It was already approaching 5:00 when Amanda managed to finally leave work. She hadn't seen Lee, but she knew he had arrived safely and was still in the debriefing with Billy. Checking her watch, Amanda stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. She got home shortly before 6:00 to discover Joe's car out front already.
Amanda grabbed the bag of groceries she had picked up and made her way to the front door. Before she could get her key in the lock, the door opened and Joe reached for the bag in her hand.
"Hi, Joe," Amanda greeted him. "You're early."
"Hey, Sweetheart," Joe said by way of greeting. "Yeah, Dotty called and asked if I could come over early. She wanted to leave a bit earlier for her 'hot date' and since she didn't know when you'd be home, she didn't want to leave the boys alone." Joe led Amanda to the kitchen where her mother had left her a note explaining her absence.
Amanda read over the note and raised her eyebrow at the last line. "'Don't wait up'? That's not like Mother."
"Yeah, well---she seems pretty smitten with this new guy. What's his name? Captain Kirk?" Joe asked.
Amanda laughed. "No, it's Captain Kurt. He only pilots an airplane, not a starship." Amanda began putting the groceries away as Joe leaned on the counter watching her. "Are the boys ready?" She glanced at the clock over the sink; it was going on 6:15.
"Just about. They're upstairs putting their sneakers on." Joe straightened up and walked around the counter to where Amanda stood. "Why don't you come with us? We'd love to have you. It would be like we were all a family again." Joe smiled at her. "Besides, I'll share my popcorn."
Amanda laughed and shook her head. "No---you never share your popcorn!"
"I'm serious, Amanda. I'd really like it if you came." Joe touched her arm lightly.
Amanda suddenly felt funny. Here was a man she knew and loved, asking her on a date. He was warm, sincere, and part of her family, even though they were divorced. She used to dream of them getting back together….and it would be so easy and predictable.
Amanda cringed inwardly. There was that word again: predictable. Predictable led to boring and that was certainly something she didn't want. But as she looked into her ex-husband's eyes, she saw the love for her there and knew what a wonderful man he was.
"No, really Joe. Thanks, but I've been looking forward to some time to myself tonight. Maybe next time, okay?" Amanda finally answered. Philip and Jamie chose that moment to come bounding downstairs and Joe stepped away from her.
"Okay---next time. You fellas ready to get something to eat?" Joe turned and picked up his jacket.
"You bet! I'm starved!" Philip replied enthusiastically.
"Can we get pizza, Dad?" Jamie piped in.
"Sounds good to me. Let's go," Joe answered.
"You guys be good for your dad!" Amanda called after them as they bounded out the door. Amanda smiled and turned back to survey the kitchen. Looking up at the clock she noted it was 6:30. Her stomach did a small flip as she thought ahead to when Lee would arrive. She went upstairs to her bedroom to change. Amanda rifled through her drawers, not sure what she should wear. She selected and discarded three outfits before settling on her favorite white sweater and a pair of jeans. She hurriedly did a touch-up on her make-up and lightly sprayed her favorite perfume on her neck and wrists. Quickly looking at her reflection in the mirror, Amanda made her way back downstairs into the kitchen.
She glanced at the clock again: 6:45. She didn't have anything to do; the steaks and salad wouldn't take long to make. Amanda decided to set the table and light a few scented candles around the house. That accomplished she looked at the clock again: 6:58. God! She was so nervous! Her stomach was doing somersaults and now she found herself pacing back and forth in the kitchen. Amanda was surprised she felt this way. It's not like this was her first date--- heck, it wasn't really technically a date! Lee was coming over for dinner---that was all. 'Who are you kidding, Amanda King?' She thought to herself. 'He has you so hot and bothered you can't even concentrate!' Would he kiss her tonight? Wasn't it the perfect setting? Amanda closed her eyes, imagining how it might finally happen. She knew he'd take her face in his hands and pull her gently to him. His lips would part and he would…. Amanda's thoughts abruptly ended as she heard a light tapping on her back door. She looked out and saw him standing there, flashing her his gorgeous smile and she moved to open the door.
"Hi!" Lee handed her the bottle of wine he had in his hand. "Just like I promised…a nice Beaujolais to go with our steaks." Lee closed the door behind him and slipped his jacket off.
