Hey Gang! Hope you're all digging this! It'll be sorta slow for a few chapters - case with Vic is not all that woo hoo! The case with Harm will be fun, more on that in the next few chapters. There will also be a bit of a smutty chapter, I'll let you guys know which so that if you are interested you can e-mail me and I can send you what you missed which I can't post here. ;)
It will get angsty eventually - I'll let you know as well. ;)
Enjoy!
Jackie
Thanks to: TomcatGM, BrittanyLS, JamieAKAaclassyone, Lisa, n.k , marineJAG, Nikki, michelle UK, LieutenantjgMegAustin, Jeanmary, pop1013, TV Angel 711, Code, starryeyes10, froggy0319, Abigailefor the reviews!
PART 2 – Of Different Relationships
0920 Local
Thanksgiving
Mac and Harm's House
San Diego, California
Quietly, Harm padded down the stairs with every intent of starting breakfast for his two girls. When he reached the landing, a faint sound of the television caught him off guard. "Mattie, what are you doing up so early?" Harm gave her a kiss on the cheek and then settled in next to her, draping an arm over her shoulders.
Mattie shrugged. "I've only been up for like ten minutes. . .Jake called my cell to let me know he reached Miami."
Suddenly, Harm was wide awake. "Jake? Who's Jake?" Through the years with Mattie things on the boyfriend front had been undeniably quiet. Rehab and physical therapy had taken a lot of her. It had been time consuming and painful, leaving no time for any extracurricular activities. Then there was that stint between him and Susan which had Mattie undoubtedly angry at him. Somehow, between then and now he felt as if he were missing a whole lifespan.
"Ugh." She hadn't quite anticipated telling him about the man in her life just yet. It wasn't serious - far from it - but there was something there, hiding in the woodworks. Mattie had always been strong, tough, but around Jake. . . "I didn't want to bring him up."
Great. Harm was paling with every second that passed. He always knew that, at some point, Mattie had to find someone for herself but having it happen totally stole the winds from his sails. "That doesn't make me feel any better, Mats. . .Where did you meet him?"
"Erm. . .ah. . .Well. . .you see."
Her lack of formulating a cohesive sentence was all the answer he needed. "Mattie, you aren't supposed to date another classmate. . .You know they can be real hardasses about tha. . ."
"I know. . .We aren't dating, Harm." At his disbelieving look she clarified. "I swear. We aren't. . ." Turning to the side, she faced him fully. "I like him. . . a lot. . .But he's. . .he's like oblivious to it, you know?"
Something about that made him angry. Mattie was a beautiful girl, smart and incredible. "Is he stupid? Or blind?"
"Funny you would mention that." She said with a chuckle. "How long have you and Mac danced around each other?" Though she didn't know all of the play by play, Jen had filled her in quite a bit. "I think you were quite oblivious there yourself." Nudging him playfully, she threw her head back and laughed again with more feeling.
Alright, so she was dead on. "Look, Mac and I are different. . .Well, maybe not so different. . . I just don't want you to blow it all away for some guy, Mats."
"I'm not going to blow it all away for a guy, Harm. . ." She sighed deeply. "But, I am old enough to figure it out on my own. . And, I want to figure it out on my own. . .You don't have to worry."
He knew that, really he did, but she was his daughter, worrying came with the territory. "I know. . .I'll try not to freak out."
"Good." She snuggled against him and suddenly remembered a picture she had seen of the Annapolis alumni. It was odd actually and she'd fretted for a while as to why Harm hadn't mentioned it to her. "Why didn't you tell me that Mac graduated from Annapolis? And why doesn't she wear the school ring? Is it a Marine Corps thing?"
Okay, so that completely threw him for a loop. "Woah, woah. . .What are you talking about? Mac never went to Annapolis. She graduated from OCS."
Mattie sat up and stared at him. Pictures didn't lie and the one she had seen at school clearly showed Harm, Mac and two other guys sitting together in the courtyard. "Harm, I saw the picture of you and Mac at school. . .She was a student, she was wearing the uniform."
