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The music pounded through her head and the small sparkling flashes of light reflecting off the disco ball over the dance floor were making spots dance in her eyes. Why did Daisy have to pick this place again? But Jemma supposed she already knew the answer to that question.
“You really didn’t have to do this.” And by that Jemma meant that Daisy and Bobbi really did not need to do this. “I’m sure I’ll get over my mortification in a year or two on my own.”
Daisy and Bobbi exchanged glances and Jemma knew they thought she needed an extra push. It had been obvious in the way they’d made her get all dressed up for tonight — hair falling in curls around her shoulders, little black dress pulled from the back of her closet, and black boots that definitely weren’t hers. She was supposed to feel sexy, but she just felt self-conscious. This wasn’t her. She was a scientist, focused on the search for truth. She was not on the hunt for a man. Which made the fact that she’d made a fool of herself over one even worse.
“What I don’t understand,” Bobbi said, finishing her drink and trying to get the bartender’s attention, “is how you didn’t know he was the boss’s son.”
“I don’t know. It didn’t even occur to me,” Jemma lied. The truth of the matter was that she had hoped it wouldn’t matter. He was so perfect for her, that after months of pining she had finally given in to her urge to ask him out, thinking it would be worth the risk. They had worked together for long enough that she had been certain he felt something too. Flatout rejection wasn’t something she had planned for. She took another sip of her drink. The only thing she was sure about was that it contained gin. Something new the bartender was trying out. “He just seemed so...different.”
“If by different you mean not an utter and complete douche, then yes.”
Daisy’s words were meant to be comforting, but it just made Jemma feel worse. How could she have been so wrong. It was obvious in hindsight.
“But now I might have ruined everything. The work I have been doing is revolutionary, and now I’m probably going to get fired and have to move back home. All over a stupid mistake.” And that’s why she was single. Her work had always come first, and the one time she let herself be distracted this was what happened.
“But, Jemma...everyone calls him Fitz. As in Leopold Fitz, son of Alastair Fitz.” Bobbi’s words were gentle, but they stung a little bit.
“He is just so handsome and smart...I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I’m gonna stop you right there. You’re starting to get all starry eyed again.”
“Bobbi’s right. You’ve been in the lab too long. It’s time to get out there and forget all about Fitz.”
“I can’t exactly forget about him. We work together. In the same lab. On the same project,” Jemma said miserably.
They worked so well together, she had gotten carried away. It sometimes felt like he was the piece of her that was missing. She should have known better.
“You know what I meant,” Daisy insisted. “You need to go back to work on Monday having already moved on.”
Bobbi jumped in. “There are plenty of guys here. One of them can make you forget all about Fitz and what happened between you two. Get starry eyed over someone else.”
Forget what had happened between her and Fitz? That should be easy since it was exactly nothing. She’d asked him out on what was clearly a date and he’d said...nothing. She tried to take it back and they’d parted for the weekend with an awkward silence hanging between them. Other than her own embarrassment there was nothing to forget.
She was wrong. The attraction she felt was completely one-sided, and even worse it probably looked like she was trying to take a shortcut at work by attaching herself to Fitz.
“I don’t need someone else,” she grumbled. She’d get over it, but right now it was a slightly grumpy engineer with eyes the color of a summer sky who filled her thoughts. He challenged her, and the way he looked at her sometimes made her heart beat faster. It might be a ridiculous crush, but it was her ridiculous crush and she didn’t think anyone here tonight could fill the void given how she had built Fitz up in her mind. They had a comfortable, easy relationship, but the intellectual stimulation was incredible and she had always thought he was kind and gentle, if a little dramatic sometimes.
Even just thinking about him made her smile. No, it was going to take more than a few drinks to make her forget she’d probably ruined the most important relationship she had outside of Daisy and Bobbi and maybe her career as well. Who knew what type of reputation she'd get if people started gossiping. She was about to redouble her efforts at convincing her friends that this was futile, when they were interrupted by a male voice.
“Hello ladies.”
