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The bubbles mocked her.
It was Friday night and Jane Rizzoli was alone with only her dog, her turtle, and a few lame bubbles to keep her company.
Jane scowled at them for their audacity to look shiny, happy, and pretty when she was feeling like none of the three. She’d endured a lousy day at work and had wanted nothing more than to spend some time talking with Maura over drinks at The Robber, but Maura had politely declined, putting a perfect cap on Jane’s shitty week.
“Life sucks,” she grumped, sinking further into the cooling water of her tub.
She wouldn’t have felt nearly as pathetic if Maura had simply been too tired to go out, but no, Maura had had a date. Some art gallery whatever where she got dressed up to the nines and got shown off on some guy’s arm. Jane’s scowl deepened. Bad enough she was alone tonight, but the thought of Maura with that guy from accounting made her nearly nauseous. Her friend could do so much better than a guy that whistled through his teeth when he talked.
Sighing, Jane rested her head against the lip of the tub and contemplated her ceiling, faintly wondering if it was time to paint. She rolled her eyes at herself at the thought.
Joe Friday snored faintly on the bathroom rug, completely disinterested in taking part in Jane’s pity party. She wondered if the dog had the right idea. Maybe she should just go to bed, even at eight in the evening, and hopefully wake up to a moderately better day tomorrow.
Mind made up, Jane started to rise, only to squawk in indignation as her bathroom door was abruptly thrust open. Jane let go of the side of the tub, falling back into the water and sloshing it over the sides. Joe Friday barked as she was drenched, scrambling to her feet and rushing past Maura’s ankles on her way out the door.
“Maura! What the hell?!” Jane demanded when she saw her best friend lingering in her doorway.
“I’ve had a epiphany,” Maura answered, not even apologizing for bursting in on Jane’s bubble bath uninvited. She stared openly at Jane, curiosity clear in her hazel eyes.
“I’m naked!” Jane fired back as she frantically searched the surface of the water to make sure no part of her anatomy was peeking through.
Maura didn’t look concerned. “I gaze upon the female form every day. Mine as well as those that…”
“Dead people!” Jane interrupted, still feeling flustered. “You look at dead people! They can’t object!”
Maura cocked her head, gazing down at her scowling best friend. “That’s true,” she allowed thoughtfully, but she didn’t move. A slow smile began to spread on her features.
“What?” Jane demanded, feeling self-conscious. She crossed her arms over her bubble-covered chest.
“You’re bashful,” Maura replied, a hint of amused delight in her tone.
“I’m in my bathtub. Naked. I wasn’t exactly expecting company.” Jane slid further under the water, feeling the bubbles tickling the underside of her chin.
“So I see,” Maura answered, the smile firmly staying put.
“I’m… indisposed,” Jane added, her voice deepening on the last word. She hoped that was a term Maura would appreciate and would clue her friend to leave until she got dressed. No such luck as Maura primly closed the toilet lid and sat on it.
“You’ve gotta be kidding,” Jane grumbled.
“All I can see from here is your head,” Maura promised.
“This really can’t wait?” Jane could feel herself giving up already.
“I think it’s waited long enough,” Maura murmured, her smile slowly fading.
Jane’s brow furrowed at Maura’s serious tone. “Did something happen on your date tonight?”
Maura nodded. “It did. Something that changed everything.”
“Did that pencil pusher say something to offend you? Did he hurt you?” Jane started to rise, just barely remembering herself and sinking back into the water.
“He said something… it wasn’t anything cruel. At the time it actually confused me. It was only within the half hour that I realized what he’d meant, so I changed and came over here.”
Jane’s gaze flickered over her friend, noting the usual high heels and the short trench coat cinched at her waist. Maura looked pretty much the same as when she’d left her in the medical examiner’s officer, and Jane assumed she was still sporting that revealing little dress she’d been wearing. “What?” she muttered, realizing she was staring at the curve of Maura’s knee and forcing herself to look her friend in the eye.
“Are you asking what he said or did you not understand me?” Maura wondered.
The detective shook her head. “What did he say?” She hoped she kept her exasperation out of her voice.
