If you love Shandy moments, I hope you'll leave your thoughts and comments in the review section after reading this first chapter.

Ch. 1: Roses are not Red

Lt. Andy Flynn was disgusted. Correction. Andy was MAD and disgusted. He drove through Los Angeles trying to distract himself from the adrenalin coursing through his body as he mentally reviewed the worst part of his day. Who the hell did that guy think he was and why was he flirting with the Captain of Major Crimes?

Andy knew if he went straight home he'd inevitably be tempted to call or text Sharon at some point while his temper was still boiling. The last thing he needed was to come off possessive of her when he had no right to be. Technically.

Andy headed for the LA freeway and just drove. Lately it had become his best course of action, allowing his preoccupied mind wander with hands securely on the steering wheel and not his cell phone. Driving aimlessly provided just enough distraction to maintain an uninterrupted internal dialogue with himself. Great self-therapy but hell on his gas credit card.

Andy reached for the seat lever and reclined his seat just a touch after flipping down the visor to avoid squinting into the late day sun. He loosened his tie, removed his gun from his holster and laid it across the front seat divider taking care to make sure it was secure.

He punched a few buttons on the radio until he found the NPR station and listened to the classical music that he found relaxing when driving. It also reminded him of Sharon - associating her with iconic classical music since their Nutcracker outing. Glancing around as he came to a near standstill in rush hour traffic, Andy spotted a man who reminded him of a smarmy lawyer who met with Major Crimes today in Sharon's office. Normally Andy wouldn't have thought much of the lawyer but once it became clear the man found Sharon attractive enough to flirt blatantly in front of two of her detectives, Andy had to size him up.

Angus Blair. What a bullshit name, Angus. Andy laughed to himself as the name conjured up the image of a hamburger. The smile disappeared when he realized Angus steaks were pretty damn good.

So what if Blair was taller than Andy; thinner and younger, too. In all honesty, this interloper, jerk-off, flirty fuck was also good-looking. Andy hated him on principle. Blair had dark blond hair best described as sandy which contrasted nicely with his overly tanned skin - far too tanned to be healthy. Despite all the hunky "pros" there was one blatant "con," one flaw that couldn't be excused by Sharon in Andy's opinion. Angus Blair was a lawyer, something Sharon absolutely did not care for. Her ex-husband Jackson Raydor was also an attorney. Between Jackson and the difficult DDA she dealt with daily, Sharon found lawyers exhausting and annoying with their need to argue every single point. Andy decided to work the lawyer angle every chance he got with Sharon.

There was no mistaking it, Angus Blair was certainly taken with Sharon. Andy had paid especially close attention to attorney Blair who was paying way to much attention to the lovely police captain during the brief introductory meeting involving Blair's sketchy client - a suspect in three unrelated murders.

Maybe Blair was only flirting to get a "read" on the police captain in an attempt to improve his client's chances of being released. Andy could only hope but that thought died when he saw Blair staring at Sharon's legs. The man's confident and charming smile made Andy want to punch him in his elegant bony nose.

Sharon dressed in her typical classic style wore a sleek suit tailored tastefully to her hour-glass figure. Andy couldn't help himself when it came to noticing what Sharon wore – sure, he had his favorites among her wardrobe and was especially thankful she wasn't wearing a certain blouse that revealed her delicate collarbones and peek of cleavage. Still, the suit had those slits on the sides of her skirt allowing a glimpse of leg above the knee. He loved her slender legs and often found himself sneaking looks at them when her head was turned.

Traffic had finally begun to crawl forward. Although the car was barely moving,nAndy felt as if he were on an emotional roller-coaster. One minute smiling as he recollected his favorite images of Sharon, the next frowning as he recalled how Blair ogled the captain. Regardless, Andy could not find anything to like about the attorney. Blair's clipped speaking voice, fine italian suit, ridiculous French cuffed shirt with expensive cufflinks flat out bothered Andy. It was all he could do to refrain from commenting sarcastically when the attorney extending his business card to Sharon and pointed out his personal cell number was hand written on the reverse side.

