AN All right so Christmas is JUST around the corner so today is the last day I can do this for awhile...I will TRY to get more chapters up as soon as I can...cause I'm aware of your need for them. :) But it might not be till the new year. Happy Christmas to all my reviewers...now enjoy the chapter...and keep reviewing. ;)
Disclaimer No owning going on here, just fantasizing and it's ever so pretty in my mind. I hope CBS doesn't mind me borrowing and manipulating their characters. They'll come back unharmed I promise. ;)
While Stella and Mandy did try and get Lindsay to admit some sort of attraction to Danny she stubbornly refused to give in. IF there was ever going to be anything she certainly wasn't going to tell them first. She still had no idea where Danny was on their whole 'situation'. She just knew that she wasn't going to admit yet that she'd loved kissing him and fantasized about doing it again.
However, she didn't manage to see him at all by the end of her shift. On her way up to her apartment her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller id and frowned, "I just got off work Don can't this wait?"
He laughed, "Actually this doesn't have anything to do with work. Are you home yet?"
"I'm just getting in the door why?" She waved at Mandy who was bustling around the kitchen making something.
"May I speak to your sister then?"
"You wanna talk to Mandy?"
"That's what I said."
"Why?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"No, no you're right I really don't. I'll get her," She walked over to the kitchen.
Mandy wiped her hands on a towel, "Who is it?" She asked.
"Don." Lindsay covered the phone with one hand and tasted whatever it was Mandy had made with the other.
"The tall cop with the dark hair and insane blue eyes?" Mandy asked with a smile and reached for the phone.
Lindsay held it back and looked at her sister, "Please promise me you'll behave."
She tried reaching for the phone then relented, "Fine, fine I won't sleep with him for the fun of it, now give me the phone."
Handing it to her sister Lindsay sighed, "Well that'll do for starters."
"Well hello there."
"Hey yourself," Flack said with a laugh, "So have you had a proper tour of the city yet?"
"Nah," Mandy leaned on the counter, "I've just seen the subway and a corner deli."
"Well that won't do, would you like a private tour complete with tour guide?"
"I'd love it," She grinned.
"Great, I'll pick you up in an hour."
"I'll see you then." She said then hung up and beamed at her sister, "See, I didn't talk about wanting his hot ass even once."
"Oh my I do believe you've grown." Lindsay deadpanned.
"Funny," Mandy stuck out her tongue, "Can I borrow your blue turtleneck?"
"Sure," Lindsay agreed, "I'm not going anywhere."
Mandy didn't even hear her she was already running into the bathroom, "Thanks I have an hour to get ready."
Lindsay pulled a wine glass out of her cupboard and grabbed a bottle of white wine from the fridge. She might as well have a nice drink with the meal she wasn't going to share with her sister. She'd just poured her glass when her home phone rang. "Hello?" She didn't even check the display.
"Hey you."
Even if she wanted her heart not to do a flip flop it did it anyway. She smiled in spite of herself, "Hi."
"Did I give him enough time?" Danny asked as he walked into his apartment and threw his keys on the counter.
It took her a second to understand then she laughed, "You mean Don? She just got off the phone with him."
"Perfect, what are you doing for dinner?" He asked.
"Well Mandy made some fantastic pasta so I was going to have some wine and eat that, want to join me?" She rushed the last bit of the question and hoped he still understood.
He did. "When is he picking her up?"
"In about 45 minutes."
"I'll be there in an hour." He said.
"Good." She said with a smile.
"Bye." He hung up and started unbuttoning his shirt; he had just enough time to shower and change.
Mandy came out of Lindsay's room forty minutes later, "Oh I know that smile." She said while putting her earring in, "That has Danny written all over it."
Lindsay was sick of denying it so she nodded, "He's coming over." She said simply.
"Well isn't that fantastic," Mandy said with a giggle, "Do we have to make a code so that I know it's safe to come in later?"
Blushing Lindsay swatted at her, "We're eating dinner, this was not a booty call."
"Whatever, how do I look?" She did a little spin.
"Gorgeous, as always."
"That's what I was going for, the 'gorgeous as always' look." Mandy grinned, "How much time do I have left?"
"Five minutes." Just then the buzzer went for the front of the building. "Well he's early." Lindsay mused and walked over to it, "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Flack."
"I'll send her down."
Mandy grabbed her coat and purse then kissed her sister's cheek, "You have fun, Linds."
"You too," Lindsay smiled. She really was enjoying her sister being there, even though Mandy was good at stealing the spotlight even if it always followed her anyway. It was highly ironic that what Mandy did for a living was freelance writing. For such an isolated job the woman was an insane socialite, guys keeling over in her wake wherever she went.
