Kiss and make up

Gunner hesitates, his free hand resting on the door frame while his fingers strummed a nervous beat without him even realizing it. Lunch? Now? He'd just said not today. But he really didn't have much of an excuse. He was in between cases at the moment, and oddly enough, he had some free time. And on top of that, Bree couldn't meet him for lunch today.

"Well, I don't know," he stalls. It's not all that urgent or anything." Wasn't it? The twist in his gut said he'd just lied.

"And I've got lots of work..." As his eyes lock with Hope's, his voice trails off. She could see right through him and he knew it. "But yeah, okay. I can meet you somewhere." He at least wanted an escape route, should this not go the way he wanted. "Just, um...tell me where."

Jason can't help a snicker as he remembers his an Alec's epic fail at pictionary, although they'd laughed a lot. "Yeah, I hear it's lots of fun too," he teases.

Clay sensed there was an inside joke there, but grins anyway. "I'm not sure my artistic abilities could even warrant a game of pictionary, but I'm game." He pauses. "No...pun intended."

Jason laughs. "At least we'll have even teams if we play." He gives Misty's shoulder a squeeze. "I gotta go, but I'll plan on coming over after work then." He glances back to Clay. "And it looks like I'll see you later."

In a few moments, Clay is alone with Misty again, and he gives her a small but grateful smile. "Thanks." The last batch of people he'd hung out with had all ended up drunk. But he had a feeling this was going to be a lot different.

It wasn't until Clay excused himself to use the restroom that Rick had a chance to talk to Misty alone. Coming over to her desk, he shakes his head, giving her a wry grin. "That's why you're perfect for this job. You always know how to make people feel important."

He pauses, leaning against her desk. "Thanks for inviting Clay over. He's become quite a loner the last few years and I'm not sure he's got anybody he can really call a friend. He's not the most motivated guy, but I think that's part of the aftermath of a long string of bad luck and no one to support or encourage him." He sighs. "I love my brother, and I've never been a parent, so I can't judge but...well, I guess if Clay was my son, I'd treat him a whole lot differently than his dad has. I'm gonna try to keep Clay around here - see if he'll stay with me and Janet for a while until he's got his life back together again. He's stubborn though, so I don't know how much help he'll accept. In the meantime, I'm grateful for you helping him find friends he can trust."

Happy that Grace didn't mind granting him affection, Jared returns her kiss. Realizing she was willing to let the exchange linger, he deepens his own kiss, perhaps testing to see if she'd allow him to kiss her as passionately has he had before. 

Letting go of her hand, his own comes up to gently stroke the back of her neck. It wasn't so much that the kiss itself was that intense or that extraordinary - he'd kissed and been kissed by an awful lot of women. But kissing Grace was undoubtedly different. Not because of how she kissed, but simply because of who she was. 

Only drawing away after several lighter kisses, Jared's hand still keeps Grace just a few inches from him. A smile creases his lips as his eyes study hers. "If that's what it means to kiss and make up... I think I like it."