A/N: I've gotten some worried guest reviews that imply I am abandoning this. Take heart, I am not abandoning this. I just now work an 8-5 job that involves sitting, so it mostly is coming down to finding time. I have chapters in the queue; I just have to refine and finish. I haven't finished the whole story yet, and I admit I am buying myself a little time to get there the most organic way I can.

"Shhh," Lee whispered in her ear. "It's just me."

"Oh, thank goodness, Lee," she breathed out in a hushed sigh. "What are you doing here?"

"Wolcott came back here and I followed him," Lee told her, motioning with his chin behind him. "Anotovich is here."

"Have you seen anything?"

He nodded against her, quietly answering, "They're arms dealing."

"Arms dealing?" she repeated and peered around him as if expecting to find guns stacked behind him. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"Can't we do anything?"

"Not right now. I overheard them talking about Friday. Something big is going down that night during the Gala."

There was a noise from behind him and Amanda met his gaze, her chocolate eyes wide with alarm. There was shuffling from a back room, and when Lee looked back, he saw the door opening and heard voices.

Slight panic washed over him but before Lee could think twice about it, he pinned Amanda against the wall, his torso tight against hers to keep her from squirming. Not focusing on the look of shock on her face, he braced his hands on either side of her head and dipped his own head down to kiss her.

Their lips touched in a sweet kiss and Lee found it hard to control his desire to further it. She tasted of honey and peppermint; her lips pliant under his. Reluctantly, he began to pull back but Amanda unexpectedly by wrapped her arms up around his neck and drew him back to her. Her fingers threaded through his hair tantalizingly. Surprised by her forwardness, Lee froze for a moment but recovered quickly and he slid his lips to her ear, lightly weaving a trail of kisses in his wake, taking care to note that she shivered beneath him deliciously and her breathing had become shallow. Nipping her earlobe, he quietly murmured, "Who's here?"

Her breath caught in her throat but she managed a strangled, "Uh—"

"This is a restricted area," came a booming voice from behind him, answering his question for her. "You two need to leave."

Lee pulled slightly away from Amanda and dropped his hands to her hips. Keeping his head down, he growled to the man behind him, "Hey, it was just getting good."

"I don't care how 'good' it's getting, you two need to get out of here now before I call security."

Lee locked his eyes on Amanda's, saying over his shoulder, "Sorry, man, I didn't know this place was off-limits. We were just looking for a little privacy."

Amanda bit her lip and shifted her gaze past him to the man behind him.

Footsteps came closer to them, and the low baritone warned once again, "Find some privacy somewhere else."

"Okay, okay," Lee pulled away and took hold of Amanda's hand. He took great care to turn just right so he never faced the man behind him, pulling Amanda with him back toward the hall and out to the dance floor. "My apologies. It won't happen again."

***BREAK***

Amanda exited the club ahead of him, pulling her jacket roughly on and slinging her purse over her shoulder. She couldn't believe what had just happened.

Oh, she was so humiliated.

They'd kissed. And she'd encouraged it to go further, even as in her heart she knew she should have pushed him away—even though the kiss had been required for their cover—she should have pushed him away! The feel of his body against hers, his breath caressing her face…it had all been too much and she'd temporarily lost control.

But it meant nothing at all.

It couldn't mean anything. It was obvious to her that Lee was with that gorgeous woman she'd seen him with not twenty-four hours earlier; he couldn't be less interested in starting something with her. The only times he ever showed interest in her was for a cover and yet once again let herself fall into the trap of allowing Lee to fool her.

It made her so angry and yet she couldn't really blame him. What choice had they'd had in the moment? They'd basically gotten caught; Lee had to explain something, and what better excuse for being somewhere they shouldn't be than for some canoodling in the back of a public area?

"Amanda!" she heard him call from behind her so she slowed her pace. The sound of his shoes tapping a rhythm behind her told her perhaps she shouldn't have rushed out so quickly and maybe she was overreacting.

Here she was, prime example of the flight reaction if there ever was one. Sometimes she got so frustrated with herself. What was wrong with her!? Lee would never go for a fuddy-duddy housewife with as much baggage as she had—two boys, a live-in mother, and an ex-husband to boot.

No. Lee would always choose the simple way—a quick one-nighter with a beautiful face. A brainless floozy who's only concern was the latest fashion or diet trend. Everything Amanda was not.

****BREAK***

"Amanda!" Lee called, quickening his pace to catch up with her, tugging her elbow to swing her around to face him. "Wait up."

Her face was flushed. "Sorry. Sorry."

"We didn't get kicked out, you know," he said, matching her gait to walk with her to the parking lot when she kept walking.

"Oh. I thought we got what we came for," she said, lightly tugging from his grasp. "Was there something more we needed to get? I thought getting caught would make you want to leave."

"Well, no, I suppose not." He stopped. "Amanda."

She stopped and twirled around. "Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

It was a stupid question. Everything in the world was wrong.

"I saw you last night," she said flatly. "Why would you kiss me when you're with her?"

His mouth open and shut dumbly. "What does that have to do with anything? You were with Joe last night. I could ask the same of you: why did you kiss me back when you're with him? Tell me that."

She twisted around on her heels and started toward the Vette once again. Over her shoulder, she threw out, "It's business, right? Purely professional."

He kept his pace with her and didn't let it drop. "Yes, exactly, business. You're leading a double life, you know, Amanda. Sometimes you have to do things that won't always mesh with your private life." His rejoinder was rewarded with a glare. "Hey, I'm serious. That's something you should think about before getting yourself deeper into something and having to explain yourself to Joe."

