Honeymoon in Chicago

Summary: What do you get when you cross a good-natured hero with a feisty

cop? Fireworks! It wasn't "Hobson's Choice" to impersonate a honeymooner

and Toni Brigatti may have compared needing him to make her plan work to

needing a root canal, but the chemistry between the two of them was

undeniable. This very short story was inspired by "The Ice Man Taketh".

Disclaimer: Early Edition characters belong to whoever created them. No

copyright infringement intended. No profit is being made. Some of the dialogue that appears in this story is not my own, but belongs to the writer of the episode "The Ice Man Taketh."

Author: Tracy Diane Miller

E-mail Address: tdmiller82@hotmail.com



Honeymoon in Chicago

He raised the glass of chilled champagne to his lips, the bubbly liquid

invitingly tantalizing. However, before he could take a sip, she grabbed

the glass out of his hand and poured the liquid into a nearby plant. Her

actions were as swift as an eagle returning to his abode after soaring

unchallenged in the sky.

"No drinking on the job." She roared.

"What do you mean no drinking on the job? I'm on my honeymoon, remember?"

He reminded.

"The honeymoon's over." She informed.

He started to leave the suite, but not before asking her what time she

wanted him back. She yanked his jacket forcefully, telling him that he

wasn't going anywhere even if it meant that she was going to have to

handcuff him to the bed.

"That's a very interesting proposition, Brigatti." He teased, his beautiful

mud green eyes sparkling with mischief.

She was not amused. She added that she needed him to effectuate her

undercover operation and that she wasn't going to let him out of her sight.

She also told him that their charade as honeymooners didn't include

sharing the same bed. His sleeping accommodations would be the small chaise

lounge at the foot of the bed.

Then she stalked into the bathroom. Sitting on the bed, he watched her

through the partially opened bathroom door as she peeled off her stockings.

He swallowed hard as his gaze fixed on her leg, almost bare and very

sensual. She felt his gaze. "In your dreams, Hobson." She snapped to the

gorgeous voyeur before closing the bath room door.

The gods must have taken some perverse pleasure in reuniting him with the

former marshal turned detective. All he was supposed to do was to prevent a

gas explosion on a moonlight dinner cruise from causing the ship from

blowing up into Lake Michigan. Simple. Who would have imagined that when

he grabbed that name tag to gain access to the ship that he would have found

himself embroiled in an undercover operation to nab a jewel thief and that

he would have to pretend to be Brigatti's husband or risk going to jail for

obstruction of justice. Thus, a "marriage of convenience" was created (the

convenience of the police that is) between him and Brigatti, a.k.a. Larry

and Toni Thurston.

Brigatti had told him that she planned to lure the infamous "Ice Man" with a

very significant piece of "ice", the Lermontov diamond. The Chicago PD had

pegged Paul Kettner, a self-proclaimed venture capitalist, as the much

sought after criminal. Brigatti, as Toni Thurston, had skillfully struck up

a friendship with Kettner and Amber, his platinum paramour, aboard the ship.

And when she gushed that her loving husband "Larry" had given her the

Lermontov diamond as a wedding present, Brigatti baited the hook and waited

for the fish to bite. And later, when the jeweler at Jensen's presented the

Lermontov diamond, Brigatti suspected that underneath Kettner's cool veneer,

he was salivating hungrily at the thought of the jewel. Amber remarked that

since "Larry" had given his wife the diamond the size of a cantaloupe, she

should reward him with a thank you kiss. Excuses failing and unable to get

out of it, his lips met hers, tentative at first, awkward, almost

apologetic. But soon, the kiss transformed into something passionate and

lingering as his lips hungrily explored hers. Even after their audience

departed, the hungry kiss continued. He felt something. It was...

Ouch! She swiftly kicked him on the leg then accused him of enjoying the

kiss a little too much. He countered by remarking that "she had a long time

between feedings."

"Trust me, the way you kiss, I deserve an Academy Award." She retorted.

But both of them doth protest too much!

Some say a kiss is just a kiss, but with that kiss, feelings had been

awakened even though they were both too stubborn to admit it.

Later, as she hung dangling from the roof of the Hilton, he rode to her

rescue and saved her life. Returning to the honeymoon suite, both of them

let down their defenses.

An undercurrent of attraction percolated and soon permeated the room as his

eyes feasted on hers. He leaned over for another kiss. Somehow he knew

that her lips would have been gratefully accommodating if that phone hadn't

rung at the most inopportune moment. He loved Marissa, but right now he

wanted to curse her bad timing!

Brigatti exited the room to give him some privacy. When he finished his

call, Brigatti re-emerged. He thought that he might have seen something in

her eyes for a brief moment. Tears? A hurt expression? He couldn't tell

especially when she quickly rebounded and once again became the tough as

nails cop.

He looked predictably handsome in his tuxedo. She was stunning in her

evening gown accentuated when he fastened the Lermontov diamond around her

neck. But, that night when she danced with Kettner and he danced with

Amber, both of them felt a pang of jealousy. Again, they disguised

their awakened feelings by clothing them in the retorts they hurled at each

other. With Kettner's arrest at the ball for the theft of a diamond watch,

"Larry's" tenure as a reluctant honeymooner seemed over especially after he

asked her whether she still needed him and she told him that they were

through.

However, the paper had other plans. The next morning, a story about the

stolen Lermontov diamond appeared. He knew that she would be suspended from

the police force so once again, he rode to her rescue.

At the police station, he found the proverbial Trojan horse, Amber,

Kettner's girlfriend who had come to the police station to answer some

questions about her boyfriend on the pretext of helping out with the

investigation; Amber, with her dumb blonde routine was really a criminal

mastermind. She was the elusive "Ice Woman" who had evaded the police.

And he recovered the Lermontov diamond and Brigatti's professional integrity was

restored. She came to McGinty's to recover the wedding ring she had loaned

him for their charade (police property, she said). She also offered thanks

and a smile before she left McGinty's.

But many words remained unspoken that day between the two of them. Somehow

he got the feeling that his "honeymoon" with the fiery cop was far from

over.



The End.