Title: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Author: GageWhitney

Rating: T

Pairing: Nathan/Audrey

Disclaimer: Very much not mine.

Summary: When he first heard he'd be coming to visit, Nathan had hoped Audrey's old partner would be a little different than the Adonis standing before him.

Note: For cold_queen_5's prompt in the comment fic post at the havenmaine LJ community.

When he first heard he'd be coming to visit, Nathan had hoped Audrey's old partner would be a little different than the Adonis standing before him. Maybe he'd be bald, or have a bad comb over. Maybe he'd have a snaggletooth, or a hump, or a peg leg. Maybe he'd spit when he talked.

But, no. Audrey's old partner looks like the damn Old Spice guy. Hell, he even smells like Old Spice. All he's missing is the towel and the horse.

"Aldis Pearson," the man says with an easy, perfect smile and twinkling brown eyes. He reaches out a big hand. "Parker's old partner. Nice to meet you."

"Nathan Wournos. Parker's current partner," he says, trying not to scowl as he firmly (maybe too firmly) shakes the other man's hand. He glances down at his comparatively scrawny self and thinks it's time he started hitting the gym.

"I was just telling Audrey how impressed I am by Haven," Aldis says. "It's beautiful. Seems like such a nice little town to live in."

"Seems like it," Nathan says.

Audrey looks between the two of them with a cautious smile. "Nathan, Aldis and I were just going to have dinner and catch up, so unless you need me for something..."

"Oh," he says. Damn. "Okay. No, um… That's fine. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"You're welcome to join us," Aldis says congenially. Almost too congenially, Nathan thinks irrationally. "I'd love to talk to someone else who has to deal with this one every day."

Aldis gently elbows her in the ribs, and Audrey giggles and smacks his arm. "Shut up!" she says. "I am not that bad." Nathan kind of wants to throw up.

"No, no. That's okay," he says, gag reflex in check. "You two have fun. Catch up. Reminisce." Whatever.

"Well, maybe I'll see you tomorrow morning before I leave," Aldis says.

Nathan's eyebrows jump, the alarm bells clanging in his head. "Tomorrow? You're staying the night, then?"

"No point in driving back to Boston so late. I'm staying at the bed and breakfast."

"Right. Of course." This development is decidedly Not Good. "Guess I'll see you in the morning when I come by to pick Audrey up." He doesn't care that he sounds a little territorial.

Aldis smiles his big, gorgeous, stupid smile. "Well, then." He offers his muscled arm to Audrey. "Shall we, my dear?"

"We shall," she laughs, looping her arm through his. "See you tomorrow, Nathan!" she calls over her shoulder.

Nathan waves, but she doesn't see him, and he slumps down into his desk chair. "Shit," he says to the empty office.

"So," Aldis says at the restaurant later on. "Nathan. He seems like a nice guy."

She nods, chewing her food. "He is. He's actually really great," she says with a smile.

"You like working with him?"

"Yeah. He's a good cop. Good partner, too."

"You sleeping with him?"

She almost chokes on her shrimp. "Excuse me?" she sputters. She can feel a warm flush rising on her cheeks and wishes she could blame it on the wine.

"Are you," Aldis repeats slowly, "sleeping with him?" He grins at her.

"No," she denies. "What makes you ask that?"

Aldis shrugs. "I don't know. Just a vibe I got back there."

"What do you mean, 'a vibe'?" she asks, finger quotes included.

"Like he was 100 percent prime time in love with you."

She furrows her brow, processing, trying to reconcile what Aldis believes with the relationship she currently has with Nathan.

"I don't know," she says. She fiddles nervously with her silverware. "You're saying you think Nathan has feelings for me? Based on a minute of conversation with him?"

"I do. The guy was about 17 shades of green back there," he chuckles. "When you said we were going out to dinner, he looked like someone just stole his prom date."

"Hmm," she hums, brows still knitted together. She stabs at a shrimp with her fork.

"Hey," he says, leaning forward. "I know you're not exactly a social butterfly, and sometimes you're not much of a people person –"

"Geez," she says. "Cut me some slack."

"Sorry." He reaches over and squeezes her fingers. "What I'm trying to say is, I am good at reading people. I know what I see when I see it, and I'm almost always right."

She snorts. "That is true. You also have a little bit of an ego, it seems."

He smiles widely at her. "So who are you going to trust in this situation? You and your questionable social judgment, or me and my infinite wisdom?"

She sighs and looks at him, fighting off a grin. "You know, I forgot how much I like you."

"Me, too," he says, laughing loudly. She gives in and chuckles, shaking her head.

"All right, so what do I do with this piece of advice?" she asks. "Go over there? Jump his bones?"

"I'm fairly certain he wouldn't object," Aldis says. "I say we tell a few more old war stories, finish our dinner, and then while I go back to the motel to get some sleep, you go talk to your partner. Bone jumping optional."

