MEET ME IN CHICAGO (Chapter 2)
By: desert_vixen
Author's Notes: I know it's getting to be a wait in between stories, but my muse was a little annoyed at being thrown in my duffle bag and taken to Iraq. She seems to be getting over it.
Chronological Note: This story takes place one week after the end of "Connections". The general time frame for the stories is three years after the SuperMysteries, making the characters of legal drinking age.
I forgot in the previous chapter, but I'd like to thank my fabulous beta Amy for keeping me from making silly mistakes in the story.
Also, disclaimer: I don't own any of the established ND/HB characters. And I'm in the Army, so suing wouldn't really be worth the money anyway…
Thanks for the comments on the first chapter!
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Frank was a little confused when he woke up in the unfamiliar room, until the slight haze in his brain cleared. The guest room in Nancy's apartment was pretty comfortable, but he didn't plan on spending too much of the visit asleep. He could smell coffee, and what he thought might be bacon, and his stomach reminded him that dinner had been quite some time ago. He eased the door open, heading for the bathroom and the shower.
That was an experience in itself. He'd thought sharing a bathroom with his brother was bad, but these two had stuff everywhere. There was a veritable explosion of – he wasn't even sure what half of it was for. A look at some of the labels did not help with the confusion – some of it sounded like it might be more suited to the kitchen – mango-brown sugar body scrub?
Shaved and dressed, he started towards the kitchen – it was definitely bacon – when the bedroom door ajar caught his eye. It was Nancy's room and he had a sudden impulse to have a look inside. It was relatively neat, he thought, his eyes drawn to the bed where the comforter had been pulled up to cover the pillows and smoothed out. A single strappy black high heel sat next to the bed, its mate nowhere in sight – the only part of last night's outfit on display.
Frank stepped back – he thought he'd heard a sound from behind Reese's closed door – and went into the kitchen. Nancy turned from where she was in front of the refrigerator. "Good morning. Coffee?" she said.
"Please."
She poured a cup, and set it on the counter next to him. Before he could reach out to take it, she moved to give him a long kiss, her hand tracing over his jaw, feeling the smoothness under her fingers.
"Good morning," he said softly as she pulled away from him. "You made breakfast?"
"I can cook some," she said with a teasing smile. "Hannah is a pretty good teacher. I wouldn't want to have to cook a whole formal dinner by myself, but I can handle bacon and eggs."
"And coffee," Frank said, lifting his cup.
"And coffee." She took a sip from her glass of juice. "Funny, Hardy, you always struck me as a morning person."
"As long as there's coffee," he teased. "Death before dishonor, but nothing before coffee."
She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, and watched the faint flush creep over his face as he reconsidered how that sentence might be taken.
"Beautiful women who cook you breakfast aren't bad either," he said after a long moment, taking a seat at the table. "I'm afraid neither Joe nor I are any good at that."
He watched her scramble eggs and make toast with an efficiency that did not surprise him. The darker green vee-necked top layered over pale green suited her, and went well with the dark jeans she wore.
"This is really good," he said after his first bite of eggs.
"Thank you," she replied. They ate in a companionable silence, and when she stood to put her plate in the sink, she found herself being pulled down onto his lap, strong arms wrapping around her waist, lips brushing her cheek before kissing her thoroughly.
"Don't you two do anything else?" Reese drawled as she came into the kitchen area. "You even match, sort of."
Nancy looked down and had to laugh. Frank did have on a sort of matching outfit, with his dark green shirt and blue jeans. "I'm surprised to see you awake this early."
"You and me both," Reese said with a yawn as she poured coffee. "Have I ever mentioned that she's the best roommate ever, Frank?"
"Not that I can recall," he said warily. Reese had a sense of humor that could be dangerous. She reminded him a little of his brother, that sense of mischief that seemed to follow Joe Hardy around.
"Well, she is. Not only does she make sure I get home in one piece, she saves me breakfast." Reese busied herself at the toaster, and Nancy took advantage of Frank's distraction to slide away from him.
"Why are you up early?" Nancy asked Reese as she poured herself more juice.
