Thanks guys. It seems that there are other fans of the Sandy/Ryan chat than just me. LOL But on with the show. Enjoy!

Seattle

Monday morning Ryan left bright and early. He had to meet Skip at the airport to fly to Seattle. He was going to have a look at the site for the proposed development that he'd had the meeting about on Thursday evening. He'd received a phone call on Friday asking him to come and look it over and that could only be a good sign. At least they must have made the shortlist otherwise they would never have been invited to do a site inspection. Keith had arrived on Sunday evening and settled in to the pool house so Ryan was happy that Marissa and Emily would be safe while he was away for the day.

Marissa, Emily and Keith had spent the morning at the beach just playing around. Ryan had found an old soccer ball in the garage and so Keith had taken it to the beach with them. He and Emily had spent quite a bit of time kicking it back and forwards. Marissa knew that Ryan would be pleased to know that Emily was getting all of her kicking practice out of the way in the daytime. Perhaps she wouldn't be quite so active in that department tonight.

After lunch Marissa and Emily were sitting on the floor playing a puzzle when the house phone rang. Reaching for it Marissa checked the caller id before she would answer and then picked it up. "Hello." She said happily.

"Marissa. Hi It's Sandy." Came the pleasant greeting.

"Hi. Sandy. What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Well, I was just wondering what time you were expecting Ryan home this evening?"

"I'm not sure exactly. It depends on how things go in Seattle but he seemed to think he should be back by about 7."

"Perfect." Sandy replied.

"Do you need his help with something?" she asked.

"No. It's more what we can do for you?" Sandy added smiling to himself.

"Sorry? I don't understand." Marissa was confused.

"Well. Kirsten and I were just talking and we thought we might take Emily to a movie with us?" He suggested.

"That's really nice of you Sandy but you don't have to do that." Marisa replied,

"It would be our pleasure." he assured her.

"Well okay. I'm sure she would love it. Will you be by shortly to get her or would you like me to bring her over to you?" Marissa asked.

"No. We'll come and collect her. But we won't be by until around 6:30. The movie doesn't start until 7 so that should give us plenty of time." Sandy explained.

"6:30? But I thought you meant an afternoon session and that you wanted to have her back before Ryan got home?" Marissa said.

"No no. This evening …. You see I thought that you and Ryan might appreciate a little 'alone time'. I know what it's like having a child about the place. Time together can be difficult to arrange." Sandy explained.

Marissa couldn't help but smile as the implication of his words sunk in. "That would be …" she searched for the right word.

"I know. I gather from Ryan that things have been … trying." Sandy laughed.

Marissa blushed at his words. "You really don't have to. We'll manage." Marissa replied embarrassed that her future father-in-law seemed to know so much about their private lives.

"I'm sure you will but you'll also manage just fine with a few hours to yourselves this evening. And if Emily is still going strong after the movie then we'll take her for ice cream. We'll see you just after 6." He added and hung up, leaving her no time to reply.

Marissa put the phone back in its cradle thinking to herself. Tonight! She'd already known that they would try again tonight but there had been the possibility that Emily would interrupt them yet again but if she was going to be at the movies then there was no chance for interruption. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She thought about ringing Ryan and letting him know but she decided to keep it as a surprise but she wanted to do something special. She just had to decide what. Marissa put Emily down for a nap to make sure that she wouldn't be tired and grumpy for Kirsten and Sandy and while Emily was sleeping she made her plans. She was going to have to get Keith's help. So while Emily was asleep she checked with him and he even helped with some suggestions. She knew she could count on him. She planned to make this a night to remember.

---

Ryan sat in the uncomfortable seat at the airport rubbing his forehead with his hand trying to stop the headache that was forming from taking root. The last thing he needed was this.

Skip looked over at him and said "I'm sorry about this. But it's not worth the risk. We just have to wait until they check it all out."

"Yeah I know. I just …" he shrugged.

"Yeah I know." Skip answered. "The little woman. Remember I've got one of them too now."

Ryan smiled. "Yeah. But I've got two that I have to answer to."

"Always have to go one better don't you?" Skip teased.

"What can I say?" Ryan replied. "I guess I'd better give Marissa a call and let her know what's going on."

"Okay. I'll go and get us another coffee. Back soon." Skip added.

---

"Ris."

"Ryan. Where are you? Will you be here soon?" she asked. It was almost 7 and Sandy and Kirsten had left a short time ago. Everything was set as she looked around the room at the candles glowing.

"No. I'm still in Seattle. There's a problem with the aircraft that they have to check out before we can leave. Skip seems to think that it may just be a faulty warning light but until we know for sure 'we ain't going nowhere' is how he put it."

There was deathly silence and Ryan started to get worried.

"Ris. Are you still there?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm here." she answered the regret obvious in her voice.

"I'm sorry but there's not much that I can do. Is everything okay with Emily?" he asked.