“He said he enjoyed spending time with me, but he could tell my heart was already taken.” Maura’s features didn’t betray how she felt about that statement, but Jane could tell in the slight inflection in her tone that the words had bothered her best friend.
Jane blinked. “Is it?” she asked softly, trying to imagine who might have won Maura’s heart and not liking any of the answers.
“I think so,” Maura admitted. “I racked my brain,” she continued, “trying to think whom he could possibly be talking about.” She’d actually made a mental list and then had methodically eliminated them, one by one, until she’d been left with only one logical conclusion.
“Did you figure it out?” Jane asked, almost forgetting she was sitting in a bathtub, completely naked. She was focused exclusively on Maura, her breath coming short and shallow as she waited for an answer she wasn’t certain she wanted to hear.
“I did,” Maura said seriously. She looked away for a moment, focusing on her hands where they rested primly in her lap. “I don’t understand how I didn’t see it before.”
“It’s not Frost, is it?” Jane muttered, an edge of distaste dripping from her voice. “Or… God… not Korsak.”
“Jane,” Maura scolded.
“Well who else is there?” Jane wanted to know.
Their eyes met again and Jane watched as Maura took a deep breath.
“You,” Maura said simply.
Jane felt her eyelids flutter. “Wh…” The statement hit her as hard as a three hundred pound perp. Jane felt her breath leave her in a rush. “Oh wow,” was all she could manage.
“Oh wow?” Maura replied. “I confess I have romantic feelings for you and all you can say is ‘oh wow?’” Jane was thankful that Maura seemed more amused than insulted.
Jane’s mouth continued to work but nothing came out. She tried to process what felt like a cataclysmic shift in their relationship, wondering vaguely if she might be dreaming all of this, fully aware that it wouldn’t be the first time if she was.
“Jane,” Maura prompted. “Say something…”
“You just…” Jane shook her head. “Are you sure?” she finally whispered, realizing too late that her features had to be betraying her wonder and hope at the news.
Maura’s slow smile reappeared, but this time it had a sexy lift to it Jane had never seen directed her way before. She swallowed nervously. “Maura…” she whispered, her words dying in her mouth when Maura suddenly stood. Jane watched, mesmerized, as her friend stepped out of her heels and reached for the belt at her waist, hesitating momentarily before she let the trench coat fall open.
Jane gaped. “That’s pretty sure,” she said breathlessly, her body warming at the sight of all that porcelain skin on display. She pressed herself against the side of the tub as Maura sauntered closer, anticipating what was about to happen as the trench coat landed on the floor.
“Oh Jesus,” Jane murmured.
A moment later, Jane felt warm curves blanket her own as Maura Isles slid against her, her welcome weight and heat pinning Jane down as bubbles coated their skin.
Maura reveled in the contact, watching Jane’s eyes close in reaction, her friend’s nostrils flaring as she sucked in an unsteady breath. When Jane finally looked at her again, her eyes were dark and hooded.
“Remind me to send a bouquet of pencils to that accountant you-,” Jane said, only to have Maura’s mouth cover hers, stealing her ability to think.
They kissed softly for several minutes, hands hesitantly exploring, before Maura reluctantly withdrew.
“What?” Jane breathed.
“You didn’t tell me the water was getting cold.”
“I didn’t think you were going to climb in here,” Jane rejoined, their gazes fencing playfully.
“Not even when I got naked?”
Jane smiled at the ever so proper Dr. Isles using slang. “I wasn’t doing much thinking at all when you got naked.”
Maura seemed pleased by that. “I bet your bed would be warmer,” she purred.
They regarded each other for a long moment, feeling everything that was between them hanging in the balance.
“You sure you want to do this?” Jane asked seriously. “It changes everything.”
Maura leaned in, kissing Jane delicately on the mouth. “It just makes it better,” she said.
“Promise?” Jane whispered hopefully, unwilling to go a step further without reassurance.
“You have my word,” Maura declared, her eyes serious.
“Good enough for me,” Jane decided, wrapping her arms around Maura and hefting her from the bath.
It was her best friend’s, and soon to be lover’s, turn to release an indignant squawk.