Sharon had accepted Blair's business card without comment, if hums didn't count. Her lack of encouragement to Blair made Andy's heart soar especially when Sharon shot Andy her wide eyed expression known as the can you believe this guy look. Andy had returned the nonverbal cue by rolling his eyes at her and shaking his head.

Despite all this, Andy felt unsettled. There was no mistaking it, Blair was interest in Captain Raydor. He had gone so far as to suggest that once this case was over and his client freed, that he'd love to take the "lovely Captain" out to dinner and get to know her better. Sharon had given him a weak but polite smile and changed the subject on Blair. That's my girl!

If one thing could make Andy happy, it was how Sharon Raydor kept her guard up against these types of pathetic charmers. She had had her fill of them thanks to her turd of an ex-husband, who was to this day still a drunken manipulating lawyer who regularly tried to charm his way into her life using his relationship with their grown children.

The emotional back and forth of the day's events twisted Andy's stomach into knots.

Andy exited the highway and pulled into the first fast-food drive-thru he came upon. Back in the day, this type of emotional upset would have Andy driving to his favorite watering hole to slam down a few shots and fester over the day's events. Now, when his emotions got the better of him, he'd drive until he settled down and if that didn't work, drown the upset stomach with ice cold soda or steaming black coffee.

Waiting patiently to place his order at the drive-through, Andy's mind drifted back to how Sharon seemed initially surprised and later embarrassed by Angus Blair's overt attempt to flirt with her. Though her face remained calm, Andy saw the fleeting flush of color in her cheeks and the awkward pause as she reacted to Blair's dinner invitation – once the case concluded, of course. Sharon had respectfully ignored the invitation in that indomitable way of hers while retaining control of situation.

Andy knew he was just jealous. Stop getting so worked up. There's nothing to worry about, Andy told himself.

"Hi Rusty," Sharon greeted her son as she entered the apartment they shared. "How were classes today?"

"Fine. The usual stuff," Rusty answered as he got up from the couch and paused before heading for the kitchen with his snack plate and empty glass. "Look who got flowers today!"

Before Sharon could reply, she spotted a large vase of lavender roses on her home desk. Her initial smile faded into a suspicious squint.

"Are they from Andy?" Rusty asked coyly. Sharon's head snapped in his direction.

"Why would you think that?" Sharon asked as she approached the vase of flowers. They smelled heavenly. Spotting the florist's card embedded inside the bouquet, Sharon noticed the small white envelope had already been opened.

"Seriously though, who's Angus?". Sharon's eyes grew large at the sound of the name as she pulled the card from its miniature envelope.

"A lawyer…." Sharon said crisply as she read the message. "… representing a suspect in a triple homicide."

"Ew." Rusty said dismissively.

"Exactly," Sharon agreed as she reread the short message to herself

"After this case has been put to bed, I really would love to take you to dinner. – Angus"

Sharon analyzed the message and raised her eyebrow at the choice of words.

"Subtle he ain't," Rusty said sarcastically as he went into the kitchen. "What's the story?"

"No story, really. Angus Blair is an attorney for a murder suspect and thinks hitting on a police captain is going to get his client a break."

"Idiot," Rusty decided.

"Yes, he certainly is," Sharon agreed. She wanted to toss the flowers out but decided to pour a glass of wine for herself before starting dinner.

"They smell nice, " Rusty said thoughtfully. "Cool color. I didn't know roses even came in that color."

"It is unusual," Sharon murmured.

"So you're not going to accept ….."

"Oh God, no!" Sharon answered.

"How does he even know your address?" Rusty said with a frown.

"That's a very good question, Rusty." Sharon pulled out her cellphone and began texting Lt. Michael Tao's cell phone.

"Lt. Tao, tomorrow morning please look into an attorney named Angus Blair and send me any info you find on him. Criminal records, recent/past clients, you know the drill. Blair sent flowers to my HOME address and I want to know how he got it." Sharon placed her phone on the desk next to the flowers and plugged it into the cell charger

"You worried?" Rusty asked cautiously. Sharon shook her head.

