Chapter 20

After the encounter at Gotham Fitness, Danny did text Lauren, and they did meet for coffee. Then for lunch. Then for ice cream. Each meeting was in a public place, removing the temptation they'd faced at Lauren's apartment, but each time, the attraction felt stronger, the emotional connection deeper, and they could not seem to stop themselves. Emotion overrode common sense each and every time.

Earlier that day, Lauren had texted Danny when she knew the band was quitting early for the day. She was going to the park for a cup of coffee, a walk, and then to meet Stevie and his girlfriend. Danielle was bringing Kelly to the city and Stevie was going to meet them in the park. As she was strolling along, a voice that wasn't Danny's had called out her name…

"Jamie! Good to see you." Lauren gave Jamie a quick hug. "Check you out in your uniform. I remember you as a little kid playing cops and robbers at your house."

"Sometimes that was the only game at my house," he said.

"And you always wanted to be the cop, never the robber. You used to make Joe do that."

Jamie laughed. "I did. Joe was a good sport about it."

Vin kicked him in the shoe.

"Ow, seriously? Lauren, this is my partner, Vinny Cruz. Vinny, meet Lauren Stone."

"It is so great to meet you," said Vin. "I'm a big, big fan."

"Thanks for that – I always like meeting fans," she said as she shook his hand. "So, what are you guys doing in the park today?"

"Ah, we got lucky," said Vin before Jamie could answer. "They were shorthanded so we pulled some extra time. Can't beat the park in June! But we need to stay alert; summer also brings out the pickpockets. They love to target the tourists. So, stay alert; I'd hate to hear someone had hassled you."

Jamie rolled his eyes. Vin was trying to impress way too hard. Lauren managed to keep a straight face and thank Vin for his advice. They chatted for a few more minutes, with a star-struck Vin doing most of the talking, until they were interrupted.

"Are these two officers giving you a hard time?" Danny sauntered up. "Shouldn't you two be out chasing some bad guys and not flirting with pretty women?"

"Detective Reagan," said Vin. "We were just helping…"

"We were just going to get back to our patrol," said Jamie.

"Well, we could all walk a ways together," said Lauren, not wanting to make it blatantly obvious that Danny had come to meet her. She pointed the direction she was headed. Vin looked disappointed since she pointed the direction they'd already come from.

"We're headed the other way," said Jamie. "But it was good to see you."

"You, too. And nice to meet you Officer Cruz." She smiled.

"Call me Vinny, please." He flashed what he thought was his most charming smile. "The park can be a bit dangerous, even during the day. If you want some company…"

"Move it along," said Danny. "No need for you to worry. She'll be in good hands, I promise," said Danny. "Jamie, I'll see you later at Dad's."

As they walked away, Jamie looked back once to see Danny and Lauren walking together, chatting and laughing. Beside him, Vinny was talking nearly non-stop.

"That was the greatest. I can't believe I met her, how cool was that. She's totally hot, even just on an ordinary day. Oh, man, I should have asked for an autograph… no, that would have been totally cheesy. I talked too much, didn't I. Crap. Oh, wait, I should have asked her out on a date!"

"Give it a rest, Vin." Jamie rolled his eyes again; it was going to be a long patrol.

After Jamie and Vin walked away to finish their patrol, Danny and Lauren headed off in the opposite direction. Danny told her a little about the case he was working on, a series of armed robberies at small grocery stores and bodegas. They had a few leads but so far, the two criminals were proving to be fairly elusive. As they walked, Danny reached over and threaded his fingers through Lauren's.

"I remember walking to school like this in the mornings," she said. "But you never did carry my books…"

"Never a contest; holding your hand won every time," answered Danny. "I think the Sisters would have preferred I go with the books."

Lauren chuckled. The Sisters of St. Catherine's Catholic School had given them more than one stern, disapproving look during their high school days. Danny let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling Lauren against him. She slid her arm around his waist, enjoying the closeness.

"But I always preferred walking home like this," he said.

They walked in silence, simply enjoying each other's closeness, and watching other people who were in the park pass them by. No one gave them a second look, and Lauren enjoyed the slow relaxed pace and the warm sunshine. The time in the studio seemed so frantic and intense, she relished the chance to just slow down and stroll. Then Danny suddenly stopped and pulled Lauren closer, bending his head down to kiss her. Some anonymous passerby wolf-whistled at them. They kissed once more and both felt the intensity rise exponentially.

"Sorry," said Danny. "I didn't embarrass you, did I? I just had to kiss you…"

"I'd never be embarrassed by you," she said. And you can kiss me any time you like… "But let's keep walking or we're going to spend the afternoon standing in the park and making out."

They walked along for another few minutes until Danny glanced at his watch. He had to get going; Jack had a baseball game and he'd promised his son he wouldn't be late. Danny said goodbye to Lauren, gave her another kiss that left her nearly breathless, and headed off to the ballpark. After watching him for longer than she should have, Lauren went her own way to meet Stevie and Danielle.

She looked back over her shoulder once, but Danny had disappeared into the crowd. Lauren hated seeing him leave but she couldn't help but have spring in her step as she walked along. She put her fingers to her lips, imagining she could still feel his kiss. It was so easy to be distracted. Thinking of kissing Danny was a short distance to remembering the many times they'd been together. And from there, it didn't take much to imagine what it would be like now. She'd found herself daydreaming quite a bit lately, so much so that it was starting to interfere with the band.

Finally she reached the area of the park set aside for small children. Near the actual playground, Stevie was lying on his back in the grass with his legs straight in the air. His four-year-old daughter was shrieking with laughter as she balanced on top of his feet. Danielle saw her and waved her over, and they both watched Stevie play and laugh with Kelly. After a few minutes, Danielle looked over and noticed the odd, faraway look on Lauren's face.

"What's in that head of yours?" asked Danielle. "Don't tell me you've finally got some biological clock thing kicking in!"

"No," said Lauren. "I like being an auntie to the kids that are already here. I get to wind them up and then send them back to you."

"You do have a bit of a reputation. I know Mike still needs to pay you back for giving his kids all that cotton candy. Was impossible to get them to bed the other night when they were visiting."

Lauren did feel a little guilty. But she just hadn't been able to tell them no. She shrugged. "Oops. Bad auntie. He'll forget all about it."

"Trust me, Mike hasn't… and he won't," laughed Danielle. Mike wouldn't actually do anything but he would bitch about it for weeks. Over on the lawn, Stevie had moved on to spinning Kelly around him like she was an airplane. Danielle sighed and called over to Stevie, warning him not to make their daughter too dizzy or he'd be the one cleaning up puke.

Have I ever wanted kids? Lauren wondered. I guess I did a long time ago, but I don't know if that was because I wanted them or because that's what I was supposed to want. That was everyone's plan. Grow up, get married, have some babies, retire to Boca. Good Lord, that sounds like my definition of Hell.

But as she watched Stevie, who had finally put his daughter down and was watching her chase bubbles, Lauren found herself wondering what Danny was like with his kids. She had no doubt he'd be a good father. Probably pretty strict. But definitely one who would make time for them, got to their ball games, like he had done today. Her mouth quirked and grew into a small smile. Danny was the exception to every rule she ever had. He was probably the only one in the universe who could have asked her to have a baby and not been laughed out of the room. In truth, a tiny little part of her that she steadfastly refused to acknowledge, still wished he would.