Reese sighed. "Rick and I have plans to go visit my aunt and uncle. They're in Chicago for a week or so, visiting Aunt Courtney's parents. It's…sort of a test run for Thanksgiving." She sat down at the table with a plate of the remaining bacon and toast.
"I'm sure it will go well," Nancy said soothingly. She'd forgotten that this was the weekend for that visit, but Reese had been worrying about it for awhile.
"I hope so." Reese bit into a piece of bacon, clearly still thinking about it.
"So what brought you to Chicago?" Frank asked in an attempt to take her mind off the subject that was obviously making her twitchy.
Reese shrugged. "I wanted a change from the South for a few years. That, and Chicago has a big Polish population, which I thought would be a cool experience. Which it has been."
"And you met Rick," Nancy added, watching Reese smile.
"I did." Reese toyed with her coffee cup, then sighed. "So, we're going to go visit with them for the day. I'm not planning on coming home tonight. Rick and I haven't had a lot of time together lately, and after enduring my family's version of the Spanish Inquisition, he may need it. My uncle can be… intimidating."
Nancy glanced down at the table, not sure she liked this news. If she'd felt tempted last night when Reese was in the apartment, how was she going to feel when it was just the two of them here?
Reese excused herself to go take a shower, and Frank waited until she had closed the bathroom door to reach out and touch Nancy's hand. "Is everything okay? You seem a little distracted."
Nancy looked at him, and shook her head. "Remember what I said about feeling awkward?"
She could see comprehension dawning, and he nodded slightly.
"I'm still feeling it," she said quietly. "I didn't realize she'd be away."
"Nancy." He caught her hand up in his. "If it makes you uncomfortable, I can-"
She cut him off. "It's not that. It's just – I'm not sure." She was sure he wouldn't object if she gave in to the daring little voice in her head, but she wasn't even sure how she wanted to approach the subject. "It will be fine," she said firmly, linking her fingers with his.
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"Do we want to stay in or go out for dinner?" Nancy asked as she sat down on the couch. They had spent the whole afternoon sightseeing – lunch, the Lincoln Park Zoo, a little shopping, the American Bar Association museum, and a brief tour of the University of Chicago campus – and while it had been fun, she was definitely regretting her decision to wear sandals instead of sneakers.
"What do you want?"
"No fair, I asked first," she teased. "Isn't taking charge your thing?"
He pressed a hand to his heart in mock dismay. "Well, someone has to be the fearless leader. I'm as qualified for the job as the next guy."
"Joe could handle the 'fearless' part," Nancy said with a raised eyebrow.
"Too hot-headed to be the leader, though," Frank said. "His strength runs more to things like faking the bad guy out with a toy laser pistol."
"You're always so calm and collected," she said in a bland tone. "Leadership must come naturally to you."
"Exactly," he said confidently.
"Although," Nancy said with a gleam in her eyes, "who says the fearless leader has to be a guy?"
"We did write most of the rules," he informed her, grinning when she gave him a glare, then rolled her eyes.
"Typical," she sighed. "And I had such hopes for you."
"How can you be the leader when you always have to be pulled up over a cliff or something?" He said it lightly, but there was a fleeting darkness in his eyes. There had been some close calls, and she'd been lucky to have the brothers around. He was grateful he had been around to save her.
She saw the shadow, and put her hand on his arm, squeezed gently. "Maybe it's all just part of the plot to let you two show off how big and strong you can be," she said, voice sugar-sweet. "I know Bess would approve that plan."
"She does make a better damsel in distress than you," he said with a smile.
"You're a pretty good knight, even without shining armor," Nancy said, then leaned closer to give him a long kiss. "And you're mine. Bess can find her own."
"She hasn't done so badly with royalty," Frank murmured. "A knight should be no problem."
"So," he said after another long kiss, as she leaned back against the arm of the couch. "Back to dinner. What are our options for staying in?"
Nancy reached down, rubbing her foot absently. "Pizza, Chinese, sushi delivery. That's about all…ohhhh God, that feels good," she said as he pulled her foot into his lap, strong fingers pressing into the sole.
