Introducing Lee

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Chapter 3

Agent Lee Stetson walked into the elegant library den of the Wellington Estate after being introduced as the new interim assistant and bodyguard for Ex-Senator Olivia Wellington, aka Dean's mother.

OhMyGoshOhMyGoshOhMyGosh thought Amanda as she held her palmed hand up to hide her face and slightly turned away, hoping he wouldn't notice her.

Fat chance of that happening.

He was now being introduced all around, greeting everyone casually.

Then all too soon she felt his presence in front of her, so Amanda had no choice but to bring her hand down and face him as Olivia introduced them.

Lee felt shock and surprise churning inside him at Amanda's presence.

However from years of learning how to hide his emotions, Lee appeared relax and calm as he reached his hand out to shake hers. She intently watched him as her hand reached out to grasp his. Their eyes slightly widened when both felt an unexpected jolt of electricity pass between them.

"H-Hello, Agent Stetson," Amanda choked out, trying to keep her heartbeat steady.

"Aman-da," he greeted her, his voice catching a bit, as he found it difficult to release his grasp from hers.

But he reluctantly moved on and was now being introduced to Dean's sister, Deidre.

She gave Lee a good lookover, "Well, well, I do believe the weekend just got more interesting!"

"Lay off him, Dee," Daniel, her brother, advised her, "Agent Stetson's duties here do NOT include what you have in mind!"

Deidre shrugged off the irrelevant comment before flashing Lee a smile, "Duties can ALWAYS be amended to include other activities, Big Brother!"

Lee stiffly smiled.

Olivia was already pouring an extra cup of tea, "Lee, you must be parched after such a long drive. There's an empty chair over here where you can sit and relax. The tea will soothe you a bit."

"Or...you can sit next to me," volunteered Deidre, as she scooted over and patted a narrow area next to her.

Amanda had to work hard on not rolling her eyes.

Lee tried to be diplomatic, "Thank you, Deidre, but I should stay close to my employer," he justified.

After sitting down, he tried to appear casual as he took a sip of the tea. However, his eyes were watchful over the rim of his cup.

But his eyes wasn't focused on Amanda; they were assessing Dean.

Amanda wondered what Lee was thinking about Dean. She had to admit that Dean did look good this trip. Not only was his wavy hair professionally coiffed and his skin spa-polished, but his body was solid from hours at the gym. This was in contrast to Lee's boyish locks and naturally good looks. His tall, well-built frame, unlike Dean's, wasn't health-club trained but field-tested trained instead.

Now, why am I comparing the two? Amanda silently berated herself.

"Would anyone like some tea sandwiches?" Olivia asked the group, "I could have Eunice prepare a tray for us."

"Actually," Dean suggested, "Amanda baked a delicious-looking cake and I sure could use a piece right now."

He gave Amanda a supportive smile as she blushed.

The rest of the family looked uncertain, so Lee spoke out as well.

"Oh yeah! A slice of poppyseed cake would really fit the bill right now!"

Dean scowled, "How did you know it was a poppyseed cake?"

All heads turned to Lee.

And it was Amanda who answered, "Isn't it obvious? Good Housekeeping magazine claims that poppyseed cake is the cake this season!"

Lee gave an awkward chuckle, "Uh, yeah, that magazine has certainly changed how I feel about housekeeping!"

Amanda quickly added, "AND how you feel about a women's interest magazine, as well, Agent Stetson."

"Yes, of course," he stated, shooting her a look of gratitude.

"YOU read Good Housekeeping?" asked an unconvinced Deidre to Lee.

"I read that magazine as one would breathe the air..." Lee had a faraway look, "—to fill up and live..." he over-dramatized.

Dean looked confused, "Are you for real?"

"Actually," Daniel piped in, "the mention of the poppyseed cake sounds divine, Amanda." he turned to his wife, "And what about you, Honey-Bee?"

"If it's non-fattening, I'm in," added his wife Liz.

