"Don't you ever do that again!" Anita barked.

"Do what?" Lennie asked, feigning innocence.

"You know damn well what I mean. Don't second guess me in front of your partner, or anyone else for that matter," she scolded.

"Wouldn't have to, if you wouldn't concoct such foolishness, and then want Ed and me to somehow make it work," he countered.

"If you wanted to run this squad, you should have thought of that long ago, and gotten yourself a promotion or two," she suggested.

"Yeah, should have, right after I picked up that Father of the Year award!" he snarled, slamming her door, not bothering to wait for dismissal.

"Oh damn it," Anita said to herself, as she watched the blinds on the window next to the door dance from the shock of the door's slamming shut behind Lennie.

She hadn't meant to touch such a raw nerve in Lennie, but sometimes when she got angry she reached for and used some of the meanest barbs at her disposal. What bothered her most was she knew she wouldn't do that except it was like the old song said, "You always hurt the one you love, the one you shouldn't hurt at all."

Ed Green heard the Lieutenant's door slam and saw his partner come charging out looking like one majorly pissed off dude. He wasn't sure what Lennie had on his mind, but he figured he better follow him.

"Hey Lennie, bro what's the problem, the lieu mad at you or something?" Ed asked walking fast to catch up with him.

"Or something," Lennie said finally slowing down a bit to let Ed catch up with him.

"What'd she say to get you all pissed off?" Ed asked.

"She didn't like me second guessing her in front of you, and I told her, I wouldn't have to if she didn't come up with something that was so foolish and then expect you and me to make it work," Lennie said relating the conversation he'd had with Anita to Ed.

"Oh, I bet that went over great with her. You know, just because you're thinking something doesn't mean you have to say it," Ed said, giving Lennie a look that told him he wasn't say half of what he was thinking.

"Yeah, well tell Anita that," Lennie said.

"Why? What'd she say?" Ed asked wondering what Anita could say that would get Lennie so down in the mouth.

"She said and I quote 'If you wanted to run this squad, you should have thought of that long ago, and gotten yourself a promotion or two', then I said something about yeah should have right after I got the Father of the Year award, and that's when I stomped out of her office without so much as a by your leave," Lennie said.

"Guess the boss lady does know how to cut deep when she wants to," Ed said.

"That's what really gets me, that she wants to. I thought after all these years that she and I were a little bit more than just, well I guess I was just being stupid," Lennie said, abandoning whatever he was going to say he thought he and the lieutenant were.

"Come on we've got work to do," Lennie said all of a sudden.

Ed tagged along behind Lennie, back to their desks. They spent the rest of the day slogging through the paperwork necessary to clean up the case they'd been working on that Lennie and Anita had had the blow up about. All afternoon her office door remained closed, and Ed noticed Lennie glancing at it once in a while. He knew it was silly but he felt like his Mom and Dad had just had a fight. At the close of shift he wasn't sure what he should say or do.

"So you want to go get something to eat," Ed asked.

"Don't you have something better to do than hang out with an old guy like me?" Lennie asked, trying to sound like his usual jovial self.

"Not really," Ed admitted.

"Man, you better get your act together or by the time you let some gal catch you, you aren't gonna be worth catching," Lennie said as he pulled on his trench coat.

"So what about dinner?" Ed asked again ignoring Lennie's dig about his still being single.

"Thanks partner, but I wouldn't be all that good company tonight. I'll just grab something at the deli on the way home and spend the evening in front of the tube," he answered.

"All right if you're sure," Ed said finally admitting defeat.

"I'm sure," Lennie said over his shoulder as he headed out.

Later at Lennie apartment

Lennie had just come to the conclusion that even with 100s of channels to choose from, the only thing worth watching, when there wasn't a game on, were reruns of television shows he'd been too drunk to appreciate during the 70s and 80s, when someone knocked on his door. He turned the TV off using the remote, unfolded his gangly legs from under the TV tray and pushing it aside hauled himself out of his favorite old recliner, the one his daughter always tried to get him to throw away because of it's tacky color and the duct tape he'd used to repair it with.

"Coming," he said as he crossed the small apartment to open the front door. He didn't bother looking out the peephole, being a cop who was six foot two didn't make a guy all that cautious, besides he figured it was probably either his pain in the neck partner not taking no for an answer, or the neighbor lady, also a pain in the neck. He opened the door and was totally surprised to find Anita Van Buren standing there.

"Hi," she said simply. When he didn't respond immediately she continued. "May I come in or are you that mad at me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners. Of course, come in. I was just startled, I didn't expect to see you," Lennie managed to stammer out as he invited her in. "Uh, the place is a mess, I wasn't expecting any company," he said as he began to try to pick things up.

