Chapter 1

When she stepped into the restaurant and saw him after the waiter had shown her her table- that was the moment when she remembered. Tuesday night dinner place.. .right. She had completely forgotten about the fact until that moment. It had simply been the closest place to where she had been where one could get some decent dinner. Nico had already seen her, of course, and had got up to come to her table, although he seemed in the middle of his own meal.

"Doctor," he greeted her with a small, barely noticeable smile. " Is your friend back from Africa?" he asked her and she was sure that he already knew the answer to his question.

"No, he isn't. I was dropping Lindsay's schoolbook off at Ray's and then decided to get dinner in the area," she explained just as the waiter walked up to her table with the menu in hand.

"The lady is coming over to my table. Thank you," Nico told him and took the menu out of his hand before he also grabbed Dani's jacket. She noticed that he didn't pick up her purse. He was way too manly to carry her purse.

"Am I now?" she laughed. It was typical Nico that he made decisions and just assumed that she obeyed- just like everyone else. "What if I wanted to have dinner all by myself?" she taunted him.

"No, you don't. You like talking," Nico just shrugged it off and led her to his table where he put her jacket over the chair next to his and handed her the menu once she had sat down. Dani didn't respond to his comment, he was right after all. She took her time looking at the menu but couldn't really decide. She was hungry and basically everything sounded delicious. The waiter was back, waiting for to decide and just when she wanted to ask him for a suggestion Nico intervened again.

"She's taking the lasagna, a glass of chardonnay and the Italian salad as entrée," he told the waiter as she gaped at him over the edge of the menu.

"Thank you for making yet another decision for me," she said sarcastically and put the menu down.

"You're welcome," he grinned, not at all impressed.

"You should eat before your pasta gets cold." Dani pointed to his plate when he didn't move to pick up his fork.

"If you insist," he replied and resumed his dinner.

"Sooo, how have you been? Ever since the Pittman's announced their divorced I haven't seen much of you," Dani asked him.

"Busy," was all he said, but got the notice that she wasn't satisfied with that answer when she raised her eyebrows. "Pittman doesn't want Gabrielle to get the team, she wants to have it." He summed up what she already knew.

"And? Who got Nico in the end?" Dani leaned back when the waiter brought her wine and her salad.

"Marshall now knows about Gabrielle's affaires and Gabrielle is furious because I told Marshall about them… you decide," he replied and stabbed at the last noodle on his plate.

"So you're caught in the middle. That must be hard," Dani remarked sympathetically.

"Have you heard from T.K.?" Nico changed the topic.

"Yes, he called me yesterday to ask me if it was ok that he thought his nurse has a nice ass, although he's with Vivica now," she summed up the phone call.

"And what did you tell him?" he asked her and by the slight twitching of the edge of his mouth she knew he was amused.

"I told him that as long as all he does is look at it, I don't see a problem."

"Oh really? Somehow I thought you would be stricter on that."

"Everybody looks. As long as he doesn't touch or comment," she shrugged.

"Oh, so looking is allowed," he grinned and looked at her in a way that made her feel extremely hot. His eyes were darker than usual and the expression in them so intense…A second later the heated stare was wiped off his face and she wondered if she had imagined it. Her burning, and no doubt very red, cheeks however told her that she hadn't.

"Your lasagna, senora," the waited interrupted the silence that had spread.

"Wow, that looks and smells delicious," she complimented.

"It is," Nico agreed. "A cappuccino for me, please," he then addressed the waiter.

"Of course, Mr. Careless."

"Does everyone know you here?" Dani grinned.

"Pretty much. I told you I come here every Tuesday."

"And do you also have restaurants for all the other days of the week?"

"Something like that," he replied cryptically.

"Oh Nico, why can't you just ever answer a question with a non-cryptical answer," she sighed dramatically.

"You like your lasagna?" he gave her a full smile this time. He was obviously enjoying this and she had to admit that she did too. So she smiled back.

"It's amazing," she nodded and took another bite. By the time she was done with it and had had a latte macchiato and a piece of cake as well, she and Nico had left the Hawks behind and were exchanging recipes of their favorite dishes.

