Emily was starting to panic.
Thanksgiving had crept up on her much faster than she’d liked. Now, as she was putting the finishing touches on her makeup for the night, her heart was sitting uncomfortably in her throat and making mascara almost painful to apply. She’d poked herself in the eye more than once because her hand was shaking.
It wasn’t that she didn’t think she could handle the night. She was most definitely looking forward to spending some serious time with Aaron. The problem was her parents, his parents and the rest of the people that would be there. Her mother used her as a poster child, with the exception of her single status and Emily knew a couple of family friends that would love to merge the families. She was afraid of being bombarded, of her mother ignoring that she’d brought a date and still trying to force any single men in attendance on her. She made a mental note to stick close to her father, the only person Emily knew who could humour and handle her mother at the same time.
And she’d have to warn Chris. Her brother had always been a fantastic rescue when he wasn’t off ‘making nice’ with the ladies. Now that he was married “ something that often put him above her in Elizabeth Prentiss’ books “ he could be her rescuer and still spend most of the evening with his wife, Charlotte. Since she was bringing Aaron this year, she hoped Chris’ rescue needs would be minimal.
Though, when she thought about it, it would only be her mother and possibly her father that knew Aaron was her boss. Other than that, the majority of the room would be clueless as to their working relationship. Even if they were asked where they met, at work would be correct without stretching the truth. No one needed to know they met at work because they worked in the same unit. Especially that it was a unit as intense as the BAU.
The knock on her door startled her. She wasn’t ready yet. Her thoughts had paused her completely in her preparation routine. Not that it mattered much. They’d agreed to meet at her place a half an hour before Phillip had scheduled the car to pick her up. That way they could go together and have some immediate back up if needed. She sighed as she made her way to the door.
“Hey,” she greeted with a shaky smile.
Aaron raised an eyebrow as he stepped forward to kiss her cheek. “I’m not sure that robe will pass as clothing for your parents.”
“I’m not ready yet,” she said with a sigh. “My dress is hanging on the door of my closet upstairs.”
He followed her upstairs, well aware of how nervous she was. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, only partially telling the truth. “I’m just… nervous.” She made a beeline for the bathroom and her still scattered beauty supplies.
Aaron followed her, leaning against the doorframe. “Nervous is a good word.”
“You’re nervous?” Emily asked in surprise.
“Shouldn’t I be? I don’t remember your father or your brother. And there’s the rest of the family you’ve threatened me with.”
That got a small smile out of her. “I didn’t threaten you with them at all. I was merely preparing you.”
He quirked his lips. It was good to talk to her about this. Sometimes she had the whackiest logic of anyone he knew. “Preparing me for what?”
“An evening of being judged on how much you make and how much you work,” Emily responded as she double-checked her eye shadow, mascara and liner. She dabbed at the corner of her eye and a clump of black that had formed there. “On whether or not you’re married and what your spouse makes as a result. It’s bad enough that I’m a woman that works, I happen to work in the FBI. All of these people are used to getting everything they want, whenever they wanted. I worked to get into the BAU. It’s what I want.”
“I know that, the team knows that, what else matters?” Aaron asked logically, folding his arms across his chest.
“I just hate how judgmental they are,” Emily replied as she went about methodically putting away her makeup supplies. “I’m going to spend the night smiling at everything, laughing politely, not telling each and every person what I think of them.”
“You compartmentalize.”
“But I’m not perfect,” she pointed out. “I want to slap the married grandfather that wants to pinch my ass as much as the next woman, but we can’t because it would be seen as inappropriate and making a scene.”
“We’ve got each other,” he reminded her gallantly. “And serial killers.”
She laughed at that. “Thank God for Jack the Ripper. I never thought I’d say that.”
“I never thought I’d hear it,” he responded.
She stepped past him, brushing against him for the sense of touch as much for the reassurance his presence brought. She pulled her dress off of the hangar and draped it over her arm, looking at him expectantly. She grinned as he stepped away from the door, arms up. “That doesn’t mean I have to like going.”
“I’m not exactly jumping at the opportunity either,” he chuckled.
“We talk about this, and I talk about my family and your family and yet every single time, I seem to forget that you know exactly what I’m talking about,” she said. “I’m going to need your help with the zipper.”
That was dangerous territory. He was already on edge not only because they’d gotten more and more intimate after each date, but because he knew he was looking at an evening of other men gazing at whatever dress she’d chosen. And Emily was the type of person who would pick a dress that would make a man salivate with only one man in mind, disregarding the possibility of the reactions of other men. He gave himself a point when she stepped out of the bathroom, holding the dress to her front. Aaron made quick work of the zipper on the back of her dress, trying to ignore the new knowledge that she was most definitely wearing a black bra and spun her to face him.
