A/N: I just realized I haven't really thanked all those who reviewed. Thanks guys! It lights up my days when you guys click that little purple button and tell me how much you like the story. Here's a nice Shipper chapter to show my gratitude.
"What're you watching?" Harm strolled into the Admiral's office where Jim was still taking up residence as the JAG until the Admiral got back from his business on Capitol Hill.
"C-SPAN, the Admiral's really taking it to the House Armed Services Committee, he's got the Majority Leader on the ropes and he's just hammering away at him." Jim said with a maniacal smile. Harm sat down and the two men shared a bowl of popcorn and watched the Admiral fire off answers at the cynical committee.
"What kind of example are the two of you setting? The JAG and his Chief of Staff just sitting around the office watching television." Mac barged into the office and tried to sound indignant.
"Ease up Mac, here sit down and have some popcorn with us." Harm offered her the bowl, never taking his eyes off the TV.
"No that's okay I just had lunch. Besides, unlike you two, I still have work to do." Mac smiled and laughed as she opened the door to walk out.
"Whatever you say sweet thing." Harm tossed back causing Mac to look at him as if she was surprised as well as annoyed.
"What did you just say Commander?" Mac sounded indignant, almost like she was about to strangle Harm.
"Hey! Simmer down, the pair of you. I don't want the next Navy Times headline to read 'Interim JAG allows crazed Marine to kill cocky flyboy.'" Jim sounded serious as he put some more popcorn in his mouth.
"You're of course right, Colonel. I, unlike my colleague will, remain professional here at JAG." Mac saluted, Jim returned the salute and Mac walked out of the office.
"I wonder what that was about?" Harm looked confused.
"What did you do this time Harm?" Jim tossed him a 'cut the innocent flyboy crap' look.
"Nothing, it was nothing really." Harm made one last attempt to sound ignorant.
"It must have been a whole lot of nothing to get her to act like that." Jim shot back. "Harm, go fix whatever it is you screwed up before I have you pull six month's duty as a ship's JAG on a submarine."
"Aye, aye sir." Harm saluted quickly and went running out of the office after Mac. Jim threw himself back into the Admiral's chair and held his head in his hand slowly reaching down to punch the intercom button.
"Tiner?" He frustratingly grunted into the box.
"Yes, sir?" Tiner's cautious voice replied.
"Aspirin, Tiner." The Colonel replied with a heavy sigh.
Harm ran across the bullpen to Mac's office, her blinds were down. He pulled a Kleenex off Bud's desk and brought it with him. He knocked on Mac's door timidly awaiting a response. "Who's there?" Harm opened the door enough to stick his hand in and wave the tissue.
"I come in peace, please don't hurt me, oh great strong Marine." Harm laughed as he tried to sound scared.
"Fine, come in." Mac still sounded angry and annoyed.
"Sorry Marine, I just kind of thought I should maybe think up a nickname for you, you know like the way you always call me 'flyboy'?" He tossed her a smile hoping maybe he'd lighten her up just a little bit.
"So you decided to call me 'sweet thing' in front of our CO?" Mac's voice was caustic.
"It's just Jim; he wouldn't have put any stock in it if you hadn't gotten all official. Besides, you've called me 'flyboy' in front of the Admiral." Harm smiled, hoping that this was all that was bugging her.
"Maybe you're right, I guess, I don't know, it must have just caught me off guard." She explained, babbling a little as she tried to hide her embarrassment for flying off the handle.
"Well, all this means is now is that I have something to call you when you call me flyboy." He responded with a playful smile.
"Harm, why Sweet Thing?" She looked confused but cute as she tried to get into his head.
"Call it an observation made from taste-testing." He smiled at her, that smile that always overcame her and made her weak in the knees.
"Sir, ma'am, the Colonel wants to see us in his office." Bud stuck his head into Mac's office.
"Shall we get going Lieutenant Commander Flyboy?" Mac had a cute smile tugging at her lips.
"Absolutely Major Sweet Thing." Harm got out of his chair and started walking out of the office with Mac right behind him.
"Sir, did you just call Major MacKenzie, Major Sweet Thing?" Bud looked confused and Harm smiled and chuckled.
"He certainly did Bud." Mac replied, giving into the smiled that was threatening her lips. Bud looked even more confused as the three of them entered the big office. There they saw Jim hunched over the Admiral's desk with Clayton Webb standing in front of it, in his usual suit.