"Joe has nothing to do with this, Lee."

"Then we have nothing to worry about, right?"

He watched her stomp to the passenger side of the Vette, open the door, and slide inside before he could even pretend to get to the door to open it for her. Under his breath, he grumbled, "This is unbelievable."

Lee slowly made his way his side of the car and into the driver's seat. He waited for her to finish buckling her seatbelt before revving the engine to life.

He tried not to think about the way she'd responded to his touch; her reaching for him once he'd given her what he'd assumed would be a controlled kiss. There was something there, and he knew she knew it. He'd felt it—seen it cross her features and felt the response of her body.

Pulling the car into drive, Lee squealed out of the parking lot, silently enjoying Amanda's white knuckles on the arm rest when he took a corner much too fast. She made no protest and merely stared out of the window giving him no sense of satisfaction.

Let her be angry with me, Lee thought even as he cast a fleeting look of apology over to the passenger seat. She didn't seem to notice. "Amanda."

"Hmm?"

"We can't go on like this."

She turned in her seat and gave him a steady look. "What do you mean?"

"We need to talk, don't you think?"

Her mouth was set in a steady line. "Talk about what, Lee? I don't see anything that we need to talk about."

"I want to apologize."

"For what?"

"For overstepping. While we were in Colorado." He flipped his left-hand blinker on as they pulled up to a stop light. "I never should have questioned your decisions regarding your boys. I'm sorry that I did that. I know you are doing what's best for them and you always have. It was none of my business and I apologize."

She was quiet for longer than he liked and as he waited a car behind them honked. The light had turned green without him noticing. He lurched the car forward, making them both jerk headfirst in their seats. Nice, Stetson. Real smooth.

They made the turn and travelled a few blocks before she finally turned again in her seat. "Thank you for apologizing. I'm sorry I got so upset—I really regretted it, later. I'd been on the phone with my mother before you—before we—well, before our conversation. To be honest, I was upset already and then you started in on me. I'm sorry for blowing it out of proportion."

"It's your life, Amanda, and I never should have said anything."

She bit her lip and nodded.

"We good now?" he asked as he maneuvered the car onto the interstate.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "About Joe—"

"You said yourself," he cut in, not wanting to hear about Joe. "What you do outside of Agency's business is not my business."

"Okay," she said in a small voice. "What's next then, Lee, with the case?"

***BREAK**

If he didn't want to talk about it then she didn't want to talk about it, Amanda decided. She wanted to tell him that Joe was nothing—her past, true, but not her future. But Lee had pulled his normal Scarecrow tactic by shutting down and closing off so she let it go.

It was probably smarter this way, because the less she told him the less likely it was that she would get hurt. She'd tried laying open her heart before with Joe and Dean—and it had gotten her nowhere. But she'd never felt for them half of what she felt for Lee. But Lee had always been clear that he was a playboy at heart—so she would wisely keep her mouth shut.

She wondered of the woman she'd seen with Lee the night before. What was her story? Lee hadn't mentioned anyone in his life lately—not that he normally did, but still—to have taken her to Café Bonaparte was telling. It wasn't somewhere you brought a casual date….it was somewhere for someone you were serious about.

Lee in a serious relationship. That was a hard pill to swallow.

Why couldn't it be with her?

***BREAK***

He didn't bring up Marie Monson or the fact that he was now going to the Gala as Marie's plus one. In fact, the Gala hadn't come up in conversation at all and it felt as if they both were avoiding the topic like the plague.

A half block from her house Amanda asked him to pull over and told him she would walk from there.

Although intensely displeased, he did as she asked. She'd seemed more and more on edge the closer they got to her Arlington neighborhood and he figured she was contemplating what she would do if Joe were at the house.

She probably didn't want to have to explain herself to the man about where she'd been or what she'd been doing.

The more Lee thought about Joe, and the likelihood that the Kings' were back together, the angrier he became. It was ironic, really. Amanda was going full circle to become what she'd once been. How did she expect to continue working for the Agency if she was constantly sneaking out with a clueless man at home?

It was complicated enough with the boys and her mother. But with a lover?

When she'd first started over two years ago, she'd been involved with some putz—Dane, he thought it was—a man not clever enough to catch on to Amanda's double life. But with time, the man surely would have noticed something, wouldn't have he? If they would have been more serious or even married…

Just thinking about it was making Lee good and steamed. She couldn't expect to stay in the spy business with a man at home waiting for her to rub his feet when he got home from work and have a roast on the table for dinner.

Hell, she wasn't even home half the time until well after dark. No man wouldn't question what in the world would keep a woman—his woman—out that late so often without him.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Lee, he chided himself, you're getting way ahead of yourself! Joe King has only been in town for a few days.

BUT. The devil on his shoulder poked at him. What were they doing looking so cozy last night coming out of that quaint little restaurant? What about the Gala? What are you going to do about it? You've lost, Man, before you were even in the game.

"Thanks for the ride." Amanda's voice broke his thoughts as he pulled to a stop.

He shifted the Vette into park. "Anytime."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

He ignored her, instead shutting the engine off and opening his door.

"What are you doing?"

"Walking you to your house." Hell if he'd make it easy on her.

A look of panic crossed her features. "What? No, that's really all right, Lee."

"I insist." He unfolded himself from the driver's seat and darted around the front of the car to open her door before she had time to get out on her own.

A/N: Reviews keep me going- I may not respond but I cherish each one. Usually I don't respond because I see them on my phone and don't know how to respond via the app and then when I go to my computer, I am concentrating on writing. So my apologies for not getting to each of you.

Thank you for reading.