"Mac was never. . .Oh. . . Diane." God, how long had it been since he even thought about her? Really thought about her. Something about that night on the docks with Mac had put that ghost to rest and helped him heal. He swore he would never forget and yet, between that point in time and the present, that is exactly what he had done. Harm had long since stopped seeing Mac as Diane. They were nothing alike save for their appearance. For that matter not even that was really exact if one would know the women intimately as he did. Diane's smile was something that couldn't quite compare to Mac's. The Marine's smile was genuinely beautiful and charming. Her voice was different too, with a hint of sexiness and mischief where Diane's had been more girly and flirty. Their touches were completely different. While Diane's touches were friendly in nature and Mac's. . .God, those always set him on fire. Even from the first moment they met, there was a heat between them that hadn't been between him and Diane. He was never really in love with Diane. Sure, he loved her as something more than a friend, but it was her death that caused him to believe he was in love when he wasn't.
"Harm?" Concerned, Mattie placed a hand on his arm and shook slightly. "Who's Diane?"
This was a story that he wished would just stay dead and buried. He respected Diane and cared greatly, but it was in the past and he knew, from experience, that things of the past shouldn't be part of your future. "Diane Schonke is the woman you saw in that picture. . .It's not Mac." Harm didn't even wait for her to comment, it was just easier to get it over with. "I know, they look the same. . .But, I swear, they are two different women."
"You sure?"
Harm nodded. "One hundred percent. . .They aren't even related. . .Diane was murdered several years ago." He blurted out and braced himself for that movie picture like image that played in his head. It was still vivid in his mind after all of these years, seeing Diane on the stretcher inside a thick black bag. "She was the crypto officer aboard the Seahawk. . .An officer was making sexual advances at her and when she threatened to. . .to report him, he decided to silence her. . . permanently. . .I was put on the case and was even a suspect since I was. . .too close for NCIS' liking."
"Oh God, I'm. . .I'm sorry." She ran a hand up and down Harm's back, wanting to ask what she knew was none of her business. Curiosity got the best of her. There were so many questions now, a lot of them pertaining to the woman upstairs and what her place was in Harm's life. Was Mac just a replacement for this Diane person? Something about that creeped Mattie out immensely. "Were you. . .I mean, did you two. . .?"
"Yes, Diane and I dated. . .exclusively for a little while. . .We even served together. . .She was instrumental in getting me back on my feet after my crash." He smiled slightly. Diane had busted his chops and stuck by him every step of the way until he managed to get his life out of standstill. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have been a lawyer. . .He would have never met Mac. "We decided to see other people for a while. . .When she was in port or when I headed out to sea, we'd see each other. . .It was like if. . .if things never changed. . .We were supposed to meet that weekend. . .To discuss the future. . .We never got the chance."
"You loved her?" Mattie was strangely angry with him, that if his answer was towards the positive side, he could have just taken on another woman because he looked like a flame from his past.
"Yes, but. . .It took me a very long time to see that I wasn't in love with her. . .We shared a lot of great moments, but. . .relationship wise, sometimes we couldn't connect. . .Out of all of the women in my life, she should have been the one to understand what flying meant to me and she didn't. . .Pilots were always like some big joke to her." He never understood why that was exactly, but according to Diane the real workers were on the ship, not the jet jocks that flew out, blew up a few airstrips and then came home to a hot meal and a comfy bed while the others slaved over computers and machinery.
Mattie sighed. "Yea, a lot of people find it stupid that I want to fly." She didn't let that discourage her, if anything it fueled her drive more. "Does Mac know?"
Harm shook his head. "Mac knows. . .They never met, of course, but Mac saw a picture once. I think it threw us for a bit of a loop, she spent nearly two years without knowing why I tended to act. . .different around her."
"Different?"
This was tricky to explain without people getting the wrong ideas. There were no two ways about it, Mac was Mac and Diane was Diane. "If she was quietly working on something and I would look at her. . .the memories would flood back. . .But then, there would be some quirk that is uniquely Mac and it would snap me out of it. . .If anything it was Mac that helped me say goodbye." Or was it more of a 'hello?' It doesn't really matter who she thought he was kissing, it was their first kiss and nothing could ever replace that. Mac may have been correct in her assumption that he was kissing Diane, but when they broke apart it wasn't Diane he was thinking of, only the Marine across from him wearing Naval summer whites. "I'm not with Mac because she looks like Diane. . .I'm with Mac because I love her and have loved her for a very, very long time."
"What was it about Mac that made you fall in love?" They'd discussed some personal issues during the years they'd spent together, but seldom did questions of love abound.
