Jane toweled her hair off as she came back into the bedroom.

"Are you almost-" Maura's voice trailed off.

Jane looked up, brow furrowed.

"You ok?" she asked.

Maura was staring, her mouth hanging open, a queer look on her face.

"Maura?"

"Is that," Maura rasped. "Is that what you're wearing?"

Jane looked down at herself, frowning.

"I look stupid, don't I?" she groaned. "I told my Ma these pants-"

"No," Maura cut her off, voice tight. "You don't look stupid."

"Well, what then?" Jane appraised herself once more. "Did I spill?"

Maura shook her head.

"Maura," Jane intoned. "You're freaking me out a little."

"I just," Maura licked her lips.

Jane's stomach did a flip.

"Is that all you're wearing?" Maura breathed.

"Well no," Jane shrugged, tossing the towel in the general direction of the dirty laundry. "I'm gonna wear a real shirt over this."

"I see," Maura nodded.

She was still staring. Jane squirmed under the scrutiny.

"Whaaat?" Jane whined. "Just tell me if I look stupid. I can take it. I didn't even want to buy these pants in the first place and I…"

Maura was shaking her head again.

"Maura," Jane barked. "Words."

"You can't wear that," Maura sighed.

"Because…" Jane trailed off, waiting for Maura to explain.

"I won't be able to get any work done," Maura admitted raggedly.

Something prickled up the back of Jane's spine, slithered along her skin with a heated awareness.

What the hell was happening here?

"What are you talking about?" Jane glanced down again.

Trusty boots- check. Fitted khakis- check. White tank- check.

A button up over top and she'd be ready to go. What was wrong with the outfit?

"You just look a little," Maura hesitated.

"Mannish?" Jane supplied, crinkling her nose as she appraised herself in the mirror.

"No!" Maura protested, and that tingling awareness fluttered in Jane's gut. "Well, perhaps a bit… masculine."

"So I can't wear this because I look like a man and that's going to distract you at work?" Jane tried to make sense of Maura's strange, disjointed explanation.

"More or less," Maura nodded.

"Well," Jane pressed. "Is it more, or less? You're gonna have to give me a little help here."

They had been on three official dates.

Jane could barely believe it.

The rest of their relationship hadn't changed at all, except that she felt unbelievably lighter now that she wasn't carrying around the burden of suppressing her attraction to Maura.

They had tacitly agreed to ease into the physical aspects slowly, and while they undoubtedly shared a boundless passion, they had yet to consummate their relationship.

"I can't tell if you're being deliberately obtuse," Maura huffed. "Or if you genuinely don't understand."

"The second one," Jane shrugged. "I think."

Maura waited a beat before standing, slinking up to Jane and boldly pressing her entire body against Jane's. Her arms twined around Jane's neck, their bodies flush.

Jane immediately responded, clutching Maura's hips as her heart raced.

"I won't be able to get any work done," Maura repeated, her voice low and sultry. "I'll spend all day imagining you like this. You look…" She trailed off, licked her lips.

Jane's stomach somersaulted violently.

"Delicious," Maura finished on a sigh.

Jane groaned, leaning down to kiss Maura. Maura evaded Jane's lips, instead latching onto the pulse pounding at her throat.

"There's something edgy and intense about you in this," Maura explained. "If I didn't know better, I'd be afraid of you, of what you could do to me."

She shivered slightly at the idea, and Jane filed that information away for later.

"I'd never hurt you," she offered.

Maura looked up, smiling as she met Jane's eyes.

"I know," she assured her. "But right now you look… I'm not quite sure how to explain. You look feminine, with your hair down and your amazing physique, but at the same time there is a decidedly masculine energy about you. A relentless aura of power and strength. I'm going to spend all day imagining how that will feel against me this evening."

Jane groaned, forcing Maura to meet her lips. The kiss was groping and heated, Jane's hands skimming down to grab Maura's ass through her dress. Maura's hand snaked up to palm Jane's breast, the other holding roughly to her neck.

"We're going to be late," Jane mumbled between kisses.

"I don't care," Maura hissed as Jane's lips skated across her exposed collarbone.

"You don't mean that," Jane laughed, pulling back slightly. "You'll whine all day if we're late."

Maura visibly pouted, stepping back from Jane's lanky frame.

Jane grinned, pecking Maura's delectable lips once more.

"I'm definitely wearing this today," she said. "You'd better fix your lipstick so we can go."

"Jane!" Maura whined as Jane disappeared down the hallway. Her voice turned concerned. "Jane, you're not really going to wear that- are you?"

"Now you'll know how I feel!" Jane called back.

"This isn't fair, Jane," Maura protested, stepping into the bathroom to fix her mussed hair and smudged make-up.

"I promise it'll be worth it," Jane laughed.

"Fine," Maura called out. "Just remember- payback is a bitch, Jane!"