Royal blue was her colour and the v-cut of the dress tastefully displayed her cleavage. It hugged her curves on the way down, accenting her slim waist with a black sash. The skirt dropped to her knees and left enough leg to be tantalizing while still being appropriate for politics. If they didn’t get out of here soon he was going to lose his self-control. “You are gorgeous.”
She blushed prettily. “Thank you.”
And she wasn’t even wearing shoes. It wasn’t that he had a foot fetish, but he recognized how much shorter Emily was when she was barefoot and recognized that it was his protective instincts rearing their ugly heads. He would have kissed her if the buzzer hadn’t sounded.
She looked shocked. “They’re early.”
Part of Aaron was thankful. Too much longer and he was pretty sure they wouldn’t be making it to the dinner at all. She looked drop-dead gorgeous in her dress and it emphasized all of the parts of her body that were assets. He let her lead the way down the stairs, taking her jacket from her as she double checked that it was the car downstairs.
Her heels put her head in the perfect position to just tuck her chin on his shoulder, leaving them almost cheek to cheek. She smiled her thanks as he helped her into her jacket and slipped her arm into his as they made their way down to the front of her building. She was glad for the contact as she smiled at the driver and climbed in the back, she took his hand as soon as they were both settled in the back.
Aaron raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you going to leave any circulation in my hand?”
Emily blushed. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you so worried?” he asked, murmuring the words against her temple.
She sighed, leaning against him. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “It’s just your family, my family, and a few of society’s highest and mightiest. Most of them don’t know we work together, even fewer of them know you’re my boss. I have no reason to be so panicked.”
“But you are.”
“But I am,” she repeated in agreement. “My gut is telling me something is going to go horribly wrong and that’s the last thing that I want for the night.”
“Everything will be fine,” he said, reaching across to cup her opposite hip and drag her body into his. He had this need to touch her, to hold her close and keep her close. He could academically chalk it up to the knowledge that they were about to go to an event where she’d been felt up before. He knew he was possessive, and more importantly knew he was protective. It was comforting to know that Emily didn’t mind it all that much. In this case, she’d probably thank him for it.
She curled into his side as best she could, tempted to throw her legs over his lap and just stay. She didn’t want to go to this shindig. She didn’t want to face her mother, didn’t want to deal with the society, didn’t want to put herself in a potentially volatile situation. All she could hope for was a protective Aaron that wouldn’t let her out of his sight unless he had to. She absolutely hated these types of parties. “I know.”
His hand stroked through her hair, well aware that it was an excellent way to calm her down. They were silent through the car ride, lost in their own thoughts. The beginning of their relationship had been marked with small talk, little things through her stay at his place and their first few dates. Now, though, they didn’t need small talk and they’d learned that sometimes it was best not to say anything.
Emily pulled away slightly when she recognized they were getting closer. Their quiet moments had settled her mind substantially. It was both terrifying and heart-warming to know that they calmed each other. “We’re almost there,” she said. “Four more hours.”
He chuckled. “That doesn’t bode well for the evening.” Aaron was trying to be optimistic. People in society could smell pessimism like wolves and he didn’t relish the idea of being bombarded the minute they stepped through the door.
Emily took a deep breath. If Aaron could be optimistic, she could too. “This will be fine,” she told herself out loud. “It’s you, it’s me, we’ll be fine.”
“That’s the spirit,” he agreed, leaning over to kiss her.
She deepened the kiss, taking for granted that they had a few seconds left before the driver would be around to open the door. She groaned when he responded in kind. She pulled away when she felt the car turn onto her parents’ driveway. They were both breathing roughly, her eyes were sparkling, and she could see he was no less affected by the kiss. She giggled when the door opened and reached up to wipe at his mouth. “Red is not your colour.”
At her words he willingly submitted to her thumb before climbing out and gallantly holding out a hand to her. They made it up the front stair together. As they went, he said, “You were the one that pointed out they won’t make a scene. It won’t be that bad.”
Phillip answered the door and led them down the hall to what Emily liked to call the ‘reception room’. Scanning the crowd she almost winced. Chris was there with Charlotte, a thankful presence, and her father was making the rounds with her mother. The Hotchners were in attendance and she could tell by the look in their eyes that seeing their son come in with the Ambassador’s daughter was like Christmas had come early.
And then Emily saw the Kites. Logan had been a suspect in a case a few months back, her first one back on the job and she was sure she wasn’t looking forward to that particular conversation. And by the way her mother was chatting with Logan Kite’s parents, Emily figured they had something in mind. When she looked up at Aaron, she could tell he had seen something he hadn’t wanted to as well. “Bar?”
“Please.”
They both knew it was going to be a long night.