Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

20. Sway–Month Seventeen

When she got into work the next day chugging coffee, since she had missed a rather large chunk of her sleep cycle, she didn't immediately notice the stares she was getting. About halfway to her office she slowed to a stop and looked around the bullpen. The rest of the bullpen stared back, or exchanged glances with one another. Tom was one of the ones staring at her, and was the closest, so she asked him what was going on. "Okay what? Is there something on me?"

She stared inspecting her clothes; worried she'd gotten syrup on her or something. She was sometimes known to be clumsy this early in the morning, so finding she had spilled part of her pancakes on herself, at a breakfast where the DDA had flat out refused to talk about last night, wouldn't surprise her in the slightest. As she looked down at her suit he answered. "Nope."

She lifted her head back up, relieved she wouldn't have to go to the drycleaners as soon as work was over. "Then what's happening here?"

Tom's lip curled up in a roguish smile. "You got a gift. I think most of us are wandering who it's from." The cop waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "I think Travis is jealous."

She raised an eyebrow. She didn't want to contemplate a lovesick Travis, it was too disturbing. A present was a totally different thing though. She very much liked presents. "A gift?"

"It's in your office." He pointed to the room as if she forgot where she worked after all this time. Clearly, she needed to make a better impression with Tom.

Intrigued, she walked in to find a ridiculously beautiful display of flowers sitting on her desk. White roses were expertly mixed with orange tiger lilies and bright pink Gerber daisies, her favorite flower. They sat happily in a bright teal vase that made her smile. It was so cheery and the color only set off the flowers more. Moving forward she set her coffee down and picked out the small card tucked into the blossoms. Opening the envelope, which she could see hadn't been tampered with by the curious cops, she read it with Tom leaning in the door watching her.

Flowers for an unexpected beauty.

It wasn't signed but she knew exactly who these were from. The double meaning was impressive. On second thought there were more than two layers to it. He had sent her flowers because she said that was what she expected from someone interested in her. He made sure to get her daisies because he knew they were her favorite. He got her roses because he wanted to be clear it was romantic, and the tiger lilies were there to emphasize the exotic appeal he found in her. The message had other meanings. He was stating rather clearly that he wanted her for more than her looks. She was sure the use of the word unexpected wasn't referring to her physical appearance, which he knew would appeal to her geeky side. Clever man.

"Who are they from?"

She slipped the note in her back pocket before Tom could get close enough to read it. "No one."

Tom turned his head to the other room and shouted so they could all hear what he had to say. "She won't tell!"

A chorus of boos and ahhs met the statement and she rolled her eyes. Leaning out the door she shoved Tom away. "Shut it! Mind your own business, you snoops!"

Another round of catcalls and disappointment met her demand. Grumbling, she picked her coffee up again and sat at her desk. Then she realized that was a bust, it was in the way, and got up to set the vase on top a filing cabinet. The flowers sat there being pretty and she turned her attention to her work for a moment before her eyes slid unwillingly back to the blossoms. Shaking her head she opened a report on her desk. This was nuts; she could focus with criminals, murders, and psychopaths all over the place but not when there were flowers here. Muttering under her breath about her well-hidden, but deeply ingrained romantic side she began to type up an assessment. She would ignore those flowers and all the connotations they came with. She could deal with that after she got off work. Right now she had some things to do.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

There was a knock at her front door as the sun started to sink behind the horizon. Leaving the kitchen where she was fixing up her dinner she walked to her entryway hall and looked through the peephole. Her eyebrow popped up. Unlocking the door she opened it and looked at McNorris. "You can use the door?" She glanced about the doorway with a look of false bafflement.

His lip twitched. "Can I come in?"

"Since you knocked I suppose you can. Maybe tomorrow I can teach you about the doorbell. It's an amazing innovation in door technology. And hey, you're smart, I think you'll get it without much of a problem." She moved away and he followed her inside as the twitched turned into a full smile. She made her way to back to the kitchen so she could finish the salad she had been working on as he tailed her. "Do you want dinner?"

He eyed the vegetables. He didn't' seem to keen on the assortment of veggies she had, which she took a little offence to. She had a very wide assortment of produce to work with. One nice thing about California was the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables she had access to. At this time of the year the northern states just didn't have these kinds of options, and certainly not such high quality ones. "Salad?"

