Undercover Lovers |Aaron Hotchner|

Chapter Twelve: Sleepover Gone Wrong

On Tuesday night, Hotch came home and said he had to go to some accounting conference in the city. He was set to be there in an hour and spend all day tomorrow at the venue. We went upstairs to get him packed for his excursion.

"I don't want to be away from you for so long, especially after last week." He said, giving me puppy dog eyes.

"I don't want to be apart, but I can't go with you on a business trip." I thought for a moment. "I could call Claire and stay with her if that'll make you feel better about it."

"Great, you call her and I'll pack your bag."

I took my phone out and dialed her number. She picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, I was just about to call you." She said. "Do you want to go to the mall with me tomorrow? I ordered a dress and had it shipped to the store, so it'll be ready by the time we get there."

"I'd love to go. Graham is going out of town for the night and he doesn't want me to be alone, so I was wondering-"

"Say no more. I'll set up the guest room for you and order a pizza. When do you think you'll get here?"

"In about 20 minutes. Thanks, Claire." I hung up and looked at Hotch, who I could tell was relieved. I went to the bathroom to get all of our toiletries, vitamins, medications, and anything else I could think of that we might need and put them in our bags before he could take them to the cars.

When he came back inside, he picked me up and just held me. I wrapped my arms and legs around him, burying my face in his neck.

He sighed. "If anything happens-"

"It won't." I interrupted.

"If it does, call me and I'll be at your side as soon as possible."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Go to this conference and- what do you do at conferences? Just sit there?"

He nodded. "I'd assume, so I wouldn't be missing much if I stayed here with you instead."

"No, we should both get going." I started to jump down from his arms, but he didn't let me go. He pressed his lips to mine and kissed me like he'd never see me again, holding me as close as he possibly could. After a few breathless minutes, he set me down.

"Get out of here before I change my mind and chain myself to you." He laughed weakly and walked behind me to the door. We pulled our shoes on and got in our separate cars.

The first thing I noticed once I got to Claire's house was that Zachary's car was missing. He must've still been at the restaurant. He bought it when he was 19 years old, so it wasn't so surprising that he cared about it as much as he did.

Feeling like a kid, I knocked on the door with my overnight bag in hand. It opened after just a few seconds and Claire gave me a hug before letting me inside.

"You don't have to knock, you know." She said, showing me to the guest room. I'd been to her house plenty of times, so I didn't really need a tour.

"Remember what happened last time you didn't knock at my house?" I asked.

"Just when I started to forget. Sorry again about that."