"Great," Amanda replied, setting the wine on the counter and reaching out to take his jacket from him. Her hand brushed his lightly and she felt a tingle run up her spine. Amanda deposited his jacket on the back of the couch and then came back around to the sink where Lee was leaning.
"So…how's Dr. Andropov fairing?" she asked.
"Good….good. He's staying the night at one of The Agency's safe houses and then tomorrow he's being moved to a permanent home in Baltimore." Lee smiled and shook his head. "I can't get over how smoothly everything went."
Amanda laughed lightly. "Well, The Agency did put it's best agent on the case."
"Agents. You did a hell of a job with all the detail work. And if you hadn't been there as back-up, anything could have gone wrong," Lee replied.
Amanda smiled. "Wow….that was a nice compliment. I remember a time when you'd sooner get shot than give me any praise."
Lee looked a little uncomfortable. "I know. I'm not very proud of that. But that was a long time ago and I've changed since then."
"Yes, you have. We both have, I think," Amanda replied.
"Do you think maybe we're the reason each other has changed?" Lee questioned, looking directly at Amanda.
"Well, I can't answer for you, but I know I've changed an awful lot because of you. You've done so much for me, whether you realize it or not. I don't think I'm the same woman I was three years ago." Here Amanda paused to look up at Lee. She wasn't sure how he would react to her opening up like this. She knew the old expression of tears being more frightening to him than bullets; this was close enough. "Thank you, Lee. Thank you for waking me up and showing me what I was missing."
Lee reached out and took her both her hands in his. "Amanda, I'm the one who should be thanking you. You've done all that for me and more. I owe a lot to the best partner anyone could have."
"I'll drink to that," Amanda replied, smiling.
Lee laughed and released her hands to turn and pick up the bottle of wine. "Where's your corkscrew? I'll open this up and let it breathe for a while."
Amanda fished through her kitchen drawers and produced the article. Handing it to Lee, Amanda turned to the refrigerator and began assembling dinner.
They sat down to eat dinner around 8:00 and enjoyed each other's conversation and company for the better part of an hour. They chatted about everything and nothing, discussing people at The Agency and movies they had seen. They joked about the gossip center…the water cooler…and both remarked on how Lee's name had been conspicuously absent in that hot bed of intrigue. Lee told outrageous stories from his past while Amanda laughed and she, in turn, filled him in on events in her past.
As their after-dinner discussion progressed, Amanda felt herself becoming more and more distracted. Lee had chosen to sit right next to her instead of across the table and he had actually edged his chair closer to her as the evening went on. Amanda was feeling very warm and very light-headed; a fact she attributed to both Lee's proximity and the amount of wine she had imbibed. Normally, Amanda had one glass, perhaps two. Tonight, somehow, she had polished off nearly four. This was completely out of character for her. She was a little embarrassed at herself. One bad side effect it was producing was a false sense of courage. She felt herself falling into Lee's hazel eyes and knew, without a doubt, that if he kissed her tonight, she would in all likelihood be willing to do anything he would want. Heck, if he didn't kiss her tonight, Amanda might kiss him. At that thought, Amanda surreptitiously leaned a little closer to Lee, concentrating on his mouth. His lips were so inviting….
"Amanda? Are you all right? You haven't acknowledged anything I've said for the past five minutes," Lee broke in to her reverie.
"I'm sorry. I'm just so distracted by how…..," near you are, how good you smell, how badly I want to kiss you, Amanda filled in silently. Aloud she said, "how much wine I've had tonight. I never drink this much and it's really gone to my head."
Lee laughed and arched his eyebrow. "Amanda King, are you telling me you're drunk?"
"No! I just feel a little lightheaded is all." Amanda was embarrassed that Lee thought she was drunk. She looked at him and he smiled and patted her hand.
"It's okay, Amanda. I was only kidding." He left his hand on hers and was surprised when she caught and held on to it. He looked at her and suddenly felt a bit warm. She was saying something to him about how she rarely drank, but that was all he could make of it. Her fingers were slowly tracing their way up and down his hand. All the hairs on his arm were standing up as if an electrical current was running through him. Her fingers were beginning to move higher up his arm where he had pushed the sleeve of his sweater up. He twisted his arm over and suddenly she was tracing her fingers up and down the highly sensitive inside of his arm.
