No Ordinary Love - G.Callen NCIS L.A

Chapter 8

He arrived back at the café around 7. After around five hours of sleep he felt better. He'd even thrown his go-bag in the laundry, showered and dressed. Deja was nowhere in sight when he entered.

Jess grinned up at him. "Well, look at you, all dressed up and everything. You going to take her someplace nice?"

He had thought about it, but where to take a café owner who knew everything about food? Seeing that she was not around yet, he confided in Jess. "Honestly, I wouldn't know where to take her. Where do you take someone who knows everything about food?"

Jess laughed. "Yeah, it's tricky. I'll tell you what, don't mention that I've told you but her favorite place is up the beach here. They have great seafood, cozy vibe, gorgeous view over the water. We have a friend working there, I'll call and get you set up." She winked. "Thank me later."

The reality of it all struck him when Deja finally made an appearance. She was wearing a striped dress and a denim jacket, her hair in a braid. This was a date. For all intents and purposes, this was a date.

Her face broke out in a grin when she saw him. "Well, look at you. This is different from the jeans I usually see you in."

Callen looked down at his dark slacks and blue button down. He'd sort of made an effort. It wasn't completely casual but not very dressed up either. He shrugged, kissed her cheek. "I figured I could at least try and look presentable. You, on the other hand, look gorgeous."

Deja actually blushed. "Uhuh, of course I do." She turned to Jess. "I have my key, so if we're not back before you close, I'll take the official front door."

Jess waved them off, giving Callen thumbs up behind Deja's back. Now he actually wanted to know where she lived. "What official front door?"

She looked at him, wiping some hair out of her face. "Oh, you don't know that. My apartment is above the café. I usually take the stairs down, but I do have a separate front door."

Ah, so that was what she meant when she was talking about upstairs. Right. "That makes sense."

Deja frowned, not sure what he meant. "How's that?"

"You've mentioned 'upstairs', I never got what you meant by it. Now it totally makes sense if you live over the café." He casually steered her in the direction Jess had detailed out for him. Other than his occasional fish tacos, he was not all that familiar with seafood, but anything for Dee.

"It came with the lease, and Lindy was already living with her boyfriend, so I took it. Best commute time ever."

Their stroll was leisurely, and he had to refrain from taking her hand on more than one occasion. He had never been great with relationships, and since he was not intentionally going to screw this up, he wanted to take his time and see where this was going. No need to rush things, no matter how much he wanted to, on some level.

"Now, on the very important note: what's for dinner?" Deja had a very good idea, seeing her favorite place in the not so distance, but she had to ask anyway.

Callen laughed. "With all that talk about food, and being surrounded by food the entire day, you still have an appetite? How do you maintain that figure?"

"Moderation. Eating is all about moderation." She beamed at him. "And yes, I can always eat."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay. Well, I heard about this place with great seafood, cozy vibe, wonderful ocean view... You up for that?"

"Always."

Jess had arranged that they had a table in a dimly lit corner. Callen let Deja order, knowing that he could leave her to it and enjoy his meal. They talked about everything and nothing, and before both of them knew it, they were the last two people in the restaurant.

Deja took the last sip of her wine. "What time is it?"

Callen was surprised that they hadn't thrown them out when he looked at his watch. "Almost midnight."

"Already?"

"Already." He hadn't had this much fun for a long time. "How about we get the check, and see if he's willing to give us a bottle of wine and two glasses, with the promise to return them tomorrow? The glasses, I mean."

She had the early shift tomorrow, but at the moment, Deja could care less. "Brilliant idea."

Harry shook his head at their request, but indulged them anyway, glad that he could close the place and head home. Ten minutes later, they were sitting on the beach, watching the ocean and still talking. Deja took a deep breath and turned her head to him. "Jess told you that this is my favorite place to eat, right? There's no way you guessed it out of nowhere."

He couldn't lie to her and nodded. "Yeah, she pointed me in the right direction. How am I to know where to take you otherwise?"

"You're not."

"Exactly. With you knowing everything about food, and me knowing almost nothing, that would be an impossible task without help."

"You did good."

The wine finished around two in the morning, they strolled back to the café, laughing, chatting. Callen looked up at the façade. "Why Indulge?" he asked, pointing to the sign.

Deja followed his gaze. "Because it means to treat yourself, or someone else, to something. To spoil, nourish, pamper. It's everything we stand for in one word." She stopped in front of the door, fumbling with her key. "We used to tell a friend in college to indulge, whenever we'd made something and she wouldn't eat it. She was a dancer, always counting calories. We'd tell her to forget about the calories and enjoy herself. The 'indulge' part of it stuck, so when we opened the café, we decided on that."

"It's perfect."

"It is, isn't it?" She was glowing. "I still think it is. It feels perfect on so many levels, I can't even tell you."

She didn't have to, Callen could tell looking at her. Not for the first time that night, he couldn't look away. The way her eyes danced when she was talking about something she loved, the way she laughed... He couldn't remember ever knowing someone who had this love for life. The fact that Deja carried herself with confidence, because she was comfortable in her own skin, and with whom she was, made her even more attractive than she already was. And the best part about it was that she didn't even realize it.

Before he fully registered what he was doing, he'd pulled her against him and hesitated long enough to recognize he was going to kiss her. But then his lips found hers and the world vanished.

Glasses weren't going to be returned in the morning and sleep, for all the right reasons, wouldn't come tonight.