Disclaimer: As usual see Ch 1.

Author: J Bear

A/N: Hope you're enjoying this so far.

Great, everything's set. Harm thought to himself. Plates… good… Flowers… good… lasagne… good… He had never been so nervous and anxious in his life. Rabb probably went over the same list of 'things-to-do' about a hundred times. Then he would look over to the door or out the window to see if she was there yet.

Harm looked at his watch. 6:45. 15 minutes to go. Great. Now what am I suppose to do?

Taking a deep breath, he went over to the study and opened the leather bound notebook and jotted down some ideas down for future references and looked over his schedule. Okay… meeting at the consulate next week at 0900, Monday. Parliament speech… 1300… Then the doorbell rang.

Mac knew she was early. She looked around taking in her surroundings. It was truly beautiful. A quaint cottage by the sea. The water was sparkling from the setting sun's reflection. A gentle breeze blew by, and the door opens to reveal a Harmon Rabb Jr., clad in a blue shirt and black dress pants.

"Hi, you found the place." He smiled at her. That smile again. She thought to herself

"Yeah, nice place you got here."

"It's not a lot, but it's sure cozy."

"I'll say."

"Come on in, I was just finishing up some stuff while I was waiting for the lasagne to be done." He stepped aside to let her in and closed the door. She smelt like lilacs. He liked it. He also liked the red dress she wore. "Have a seat… Have some salad or you can look around. Feel free to look around." Uh oh, did I sound nervous… anxious… I didn't sound too eager did I? Harm was unsure of himself.

"Thanks for inviting me Harm, you have a great place here." She said sitting down.

"Haha, thanks Mac. Salad?" He offered her the bowl.

"Sure."

"So… what kind of business do you do Miss Mackenzie?"

"Um… I guess I can tell you." She hesitated then began. "I'm just finishing up some legal matters at the local United States Marine base."

"United States Marine?"

"Yes. I'm a Captain with the US Marine Corp."

"A jarhead."

"So I am a jarhead. You?"

"I work… for the government."

Mac caught a tiny pause in his voice as he said it, as though he wasn't sure if she should know what he does for a living.

"You don't kill people do you?" Mac joked nervously

"Haha, no. I don't." Harm looked uncomfortable but he decided to tell her. "I am a diplomat. Here for the meeting at the consulate next week. I decided to come earlier to catch a little break." Well… that wasn't all a lie. He thought to himself.

"Diplomat huh?"

"Yep." The two of them looked at each other in silence then the oven bell rang. The lasagne was done.

"So tell me about your family Harm." She said in between bites "What are they like?"

"My family?" He poked the pasta around with his fork, deciding how to tell her about them. "My whole family are diplomats. So I was born into the profession. I did schooling in Oxford, England. And then came back here to the tiny country of Lorthien to run for government." (A/N: Yes, I made up that country. And Yes, it will be explained why a little later simply because I really didn't want to… well… never mind.)

"Wow. And you were born and raised here?"

"Yes. I lived a life of privilege. Sometimes I wish that I didn't."

"Why?"

"People treat you differently, react differently." Harm took a bite out of his lasagne. "How about you?"

"Me? I was kinda the girl next door. My parents didn't really have a lot of money, but we got by with the simple things. They taught me how to work hard and honestly. I have a brother, 3 years older than me, Eric and a sister 5 years younger than me, Darcy. We lived in the suburbs of Arizona. Sometimes I wished that we had more money so we could buy better things or…"

"Things you wanted?" He finished for her. At her nod, he continued on, "I think you were real lucky Mac. My parents were never around. Even though I got what I wanted, what I wanted most was to have my parents with me. We rarely spent anytime together between my schooling and my dad's kin—" He caught himself and continued, "business duties."

"I guess we were both lucky then."

Silence over took them again as they finished dinner.

"Listen I-" They both said at the same time

"Sorry, you go first." Mac said embarrassed.

"Care for a walk on the beach? It's really nice at night." Harm asked her

"Sure, why not." She smiled and went out the door with him.

+++

When did this happen? Mac asked herself when she realized that her hand was in his. Mackenzie, you're getting too attached. You're leaving in TWO DAYS!

But she did something she should not have done. Sarah glanced over to her mystery man and looked at him.

"Sarah," He spoke up "I've never felt like this with anyone before."

"Pardon?" Mac just stared at him.

"I'm not sure if you feel the same way but-

"Shut up and kiss me." She simply said. And Harm ----------------

***

Lt. Col. Mackenzie's Apartment.
2300

The doorbell rang, popping the bubble in Mac's fantasy

"Argh…." Mac dragged herself to the door

"Here's your pizza." It was the pizza boy. She grabbed the pizza and gave him the money.

Before she could forget some of the story, she took the pizza to her desk and continued typing.

+++

And Harm did just that. Then he picked her up and carried her to his bedroom.

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Pls. Review! Thanks for all the reviews so far. J