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Dani opened the door to Malcolm's apartment and stopped in her tracks. With a cock of her head and a quirk of her brow, she shut the door behind her and asked in uncertainty, "What are you doing?"
Malcolm, who stood on his head in the middle of the living room rug, breathed deeply as he replied, "Yoga."
"Right." Dani nodded, making her way over to him. With hands tucked into her leather jacket, she watched Malcolm for a moment. He was calm, peaceful... and shirtless. Not bad. Dani thought to herself. Not bad at all. Suddenly realizing she was staring, she cleared her throat and queried, "Trying to shake out some bad dreams?"
"Bad memories." He uttered in between breaths.
"And this really helps?" Dani asked skeptically.
"Sometimes." Malcolm exhaled, then after a couple of seconds added, "When it's quiet."
She smirked then responded amusedly, "Hint taken... will you at least be done anytime soon?"
"Five minutes." He told her.
"Good, I'll just grab some coffee while I wait." Dani noted, gesturing to the kitchen behind her with her thumb. She had just turned on her heel and taken one step when Malcolm muttered, "Finally." Dani knew he was only teasing, but she wasn't about to let him get the last word or the upper hand. It wasn't in her nature. And so, Dani whirled right around, walked back up to Malcolm and deliberately pushed his legs over his head. After he landed on his back with a thump, she stood over his head a shrugged, "Oops."
Malcolm's eyes were wide in surprise as he stared back at her. He couldn't believe she just did that, and, judging by her tone, she wasn't the least bit sorry. Catching his breath, he retorted exasperatedly, "Really?"
"Oh, good, you finished early." She tossed back, ignoring his sentiment.
Stifling a laugh, Malcolm sat up and reached to the side for his t-shirt. He didn't want it falling in his face like last time, so he had discarded it before his meditation session. Slipping it back over his head, he stood on his knees and shared his initial thought with her, "I can't believe you just did that."
"Yeah, well it was just too tempting, and you were annoying me, so..." She trailed off teasingly.
Turning to face her fully, he brought a leg up, so he was on just the one knee as he said, "Nice." then continued to stare at her thoughtfully.
It was quiet for a long moment until Dani spoke, "You getting up or what?"
"Yeah, just a second." Malcolm answered then quickly stuck out his leg and swiped the space in front of him, knocking Dani off her feet in the blink of an eye. He wasn't much of a fighter, but Malcolm kept a few moves up his sleeve just in case the time came where he needed them. This seemed to be one of those times.
Lying on her back on the thick rug, Dani was unharmed but completely stunned as she spoke slowly but forcefully, "You. Did not. Just do that."
Walking over to her, Malcolm stood at her side and peered down at her cheekily as he replied, "Yeah, well it was just too tempting, and you were annoying me, so..."
Dani bit back a smile at her own words being used against her as she propped herself up on her elbows. Then, she lifted a hand up toward him and questioned, "Truce?"
"Truce." He agreed, grabbing her hand and helping her to her feet.
With a swift jerk, Dani found herself face to face with Malcolm, noses mere inches apart. The moment felt suddenly intimate as she stared into his deep blue eyes, gripping his arm for balance. Dani knew she should pull away, but she didn't want to. She was debating her next move when Malcolm's glance flicked to her lips. With that, she stopped thinking and gave in to her desire, kissing Malcolm hastily. He was surprised for half a second before kissing her back. After a long blissful moment, they pulled apart and stared at each other breathlessly. Before either of them could say anything, Malcolm's phone rang from the other room.
"I- I should get that." He sputtered. Letting go of Dani, Malcolm made his way to his phone that he left charging in the bedroom. He wasn't sure what had just happened other than the best kiss of his life. Running a hand through his hair, he picked up his cell. There was a missed call from Gil. Listening to the brief message, Malcolm discovered he was needed at the crime scene as well. Heading back to the living area to talk with Dani about the kiss seemed to be the next logical step. They needed to clear the air. What did that moment mean? He knew what he hoped it meant, but Malcolm also knew he could never assume anything where Dani was concerned. Clearly, she was a bit of a wildcard with pushing him over, kissing him out of nowhere, and now disappearing. Looking from the living room to the kitchen, Dani was nowhere to be seen. Malcolm sighed, knowing their talk would have to wait. It was time to go to work, but first, he needed a shower... a cold shower.
Yeah, it was a good thing Malcolm had a murder to solve because he was definitely in need of a distraction.