AN: Here is Chapter 3. Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! This chapter is alittle longer than the others, but its worth it. I hope you all enjoy it, as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Chapter 3 – The Fundraiser, Awards, and The Tango
Danny straightened his tie as he grabbed his phone, keys, wallet, and headed out the door of his apartment. He smiled up at the full moon that lit up the night sky as he slid into the limo. Danny was dressed in a black Armani tuxedo, and made it look good. The ride to Lindsay's apartment was quiet and peaceful, but full of excitement and anticipation.
Lindsay leaned over the table against the wall to where a large antique mirror hung, put on her last touch of lipstick. She tossed the small tube into her bag as she heard the buzzer go off. She stopped to take one last look at herself before she let Danny in. As she stood in front of the door, she took a deep breath, and then slowly opened the door. She looked up, as the door opened, to see Danny standing there in all his greatness. He was suave, dangerous, mysterious, and above all--just sexy. The tuxedo didn't make him complete, he made the tuxedo complete. She could not believe she was going to be the girl on his arm tonight. He reminded her of a jungle cat who was hunting her as his prey. She didn't care; she would let him hunt her. All she knew was, he had made her lose her composure, and she wasn't entirely sure she would ever get it back.
Danny brought his eyes up from the floor as she opened the door. A satin apple red dress that was floor length, hugged her body in all the perfect ways. The further his eyes wandered up her body, the lower his jaw dropped. The dress was low cut in the front, with an open back and a slit up the side to the middle of the thigh on the right side. Lindsay's hair rested softly on her shoulders in wavy curls. Danny brought his hand up to his face to make sure he wasn't drooling. He didn't care if she smacked him across the face right now. All he knew was, he was hers and all hers for the evening.
"Damn, Montana!" Danny managed to stammer out.
"Damn yourself, Messer." She replied with a playful smile.
"Well, um…shall we go?" He said, holding out his arm for her.
"Yes, we shall." She said with a laugh as she grabbed her matching red bag, locked her door, and then proceeded down the hall toward the elevator with Danny.
"By the way, you look absolutely gorgeous. I don't know how I'm gunna keep all the guys away from ya! I know Flack will probably have a heart attack when he sees you." Danny said as the elevator arrived on the lobby floor.
"Well, thank you, Danny…but I'm not exactly sure how to keep the girls away from you tonight." She said with a smile.
As Danny and Lindsay walked outside, the limo driver, who graciously opened the door to limo for her and Danny, greeted them.
"Good evening, Ms. Monroe." The driver said with a soft smile.
Lindsay stood in shock as she looked up at Danny, who had a guilty smirk on his face.
"Danny…you did all this…for me?" She said still stunned.
"Well, the first date is always supposed to be the best, right? Well, I wanted tonight to be perfect…for you." He said as he led her over to the limo.
"This is more than I could have ever expected—and to think that the night has only begun." She said as he wrapped his arm around her.
"Lindsay...you look so beautiful tonight." He told her softly.
She turned to face him, "Thank you, Danny…and if I forget to tell you…I had a really great time tonight." She said with a soft smile.
Danny chuckled softly at her comment, "You are very welcome…and that line is from 'Pretty Woman.'" He said continuing to chuckle.
"I know, but it just sounded good." She said with a laugh as she cuddled up next to Danny.
Strobe lights lit up the night sky as Danny and Lindsay's limo pulled up in front of the fundraiser. The mayor had arrived just before them, so the surrounding press were busily flashing photos of him and his wife. Danny and Lindsay looked at each other and smiled as they watched all the commotion. As the mayor made his way inside, Danny held out his arm for Lindsay so they could make their way up the stairs into the fundraiser. Once inside, Danny glanced around the room for his fellow co-workers. There was a jazz band in the corner playing a soft, romantic song, and a few couples dancing to the music. As Danny led her through the crowd, she looked around at the beautiful architecture of the large ballroom. The walls were lined with large mirrors and the floor was made of a glossy marble. Her eyes had finally brought her back to Danny, which was the most beautiful thing in the room. She looked up and saw Flack, Hawkes, Mac, and Stella standing in a group talking amongst themselves. Stella was wearing a beautiful plain black gown and the rest of the boys were all dressed in tuxedos. They all looked good, but no one compared to Danny. As Flack looked up, he almost spit out his champagne as he saw Lindsay and Danny walking up.
"Hot damn!" Flack said as they joined the group.
"Thanks, Flack." Danny replied with a smirk.
"Messer, I was talking about Lindsay." Flack said as he wandered around to get a closer look at Lindsay.