Harm grinned, that was an easy question. "Mac's like. . .like. . .God, this is going to sound awfully dramatic. . .but. . ." He couldn't help the silly expression that appeared on his face. He was in love. "She's like air. . .Something you need to survive. . .There are so many things about her. . .She's strong and yet fragile. She's sexy, womanly. . .Mac's incredibly smart. . .Has a killer smile and when she laughs I feel something in here." He pressed his hand to his chest and sighed. "I just. . .I didn't see it, or maybe I did but I knew how screwed up I was and didn't want to destroy her. . .I thought that if I kept her away from me she'd be safe. . .I just never thought she'd wind up going to another man. . .I've lost Mac too many times. . .and I'm not making that mistake again. . .She's the other half of me." He couldn't help but grin at Mattie's love struck expression and only imagined that she was dreaming of this Jake character telling her the same things. "If you tell anyone I said that. . .yer dead."
Mac was tempted to interrupt at the beginning of the conversation when questions that she wasn't sure she wanted answers to, came out of Mattie's mouth. Instead, she sat down on the landing, about to hear the conversation without being too surprised at Harm's answers. He loved her, she knew that wholeheartedly. She'd also believed what he said about him not seeing Diane when he looked at her. Now, there was another concern that had nothing to do with their relationship and yet, she needed to be part of it.
"Now, about Jake. . ." Harm continued, chuckling at Mattie's deer in the headlight look. "Mats, I trust you, I do. . .I just don't trust anyone else."
Neither did Mac for that matter. She'd thought there was a good head on her shoulders when she wound up having the affair with Farrow. Damnit, at one time she'd even had the hots for Chegwidden, what the hell was up with that? Not that AJ wasn't good looking, he was a babe, but, c'mon! It concerned her the lengths that Mattie would go to see this boy or vice versa. The girl had a promising career in the military and Mac wanted to make sure no one sabotaged that. Standing up, she finally made her way down the steps, stopping to see Mattie and Harm hugging. "Great! Just great!" She shot out in mock anger, frightening both Mattie and Harm. "A younger woman and in my own house!"
Mac walked her way over to the coffee table, sat on it and threw a hand over her eyes dramatically. "Oh woe is me."
Harm bit back a chuckle. "Yea, well. . .You weren't getting out of bed, so I moved on to bigger and better things."
"Ewww. That's gross. . .I mean, you are cute and all, but. . .Eww." Making a face, Mattie pulled away from Harm's embrace and slid to the end of the sofa.
Placing a hand over his heart Harm sighed and then turned to Mac. "Love, I swear, nothing happened. . .Could you ever forgive me?"
She stared at him for a moment and placed a hand on her chin as if she were thinking over the situation. "Yea, well. . ." Before finishing the sentence, Mac lunged at Harm, pinning him back onto the sofa as she slid onto his lap. "Hello there, sailor. . .Morning."
"Morning." Harm grinned as Mac's lips met his. It was a tame kiss. . .erm, slightly tame.
Mattie giggled. "You two, get a room."
"We. . .Have. . .One." Harm punctuated between words. He gave Mac a final smooth and then, reluctantly, stopped their kisses. "We do have to start preparing the food for the party."
"After breakfast?" Mac offered, acting all girlish, batting her eyebrows in attempt to get him to cook breakfast. "You know, we won't be eating until later today. . .and we need a big breakfast to tied us over so that we can stuff ourselves later." She licked her lower lip in anticipation for Harriet's famous turkey. Even better, Harm was making his famous glazed ham. Yes, this Thanksgiving was going to be finger licking.
If there was one day that Harm's aversion to meat was nonexistent, it was Thanksgiving. The flyboy had been known to consume hearty portions of Turkey and Ham. To be fair, his aversion was really only to some read meat and greasy burgers. "That was my idea until a Marine Colonel decided to come and sit on my lap."
"My, my, my Captain, you do all sorts of odd things don't you?" She slowly tried to remove herself from his lap, only to receive a soft smack on her six for her troubles. "Ouch! Captain, beware. . .Marine on warpath." Mac threw over her shoulder with a saccharine sweet smile as she disappeared into the kitchen.
When Harm turned to Mattie to get a reaction, he only got mutiny. Mattie threw her hands up in surrender and nodded towards the kitchen. "Hey, don't look at me, I'm not going to piss off some Marine to side with a Sailor."
"Traitor!"
Mattie shrugged. "Survival, sir. . .Survival."
