"Couldn't you have picked a quieter place, Frank?" Horatio took a sip of the drink the waitress had just laid in front of him.
The big Texan chuckled as he looked over his friend's shoulder. "Yeah, I know it's loud, but the view is great." He watched two women walk across the room to the bar. That's when he saw her. She was sitting at the bar, laughing and sipping mimosas with a friend. He watched as they accepted dance requests from man after man. As he was working up the courage to ask the brunette to dance, two men approached the girls with drinks and began to talk with them. This isn't gonna be pretty, he thought. One of the men placed his hand on the thigh of the blonde, and she reached down and moved his hand, and then continued her conversation, before following them out to the dance floor. The song changed, and as the girls headed back to the bar, the men grabbed their hands and pulled them into another dance. Frank continued to stare, admiring the way she moved.
"Are you paying attention to one word I've said, Francis?" He downed the rest of his drink and slammed the empty glass on the table in between them.
"Sorry, H. Natalia's here, and boy, can she move." He licked his lips and took a sip of his scotch.
"So why don't you just ask her to dance?" Horatio laughed deeply, picturing his friend on the dance floor.
The strains of Madonna's Get Into the Groove pulsated around the room. Just then, the men moved aside, finally revealing Natalia's blonde friend. Her dance partner kept grabbing her waist, trying to pull her closer, but Calleigh simply smiled, shook her head and continued to dance. Frank started to say something, but the words caught in his throat. If Horatio saw the scene unfolding out there, that boy would be toast.
"What…too hot out there for you?" Horatio turned around and looked out on the floor, and uttered a curse under his breath.
"H., don't do anything stupid, she's a big girl, and she's taking care of herself."
Horatio watched as the man continued to put his hand on Calleigh. "I think it's time I cut in." He looked over at his friend. "Are you coming, Francis, or are you going to let that snake maul Natalia?"
Frank rolled his eyes and followed Horatio to the dance floor. "Mind if we cut in?" Horatio's voice was low and menacing.
"Yeah, actually we DO mind. We've been buyin' these girls drinks, and we plan to take 'em home."
Calleigh bit her lip; she knew Horatio would lose it at that comment. To her surprise, he remained calm, simply moving his jacket aside to reveal his badge. Frank did the same to Natalia's partner. The men put up their hands in surrender and headed over to the bar in search of two new victims.
"Horatio, you know we could have handled ourselves." Calleigh smiled at him.
His answer was to reach for her waist and start swaying to the music. "I believe I owe you a dance, ma'am."
She continued dancing, loving her new partner. "I love this song. Have you ever heard it?"
Horatio continued his movements along with her body and smiled when they heard the line "You've got to prove your love to me". By the time they had gotten to the line "We might be lovers if the rhythm's right", he was flush with her body, their hands slowly roaming over each other.
Frank wasn't quite that far along with Natalia, he was doing his best to keep up with her. "I usually just watch, I'm not much of a dancer."
"You're doin' just fine, Frank. Thanks for rescuing us." She reached out and rubbed his arm, making him a bit braver.
He reached up and brushed her cheek. "You're welcome." Suddenly the pulsating beat of Madonna had been replaced by the softer strains of REO Speedwagon. Frank took a step closer and pulled Natalia into an embrace. "Now, this kind of dancing I can handle." He laughed and looked over at his friend, who now had his face buried in Calleigh's hair.
When the tempo slowed down, Horatio pulled Calleigh to him and wrapped his arms around her waist as her arms snaked around his neck. He listened to the words of "I Can't Fight the Feeling Anymore", and knew it was time to tell how he'd felt for so long. His hands roamed slowly over her back, gently caressing her, while she laid her head on his chest and ran her fingers through his hair. "Calleigh…I…"
"Shhh…take me home, Horatio."
"I came with Frank, Sweetheart."
"I drove Natalia here, it looks like Frank can get her home, let me get my purse." She lightly stroked her friend's arm as she made her way to the bar, and then tilted her head slightly to the door. Natalia smiled and nodded.
"It looks like my ride's leaving, Frank. Can you give me a ride home when we're ready to leave?"
He looked down into her warm eyes. "Sure, you're sure you don't want to leave with Cal?"
She looked over at the door and watched the couple leaving arm in arm. "She'd kill me, Frank, besides, I'm having a good time."
"Yeah, me too."
The music started to get louder and faster, so the couple retreated back to the booth where Frank had been sitting with Horatio. "Uh-oh, Horatio left his keys on the seat".