"Thank you, Flack." Lindsay replied as she blushed.
Mac leaned over so only Danny could hear him, "Danny, I think you have the most gorgeous woman on your arm tonight." Mac said, and then led Stella out on the dance floor.
"So…Linds, can you dance?" Danny asked.
"I took ballroom dancing lessons in high school. I was quite good, and I even won a few competitions. My favorite was the Tango." Lindsay said almost giddy.
"The Tango!" Flack, Danny, and Hawkes said in unison.
"Yes. I won first place in the Montana State Ballroom Dancing Competition for the Tango." She said with a smile. "What about you, boys?"
"Aww…Well..I can dance a little…" Flack and Hawkes mumbled together.
"Oh…and you, Messer?" She asked.
"I took some ballroom classes in college." He said smiling.
"Flack…does this band take requests?" Lindsay asked.
"I think so--I can request something for you if you like." Flack said, starting toward the band.
"Will you request some swing?" She said smiling.
"Sure thing." He said as he jogged off toward the band.
"So, what do you say, Messer? You feel like dancing?" She asked with a devilish smile on her face.
"Come on!" He grabbed her hand as the band began to play an exciting swing song.
Once on the floor, Danny pulled her close to him and began to dance with the music. He spun her out, then back in to him and past him, switched hands, and then both spun back into each other. Once she was back in his arms, he picked her up at the hips, tossed her to the left for a tuck in and then tossed her to the right for another tuck in. Then, he spun her around his back, tossed her between his legs for a foxhole, and pulled her back up into his arms. After a minute or so of dancing around the dance floor, Danny flipped Lindsay forward to the right then back to the other direction, and pulled her back in his arms. He spun her out then in to low dip for the end of the song.
Flack, Hawkes, and Stella all stood watching the couple with their jaws dropped, while Mac stood smiling at the couple. They never knew Danny could dance like that, or let alone little ol' Lindsay from Montana. As the song ended, Danny and Lindsay took their bows for the applauding crowd, and then headed back to the group. Danny wrapped his arms around Lindsay's waist as he stood behind her. Flack, Hawkes, Stella, and Mac continued to stare at them in shock.
"What?" Both of them asked in unison.
"Where did you learn to dance like that?" Stella managed to stammer out.
"Danny learned in college, and I learned in high school." Lindsay replied with a soft smile.
"That…that was amazing!" Stella said, attempting to get over her shock.
"Yes it was." Mac added with a gentle smile.
"Thank you…" Replied Lindsay as she stepped forward and closed Hawkes mouth. "That's better. That's inappropriate to stare like that, Sheldon." Lindsay continued with a sweet smile, as the rest of the group burst into laughter.
Danny leaned down to whisper in Lindsay's ear, "I'm gunna go get us a drink." He turned, and disappeared into the crowd.
Flack looked up to see Danny was gone. "Where'd he go?" Flack asked, as a waiter came up to Lindsay and handed her two glasses of champagne as she heard a familiar song begin to play.
It was 'Love' by Nat King Cole. She had caught him humming it one time while working in the lab. Lindsay set down the glasses of champagne, turned around to see the crowd slowly part, and saw Danny standing on the dance floor waiting for her. She smiled, walked over to him, and began to dance with him. As they danced, he began to sing the words of the song to her.
"I knew this would happen." Mac told Stella as they watched the couple dance.
"Oh, really?" Stella asked looking curiously at Mac.
"Yeah. Danny has had feelings for her since she moved here. I just never knew when they would take it from flirting to an actual relationship." Mac replied.
"So, why me, Danny? I mean, you could have any girl you wanted. So why pick me?" Lindsay asked Danny during the musical break.
"Well, it's because I wanted you…and only you. Simple as that." He said with a smile, and then continued singing softly to her. As the song ended, he escorted her off the dance floor.
It had finally come time for the mayor to give out the awards to all of New York's finest--Flack received the Detective of the Year Award, and Lindsay and Danny received the Overall Best CSI Team Award.
After the award ceremony was over, it was back to dancing, drinking, and just enjoying the company of the same people they saw everyday, but not for Danny. He was waiting for the perfect moment to give another crowd-pleasing shocker.
He gave the band the signal he'd been promising them and led Lindsay out on the floor.
"So Linds, can you still Tango?" He asked in a seductive voice that made her go weak in the knees.
"Yes." She replied, hearing the soft sound of a Tango beginning to play.