Oh yes, Mattie and Mac. . .They were going to be the duo to contend with alright. Harm didn't mind, in fact, he welcomed the time spent with his two girls.
1935 Local
Robert's Residence
San Diego, California
"Unca Harm! Auntie Mac!" The two little tornados known as Alex and Amy bowled into their aunt and uncle with Jimmy hot on their heels and AJ coolly leaning against the wall. "Look, Unca Harm, Aimes and I match." Alex said with a bright smile as he pointed to his twin sister.
Harm grinned. "I can see. . .You look very cute."
"What about me Uncle Harm?" Jimmy asked as he toyed with the tie he was wearing. "I'm wearing a tie like a big boy. . .AJ didn't want to." He turned towards AJ and stuck his tongue out, then quickly ran out of the room following his brother and sister.
AJ shrugged. "I don't like ties."
"Neither does your father." Mac said with a chuckle, recalling a time too many when Bud had certain malfunctions with his ties. "Are you going to give me a hug or am I going to have to take you hostage?" AJ had been going through that awkward 'girls are icky' stage which was both amusing and annoying. His hugs to anyone of the fairer sex now only lasted all of two seconds.
"Uncle Harm, when are we going flying?" Ah, yes, onto bigger and better things. Big boy things. "You promised to take me flying."
Harm had indeed promised. Since finishing with Patterson, both Harm and Mac had tried to spend more time with the Roberts Clan. He had a lot of time to make up for and Mac loved those children as if they were her own. "The weather hasn't been too good for it, buddy. . .But I'll tell you what, next weekend I have to go fix her up, how about you come with me?"
Almost immediately that broke AJ out of his 'funk' and that long gone toddler excitement was back. "Can I really!"
"Yup, but you need to ask mom and dad, okay?"
AJ rolled his eyes. "Uncle Harm, I'm a man. . .Mom and dad trust me." With that, he gave his godfather a high five and ran out of the room to check on the 'babies' as he called his siblings.
Mattie sighed happily. It was nice being home and having a family, albeit unorthodox, to celebrate the holidays with. She was going to miss them during Christmas, but the thoughts of doing an 'adult' thing by skiing with classmates was a welcomed change of pace. "Jen!" Spotting Jennifer Coates with a man. . .a good looking man, made her stop dead in her tracks. An amused grin sprawled across Mattie's face. Ah, so this was the man that Jen had continuously e-mailed her about? "This must be Corporal Lane." She resisted the urge to mercilessly tease Jen and use the infamous 'she always talks about you' sentence. Although, not saying it was just as bad.
Marine Corporal Joshua Lane was a bona fide sweetheart, the type that seemed more like an alter boy than a Jarhead. He was sweet, kind and gentle but, when called to, could turn lethal. From the moment Jen walked into the office, he was hooked. They spent many lunch breaks together and, through the last few months, things had turned interesting. Despite Mac's suggestion to ask him out, Jen had waited and finally got the old fashioned wooing she was looking for. "You must be Captain Rabb's daughter Mattie." He took her hand and shook gently. "Jen talks a lot about you. . .I have to say, you're an inspiration." Sighing, he glanced down and then back up, stealing himself as he told his own story of victory. "I got in a pretty bad accident when I was fourteen, everyone said I would never, ever walk again. . .and here I am. . .lean, mean, fighting Marine."
After making most of the rounds in the Roberts' home (a good number of the staff was invited) Harm leaned against a doorframe, studying the exchange between Jen, Joshua and Mattie. "Mac? Who's that?" He remember seeing the man a few times in the office, but never thought that he was this close to the clan.
Mac grinned. If there was anyone other than Mattie which Harm felt the need to be a father figure over, it was Jennifer Coates. "That's Corporal Joshua Lane – Josh to his friends."
"Uh-huh, why is he drooling all over Jen?" To Josh's credit, he wasn't drooling, just respectfully noticing Jen's beauty.
"They like each other. . .He's a good kid, Harm. . .Good head on his shoulders. . . Wants to fly Hornets." She figured that applying to Harm's pilot nature would do some good.
It didn't. "Want me to talk to him. . .Captain to Corporal?"
Mac rolled her eyes, men. "Naw, I already gave him my Marine Colonel 'hurt her and I'll kill you' speech. . .They tend to listen more to their own kind than you squids." Chuckling, she placed a hand on Harm's arm and steered him away before he embarrassed Jen. "C'mon, dad, you aren't going to embarrass the poor girl. . .and, besides, you should worry more about Josh than Jen."
