Chapter Seven
"Wow; Messer' actually early for once." Flack snickered.
"Thank Arianna for that." Danny told him as they came to a stop at the corner of Fifth and Madison.
"And why would that be?" Mac questioned.
"Danny was about ready to get out of the car and pummel the crap out of the person in front of us so I had him pull over and I drove the rest of the way. Otherwise we would've been sitting down at the precint while I bailed his ass out of jail." Arianna chuckled.
"I'm sorry but he was being a complete jerk. Everytime we got close to him he'd slow down. Plus he was driving all over the place." Danny explained.
"Maybe he just doesn't like tailgaters." Hawkes pointed out.
"We'll if he would've just drove like everyone else we'd have been fine." Danny huffed.
"Okay guys that's enough." Stella tried to be stern but her smile gave her away.
"So what time do we want to meet back up?" Adien chimed in.
"I was thinking that we good all go out for dinner so I'd say about six?" Arianna offered.
Agreements were made all around and after saying good bye they parted. He was halfway down the block before he remembered that he'd forgotten to give Arianna the extra key to the car. Telling the guys to hold on a second he turned and called her name as he jogged to her.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Nothing; I just forgot to give you this."Danny placed the key ring in her hand. "Incase you need to get into the car for any reason."
"Thanks." Arianna took the key from him and placed it in her pocket.
Though he knew he was going to get ribbed by his freinds big time for what he was about to do he didn't care. Snaking his arm around her waist he pulled her close and planted a kiss on her. A few minutes passed before they both came up for air; a curious look in Arianna's eyes.
"What was that for?" She wondered.
"Because I wanted to. Now have fun and be safe." Danny ran a thumb over her lips.
"You too. And I will." Arianna promised.
Even Mac joined in on the cat calls and murmurs of disgust as he made his way back to them. And he enjoyed every single minute of it.
"Can you be any more mushy?" Hawkes grimaced.
"The man's in love; leave him alone." Mac came to his defense.
"Well can he keep it to hisself? It's a little to graphic for the rest of us." Flack confessed as they made their way into the first store.
Watching as he walked away; taking the ribbing he was getting from his freinds with good measure; Arianna couldn't help but smile; something she'd been doing a lot more of since she'd met Danny. Turning around she was met with raised eyebrows and smirks on the faces of the two woman with her.
"What?" Arianna shrugged.
"Oh nothing. Just admiring what it's like to be in love." Stella sang as they stepped into Nodstroms.
"You mean to tell me you never been in love before." Arianna found that hard to believe.
"I have; just not like you and Danny are." Stella offered.
"And how would that be exactly?" Arianna was curious.
"When you're together it's like there's no one else in the room. Just by looking at him you can tell Danny would walk to the ends of the earth for you and back again. And you'd do the same for him. There's just this look in his eyes whenever he sees you. It can't be explained it just is." Adien explained.
"You're right I would." Arianna sighed as she browsed through the racks.
"For someone in your position I'd think you'd be a lot happier." Stella commented.
Turning from the racks to face the two woman she knew there was no way she was goning to get out of this.
"I know. And I'am happy; extremely." Arianna told them. "I tried so hard not to let myself get too close; not to let myself fall in love again. But it didn't work. And now I'm worried that if I actually come right out and say it that he'll realize that he doesn't want to get involved with me because of the kind of life I lead. I mean I've put his family as well as him in danger for crying out loud."
"It's not just that is it?' Adien chided.
"No." Arianna confessed. "Do I really want to let him be that much a part of my life when the chance that he could be taken away just like Gage was hangs over my head? It's just; I love him so much; I wouldn't be able to handle it if I lost him."
Placing a hand on the younger womans shoulder Stella gave her a smile. " If there's one thing Danny is it's loyal to the people he cares about. If he stuck with you this long; even after knowing everything that he does; he's not gonna go anywhere after this Mandala situation is straightened out. I've seen him be a player and I've seen him change his ways when Lynsday showed up. But nothing like with you. He's not one for showing emotions; but he kissed you senseless for the whole world to see."
"Not to mention he took you home to his family when he didn't have to. When he knew what kind of a threat you were. That boy is really and truly head over heels in love with you. As far as the fact that you could loose him is concerned; don't you think that should be something for him to decided?" Adien pointed out.
Everything the two just said made perfect sense; she just needed to let herself let go and admit that they were right. Reading people as she had said before was something she was exremely good at; part of the job. Danny had taken everything she'd thrown at him with a grain of salt and still stayed with her; as did his family. If he didn't care about her he wouldn't make the effort; wouldn't have made the decision to help her in the first place. Maybe it was time to tell him how she felt. See if what she'd been feeling between them; everything that had happened between them wasn't just a figment of her imagination. Wasn't just because he felt he had to due to her situation.
"You're right." Arianna agreed.
"You gonna be okay now?" Stella asked.
"Truthfully; yeah." Arianna smiled.
"Good; now let's find a dress to knock his socks off." Adien grinned.
"Now I know why I don't like wearing a tux. It's too much work to get one." Hawkes grumbled.
"And they're really uncomfortable. I only had it on for about five minutes and I couldn't wait to get it off." Danny stated.
Three hours later they had all managed to find tuxes; albeit it wasn't easy. On the way to the car they'd spotted the girls and all decided to head to the Roosevelt Feild Mall because they hadn't been able to find anything. Now they were just killing time until dinner while the girls were still on the hunt for dresses.
"Try wearing a uniform everyday. Then we'll talk." Mac countered.
Laughing Flack turned to Danny and raised an eyebrow. "So what was with the lip lock with Arianna earlier?"
"Do you really need me to spell it out for ya?" Danny joked.
