The ravishing new star Eve Adams took the stage with vigor. But George Frankly was paying little attention. He and Kate had come to celebrate the New York opening of Anything Went. As they stepped through the curtain to the auditorium, George caught a whiff of a rather intoxicating perfume. He glanced at his partner. She seemed so at ease, so confident and self-assured, even in her pretty white evening gown. He admired that. She really could hold her own in any situation. He leaned toward her and caught his breath. It was her perfume he was enjoying.

He couldn't help himself. "Gosh, Kate," he said. "You smell incredible." Truth be told, he was reeling from attraction. Gosh darnit, she's so pretty.

She gave him a sideways glance and smiled. Then she play-punched him in the arm.

The play began and George sat back in his seat, but it wasn't the play he was thinking about. Kate rested her hands neatly on the program in her lap. George suddenly realized what lovely hands his partner had. He'd been watching them write on chalkboards for years but today those long, slender fingers stood out like a sore thumb...heh heh heh heh. And suddenly he just wanted to hold them in his own.

He resisted until the second act. George and Kate settled back into their seats after intermission and the lights dimmed. George took a deep breath and silently slid his hand over the armrest and took his partner's, gently holding her fingertips without saying a word. Kate turned her head and raised her eyebrows in surprise. He grinned and began to let go. She didn't. Instead, she winked at him and curled her fingers around his. He took a deep breath; this was really happening. He'd have to tell her. Maybe at Sardi's. She didn't let go, but she was probably thinking the worst of him right now.

George stood at the water station at Sardi's and looked across the room at his partner. Gosh, he thought. She looks positively stunning in that dress. From this distance he couldn't tell what she was talking about, but her face was lit up, her eyes twinkled, and she laughed as she passed the time with her old friend, Eve Adams, while they waited for the reviews. He smiled at her joy.

He thought back to the performance. The hand-holding clearly caught her off guard, but he suspected she liked it. After all, she didn't let go. Ever since the bomb incident, George had sensed a change. He'd always loved how she looked at him with such admiration. But when they staked out Bile Dupe's robberies, he'd had a bit of a light bulb moment. The recording had said, "I suggest unrequited love is a bore; leave well enough alone." George had suddenly realized that was how Kate must be feeling, and he looked back at her. She had smiled and ducked her head. Camping in Mulch Gulch had introduced him to her shapely figure, regularly hidden by gray slacks, then accentuated by jeans. It was then that he began to recognize an attraction both to her brains and her...well, he was only human.

Kate's laughter brought him back to the present. Here they were, 3,000 miles from the bombs and the Bile Dupes and the jeans and horses, dressed to the nines at the classy Sardi's, and still solving crimes together. George sighed. I've fallen for her like she fell for me. That was unexpected. In a burst of boldness, George threw back the remainder of his water, set the glass aside, and strode over to his beautiful partner. "Gosh darnit, I've got to tell her," he commanded himself.

He caught Eve's eye and winked as he came up behind Kate and gently put his hands on her shoulders. He felt her stiffen in surprise. Eve quietly excused herself.

George bent down and whispered softly, "That dress is very becoming of you, Pard."

Kate sucked in her breath. His chin brushed briefly against her ear.

"May I have this dance?" George continued.

Kate turned and looked up at George, her big brown eyes wide. "George, what's gotten into you? First the hand-holding and the uncharacteristic compliments and now dancing. Are you aware that you are married? Why are you leading me on? Have you been drinking?" She feigned indignation, belying the growing warmth in her legs and torso.

He grinned. "Just water. C'mon Pard, let's hit the dance floor." George took Kate's hand again and wordlessly led her into his arms on the dance floor.

Breathless and hiding her attraction with difficulty, Kate stuttered, "Where did you learn to dance like this, George?"

George leaned forward and rested his forehead on Kate's. "I had this great dance partner once," he said with a twinkle.

As the song played on, Kate found herself melting into George despite a wild internal struggle. This man had a wife. But he was out on the town with her. And now he seemed willing to indulge an attraction she had only hoped for. She did not want to be a homewrecker. What was going on?! Yet she rested her head on his shoulder as he led her around the floor, and when the first song ended, they twirled seamlessly into the next. After all, she'd never met Martha and it's not like she'd initiated all this tenderness tonight.

After several wonderful minutes, George took a deep breath and Kate pulled away so she could gaze up into those lovely blue eyes. Besides, it seemed like he wanted to say something.

"Kate. I need to tell you something. It might be a bit of a bomb."

"George, you have saved me from literal bombs. I think I'll be okay. What's going on?" Her mind spun in a million directions. Was he being transferred? Was Martha leaving him? Was he dying? Was he...in love with her?

"Kate. I'm not actually married."

Kate stopped dancing. "What?!" That wasn't quite what she was expecting.

"It's true. I had a partner before you who was very pushy and difficult to work with. So one day I came in and told her all about my weekend with Martha. As my talks about Martha became more regular, my partner stopped pushing and eventually transferred away. Enter you. I didn't know you or what you'd be like. I didn't know you'd have these incredible brains and that we'd connect so clearly on a problem-solving level. I didn't know that the more time we spent together, undercover, out on the town, staking out, that I would come to care for you so much. I didn't know I would...come to...to love you, Kate. So I kept talking about Martha."

Kate let George monologue and listened with rapt attention. Slowly she began to smile. "Kate, are you angry with me?"

"George, I've rarely heard of anyone inventing a wife out of self-defense, but I must give you kudos. Very clever. I'm actually rather impressed with your ingenuity. But then again, I'm not surprised. You've got a good set of brains in there, yourself, Pard." She patted him on his shoulder with her gloved hand.

"May I have another dance, then?" George asked, a little sheepishly. "It's not very often I get to be this close to an intelligent mathematician who also happens to be stunningly beautiful."

Kate blushed. "Oh George. Yes. It's not very often I get to be this close to a handsome man that I adore. I've wanted this for a long time, George."

George looked down into Kate's rich brown eyes. Absolutely irresistible. He kissed her softly on the forehead, and then he pulled her close and expertly turned her about the dance floor. Kate closed her eyes, lost in the music and no longer afraid to be carried away by the man she loved.

"Kate. I would like to be actually married."

Kate's eyes flew open. George had stepped back and put his hands on her shoulders. Their eyes met and he said it again. "Katie, I would like to actually be married." He hadn't ever called her Katie.

Suddenly, George dropped to one knee, and Kate's hands flew to her mouth. "Katherine Muriel Monday," he said just above a whisper, "Will you marry me?"

So George and Kate got married. They honeymooned on Nomanisson Island in the Great North Woods where Kate could be George's witness should anyone rob any Los Angeles banks.