Danny jumped out of his car and tossed his keys to the valet. When he'd originally planned this getaway it was supposed to be a three day weekend in Lake Tahoe, but since both his and Mary's work schedules had been crazy the last couple of weeks it had unfortunately morphed into one night at Green Valley Ranch. Now, thanks to a couple of chip thieves, he was already two hours late.

As he hurried through the lobby he was caught off guard by someone calling his name.

"Danny!"

He turned to see Delinda and Sam seated at a small café table just off the lobby. "Great," he thought to himself. "What the hell are they doing here?"

He gave a nervous wave and headed towards his two friends, giving a nod of recognition to Delinda's bodyguard, Frank, seated at an adjacent table.

"So, what brings you two all the way out here?" Danny hoped he sounded casual since his heart was racing, both from the anticipation of being with Mary and from his fear that their little charade may be coming to an end.

"We followed Mary," Delinda told him excitedly.

"What? Mary's here?" He gave himself a mental pat on the back. He was actually getting pretty good at this whole thing.

"Yep. Yesterday she got an envelope with a room key in it so when she tried to sneak off today, we followed her."

"Why?"

"Duh, because we want to know who this new guy is. You have to admit. She seems pretty happy lately." Sam gave a nod of agreement at Delinda's comment.

Danny bowed his head so the girls couldn't see the small smile that spread across his face. He'd hoped that Mary was just as happy as he was and hearing the girls confirm it was a welcome relief.

"Well, I'm sure she has a pretty good reason for not saying anything." While he'd struggled a bit with Mary's reasoning at first, he could more than understand it now and he was seriously enjoying all their secret rendezvous.

"Well, I know why she'd want to keep it from you, Danny, but not us. We tell each other everything."

"Well, obviously not everything. Hey, wait a minute. Why do you think she'd want to keep it from me?" Danny asked, suddenly offended.

"HELLO, because you'd go all overprotective ex-boyfriend, big brother on her," Sam's raised voice caused a couple of the other café patrons to look their way, but they quickly went back to their lattes.

"I would not!"

"Whatever," Sam rolled her eyes as she scanned the lobby again for any sign of Mary's mystery man. "Hey, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh, I…uh…I have a meeting with Steve about some…uh…counterfeit bills that have showed up here and at the Montecito," Danny stuttered a bit, but he didn't think Delinda or Sam noticed.

"Oooh, Steve Yerkes? I dated him once," Delinda said matter-of-factly.

"Is there anyone you haven't dated?" Sam said in annoyance as she signaled the waiter for another drink.

"At least I actually go on dates and don't just go for quickies with my best friend's ex-boyfriend," Delinda rattled off, half-whining and half-pouting.

Danny stared openmouthed at Delinda who was quite oblivious to the fact that she'd actually just described herself.

"O-kay, ladies. I've gotta run " Danny gave another nod to Frank as he backed away from the table. "Try to stay out of trouble."

Danny was still shaking his head as he made a beeline for the far bank of elevators. It wouldn't do any good for Delinda and Sam to see him heading up to the rooms. By the time the elevator chimed on the seventeenth floor Danny was actually quite amused. He couldn't believe that the girls had gone to all the trouble to follow Mary to discover her secret guy. He also thought it was hilarious that even though Danny had shown up at the same location they didn't even consider the notion that it might be him. He'd probably be pretty offended if he didn't find the whole situation so damn funny.

Once he reached Room 1712 he slid the card into the lock and slowly opened the door. It was dark except for the bluish glow of the TV in the other room. Danny dropped his suit coat on the chair and headed into the bedroom in search of Mary.

The down comforter from the bed had been laid out on the floor in front of the TV. He smiled when he noticed the half-eaten bowl of fresh cherries. He'd put in a special request with room service since Mary had a strong allergy to strawberries. Speaking of Mary, she was nowhere to be found, but the slim light peaking out from the bathroom door gave Danny a pretty good hint as to her whereabouts.

As he toed off his shoes and removed his tie he heard the water turn on and off before the door opened to reveal Mary clad in a fluffy white robe.

"Hey," she said surprised. "I thought you were going to call me when you were on your way up? I got a little bored," Mary indicated the television and the makeshift picnic, "but I wanted to straighten things up before you got here."

"Don't worry about it. I got a little distracted in the lobby," Danny leaned down to press a soft kiss to her lips.

"Distracted, huh? Anything I should know about?"

"Yes, actually," Danny said, grinning as he thought about what had happened downstairs. "Delinda and Sam."

Mary's eyes grew wide. "What? So they know?"

"Nope. They followed you from the Montecito and were waiting to see who your mystery guy was."

"But, Danny. What did they say when they saw you?"

"I told them I was meeting with Steve about some counterfeit chips and they bought it. They really have no clue, Mary."

"We're going to have to tell them soon."