Olivia the Matriarch reached for the bell, "I do believe we have reached a consensus, so I shall ring Eunice. I believe she's upstairs helping the maid Isabella do the sheets, but that can wait."

Amanda popped out of her seat, "No, that's fine, Senator Wel...I mean, Olivia. It'll be my pleasure to serve up some slices for everyone! I'll just go on over to the kitchen and be back out in a jiff..." she volunteered, glad to be escaping from the stifling room.

Dean volunteered, "I'll go with you."

"Nonsense, Dean," Olivia countered, holding her head up high, "Wellingtons do not serve food to anyone!"

He slowly sat down again.

"Well, I'm obviously not a Wellington," Lee stated as he stood, "and I AM considered a public servant as well, so I'll be more than happy to help you, uh Amanda...that is your name, isn't it? Besides, it'll give me a chance to check the kitchen for security-precautions."

Lee and Amanda quickly left the room before anyone could object.

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Lee and Amanda were now alone in the kitchen.

And each one was agitated that the other person was here.

"Did you follow me up here?" Amanda accused him as she took the domed glass top off her cake stand and then opened drawers to find a cake knife.

"I was actually going to ask you the same thing!" Lee mentioned as he opened the cupboards to get out the plates.

"How could I follow you when I got here first!" Amanda pointed out.

Lee brought the small plates over, "Maybe I got here first and it just took me longer to park the car!"

Amanda calmed the situation," Okay, so no one followed no one."

"Alright," Lee conceded as he looked around, "Such a massive kitchen. It must be nice to have a boyfriend with money!"

"I had no idea Dean was rich!" Amanda claimed, as she cut the cake into fourths and then into smaller slices, "And I had no idea that you even knew Senator Wellington!"

"I met her when I used to do Secret Service duty in Congress," Lee explained, "I was assigned to protect Olivia and did other duties for her when she was Speaker of the House in DC, so when she needed an interim assistant, she decided to call on the best!"

"But he wasn't available?" Amanda sarcastically stated.

"Oh, haha," Lee responded.

Amanda began putting the slices on the plates while Lee looked for a tray, "So, Lee, why you didn't you tell me you were leaving work to come here—I went to work on Friday and suddenly you weren't there!"

Lee found two large trays to put the plates on and came back to her.

Of course, he could not let her know that he had overheard her conversation with Dean in her kitchen a couple of days earlier, which is why he accepted this assignment. Still thinking about Dean's earlier conversation in Amanda's kitchen, Lee stared down at her ring finger and was pleasantly surprised when he did not see an engagement ring.

And then it bothered him that he was elated over that discovery.

So instead he got defensive about not telling her he was taking a leave of absence from work, "I, uh, accepted the position at the last second and didn't feel I needed to check in with a nosy co-worker!"

She paused, a hand on her hip, "Is that a jab?"

"Perhaps, but you know, Amanda, communication goes both ways! I don't remember YOU telling me you were going away this weekend with Dean, either!"

"I had planned to, but you weren't there for me to tell!"

They both continued placing the plates of cake onto the tray in silence until Lee spoke out again.

"So that's Dean out there, eh?"

"Huh-huh," she stated, putting another plate on the tray.

"So you didn't make him up."

She looked exasperated, "Of course not!"

"He's not what I expected," Lee commented.

She stopped piling the plates on the tray to look at him, "Oh? And what do you mean by that?"

"Just that, with his profession and all, I thought he'd be more...oh, I don't know...nerdy, bordering on dorky."

"In other words, you're saying he's more handsome than you thought?"

"Noooo...I never said handsome! Not by a long shot!"

She narrowed her eyes, "Sounds as if someone is jealous!"

"Jealous?" he gave one of his nervous laughs, "Me? Of him? No way, no how!"

She handed a tray of slices to him, "Well, you better get out there before Deidre starts pining away for you!"

"NOW who's jealous?" Lee countered back.