"I believe the three of you are acquainted with Agent Webb, consistently imposing asshole." Jim smiled as he looked up from his paperwork and Webb looked offended.
"Consistently imposing asshole?" Webb asked.
"Yeah, C.I.A." Jim laughed as he leaned back in his chair.
"In any case. A Navy frigate is suspected to have sunk the yacht 'Tropical Paradise' off the coast of Florida yesterday. The yacht belongs to one Enrique Mendoza, a very big time diplomat in the agriculture world in South America." Webb sounded arrogant as he tried to fill them in.
"His son, Bronco, just happens to be a very big player in the drug world in North America." Harm shot back.
"However…"Clay started before being cut off.
"Did the frigate miss the boat?" Jim questioned.
"We don't know." Clay tried to sound scolding.
"Is Bronco Mendoza still alive?" Mac used her best cross-examination voice.
"Yes." Clay answered, starting to get annoyed.
"Then we missed." Harm interjected.
"Colonel, can you hear the attitude of your people?" Clay sounded like a whining child.
"Are you implying that I'm getting old and losing my hearing Mr. Webb?" Jim got out of his chair, his voice raised, his imposing stature lording him over Webb.
"No Colonel, I…I…I…I" Webb was stammering and the old Recon Marine just couldn't resist the urge to screw with his head.
"St…st…st…stop stammering and spit out boy!" The Colonel was repressing some serious laughter as were Harm, Mac and Bud.
"Well Colonel, we just need to know that JAG is going to investigate this without stepping on any State Department toes." Webb looked so small next to Colonel Grant. But when Jim had motioned for Harm to stand up on the other side of Webb, he looked even smaller sandwiched between the two officers. "Oh and I bring a message from the Director, Colonel. He says that he apologizes for misleading JAG in their investigation on the Roosevelt, it was all just one big misunderstanding."
"I knew the director would see it my way." With a smile, Jim waved sarcastically at Clay as he left the office. "Alright, you heard the spook get your sixes down to Miami, bust a drug lord, find out if we're responsible for sinking his ship and get some sun while you're at it. Don't worry about the diplomatic BS, I'll handle it. We clear?"
"Aye, aye sir." The three officers came to attention and were dismissed from their CO's office with a flippant wave. The three officers headed back to their respective offices or desks.
"Bud, I got the tickets!" Harriet beamed as she came walking into the office. Bud looked at her confused. "To go see my parents? Bud you forgot!"
"No, I mean I didn't forget it's just that I have to go on an investigation with the Commander and the Major." Bud covered.
"Bud, the tickets are non-refundable." Harriet's look had gone from exuberant to deflated in a matter of seconds.
"I'll pay you back for them, it's the least I can do." Bud tried to cover but Harriet stormed off for the break-room which had been raided by the Marines. Mac and Jim sat at the coffee table talking over coffee when Harriet stormed in.
"Something wrong Ensign Sims?" Colonel Grant looked up from his mug at the young Naval officer who had stormed into the break room. She just huffed and poured herself a cup of Mac's Marine strength coffee.
"Harriet, what's wrong?" Mac asked sympathetically.
"I thought Marines were supposed to be tough?" Harriet asked not wanting to talk about it.
"Who's a Marine, I'm Jim this is Mac, and we're your friends trying to help you out." The normally tough CO seemed to soften up for a minute.
"It's Bud, he was supposed to meet my parents this week, but he says that he has to go on an investigation with the Major and the Commander." Harriet was pouting.
"He does Harriet, I'm sorry but Bud's one of my best and when duty calls he goes. Besides I can't say I exactly blame him for being hesitant. God knows my in-laws never took a shine to me and Harm's just lucky that he met Matt O'Hara in a situation where he got to show off his best attributes and impress the hell out of him." Jim bit his tongue before he could say any more, Mac looked at him like he'd just said the most surprising thing on this earth. "I think I'd better be going; Harriet would you like Commander Rabb and I to have a talk with Bud about it?"
"Would you sir?" Harriet looked hopefully up at her CO who nodded in the affirmative and smiled before leaving the break-room. "Ma'am I was so looking forward to this trip. It's been so long since I've been to Naples."
"Your parents live in Italy?" Mac looked quizzical.
"No ma'am, Naples Florida…" Mac cut Harriet off before she could say any more.
"Harriet, how far is that from Miami?" Mac had a thought spinning in her head.
