Chapter 7 – December 7, 2006
Lindsay was extremely happy.
It was stupid really, especially since she was the one to put the breaks on when Danny suggested they make something more of their relationship, but their "apology dinner" the previous night had, Lindsay admitted, the atmosphere of a date. And she'd had an excellent time.
Thus, in her happiness, she hadn't realized she'd been singing along with her carols CD in the lab. She knew she had tonnes of stuff to analyze, a million cases worth of evidence to go over and knew there was no way she was going to do it in silence. She was also glad no one would kill her for listening to the carols in a basically empty layout room.
She jumped when she noticed Danny in the doorway. "You scared me," she said, stopping all singing.
"Don't stop on my account," he encouraged. "You always sing?"
Lindsay blushed. "When I'm alone."
"That's too bad," he responded. "You should treat people to it now and then."
If anything, her blush intensified. "I'm not that good."
Danny chuckled. "Please, Montana. Not that good? You take lessons as a kid?"
"Just school and church choirs," she admitted. "Never more than that."
"You chose the lab over the stage?"
"Stage fright, Danny. I had a horrible time singing the few solos I took for choir."
Danny shook his head. "Gotta admit, Monroe, a voice like that… I'm sure you'd'a been beautiful on stage."
It took Lindsay a few minutes to respond, but by the time the words registered in her mind, he was already gone. She hated it when he left her hanging like that, with a comment that could be taken as a caring co-worker as much as it could be taken as a lover's comment. Damn that man.
"Montana," Danny called, catching up to the brunette just before they were both off for the afternoon. "What are you doin' tonight?"
"I had a couple of errands I wanted to run this afternoon, why?"
"I gotta surprise for ya, if you're up to it."
"A surprise?"
Danny laughed. "It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you would it? You up for dinner too?"
She raised an eyebrow as they both pushed through the locker room door. "You're planning on monopolizing my night?"
"I'd take your afternoon too, but I figured that would imply somethin'."
She had to admit, the sound of Danny taking over the next eight hours of her life really didn't sound that horrible. "What did you have in mind?"
"Surprise, Montana. Do I have to define the word for you?"
Lindsay laughed. "All right, all right. I'm going to need a time to be ready."
"You mean you're going to go to dinner with me?" He actually sounded genuinely surprised.
"If you're serious about this, sure. I'm not doing anything tonight."
Danny couldn't stop the grin from turning up the corners of his mouth. "I'll be by at six, okay?"
"Sure. Dress code?"
He smirked, and she knew his answer was not going to be on she was going to like. "You'll think of something."
She groaned, slapping his arm as they walked out of the room. "I hate you."
Lindsay gasped as she walked through the door to the church Danny held open for her. "Danny, what is this?"
"The church puts on a choir night," he explained, hand coming to rest on the small of her back. "My family and I used to come every year."
"That's past tense."
"With everythin' goin' on my parents decided they didn't want to come," he explained. "Last year I was out in the field." He dropped a ten dollar bill into the bin by the door and picked up two programs, passing one to her.
She thanked him with a smile and allowed him to lead her to a pew. They wandered slowly and it gave Lindsay the chance to admire the decorations. They were tasteful in blues and silver instead of the stereotypical red and green. Ribbons decorated the balcony edge of the upper level in the blue and silver that accentuated the old stone of the building.
Blue and silver bows topped each end of the pews she and Danny occupied as well as the rest of the pews. The flowers at the front of the room were blood red, standing out against the rest of the decorations, and standing out against the white of the choir's gowns.
She'd debated for hours on what to wear to the concert and to dinner. Eventually, she'd taken the half and half approach, pairing her favourite pair of dark jeans, embroidery on the back pockets, with a white v-neck sweater and black, heeled boots. She knew the sweater was soft as could be and she adored the feeling of it against her skin. By the way Danny had kept contact with it all night, she figured he enjoyed the texture too.
"The choirs get the first hour," he described, pulling her attention back to him. "The second half is all sing along."
Lindsay's eyes lit up. "What?" she breathed.
"Which part?"
"You brought me to a sing along concert?"
Danny shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. "Figured you'd enjoy it, that's all."
"Danny, this is awesome," she promised with a blinding smile.
He decided as the choirs started singing that it was worth it. He'd been utterly terrified to invite her to dinner and the concert, especially after everything they'd been through. He figured she'd take the night as a date and would immediately shoot him down, reminding him that she needed space. She'd surprised him by doing the exact opposite.
They'd had a great time at dinner, had more fun that he was probably willing to admit. There was no awkwardness between them, just simple conversation that went from work to glazing over family life. Lindsay had even opened up about some of her happier memories from Montana. This was what he meant when he'd proposed something more.
He wanted to see where things were going to go between them, that was all. A leopard never lost his spots after all, and Danny wasn't sure he was prepared for a full blown relationship between them. His player reputation was a little over stated, but there nonetheless. He hadn't ever been ready for commitment. He wasn't sure he was now, either, but with Lindsay, he was willing to try.
