DISCLAIMER: The original characters are ours; the rest we're borrowing from Dick Wolf. This is a love story between two consenting female adults, and may contain adult material. Caveat emptor.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Third prequel series to the Lemon Seed Orange Tree series. This is the first of seven stories…
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.

Falling For You
By Adrienne Lee

1. THE CONSEQUENCES OF FALLING

Should I? Should I not? Olivia stared at the telephone as if it would give her the answer she wanted. We talked about seeing each other next weekend, so the date last night went well, right? Right? For some reason, she felt insecure about the prospect of getting another date with Alex, even though the blonde had all but promised to see her again. But she could always change her mind… Variations of the same monologue had already gone on for the last twenty minutes. Since she woke up this morning, in fact.

Today's Sunday. I don't have to go in, and neither does she. There's no reason why we can't hang out. Right? Maybe an extension of our first date? Would this be number 1.5 date? Since it's the same weekend? On some level, she knew she was being absurd, just like she knew she was being paranoid about Alex's willingness to see her next weekend, but she simply couldn't help herself.

She wanted to know how Alex felt about her, and she wanted to know yesterday. No, many weeks before now. Sucking in a deep breath, she picked up the phone, and dialed. While she was punching in the numbers, she promised herself again that she wouldn't program in the blonde's number, at least not until their sixth real date-date. And not ahead of Papa Gino's Pizzeria, she decided. Not until after the first month, anyway.

"Hello."

"Hi, Alex, it's me, Liv. Did I wake you?"

There was a pause on the other line. "It's all right, I should've been up anyway."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, should I call back, or not at all? Do you want to go back to sleep? I'm really, really sorry…"

Alex interrupted, "Really, it's okay, Liv. I take it you're not calling about a warrant you need."

"Actually, I don't have to go in, and I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

Twisting the phone cord nervously, she finally managed, "I was wondering, uh, do you want to go to the gym with me?"

"Gym?"

"Yes, maybe afterwards, we could catch brunch? And make a weekend of it?"

"It?"

"You know, sort of a continuation of last night? Our, um…"

"Date?" Alex laughed gently. "Sure, I'd love to go to the gym with you. Give me an hour to get ready and get there…"

"I can pick you up," Olivia offered quickly.

"No sense in you going out of your way, I'll just see you there."

"Okay…" Reluctantly, she agreed, and bid goodbye. Hope this isn't some sort of hint. I don't think I can take it, if that's the case. God, why am I so paranoid?


In front of her closet, Alex stood, wondering what she should wear. She picked up her normal jogging gear, and shook her head. Definitely no on the uniboob.

Finally, she settled on something practical, yet not too safe, just in case… Just in case what, Cabot? Is that all you ever think about? She chastised herself. Still, a scene from Personal Best flitted through her mind as she pulled on her jogging shorts. Briefly, she wondered if the detective would want to bench press, and would want her to spot for her…

Or if she could help Olivia keep count of her pushups, preferably from underneath…

She shook the images out of her head, slung her bag over her shoulder, and stepped into the living-room. Soon she was on her way.

To destiny. The blonde would secretly like to believe.


In the locker room, the brunette suggested they start out on the treadmills to get warmed up before they moved on to more strenuous exercise. Alex agreed whole-heartedly.

"I'm going to go pull off my jeans, okay?" She told Olivia, who was wearing her NYPD track-suit, and ready for action.

"Sure. I'll just meet you out there." The detective motioned towards the door, trying hard not to sound disappointed when Alex disappeared into a changing stall.

Olivia was already running, and working up a sweat when the blonde came onto the floor a few minutes later. She had on a pair of shiny pink jogging shorts that hugged her hips and showed them off without being vulgar. She kept the Property of NYPD sweatshirt on top. Brown eyes followed as she took the treadmill to the right, and began a moderate walk.

The detective tried to concentrate on her own exercise. She really did.