"Yeah, you're right, but not tonight," Danny had shed his shirt and was starting on his belt buckle when he heard Mary clear her throat.

"Um, Danny. Do you think I could get a little sweet talk before we just jump right to the main event?"

Danny looked up from where he'd been removing his trousers to see Mary standing with her arms crossed and one eyebrow arched high on her forehead. He'd been a little eager, but Danny had assumed Mary was just as anxious. He was horrified that she might actually think he only wanted her for sex.

"Um..yeah…it's just… I mean, we've been so busy and…it's been almost a week since…," he tried unsuccessfully to muddle through an explanation.

"Three days," Mary corrected him with a stern look.

"Yeah, and I just thought…I mean, but we can definitely…um… you know…," Danny gestured nervously between the two of them searching desperately for the right words to make up for his frat boy assumption, "uh…talk…or whatever you want."

"You are so gullible, McCoy," Mary giggled as she removed her robe to reveal an ice blue camisole with black lace trim.

Danny threw his head back and breathed a huge sigh of relief as Mary moved forward and wound her arms around his neck.

"I missed you," she whispered as she nibbled on the spot just above his collarbone that always seemed to make him moan.

Danny wrapped his arms around her and let his hands run over the smooth satin before lifting her easily and carrying her to the king-size bed. He set her down and let his fingers softly trace every line of her body before joining her on the bed. "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do, Danny."

"I need you so much, Mary."

Mary reached up and ran her hand softly down the side of Danny's face before leaning up to touch her lips to his. Wrapping one hand around his neck and the other around his waist she maneuvered him until he was over her, his body cradled between her thighs.

"I'm yours, Danny. I've always been yours and I always will be."

---

The chirp of his cell phone woke Danny from a sound slumber. Mary stirred in her sleep as he rolled out from under her and onto the floor, feeling around blindly for his pants.

"Danny McCoy," he croaked, his voice hoarse from sleep.

"Danny, I need you to meet me at the casino. The FBI are on their way. There's been some new developments with the Masquerade Group."

Danny tried to clear the fog from his sleep-deprived brain as he listened to his boss' words.

"Did you hear me!" Ed snapped on the other end of the receiver.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on my way," Danny said as he ended the call, taking a deep breath and running his hand over his face.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked groggily from the bed.

Forcing a deep sigh from his lungs, Danny stood up and sat on the edge of the bed. He leaned down to place a gentle kiss on Mary's forehead before replying. "I've got to go. There's something going on and Ed needs me back right away."

"Is it bad?"

"I don't know. I promise I'll tell you all about it when I have some more information." Danny kissed her again--more passionately than the first time--before he left the bed to shower.

After his shower, Danny tried to make his suit from the day before look presentable while Mary disappeared into the front room.

"I picked this up for you the other day. I was going to save it for Valentine's Day, but I think you could probably use it now." She handed him the gray bag marked Saks Fifth Avenue before climbing up on the bed.

Danny dug through the tissue paper to reveal a beautiful blue dress shirt and a coordinating tie. "I know you only brought casual clothes so this way you don't look like you're wearing the same thing you had on yesterday."

He stared at the garments for a moment before turning his gaze to Mary. She looked adorably unsure as she chewed her bottom lip, waiting for his approval. Danny couldn't resist leaning forward and softly coaxing her mouth open with his own lips. Their tongues lazily danced together for several long minutes before Danny finally pulled back, ending the encounter with a long, lingering kiss to her forehead.

"Thank you," he smiled. "I love it."

Mary was silent as she watched him slip into the shirt. There had been something strangely domestic and unbelievably sexy about buying such a practical gift like work clothes for Danny. From his reaction, she wondered if he'd felt the same way about receiving it.

Once he was dressed she moved from the bed to help him with his tie, making sure the knot was straight and secure before letting her hands linger on his lapels.

"I'm sorry I have to leave," he told her solemnly, noticing the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"It's okay. I'm just being overly emotional for some reason," Mary stared at the floor embarrassed as she swiped at the tears which were now falling down her cheeks.

"Hey, look at me." Danny tilted her chin so that he could look into her eyes. "Please don't cry. You're going to see me every day for the rest of your life. What's a little bit of time apart in the grand scheme of things, right?"

Mary laughed lightly through her tears and Danny moved a stray lock of hair away from her eyes before cradling her face and letting his forehead rest against hers.

"Go back to sleep, spend the day at the spa and I'll call you later, okay?"

"Yes, sir." Mary gave a playful salute before looping her arm through Danny's and walking him to the door. Once he was out of the suite and on his way she leaned her head against the cool wall and tried to get her emotions under control. She couldn't believe she'd broken down over the thought of Danny leaving for work. That really wasn't like her, but she supposed it was just a touch of that residual fear of losing him. She took a deep breath and decided to take a hot bath before crawling back into bed for a couple more hours.