highlander_ii

intoabar

Harvey blinked up at the ceiling before shifting his focus to his sparring partner. She had just finished trouncing his ass on the mat - a feat he was far more surprised by than he let on - and now she was suggesting they have a bit of after-hours fun in the form of tequila shots at a nearby bar. He could get behind that idea.

When he'd walked into the gym looking for a place to get a workout in, he hadn't expected such a well-practiced sparring partner. He hadn't expected to work on straight hand-to-hand fighting either, boxing was more his thing, but the petite blond woman offering to kick his ass was an interesting challenge. He knew enough not to underestimate the woman, but he hadn't put nearly enough stock into just how well she knew her craft. By the third time his ass hit the mat, he realized how serious his error was.

He didn't ask her to go easy on him. But he focused a bit more and started to actively read her movements. The woman didn't telegraph a thing. Which made his 'play the man' approach a lot less effective. It also made his workout a hell of a lot more fun. And definitely more interesting and enjoyable than the goddamned conference he was supposed to be attending. He probably wouldn't be telling Jessica that he blew off the conference to spar with a hot blonde who seemed to take great pride in dropping him to the mat. But he might tell her he found a way to entertain himself when he wasn't at the conference.

Clearly, if Jessica had wanted him to attend the conference, she would have given him a far better incentive than 'a free trip to Chicago'. (Which, really, was something he didn't need. If he wanted to visit Chicago, he could afford the airfare on his own.)

"So, lawyer?" she asked, more of a confirmation. "Helping the helpless?"

Harvey smiled at her, certain she knew better than that. "Not most of the time," he answered, watching her grin as she lifted another glass. Her name was Karrin, though she seemed to more go by Murphy. She's a cop - or she used to be. He hadn't quite pulled the full answer from her on that yet. But he knew that look. That presence. It was more than the confidence from all of her martial arts training; she knew how to handle and carry herself like she meant business. It worked on her.

Murphy knocked back her next shot and dropped the glass, up-side down, on the bar. "Only when your boss orders you to, then, huh?"

His grin didn't leave his face, except when he downed his own shot. "My boss doesn't order me to do anything." A lie, but one he could probably get away with for a minute or two. And one that didn't actually matter. "But I didn't agree to have drinks with you so we could talk about my job."

She laughed and waved the bartender over to order more shots. "We could talk about my job," she said with a shrug. "But I don't want to do that either."

He was still wondering if the 'cop' vibe he was getting was left-over or current, but it was less and less on his mind. "We could talk about whether or not you have handcuffs."

"Mr. Specter," she chided him. "You are either looking for something or you are a little kinky and a lot forward."

He leaned a bit more into her personal space. "I am definitely forward." A beat. "I don't like to waste time."

She picked up the new shot that had been set on the bar for her, and knocked it back. "Then let's get out of here," she said as she slipped from the stool and started for the door.

That she hadn't given him more warning was as much a turn on as her ability to drop his ass to the floor without thinking about it. He tossed cash onto the bar to cover their drinks, then followed her out to the sidewalk. The Chicago air was crisp, but not cold. A wisp of a breeze caught her blonde hair and tossed it about her face. They walked back to the gym, then caught a cab to his hotel.

She let him get the door closed before she hauled him to the couch and shoved him onto it. Kneeling over him, she pushed her fingers into his hair as she leaned in for a kiss.