"Yeah she's at the movies with Sandy and Kirsten." Marissa replied.

"What? Now?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sandy called earlier today and asked could she go with them. He seemed to think that we needed some alone time. I guess we're getting it or at least I am … I'm alone." She replied sadly.

"So you're at home all alone and we could be …" Ryan started.

"Let me assure you if you were here we would be …" Marissa replied.

"Oh God …" Ryan said thinking about what he was missing out on. "But what about …?"

"The coast's clear – if you know what I mean." Marissa assured him. "I'm set to go."

Ryan laughed. "I get your drift. So we really could be."

"Would be." Marissa corrected again. "Unless of course Keith was wrong about you."

"What's Keith got to do with this, with us, with what…?" Ryan asked confused. tThe ideas that were running through his head in no way involved Keith.

"Let's just say that I had to ask him for his help with setting things up for this evening and he helped me with a few suggestions. Mind you I think he might want to renegotiate his salary after I made him go to Victoria's Secret for me this afternoon."

Ryan was surprised "What was Keith doing in Victoria's Secret?"

"Making some purchases for me. After what happened at the mall last week I thought I might attract some unwanted attention so we had a talk about what you might like and I wrote down my sizes and Emily and I sat in the car while he went and picked up a few things for me that I thought might help to get you in the mood tonight." Marissa said.

"Since when have I ever not been in the mood?" Ryan asked.

"True. But I wanted this to be special. But you're telling me that I shouldn't have bothered?" Marissa asked.

"Depends. Exactly what am I missing out on?" Ryan asked.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I gather from the noise in the background that you're not in private?" Marissa said.

"I'm not. I'm sitting in the terminal at Seatac. But I can't resist knowing just what I'm missing out on. I know I must be some sort of masochist. Just hold on a sec."

Marissa waited a few seconds.

"Okay I'm back." Ryan said as he made himself comfortable.

"Where did you go?" Marissa asked.

"I just had to get my briefcase." He replied.

"What you're going to do some work while you talk to me?" Marissa asked.

"No. I'm not going to open it. I just wanted to put it on my lap." Ryan assured her his voice dropping lower so she could get his drift.

Marissa smiled. "Why?" she thought she knew where this conversation was going.

"Let's just say that I think before you start telling me about exactly what you had planned for me, I thought it wouldn't hurt to keep myself covered. I wouldn't want anything poking up and drawing attention to me." Ryan explained. "But back to Keith. What exactly has been going on?"

Marissa laughed. "Well I asked Keith if he would mind doing some shopping for me and I explained that we'd been having some trouble spending any time alone together and that since Emily was going out I wanted to make tonight special. He was embarrassed at first. But once he got over his initial reservations, he got right in to the swing of things. He was very uncomfortable about going in to Victoria's Secret but he sure must have gotten the hang of it. He even came away with the phone number of the sales assistant. Apparently he told her he was new in town and she nicely volunteered to show him around."

"Good for him. But back to exactly what he purchased for you." Ryan couldn't wait to hear.

"Maybe I should keep that as a surprise." Marissa suggested.

"No. I need to know now. I've had such a rotten day you couldn't deny me this little bit of pleasure." Ryan assured her.

"Just remember, I had planned a lot of pleasure." Marissa said.

"Argh. Don't remind me. I'm in pain just thinking about it. But come on spill. Exactly what am I missing out on?" Ryan asked.

"Well. Keith suggested an outfit similar to Charlotte's when she was … well ... I'm sure you remember. There's no doubt that it left a permanent mark on Keith's memory. I suspect he's watched that video a few times." Marissa smiled thinking about the look on Keith's face and the shade of pink he went as he'd suggested it to her.

Ryan replied. "I may be able to recall it." He said smiling broadly.

"It's a good thing your not here or you'd be in for it." Marissa replied.

"Just for the record I'd love to be in it." Ryan added.

"What? In trouble or in the outfit?" Marissa asked puzzled.

"No … in you." he replied huskily. "And I just said I MAY be able to recall it. You'd look so much better in it anyway."

"Nice try Atwood. Anyhow, Keith made his first ever visit to Victoria's Secret and definitely came out a winner. I'm sitting here in a low cut black lace bra and matching suspender belt, with black stockings and high heels. I feel like a bit of a tart." She added shyly. "But I was hoping that you would like it nonetheless."

"Oh God … I do. I definitely do." He replied as the vision of Marissa flooded his mind. "But people are going to think I can levitate my briefcase if we keep talking about this any longer." Ryan could see Skip returning with his coffee. "I'd better go but I'll call you as soon as I know what's going on."

"Okay. I love you." Marissa replied sadly

"Love you too." Ryan replied feeling that the three little words didn't come anywhere near close enough to explaining just how he felt. He needed to show her. But how could he do that when he was stuck in Seattle?