Chapter 21

Later that afternoon, Lee nonchalantly strolled up to Francine's desk to hand in his report. As he set the report on her desk, she smirked up at him with a mischievous grin on her face. "Well, Scarecrow. I didn't think you were going to get it done on time. Did you have Amanda type it for you?"

"No, I didn't. I do know how to fill out a report, Ms. Busybody. I've been doing them for years before Amanda started working here."

"Yes, you did do them, but they were not done very well. Am I going to be able to read this?"

"I don't know. Can you read?" He sarcastically asked. She glared back at him, waiting for him to continue. He sighed and responded, "I typed it just for you because I didn't want to listen to you bi...complain about it." He stuck out his tongue like a child at her.

"I'm surprised you didn't try and rope her into helping you." She indicated with a tilt of her head over to where Amanda was working, and her ring was prominently standing out. "Oh, I get it. Now that she's engaged and off the market, she's no use to you. Typical Scarecrow." She opened the report that Lee just gave her and pretended to browse through it.

Lee took a deep breath, lowered his voice, and gritted his teeth. "That has nothing to do with it. Amanda just had a lot of work that needed to get done by the end of the day. There was no reason to add to her workload when I was very capable of doing the report myself. It's not that I can't do them. I just don't like to do them."

"Oh, yes. You did do them by yourself. Then we sent them down to crypto, so they could be deciphered." She teasingly grinned up at him.

Lee glared down at her. "Very funny. That's why I typed it. Now, if you don't mind, I have transcripts to read through." He turned to head back to his desk but was stopped by Francine before he could get away.

"So, what's he really like?"

Lee rolled his eyes before he swung back to Francine. "What's who really like?"

"You know exactly who I mean. Amanda's fiance." She peered off into space as she thought out loud. "Man, that is just strange to say." She shrugged and focused back on Lee. "I have no idea who would find little Miss Perky Housewife appealing enough to marry. I bet you it's that weatherman she was seeing when she started here."

"It's not the weatherman," Lee snapped. "She stopped seeing him a long time ago." Lee quickly glanced at Amanda to make sure she wasn't witnessing their interactions before continuing, "And what kind of comment was that? Amanda would be a catch for any man."

"My, my, my. I do think you protest too much, Scarecrow. Is that a bit of jealousy I hear coming from you? Is the Great Scarecrow upset someone else has his housewife's attention? Is she not at your beck and call anymore?"

"Knock it off, Francine! It's not that way, and you know it. I'm just saying, if you took the time to get to know Amanda, instead of putting her down every chance you get, you would realize there is a lot more to her than shows on the outside."

"Fine, if you say so. However, you still haven't answered my question. What's he like?"

Lee took a deep breath, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this one without some kind of an answer. "Fine. He's extremely nice and treats Amanda very well."

"Come on, Lee. That is not the information I'm searching for. Is he handsome, tall, short, fat, bald? Rich!?" She said that last comment with a raised eyebrow. "Give me details."

"Francine, I'm not going against her wishes. She wants to keep her personal life separate from her work life, and you are just going to have to accept it."

"Accept it? She told you, but she won't tell anyone else? I can't accept that."

Lee smiled as soon as he realized what was really bothering Francine about this. It's not that she is engaged. It's that she hasn't told her anything. "First, she told me because I'm her partner and her fiance needed to know me. Secondly, I'm not the only one who knows who he is. Billy knows too." Lee abruptly spun around and triumphantly swaggered away from Francine and headed straight to his desk without giving her the chance to respond. He was well aware that he'd just gotten her goat and couldn't be happier.

Francine huffed in disgust with the new knowledge Lee just shared. As she watched Lee's back get further from her, she glanced over to see Amanda typing away with her headphones on, oblivious to what just happened. Her ring sparkled off the lights of the bullpen like it was taunting her.

Amanda sensed that someone was watching her. She brought her head up to see Francine staring at her. She smiled as Francine plastered a fake smile back to her. She then took off her headphones, gathered her notes, and placed them in the folder. She reached down and pulled her purse out of the bottom drawer, and headed for Francine. With her hand extended with the folder towards Francine, she commented, "Here you go, Francine. I got all the transcripts typed that Mr. Melrose asked for. I'm going to step out for a while and get a late lunch. Do you want me to bring you anything?"

"No, I'm fine. I'll make sure Billy gets these," Francine replied as she waved the folder at Amanda.

"Okay, I'll be back in a little bit." Amanda turned and headed straight to Lee's desk. "Hey, there. I'm taking a late lunch. Have you eaten yet?"

Lee glanced up and locked eyes with her. They were both lost in each other for just a split second, but remembering where they were, they quickly broke their stare. "No, I haven't. What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know. Something light since it's so late."

"Okay, why don't we decide while I drive." Lee placed the folders he was working on in his desk drawer, stood, and motioned to the double glass doors. Amanda walked slightly ahead of him as he placed his hand at the small of her back. As they approached the elevator, Lee scanned around to make sure no one was in earshot, leaned in close to Amanda's ear, and whispered, "You were driving me crazy this morning. If you want to keep this a secret a little while longer, you need to stop with the sexy antics you were doing at your desk. No one else may notice it, but I do."

Amanda innocently grinned but kept her head forward and whispered back, "Oh, you saw that, did you?"

Lee pushed the button on the elevator a little harder than he needed to and twisted to face her. Through gritted teeth, he spoke, "You know damn well I saw it." She beamed up at him with a devilish smile but didn't say anything. "You are going to pay for that, later when we're alone, you know that, don't you?"

She raised an eyebrow and smiled seductively. "I look forward to it." Her eyes twinkled as they expressed how much she wanted him. They entered the elevator and arranged the coats, so they covered the opening. She quickly swung to face him and put a finger on his chest, but didn't move any closer to him, so to the camera, it would appear like she was just angry at him. She spoke even lower than before to avoid being overheard by the microphone. "But no squeaky bed!"

Lee exhibited his teasing, dimple-revealing grin and responded just as quietly, "Oh, no. The squeaky bed will be involved." They changed positions, so they were standing side by side. Amanda had a worried look on her face, while Lee was sporting a mischievous grin. He peeked at her out of the corner of his eye as she spied at him as well. He faced forward again, and as the doors opened, he meandered out and, with a normal voice, added, "It's only fair."

Amanda stood frozen in time. She didn't like the look he possessed on his face, and the way he said It's only fair scared her to death. Lee stopped, rotated to face Amanda, and with a straight face questioned, "Are you coming or not? I'm getting hungry." Lee whirled around, not waiting for an answer, gave Mrs. Marston his badge, shrugged his shoulders, and rolled his eyes to make sure the guardian didn't pick up on their teasing banter that just happened in the elevator.

Amanda shook her head to pull herself out of her trance, reached for her badge, handed it to Mrs. Marston, and scurried out without a word.