Harm managed to restrain himself, vowing that, eventually, he and Josh would have a little chit chat.
0356 Zulu
USS Patrick Henry
Location Undisclosed
The COD had been tied onto the deck for the last six hours with no hopes of heading out until the storm cell around the carrier calmed. From what little he understood about meteorology, it would probably be in the morning. It was the perfect place to hide out, especially after paying some deckhands to keep an eye out for anyone who could possibly cause some trouble. Vic released the bottom hatch and slipped in carefully closing the aircraft. With a defeated sigh, he lounged across two seats and reached under, feeling around for some contraband. "Aha!" He exclaimed, pulling out a medium sized bottle of vodka. Despite the fact that he'd been drinking since age thirteen, that bottle was enough to put him into sweet oblivion for a few hours.
Since this new case had been thrown in his lap – mainly because Sergeant Cisco just so happened to be serving on the ship when his involvement with narcotics was discovered and Vic was the only JAG on board with experience – life had been a blur. He had to cap off most of the crappy, opened cases which meant, he spent a lot of time litigating between the accused, the JAGs back home and. . .unfortunately for him, the Captain.
Needing assistance in the form of a legal man that actually cared about the law (his current legal man was mainly for show, but had no idea how to even file) Vic decided to speak with the Captain – A conversation that didn't turn out too nice at all. . . .
(Flashback)
"Commander Vukovic, I hear you needed to see me."
The worst part of the whole meeting was that it was done at the bridge and not the Captain's which afforded Vic a little privacy. No, here he was pleading his case with both officers and enlisted hanging on their every word. He stood ramrod straight, staring out of the huge Plexiglas windows out to the sea beyond. "Yes, sir. . .It's about the legal office. . .We're backed up and now I've been handed the Cisco court-martial. . .it's a bit. . .taxing, sir."
"Your point?" Nope, Captain Stacey Loftness really couldn't stand the younger man and let it show any chance he got. He was civil with Vukovic, making sure not to let his disdain fly over the deep end, but his civility only went so far. How did the man manage to pass law school?
"Sir, I need assistance. . .maybe for a week or two. . .Or until the Cisco case is done with. . .Permission to call Joint Legal Services Southwest and request backup." He'd hoped Mac would send Mayfield. Things between the two of them were far from being over. Sure, the relationship had gone to hell in a hand basket, but, any chance he got to bug Tali was to be taken.
Loftness peeled his eyes away from the horizon and just studied Vukovic for a moment. The man oozed legal weenie and while there were a few lawyers that he respected, Vic wasn't one of them. "I hear you worked with Rabb once, right?. . .Neither he nor MacKenzie would have ever asked for assistance. . .They would have gutted it out. . .Request DENIED. . .get back to your quarters and I don't want to see you again until you have some defense strategy lined up for Sergeant Cisco, understood?"
Vic could do nothing more than oblige, but he wasn't out of options. The SECNAV would hear about this as soon as they hit port. "Understood, sir."
(End flashback)
"Stupid bastard." He cursed under his breath, taking a long pull from the bottle. "Stupid bitch." To make matters a little worse, he'd obviously mistaken the flirting going on between him and his legal woman. When her voluptuous body arched over the desk, brushing intimately with his, Vic couldn't help himself. To say that his touch was inappropriate was an understatement and Petty Officer Janna Stevens' slap made it clear she was a little less than interested.
Vic laughed without emotion, choking on a sip of alcohol that went down the wrong tube. The woman had agreed not to press charges, that it had been her fault as much as his. That maybe they had been working together a little too closely. She also told him, in no uncertain terms, that life as a legal man was out of the question and that, if Vic so much as looked at her again, she would press charges. You didn't have to be a Rhode scholar to know when to back off and never touch that subject again.
That posed another problem as a second conversation with the Captain (who was having a Thanksgiving dinner along with the senior officers at the time) proved to be a bad idea. He was chewed out for this one and asked (twice no less) if he had treated the Petty Officer inappropriately. Vic lied, of course, and in the end wound up with nothing to show for it more than a "we'll see."
Yes, life on the Henry was sucking for him, but there was always a light at the end of the tunnel and that would come in the form of one Sarah MacKenzie who was due to grace him with her presence on Monday. He loved squaring off with her. That gullible mistake she had made their first time out was rather pleasant. No one could deny that, as a Senior officer, she should have run the show better. But she hadn't and thankfully, no one knew the difference between a real witness and the actor he hired.
