Country Girl, City Boys

Chapter 14: Equations and Lions

Why do I feel like I'm entering the lion's den? She pulled open the door to Danny's waiting truck and turned her eyes forward. Her gaze landed on Flack. He was leaning on his truck, openly watching the two of them.

"Guessing he didn't appreciate being brushed off." Danny remarked, his words cutting like a knife.

She said nothing. She got the message loud and clear. Instead, she just climbed in and pulled the door shut.

He started the engine and they pulled out into the light traffic.

Her earlier conversation with Flack kept playing through her head. She really had nothing to be sorry for. She hadn't cheated on Danny. She'd done nothing wrong.

"Danny, I didn't brush you off." She ventured quietly after several tense moments.

He sighed heavily. "I know that. I just… I guess… I thought we had a really good night, you know? And that was just… I didn't know you guys were doing that… I mean, you didn't invite me up or anything, so I just assumed…" He trailed off.

Flack was right. He's not hurt… He's jealous. "So… You're upset because you didn't get the same treatment?" She asked, wording her question as carefully as possible.

"You think I'm jealous." He stated, seeing right through her cautiously chosen words.

"Well… That's how it sounds…" She said, now feeling a little unsure of her assessment.

"Maybe I am a little… Or I was… But it's more than that… I guess I just realized that you made your choice… And you didn't pick me." He replied softly.

She wrinkled her brow. "I made my choice? What do you mean?" She questioned, turning to face him.

"I mean you picked Flack." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole world.

She raised her eyebrows at his blatant statement.

"C'mon Linds. It's pretty obvious. I mean, it wasn't like you invited me over last night after your date with Flack." He pointed out.

She opened her mouth to argue but he was right. "For the record, he was the one who started it… He text me a few minutes after I got home." She explained, desperately wanting him to see that she hadn't meant it to happen the way it had.

"I get what you're trying to say, but he didn't force his way into your apartment Linds. And I know him well enough to go as far as to say he wouldn't come over without being invited." Danny correctly stated.

She could barely meet his eyes. He was right.

"Montana… It's OK. It's not like you picked Charles Manson over me. The better man won." He told her, laying a hand on her arm.

She picked her head up. "That makes you sound like you're a bad choice." She retorted.

"I'm not the greatest choice. We both know that. I wouldn't have known what to do with a woman as incredible as you. I would have probably screwed it up. I don't do relationships Linds. Not very well at least." He continued, his eyes on the road.

"Then why even bother?" She asked, now wanting to know why he was willing to do this to himself.

"Because I figured if I didn't try, I'd never know. But in the end, you picked the right guy. I knew you'd pick him. I'm glad you did. It means I wasn't wrong about you."

She was shocked at his words. Danny had never actually expected her to pick him.

"You weren't wrong about me?" She echoed, trying to grasp onto this new information.

"He's the one who had the best of intentions. He's the guy who put in all the work. He's the right guy. I've just been keeping up… You wanted him when this all started and I just couldn't help myself…" He sighed softly.

"You didn't want me?" She questioned, now thoroughly confused by his statement.

He gave her a small smile. "Don't remember saying that… All I mean is that he wants you for the right reasons… Let's face it, I don't do these things well and I would have screwed up whatever would have happened between us and that… That wouldn't have been OK with me…" He finished quietly, slowing the car to a stop.

They'd come to a stop by this point. And it was too difficult to look him in the eye. So she let her eyes roam her surroundings and was startled to find out where they were.

"What are we doing here?" She questioned.

"This is where you want to be. I can see that every time I'm with you. It's different with him." Danny stated, not even bothering to pose his words as a question. He stated simply.

"Danny…" She trailed off, unsure of what to say to all of this. This had been the last thing she'd expected.

"It's OK. I'd have to be crazy lucky to land a girl like you, but can't blame a guy for tryin' huh?" He replied, forcing a chuckle at the end.

She unbuckled her seatbelt, turned to face him and opened her mouth to speak.

He cut her off. "It's probably best if you don't." He whispered softly.

She closed her mouth and nodded. She understood. She reached over and covered his hand with hers, squeezing once before stepping out of the car.