Lee gasped and felt another shiver run through his body. What was she doing to him? The feelings he was experiencing were so mixed up he hardly knew which end was up. As her fingers kept moving she kept talking, but Lee couldn't focus on any of her conversation. His heart felt like it would burst out of his chest if she kept it up much longer. He couldn't decide whether or not she was relaxing him so much he would fall asleep or if he was becoming so aroused he was likely to reach out, pull her into his arms, and take her upstairs to her bedroom. His eyes closed halfway and he looked at her. She was beautiful….and she had managed to break through nearly every barrier he had erected around himself over the years. He was ready to take the next step in their relationship. He started to lean closer for a kiss….
"Wow……I guess I better start to clean up since it's getting late. It would be kind of hard to explain why there's an extra setting here, huh?" Amanda replied, standing up and grabbing Lee's plate.
Lee's eyes snapped open and he sat up. Amanda was already at the sink. When did she get so damned fast? He got up and brought the rest of the dishes to her, frustrated beyond belief. She already had her hands in soapy water and was still chatting away about something, but the only thing Lee was capable of concentrating on was the way her sweater had slipped down to expose one, alabaster shoulder. His eyes traces the path from her shoulder to her neck and he stepped closer to her…..
"Here……would you mind drying the dishes for me, Lee?" Amanda threw a towel over the shoulder Lee had been staring at, oblivious to what was transpiring in his mind. All she knew was that she didn't dare stop talking. She knew she had been running her mouth a mile a minute, but Amanda was terrified that if she stopped talking, she would let her feelings get the better of her. She couldn't believe just how close she had come to kissing him. What had she been thinking?! God, sometimes she was so ridiculous! She wasn't certain about Lee's feelings towards her and if she had kissed him…..she shuddered to think what might have happened. She could just imagine the look on Lee's face. He'd probably even break it off and back up. That would most likely be followed by "The Speech". She could imagine the variation this time. 'Amanda, you've been drinking and…'
Wait a minute. What if she did kiss him tonight? If he didn't respond to her, she could apologize later and blame the wine. If he did respond…..could she dare to even hope? Maybe, just maybe, she should try to kiss him…..
Lee took the towel and began drying the dishes and silverware as Amanda handed them to him. As they finished up, Lee dropped the towel over the sink and Amanda drained it. He was trying to decide just when to kiss her. He wasn't sure when he had lost the old "Scarecrow Charm"….he was always smooth and sexy, causing the woman he had his eye on to nearly tremble in his presence. There was something about Amanda, though, that brought out Lee Stetson, not Scarecrow. And Lee Stetson was a very different man from Scarecrow. Perhaps that was why he was so uncertain around Amanda. She knew the real man, not the alias like other women knew. He didn't want to mess this up because he had only shown "Lee Stetson" to two other women, both times with disastrous results. Dorothy had died, breaking his heart early on. Eva had chosen another man and then, years later, had shown her true colors by being willing to kill him in cold blood. Amanda was the third woman….and so very different. What was that old saying? The third time is the charm? Yeah, and three strikes and you're out, too, Stetson.
"Oh, there's a fork left that I missed," Amanda said, breaking into Lee's reverie. She rinsed it off and Lee reached from behind her to take the towel one more time. She held the fork in her hand for Lee to take, but when she felt his body press against hers as he leaned to take the towel, she dropped it in the sink. She didn't move, but her face began to flush and her breathing became shallow as she started to shake a little.
Lee had meant only to grab the towel, but as his arms went around her to take it, he suddenly became acutely aware of how close he was to her. His body was pressed up against hers and it was a pleasant surprise to feel how well she fit against him. He felt her shake a little and heard the fork clatter as it fell from her hands. Instead of taking the towel, Lee wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and leaned closer to her. He bent down to the point where her shoulder met her neck….the spot that had been enticing him for quite some time. He breathed in her scent and exhaled gently, watching as goose bumps arose at the sensation. He heard her sharp intake of breath as his mouth descended on her shoulder, kissing it lightly. Lee encountered no resistance as he slowly trailed soft kisses along the contours of her shoulder, heading to her neck. Just the opposite….his mouth reached her neck and she leaned her head to the opposite side, granting him better access to his goal.
