Nirvana

Harley was sitting on James' couch, her legs and the coffee table covered in papers, when he walked through the door of the house. He was tired, his suit was wrinkled, he had pulled his tie loose and he was barely holding his head up. It was a rough night, all he wanted to do was eat something and go to bed. He wasn't even sure he would have the energy to eat and then drag himself upstairs to bed. He smiled to himself upon seeing Harley waiting for him, she turned her head over her shoulder and smiled before going back to whatever it is she was doing.

"I hijacked your printer, and used most of your ink. I'll buy you some more tomorrow." She informed him without looking up from her papers again.

James was emptying his pockets onto the kitchen counter when he joked, "I had ink?"

Harley shook her head in amusement, smile on her face, and tapped the spot beside her on the couch. He instantly dropped into it and sighed, she rubbed his leg gently and told him, "Almost done."

Curiously he asked, "Whatcha doing?"

"Attempting to figure out why the bar has been short all month." She muttered, highlighting something he couldn't read on the page. She tilted her head back to look at the ceiling, sighed, and complained, "I hate math."

James let out a small chuckle, he too was sitting with his head back on the couch, his eyes closed. If it wasn't for the laughter Harley would have thought he was asleep. Without opening his eyes or turning to her James asked Harley, "Is this what you did all night?"

“Well something had to keep me entertained, that boring hockey game was doing nothing for me.” Harley told him with a smirk, this caught his attention. He sat up, opened his eyes and faced her, eyebrow raised.

“Boring huh?” He asked, barely holding back his laughter

She nodded and smirked at him, “Yeah, boring.”

“I scored!” He defended himself, making her laugh this time.

"Craig got the game winner." She told him, nearly laughing when a low growl came from James. She patted his cheek and told him, "Jealousy is not a nice feature on you."

"You haven't seen anything yet." He told her, watching as she got frustrated and gathered all the papers into a pile, setting it on the coffee table in annoyance. James scooted closer to her, wound an arm around her shoulder and stated, "I am starving."

"You're always starving." Harley pointed out and James responded with a shrug. She got up and held her hands out, pulling him off the couch and into the kitchen where she dug around in his fridge for something to make. James simply sat down at the island counter and watched her, forcing himself to keep his eyes open. He focused on the long braid that went down her back, as it moved each time she did.

Harley turned over her shoulder as James asked, "Wanna finish that 20 questions game?"

"Okay... What's your favorite color?" Harley asked, James almost laughed at her.

"Right for the hard ones." He joked, taking a moment to stretch before telling her, "Purple. Siblings?"

Harley smiled and shook her head at him, "Only child. What about you?"

"Three brothers and a sister." He told her, nearly laughing when she whipped around with wide eyes.

"Your mother is a saint." Harley stated, James nodded.

"Yeah she's pretty amazing." James said, watching as Harley turned back to the stove, she put a pan for bacon and scrambled eggs.

Harley handed him the package of bacon, "I'm trusting you here."

"Bacon is easy." James told her, even though he was slightly concerned that maybe she shouldn't trust him with it. Still he got up and ripped the package open with a knife, as Harley got to work on gathering the stuff for the eggs.

Harley turned her head over her shoulder and told him, "I'm going to change into something comfier."

James watched her as she went up the stairs before he started putting the strips of bacon in the pan. He shook his head in some kind of amusement, never in a million years would he think he would be back in this position. Spending his spare time with a girl, one who made him smile like he hadn't in over a year. Whatever it was, he wasn't going to let her go anytime soon.

"Hey stranger, how's that bacon coming?" He turned at the sound of her, and his eyes widened slightly at the sight. She was standing by the kitchen island, one of his Predators shirts on, it was much too big for her, and it didn't take him long to notice that she had nothing but a pair of lace bordered boy short underwear on underneath the shirt. Her hair was out of the braid, hanging in waves, and she smiled when he reached out and took her hand, yanking her into him.

He kissed her softly at first, and wound his arms around her. Harley placed both hands on James' biceps, and smiled against his lips as he leaned down, his hands cupped her butt as he lifted her up off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and moved her hands to his hair.

- - -

James paid the delivery guy and brought the pizza box into the kitchen, where Harley was sitting, still in his shirt, still no pants on, at the kitchen island, laughing while she looked at the fry pan that had moments ago been filled with burnt bacon. Burnt black, to the point where it crumbled at the touch. James shook his head, he was sure Harley made a mental note to never let him handle food again, not that he could blame her, and he set the pizza down, grabbing two plates for them before he joined her at the island and took a long drink of his beer.

