Disclaimer: Law and Order:CI characters are not mine, never have been, never will be.
Ever Driven a Racecar?
"Have you ever driven a racecar?" Dan Ross asked me when I opened the door for him and he stepped in for our Saturday together.
"No, why?"
"You said you wanted to do something different. How'd you like to do that?"
I eyed him doubiously. "If you recommend it, I'm all for it, I think." I teased.
"Such a lawyers answer." He grinned at me.
"There is no need to be insulting. So, jeans are alright?"
"You look great just like you are."
"You smooth talking devil. I need to stop at the post office somewhere first before I forget."
"Not a problem." He assured me.
I cocked my head at him and smiled. He smiled back and we kissed. Not anything hot and heavy just a glad you're here and we are together kiss. We were both smiling. I took up my jacket and we left the apartment. The air had a little nip to it but the sun was shining. I grabbed my sunglasses out of my car and got into his.
He pulled out of the space and took off without a word. The man is an excellent driver. I have never driven with anyone that I trusted so completely behind the wheel as him. "So do you have a friend who owns a car then?"
"Sort of. He's actually more of a cousin."
"More of a cousin?"
"We're related by marriage. His aunt and my uncle. We're related by rumor, you might say."
"Ah. Does either side of the family claim him?"
"Ha, ha. They claim him every time he wins. The rest of the time they don't know him."
"Are you serious?"
"Connie, lighten up. He's okay. I'd never take you there if I didn't think he was alright."
"I know that. I told you that a long time ago. I trust you. I have good instincts."
He laughed. "I'm glad. I want to thank you."
"For what?"
"For helping me get a handle on that scheduling. It's working out so much better than it was. How would you feel about ending our day together out dancing? We could go to a movie, have dinner and dancing and go back to your place or mine for a nightcap."
"Can I propose an alternative?"
"By all means."
"Let's buy what we want to eat, rent what we want to see, and go somewhere where we enjoy ourselves all alone. Without waiters, other people and people throwing popcorn in the theater."
"That sounds very intimate."
"That's what I had in mind. I want to enjoy myself with you. Not the you that everyone will be watching to report you if you do something the slightest bit out of character or something…suggestive."
"In a city this big, no one will even notice or care."
"I do. I'm a private person. You know that. Besides then we can do what we want, not what we can get there. Suppose we want red wine instead of white. Scandalous! We can."
"They have either one." He said but he was grinning at me.
I swatted his arm lightly. "You know what I mean."
"Oh, you wild, wild woman." He laughed.
"You betcha." I laughed with him.
He had to concentrate on his driving. I laid my head back and watched him handling this traffic like a long time pro that he was. I looked over at him and watched his hands caressing the steering wheel like he was caressing a child. Nice, smooth, strong, big hands. I like his hands. They were very competent looking. And they were clean and well taken care of.
He pulled into a dirt lane, and drove slowly because it was rutted. Toward the back it smoothed out and he pulled up outside of a pole barn. He got out and took my hand as we went around the front. He likes to keep touch with me, I like that. He had been hesitant at first, I guess not wanting to appear too forward. But I liked to hold his hand.
I could hear men talking before we got around the barn. They were laughing. I squeezed his hand. Dan glanced at me and squeezed back. "They're alright." He said, "Just loud."
They were indeed alright. They made me feel welcome teasing Dan about finding a woman at last. He grinned and gave as good as he got. His cousin Ernie was a loud man but he was funny, too. He gave Dan a big hug and offered us a beer. Ernies wife Stacie was a blond woman with a huge smile. She was dressed in a mechanics jumpsuit and was working under the hood of a muscle car.
"So you're going to get behind the wheel of a real car, huh, Connie?" Ernie asked me.
"I'm ready." I told him, even though I wasn't.
"Honey, you done with those brakes yet?" He asked Stacie.
"They should hold. We'll let Connie try it out for us. If they don't hold, I'll fix 'em again." Stacie said closing the hood.
This was too casual. Some kind of set up. I recognized the hazing, good natured though it was. "Tell you what, Ernie. You and Stacie go stand out there and I'll drive. I'll hit the brakes before I hit you and we can all see how well she fixed them."
Dan grinned at me while the rest of them hooted. "She got you, Ernie! Good going, Connie."
"You got a smart one, there cousin. Come on let's go get you a real car." Ernie said with a grin.
We followed him. "You let him have it. Good going." Dan told me. "You don't look scared. Are you?"
"Shitless." I replied and he laughed.
"Such ladylike talk." He teased.
"Sorry."
"Don't be."
The car we were shown to was a beauty. It was low and sleek. Dan was in awe of it, so was I but for different reasons. I was more than a bit nervous. The boys talked eagerly about it for a bit and I was ready to turn tail and run. Dan glanced over at me and then I saw him reach down and push a button on his cell phone so it'd ring.
"Captain Ross." He pretended to answer it. He sounded official just like he'd really gotten a phone call. "Alright. I'll be there as soon as possible." He closed the phone. "Sorry, Ernie. I have to go. Maybe next time. Connie, I'm sorry. We'll have to do it next time."
"Oh, darn. But if you have to go, you have to." I said.
"Come back any time." Ernie said heartily.
Dan took my hand and we left. "I know you didn't get a call." I told him.
"No, I didn't but if you'd gotten any whiter, I figured I'd have had to carry you back to the car. Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"Because you wanted to share something with me that's important to you."
"Share with you, not scare the life out of you with it." He stopped out of view of anyone there. He reached over and stroked the hair back from my face. "I didn't realize how intimidating it could be for you."