The voice belonged to a tall man with reasonably broad shoulders. Jemma supposed she should find him attractive, but she just couldn’t get excited. He looked like military...or some sort of government bureaucrat. Honestly, he was just giving off a negative vibe.
“Can I buy you a drink? I’m Will, by the way. Will Daniels.”
Bobbi shot a glance across the table and Jemma saw Daisy raise an eyebrow.
“We love drinks. I’ll take a margarita. Frozen.”
“I’ll just have my usual” Bobbi added.
Will inclined his head. “I don’t think I know what that is.”
“That’s ok. Hunter knows what I like.” She waved at the bartender and Hunter gave her a wink in return.
“Oh...alright.” Then he turned to Jemma. “What can I get you?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m quite alright.” Jemma would have been happy to get a little pissed and forget all of this had happened, but she wasn’t going to accept drinks from a stranger. She didn’t want to spend the rest of the night fending him off.
“How about a dance, then?”
“Oh, I don’t know—“
“She’d love to,” Daisy interjected.
“Her name is Jemma, by the way,” Bobbi added.
“Nice to meet you, Jemma.” He gave her a small smile. “Wait right here while I get those drinks and I’ll be right back.”
He turned to the bar and as soon as he was out of earshot Jemma hissed, “What the hell was that?”
“You need to get out there,” Bobbi said.
“Getting you drunk would have been easier, but since you aren’t interested in that —“
“Honestly, I wouldn’t date him if he were the last man on the planet. He isn’t my type at all.”
Bobbi snorted. “Jemma...no one said anything about dating him.”
And then Bobbi and Daisy dissolved into giggles.
Lovely. Her friends were conspiring against her.
Before she had time to slip away Will was back with the drinks. Hunter must have already started their order before he went up there. She could still politely excuse herself, she supposed.
“Now for that dance.”
Will reached for her hand that was resting on the table and pulled her up, helped along by the push Daisy gave her. He led her to the dance floor without even looking behind him. The music was loud with a heavy beat. So not even proper dancing music then.
“So what do you do?” Jemma asked, raising her eyebrows at him. Perhaps she had judged him too harshly. They were a respectable distance apart given that they were complete strangers, and his hands hadn’t wandered anywhere too inappropriate.
“What? Can’t hear you,” he yelled.
Jemma considered repeating her question, but decided she didn’t really care about the answer and plastered a smile on her face instead.
How long exactly did she have to stay here before she could excuse herself? Would five minutes be enough? If she managed to get away from Will that would also buy her a reprieve from her friends. She loved them dearly, but they really didn’t understand the way she felt right now.
She had clearly made too many assumptions about Fitz, but the picture she’d put together in her mind was exactly the type of man she could see herself with. Physically appealing — she wasn’t shallow, but she was a biologist and knew that attraction was important — smart, kind, thoughtful. Not afraid of a woman who was those things as well. Maybe her soulmate wasn’t Fitz, but it wasn’t anyone else she knew either and she wasn’t about to settle.
Having resolved to give Will a chance for five minutes, she was almost disappointed when she caught him staring at another woman. It was like he hadn’t seen a woman in years or something. Excusing herself she turned on her heel and walked away. That nightmare was over, at least.
Her purse was back at the table with Daisy and Bobbi, so there was no avoiding them forever, but she wasn’t ready to go back just yet. Bobbi and Hunter were into some serious flirting at the very least...and Jemma suspected they were already back into the “on again” portion of their relationship. Daisy had just started dating Lincoln. Which meant that Jemma was now the odd one out. She didn’t mind, but her friends certainly seemed to.
Jemma’s ankle wobbled on the heel of the boot that was higher than she was used to. How did Daisy walk in these things?
She reached for the nearest table to keep from making a complete fool of herself and really capping off this evening, and as she steadied herself her eyes encountered a cardigan. Not only was that unusual for a bar, but she recognized that cardigan. It was the same one she had been admiring earlier. On Fitz. The dark blue brought out his eyes.
She dragged her gaze higher, knowing what she would see. It was him and it took his eyes a moment to find hers after they finished scanning her body.