"A couple of hours ma'am. Why?" Harriet was curious about what Mac was cooking up.
"Because the investigation we're going on is in Miami. Didn't Bud tell you?" Mac looked surprised up into her friend's eyes.
"No ma'am, no he didn't." Harriet said sternly.
In Harm's office across the bullpen, the two senior officers were sitting behind Harm's desk with a very nervous Bud facing them. "Bud, is there some reason you're nervous about meeting Harriet's parents?" Jim started, his arms crossed across his chest.
"No sir, it's just that I, I mean I'm a little nervous sir, I mean I really love Ensign Sims…Harriet and I know how much her parents mean to her and I just really want them to like me." Bud seemed his usually composed self.
"Take it easy, Bud; it's nothing to be afraid of." Harm said trying to calm his friend.
"No offence, sir, but how would you know?" Bud's nerves had gotten the better of him. "I'm sorry sir, I…" Bud was interrupted.
"Don't be sorry Lieutenant, it was a good question. Commander what exactly makes you an expert on meeting your girlfriend's parents?" Jim looked expectedly into his friend's eyes.
"Well sir, I did date your daughter for a while, I think meeting a Force Recon Marine Colonel is pretty intimidating." Harm tried.
"That doesn't count. A) You and I became friends before you ever went on a date with Gabbs and (b) You were more Gabbs' boy-toy than you ever were her boyfriend." Jim shot back; he knew how his daughter was with her boyfriends. "So I ask you again, Commander what experience do you have dealing with prospective in-laws. And if you're finally ready to be honest with us about Mac, I'll let you count Matt O'Hara."
Harm was taken aback, even after all the surprises Jim had thrown at him since taking the Admiral's chair temporarily, he still never got used to the direct approach. "You're right Colonel; I have no experience with future in-laws."
"Alright Lieutenant, since the Commander is still in denial I'll try and put your mind at ease. Just be yourself, you're an upstanding good man, you're a damn loyal friend and a hell of an attribute to the United States Navy. Harriet's parents will see that in you." Jim tried to reassure the young Lieutenant.
"I don't know sir, I've heard some horror stories about meeting the parents, I just don't want this to be like that." Bud admitted with a deep breath,
"Lieutenant, when I met my ex-wife's parents I was sixteen and doing Marine Corps boot camp against regs and without parental permission. They spoke mostly Spanish and they picked on me because I was white and Protestant while they were Puerto Rican and Catholic. Her brothers picked on me, her mother yelled at me and her father insulted me. I put up with it all, I learned Spanish and converted to Catholicism but that didn't make them like me any more. My wife told me one day that she would love me no matter who I was because even though she loved her parents by birth she chose to love me. I have a feeling that Ensign Sims feels largely the same way about you." The older man smiled as a realization seemed to dawn on Bud's face.
"Thank you sir." Bud smiled from ear to ear and prepared to go talk to Harriet.
"Oh, and Bud?" Jim called from the place he was seated on Harm's desk. Bud turned around to look at his CO. "Knock'em dead. So that when it comes time for me to have this conversation with the Commander about the Major's family, I have some real help." Jim smiled and Bud tossed him a respectful salute before heading off into the bullpen.
"Since when am I dating Mac?" Harm asked from his seated position behind his desk.
"Harm, the two of you met in the White House Rose Garden. Like it or not, you've been dating since the moment you met." Jim tossed his friend a wise smile. "Just get down to Miami and solve this problem. If you have the chance, maybe break Bronco Mendoza's nose." With that, the Marine Colonel got up from his seated position on Harm's desk and walked back to his office.
Harm, Mac, Bud and Harriet had all gone down to Florida, while Jim was stuck in DC, watching the fourth day of hearings that starred Admiral AJ Chegwidden, friend, mentor and father to the JAG crew. Part of his duties had also been to talk down the SECNAV who threatened to jump out of his office window every time that the Admiral got terse with Congress or the CIA called him to say how Harm and Mac were pissing off Mendoza. He decided to put in a personal call to the State Department.
"Madeleine, this is Jim Grant over at JAG." Jim spoke into the phone.
"Ah yes Colonel, you seem to be the cause of a few of Alex Nelson's recent meltdowns. What do I owe you for that?" The Secretary of State joked.
"I could use a favour Madeleine." Jim admitted.
"Let me guess, Bronco Mendoza?" The Secretary's voice sounded almost sarcastic.