"I'm going to put grilled chicken over it. What is it with men and eating green leafy vegetables? Is it gross, or is there a man taboo going on I'm unaware of?"

"It's not filling." He sat down on one of the barstools. "I assume the majority of us would prefer to be full after we eat. Salad doesn't do the job."

She supposed she could follow that logic. Men, by nature, tended to need more calories than women, and McNorris wasn't small. He probably burned at least twice as many calories as she did in a day, especially if he went to the gym. And she knew he'd gone to the gym today by the tell-tell red marks on his knuckles the tape left. Those always took at least two hours to fade away. "Right." She used the knife she was chopping with to indicate the romaine. "Yes or no to food?"

"Yes."

"Okay." She pulled out more leaves and continued to chop to make enough for both of them, and her lunch tomorrow. There was no point in wasting time making yet another meal when she could eat leftovers with such ease. She moved quickly and dumped the lot in a bigger bowl she dug out of a cupboard in less than twenty seconds. She moved on to the spinach. "Is there anything out you don't like?"

He glanced over the selection. "Onions."

"I've seen you eat onions."

"I don't like them in salads."

She nodded in acceptance, and when she was done dumping spinach in the large bowl, put the onions away. They weren't her favorite things anyway so she wasn't heartbroken by their absence. Returning to her cutting board she moved on to carrots. "So what's up, McNorris?"

"Nothing of interest."

"Simply a social visit then?"

"Is it so surprising I want to be in your company?" He asked.

"Not after that flower display you sent me. Very subtle."

He smiled. "Did you like them?"

She darted a glance at him from under her lashes and his smile broadened. "You know I did. They were very pretty. I also enjoyed being harassed and poked at by cops and detectives all day about who sent them."

His grin widened. "I'm sure you loved beating them away. It gave you something fun to do with your time."

She rolled her eyes and finished with the salad. Putting it in the fridge she pulled out the chicken, happy she had defrosted as much as she had, and headed to her patio. The grill was already hot and she put the chicken on it with quick efficiency. Finished, she went inside again. "I never envisioned you grilling." The attorney said.

"I like to grill. I'm better with one than an oven."

"You don't use the stove?"

"I use the stove. It just doesn't tend to end as well as anything I cook on the grill. I hypothesize that my inner cavewoman enjoys the prospect of the open flames."

She could tell he liked that answer. "I could see you succeeding very well in the Stone Age. You'd probably kill a mammoth on a weekly basis."

"Hey, a girls gotta eat. I bet mammoth was a tasty treat." She thought about that. "You know, I'd actually like to try that. Too bad they're extinct."

"You mean lucky. Those poor things, you'd kill them all if they weren't already dead."

"I disagree. If they tasted good I would start a ranch. Think of them as really big cows." He shook his head at that image and she continued. "You could help. I bet you could pull off a cowboy hat."

"I don't think so."

"You're no fun. I bet I can get you in one for Halloween."

She could tell from the look on his face that it wasn't going to happen unless she got some serious dirty on him. "I don't dress up for Halloween."

She cocked her head to the side. "Why not? Halloween is, like, the best holiday ever. I mean really, thank the pagans and all their gods for it. That day rocks hardcore."

"It's a useless holiday."

She eyed him. "No, it's a fun holiday. Didn't you like to trick or treat when you were little?"

"When I was seven, yes. I don't see why grown people need to dress up. If you want to get off that way then do it in private."

"You're such a buzz kill, ghost boy. You need to relax a little." She spotted her chicken starting to smoke and left long enough to flip it over before returning and picking up the conversation as if there hadn't been a break. "It's supposed to be fun." He grunted, unconvinced, and she shook her head. "Fine, be contrary, see if I care. I for one will always love Halloween."

"Whatever you say, Darcy."

"I say, ghost boy." She pushed him gently off the stool he was sitting in. "Help me set the table, please."

He got up willingly enough and by the time they had the table set the chicken was done. She brought it in, and the wonderful smell it was letting off, and they had a pleasant meal. She asked him about his day and he told her, complaining about his newest competition for the DA position, Gary. She herself didn't much care for Gary. He let out bad vibes, sleazy vibes, vibes that just made her skin crawl. He wasn't a killer, she would be able to tell if he was, but he wasn't someone she wanted to get near unless she had to. She was a tad disappointed he didn't get caged with Conk, but you couldn't have everything.

