Kate stood in front of her mirror, scrutinising her third outfit choice.

She'd started the process, two hours ago, in jeans and a plain white shirt, but had realised she looked far too much like she was at work.

So she'd then swapped it for a long colourful summer dress, ankle length and patterned in all sorts of bright colours, but it had hurt her eyes after a while, so she'd stripped back to her underwear and tried again.

She was now in a light blue checked shirt, open around a deep purple, v-neck camisole and her underwear, trying to decide what to wear on her bottom half.

She sighed deeply as she checked her watch and realised he would be here any minute.

She quickly slipped into a pair of white shorts she hadn't worn in ages, but loved for the comfort and look, and twirled in the mirror to make sure she looked good. She quickly laced up her light blue and purple Converse pumps, and just had enough time to ruffle her natural curls one more time, before she heard the knock on her door.

Kate took a deep breath and made her way over to the door, opening it with a slightly nervous smile.

"Hey." She greeted softly.

Rick smiled back at her warmly. "Hey. You look great."

Kate chuckled, a little self conscious. "You do, too." She murmured, taking in his dark blue fitted jeans and white t-shirt with long dark blue sleeves, rolled up to his elbows. He looked good.

Rick smiled gently at her, clearly picking up on her nerves. "You ready to go?"

She nodded quickly. "Yeah, just let me grab my bag."


Rick parked the car and turned to the beautiful woman in his passenger seat, noticing the she was nervously playing with the ring on the chain around her neck. She had barely said a word for the ten minutes they were driving.

"I can drive you home if you'd prefer." He offered quietly, fighting his own disappointment.

Kate jumped, her eyes finding his quickly before falling back to her lap. "I'm sorry." She shook her head. "I just, I don't do this very often."

Rick smiled, undoing his seat belt and turning towards her. "I don't want you to feel nervous around me, Kate."

She shook her head quickly, managing to look at him. "I don't."

"So it's the date thing, then?" He guessed slowly.

She nodded shyly.

"Gorgeous woman like you doesn't date very often?" He asked, incredulous.

Kate chuckled. "I tend to be rather too busy. And then you've got the whole cop thing." She shrugged when he raised a questioning eyebrow. "You either get the people who it frightens off or the creeps who fetishize it."

Rick chuckled. "Kate, I'm a firefighter." He reminded her softly. "You think I don't get my fair share of fetishists?"

She giggled. "Good point."

Rick hesitated for a moment before gently set his hand on her knee.

His entire being gravitated to the point of contact, his heart hammering against his ribs. She was so soft and warm, he didn't know how he would now be able to ever stop touching her.

Kate's eyes were glued to his hand, her face flushing a little at the intimacy of the movement, blushing further as his thumb unconsciously started to gently stroke the very bottom of her thigh.

"Just, I want you to relax today. Please don't worry about this, Kate. There's no pressure."

She nodded, voice arrested by the gentle movement of his thumb.

He cleared his throat quickly, squeezing her knee before letting go. "Come on, let's go get some lunch. I think you'll like this place."


Rick guided her to their table with a hand at the base of her back, pulled out her chair for her and handed her the menu.

Kate didn't think she'd blushed this hard in a very long time. He was being so sweet.

"You okay?" He asked quietly, looking up at her over his menu. "You look a little flushed."

Kate chuckled, pressing a self conscious hand to her cheek. "You're making me blush."

"Why?" He asked, caution and concern mixing with amusement in his tone.

"You don't have to be on your best behaviour, you know that, right? I'm not the only one who needs to relax." She chuckled, laughing a bit harder when he blushed back at her.

"Sorry, you just, I'm punching so far above my weight here, and it's making me a little nervous."

Kate shook her head, being brave and gently slipping her hand into his. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be, Rick." She murmured sincerely.

He looked down at their hands, smiling softly at the sight of her slim, cool palm cradled in his own, before nodding. "Okay. So, you know what you're gonna order yet?"

She smiled, turning back to the menu, leaving her hand exactly where it was.