Another up, hope you enjoy!

C.J and Matt looked over at Courtney waiting along with a crowd of partygoers to see what she was up to now. At least they had some idea who she was because most of the people just looked confused. They whispered among themselves and pretty soon, the spacious room filled with chatter.

"What do you think she's going to say Houston?"

"I have no idea…with her it could be just about anything."

"At least there's no face in range of her palm."

Matt sighed as Courtney cleared her throat and tested the microphone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen…."

C.J. rolled her eyes.

"She's been hitting the bar pretty hard."

Indeed Courtney's voice sounded a bit slurred but then some of the guests had been doing quite a bit of drinking at the gala. A couple of them started clapping before she had really said anything.

"I'm here to talk about a very good doctor who helped me when I needed it…Dr. Clarence Wilkinson…"

C.J. and Matt looked at each other surprised by the revelation that she knew the guy.

"He was kind enough to help me when I needed it…I was researching my novel about a woman who needed the assistance of a fertility expert and…"

"That's better than the research she did on her novel about the dance instructor who spikes women's drinks," C.J. interjected.

"Dr. Wilkinson…Clarence and I became quite…close…very close…so close we engaged in quite a bit of pillow talk…"

She teetered at the podium and about a hundred or so faces turned to look at a somewhat reddened Clarence.

C.J. shook her head.

"I forgot how offbeat these societal gatherings were," she said, "I'll have to pen more of them in my schedule."

Courtney continued while she gripped the podium. Several male guests approached her to escort her away but she shot both of them looks which caused them to back up a step.

"He told me that he had procured a…"

Several security guards then grabbed her and even though she struggled, they pulled her away from the podium and took her to the corner of the ballroom. Matt and C.J. watched the proceedings.

"I think she might have been grabbed just before she said something very important," Matt said.

"What do you think it was?"

"I don't know…but I would sure like to find out," he said, "It might have something to do with the case we've been working on."

C.J. nodded.

"Maybe you should go talk to her," she said, "She always did have a soft spot for you."

Matt looked at her ruefully.

"Yeah for her hand against my face…"

C.J. chuckled.

"Just wait until the guards leave her and go on over there…"

Matt thought about it and then nodded.

"I'll do that," he said, "and what about you?"

She smiled.

"I'll go freshen up…it's been quite an interesting evening."

Matt thought so too especially the time spent kissing her. His heartbeat still hadn't quite come down from that moment in time. He wondered if hers had but she still seemed reluctant to anything outside the parameters of their friendship and truthfully thinking about it often seemed overwhelming. Because he knew that if he took one step over that bold and new path, he would keep walking and what lay ahead of him truly remained unknown. He knew that his feelings for her weren't like those that he had felt for other women including the several he had been engaged to and not married.

"Do you regret what happened on the dance floor," he asked.

She looked at him carefully, sizing up his own body language before answering.

"No I don't Houston," she said, "I do think that I want to do some thinking before I decide whether I want to go there with you. I opened myself up to you about my feelings before and didn't get any answer back."

He sighed.

"I know, and that was wrong of me," he said, "I should have done differently."

She tilted her head.

"Why, since that date you've been engaged once and I had a man ask me to marry me…right before I discovered he had killed someone to land an anchor interview in New York."

He titled her face up with a finger beneath her chin and looked into his favorite pair of eyes.

"We've both been busy keeping ourselves busy but I'm ready to listen."

She looked around the crowded room.

"Not here…maybe later?"

He smiled at her broadly.

"That'll be a date counselor."

She nodded and headed away from him across the dance floor to the doorway. Matt continued on to where Courtney sat with one of the guards standing over her.

C.J. walked and bumped into Elise.

"Whoa girl, where are you going?"

"To freshen up," she said, "How are things going with you?"

Elise made a face.

"That last guy…all hands…"

"I thought you liked that in a guy."

Elise rolled her eyes.

"Only when he's handsome and rich and…"

C.J. held up her hand.

"Okay Elise I get your point," she said, "What did you think of that scene back there?"

Elise shook her head.

"That woman is seriously deranged."

"She's a mystery writer who gets too involved in her writing," C.J. said, "Sometimes I wonder whether she knows the difference between reality and fiction."

"The two can be closely linked at times."

"Yeah but she goes way overboard and she knew Rodrigo…"

"Knew him, like in the biblical sense?"

"I don't know," C.J. said, "That's a possibility, she called him the muse for her new book."