"Lennie, it's fine. I've seen much worse," she glanced around and realized that for a bachelor, he really didn't live like a slob. The place was just the normal sort of untidy you would expect of a busy single working person. "Look, I just came by to apologize, I don't what came over me this afternoon. I had no business saying something so mean to you," she said sweetly.

"Well, I don't know, I was pretty out of line with what I said too," Lennie admitted and heaved a big sigh.

"So do we kiss and make up?" Anita said.

"Uh, I like that idea," Lennie said nodding his head slightly. "I like it a lot," he added.

"I didn't mean that literally," Anita said, blushing.

"Really," Lennie said and walked toward her, stalking her. "Then why did you come to my apartment to apologize? You could have waited until tomorrow, and done this in your office," he pointed out.

"I just thought I shouldn't let it go," she said in a strained voice as he stood mere inches from her. She could feel the heat radiating from his body, and she wanted so much for him to close the gap between them and claim the kiss he spoke of.

"I don't believe you," he said. He was so close now, that when he spoke she felt his words on her face. "I think, you are as curious as I am about what it would feel like for us to kiss. I'll bet, you've wondered about it for nearly as long as I have, haven't you?" he asked, as he walked around behind her, not touching her, but raking her over with his eyes. "Did you start thinking about it after that stakeout, when I quoted Langston Hughes to you, or had you thought about it before then?" he asked as he circled back around and stopped in front of her.

"Before," she said, and it was the last thing Anita said for a while, as she couldn't resist any longer. She grabbed a fist full of his shirt at the collar and pulled him into a searing kiss. Lennie didn't hesitate; he pulled her to him and let his hands explore his lieutenant's willing body, sliding his hand up under her skirt to feel the silky warmth of her thighs. She communicated her approval to him in moans and sighs. As Lennie began showering her face and neck with kisses, Anita became bolder. She started unbuttoning his shirt, pulling it out from his pants and then she looked around the room quickly. Lennie understood what she wanted, a place for them to sit or lie down. Before he could say anything, she pushed him toward his favorite chair, and then pushed him down into it, she knelt between his legs. He smiled up at her, and then he grabbed her around the waist with one arm and pushed with his other hand on the arm of the recliner while pushing with his back against the recliner's back. Anita squealed as they suddenly shifted back in the recliner and Lennie laughed.

Anita suddenly put even more effort into getting him undressed, but he stopped her busy hands for a moment, kissing her palms, and then he took a turn at getting her out of some of her clothes. When her breasts were exposed to him, he stopped and stared.

"What?" she asked.

"You are just so incredibly beautiful, and I can't believe you're here with me. I can't believe this isn't just a dream," he said.

"If it is a dream, it's one we're sharing, and I don't want you to do anything to wake us up, at least not until," she looked down like she was too shy to say what she wanted to say.

"Not until what?" Lennie asked with a smile.

"You know," she replied.

"No, I think you're going to have to tell me," Lennie said, while he teasingly drew circles on her breast with the finger of one hand, and trailed a finger of his other hand over the already damp crotch of her panties.

"Lennie, don't tease me," she moaned.

"Then tell me what you want," he ordered her.

She leaned forward placing her breasts in Lennie's face, and then she whispered in his ear, "Fuck me, Lennie, please."

"Yes, ma'am, gladly," he answered, and in a few moments the last pieces of clothing that were acting as barriers between them were shed and his cock was buried deep inside her. Anita was glad to be on top because Lennie was bigger than she'd anticipated and being on top let her control how much of him she took at one time. Eventually she was able to accommodate all of him and it felt wonderful to be so full.

Lennie tried to hold back, he knew he was bigger than some women were used to and he didn't want to hurt Anita, on the contrary, he wanted to make this the most memorable experience of her life. He had no illusions; he knew this couldn't be the start of a long-term relationship for them. In fact, even now as he was making love to her and feeling more for her than he had for any woman he'd ever known, he knew it was a mistake and something that could never happen again. Just as that knowledge came crashing through to his conscience, he felt and heard her start into her climax; he knew she'd pull him over with her. Finally, he let go all restraint, holding her hips with his strong hands, so he could force her body down onto his, as he lunged up into her over and over again, until he felt as though there was no more fluid or energy left in his body.

She lay forward on him, both of their bodies covered in sweat. What she saw when she looked at his face surprised her; he looked incredibly sad.

"Lennie, what's wrong?" she asked gently.

"It was incredible but, you aren't mine, and you can't ever be mine," he said, and kissed her gently. She knew he was right and she felt tears spring to her eyes.

He pulled her to him and sighed. "Lay here with me a while, until we fall asleep, and then maybe we can make the dream last a little while longer."