Well, this was horribly embarrassing.
“Jemma?” Fitz asked.
She felt a tingle through her body. That was the problem right there. She couldn’t have this reaction every time he said her name. Fitz rubbed a hand across his forehead.
“I mean, Simmons. You look different. Good different.”
“Hello, Fitz. I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight.” She experimentally rotated her ankle. It seemed to be alright.
“Yeah,” he gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I had a bad day today. My best mate is the bartender here and he promised me this would help.”
Oh. That must have been her fault. Great. Now she was driving him to drink.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean —“
“No, it wasn’t you. It’s me.”
Jemma snorted. “Honestly, Fitz. Your intelligence is something I value...but that wasn’t even original.”
“What? No—“
“I know now that I made a mistake.” She forced herself to look at him and continue. “But I hope I haven’t messed up our working relationship.”
“Jemma...I don’t think our working relationship will have any problems. I lo- like spending time with you.”
“Well that’s a relief. I didn’t fancy having to find a new job. I really enjoy working with you.”
“A new job? You aren’t thinking of leaving, are you? I’ve never worked with anyone like you. I would miss you.”
He looked a little flushed, but it was hard to tell under the lights of the bar. But he certainly sounded worried that she would leave. That was a comfort. At least he appreciated her scientific expertise.
“No...I think the work we are doing is important. I wouldn’t want to lose that.”
“Good,” he said with a nod.
“I just didn’t think everything through...given who you are.” Since he was here, she might as well try to find a way to apologize tonight. Maybe they could move on by Monday.
“Who I am?” He looked genuinely confused and Jemma was reminded again of her inconvenient feelings towards him.
“Your father? I just want you to know that I wasn’t trying to get any special benefits or anything. It wasn’t about that. I would never do that.”
“Oh, him.” He fluttered his hand to the side, the way he did when he got flustered. “We don’t exactly see eye to eye on things. I’m nobody as far as he is concerned. I only work for him because he has the resources for me to do the kind of science I care about. And as long as it makes him money he’s happy to let me continue. But I don’t plan on doing that forever.”
“Oh.” Jemma wasn’t sure what to say and suddenly it seemed like she was making things worse again.
“I’m not going to live in his shadow. Someday I’ll figure out how to make that happen.” He gave another self-deprecating laugh, but then his face cleared. “So, can I buy you a drink?”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” Jemma glanced around, aware that they were entering dangerous territory again.
“I want to. To make up for...earlier.”
“You don’t need to—“
“I need to explain.” He gave her a pleading look. “Please.”
“Fine. I’ll have a sloe gin fizz.”
He raised an eyebrow. “That’s very British of you.”
She shrugged. “Hunter knows how to make it the right way, so that’s what I always have when I’m here.”
“You know Hunter?”
“My friend Bobbi -- from the bio lab -- is his sometimes girlfriend. So we spend a lot of time here.”
“We?”
“Oh. Me, Daisy, and Bobbi.”
“So you’re here with Daisy and Bobbi?”
“Of course. Who else would I be here with?”
Fitz gave her a look that she didn’t quite understand. He was really quite puzzling sometimes.
“I’ll just get us some drinks, yeah? Don’t run away.”
“I won’t,” she promised. But as soon as he left she started to wonder why she had promised that. This was feeling like a date now and she needed to not think about him like that. But for some perverse reason she stayed put. She really did enjoy his company and decided it would be impolite to leave without saying goodbye.
When he returned, she had her excuse ready to go. But as he set down her drink in front of her, he took a long drink of his beer.
“Jemma...I wanted to apologize. And Hunter said I should just tell you.”
“You were talking to Hunter about me?”
“Yeah, well, no. Not about you. About the woman I’m interested in.” Jemma sucked in a breath and Fitz hurried on. “She’s you. It’s you. It’s just...oh, bloody hell.”
His face was definitely flushed now and he rubbed the back of his neck. Jemma stepped closer to him, sliding her drink to the other side of the pub table.
