Danny felt his spine stiffen at her words. He had known they would have to talk about this; hell it was the reason they were here. He was just hoping that it would go well. He couldn't afford another screw up.

Lindsay sat on the chair across from him, the coffee table separating them and crossed her arms across her chest. 'Why, Danny?'

'I don't know Lindsay,' he sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and trying to catch her eye. 'I know that's not what you want to hear. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that I don't feel that way about Rikki. I never have, not even when we were only neighbours. I know I hurt you and that kills me. I know you think this is just me being me, a player, but that's not true. I've never been a player. I have had a few girlfriends but I've never cheated.' He immediately realised his mistake when she whipped her head up and almost growled at him.

'I guess I should feel special then! So what is it about me that drove you to it?'

'That's not what I meant, you know that. I just mean that it was circumstances. Also, it will never happen again because that's not who I am.'

The tears were already pooling in her eyes and she was feeling everything she had tried to suppress these last few weeks. She wanted him in her life but she was overwhelmed with feelings of hurt and betrayal. She took a deep breath to steady herself.

'I just don't understand Danny. You chased me for so long then treated me like nothing when you got me.' She looked out of the window, it was a beautiful day. Way too nice to be caught up in this awful situation.

'I know, I was weak Lindsay. I didn't want you to see me that way. She was just there at the wrong moment...'

'From what I gathered it happened twice, that's one hell of a wrong moment! Was she that good you had to go back for seconds?'

She was now on her feet and pacing the floor.

'No! It wasn't about sex, just comfort! Lindsay, I honestly wasn't thinking clearly at the time.'

'I know what you were thinking with! Was it hot Danny, is that why you blew me off the next day for round two? I was just the annoying girlfriend keeping you from getting laid!'

Danny was starting to get worked up himself; he hadn't known she was still this angry. He stood in front of her to try and get her to listen.

'Lindsay, I wish I could explain this better but I can't. It happened and I'm sorry but I can't tell you what I don't know. I don't know why we used sex to comfort each other. It wasn't because of any kind of attraction, it just happened. I'm sorry.'

'Was I really that much of a disappointment? You chased me forever only to find out I'm not the one you can talk to or turn to in a crisis, and I'm not all that great in bed so you have to go elsewhere.'



'That's not what happened Lindsay! I know I could have spoken to you. I could have turned to you but she was Ruben's Mom. You're crazy if you think I wasn't happy with our sex life. I've had my share of sex Lindsay; you're the only person I've ever made love with.'

They both stared at each other for a minute; she could see he was serious.

'Did you feel like you owed her, is that what this is?'

He turned away and his shoulders slumped in defeat.

'I don't know, maybe that's part of it. If it wasn't for me she'd still have her son.' His voice cracked and she laid her hand on his shoulder.

'You gotta stop blaming yourself for this Danny; you did what you had to do. You thought you were getting him away from a dangerous crime scene. You're not the one who fired the gun.'

He turned back towards her and she could see the tears glistening on his cheeks.

'I thought if I could make her stop hurting, even for a few minutes that maybe I'd stop hurting too,'

'Did you?'

'No. So I tried again.'

She looked away from him for a second. This was hard to hear but she wanted him to get it off his chest. She knew he would carry this guilt forever if he didn't. When she turned back he looked towards the floor.

'I missed him so much and she had all these stories about him. We just clung together and I didn't care about anyone else for a while. That felt like where I should be. I realised I was wrong when you spoke to me in our office. I need you Lindsay; you're the one I want to talk to about all this. You're my best friend, the one I should have come to all along. I just felt like wallowing for a while.'

'Thank you,' she said sincerely reaching out to take his hand in hers.

'For what,' he asked, confusion and disbelief clouding his eyes.

'For being honest with me. I was fully expecting the usual story. She came on to me, I was drunk, I was thinking about you the whole time, etc.'

'Oh. Well I figured if we want to try again I should admit where I went wrong. I know it's going to be hard Lindsay, I don't ever expect you to forget what I did.'

'I do want to try again but I can't give you any promises Danny. I can't promise that I'm never going to get jealous or suspicious. I can't promise that I'm never going to throw this back in your face in the heat of a fight. As long as we agree to talk about everything when things get rough. I won't stand for you pushing me away again Danny, I needed you too and you weren't there.'

By now she was crying and he immediately wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on top of hers.



'I'll always be here from now on, I promise, I'm not going anywhere.'

'My dad's sick,' she whispered into his chest.

He hugged her tighter to him and started stroking her back soothingly, urging her silently to continue.

'He had heart surgery and my mom said he's doing good but she won't let me fly out there. I think she's trying to hide how bad it is.'

'I'm sure he's fine Montana but how about this. We call your mom and tell her we're flying out unless she faxes us his medical records, then we get Hawkes to take a look.'

'What if it's bad or she won't fax them.'

'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it but try not to think the worst before you know for sure.'

Lindsay had forgotten how good it was to talk to confide in him, he always knew the right thing to say.

'Why don't we make some sandwiches, salad, pack a bottle of wine and go have lunch by the creek? If I remember correctly there's a trail not too far from here.'

She smiled and looked up at him; they had found the secluded area the first time they were here. It had been so romantic, just them and nature. She had never thought of Danny as a romantic guy before that weekend. Their first night together hadn't done anything to disprove that. As fun as that night was it was the weekend that they had first got to really know each other. She knew Flack and the other guys would be shocked if they knew just how romantic he could be; how affectionate he was with her.

'Sounds good cowboy.'

'After you Montana.'