Nathan's surprised to see her outside his door at eleven o'clock at night, especially considering where he thought she'd be. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" she asks. He nods and moves aside to let her through.

"What happened with Aldis?" he asks flatly, following her into his living room.

"He had a long day," she says. "He decided to hit the sack."

"Oh," he says, surprised.

"What?"

"Nothing," he says. "I guess I just figured you'd have hit the sack with him."

She narrows her eyes, and he immediately regrets his words.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry," he says. "I didn't… I just figured… you know. You two…" He shakes his head and looks at the floor.

"Nathan, Aldis is gay," she says, and his head snaps up. "He has a boyfriend back in Boston. We have absolutely no interest in each other sexually."

His eyes are wide. "Oh. Well, then… okay," he says. He tries to sound nonchalant and just ends up rambling. "That's good. For him, I mean. So, uh, you're here. Why?"

For the first time since she entered the house, she hears the music coming from his stereo. "Is that… Patsy Cline?"

"No," he says automatically, then sighs. "Yes."

A grin tugs at her lips. "You know, Aldis said something to me earlier, and I wasn't too sure about it, but I'm starting to think he's right." She walks over to the stereo and pushes the off button, sending the room into silence.

"About?"

"You were jealous," she says, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"Of who? Of Aldis?" He makes a face like it's the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard.

"Yes."

"No." He shakes his head. "I think you're mistaken."

"I don't think so." She walks closer, making him back up until he's got nowhere to go and his back hits the wall. "You. Were. Jealous," she says, punctuating each word with a jab to his chest.

"Hey, come on," he says, grabbing her hand. "Stop poking me."

She stands on her toes and stretches up, pressing the length of her body against his and wrapping an arm around his neck.

"What are you doing?" he asks, smiling in spite of himself. He's definitely losing this battle, but he doesn't really care.

She grins back at him. "Proving Aldis right," she says, and kisses him soundly.

Aldis knocks on her door the next morning, suitcase in hand. "Parker! Hey, you awake?" He listens for some sign of her moving around in the room and finds none. "Are you in there? Audrey?"

He turns at the sound of footsteps to find Audrey approaching her door, Nathan in tow. "Hey, you," she says cheerily.

"Hey, guys." Aldis looks between the two of them, sizing them up, and grins slowly. She's wearing the same clothes she had on the night before, and he's walking about half an inch behind her, and they look like they know they've been busted. "Out early this morning?"

Nathan and Audrey glance at each other. "Yeah," she says, and they all know she's lying. "We caught a case. Early. Really early. Right?"

"Right," Nathan says.

Aldis nods. "And so you just threw on whatever clothes you had lying around, which happened to be yesterdays, I guess?"

Nathan raises his eyebrows. "Yes. Exactly," she says. "You know how it is. The job."

"I do."

They stand around awkwardly for a few seconds before she excuses herself. "I'll just be a few minutes. I'm going to jump in the shower really quickly and change my clothes. Which I didn't have a chance to do this morning."

"We'll be fine," Aldis says with a smile. "I wanted to chat with this guy anyway."

Ten minutes later, she emerges from her room with damp hair and new clothes to find the two men sitting on the railing, talking and laughing.

"Uh oh," she says with a grin. "I don't know if I like this."

"Don't worry, Parker," says Aldis. "I didn't tell him too much."

"No," says Nathan, grinning. "Just enough."

"I'll pay for this, I'm sure," she says.

Aldis laughs. "Well, listen, I should really be going." He claps Nathan on the back. "Nice to meet you, man. You ever need any help with this one, you give me a call."

"Will do," Nathan says.

"Ah, Parker," Aldis sighs. "It was very nice seeing you again." He wraps her in a tight hug and whispers in her ear, "I take it last night went well?"

"Very well," she says contentedly. "Thank you."

"Told you."

"You should come back to visit sometime," she says, pulling away. "Bring James. We can go out on the water, have lunch. It'll be nice."

"Absolutely," says Aldis. "And if you two are ever in Boston…"

"You know it," she says. "Drive safe."

Aldis walks away, waving as he heads off to the parking lot. Nathan's almost sorry to see him go.

"He seems like a good guy," Nathan says, sliding an arm around her waist.

"I told you."

"He regaled me with some stories about the adventures of Special Agent Audrey Parker," he teases. "Pretty interesting stuff."

"Yeah, yeah," she says, rolling her eyes. "Listen, give me a couple of minutes to dry my hair, and we'll go get breakfast, okay?"

She turns to go inside and he pulls her back to him, placing his hands firmly on her hips. "We could do that," he says, leaning in close. "Or… we could get breakfast later."

She leans up and kisses his jaw. "I think I like your idea better, Wournos."