Natalia laughed. "Something tells me he's not going to need them, but let me call Cal and let her know. They shouldn't be at her place yet." She pulled out her phone and relayed the message to her friend, and then laughed as she snapped the phone shut.
"What's so funny?"
"I'm supposed to take the keys to work on Monday, tell you not to call him, and for us both to keep our mouths shut."
"Well doesn't that beat all? We get the best gossip that the department has had in years, and we can't say a word."
"Oh, I would love to let it slip to Yelena. She's always showing up at his office trying to get him to go to her house…to see Ray Jr., of course. Yeah, right." She giggled. "Hey, more slow music, c'mon, let me see more of those dance moves of yours."
"Yes, Ma'am." He took her hand as she led him to the dance floor.
Calleigh looked over at Horatio and smiled. "The whole weekend, huh, Handsome?"
"I've got a lot of time to make up for, Calleigh. Can you forgive me for taking so long?"
"There's nothing to forgive, but I will allow you to spend the weekend trying to make it up to me."
"You don't have a choice. Natalia has my keys. I left them at the club."
"She can always drop them by here, oh, wait, you don't want them to know?"
"No, I don't want to be disturbed."
Calleigh pulled her Jeep into her driveway and smiled. "I like the way you think."
Frank and Natalia kept dancing until it was finally last call. "What do you think they're doin' right now? Wait, don't answer that." Frank chuckled.
"Well, I'm sure that they sat and talked for a while first."
"No, not those two. They've had all this pent up tension for each other for too long now." He walked her out to his car and opened the door for her. It was a quiet drive to her house, with the exceptions of directions, Natalia was very quiet. She snuck quick glances at Frank. She'd known him a long time, but had never thought of him as anything but a co worker. Tonight she'd seen him in a whole new light. Tonight she'd seen what could be the start of something wonderful. She'd always dated younger men, closer to her own age, tonight she'd seen what a gentleman was, and Lord help her, it turned her on.
He pulled into her driveway and shut off the engine, and then hopped out to open the door for her. Yep, a gentleman through and through. "You want to come in and talk for a bit, maybe a nightcap or some coffee?" Oh, no, did she just invite this man into her home at three o'clock in the morning?
"Um, are you sure?"
"Sure, no pressure or anything, you don't have to if you don't want to."
If I don't want to…who's she kiddin'? One of the sexiest women in Miami just invited me inside her house, and I'm stuck to the pavement like a love struck schoolboy. "Sure, I'd love to, maybe just coffee."
"Great, come on in and make yourself comfortable on the sofa, I'll be out in just a sec." She disappeared into the kitchen, and then popped right back out. "I forget what you take in your coffee, Frank, I'm sorry."
"Just black will be fine, Sugar." Oh, I didn't just call her that did I?
Mmm…he called me Sugar, that's so sweet. She put the coffee on to brew, and then returned to the living room and joined him on the sofa.
Hours later, they were sound asleep on the sofa, the coffee forgotten. They had talked until dawn, and Natalia was as content as she could be. They had plans for the rest of the weekend, maybe sex would be involved, maybe not, but she knew one thing for sure, she was lucky to have this man in her life.
The next morning Horatio woke to find Calleigh sleeping peacefully next to him. He eased himself from the bed and tiptoed to the kitchen and made coffee, then slipped back into bed and gathered her into his arms. He'd finally found his soul mate, the woman he'd spend the rest of his life with. He waited until he felt her stir, and then began drawing lazy circles on her back.
She turned over and smiled, looking lovingly into his deep blue eyes. "G'morning, Handsome."
He kissed her softly before replying, "Good morning, Beautiful."
"Is that coffee I smell?"
"Mmm-hmm, I got up a little while ago, since I know how you are about your morning coffee."
"You know what I'd like first?" She pushed him on his back and rolled on top of him.
"You read my mind, Sweetheart."
They made love softly and tenderly, like they'd been together forever. Afterwards he cradled her in his arms. "What made you go to that club last night, Horatio?"
"Frank asked me to go with him. He goes there to unwind and listen to the music. He said there are usually some very pretty women on the dance floor to watch."
"To watch? He doesn't dance with them?"
"Not until last night."
"Should I call Nat and find out what happened?"
"No, no phones, you can talk to her on Monday. This weekend, this weekend you are all mine."
"Horatio, I'm all yours for as long as you'll have me."
He rolled out of bed and helped her up, handing her a bathrobe. "Then you're mine forever, Sweetheart. Ready for some coffee?"
She flashed him a huge smile. Forever. "Forever sounds wonderful, Horatio." She took him by the hand as he led her to the kitchen for their first morning of the rest of their lives.
END
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