Day 8 - Nothing.

"Hey. Just wanted to see how you were doing in to let you know that there are no flowers on your desk today." Harm said when she answered her cell phone. On Sunday Mac had been called by Chegwidden to drive to Norfolk for an investigation of a former client; and they never had a chance to go to brunch.

No flowers? Perhaps, that was a good thing? "Maybe Don Juan gave up?"

"Or Don Juan is rebooting for round two... so...I've decided to help you find out who it is." Harm's voice seemed to perk up at the idea, Mac could practically hear his smile over the line and rolled her eyes. "What if it's a woman, not a man?"

His comment nearly had her spitting out the coffee she'd been attempting to ingest. "A what?"

"A woman? Don't ask, don't tell…You know..." He trailed off for a moment and then mentioned the last person Mac would ever want to receive flowers from. "What about Singer? I mean, I know you're straight but…"

Mac crinkled her nose at the thought of anything with Lt. Witch. She'd wanted to like Loren, tried to be cordial and have her join their flock but, the woman was horrible. Nevertheless, a wicked thought passed through her mind, a way to get back at Harm for the fun he was having at her expense. "Straight? Well… there um… was this time, in college. You know? The experimental years…" She trailed off with a suggestive tone, in fact her voice had dropped down an octave, seductively so.

"Uh...Oh."

She knew the exact moment Harm had dropped his phone. He was cursing, loudly and dropped the receiver once again with a hard bang. Mac bit her lower lip, trying so hard not to laugh at how she imagined him, scurrying after the phone, banging his head on the bottom of the desk - yep, she heard that too. It was literally too easy to fluster the great Harmon Rabb, Jr, perhaps that was the only hold she had on him. "Harm?"

"Ex… ex...ex-perimental… uh years?" He finally said and Mac could just imagine his cheeks burning a bright, bright red.

"Yep… college. It was wild." Wild as in having her head in a law book every night into the early morning. Yep, totally wild.

"But… I uh… thought… well, you were uh...into guys."

She could no longer keep up the charade and her laughter broke through the line. "Harm, I'm as straight as they come… Chic's aren't my thing. The male persuasion is what gets my juices flowing." His male persuasion definitely did, the man was so dreamy.

"Oh… heh. That's good, I guess." He breathed a sigh of relief that she clearly heard over the line, it made her smile. "So what kind of guy are you into? If I may be so bold to ask?"

Him. She was into him. So into him there were times that Harm was all she thought about. "Smart. Charming. Funny. Loyal." Sea blue eyes, dark hair and Commander's bars with that zillion kilowatt smile that made her stomach do somersaults.

"Maaac, you describing a guy or a Golden Retriever? I need specifics...Talk, dark, fit?"

Specifics? She couldn't really get too specific without tipping her hand. "Okay. Looks are nice but they aren't everything if what's inside the package isn't good."

"Oh…. Hadn't thought about it that way." He remained silent for a bit and then had the courage to ask something he'd been curious about. "The past men in your life, what about them attracted you?"

"They wanted me and they let me know it. Although, in retrospect, Mic was too aggressive in his interest for me, pursued a little too hard."

"Until he wore you down?"

Mac sighed. "Yeah, I guess. But, he wasn't the right guy for me anyway. I need a partner, someone who doesn't let me get away with my crap. Someone really knows me, is my best friend, challenges me, excites me, intrigues me… Someone who…"

"Loves you?" He interjected and Mac took a pause. "I didn't hear you mention anything about love...Or, more specifically, being in love… There's a difference between the two, you know."

"Yes, there is." And she was hopelessly in love with him. "Have you ever been in love, Harm?" Her own heart raced from her question especially with how he caught his breath on the opposite line. She wasn't sure but, Mac could swear she heard his breath quicken as well as some odd type of tingling that she knew he felt as well. "Have you?"

Harm let out a breath. "Yes… Although, I didn't know that's what it was until it was too late."

Diane, she surmised and hated that she held a sort of contempt for a dead woman. "Being in love can hurt."

"Yes, it can...I uh… Mac." He trailed off again and sighed deeply. "You know.. I… Damnit, I'm in lo..."

"Colonel?" Mac had been holding her phone in a vice grip as Harm's tone had changed and softened. He was going to tell her something important, she knew, something she was longing to hear but, as per usual, duty called. "Your client is ready." She glanced up to find a young Marine Corporal standing ramrod straight just a foot away from her desk.

"I have to go, Commander." She never heard Harm finish his sentence, rambling through a shy confession of love. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah… see you then."