"Who would have thought that scary Nico Carelles is Martha Steward in disguise," Dani laughed after he had corrected her Crème Brule. She found it hilarious but once she had stopped laughing she realized that Nico hadn't laughed with her but instead stared at her with an unreadable look. "Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you," she apologized when he looked more and more pissed. As she spoke she briefly touched his arm with her hand, but he pulled away as if she had burned him.

"You think I'm scary?" he asked her and then she realized that while he still looked mad, he was actually hurt.

"No," she said slowly and made a point of placing her hand on his arm once more and this time she kept it there. "I think you want everyone to believe you're scary and you can be intimidating and frustrating from time to time, however I am not scared of you, if that's what got you so upset," she told him honestly.

"It's late and I have to go. I will get you to your car," was all he said to that and then got up, what made her hand slide off his arm.

"Oh,…ok," she said stunned. This was kind of an abrupt ending to an unexpected evening. She was so stunned that she didn't even realized that he paid for her food as well. By the time that thought occurred to her she was sitting in her driveway, still behind the wheel and was still contemplating why exactly Nico had been hurt when she had pointed out that the image he had created was actually working… well, maybe not with her.


Three weeks later she was at the same restaurant again, but this time she was actually looking for him. Well, not him specifically, but someone to talk to and he was the only one available. She just didn't want to spend this night alone.

"Hey Nico," she greeted him and this time stopped at his table immediately. He even had the same table each Tuesday.

"Dani," he was surprised and let her first name slip.

"Is it ok if I sit down and have dinner with you? You don't even need to pay attention to me or listen to me or reply to me… I just… I don't want to be alone tonight," she rambled.

"Please, sit down," he replied and got up and pulled a chair out for her. It was obvious that something was on her mind and she wanted to talk, but still she kept her mouth shut and studied the menu in complete silence. Nico studied her subtly meanwhile and the way she slumped in her chair and her eyes didn't have that usual spark, he knew something was up. Her whole demeanor screamed sadness. It hurt him seeing her like this and he hoped that he could fix whatever was wrong. Problem was he had to make her open up to him first and after that scary comment from weeks ago he felt like that was something that wouldn't be easy at all.

"Lasagna again?" he asked after she had ordered.

"Mmmh," she nodded without looking at him and kept fidgeting with the table cloth.

"I saw T.K. today," he tried to find another ice-breaker.

"How is he?" that at least got her attention.

"Better. He will be back in about a week and then our team here will take over." Then there was silence again and Dani played with her fork this time.

"Are you ok?" he finally asked. He couldn't take it anymore seeing her this sad and he needed to know what was going on.

"Yeah, sure," she nodded but her answer wasn't at all convincing.

"You said you don't want to be alone tonight. Where are your kids?" he tried again.

"In Europe with their father enjoying their vacation."

"Nice. And Matt?" He knew that there was nothing nice about it, judging by the look on her face.

"No idea. We broke up weeks ago. Months, actually. Seems like you lost your grip, Nico," she informed him and he was relieved to hear the slight teasing.

"Seems like it," he nodded into his wine glass. "What else has slipped my attention? Did you move? Get a dog?" he jumped onto that train, hoping to get her out of her head. Now at least he had an idea what the problem was.

"No, same old same old. And you?"

"I might be looking for a new job soon," he admitted and when she looked at him he knew that for the first time he had her full attention.

"Why? What happened?"

"Marshall finally asked for the names of Gabrielle's affaires and I gave them to him. All of them, mine included."

"How did he react?"

"He didn't. He looked at the list, nodded and left," he reported.

"No punches, no double takes or yelling?"

"Nope, nothing," he shook his head.

"Maybe he doesn't care," Dani shrugged.

"Oh believe me, he cares. I think he is most likely thinking about how to best take revenge. No one takes something away from Marshall Pittman and no one walks away from him unscarred."

"Doesn't sound like the nicest guy. To be honest I never really understood what made you so loyal to him."

"He saved my life."

