Chapter 9

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Martin walked down the hall to Sam's apartment wearing charcoal grey slacks and a dark blue shirt with the top button undone. Sam had called him early Saturday morning to invite him to her place for a home cooked meal. He didn't even know she could cook. As he approached he debated on whether or not to talk to her about how she saw their future but as he neared the door he could already feel that he was losing his nerve.

He knocked and heard Sam yell, "Come in! It's unlocked!"

He opened the door and was greeted by smoke and a strong odor he didn't recognize. He entered the kitchen and saw Sam at the stove wearing a white apron that looked like this was its inauguration meal. She had her hair pulled up into a ponytail looking simultaneously cool and frazzled. There were pots and pans everywhere, the cabinet doors were open and it looked like a flour bomb had exploded.

Martin smiled and said, "Betty Crocker I presume?"

"Hi!" Sam walked over to where he stood and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "You're on time but I'm running late. However," She held her finger up and pulled some pastries out of the oven. "I have appetizers ready." She lifted a puffed pastry up to his lips and Martin happily accepted it.

He chewed it and smiled at her, saying "Wow, that's a really unusual taste." Kinda like puffed chalk with cheese, Martin thought.

"I'm glad you like them; they took me all day to make. Why don't you sit down in the living room and you can finish the rest of them." Sam smiled happily at him as she set a plate of about 15 of the pastries in front of him. Oh God, Martin thought. He was going to have to eat all of those? "Oh, let me get you a glass of wine."

Sam walked back into the kitchen and came back carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses. She poured Martin a glass, put it on the coffee table and then stood there watching him.

Knowing what she was waiting for, Martin smiled, reached for another puffed pastry and popped it into his mouth. "Yum," Martin exclaimed as he reached for the wine and took a big drink.

Sam smiled and walked back into the kitchen. Martin looked back at the full plate in front of him and he seriously wished that Sam owned a dog. He tried to think of a way to get out of eating the offensive pastries but looking around he knew he had no choice but to consume them. He picked one up, bit it in half and then chased it with a large amount of wine.

"Don't be shy." Sam said walking back into the living room sans apron. "Those are all for you. I was noshing as I cooked and I've had my fill of cheese for awhile."

"I don't want to get too full; I want to make sure there's plenty of room for dinner." Martin smiled while internally grimacing.

He put the second half of the treat into his mouth and took a serious look at what Sam was wearing. With her apron gone, Martin saw that she was wearing a black silk halter dress. It was short, flirty and backless. Suddenly Martin's throat went dry and he knew it wasn't just the work of the cheese puff.

Sam must have felt his eyes on her because she smiled coquettishly, sat down next to him and purred, "I've decided that this technically counts as our third date."

"Really?" Martin swallowed. The truth was they had so many failed attempts at dating that he couldn't even keep track anymore.

"Yeah," She leaned in closely so he could feel her warm breath on his cheek. "There was the date that was interrupted by the mugger. Then the dinner with Danny and Emma – which while I did have to leave early should still count since I did get dressed up and we went to a public restaurant."

"Um, yeah, I guess you're right." Martin tilted his face towards Sam's and kissed her softly on the lips. Sam moved closer, pressing her lips more firmly to his as she moved one hand to his face, deepening the kiss.

The kiss was soft and warm and entirely too brief as the oven dinger beeped breaking the moment. Sam pulled back and smiled, "C'mon, let's go eat dinner. I have a feeling you are going to need lots of carbs."

She stood up and headed to the kitchen. Martin would have followed her but the kiss (and what it meant) seemed to have left him unable to walk; at least for a few minutes anyway.

When he finally sat down at the table, Sam placed a dish in front of him. He couldn't tell what was on it exactly: the 'meat' was dark brown, square and accompanied by a white lump, he assumed they must be mashed potatoes, and the very recognizable green beans. He looked over at Sam's plate which mirrored his own with the exception of the brown mystery meat. "Where's your, uh, meat?"

"Burned it," She frowned, "But I was able to save your filet."

"Oh, thanks." Martin said while mentally cursing his luck that Sam couldn't have burned both of them. He sliced into the meat and while the outside was charcoal black the inside looked pale pink. Maybe not all is lost Martin mused as he put the piece into his mouth. However, as he chewed the only thing he could think was while he had actually never eaten road kill, this is what it would taste like. "Mmmm…"

"So, how do you like it?" She asked.

He smiled and mumbled, "It's like nothing I've ever eaten."

Sam smiled cheerily at him and began to eat her white lumpy stuff and green beans. Martin reached for the bread and every time he took a bite of the 'meat' he chased it with bread and wine. If Sam wasn't watching him like a hawk he might have been able to fool her by rearranging stuff on his plate but she kept her eyes on him as each morsel was moved from plate to mouth.

They had a lively conversation all throughout dinner talking about Danny and Emma, the case that turned out to be a runaway situation, and the delicious dessert, which thankfully, Sam had purchased from a local bakery.

When dinner was over, Sam said she would clear the table and she'd meet Martin in the living room. He took the opportunity to excuse himself heading to the bathroom as he scoured her medicine cabinet looking for anything in the antacid family. He knew that this dinner was going to haunt him later and this being the long-awaited third date he didn't want anything to ruin it. After a brief search he found a small open package of cherry flavored Tums, he chewed and swallowed the last two tablets before rinsing his mouth out and heading back out to the living room.

When he returned he saw that Sam had lit candles and was lounging on the sofa, her hair out of the ponytail and spilling over her shoulders. Sipping her wine, she smiled and said, "Hey."

"Hey," Martin replied as he picked up his own glass and took a seat next to her. He tried to think of what he could say when Sam grabbed his glass and put it on the table with hers and moved her face to Martin's.

She scanned his face for acceptance before moving in and kissing him firmly on the lips.