"Sushi delivery?"
"No one's died of food poisoning yet." She was really having a hard time concentrating on the question at hand while he was massaging her foot.
"Let's not be the first," he said. "Chinese sounds good."
"Where's your sense of mystery and adventure?" Nancy teased, as he let go of one foot and captured the other.
"The only mystery right now is why you women wear these torture devices disguised as shoes," he shot back.
Nancy raised an eyebrow. "No, the shoes I wore last night are torture devices. Those sandals are just pretty."
After some spirited discussion over what to order, Nancy went to call the restaurant and place the order. Frank stretched out his legs, contemplating the DVDs neatly arranged on the entertainment center.
"How about a movie?" He called out.
"Actually," Nancy said as she came out of the kitchen, "I do need to watch a movie for my class."
"Oh?"
"It's a murder mystery," she said cheerfully. "One we don't have to solve."
"What fun is that?" Frank asked. "What movie?"
"Murder on the Orient Express," she replied. "Agatha Christie?"
"Oh, a mystery on a train. That's original," he said with a smile.
"There's no diamond involved," she informed him. "You have read the book?"
"Actually," he said slowly, "I haven't."
She raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged. "I don't read many mystery novels. I prefer to solve real ones."
"I must admit," Nancy said as she put the DVD in, "It's actually pretty relaxing to watch a mystery that we don't have to be responsible for."
"What's the assignment?"
"Comparison on how the movie adapts the novel, and whether the mystery is better in one form than the other," Nancy replied as she sat down on the far end of the couch. "And yes, I do have to pay attention, so you're just going to stay down there on your end of the couch."
"If you like." He stretched out a little more. "How long on dinner?"
"They said about an hour. Apparently we weren't the only ones who decided to go with Chinese tonight."
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By the time the doorbell sounded, Frank was more wrapped up in the movie than he had thought he would be. Nancy paused the DVD, and they went into the kitchen together to get the food sorted out. When they were seated, and the movie was playing again, she glanced over at Frank's plate.
"What?" He asked, turning to see her studying him.
"Oh nothing. I was just wondering which Hardy brother was visiting me."
He looked down at the full plate of roast pork fried rice, three egg rolls, and a generous helping of cashew chicken. "Obviously not Joe. He doesn't usually bother with a plate, or sharing."
Nancy giggled. "True."
"You don't look convinced," he said teasingly. "Maybe I need to prove it to you?"
"Maybe," she said with a smile.
"After I finish eating, that is."
They settled in to finish watching the movie and enjoy their dinner. When the credits rolled, Frank stood. "I'll get the dishes."
Nancy looked up at him with a mischievous smile. "I guess that proves you're Frank. Joe has never volunteered to do the dishes."
"That wasn't the proof I was thinking of," he said as he turned the faucet on.
"Oh, I'm convinced," she said with a laugh.
"Keep laughing. You'll pay soon enough."
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He woke up in the dark, disoriented. It took a moment for him to realize where he was. Nancy was asleep next to him, her head pillowed on his shoulder, his arm curled around her. They'd decided to watch The Mummy, and then The Thin Man, although apparently Nick and Nora hadn't been very good company. The clock on the VCR read one-fifteen-am, so they hadn't been asleep all that long. The crick in his neck had probably been what woke him, Frank thought, stretching slightly.
He knew what he should do was wake Nancy, tell her to go to bed, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do it. Having her in his arms like this felt so comfortable, so right, that he hated the idea of ending the moment. For a moment, he toyed with the idea of carrying her back to her bedroom, but had to discard it. If he moved to stand, he was likely to wake her up anyway. The same problem applied to any attempts to rearrange themselves so he could be more comfortable.
"Nancy." He said her name quietly, ran his finger along her cheek. "Nancy, wake up."
"Mmmm?" She lifted her head, blinked. "Is the movie over?"