"No, but you can never be too careful. Right?"

"Right," Rusty agreed as he clicked on the television and sat down on the couch.

"No homework?" She asked lightly.

"A little but I'll do it after dinner, 'k?"

"Okay." Sharon agreed as her eyes studied the flowers. ObviouslyAngus Blair wanted to make a point beyond the romantic gesture. Sending flowers to her office wouldn't have bothered her but by sending flowers to her home, Blair was sending her an unsettling missive. She left the flowers on her desk for now and headed to the fridge. That glass of cold chardonnay couldn't come fast enough.

Andy dialed his partner.

"Louie, you want to get some dinner?" Andy asked as he drove back to the highway on-ramp.

"To what do I owe this formal invite?" Provenza asked sarcastically. Andy could tell Provenza hadn't left the office yet.

"No reason, just figured we'd grab a burger somewhere."

"What's bugging you? You sound …I don't know….constipated or something."

Andy rolled his eyes at the dig. "I'm just fine, Louie. Thought you could use the company."

"Yeah sure. You can tell me the real reason over burgers at Benson's pub."

"See you there in twenty," Andy replied and accelerated into the speed lane.

Once dinner was over, Sharon decided to take a closer look at the bouquet of roses. Wonder if Mr. Blair bugged it? Sharon checked the foliage, the vase and even raised it to look under its base. Nothing.

I'm getting paranoid, she told herself. Sharon decided to photograph the flowers in case she needed to reference it into evidence on the new case. Shooting pictures of the flowers, the vase, the card and the florist envelope, she sent the images to both her email address and to Lt. Tao's with a quick note referencing her earlier text.

Rusty finished loading the dishwasher and was wiping down the counters of their spaghetti and veggies dinner when Sharon returned to get a partial refill on the chardonnay.

"What's up with that?" Rusty asked.

"What?"

"More wine? You usually keep it to one glass. That Angus guy upset you?"

Sharon gave Rusty a reassuring smile. "No, Rusty. Nothing like that, I'm just … trying to relax."

"Huh, so flowers make you tense? That is weird, Sharon. Bet you'd be twice as tense if Andy had sent them," Rusty knew he was pushing buttons but he liked teasing Sharon about Andy. How could two excellent detectives, these adults, be so blind to what was happening between them? It tickled Rusty's dry sense of humor.

"I know what you're doing, Rusty," Sharon said with a wary tone and a slight smile on her face as she left him alone in the kitchen and headed to the couch.

With a few precious minutes alone to herself, Sharon curled up on the couch against the throw pillow, took a slow long sip of wine and closed her eyes to review the day in her mind. Angus Blair's obvious flirtation was oddly timed and clearly inappropriate. If he thought for a single moment that it would alter how she'd treat his client, Angus was about to learn the hard way how Darth Raydor dealt with idiots.

"Something wrong with your burger?" Provenza asked between bites. Andy had barely touched his meal.

"Nah, I'm just preoccupied."

"See! I knew you had something on your mind. That's why you invited me isn't it?" Provenza looked smug as he raised his glass of beer to toast Andy.

"Fine. You know me so well," Andy said half-heartedly.

"Well, spit it out," Provenza muttered. "You gonna eat those fries?" Provenza had already reached over to Andy's plate, his hand paused above the fries waiting for the go-ahead.

"I might, back off," Andy frowned and smacked Provenza's eager fingers away. Provenza glared but stole a fry anyway.

"So what's got your shorts all twisted?" Provenza asked as he dipped Andy's fry in a pool of ketchup that covered more of Provenza's plate than it should.

"That lawyer asshole pretty boy. You saw him, right? He's representing our murder suspect in the triple homicides,…" Andy blurted.

"Yeah, what a dandy," Provenza mocked. "Only lawyers and funeral directors wear those god-awful cufflinks. Pretentious as the day is long."