"He definitely could be a muse for a couple of things…too bad the guy's a louse…that body of his…wasted on a jerk."

C.J. couldn't agree more with her friend.

"Now Matt on the other hand…great looking, body to die for and he's nice."

"Yeah…all of the above…we danced…"

"I saw that…closely I might add…"

"We kissed too."

"Get out of here, and I missed it," Elise said, "No thanks to that loser back there no doubt."

"Then Serena showed up again and made a scene but Houston sent her packing pretty quickly."

"Of course he would," Elise reasoned, "He wanted to get back to the business at hand."

"Elise…it was just something that happened, it doesn't necessary mean anything."

Her friend shook her head.

"You need to have your head examined," she said, "Is that what Matt said, because I seriously doubt it."

"No, he wants to talk about it later," C.J. said, "I don't know if I'm ready for that…if we got together, it would change everything."

"For the better, you'd still have that friendship and some really great sex."

"But what if that messes with our great friendship if it doesn't work out?"

Elise just folded her arms.

"Get out of my face because I don't want to hear it. Go freshen up or whatever it is and then go back and have that talk."

C.J. nodded and left her friend who just shook her head at her reticence.

Matt walked over to where Courtney sat with the guard and when she saw him, he didn't know first what her reaction would be. He did keep out of her reach in case she decided to spring up and try to assault him.

"What's going on here Courtney?"

The guard stood up and folded his arms between her and Matt. Courtney just looked at both of them.

"It's okay I know him," she said, "and I'm sure he's got some questions about what I just said to everyone."

"Yes I do," Matt said, "I didn't know you knew the doctor…so well."

She shrugged.

"We had some good times. I was researching the fertility assistance business and I needed to get close to my resource to get a better understanding of it."

"And so you did that I gather."

"Yes I did and he was wonderful by the way," she said, "So quiet but so…never mind I'm sure you don't want to hear about his skills."

"Not in that area no," Matt agreed, "I'm interested in what he's doing in the business side of reproduction."

She nodded.

"Well…he told me about some of the women who came to him for assistance," he said, "including this horrid socialite who wanted to have a baby for some codicil in her father's will."

"Serena…"

She frowned.

"Who…well anyway, he saw all kinds of people but that's not all that he did," she said, "He had a side business as well and that part I wanted to be the thrust of the plot of my novel."

"What side business?"

Courtney shook her head.

"I'm not going to tell you that part of it," she said, "Not unless you do something for me."

"Courtney…"

She looked exasperated.

"It's not painful Matt," she said, "It's just that you're damn sexy and think of the memories…If you want that information all you have to do is go to suite…"

He put his hand up.

"I'm not going to any suite with you," he said, "If you don't tell me, I'll go find Lt. Hoyt and you'll have to tell him because he's a cop and leave the suite part of it out."

She shook her head.

"What is it with you anyway," she said, "Aren't you like the Cowboy Casanova of L.A.?"

He shook his head.

"That's a title given to me by some columnists who don't even know me except what they learn about through a lens or digging through the trash."

"Must be interesting what they find…I heard they were going to put your black book on Ebay."

Matt didn't have a black book as oft-rumored so he had no concerns about that rumor. Or any other for that matter, because he knew his own life as he lived it, not as how others fabricated it to sell papers.

"Courtney, do you know if Dr. Wilkinson received any threats against his life or blackmail?"

She folded her arms.

"I told you I'm not saying unless I receive something from you in return."

Exasperated, he started to walk away from her.

"Wait…"

He looked at her, still a bit irate and running out of patience.

"Look Courtney I don't have all night and I'm not interested in your offer so either tell me or sit here with the security guard until Hoyt takes you in for questioning."

She just stared at him stubbornly.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're not very nice?"

Matt sighed.

C.J. had freshened up her makeup in the bathroom and had run through her conversation with Matt in her mind. She sighed; knowing that for her there wasn't an easy answer. Maybe there would be if she didn't care for him so damn much. That had always made their relationship so difficult when it threatened to cross the line away from where it had been for over two decades. But maybe if they talked it over…just maybe they could work it out and move on and if it were in a brand new direction…excitement did fill her at the thought along with a little bit of fear.

But life had both and to fully embrace it, you had to accept that.

She left the bathroom and went down the hallway back to the ballroom which appeared empty but suddenly filled with footsteps. She looked around to see who might be there but couldn't see anyone. Must be my imagination, she thought to herself, continuing back to the gala and to Matt.

And then she looked up and saw him.