions about being able to do that a third time. His eyes closed and he let his head drop.
Then winced.
"Ow," he muttered.
He expected a laugh, or her moving her hands from his chest to the floor in preparation for pushing to her feet and helping him up.
What he didn't expect was a soft puff of air against his lips and then the absence of more thanks to a softer pair pressing onto his.
His eyes flew open and met pale blue ones just inches away.
He froze.
He wanted to kiss her back.
He wanted it so badly that his hands spasmed on the floor, trying to find something to grip and finding only sock-warmed wood. The other alternative would be to come up and find Jules and grab a hold of her and never let go.
That would end badly.
But he didn't know what else to do so he stayed frozen, staring up at her and trying not to breathe, lest she realize what was going on.
Her eyes crinkled at the corners and he felt her lips curve on his for just a moment before the former closed and the latter pressed harder.
And then she was kissing him—not just lips touching, but really kissing him. His eyes closed then and he dared to let his muscles relax. As much as they would anyway.
He carefully and deliberately flattened his hands on the floor and pressed down, needing to both keep them from getting him in trouble, and because if he didn't anchor himself he was just going to float away on the high he was feeling right now.
She tasted like chocolate chips and if he'd had the mental capacity at the moment he would have made a mental note to tell Francie that she made delicious cookies.
He was, however, too busy to do so.
He kept expecting it to stop, had himself convinced that he was feeling the effects of relativity as defined by Einstein, that it had been mere seconds and that it was going to end just as fast.
Except he was getting light headed and it had less to do with the fact that he was kissing Juliet and more to do with the fact that he was in need of oxygen.
Meh. Oxygen was overrated.
Sadly, his lungs did not agree and he involuntarily broke away, gasping like a beached fish.
He had the oddest moment of curiosity and wondered if Juliet liked fishing. He'd probably like it more if she were along.
She pulled back and he had to swallow a whimper as his fingers spasmed on the floor again.
Then she smiled, head tilting.
"This would probably be more comfortable on the couch," she said.
He had to swallow again between panting breaths from trying to recover from his previous deprivation.
"I'm good here," he said.
She laughed and came back down for a quick peck on the lips. He tried to follow her as she rose once more, coming up on braced elbows before his abs' inability to lift him up anymore forced him to stop.
She made it to her feet, then held out a hand.
"Come on."
He wanted to take her hand and pull her back down, but he was still painfully aware that he had to let her set the pace or she would back off completely and put him back at arm's length.
So he accepted her hand and let her tug him to his feet.
She bounced up on her toes slightly and kissed him again and he just about melted right back down to the ground.
"I got a fruit basket from the girls in dispatch," she said. "Guess what was the centerpiece."
His lips stretched in a slow grin.
"There's only one problem."
The smile vanished.
"My dishes are still packed."
The grin returned in a flash.
"Did you know," he said conversationally, as he placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her to the kitchen, "that pineapple was the official fruit of Aphrodite in ancient Greece?"
Juliet's brow furrowed in that adorable way Shawn loved.
"Really? I . . . didn't know that they had pineapple in ancient Greece."
He nodded. "Oh, they did. Only they called it something totally different because they spoke Greek instead of English."
She laughed and he grinned. He probably looked like a big goofy idiot, but he couldn't help it. He loved her laugh. He definitely needed to see about making it happen more often.
She continued to chuckle as she pointed to a box on one side of the table.
"I have no idea where my plates or knives are, so you open that one and I'll try this one."
He waffled for a moment, then took a chance and said, "Jules?"
She looked up and over at him and as soon as she was close enough but still unaware of his intent, he planted a kiss on her lips.
"Thanks for inviting me to slide with you."
She smiled.
"Anytime, Shawn. Anytime."
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