She watched him drive off, not really wanting to face the ominous building in front of her.

She'd never been to Flack's apartment before. This was not how she'd imagined the first visit happening.

She stepped up to the building and pulled the door open. After quickly scanning the mailbox names, she deduced he lived on the 14th floor. Not bad for a city cop.

She took her time going up the stairs, wanting to give herself time to work out what she was going to say. She owed him an explanation, an apology, maybe more.

All too soon she found herself face to face with Flack's door. She listened for a moment. The soft sounds of his TV echoed through the door. She took a deep breath and knocked.

A moment later, she heard his steps approach and a momentary pause for him to look through the peephole to see who was distracting him at this hour.

The sound of the bolts unlocking came next. He opened the door and stood before her, filling the frame. He was in his black NYPD pants and wife beater. He crossed his arms in front of him and leaned on the doorframe, waiting for her to talk.

She felt her mouth go dry. His intense blue eyes were boring holes into her.

"How was the ride with Danny? I assume he dropped you off here." Flack said, deciding not to let her speak first.

"Actually, it was good. I'm glad I got the chance to talk to him." She started to explain, but he was already rolling his eyes and turning away from him.

She grabbed his arm and stopped him. "It was good because he helped me realize that you were the person I wanted. Not him. He helped me see that it was you… All along. He apologized for getting in the way. And he brought me here, to you, so I could at least try to make you understand." She told him, holding his gaze with hers.

He stopped his movements. "It doesn't change earlier Lindsay." He responded, his tone wary and tired.

"I know that. And I didn't expect it too. Honestly, I don't expect another chance. I just wanted to apologize for leading you on. I should have done things differently. I made a mistake, and I'm sorry." She explained softly, struggling to maintain her level tone, not wanting him to know this was tearing her up on the inside.

Don't cry Linds. C'mon. You're almost there. Just tell him you hope you can still work together and walk away.

He held her intense eye contact, seeing that it was breaking her on the inside.

"I just… I would like us to still be able to work together, so I think if we can just be professional, that would be for the best…." She continued, cursing herself for allowing her voice to shake ever so slightly as she tried to pull in a deep breath.

He still said nothing. He felt paralyzed by her words. She wasn't begging to be taken back. She just wanted him to know she was sorry.

"Um well… Good night." She spit out at last, pushing a piece of stray hair out of her face and turning to head down the stairs.

She felt the clack of her boots echo on the stairs as she made it two flights down, her heart breaking with each step. She'd ruined it, she'd ruined everything, all because she'd let the hot bad boy get to her.

"What if I can't be professional?" He called down to her. She looked up. He was leaning over the railing, two flights up.

She stopped in her tracks. "I don't understand…." She replied, not moving from her place.

"I don't think I can do that. I don't think I can go from having everything we did…. To calling you Detective Monroe again. I can't do that." He explained, his tone neutral.

"We can try." She managed to reply, feeling her heart drop to her feet. This can't be happening…

"And if I don't want to try?" He questioned.

"Then I guess I'll just… stay out of your way." She said at last, sighing softly as she realized she had no other choice. She started her descent down the winding stairs.

"I don't want that either." He shot back, bringing her to a stop again.

She sighed. She had tried being understanding but this was ridiculous. "Then what do you want Flack? Do you want me to ignore you completely? Switch shifts? Or just quit entirely? So just what is it that you want?" She demanded, flying back up the stairs.

"Well for starters… I'd like, after a long day of work, to be able to meet up with you and have a drink. And then maybe, after doing that for awhile, I'll invite you over and cook for you. I'm not great, but I can hold my own… You could bring the wine… After dinner I could walk you to your cab and kiss you goodnight. And then maybe we'll start dating. Maybe after a few more dates, we'll fool around, you'll let me get to 2nd… Then I'll do something amazingly romantic and…. Well, maybe you'll get lucky and I'll show you my homerun dance." He said as he wrapped his strong hands around her forearms and pulled her to him.

She grinned up at him. "I think you can take the "maybe" out of the equation." She whispered before letting her eyes flutter shut, feeling his lips claim hers.

FINIS!