Lee
Even after two rounds - or was it three? - of their stupid argument, Lee was relieved and proud of the way Amanda had handled herself.
"I'm telling you, she fought back. What'd you think she'd do?" Lee said after Francine refused to believe his story of the previous night's events.
"Faint! Sort of a... suburban swoon." Francine gestured with a hand at her forehead.
"Hardly. She was great. She even took one out with a lamp."
As much as he admired Francine and her well-honed skills, Lee was truly impressed with Amanda's resourcefulness in the face of a terrifying kidnapping attempt. And he knew by now that she was definitely not the swooning type. 'Maybe I should tell her she shouldn't resign,'
Lee and Francine executed their 'take Rollo out the back way' plan perfectly. He had a fist full of Rollo's shirt and was trying to wrap his mind around what the slimeball was saying.
"What?! You were going to sell Amanda?!"
Lee's stomach turned into a knot of bile and anger as the true motive for Amanda's 'purse snatching' and botched kidnapping came clear. He shoved Rollo into Francine's custody. "I've got to get to Amanda," he said frantically.
Flashback to Munich, continued
Amanda
When Amanda put her hands on his chest, Lee instinctively licked his lips and Amanda's stomach did a little flip. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest - warm and solid. A kiss seemed inevitable.
Until Amanda remembered Gillian. She began to push Lee away. "Wait. What about Gillian?"
Lee squinted and tipped his head. "What about her?"
Amanda shot him a piercing look saying he really ought to know what she was talking about.
"Oh, yeah, Gillian. We broke up."
"Hang on. Weren't you at her cabin?" She'd stopped pushing him away, but took a step back to put space between them while she got to the bottom of this.
"Yes..." He sounded wary.
"And weren't you extremely mad that your long weekend had been interrupted?" She reviewed the facts, poking his chest. It'd barely been a couple of days, the memory of his anger was fresh.
"Yes. But..." He held up a hand to stop Amanda before she said anything. "I was only there because I'd planned to break up with her - gently, over the long weekend. Instead, I got the call in the middle of the night to come get you out of jail, so I had to do it as I was packing up."
"You broke up?"
"Yeah. Gillian had actually been thinking the weekend would be our last 'hurrah' anyway. We parted on good terms." Lee sounded pretty proud of himself. "It all worked out, except for the fact that I still had to drive four hours from the Poconos to the Agency and then fly to Munich at the drop of a hat. In coach."
Amanda began smoothing her hand over the spot on Lee's chest she'd been poking. "Sorry about that."
"It wasn't your fault. Besides, we took down an international counterfeiting ring. Not bad for a simple courrier job." Lee looked down at where her hands had come to rest, then back up at her with a cautious smile.
"Yeah," Amanda ticed her head to the side and grinned, feeling much better about the Gillian situation.
It seemed that Lee wasn't about to waste anymore time talking, which suited her very well. He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her close. She stepped into his embrace and they kissed. Her hands moved over his shoulders and around his neck, which Lee correctly interpreted as a sign of encouragement to hold her tighter and increase the pressure of his kiss.
He rumbled a hum of satisfaction and Amanda tilted her head for a better angle. They began tentative explorations of tongues and mouths.
Amanda might've heard the ding of the elevator if it weren't for the deeply alluring taste of Lee Stetson and the arousing feel of his strong hands on her waist that was clouding everything else out.
The very drunk Herr and Frau Eckert came stumbling down the hall, getting closer and closer, louder and louder, and less and less able to walk in a straight line. They ultimately bumbled directly into Lee and Amanda, knocking everyone akimbo. Apologies in German were slurred as the drunk couple careened away, but the damage had already been done. The intoxicating spell of exploring this newly acknowledged mutual attraction was broken.
Lee looked to the end of the hall where the Eckerts were trying to open the door to their room. "Um… I guess we'd better get to bed." He turned back to Amanda with a kind of dazed expression. "To sleep, I mean."
"Yeah," she nodded.
Once in their room, they took turns in the bathroom, silently readying for the night. In their separate small beds, they faced away from one another and mumbled their good-nights. After turning over a couple of times and punching her pillow for good measure - only half picturing the drunk Germans as she did - Amanda finally found sleep.
Waking to the watery light of dawn, she rolled over to see if Lee was up. He was still sleeping and Amanda guiltily indulged in studying his face and admiring his lips, which were pursed in a slight pout. Wondering what the mood between them would be for their trip back, Amanda rose quietly and took her clothes into the bathroom.
When she emerged dressed and ready to go, Lee was just hanging up the phone. He was dressed and looked like he just needed to shave.
"Flight's still on time. I'll be ready in ten minutes. We'll have time to grab something for you to eat at the airport."
The long flight home would've given them plenty of time to talk about what had happened - if either of them had wanted to discuss it. Knowing Lee's reputation, Amanda had started to worry about the line they'd crossed. She didn't want to be known around the office as a Scarecrow 'conquest,' or even a dalliance. Maybe she could will herself - and him - to forget all about it.
Not long after departure, Lee and Amanda dozed off. In their sleep, they shifted and leaned together into a position they wouldn't have been nearly so comfortable with had they been awake.
Once back in D.C. Amanda got her wish - it was like the kiss had never happened. However, she wasn't sure if she felt relief or disappointment. On one hand, she didn't think she'd be able to endure an insulting lecture from Lee about it not meaning anything. On the other, bringing it up might've presented the opportunity to recapture the moment.
End Chapter Three