"That's too simple. Just because he saved your life doesn't mean you have to devote your life to him. Especially when there's a woman involved, who you obviously love very much," she pointed out. While he was glad that she was talking and looked a bit better, he was not comfortable with the topic of their conversation.

"Loved. Me and her, we are done. Should have been for a while now," he clarified.

"So, you're over her? After all these years?" she didn't seem to believe him.

"Some relationships are not what they are dreamed up to be."

"Yeah, sometimes the reality doesn't even come close to the fantasy," she nodded in agreement and he knew she was talking about Matt.

"Would you excuse me for a second?" he asked her then and got up and made his way to the restrooms. She was alone at the table and as soon as he was out of sight the sadness settled over her again. That day had sucked so bad that she needed a new expression for it. That's why she had come to the restaurant. She had known he would be there and that was the only reason she had come. She wasn't really hungry and her lasagna was standing in front of her, but she just kept pushing it around on the plate with her fork.

She jumped in her chair when an arm reached over her shoulder suddenly and pushed her plate aside. She looked behind her and found Nico leaning over her shoulder, his face really close to hers. Then she saw the plate he was holding and slowly putting down on the table in front of her. On the plate was a piece of cake with a single candle.

"Happy birthday," he said quietly in a tone of voice that gave her goose bumps, also because his breath tickled her neck. She had not seen this coming. Not at all. She hadn't even known that he knew that today was her birthday. Then again he was Nico.

He sat back down in his own chair and watched her look at the candle and the piece of cake. "You should blow out the candle, otherwise the wax will cover the whole cake," he pointed out when she didn't react at all. She followed his lead and gently blew out the candle and closed her eyes to make a wish. This time when she looked up he saw that her eyes were filled with tears and two or three of them had already spilled onto her cheeks.

"Hey, hey, hey, Dani, what's wrong? I didn't mean to make you cry," he said somewhat frantically and took her hand in his.

"You didn't make me cry," she sniffed and gave his hand a squeeze. "This is just the first good thing that has happened today."

"You want to talk about it?"

"You stole my line. I never thought I'd ever hear you say that," she pointed out with a small smile.

"Yeah, well," he shrugged and smiled back. "What happened today?" he asked again and looked intently at her, still covering her hand with his on top of the table.

"Nothing… that's just it. It's my thirty sixth birthday and it's nothing like I imagined it. I always thought I'd celebrate with my family and friends. Now I am divorced, my ex-husband has the kids with him in Europe for that day, my best friend is in Spain with her new boyfriend and I broke up with mine three months ago. Oh and my mother and I aren't talking because she started an illegal betting pool in my name and I nearly got in trouble when the police showed up. … meaning, I'm all alone for my birthday. Well, except for the singing card that T.K. sent me," she summed up what had her so upset. Nico didn't really know what to do to make her feel better, so he just gave her hand another squeeze. "Don't you ever get lonely Nico?" she asked him then.

He took his time answering, mainly because he didn't want to answer it at all. "Sometimes," he admitted then. Dani sighed loudly at his confession and then sat up straight in her chair.

"Now, I'm hungry," she said and pulled the plate with the lasagna in front of her.

"Good," Nico chuckled at the sudden change of topic. "Did you make a wish when you blew out that candle?" he asked her then and added a teasing undertone.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did," she nodded and dug into her food.

"What did you wish for?"

"If I tell you it won't come true," she grinned.

"Maybe I can make it come true if you tell me," he grinned mysteriously.

"Maybe," Dani said and Nico thought he saw her blush slightly.

"What am I gonna give you for your birthday if you're not telling me?" he tried to coax it out of her.

"You don't need to get me anything. Your company tonight is enough," she decided.

"That's lame," he disagreed. "How about I invite you to dinner…next Tuesday same place, same time?" he offered.

"Nico, you really don't need…" she started protesting.

"Please," he said with a strange intent and when she saw the anticipation in his eyes she just couldn't say no. It seemed like he wasn't doing this solely for her birthday.

"Alright," she finally agreed and they sealed their deal by shaking hands.

"And now eat your cake," he told her then and was back to being bossy. Dani rolled her eyes, but there was a bright smile on her face. The first one that day.

TBC