Since then, he knew that Mac was always on her toes when it came to him. In Vic's mind that made her all the more vulnerable and susceptible to losing. God, wouldn't that be nice? Causing the big bad Colonel Bitch to look like a fool in front of her peers? It was just his luck that the case went directly to her office. It still sucked, he really would have preferred the mundane cases to something so public, but it would do and he would embarrass her immensely.
When the bottle had been dried, he stumbled upwards, steeling himself against the suddenly violent pitch of the deck. The storm was getting closer. His stomach lurched with the waves, maybe the alcohol wasn't a good idea? There went another couple of days spent in sick bay. Great, now Loftness had something else to complain about.
2145 Local
Roberts' Residence
San Diego, California
During the festivities, Harm had noticed Mac slipping out the door to the front porch and grinned. There was almost a sense of déjà vu that took him to a time so long ago. This time he had someone who would always love him and she did too. "Excuse me." He told Lt. Commander Johnson then quickly discarded the wine he had been sipping by placing it on a nearby table. Gently, he pulled on the door to close it once he stepped outside. When he found her, Mac was leaning against the railing, glancing out into the chilly night, a red shawl covering her figure.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to follow." Her voice held a soft, flirty tone that startled Harm who didn't realize she knew he was there. "It's so beautiful tonight." The stars were shining brightly as they always did on chilly nights.
Harm came up behind her, then wrapped his arms around her waist. "You're beautiful tonight." He kissed her shoulder then turned his head to nuzzle a particular spot on her neck. "Did you come out here so that we could have a little rendezvous?"
She turned in his arms and grinned. "You make it sound so risqué. . .But yea, I just wanted you all to myself for a little bit."
"Hmmm." Lowering his head he kissed her gently, then rested his forehead on hers. "So how long did I take?"
Mac thought slightly, a timid smirk gracing her features. "Nineteen seconds. . . just two seconds quicker than last time."
Surprised would definitely be the term to describe what he was feeling. "You timed it that night?" He released Mac, allowing her to walk a few paces away from him and settle herself on the small bench against the wall.
She bent over, fixing the strap on her heels which had slipped slightly. "I guess I was hoping you'd follow. . .We had a lot to talk about. . .I wanted you to be my hero, save me from my mistake."
"I wanted that too. . .But, I wanted you to be happy even if it was with Mic." Damnit, what he should have done that night was take her into his arms and kiss the daylights out of her. Wait, he had done that, but their sense of duty and loyalty never let it go further. "It was one hell of a kiss though." A kiss that had sustained him for the years to come. A kiss that was branded on him like a tattoo.
Mac smiled, then stood, meeting him halfway. "It was powerful. . .I never thought it was possible to feel pain, pleasure, happiness, anger and love all at one time." The heat of his gaze drew her in as it always had but with an intensity that only transcended between lovers. And she loved him, more than words could say. Drawn to the need to savor his lips, she pulled his head down and kissed him passionately.
When they broke apart she could see the love, lust and mischief in Harm's eyes. "And what did this kiss make you feel?"
"Love." They kissed again, this time deepening it even more until a distinct sound of the door opening brought them to the present.
Jen Coates tried to keep a straight face but it was nearly impossible. All of the years that she had witnessed this fight of wills between two of her favorite people and now. . .It made happiness just this much attainable for her. "Sir, Ma'am. . .Commander Roberts is looking for you, we're about to serve dessert." She shivered slightly and glanced out into the clear night. "Oh, getting chilly out here."
Harm chuckled as Mac's head came to rest on his chest, hiding away the blush which was creeping up her cheeks. "Yes it is, Jen. . .We'll be right in." Reaching down, Harm placed his index finger on Mac's chin and slowly raised her head up. "Sarah, you'll have someone who will always love you."
"And you have someone who loves you." They kissed again, passionately, longingly, erasing yet another mistake of the past and solidifying their future. When they broke apart, she took his hand and tugged him into the house. "C'mon flyboy. . .My stomach is grumbling for that apple pie you made."
Making a comment on how she had stuffed herself during dinner would have been appropriate at the time, but Harm was too busy thinking ahead to bigger and better things. Like the whip cream he'd be licking off her body later in the evening provided he could sway her shyness of getting frisky under the same roof as his daughter.