Just then, the kitchen door swung open, and maid Eunice suddenly appeared.

"Getting the silverware and naperies for Madame and guests," Eunice concisely explained, as she headed towards the drawers.

Lee and Amanda exchanged guilty glances, wondering if Eunice heard any part of their conversation.

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When they went back to the living room, they proceeded to pass out the slices of cake to everyone. Amanda was relieved when everyone complimented her on the cake.

Everyone seemed relaxed and in a good mood now.

Amanda was glad that her cake made a good impression. Soon the maid Eunice arrived and dutifully began putting the dirty dishes on the tray to take back to the kitchen.

Liz, Daniel's wife, then asked, "So Deidre, do you have any interesting plans for your birthday. It is an important one...the big 30!"

"Actually, I do have something in mind and it will involve all of you!" Deidre enthused.

Daniel moaned, "I'm already not liking the idea."

Olivia gave her son a crossed look, "Do have patience, Dear, and allow Deidre to explain to us another one of her bizarre ideas." She looked over at her only daughter, "Go ahead, Deidre."

Deidre's eyes were sparkling, "With so many people here, I thought it might be fun to do a Murder Mystery game thing! Pepper did it with her family and she said it was so much fun!"

"You have a friend named Pepper?" Daniel asked.

Deidre turned to her brother, "That's NOT the point! I'm trying to make!"

Liz whined, "Do we HAVE to participate in this game?"

"It does seem a bit...contrite," agreed Olivia, to which Deidre made a face.

Amanda then diplomatically stepped in, "Well, I think it's very inventive of Deidre to think of this and if she went through all the trouble of thinking up this game, perhaps we should all participate. Personally for me, I've always loved a good mystery!"

Deidre's smile back to Amanda was sincere, "Glad SOMEONE is open-minded!"

Deidre then reached down for her gym bag. Taking some folded papers out with their names written on them, she eagerly explained, "Okay! Now here are the rules..." as she went around to each person, "The so-called murder will take place sometime tomorrow, early morning. And right now, I am handing you each a piece of paper with your assigned role written on it—now, don't show your paper to anyone!"

Everyone took their handed sheet and unfolded it as Deidre continued.

"Everyone's identity will be kept a secret except for two people: the first one will be the victim, who will be played by our maid Eunice."

"-Oh joy," Eunice drolly stated, as she continued collecting the dirty dishes.

"-AND" Deidre continued, "we will also know the identity of the Inspector, who will help us solve the case!"

Meanwhile, Dean had unfolded his paper, which read, "You are not the murderer but a brilliant medical doctor."

At the same time, Amanda had opened her sheet which read: You are the MURDERER. You did it at dawn by bashing the maid's head in with one of the gold candlesticks on the mantle in the library.

Amanda tried not to look creeped-out with her new assignment. Giving her best poker face, she remarked, "So Deidre, who will play the Inspector?"

Deidre beamed, "There's only one person I didn't give a paper to because I didn't know he existed, but now I think it will be very apropos that he will be our Inspector! Inspector Sherlock Hunk, that is!"

All heads turned to Lee.

Amanda tried not to moan at Lee's pleased expression.

Deidre then produced from the gym bag a plaid deerstalker cap and a short cape.

"Here, let me put these on you," she stated, as she went over to Lee. She took her time touching his shoulders and chest as she put the cape on him and then topped off the look with the deerstalker cap, "There you go, Inspector Hunk!"

"Looks like she's already playing favorites," Daniel murmured under his breath at Deidre's open flirtation with Lee.

"I've just hurled inside my mouth," complained his annoyed wife Liz.

Meanwhile, Dean turned and whispered, "You SURE you don't mind playing this game, Amanda?"

Amanda actually wasn't bothered, outside of Deidre's obvious fawning over Lee, that is.

At least it'll give all of them something to do.

She leaned in and optimistically whispered back to him, "The game's afoot, Dean!"

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