Andy nodded in agreement. "He hit on Sharon."

"Wait, did you say he hit ON the captain? Like flirting?" Provenza was genuinely surprised. "You saw it?"

"Yeah," Andy was frowning but his voice sounded indignant. " Right there in front of me and Sanchez, in Sharon's office."

"No shit. What did the captain say?" Provenza prodded.

"You know Sharon. She's not going to acknowledge it. I think it took her by surprise though. I mean the guy asked to take her out to dinner 'after' the case was closed.

"Like that would ever happen," Provenza chuckled. Andy felt better.

"That's what I was thinking," Andy seemed relieved. "I mean who does that?"

"What? Invite a good-looking woman out to dinner? Me, that's who does that." Provenza said bluntly. "The captain's attractive, no wedding ring on her finger, so yeah, of course guys are going to hit on her - well, not cops who know her from Internal Affairs," Provenza added.

"Thanks for pointing that out!" Andy's frustration was evident.

"Hey, you snooze, you lose, Andy." Provenza stole another french fry off Andy's plate and dragged it through the ketchup puddle once more. "So either grow a pair and ask her out on an actual, bonafide, legitimate date or somebody else will. Oh wait, that already happened. The question is will she go on said date. Hmmm?"

Andy felt like smacking Provenza on the head but resisted the impulse. "Shut up, Louie. I thought you hated the idea of me and Sharon.

Provenza raised his eyebrows at his friend and tilted his chin in that sarcastic yet innocent expression reserved just for Andy. "I don't hate the idea, I just think it might get messy since you work for her and all."

"You think the captain's good-looking?" Andy sounded a little hostile.

"Hey, I'm a man. I got eyes," Provenza shot back. Andy grimaced and looked away as he stirred the glass of ice water with his straw.

"Well don't get any ideas, " Andy warned quietly. Provenza shrugged and took advantage of Andy's distraction to steal a handful of fries off Andy's plate.

Preoccupied by Blair's odd behavior, Sharon felt the need to call Andy for his take on the situation. Andy was with her and Sanchez in meeting Angus Blair. Maybe Andy picked up on something she missed. She hesitated to call Andy given the recent events. Ever since Sharon and Andy went to the Nutcracker with Rusty and Nicole, she knew Andy had feelings for her that went beyond their friendship. Rusty pointed it out for all to hear which left her nervous during the show.

Despite Andy misleading his daughter about his non-existent relationship with the captain, Sharon had decided to let it go and ignore the whole matter. Since then, Sharon and Andy both agreed there wasn't anything happening other than two good friends of opposite sexes enjoying each other's company now and then at events and meals outside of work. Strictly platonic. They were not dating, per se, Sharon told herself. She and Andy were just good friends who liked to hang out occasionally.

In the end, her gut instinct told her she needed to run this by Andy and see if her suspicions about Blair were valid. Sharon returned to her desk, unplugged her charger and hit the speed dial button that listed Andy near the top of her 'favorites' list.

"So that asshole sent you flowers?! To your home!? Is that some kind of threat? " Andy snarled. "He just met you today!"

Andy seemed to be overreacting. "That's why I called you about this. It doesn't feel right. Something's off."

Andy was fuming on the other end of the line. "Sending flowers or anything to a cop's home is just not done!"

"I know, Andy." Sharon replied. "So you think it is an implied threat?"

"Yes, I do!" Andy said bluntly. He realized his anger might be exposing his jealousy. "I just don't like it. Who does this guy think he is? Sending a police captain flowers to her home."

"I don't like it either," Sharon assured.

"Was there a message with the flowers?" Andy pried. Sharon hesitated.

"Yes." She realized Angus Blair's overt comment would only anger Andy further.

"Well, are you going to read it to me?" Andy didn't sound like he was asking.

"I'd rather not."

"Why?" Andy said flatly.

"Because its …weird."

"Go on, read it to me." Andy asked a little softer and heard Sharon exhale slowly.

