We drove to my place in his car. I held his hand the entire way. I was still mad at him, but we needed to talk this out. Obviously we both had tempers that got out of control easily. We had been in the car for a few minutes, but both of us were silent. We both didn't want to say something that would hurt the other. I sighed and gave in. A part of this was because I had jumped to conclusions and not listened to him. "I like that you're a cop. You're dedicated." I looked at me and he briefly glanced at me and squeezed my hand. "I would never ask you to quit, even if I wanted you to. Not many people have a passion. It's good to have one."

He looked over to me again, "You have one too. It's art. You love painting. You'd do anything for the art gallery."

I nodded and blushed, "That's what I'm saying. You'd do anything to protect this city. While it scares me, I love it. I couldn't ever ask you to quit." He sighed and I could see some tension leaving his body; he had been really worried about that. I blushed again, and mumbled, "Besides, I feel safer knowing you're out there."

He chuckled and pulled me closer to him. I leaned against him and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I could feel him kiss the top of my head, "Good. I may not have joined the force to keep you safe, but that is definitely a benefit of it." I closed my eyes, and fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning alone in bed, with my clothes on. I had made my intentions for last night clear to Jamie but apparently they hadn't happened. I walked into the kitchen and saw him making breakfast. "Morning sleepyhead," he smiled at me.

I yawned, "Why didn't you wake me up when we got back here last night?" I went and gave him a hug from behind, "I appreciate the thought, but I had plans." I smiled into his back.

I felt him stiffen at the thought. He gulped, "Don't remind me." I chuckled, "Well we both mentioned how we haven't been sleeping lately so I thought you needed the sleep. Like I said, I'm in no rush."

I nodded and helped him finish breakfast. After a while I asked, "What are you planning on wearing today?"

He finished chewing, "Black pants and a nice long sleeve shirt. Why?"

"I want to make sure you don't look like one of the people helping or one of the artists. I don't want people bombarding you for information when you don't know anything about the other artists."

"Well thanks, but I have talked to a few of them. I would at least be able to point somebody in the right direction. Um, there's something I should mention about tonight."

I gulped. Not again. "Yeah?"

"My family will be coming tonight. Not because I asked, but because my nephew's artwork will be shown. He attends St. Bart's, the private school you included in the showing."

I nodded, "Oh ok. Well then it'll work out great then. We'll make sure that no one bothers you so you can spend time with your family if you want."

He gave me a weird look, "Well I was planning on seeing them, but I was planning on spending most of the night with you. I can be your arm candy, you know?"

I gave him a big smile at that. That's what I wanted, I just didn't know how to ask it. "Good! Then I want people to know you're my boyfriend. I don't want them thinking I hired you as security or something."

"Oh. Ok. I thought you, well, I don't know what I thought." He set his fork down.

I grabbed his hand, "I'm sorry Jamie. I'm trying. I'm guessing you got a little hurt that I didn't want you to look like one of the artists right?" He nodded, "Well they are all color coordinated to the floors their paintings are on. There are five floors total, and most of the rooms are being used. You know I painted all the floors to be two colors. The bottom is black and purple. The middle of the floor the walls blend as the colors switch. The 4th floor is dark gray and orange. The 3rd light gray and green. The 2nd is yellow and white. The top is white. That's where the kids are. The bottom is black, and each floor gets lighter as it goes up." I squeezed his hand harder, "I want people to know you are with me. I don't want people thinking I am paying you to be there, or that you're hoping to get a commission."

He smiled, "Oh. You want me to be there with you."

I nodded and laughed, "Isn't that what I just said?"

"Well yeah, but now I get it. What color are you wearing? I can match you."

I laughed, "Red to match the flowers. Martha is wearing white because she's corralling all the kids and their parents. Workers are wearing white."

"Well I'm going to need a new shirt then. I don't have red."

I laughed, "We can go shopping on the way to the gallery. The flowers should be arriving now so those have to be organized."

"And let me guess, you want to be there for that?"

I shook my head, "I already told Martha what to do. She'll make sure everyone follows directions better than I can. But just wear jeans or something now. There might be some heavy moving to do with the paintings if they aren't up yet."

He leaned in and gave me a kiss, "Oh, now I see why we're dating. You just want to use me for my muscles."

I squeezed his bicep, "Totally." We both laughed.

We were at the shop where I had bought my dress. I was trying it on to see if there were any last minute alterations. I walked out of the changing room, and Jamie's jaw dropped. He just stared at me. I turned to the three mirrors and tried to see what was wrong. I couldn't, "What? Is there a rip or something?" It was a silk red floor length A-Line gown. There was a slit running up my right leg that ended at my upper thigh. I turned back to Jamie. He had closed his mouth, but still stared.

"You look amazing." He looked me up and down, and walked towards me. He leaned in my ear, "I'm kind of regretting letting you sleep last night."

I could feel the blood rush to my face, "oh" I squeaked. I gulped and cleared my throat, "So it looks good?"

He nodded, "Very good. It's a little long but I'm assuming you're wearing heals?" I shot him a look. How could he tell that? He blushed, "Erin used to make me play dress up when I was little. When she took a Home Ec. class she would also make me her model." He coughed.

I laughed, "That's so cute! Please tell me she has pictures."

He turned even redder, "I hope not. Um but why don't you help me pick out a shirt?"

I nodded and looked to the store owner. I didn't take my dress off; I wanted it nearby to match the exact shade. It might seem picky but I wanted tonight to go perfectly. I wanted to impress Jamie. The owner motioned toward the back, and I pulled Jamie so he would follow me. "I'm thinking you should wear a red shirt with a black tie, or a black shirt with a red tie." I ran my hand along the vests, "ooh, you could wear a black shirt, a black vest, and a red tie. That'd be sleek."

He looked at the price tag, "Geez. Anna, I won't be able to afford this. We might need to go to a different store for my shirt."

I looked back at him and could see he was uncomfortable. "Jamie, let me get it for you. I'm the one who wants you to match; it's not fair to make you pay for it. I paid for any new shirts the artist's needed." His face fell and I could tell that was the wrong thing to say. "Jamie I'm sorry. Let me get this for you as an apology for Monday."

He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, "I don't know Anna."

I could tell he still felt uncomfortable. I knew cops didn't make much, but really it couldn't be this bad? "Please Jamie? It would mean a lot to me."

He sighed, "ok. I guess it isn't that big of a deal."

"Ok now go try it on!" He had picked the black shirt and black vest. I threw a pair of pants at him. He raised an eyebrow at me. "What? It's a matching set."

He shook his head and laughed, "Fine; if you insist."

I sat on the chair by the dressing room. There were only two; it was a good thing we were the only ones in here. He came out a minute later and smiled at me. I looked him up and down. I gulped, "You look great."

He gave me a knowing look and went over to the mirror. "This does look nice!" He turned back to me, "Come stand next to me. I want to see what we both look like."

"Hold on, let me grab the heels. I have them in a box in my dressing room." I disappeared behind the curtain and put them on, "Do you have nice black shoes?" I called out.

Just as I was walking out he replied, "Yeah. Our shoes are required to be shined before we start the day at work, so I was going to wear those." He turned to look at me. "Wow," he breathed. I went to stand next to him in the mirror. When we stood next to each other my head fit just under his chin, but now I was taller. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the side of my neck, "gorgeous."

I looked at us in the mirror; we really were. He had wrapped his arms around me. I grabbed his hands. "Oh Jamie, I forgot to tell you. The girls will be there tonight." He had met them all separately, but had never been with them in group form. His smile dropped, and I laughed. "Sorry!"