Gathering their dishes when they finished she rinsed them off quickly and put them in the dishwasher. It was nice that most of them would go in there. When she was done she wiped her hands off on a towel. "Do you want to do something?"

He stopped inspecting her placemats. She had sent him back to the table after he carried everything to the counter for her. Not that she didn't appreciate the help but it was easier for her to move about by herself than having him bumping into her while he tried to help her clean. "Like what?"

"What do you normally do for fun?" She leaned over the counter and watched him while she asked. "Other than play board games with me?"

"I box."

No? Really? "Yeah, other than that though. You know I'm not about to box with you."

"I actually think that would be fun. Maybe we should spar."

"No way. You wouldn't be a good sparing partner at all. You wouldn't try to hit me, not really."

He shrugged in agreement. After a moment of thought he answered her original question. "I read. I like to work on cars when I have the time, not that I've really had any since I moved here."

"Cars?"

He shrugged. "I grew up in rough neighborhood. There wasn't much to do that we could afford. No one had any money. My friends and I used to work on engines. It was a legal and encouraged past time."

That was a pretty useful skill if you asked her. She knew practically nothing about cars, although Jason had taught her how to change a tire in case of an emergency. However, that was as far as her lessons on automobiles had ever gone. Considering how patient ghost boy had been teaching her how to play board games she would wager he would be equally as patient teaching her about how cars worked. "Maybe one day you can show me how to change my oil."

"You want me to teach you?"

"I like to learn things." She replied with absolute honesty. "You seem to like to teach me."

"That would explain the multiple degrees and a doctorate. Not to mention med school." He went to the fridge and got out her tea pitcher. He filled both their glasses back up as he spoke. "And you're easy to teach. That big brain of yours only needs to be shown something once, twice at the very most."

"Are you complementing me or teasing me?"

"A little of both." He drummed his fingers. "Do you play poker?"

She grinned, that was a game she knew how to play. "No, I win poker."

A challenging glint appeared in his eye. "No one wins against me."

"Wanna put that theory to the test, ghost boy?"

"What do I get if I win?"

"Putting up the stakes already?" She crossed her arms and leaned back into the counter. "Aren't we confident?"

His lip curled up. "I'll win." She raised her eyebrow as he set his terms for this engagement. "You let me take you out to dinner, a real dinner where I actually have the chance to get at least some of your clothes off. "

He was such a romantic. What a nice way to ask her out on a date. She considered that briefly, to make him sweat a little. Honestly, she would have agreed to that without him having to win a bet after her little revelation she had in that hospital room. Not that he had to know that. She did still have her pride even if her common sense had flown out the window a few days ago. "Because last time that went so well?"

He pointed at her. "You can't blame me for that. I didn't drug us. I planned to take you out to see a musical."

"Yeah." She sighed regretfully. "I really wanted to see that." She reconsidered. "Maybe we did see that and we don't remember. There's really no way to know what we got up to in a ten-hour period. There's no way the mob had us for long, we'd be dead if they did. That's more than a little disturbing actually." She shook her head; she hadn't even considered that until this moment. "But I really think the music would have been stuck in my head instead of the soundtrack I got if we'd made it to the theater."

"What? What music?"

"Oh." She waved her hand absently. "I had a song stuck in my head for days after that happened. It was annoying, and a little creepy."

"A song? What kind of song?"

"Wedding music mixed with some sort of carnival soundtrack. We must have passed by one of the many chapels they have. Maybe it was next to a Ferris wheel or a sideshow they have all over the place. Vegas is a totally disturbing place."

"A chapel?"

"Well consider our location, David. Not even close to being out of the realm of possibility." She pushed herself up. "I don't want to think about it, I only just got it out of my head, I don't need to start humming it again. I'll get the cards. I have some in the closet somewhere. I need to think about what I want when I win."

There was a slight pause before his confident voice followed her. "You shouldn't bother thinking about that. You won't win."