"He wrote 'After this case has been put to bed, I really would love to take you to dinner. – Angus'"

"Suggestive son of a bitch!" Andy was steamed. "I don't like this one bit! Sending that to your home instead of your office feels …sinister, Sharon." She had the same feeling.

"As a precaution I've asked Tao to check into Blair's background. I just wanted your thoughts on this because you were there in our meeting. Angus Blair is going about this case all wrong." Sharon murmured mostly to herself.

"Yes, he is. What kind of flowers?" Andy asked subtly. Sharon was momentarily surprised.

"What? Uh…roses."

"A dozen?" Andy pressed.

"Two."

"Two dozen roses? " Andy sounded unhappy. "Don't tell me, let me guess. Red roses, right?"

"No." Sharon paused. "They're Sterling roses. Lavender colored.

"Like your blouse today," Andy noted out loud.

Sharon glanced down at her clothing and realized Andy was right.

"That's right…" Sharon said hesitantly. "You…."

"I'm a detective, Sharon," Andy cut in quickly once he realized he said a little too much. He couldn't remember what anyone else in the office had worn today but he knew exactly what Sharon wore. Hmmmm.

"And a very good one," Sharon said. Andy could hear her smiling as she spoke.

"Yeah, well anyway," Andy tried to cover his embarrassment. "So this creepy lawyer sent you flowers. To. Your. Home. In the same color as your clothing today. IF that's not creepy, I don't know what is." Andy sounded worried. "Geez, you'd think he'd be more original than sending roses."

Sharon smiled to herself. She knew Andy was right about the lawyer. Angus Blair managed to make himself even creepier now that Andy had pointed it out.

"You have something against roses, Andy?" Sharon said trying to lighten his mood.

"Huh? No. Roses are fine for most women, but you're not mos…." Andy realized he had said the wrong thing. Again. It felt awkward discussing this with her.

Sharon held her breath.

"…uh, you're not most women, Sharon."

"Thank you…. I think," Sharon felt self-conscious and was secretly thankful Andy couldn't see her blushing.

"What I meant to say was roses are typical, you know, standard. Most women like roses because they think roses are romantic." Andy injected. "Like this Blair jerk-off."

"They're not?" Sharon was playing with him a little.

"In a knee-jerk kinda way, sure." Andy conceded. "Someone like you ought to get something more thoughtful…. lilies or better yet, peonies." Sharon's eyebrows rose in surprise. She preferred these flowers far above roses.

"Peonies?"

"Yeah, you know how they're super soft, the petals I mean. And they have a kind of voluptuous-ness to them. Substantial, not ornamental - but definitely graceful - with long thin stems." Andy was picturing Sharon's hair and her pretty legs as he described the flowers. "Peonies have a delicate scent and Lilies are very pretty but their scent can be overpowering…plus lily petals fall off within days."

"Andy, I had no idea you knew so much about flowers," Sharon said softly.

Andy smiled. "Yeah well my ex-wife was a florist so I paid attention."

"Well that explains a lot," Sharon replied. She could hear Andy chuckle.

"Thank you for your feedback about Angus Blair. I thought it was strange too. He's obviously up to something."

"I'd say so, " Andy added.

"Well, good night, Andy. See you in the morning."

"G'night, Sharon. Be careful and let me know if you receive anything else from that weirdo…" Andy stopped speaking at the realization of his words. "…not that its weird or anything for a man to send you flowers, I mean."

Sharon picked up on Andy's anxiety and let it slide. "No worries, I know what you meant, Andy. Good night." She hung up the phone and stood there mulling over the conversation with her detective.

"Hmmm peonies," Sharon pondered. A little smile slipped across her lips. Sharon got up from the couch to go check on Rusty in his room. Feeling more relaxed after the analytical conversation, Sharon headed down the hall to Rusty's bedroom, passing by the framed grouping of black and white photos that included a single pale peony.

Thank you for reading this long first chapter. Lots of ideas swirling on where to take it in the next chapter. Please leave your reviews and/or feedback to help the story take shape. Appreciate your comments greatly!