Lindsay backed away from Danny, giving him a look of pure seduction, and then called him to her with a mouth dropping 'Come hither' that Danny could not or would not refuse. As he came closer to her, she placed her hand on his chest and pushed him backward with the music.
Hawkes stood in awe as Flack leaned over to talk to him without ever taking his eyes off Danny and Lindsay. "You think they rehearse this stuff?"
After pushing Danny away from her, she proceeded to walk back to her original starting point. Danny stood with a frustrated glare on his face. With a loud forte in the music; Danny took off his jacket and tossed it at Mac, who instinctively caught it. As the forte increased, Danny walked up, grabbed Lindsay's wrist, and pulled her into him. Thus, starting the battle of the sexes. First, Danny slowly then quickly guided her backward with the force of the music. Then, Lindsay repeated his motions in the opposite direction. He once again guided her back in the same motion, but at then end of their "walk," he pushed her into a kickback. As she landed, he spun her into his arms with her back facing him. With one arm holding her tight around her waist, the other firmly, but seductively caressed her torso. He breathed in her sweet, desirous perfume, from her neck as he began to kiss down her neck as his hands wandered her body. She reached down and grabbed his hand that rested firmly on her leg, and spun around.
She placed her hand on his chest as the music forted again, slid it around his neck, and wrapped her leg around his, pulling him closer to her. He began to lower her in a dip as she stared deeply into his eyes, and he into hers. Their lips got closer…and closer…until finally …they were touching. The kiss, at first, was soft and sweet—but as the moment passed, the kiss grew hard, hot, and passionate. A kiss like that, Lindsay knew would bring any man to his knees. She could snap her fingers at that moment, and every man in the room would be hers to command. She unwound herself from Danny and pushed him to his knees as she started away from him, leaving him begging for more. He scrambled to his feet, caught her, and pulled her back into his arms. As the song began to come closer to the end, he danced around the floor romantically with her, then finished by lowering her into a dip that almost laid her on the floor—but not without one more kiss. The kiss burned his soul like passionate fire and made him feel more alive than he had ever felt. As the audience began to applaud them, they still did not break their kiss, not until they both realized then had to come back up for air. They looked around for a moment, remembering where they were. Danny pulled Lindsay back up to her feet, they took their bows, and proceeded of the dance floor. Once off the dance floor, Danny grabbed the nearest waiter and pulled him closer to him.
"You got anything stronger than champagne?" He asked the waiter softly.
"Whiskey and bourbon, sir." The waiter said, slightly in fear that Danny was going to hurt him.
"Bring me two shots of Bourbon and hurry, man!"
"Yes, sir." The waiter replied as he hurried off to get the drinks.
Danny smiled at Lindsay as the waiter hurried back over with their drinks.
"You're a good man." Danny said as he took the drinks from him and handed one to Lindsay.
"Bourbon, Danny?" Stella asked, as Danny and Lindsay shot back their drinks.
"After all that I'm surprised that the man doesn't need a cold shower!" Flack said, still in awe.
"Flack is very observant." Lindsay said, still feeling the burn of the bourbon.
"Thank you. I try." He said, showing his ego.
The group burst out in laughter at Flack's comment. The rest of the evening was spent regaling moments from the night, previous cases, and just fun times until the wee hours of the night. Lindsay looked up at the large antique clock on the wall that read 3am, and yawned. Danny looked over at her, realizing how exhausted she was, and decided it was time to take his lady home. After saying their goodbyes, Danny escorted Lindsay out to the limo.
Once in the limo, she cuddled up next to him, laid her head on his shoulder, and gently traced her finger up and down his arm. Danny watched her every move. He grabbed her hand, brought it up to his lips, and kissed the back of it. As their eyes met, Danny began to lean down to kiss her. Their lips were just about to touch, when Lindsay groaned as she realized that they had arrived at her apartment. The driver opened the door for them to get out. Danny escorted Lindsay to the door of her apartment building.
"Danny…I had an absolutely wonderful time tonight, and I hope you were serious when you said that you would like this to be the first date of many." Lindsay said sweetly.
"I was very serious, Linds." He said as he brought his hand up to her face. "But I guess we have to say goodnight." He continued.
"You mean good morning." She said with a small laugh.
"Whatever…good morrow." He said.
Before she could respond to him, his lips were pressed against hers. He parted her lips with his tongue, and deepened the kiss. It was his turn to kiss her with the passionate fire, make her crave more. As she let out a small moan into his mouth, he released her and headed back for the limo. She stood there stunned by his kiss, and then slowly headed into her apartment building.
AN: Coming up next...the Second Date, Little Italy, and Rent.