Whatever, she was totally going to kick his ass. Getting into her extra closet she started to dig around. As she searched for the elusive deck of cards, she knew they were in the box she was opening somewhere, she worked out what she wanted when she won. By the time she came out she decided.

She saw that McNorris had wiped the table clean while she was gone and pulled her coin jar off it's place on top her fridge. "I didn't think you had poker chips. Do you care if we use coins to keep track of things?"

"That's fine with me." She set the old deck of cards down and slid into her chair. "If I win I want a free pass."

He sent her a questioning look as he started sorting an equal number of coins for both of them. "A free pass? What does that mean?"

"It means one time, regardless of what's going on, if I ask you to do something you have to do it." She thought this was about the best thing she could ever get from McNorris. She didn't know when she would need such a thing, but she was sure that at some point she would be able to use it, most likely to save him from himself. So that was what she wanted, a free pass.

"Those are some high stakes, Darcy."

She relaxed back into her chair. "But consider what you might win."

She let that hang in the air and he watched her for a moment. She met his gaze levelly as he weighed the pros and cons of her offer. While he didn't know exactly what she might ask in the future he did know that if he won he would really, honest to goodness, get the chance to try to win her over. She was making it more than obvious that she would be willing to let him romance her, possibly into the bedroom, should he win. Not that sleeping with her was a sure thing, but that chance was hanging there in front of him, close enough for him to reach out and snatch.

"I'll take that bet."

She smiled broadly. "Excellent." Taking the cards out of the box she began to shuffle them quickly. When she spun them between her fingers of her good hand like the card shark she was she saw a flash of unease ripple over his expression for a millisecond. Darren had taught her that trick to intimidate her foes, and it was totally working. "This should be fun, hmm?"

"You're not scaring me doing that."

"Good, I'd hate to beat a cowering attorney. It's so much more rewarding when I can crush you in all your pompous glory."

"Deal the cards, smart ass." He shoved her pile of coins toward her. "We'll see who gets crushed."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

God damn it. She leaned back and pouted when he showed her his cards. He smirked and she eyed him as he pulled the last of her coins into his pile. "I don't like you." She stated firmly. She couldn't believe she lost. That last hand had been pure luck on his part. She should have won nearly all his money with a full house.

"Don't be mad because I beat you."

She pouted. "I don't think you beat me. I think you cheated."

"I'm hurt."

"No you're not."

"You see through me so easily." He grinned out.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't push your luck, McNorris."

He chuckled as he gathered the cards up. "I'll admit you're better at this than I thought you would be." He shuffled the deck before putting it back in the box. "You figured out my tells pretty fast."

"If by pretty fast, you mean within seconds, then yes I did." She took the deck from him and sashayed out of the room. He chuckled at her miffed attitude. When she came back he was standing and looking at his watch and her coins jar was filled back up again and in its usual place. It seemed ghost boy was a neat freak no matter where he was.

"I should go. It's late and I have to be in court at seven."

"Okay." She gave him a real smile as she let her brief annoyance over getting bested fade away as she walked him to the door. She figured she had pretty much won anyway since she wanted him to take her out. Besides, she'd had a good time playing. "This was fun."

"It was." Moving faster than she could register he stopped when they were next to the door and caught her chin. Leaning in he pressed his lips against hers as he held her face still and she closed her eyes. Warmth seeped into her stomach and his thumb ran over her skin for a few moments before he pulled away. God, he was so good at this when he wanted to be. "Goodnight."

She watched him for a second; unsure of exactly what was going on in his head. "Goodnight."

He gave her a small smile and left, shutting the door after him. Reaching out she engaged the lock and stared at the place he had occupied. She bit her lip as she considered what had happened. She had thought his interest in her was purely physical until today. He flirted with her on a regular basis, but that was just who he was. They were both single and she took his teasing in stride. Except now it wasn't teasing. He was making full on advances. He was giving her trinkets and taking her to dinner. He was kissing her in a way that told her he was willing to take this slow instead of reverting into his caveman self and taking her on the floor.

If she let this happen would he ask about her past more than he already was? Would he need to know about it if they were involved? Did she want to tell him, or anyone else about it? Didn't he have a right to know what was the matter with her if they did end up in that kind of relationship? She didn't know what the right answer was. Her happiness over going out with him melted away and was replaced with worry.