Lindsay was inwardly surprised that Danny hadn't been instantly more attracted to Mandy than her. That usually was the case.
Right on time the buzzer rang again and as if on cue her heart did that stupid flip flop again, "Hello."
"Hey, it's me."
"Come on up." She held the button down then unlocked her front door, just in case he was bold enough to walk in.
He was. He knocked once then turned the knob, "Is it safe?" He asked as he stepped into her apartment.
She looked him over before answering, "Yeah, she's gone."
"Good," He visibly relaxed and took off his coat.
Lindsay just watched him then blurted out, "I figured you'd have been just as taken with her as Don and everyone else in the lab was."
He tilted his head to the side and regarded her for a moment, "I like her just fine, but I wouldn't say I was taken with her."
Needing something to do Lindsay got another wine glass and poured some for him, "I'd ask why, but I don't know if you'll give me a straight forward answer."
He accepted the wine she handed him and smiled, "Let's just say she's not you and leave it at that."
"Okay," She took a sip of her wine then put it on the counter behind her, "Do you want a tour of the place?"
"Yeah sure." He shifted from one foot to the other and just watched her. While he wanted to be there, this was still insanely awkward.
"Well," She walked over to stand a bit in front of him leaning in she pointed, "Right there is the bathroom, that other door is my bedroom, next to it the guest room, this is the living room and that place with the stove is the kitchen."
He leaned over her shoulder and followed where she pointed, "Riveting tour." He said into her ear. He put his wine down as he did this.
She turned around and looked at him, "So Mac talked to me today."
"Talk about your mood killer," He raised an eyebrow although he didn't move, they were as close as they could be without touching.
Gingerly she put her hands up to his chest and gauged his reaction with her eyes, "He said that, um, we can, you know…" She trailed off.
It didn't take that much persuading to get him to touch her, he rested both of his hands on her hips and smiled, "We can, you know…what?"
"Well," She licked her lips, "Uh, date, you know…if you want."
He smiled and leaned down to kiss her lightly, "I want," Was his only response.
She got lost for a moment. She wrapped her arms his neck and dug her fingers into his hair. They stood their kissing for what seemed like hours of heavenly bliss when she pulled away breathless, "We have to keep it out of the lab." She said.
He looked at her for a second then laughed, "You mean we can't do that in the lab?"
She blushed and looked down, "You know what I meant."
"Yeah, yeah I get it. Can we just pretend that everyone in the lab doesn't know what's going on and possibly enjoy dinner?" He kept an arm around her and guided her into the kitchen.
"I think we can do that." She reluctantly pulled away from him and started getting the necessary dishes.
"Good," He automatically took the dishes from her and brought them to the table.
"So, are you ever going to tell me why your father thinks you abandoned the family and why this necessitates avoiding him?" Lindsay asked while they ate.
Danny chewed thoughtfully for a minute, "I guess one day I'm going to have to, because apparently you're too curious to let it slide."
She was getting just slightly annoyed, "Avoiding one's family is a pretty big thing Danny, I just wanna know about you."
"You can know everything about me without knowing about my family." He countered.
She shook her head, "Not everything."
He sighed and conceded with a nod, "Fine, I promise you the next time you ask me, and it can't be tonight," He added in haste, "I'll tell you."
It would have to do for now, "That'll do."
"Great, now can we get back to enjoying the evening?"
"Absolutely."
Meanwhilein Central Park
Mandy slipped her arm in Flack's and shivered a bit, "You cold?" He looked down at her.
She shook her head, "Nah I just got a chill. You know this city is absolutely gorgeous."
"Yeah I did know that." He agreed, "So I have a question."
"I might have an answer." She looked up at him with a smile.
"Was it the fact that Lindsay is smart or because she's the oldest that you feel the need to over compensate by being over the top?"
Mandy stopped walking and just stared at him, "Damn I figured it'd be a question about my favourite band or something. You shoot for the heart."
He smiled at her, "I've been curious about it since I met you."
"How in the world did you figure that out when I met you?" She was curious.
He shrugged, "I'm around a lot of different kinds of people and many of my friends are keen observers. I've learned to pay attention to people."
"Wow," She thought for a minute as they kept walking, "And here I thought you were just asking me out to jump the new CSI's sister before she went back to Montana."
He burst out laughing and put an arm around her waist to give her an affectionate squeeze, "While I'm sure that would be fantastic,that wasn't my plan."
"Shoot," She sighed smiling at him, "You went and made me actually like you."
He shook his head at her, "Consider it reciprocated, now answer my question."