10

March 9, 1997

Harm kicked his shoes off and looked at Mac. "I swear, the girl is spoiled and stubborn and a whole bunch of other things that I hope Tally will never be."

Mac had to keep herself from laughing. "Surely dinner at the Senator's house couldn't have been that bad."

"She drank three glasses of champagne, then climbed out of the bathroom window, and I had to go all the way downtown to go Officer and a Gentleman on her, because she wouldn't come home of her own free will." He shook his head in disbelief. "At least we get to do something fun tomorrow."

"Since when does a tour of Washington excite you?" Mac asked, gathering her things.

"It doesn't," he confirmed. "But Webb decided to change the itinerary. We're going to Norfolk to look at some of those 'big ships', as he put it."

"Why would he suddenly change the itinerary?"

"Someone tried to kill the Princess in Brussels two days ago, so it's a risk to keep her out in the open in DC. Besides, I have less of a chance she'll run on me when she's on an aircraft carrier."

Mac had to agree with him on that. "So, what is the plan for Saturday? You want to go together to the Willard?"

For a tiny moment Harm looked confused. Then his face lit up. "The NATO ball. Right. Sorry, I keep going back to seeing Tally in fifteen years. God help me."

She closed her bag and patted his head. "I don't think that you'll have to worry about Tally being a spoiled brat in fifteen years. She's way too down to earth for that."

"Is she? Because the Princess' mother died when she was six, and the King just told me that he wishes he had been stricter with her than he has been."

Oh, the way he could doubt himself sometimes. "Harm, you don't have to worry about being not strict enough. You're doing great. Besides, Tally is growing up in a completely different environment than the Princess has, and usually that makes a big difference."

"If you say so, Mac."

"I do." She looked around to see if she had forgotten anything, when there was a knock on the door. "Are you expecting someone?"

Harm shook his head no, and when Mac opened the door, he realized that maybe he shouldn't have been so friendly with his new neighbor. "Meghan."

Meghan looked from Harm to Mac and back, the smile on her face faltering just a little bit. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I saw you coming out of the elevator." She held up an empty container. "Do you think that I could borrow some coffee? With all this moving stuff, I haven't really had time to go grocery shopping."

"Of course." He was already off in the direction of the kitchen, and then changed his mind. "Actually, Mac, would you mind? I really want to get out of this uniform."

While it was a lame excuse, it took Mac two seconds to see right through him. He had been his usual friendly self, and while she had seen Meghan unpack when she got home with Tally, she hadn't known that Harm had seen her too. But of course he had. And of course the newbie would be all over him.

Meghan recognized her too. "You were with that little girl."

Mac took the container from her and went to the kitchen. "I was. I'm Sarah, the little girl is Tally."

"Meghan O'Hara. I moved in just down the hall."

"We saw you unpacking. I'm sorry we didn't stop to help, but Tally had been in the car for a while and really, really, needed a bathroom." Mac winked. "Milk? Sugar?"

"No, thank you. All black for me."

"Well, here you go."

Harm came out of the bedroom in sweats and a T-shirt. "You moved everything in? Or anything we can help with?" He gently empathized the we.

Meghan shook her head, looking around. "No, I'm fine. You've done a great job with the place. It looks nothing like my apartment."

"It's all right," he shrugged. Casually he went to stand half behind Mac, leaning one hip against the countertop.

"He's being modest. He worked really hard to get it right." Mac rolled her eyes at him. "When it's all squared away and clean, you could take pictures for an interior design magazine."

"I should, actually." Meghan smiled. "I'm the new lifestyle columnist for the Washington Post," she explained to Mac. "It would be great if I could take some pictures, sometime. I'll take them of my place first, so we have a before and after."

"No problem. Just let us know a few days upfront. A clean place is nicer to photograph."

"Will do." Meghan held up her container. "Thanks for the coffee."

Mac closed the door behind her and shook her head at Harm's apologetic and sheepish look, laughing. "Let me guess: you were your usually friendly self?"

He nodded, then shrugged.

"Harm, really…" Mac paused for a while. "I know that being your friendly, wonderful self gets you into situations like this, and I don't mind… It's just that, well, we women can take a hint. And if you're not interested, you can say that out loud too. There are other fish in the sea."

"Are there?" He was clearly doubting her words. "I'm sorry… It's just that I've been out of it for so long, and I don't want to give the wrong impression…"

"Why would saying that you're not interested in dating her, be giving the wrong impression? Hiding behind me is worse, honestly." Mac found herself being irritated by his behavior. "I know that being a gentleman means a lot to you, Harm, but sometimes the more gentlemanly thing to do is be honest, than to give someone the really wrong impression."

Harm had to give her that. He was being a coward, hiding behind her instead of being honest with Meghan. When Di was still alive, she would just step in or he would mention that he was married and that was it. But getting back into the dating scene was difficult, and he didn't know how to react. It had been a while since women would throw themselves at his feet, so to say, and he was actually free to do something with it.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I guess I'll just have to figure out how to deal with it on my own. I was wrong involving you. Forgive me?"

"Don't I always?" Mac heaved a sigh. "Just think before you act, okay?" She took her bag from the table. "I know it's hard, but you have to find a way to handle it. I can't always be here to rescue you, sailor."

"I know." He gave her a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, you will." As always, she gave his hand a squeeze in passing. "Night, Harm."

"Night."

Once in her car, Mac took several deep breaths. Why was she so bothered with him hiding behind her? Even a big, strong guy like Harm needed someone to hide behind. And Mac had known that he had that effect on women and didn't know he did. He honestly didn't know how to handle it.

Then why did it bother her so much? A part of her was flattered that he would use her as his shield, sort of, because it meant her trusted her. But doesn't he just do that because you're Di's look-a-like? Because it's easy? And convenient?

Mac didn't want to believe it. He wouldn't do that because it was just easy. Aren't you just thrown off because you felt like his for just a tiny moment? And because you really liked that feeling?

Quickly, she buried that thought. And she buried it deep. Because admitting that she was slowly falling for Harmon Rabb Jr. was the last thing Mac was going to do. She'd take it to her grave if she had to. She really would.