"I think we both missed the end," he replied. Nancy sat up next to him, pushing her hair away from her face. In the dim light from outside the window, he could see her outline, her delicate features, the tumble of reddish gold. She had changed earlier from jeans to yoga pants, to be more comfortable while they were snuggled on the couch.
The movie watching had been fun, but this moment alone in the dark was dangerously intimate.
"Too bad," she said quietly, "it's one of my favorites."
"Oh?"
"I've always had a thing for detectives," she whispered, and leaned over to kiss him. "Especially tall, dark and handsome ones," she whispered against his lips.
His hands slid around her waist as the kiss deepened, pulling her onto his lap, shifting slightly to bring them more in line with each other. Nancy moved with him easily, tracing a hand along the side of his face.
She pulled back from the kiss, breathless, to discover she was straddling him, one of his hands resting at the small of her back, as the other toyed with a lock of her hair.
"You're so beautiful," he said softly, intensely, and she didn't need the light to know what kind of expression was in his dark eyes.
Before she could say anything in reply, he was kissing her again, and she ran her hands into his hair, kissing him back. She let herself stop thinking, let herself be pulled along. They had plenty of lost time to make up for, and there was definitely no one to disturb them this time.
It wasn't until she felt his hands warm against her skin that she started thinking again. It was a dangerous feeling, and a fun one, and she sighed. It had been awhile since she'd been touched, since she had been in the dark with a good kisser. She slid her hand under the hem of his shirt, trailing her fingers over his stomach, and he tensed, whispered her name as his hands tightened around her.
She shifted suddenly, and realized they had to stop before they got into trouble, before she didn't want to say no.
"We need to stop," she said shakily, almost not recognizing her own voice, as she pulled away from him, enough for his hands to come to rest on her waist, still underneath her shirt. "Frank." Her voice sharpened slightly. "We need to stop."
She thought he might have muttered something under his breath, but he pulled his hands away, sitting up slightly, breath still a little ragged. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." She forced herself to say it firmly. "I don't… I don't think this is such a good idea."
"I liked it better when you weren't thinking so much," he said quietly, sighing slightly. "What's wrong?"
"I just-" she broke off and closed her eyes, trying to get her thoughts together. "Two things. One, I didn't plan this far ahead."
He did whisper an expletive this time. "I wasn't planning on this either," he said.
"That's not what it feels like where I'm sitting," she said trying to get a sense of humor about the situation.
"I didn't say I hadn't thought about it," he said, his voice thick. "I'd be worried if I hadn't thought about it. But I didn't plan…ahead."
"The other thing is, I'm worried. Scared, even. Scared that we're rushing this, scared that we might do something that screws up how we feel about each other." She put her finger over his lips. "I'm not ready to go to bed with you, Frank."
He breathed out slowly. "Then it can wait, Nancy." He cupped his hands around her face. "I don't want you to do something you're not comfortable with."
She smiled, knew he could feel it if not see it. "Frank…"
He kissed her gently. "Nancy."
They sat in silence for a moment, until he shifted uncomfortably. "If you're going to bed alone, then you should probably go."
She blushed, even if he couldn't really see her face. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just…"
This time he laid his finger over her lips. "Don't worry."
She stood, feeling the slightest bit unsteady, and wondering if she really had made the right decision. He stood as well, and she could feel his presence in front of her, tall and powerful.
"Can I at least have a good night kiss?" His voice was soft, and a little amused.
"Of course," she said, and reached out to wrap her arms around his waist. His lips met hers in a long kiss, and Nancy made herself pull away. "You're not exactly helping yourself, here." Or me, she thought.
He sighed. "I know. Good night, Nancy." He brushed his hand along her cheek, his thumb barely touching her lower lip, and walked past her. She didn't move until she heard the bedroom door open, then shut.
"Good night," she whispered to the dark, before walking to her own room.
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Author's Notes: For those who like to keep track of the references, a quick run-down: The toy laser pistol bit is a nod to Dangerous Games, Nancy being saved from going over the edge of something is a recurring theme, Bess's attraction to royalty is addressed in A Crime for Christmas and Royal Revenge, and the jokes about Murder on the Orient Express come from Mystery Train.