"You got it, he's been causing problems for my people, not to mention the President's War on Drugs, you revoke his diplomatic immunity and my people will put him behind bars." Jim sounded firm and steadfast.
"I don't know Jim; this could cause some real problems with Enrique Mendoza." Her tone had switched to one of concern.
"Madeleine, you and I both know that the number of young people and Americans in general dying from drug use is worth putting this spoiled little rich boy behind bars." The lawyer was coming out in him.
"You're right, the President and I were just talking about this. You sure your people can put him behind bars?" The Secretary of State seemed to be supporting the JAG.
"I've got Rabb and MacKenzie down there ready to pull a one-two punch on him right now. All they need is for us to do is revoke his diplomatic immunity."
"You've got it Jim; it'll take a few hours to process the paperwork. I trust that's enough time for you to get on a plane to Miami. If anyone's going to be talking to the press about this one, the President wants it to be you. You and Chegwidden are fast becoming the faces of the Navy and the Marine Corps respectively." The Secretary complimented.
"Thanks Madeleine, you send the notification to Joint Forces Command in Miami Beach and we'll introduce Bronco Mendoza to some good old-fashioned American justice." Jim sounded a little like a cowboy with an itchy trigger finger.
"Remember Colonel, this is Miami, not Tombstone, due process and proper procedures are in place for a reason. That having been said, have fun in the sun, Jim." The Secretary laughed and hung up the phone.
"Tiner, get me on a plane to Miami Beach." Jim said through the intercom as he grabbed what he needed and headed through the office. On his way out, Tiner told him his flight arrangements and Jim ran into Mattoni. "Commander Mattoni, I've got to head down to Miami for a few days, you've got the office until I get back." Jim was fast out of JAG and on his way to Dulles to catch a plane for Miami.
Soon, most of the JAG team was set up at Joint Forces Command in Miami, Mac, Harm and Bud stood over the portraits of several former sailors. "We know, after finding that limpet mine that it's more than likely that Sullivan, Green and Freeman planted one on Mendoza's yacht." Harm started.
"We also know that Mendoza is going to try and get back at whoever blew up his yacht." Mac added. "This means that our senior sailors could be in some trouble." Mac and Harm seemed to concur on that point. A familiar but unexpected voice came through the door at that moment.
"Harm you got a call from a 'Jungle Larry' he said that the old guys who came in for the pencil-fuses last year are at his store and I have confirmation from the Secretary of State herself that Bronco Mendoza's diplomatic immunity has been revoked." Jim walked in waving an official State Department release.
"Well then let's head down to Jungle Larry's!" Harm got out of his chair and was soon hot-footing it out of the room with Mac and Jim on his heels. They got into the Navy issue sedan in the parking lot. Mac and Harm took the front seat with their temporary CO stretching out in the back.
"So where did Lieutenant Roberts go?" Jim stared idly out the window/
"He's in Naples." Mac informed him.
"Ah right, meeting the prospective in-laws." Jim said, a wave of understanding in his voice. "How'd the initial meeting go?"
"Her parents thought I was Bud." Harm chimed in.
"I'm guessing they've never seen a picture of the Lieutenant." Jim laughed under his breath.
"I would say so. Harm, is this the place?" Mac pointed to a rather desolate looking building with lettering that read Jungle Larry's Army/Navy Surplus.
"This is it." Harm shut the car off and they all got out to head into the store. The three officers walked in the front door only to have the man who could only be the infamous 'Jungle Larry' point them in the direction of the three elder men. Mac walked up to a rather full shopping cart and picked up some scuba gear.
"Just what were you planning on doing with this, gentlemen?" Mac asked, her eyebrows peaked in curiosity.
"Swimming." One of them shot back.
"You know guys it would be a lot less work to just buy an Old Russian sub." Harm said as he walked up to them. "Come on fellas, let's head out of here." As the officers guided the older men out of the store just as they saw Bronco Mendoza and one of his goons heading toward the building. "On second thought, let's use the back way." Harm turned every one around and they headed for the back door. They barely got into the storage yard behind the surplus store when they were intercepted by Mendoza's goon. The three officers reached for their guns when they heard the drawing back of the hammer of a pistol.
"Don't even think about it." Bronco Mendoza was cocky in his stride as he walked over to the older men. "These punks took something of mine and I'm going to get it back." Mendoza waved his gun in their faces before dragging Artemus Sullivan off at gun point. Harm chased after them but by the time he got to the gate that blocked off the storage area the car with Artemus, Bronco and his goon had pulled away and was out of sight.
