Wow! She was tonguing Cliff in the courtyard. Mindy couldn't wait to tell Danny her "sex trap" had succeeded.

She looked up at Cliff and smiled. And then she saw him. Or she thought she saw him. Danny. Standing by the window looking at them with a bleak expression on his face.

She turned her head to look up, but Danny was gone. If he'd ever been there in the first place. Maybe he was just a boob-wine ghost. Strange. She didn't remember hallucinating the last time she'd drunk two bottles of wine.

Cliff was smiling back at her now, "So, ummm, how about dinner tomorrow night? You know, a date?"

"Yes," she said, "that would be nice."

Wait, Cliff was still staring at her expectantly. Maybe she forgot to say those words out loud. "Yes, Cliff, that would be great."

They kissed a few more times, and then Cliff left, as quietly as he'd come. She realized it was probably the right thing to do - she'd had her boob-wine, he'd just barely broken up with Heather, they both had to work tomorrow. Yeah, a real date was the way to go.

She walked back inside to find the party winding down. The taxidermists seemed to have disappeared - thank goodness. Morgan and Tamra were beginning to take down some decorations. She found Danny in the break-room organizing the leftovers.

"Danny!"

"Mindy."

"It worked!"

"What?"

Okay, he had clearly seen her kissing Cliff. Was he really playing dumb?

"It worked!" Still nothing. "Cliff! The sex trap! He kissed me!"

"Huh. It worked." Did he look surprised. Maybe? She thought so. Okay, maybe that was a boob-wine ghost she'd seen.

The next day, Friday, was a quiet one at the office. Mindy shuffled in late - okay, five minutes late was pretty good going considering how her head was feeling that morning.

"It's 9:15, Mindy," Danny said. Okay, maybe she was fifteen minutes late, but who's counting?

All day long she watched Danny for a sign of - something. But he was unshakably normal. Completely and utterly normal. He teased her. He acted all superior (as if) while they consulted on a difficult case.

And why shouldn't he be normal? He was her friend. Her friend should be happy for her. Normal.

But it was driving her crazy. She didn't want him to be normal. She wanted him to be sad. Jealous. Something. Wait, where was that coming from?

But he seemed happy for her. And that made her so so sad.

She and Cliff had agreed to meet after work - how convenient was it that her new boyfriend worked in the same building as her? She stayed a little late, then changed in her office and headed out into the dark reception area. Danny was just leaving, a few steps ahead of her. "Hey, Danny, have a nice weekend!"

"You too." He kept walking, never even turning to acknowledge her. "Wear the other one."

"What are you talking about?"

"Wear the other dress."

"You haven't even looked at me. You don't know what I'm wearing."

He turned then, gave her a quick once over and said, "Yup, that's what I figured. Wear the other one."

"Danny!" she sputtered to his departing back.

She went back into her office and changed. Into the black dress she'd brought as a "back-up," in case, you know, the shiny one was too much.

Dinner with Cliff was nice. Lovely even. Lovely and nice. But wow, how had she never noticed that Cliff's eyes were really close together? And maybe it was the light, but he suddenly looked really old.

Damnit, Danny, get out of my head.

Mindy and Cliff chatted, but there was no sparkle. Maybe all the fun was wanting each other when they couldn't have each other, and arguing over, you know, sexy topics like potential slip and fall cases. Apparently that didn't translate well to dinner conversation when there was nothing left to fight about.

Cliff walked her home, gave her a quick peck on the cheek, and that was that. Yeah, he clearly wasn't feeling it either. Oh, well.

"9:05, Dr. Lahiri."

"What are you talking about? I'm right on time."

"No," Morgan chimed in, "Tamra's phone clearly says 9:05."

She walked into her office and shut the door. Yep. Danny was still being normal. Not jealous. Maybe he thought her date with Cliff had flopped. Well, okay, it had, but how did he know that? She could date. She was good at dating. Why would he just assume it would fall apart? Ha! She'd show him.

She walked into Danny's office. "So how was your weekend?" she asked sweetly.

"Umm, Mindy, some of us have work to do."

"Whatever, so, Springsteen, blah blah blah?"

"What?"

"Never mind. Don't you want to know about my date with Cliff?"

"Not really." Ah-ha! He was jealous. There it was. "But you're going to tell me, aren't you?" He looked up and smiled. Okay, maybe he wasn't jealous.

"Well." Maybe she should have thought this out a little before she came in here. "Well, we had this great sushi dinner" (that was so boring) "and then he walked me home and kissed me" (on the cheek). "It was very romantic," she added. Wow, was that really the best she could come up with?

"That's nice."

"Nice, Danny? Nice is your grandmother's floral curtains. It wasn't nice! It rocked my world! It was Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks! No, Billy Crystal!"

"Okay." He looked at her. She was so confused. Why was he being so normal?

After that, things might have spun a little out of control.

"So, Danny, Cliff and I had an amazing date this weekend. He made me pancakes for breakfast and we spent all day together!" "Okay. That's nice." He winked at her. Winked? This was funny to him?

"So, Danny, Cliff and I are going to the Hamptons this weekend. His friends have a place there and they're not using it" (because it's not exactly Hamptons weather, dummy), "so it's just us and the hot tub all weekend."

"Okay." Still nothing.

"Hey Danny, Cliff and I are going to the Met tonight."

"What?"

Okay, that got a response. "The opera, Danny. You know, fat people singing."

"Yes, Mindy, I know what the opera is. You're going to the opera?"

Perhaps that was too much. Skepticism was not the reaction she was looking for. "Well, you know, it's like Mamma Mia, but more. And louder." Was it louder? "So, it's going to be great."

"Okay."

"Cliff's expanding my horizons." She tried to make that sound dirty. He just looked confused. This was not working.

He was driving her crazy. He was supposed to be the one who kissed her in the snow after the Christmas party. Sure, okay, maybe that hadn't been her original plan, but duh, once she thought about it, it was really the only plan that made any sense. He was her friend. Her good friend. And a handsome jerk. Emphasis on handsome. And her co-worker. And so totally off-limits that she had repressed all thoughts of going there. Despite his handsome jerkiness. Jerky handsomeness. Whatever. The point is, when he'd looked at her like that after his dance, she knew. She knew it was pointless to pretend there was nothing there. There was definitely something there. And she definitely wanted there to be something there.

But she was beginning to think she'd imagined it all. And she was not going to ruin the best relationship she'd ever had with a guy - okay, so it was a platonic relationship, but still her best ever - by declaring her love (okay, slow down, who's talking about love here?) and having him laugh in her face. He would just lord it over her forever.

And she'd be sad.

After Danny spent another Saturday morning alone at the office - why was everyone else such a slacker? - he headed home for lunch. As he stepped into the elevator, the couple locked in a passionate embrace tactfully stepped apart. Danny turned to give them an awkward but polite head nod.

"Hey, Danny, this is L-" Danny punched Cliff before Cliff could finish introducing his companion.

"What the hell, man?"

"What are you doing? Cheating on Mindy? You're disgusting! And dumb. Wow, I thought you were better than those other creeps she's dated."

Cliff stared at him from the elevator floor, rubbing his - apparently not broken - jaw. "What are you talking about? Who's cheating on Mindy?"

"You, asshole!"

Cliff stood up. "We went on one pathetic little date six weeks ago. I've barely seen her since. I mean, I've seen her in the elevator. And she hasn't, by the way, assaulted me, unlike some people, but um, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh. Wow. Sorry, man. Uh, nice to meet you, L-" Danny put out his hand to shake hers, but she just gave him a disgusted look as she grabbed Cliff's arm and walked out of the elevator with Cliff.