"Cute Messer." Flack shot back. "You know what I mean. What's up with you two?"
"Mac said it earlier. I'm in love." Danny simply stated.
"But we know you Danny. You've said you've been in love before and the next week the woman was old news." Hawkes pointed out.
"I won't deny that; but this is different. Everytime I see her she takes my breath away; and I can't wait to see her again. When I think of her I think of settling down and starting a family. There's absolutely no way I'm letting her go when this is all done. I can't live without her. Being with her makes me feel whole; makes me feel complete for the first time in my life. With her in my life I don't need anything else." Danny grinned.
"Okay; he's starting to wax poetic. He's defiently in love." Flack slapped him on the shoulder.
"I don't know about you but I need to go some place where there's some major testosterone after that emotional moment." Mac pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.
"Very funny guys; very funny." Danny chorlted as they made their way into a sports shop.
"If we can't find anything here I say we just go in our jeans." Stella muttered.
This was about the tenth shop they'd been into and none of them had been able to find a thing. Hopefully this time would be a charm. Personally they were all sick and tired of trying on dress after dress. But in the end that's what a woman had to do to make sure they looked their best; even if it was for one night.
"I think this might be the store ladies." Adien said as she pulled a dress from the rack.
It was gold colored; made of stretch satin with a square neck, capped sleeves, and a fishtail hemline.
"That would be perfect on you Stella." Arianna encouraged.
"All right but you guys have to find something too. I'm not gonna be the only one trying things on." Stella argued.
Half an hour later the other two woman had selected a dress and they all headed towards the back of the store. As it was agreed Stella would go first because she was the first one to find something. Getting comfortable in the chairs provided they chatted away as she got dressed.
"So you really haven't told Danny how you feel?" Adien couldn't believe it.
"No. It's not just everything I told you earlier but the fact that I don't want to ask him to give up his job to move down to Texas with me. This is his home; he has a job he loves and freinds like you. And I have the same thing down in Dallas. Being a Texas Ranger is the only thing I've ever known. I can't just give that all up." Arianna sighed.
"The only thing I can tell you is to talk to Danny; tell him how you feel and go from their. You never know; he might be willing to give everything up." Adien apologized.
"Thanks. I really appreciate it." Arianna confessed.
"No problem darlin'. You're like family to us and around here we look out for our own." Adien gave her a pat on the shoulder.
Hearing a door open they both turned to see Stella step out. "So what do you think?" She questioned.
"Mac's gonna drool when he see's you." Arianna gave her a thumbs up sign.
"That's the whole idea." Stella winked before heading back to change.
"Guess it's my turn." Adien grimaced.
Once Stella came out the other woman took her place in the dressing room. A couple of minutes passed before she emerged. Again they'd hit the nail on the head. The color of burnt orange it had a low and open back with adorning criss-cross crystal rhinestones, solid beaded strapes, and an empire waist; the material was pure silk.
"We hit the jackpot again ladies." Stella stated.
"I think you might actually make Flack speechless." Arianna chuckled.
"I'm lookin' more towards makin' him faint." Adien threw over her shoulder as she made her way back into the dressing room.
"Belive me; you'll do that too." Stella assured.
Stepping out of the room with dress in hand the young woman shot Arianna a smirk. "Your turn to endure the torture."
"I'm so excited; can't you tell." She rolled her eyes before shutting the door.
Because her dress was a little more bulky then the other two it took her a little bit longer to change. After getting it on she needed help with the zipper and called one of the girls over to help. That done she stepped fully out of the room; twirling for them to see.
"Girl you look fine!" Adien exclaimed.
"Are you sure it's not too much?" Arianna worried.
"No way! The ball is extremely formal so this is perfect. Besides; we want to see Danny lose that cool of his he always seems to have." Stella told her.
Agreement made that she would get the dress Arianna went back and changed; coming back out with the dress back on the hanger. Paying for their purchases after they found some shoe's they decided to go elsewhere to find jewlery and purses to match. Taking everything to their respective vechicles they headed back in to finish up. Each of them had to admit that even though they didn't like dress shopping this was the most fun they'd had in a long time. Little did they know that someone watched them from the shadows; ready to cut that fun short; as well as a certain rangers life.
"So you mean to tell me that the guy jumped on the dirtbike; clown suit and all; and tried to get away?" Hawkes couldn't believe it.
They were all sitting at a table in Ruth's Chris Steakhouse; waiting for their food to arrive. Arianna had been telling them stories about some of the people she and her sisters had caught since joining the rangers. All in all the shopping day had been a success in more ways then one. She had found the perfect dress for tomorrow and resolved the majority of her issues were Danny was concerned. She wanted to tell him how she felt; to let him know that she loved him. That she was ready to let someone into her life again; danger or no danger.
"Yup; stole it right off the guys truck at the gas station next to the bank he tried to rob." Arianna told him. "So I had no choice but to take the other one and chase after him. Down the sidewalk; the street. Even through the bottom level of the mall." She finished.
"And we thought the criminals around here were crazy." Flack shook his head.
"Well you know what they say..." Mac started.
"Things are always better down south." Danny finished; placing a kiss on Arianna's temple.
During his time with the guys he had figured out a lot of things with their help. One was that he was going to tell Arianna how he felt; tonight. No more putting if off because as Hawkes had pointed out with the current situation looming over them there was a chance that today could be the last time he saw her alive. It was a morbid thought but reality none the less. Second was what he was planning on doing all along but felt better about after getting the input of his friends. And that was giving up his life here to go down to Texas and be with her; to start a life and a family. Some would say a month wasn't long enough to know that for sure. For him it was. Hell; a day had been long enough to know that this was the woman he was meant to be with. Now he just had to hope that she saw it the same way.