"Danny Messer?"
Danny hadn't realized intermission had snuck up on him. Apparently so had the young woman beside him. He looked her up and down, but it was the smile that blossomed over her face that gave it away. "Carmen? That you under all that hair?"
The woman laughed, tucking an errant strand of long black hair behind one of her ears. "I didn't know you were going to be here."
"Hey, I was workin' last year and couldn't make it. I've been here every other year."
"Where's the rest of you Messers? Isn't this a family affair?"
"Yeah, but Mom and Dad had other things to take care of."
"You're here by yourself?"
Danny chuckled. "Nah." He searched the room and found her cornered by a few guys he vaguely recognized. "Actually, you can come meet her."
Taking Carmen's elbow he led her towards the boys. From the look in her eyes he could tell she was relieved. But it wasn't Danny that spoke.
"Nick, what are you doing?" Carmen called.
"Come on, Carmen, look at her."
Danny chuckled. "I do every day. You okay, Monroe?"
Her movement towards him was immediate and she took his hand, reassuring him as much as her. "Yeah."
Danny pulled Lindsay closer to his side, disengaging his hand from hers to wrap it around her back reassuringly. "Some things don't change, huh?"
"Danny Messer. I shoulda known you'd bring someone as gorgeous as this woman." That was one of the other guys.
Lindsay expected him to get offended, defend her honour or himself. Instead, he just laughed. She looked up at him, hoping upon hope he wasn't being immature.
"She is beautiful, isn't she? My partner at the lab, Lindsay Monroe. Lindsay, old friends of mine, Nicholas Lopez, his sister Carmen, Benny Sueur and Tony Michaeli."
Lindsay was bright red as she shook Carmen's hand. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Any friend of Danny is a friend of ours," Tony said. "And I guess we owe you an apology."
Danny's eyebrow went up. "Apology?"
Benny nodded. "Your gal here is too beautiful not to hit on. That would be a crime."
Carmen rolled her eyes. "You boys are ridiculous, you know that? Absolutely ridiculous."
"Tell me, Messer. Between your Lindsay here and that other team mate of yours, have we only been treated to the cream of the crop or is there more where they came from?"
Lindsay couldn't believe her ears. Were they seriously having this conversation? And how could Carmen stand there so calmly?
"You think I've been paying attention? You see the women I work with," Danny answered.
Lindsay was about to speak, her cheeks already beet red from the conversation, but then Danny's hand on her hip began to move. It was subtle and soft, but it distracted her enough to allow the conversation going on around her to continue. Before she knew it, Danny was steering her back to their pew.
"Sorry about them," he said, intertwining his fingers with hers.
She was surprised at the gesture, and ducked her head. "It's no problem."
"Nah, I shoulda been there. They've always been like that."
Lindsay chuckled. "Danny Messer, every girl's white knight."
"Every girl doesn't matter," he told her, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I only need to be a white knight to one."
Her chance to respond was cut off by the beginning of the classic carols, the same ones he'd put on her CD. It took her a few minutes to get confident enough to sing loud enough for him to hear her clearly and even longer for her to get so enraptured with the music to completely forget there were people around.
Then Danny was treated to the experience of a life time. He adored everything about her, but her voice was gorgeous. He wished he could hear her more often, but he'd settle for this hour. The best part was that she hadn't let go of his hand,
"Montana, here we are."
She'd been zoned out since about the moment they left the church, but the smile on her face stopped him from asking if there was something wrong.
Lindsay's eyes blinked open as she took in her surroundings. They were in front of her building. She grinned at him. "Thanks, Danny. I…" She couldn't put into words how much she'd enjoyed the night.
"Its no problem, Montana. I'm glad you had a good time."
She grinned. "Good is an understatement." With a deep breath, she impulsively leaned over to kiss his cheek and hopped out of the car.
Danny didn't realize until he got home that there was a CD on the passenger's side. Picking it up, he identified it as the CD of the choir from the Christmas concert he'd missed. He flipped open his cell phone and hit her speed dial number. He wasn't going to think about the implication that she was two on his list. His mother was number one.
"Monroe."
"A CD?"
He was sure she was blushing. "You mentioned you missed that one and they were selling them for extra money for the choir to go on a trip this summer. I figured that meant you got to hear it and you got to add to something good for the kids."
"You going to come and sing along?" he asked brazenly.
He was rewarded by a laugh from her. "Figured I'd return the favour. With the CD I mean."
"So that's a 'no' on the singin'?"
"You'd have to be someone pretty special to hear that again," she taunted.
"Montana, I'm hurt."
She laughed again. "Good night Danny. I'll see you in the lab tomorrow."
She'd hung up before he could respond.
Longest and I think fluffiest yet. I'm glad you're all enjoying this. Keep the reviews coming, they mean the world.
And I hope I didn't jump too far ahead with the moment at the church. I tried to make sure in previous chapters that the fact that things didn't get awkward was apparent, and I hope that the moments at the church would have been workable…. Let me know if they're not. I rely on the readers to make sure everything fits!