Amanda thought she was going to collapse on the spot. When Lee's arms tightened around her waist and he began to kiss her shoulder, she thought her heart would explode it was beating so hard. As his mouth slowly began moving closer to her neck, other feelings began shooting though her; feelings she hadn't experienced in years. Her stomach felt full of butterflies and her hands were trembling so badly she had to grasp the sink to steady them. She wanted so badly to feel his mouth on her throat, her mouth, her…… God, her body was on fire. His mouth was on her neck and she tilted her head to give him more of her sensitive skin to kiss. Was this really happening or was this a dream? Was Lee Stetson actually kissing her? She moaned softly as his mouth found her ear and she felt him pull her more tightly to him. And then she believed everything was indeed happening. She could feel his desire for her and she struggled to keep her emotions in check, but she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hold on to them much longer. She wanted him like she had never wanted anyone before….she never even knew she could feel this way.
"'Manda," Lee whispered as he fought to control himself. His hands moved away from her waist to travel up her arms, coming to rest on her shoulders. She straightened up to lean back against him, pressing her body closer to him and moaned softly.
It was Lee's turn to feel on fire. His body responded to her closeness and his senses reeled as he turned her around to face him. Her chocolate brown eyes gazed into his and he felt drawn in to them. His hand came up to caress her cheek and she reached up to grasp his hand. She bent her mouth to it and lightly brushed her lips across his knuckles and then his fingers, never breaking eye contact. His heart was racing and his thoughts were in a whirl. He could barely see straight but each time Amanda's lips came in contact with his skin, Lee thought he very well might explode. He removed his hand from her grasp and reached gently around to the back of her neck, pulling her to him. His eyes began to close as he moved to touch his mouth to hers…
Amanda abruptly pulled away and Lee's eyes flew open. Had he crossed the line? What had he done? He thought she had wanted this as much as he did.
"Amanda…," he began.
"Shhhh," Amanda cautioned, putting her fingers to his lips. "I thought I heard something."
Lee paused and listened. Hearing nothing, he captured her finger between his teeth and lightly rang his tongue around it. Her response to this was more than enough to assuage any doubts he may have had about her feelings. Then he heard it, too. It sounded like……..
"Car doors!" They both said at the same time. There was that one, brief moment where they stood rooted to the spot like deer caught in headlights. Then, as the front door opened, Lee flew out the back one. Amanda turned to see Lee's jacket still on the couch just as Joe and the boys walked in. She ran to meet them at the door.
"Hey, Fellas! How was the movie?" She asked, preventing them from heading towards the kitchen and Lee's jacket.
"It was great! There was lots of action and plenty of great effects!" Philip exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah, Mom….it was really cool. At one point we got to see a guy's head get blown off," Jamie interjected.
Amanda raised her eyebrow at this and Joe shrugged. "Well, it's getting late. Why don't you guys run upstairs and get changed for bed?"
"Okay, Mom," they both acknowledged.
Joe turned to Amanda and smiled. "So, how was your 'me time' tonight?"
Amanda's hand shot to her neck where she could still feel Lee's mouth. "It was…..something I've been looking forward to for a long time."
Joe smiled again. "Well, you certainly look different….more….I don't know. Alive, I guess. Whatever you did gave you more color and makes you look a lot happier. It definitely agreed with you."
Amanda blushed furiously and wasn't quite sure what to say. She heard Jamie and Philip's voices raise in what sounded like an argument and Joe offered to go up and settle it. As soon as he was out of sight, Amanda raced to the couch to retrieve Lee's jacket. She went to the door and opened it, looking for him.
"Pssst," Lee called from the gazebo. Amanda met him there and handed him his jacket.
"Thanks," he replied, not knowing what else to say….just knowing he didn't want to leave like this.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Amanda said by way of breaking the awkward silence.
"Yeah. Uh…..Amanda?" Lee started.
"Yeah?"
"There's a party at the Mexican embassy Friday night. Would you like to go?"
"Is it an assignment? Are you meeting someone?" Amanda questioned.
"No…..it's just I got an invitation and wanted to know if you'd like to go as my date," Lee replied, looking up at her.
"Your date?" Amanda was shocked. He was asking her out on a real date?
"Yeah."
Amanda blinked a few times and then smiled. "I'd love to go with you."
Lee smiled back and nodded his head. "Okay, it's a date. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Okay."
He hesitated a moment, unsure as to whether or not he should do or say anything more. They heard Joe's voice and Amanda turned to leave.
"Amanda…..," he started, unwilling let her go so easily. She turned in expectation. He leaned over and gave her a quick, chaste kiss. "See you, " he muttered and began to leave.
She smiled….laughed really. "See you."