Soon, however, she found herself distracted, and completely captivated by Alex's shapely hips. The pink shorts showed every muscle as it moved. Without any conscious effort, she stepped back on her treadmill just a little, just to get a better look.

Never having been attracted by one body part more than another, Olivia was surprised she had suddenly developed such an absorbing fascination for Alex's ass. Just the way the woman moved when she walked was poetry in motion.

She backed up just a little more, to widen her view. Just then, the blonde reached forward, and turned up the machine.

If watching Alex walk was like watching a poem unfold, then watching Alex run was…

Suddenly, the brunette found herself stumbling backwards. Before she completely fell off the treadmill, she managed to hang onto the bars and regained her balance. Still, it had caused enough commotion.

"Are you all right, Liv?" Alex looked back, concern written across her beautiful features.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just let myself get distracted by too many things," Olivia blurted as she resumed her exercise.

Full lips curled into a half-smile in response.

Damn! Why did you say that, Benson? Immediately, she scolded herself for the lame and potentially incriminating excuse.

Still smiling, Alex turned completely around, and jogged backwards. "I thought you promised you wouldn't think about work."

She kept her gaze on the bright blue eyes, and fought to stay focused. "You know me. Can't help it."

"Yeah, well, we're here to relax and work out, Detective Benson. That's an order."

"Yes, counselor," Olivia replied cheerfully, thankful that Alex hadn't caught on to any of her inappropriate stares.

"Good, let's get back to it then."

"Yeah, let's," she echoed while the blonde turned towards the front once more.

For a while, Olivia focused on her own routine. One foot before the other. That's it. Pay attention to the speed of the machine. Soon, she gained enough confidence in her will power to increase the speed.

Almost at that same exact moment, she noticed movements from the corner of her eye. She looked, rather, gaped as Alex peeled off her sweatshirt, revealing a ribbed cotton tank top, which framed her elegant neck and shoulders perfectly.

While draping her sweatshirt onto the side handle, she caught Olivia's gaze. "I'm getting kind of warm. Aren't you, Liv?"

"Oh, no, Alex, I'm fine," she somehow managed without strangling her voice. "Yeah, I'm definitely okay."

The blonde smiled, seemingly oblivious to the effect she had on her companion.

Okay, Benson, focus, focus. Don't act like such a guy, you have those same body parts yourself. You can always just go look in the mirror, she pep-talked.

Unfortunately, that didn't work. Before she knew it, she was mesmerized again.

Alex was so beautiful, so close…

Olivia could have just reached out and touched the warm, firm flesh with her fingers. She could almost imagine how good that would feel, the soft material covering that glorious, smooth skin. She could even see her hands cupping Alex's ass, gently squeezing, kneading as she pulled her close for a kiss… And hear the soft moan escaping the blonde's lips as she closed in to capture the moist sensual treasure...

The next thing the detective knew, she was again falling off the edge of the treadmill. She grabbed frantically for the rails and missed as she bowled over onto her back.

Alex responded to the noise, and turned just in time to see the brunette land on the floor behind her. "Are you okay? What happened?" She asked, shutting off her machine.

"I'm fine. Carry on." Olivia urged, with growing embarrassment. "Don't worry. Really."

By this time, Alex was standing next to her, bending down, and holding out her hand. "Let me help you."

She looked up in that instant, at that angle. She caught a glimpse of delicate pink lace under the edge of glossy pink shorts. Somehow, that made her feet tangle, and she fell back further, onto her ass. So much for composure. She blushed, furiously.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Alex asked again.

The brunette refused to look up, feeling her face growing redder by the second. "Fine, I'm fine. I just stepped on my shoelace," she said, knowing it was a weak excuse.

"Come on, Liv, let me give you a hand."

She had no choice but to raise her eyes, and was greeted by a captivating smile. "I can't believe…" she mumbled.

"It happens," was all the blonde said, ignoring the still neatly tied laces on Olivia's shoes.

The End

Sequel Angels Don't Fall

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