“What did Hunter say you should tell me? And keep in mind he isn’t exactly known for his relationship skills.”
Fitz laughed, then licked his lips. She kind of liked him all nervous like this. And the stubble on his cheeks was starting to look very tempting.
“He said, ah, he said if there was a bird I was interested in, then I should just tell her how I feel.”
“That’s it?” That didn’t really sound like Hunter at all.
“Well…” Fitz smiled. “He said some other things, but they aren’t exactly things I want to repeat in front of you.”
Yes, that sounded more like Hunter.
“And?”
“And?”
“How do you feel?”
“Oh. I feel like an idiot for freezing up earlier when I really wanted to tell you yes. I’ve been trying to get the nerve to ask you out for months but I was sure you’d say no.”
Jemma cocked her head to the side and gave him a questioning look, one she frequently gave him in the lab when he wasn’t explaining himself.
“I mean, you’re brilliant. I figured you must have a boyfriend or I wasn’t your type --”
Jemma cut him off. “No boyfriend. And I’m generally too focused on my work to worry too much about dating. I want to run my own lab someday...but you already knew that.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that before, but you just surprised me today. I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t hallucinating the whole thing, so I just stuttered at you instead.”
“Fitz, I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it. I’ve been trying to not have a crush on you for months.”
“Trying not to?” Fitz’s face screwed up and she worried she had upset him.
She bumped his shoulder with hers in what she thought could be interpreted as a friendly gesture. “You’re the boss’s son, remember? I’m not supposed to have a crush on you. And if I do, everyone will assume it’s for the wrong reasons”
“But that’s...well, that’s just ridiculous. You should be able to have a crush on anyone you want!”
Fitz’s words were emphatic and they made a nice warm feeling well up inside her.
“And how are you feeling now?” She let her voice drop lower and inwardly cringed at her pitiful attempt at seduction.
“Well, right now I’m feeling like it would be really nice to kiss you. If that’s something you’d want.”
Jemma loved the confidence in his tone mixed with the uncertain look on his face. She hadn’t been wrong about him after all. And if his father wasn’t a real barrier, then there was no reason not to jump in with two feet.
“That sounds lovely.”
Jemma’s hand moved to his shoulder and all of the sudden his arms were around her waist and his lips were on hers. He was gentle but there was electricity running through her veins. She pressed her body against his and wound her arms around his neck. Even if this was the biggest mistake she’d ever made it was well worth it just to have this moment.
His hands gripped her waist as the kiss went on and on. She needed him more than she needed to breathe. Eventually they parted, breathing heavily.
“Yeah, so that’s what I feel. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”
“Well that’s perfect because that’s how I feel, too.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I just told you I’d had a crush on you for months and then I kissed you back, didn’t I?”
“I thought maybe you were just being polite. Maybe you want to let me down easy?”
“Ugh, Fitz!”
“Sorry. Right. So what now?”
“Well...now, I need to go get my bag from where I left it with Daisy and Bobbi --” She paused, thinking about where this evening had started. “They wanted to take me out to help me get over my crush on you. So I’ll just tell them I found someone who can help with that. And then we can get out of here.”
“Did you want to get some food?” he asked eagerly and Jemma was reminded again of why she found him so appealing “There’s a Thai place around the corner that has takeout and my flat isn’t far...unless, well, I’m probably not supposed to ask you to come home with me.”
Fitz was starting to get flustered again so she leaned over and kissed him.
“Fitz, that sounds like a perfect first date. Let me go say goodbye to Daisy and Bobbi and I’ll meet you outside.”
Working together on Monday morning was a little awkward, but not for any of the reasons she had feared. She had woken him up that morning with kisses on his jaw and neck. And she now had a hickey carefully hidden beneath the collar of her blouse that had started certain activities that had almost made them late.
But the biggest distraction was the plan they had made over the weekend to start their own lab and do the kind of research they were both most interested in — the kind that made the world a better place and not just a lot of money.
Because Fitz might have been the boss’s son, but he was his own man. And now he was all hers.