"Lieutenant Furillo, how did you know Kerry Conelli?" Junior asked as he approached the witness stand.

"He was my manager for when I was a horse jockey."

"How long did you ride for him?"

"About a year."

"Was there anything else between you two?"

"Yes. We were lovers for a brief time."

Junior nodded as he tapped his pen on the palm of his hand. "What was his reaction to your decision to leave horse racing to pursue a career in the navy?"

Kris bobbed her head from side to side, trying to come up with the right description. "He wasn't very thrilled."

"Can you elaborate?"

"Kerry had planned for me to start racing in Europe, and stay there for two years without my consent. He told me about 'our' plans the same night I was going to tell him about my decision to leave. When I told him, he became very agitated. Then he said he invested all of his assets into this Europe tour."

"How did you react to that?"

"I felt like he was trying to trap me into staying. After I had left, I had found out that he had done something similar to some of his other clients."

"Thank you," Junior concluded as he turned towards Sturgis. "Your witness."

Commander Turner rose from his chair. "The government has no questions at this time."

"Very well," the judge commented. "Court is in recess until 0800 tomorrow."

Just after the gavel sounded, Sturgis approached Junior and let a small smile come upon his lips. "I'm going to recommend to the convening authority that all charges be dropped. Congratulations Commander, Lieutenant."

"Commander," the two said in unison.

Kris turned towards Junior once Sturgis was out of ear shot. "Thank you for not giving up on me. I don't know how I can ever express how grateful I truly am."

Junior raised a playful eyebrow and smiled. "I may know how you can do just that."

She returned the look to him. "And what would that be?"

"Have dinner with me. It could be the most unromantic dinner of all time if that is what would make you feel comfortable."

There's no such thing as an unromantic dinner when you're concerned… Kris thought. "Okay."

Both of Junior's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Kris nodded.

"Okay then. My apartment, seven o'clock tonight."

"I'll be there."

OoOoO

Kris stood in front of the apartment door with her hand raised, ready to knock, but she was frozen in her spot. She had arrived ten minutes early, and had been standing in the same position for the last five. Even though she had gone out with guys that had similar personalities to the commander, she felt different this time for some reason; she felt nervous. And she wasn't one to get nervous, especially over a guy!

Finally, Kris allowed her fist to come in contact with the metal apartment door. No turning back now, she thought as she heard his footsteps on the other side.

The door opened and revealed the lawyer standing right in front of her, that dorky smile of his spread across his lips and a dish towel flung over his shoulder. "Hey, come on in," he greeted as he stepped aside to allow enough room for her to enter.

Kris nodded as she stepped inside. "Thanks… Ken," she responded, his name sounding weird on her tongue since she had only addressed him as 'commander' or 'sir' since they first met.

His face grimaced as he helped Kris with her jacket. "Call me Junior."

"Okay… Junior," she repeated as she glanced around the apartment. It was a fairly decent size, especially for one guy in Washington D.C. They were currently standing in the living area, and the kitchen/ dining areas were right behind that with a gorgeous view of the city. Right beside her was a metal spiral staircase that led up to a loft, most likely where his bedroom was.

"Nice place," Kris commented.

Junior smiled as he headed back into the kitchen to finish dinner. "Thanks. It's been a long work in progress."

"Did you do all of this?"

"Nope," he laughed. "I can't even build a bookcase. Just ask Matt."

Kris joined in the laughter. "That reminds me, I've been meaning to ask you since they came… how do you know the Ritters?"

"Well," he began as he placed the final touches on the small dining table, "let's just say when you're next door neighbors with a rival stable, sometimes you can get close with them. And in my case, since I'm not my dad, wasn't because of manipulation."

Kris bit her lip out of embarrassment. "I should have put that together considering your last name is Davis."

Junior shrugged. "Davis is a fairly common last name. And you wouldn't be the only one not putting together subtle clues. I didn't know you were the Kris Furillo until I was about to contact your 'family'."

"Oh, stop," Kris said as she slapped Junior's shoulder.

"I'm being serious! And being the responsible one in the Davis family, I would like to apologize for anything and everything they have done… especially Dani."

Kris rolled her eyes at the sound of her old nemesis' name. "Yeah, well… thanks for that. So, are they still as bad as they were back then?"

"I'll tell you, as long as we start eating. I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" Junior said dramatically.

The two of them laughed as they sat down, and Junior began to serve them both.

"So where was I?" Junior joked as he handed Kris her plate.

"Your family," Kris smiled.

"Ah, yes. Well, my dad doesn't have as many racing cronies anymore, but that doesn't cut down on his manipulation; including trying to get me back into racing despite me being happy with my life now. Dani has changed completely. She met a bull rider not too long after you left racing. He's a buddy of mine from when I tried my hand at bull riding right after high school and before I entered Officer Candidate School. RJ helped change her for the better. She left horse racing as well, and now they're happily married. Who knows, if you and Dani ever see each other again, you could become best friends."

Kris let out a nervous laugh. "I highly doubt that."

Junior shrugged. "You never know."

"Touché, but I'm not betting on that happening at the moment."

He nodded. "So, Ms. Furillo… tell me a bit about yourself."

As Kris began, Junior gave her his full attention. He watched every little movement she made, how her smile spread from one side of her face to the other, how she shied away from her past before coming to Raintree, noticing that what she said did bother her even though she said it didn't. To Junior, it was hard to believe what he was feeling at the moment. He had only known her for a couple of weeks, but as she continued, he couldn't help but that he was falling in love with her.

OoOoO

Both of them were laughing at a story Junior had just finished as they finished cleaning up after dinner.

"So, Kris. Would you be interested in having lunch tomorrow?"

"I would," she began, "but I'm headed back to my squadron tomorrow. I leave at eight."

"I understand," Junior trailed. "How about breakfast then?"

Kris shook her head and smiled. "Sure."

"I know a great place near the airport; I could pick you up say, around six?"

"That sounds great."

Junior smiled. "Great. Then… I'll see you tomorrow."

Kris nodded. "Yeah. See you tomorrow."

He grabbed her jacket and placed it over her shoulders. "Have a good night."

"You, too."

A/N: Two more chapters! Hoping to have both of them up before I head back to school. Until then!