"Alright, let's get these guys out of here and try to find someway of getting Art back." Harm ushered every one into the car. "Now guys, Bronco's going to kill Art, we need to know what you guys did so that maybe we can get him back."
"Hey, Art can take care of himself." One of the older gentlemen replied.
"Bronco Mendoza is a very dangerous man and he's going to kill Artemus." Mac protested.
"No he's not, not if he wants to see his money again." Harold Green, the other older gentleman replied.
"Money? How did you end up with some of Bronco Mendoza's money." Harm looked almost stupefied.
"We acquired it during a transaction between narcotics aficionados." Green replied smugly.
"You ripped off a drug deal?" Harm looked at him like he'd done the stupidest thin on the planet. "Where's the money now?"
"It's in a safe spot." Green looked Harm square in the eye.
"We need to get the money, I've got a way to bust Mendoza!" Harm's eyes widened. After stopping by the assisted living facility to retrieve the money Harm hatched his plan. "Alright, this is how I see it. I've gotten in touch with Mendoza. We're going to meet him at the Marina at noon which means that only you two can be recognizable. Mac; you, Jim and I are going to have to blend into the background so that we don't spook them, you two think you can do that?" Harm looked at them and they nodded. "Alright, let's go to work."
Within a few minutes the trap had been set on the docks. Harm looked like he was cleaning a boat, Jim looked like he was fishing off of the end of the dock and neither of them had seen Mac since they split up to get ready. Both Harm and Jim saw Mendoza's boat come into view and they saw Mendoza's goon leap off the boat on to the dock to go get the money from Green and Freeman. That's when Harm's eyes fixed on Mac who came walking across the Marina in a green string bikini. When Harm saw Mac mace Mendoza's goon he sprang into action, rushing across the Marina and jumping into Mendoza's boat. After struggling against Mendoza for a few minutes Harm was standing over the spoiled little rich boy, pinning him against the boat.
"What took you so long?" Artemus Sullivan called from the boat.
"Hey what do you expect, they're only kids." Freeman called back to his friend as the three JAG officers smiled. The Miami police were soon on the scene to take away Mendoza and his associate but not before Harm could shove the State Department notice that revoked his diplomatic immunity in his face. The three officers stood there, next to the older gentlemen who had set all these events in motion.
"I suppose you three think that this makes you heroes?" Sullivan looked at them.
"No, not really." Harm replied. "Just stay out of trouble Mr. Sullivan."
"Commander, do you know what it feels like to be seventy-two?" Sullivan looked Harm in the eye.
"No." Harm laughed.
"Yes you do, because it doesn't feel any different than being eighteen or thirty or fifty. Oh sure, some things aren't as fast as they used to be, but up here in the mind where it counts, you're still that same fresh-faced man you once were." Sullivan tossed him a crooked smile.
"Is this your way of telling me you're not going to stay out of trouble?" Harm questioned.
"Old heroes don't die Commander, they just become the stuff of legends." With that Sullivan, Green and Freeman took their leave of the JAG officers. Harm and Mac were walking alone the road above the Marina when Jim came running up to them.
"I've got to head back to Washington, the SECNAV is throwing a category five fit and me and the Admiral are going to have to talk him off his window ledge again. You two don't have to report back to JAG until 0900 Friday, I suggest you have some fun." With that, Jim flagged down a taxi and made his way toward the airport. Harm hadn't been able to really look at Mac while she was in her bikini, he'd look away or look passed her so he didn't stare.
"Hey Mac, why don't we go take a walk through the Marina, then maybe if you're lucky sweet thing, I'll buy you dinner." Harm smiled as they walked side by side.
"You're on Flyboy." She looked up at him but noticed he wasn't looking back at her. The two of them walked, side by side, down to the Marina and the docks below. They talked lightly about what Bud was likely going through in Naples with a few laughs. Eventually they came to a spot on the docks where there were no boats and Mac took a few steps ahead without Harm by her side.
She looked back and found that his gaze had landed on her, his eyes were intense as they seemed to scan her up and down, looking as if he'd just gained the power to finally see. He saw what it was, the manifestation of everything he'd gone through in the last year and a half of their friendship, he saw his best friend, his co-worker and for the first time he clearly saw someone else. She had gotten to him slowly, she'd made him feel, she'd made him want her. A year ago, the only women he could think of were Annie and Diane, but they had vanished into the recesses of his memory when he looked at her just than.
