A couple hours later, when desk duty boredom had officially set in, Brian's cell phone rang.

It wasn't a number he recognised, but that happened a lot with his work phone. Brian accepted the call and put the phone to his ear.

"Callahan," he said.

"Hello, Detective," a voice purred in answer.

Brian sat up a little straighter. "Who's this?"

"We met earlier," the voice said, sounding amused. "I was the brunet in the booty shorts."

"Oh," Brian said, eyes immediately darting up to check who might overhear his conversation. Luckily Raymond was on the phone too, taking down notes, and the squad room was noisy as always.

Brian cleared his throat. "Yes, I remember," he said, his voice softening automatically. Not that he was flirting, but ... okay, he was flirting. "How can I help?"

"Mmm," Angel purred, "well, see, I was trying to figure something out. Maybe you could help me?"

"I'll give it a shot," Brian said, smiling.

Angel laughed seductively, then said, "See, there's this guy I like, and I thought I'd call him up and ask if he wanted to get dinner with me, but ..."

He paused, and Brian held his breath as he listened.

"You still there?" Angel asked.

"Yeah," Brian breathed out.

"Good." Angel sounded amused. "That's ... good. So, uh, anyway, I wanted to ask him to dinner, but seeing as we only just met, I wasn't sure if he'd think that was too forward. He seems like he might be a bit shy. What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Brian repeated, his voice hitching.

"Yeah," Angel drawled, and Brian pictured him talking on the phone, maybe he was leaning against a wall, maybe walking slowly around the room. Whatever he was doing he was bound to look hot doing it.

In his little short shorts.

Dammit, Brian was getting aroused.

He shifted at his desk, trying to avoid looking at anyone in the squad room as he said, "Uh, I-I think anyone would be flattered you asked them."

Angel's low, dirty laugh in Brian's ear was not helping with his arousal situation. "Oh, really?" Angel asked teasingly.

"Yeah," Brian said.

"And would it be too forward," Angel went on, "if I invited myself to his place with take-out? Because, you know, I figured that this was a guy who liked the peace and quiet of being at home, and it would be an easier place for him to hang out."

Brian's eyebrows rose up in surprise. "And you got all this from meeting the guy once?"

"Hey, what can I say," Angel laughed, "I know how to read people. So, what do you say, Detective? You, me, and some pad Thai?"

"I, uh." Brian inhaled shakily. "Yeah, okay."

There was a pause, then Angel said, "Wow, for real? I wasn't sure you'd actually say yes."

Brian grinned, and he tried to think of something witty to say in reply, but Angel beat him to it.

"So, you free tonight?" he asked.