"I'm just being silly, is all."
"Self preservation, is not silly."
"Thinking you'd hurt me is silly. I know better."
"You can't force yourself to do something that is so wrong for you. Tell you what, I have another idea in mind. Still willing to give me a chance?"
"We aren't going to go ride elephants, are we?"
"Nothing so wild." He grinned. He leaned over and kissed me. "I have another idea that will be just as much fun."
He opened the car door for me and we left the track. He turned away from the city and sped up, but we didn't go far. It was a shooting range. "Ever shoot a hand gun?" he asked.
"It's been awhile."
"Then let's see what kind of a marksman you are."
He got out and pulled open his trunk. He pulled out a gun case and handed me the ammunition. He patted his pocket and I'm assuming he had his badge there. We went in. You could hear the shooting in the back.
"Hello, Jeanine."
"Dan. Hello. Come for some practice?"
"I did. This is Connie. She's going to shoot with me."
"Ever handle a handgun before, Connie?"
"It's been awhile."
"Make sure you read the rules then and when the stop shooting order is called, make sure you put your weapon down. Go ahead and sign in. Connie, you don't need your ID since you're with Dan but if you come back by yourself, you'll need it."
"Thanks."
Dan took down two pair of ear protectors off the wall behind her and gave one to me. He put the others on. I did thinking I looked ridiculous. He waited until the round was done before opening the door. There were several open "booths". He chose one well down from the door. We took off the head protectors and he took the gun and showed me what I needed to know. Then he loaded the gun and put his protectors back on. I did the same. He showed me the range so I'd know where to set my target and then the buzzer sounded and the shooting began. I watched him shoot. He was a good marksman.
At the end of the round, he pushed the recall button and the man shaped silhouette came back to us. It was peppered from the heart through the throat area with holes. Dan took his ear pieces off. "Think you're ready to try?"
"Sure. Show me the stance."
He did. I wanted him to hold me more than I wanted him to show me the stance. That I already knew. He reloaded the gun and set it on the counter. The buzzer sounded and we put our ear pieces on and sent the target out to the same distance that he'd used.
I lined up the gun. It was heavier than I remembered. A mans gun, but I'd shot one before. I lined up carefully and shot the entire clip. Moving the gun just enough so each one was a separate hole. My arms were tired by the end of the round, but I was satisfied that it was a good shoot.
Dan gave me a bemused look and hit the target return. When it came back he looked at it and at me. "You didn't tell me you could shoot." He said bemused.
"Has it ever come up in a discussion? I told you it'd been awhile." I said.
"You fink. How long has it been?"
"About 12 years. And your gun is bigger than I used to use."
"My gun….Just how well can you shoot?"
"I was Lady Marksman for three years at the local shooting club. Before the girls were born. We had weekly shooting contests and a yearly tournament. After three years, you can't compete any more."
"You are a ringer. You've been holding out on me." He teased.
"No, I just haven't practiced in awhile and I wasn't sure how good I'd be. This is my first human silhouette."
"You used targets before?"
"Or animal silhouettes. Sometimes just circles."
"I need to enter you into a target shooting contest with some of my officers. They barely qualify. Tell them if they can't outshoot you they have to turn in their badges until they do."
"I'll bet. They probably have to know things like when to shoot that I'd never have to worry about. I just point and shoot. That's the extent of my training. Can I go again?"
"Sure."
I reloaded his gun again and sent the target out. This time I concentrated on the target and my score improved, but my arms were tired. The target was better. "Want to go again?" Dan asked surprised again.
"Thanks, but my arms aren't used to this much weight. I need to build them up again. Let me see you shoot some more."
He did and he was good. While he was concentrating on the target, I was studying him. Or should I say getting the hots for him. I like a man who will take charge, but also knows when to let someone else take charge too. The arrogant I'm always right and let me make all the decisions person will get my back up every time.
Dan took his time to put his shots into the right spot and I liked the pattern, but he'd never win a shooting competition that way. He was taking too long.
"How fast can you do that accurately?" I asked him.
"What? It's about accuracy, not speed."
"It's an exercise. Let's say for giggles that you need six shots in a hurry. Can you do that and be accurate?"
"I can."
"Let's see."
"Are you challenging me?"
"I'll bet you who pays for lunch that I can shoot better with six shots in 10 seconds than you can."
"You're on. Who chooses?"
"Loser pays, winner chooses."
"You're on." He shook my hand on it. We loaded only six shots into his gun for the next round. "You want to go first?" he asked.
"You go ahead. I have to have some idea of my competition."
"You're pretty sure you'll win."
"I've seen you shoot, remember?"
"Trying to psych me out?"
"Who me?" I asked innocently.
He wasn't fooled. When the buzzer sounded, I watched the clock. He got off all six shots. The last one was pushing the envelope but he got them in. "How was that for time?"
"Iffy. You took too long to aim." I grinned at him.
"I like that! You show me how it's done."
"Somebody needs to." I scoffed.
My adrenaline was pumping now. Dan reloaded his gun and set it on the counter.
I stepped up to take my turn, but he had another good idea. He kissed me first and that made me flustered. When the buzzer sounded I grabbed the gun and blazed away. He was smiling when the target came back. I had shot a smile onto it. He laughed. "So who won?" he asked.
"I'd say I did." I told him with a smile.
He laughed. "I guess I'm paying for lunch."
I gestured for him to lean down and I whispered in his ear. "I'll make it worth your while."
He paid and I did indeed make it worth his while.
Complete