But what had made him feel this way, all of it, the closeness, the friendship, all of it had been jeopardized by these feelings so many times in the last few months. Baby steps, those were the only words that came to his mind, just baby steps. He knew that she could feel his gaze upon her but she didn't recoil in fact she seemed to be revelling in it. He gathered some resolve and started walking toward her slowly. In one swift motion he dipped down and swept her up in his arms, throwing her into the water unexpectedly.
He jumped in after her so she didn't get angry with him. The two of them moved closer to shore so that they could stand on the bottom with their heads above water. "Harm! That's it flyboy, you're so dead!" She swam up next to him and forced him under water.
After being dunked in his own right Harm surfaced again only to find Mac standing there with a stern look on her face. "Alright, you got me back, now can we do something else other than dunk each other under water?" He asked with a playful lilt in his voice.
"Why don't we talk about the way you were looking at me up on the dock flyboy? If I didn't know better, I'd say you saw something you liked." She meant it as a serious question but it still came out like a tease.
"You know Mac; I've been doing a lot of thinking lately." Harm started.
"Did you hurt yourself?" She laughed and he tried to look hurt before he continued.
"No, I just, I read this really interesting article in a magazine before we left DC and it kind of got me thinking. This article it was on this thing teenagers are doing nowadays, where they…I don't know test the waters on having a relationship with their friends." He stopped here and tried to read her expression, she seemed intrigued. "You know, they're still friends or even best friends, they just do some couple-ish things to see if being a couple would actually work. If it does, than they become a couple, if it doesn't like if it threatens to ruin their friendship than they just go back to being friends." He kind of stammered, stuttered and babbled through the last part.
"Harm, what are you trying to say?" She surveyed him quizzically.
"I don't know, I guess it just got me thinking. We're really good friends, in fact you're my best friend Mac but there are times, like on the dock, when I look at you and I don't just see my best friend, I see this incredibly beautiful woman." Harm looked into Mac's eyes trying to say everything he couldn't put into words.
"I'm not sure if I should accept the compliment or ask what you're trying to get to." Mac couldn't take her eyes off of him, both because it sounded like something really important was on his mind and because the white muscle-shirt he was wearing had gone see-through and clung to him, both thanks to the water. "I'll accept the compliment and ask what exactly you're trying to say." She said with a smile.
"I don't know exactly what it is Mac, but more and more I see that beautiful woman and sometimes it's really hard for me to not…"He stopped for a second, did he really want to say it? Lay it out on the table right here?
"Hard for you not to what, Harm?" Her eyes were pleading with him, if only he would look at them.
"Hard for me to not want more with you. But then I snap myself back to reality and I tell myself how much our friendship means to me and how lost I would be if I ruined that." He sounded defeated and his chin fell to his chest.
"Harm, do you honestly want to try this…this thing that you read in this magazine? Do you really want to trust your life to a sheet of paper with words?" She almost sounded like a prosecutor. He couldn't talk, he merely nodded. "Than let's try, just for a while. I understand though Harm, I understand what it is to look at your best friend and scold yourself because even though he's a cute flyboy, he's your best friend." She smiled at him and that look of defeat left his body completely.
"Do you really want this?" He had to make sure it was real, he couldn't believe this was happening.
"Well that depends, what's entailed in this little 'trial period'?" She looked at him coyly.
"Well we're already beyond it in a lot of ways. I mean the fact that you've spent the better part of the last six weeks sleeping at my apartment bodes well. And we're best friends so that handles a few things. There's just the physical part that we've yet to explore…kind of." The two of them shared a laugh, there minds instantly reviewing all the times in the last months that there cloistered feelings had come out through physical expression.
"Well flyboy, what would this physical exploration entail?" She walked through the water toward him.
"Well for starters I could do this." He dragged his hands over her waist settling them there slowly.
"And I could respond by say, doing this." She gave his six a quick squeeze bringing a smile to both of their faces.
"I suppose but then I would have to say do this." He leaned into her and gently, yet sweetly placed a soft kiss on her lips. His kiss left her stunned but wanting more as he pulled away.
"Flyboy, if this is going to be the result of your thinking, I'm going to make you watch Jeopardy every night." The two of them shared a laugh and climbed out of the water, both pleased with their new understanding, both wondering where it would lead them.