Harley patted his leg and told him, “One day you'll learn the ways of cooking bacon.”

“Is that a promise?” He asked, eyebrow raised, making her smile and nod.

“That's gonna be my new mission in life. To teach James Neal to cook...at least as much as I can...we're both screwed.” Harley said, making both of them laugh.

“At least we both know the numbers to some pretty good take out places.” James said, making her nod in agreement as she took a bite of her pizza and moaned. The sound made him suddenly less hungry for food.

“Definitely good take out places.” Harley stated with a nod, confirming his previous statement. She wasn't sure he would pull through on his promise for the best pizza in Nashville, after all he had been in Nashville for a lot less time than she had, but she had to admit he was almost right. Almost.

“How did I manage to find the one woman in Nashville who actually can't cook any more than I can?” James wondered out loud, making Harley laugh as she put her foot on the bar across the middle of his stool. James put his hand on the back of her calf, running his fingers up and down her leg.

"That's just your dumb luck baby." Harley told him with a smile.

"So what's your favorite color?" James asked her, watching her intently while she thought for a minute.

"Orange."

James made a face, "Flyers."

Harley laughed and asked, "Am I supposed to say gold and navy?"

"If you wanted to be a good girl." James told her with a smirk.

Harley smiled at him, "I am a very good girl."

"I don't know about that." James made a face like he was trying to decide, so Harley kicked his leg with her foot. He laughed, pulled her legs onto his lap and asked her, "So why Diosa?"

"I came to Nashville with an old boyfriend, he picked the name." Harley told him, making James nod slowly. She grinned at him and said, "Two months after we opened he was nowhere to be found. Haven't seen him since."

"He's an idiot." James told her. He waited a few seconds before he rubbed her ankle and said, "The name suits you."

She rolled her eyes at him, poked her foot into his stomach and asked, "What do you other than hockey and sleeping with random girls in bars?"

James couldn't help but let out a loud laugh at that. When he realized she was serious he said, "Hmm… not much. Watch movies, sleep, talk to my family. I'm pretty plain. I have a routine."

Harley smiled and told him, "I would hope you talk to your family. At the very least your mother. That woman deserves a lifetime of awards for having five kids."

"Ah come on she can't use that excuse forever." James joked, and he let out a laugh when Harley shook her head at him.

"Oh no. I was there when Emma went into labor with Hannah. Your mother deserves the entire world for doing that five times. I don't even want to do it once after seeing Emma." Harley told him, and James let out an even louder laugh.

Once he settled down he curiously asked her, "Favorite holiday?"

"Halloween." She told him with a grin.

James shook his head, "Doesn't count. It's your birthday."

"You're no fun… hmm… okay what about 4th of July?" Harley asked.

"You're so American." James stated, and Harley let out a laugh. He offered up his own favorite holiday freely, "Mine is Christmas."

Harley smiled and her eyes wandered around his house. She was surprised when he first showed her it when it was completely done. It was big and open, large windows and doors, the kitchen was much better than she expected from a guy who barely cooked, the design scheme was modern yet still homely and warm. Out of curiosity she asked, "Did you really design this place yourself?"

"Most of it. I got help from my mom when it came to furnishing it. Why, do you like it?" James was interested to hear her answer.

"It's gorgeous." Harley told him, her eyes wandering around again. It was beautiful, even despite the fact that he had barley any decor in the entire house. James considered 2 couches, a coffee table, a lamp and a tv decoration enough.

He caught the look in her eyes and asked, "How do you feel about Phoenix?"

"Uh… it's hot?" Harley stated, more in a questioning way, unsure of where exactly that came from.

James grinned, "I was thinking of buying a house out there. Fix it up over the summer and then resell it."

Harley stared at him for a moment before she found her words, "You don't seriously flip houses as a past time do you?"

"So what if I do?" James asked her, eyebrow raised. His hands began rubbing her feet, Harley was distracted for a few seconds as he did this. She let out a quiet moan, and James dropped her feet and stood up quickly, making her look up at him in confusion. He pulled her off the chair and dragged her up the stairs before telling her, "Unless you want me to never finish a foot rub you should not make those noises."

"What noises?" She leaned up and kissed him, letting out another quiet moan. When she pulled back she smirked, "Those noises?"

James growled again, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. Harley let out a scream and James responded by smacking her butt with his hand as he made his way to the bedroom. Harley bit into his shoulder blade and James eventually dropped her onto her back on his bed. He stared down at her, Harley leaned up on her elbows and stared at him with a smirk. He leaned down, ran his large hands over her legs and up to her hips before he told her, "I think I like when you come over."