Chapter 3: Back in the City

Mindy could not help overanalyzing what Danny had said. 'I didn't say I wasn't interested.' What did that mean? She could not make a move on him again. Not after how horrible it was when he pulled away from her before they could kiss. Did he not want to kiss her? Was it just the gaggle of peeping-toms in the minivan next door? She had to stop thinking of this. She looked over at Danny, who was driving silently with his eyes on the road. She knew that when she was driving, she liked her passenger to help navigate and keep her peppy by singing or playing games. However, as a passenger, Mindy could not help feeling sleepy as the rolling car slowly rocked her to sleep. She was exhausted from the weekend and playing sports so early in the morning. Even as she was shutting her eyes, she cursed herself for not being a better car buddy.

Danny glanced over as they hit traffic getting into the city. Mindy was sound asleep, curled into a half ball facing him. He thought of waking her, but decided against it since he knew where she lived and could drop her off. Besides, he wanted time to think about their almost kiss. He wanted to. He really did. It was disturbing how much he did. He hoped she had not been deterred. She looked so sweet and eager as she pulled on his coat and closed her eyes. Then remembered how horrified she looked as he pulled away. Sometimes he wished he could just go with the flow, car full of children be damned. As much as Mindy griped about his practicality, Danny wanted their first kiss to occur when her eyes were shining and laughing after they had a moment. 'A moment?' he thought. Clearly, Mindy's romantic notions were infiltrating his mind.

"Danny?" Mindy asked with a yawn. "Are we home yet?"

It sounded like she was referring their home, something they shared together. It made him thoughtful of a time when he did share a home with someone. "Uh, no," he said, "but we'll be by your apartment in a minute."

Mindy immediately perked up. "You didn't have to drive me all the way back to my apartment," she said.

Danny did not answer as he turned onto her block. He could see that there were no spots available. He turned into a grossly overpriced parking garage on the next block. "Hope you don't mind a little bit of a walk."

"No, it's fine," she said unbuckling her seatbelt. She hesitated when she realized she wanted to invite him up to her apartment. She pursed her lips, urging them to ask the question.

"Do you want to come up to my apartment for a little bit?" she asked in a rush.

"You wish, Lahiri," he said with a smile.

Mindy's face fell. This was a perfectly Danny-esque response, but somehow, his comments seemed to sting right now at this moment.

"But I'll walk you to your place because," Danny said as he grabbed the plastic bag filled with their muddy clothes, "you got to do these."

Mindy made a disgusted face, but they smiled at each other and Mindy started laughing.

The walked amiably, shoulder to shoulder, to her building, but the atmosphere became uncomfortable when they got to her front door. They stood there, Mindy unsure and Danny hesitant. He could not invite himself up so Danny passed her the bag of clothes and started to say his goodbye as he turned to leave.

"Wait," Mindy said with a hand on his arm. "Do you want to come up for coffee?" She tried not to sound too hopeful. "Or cocoa."

She stood there, holding a garbage bag of laundry, and looked so expectant, he could not say no. "Sure," he said as he took the bag from as he passed into the hallway. "But I don't drink hot chocolate."

Mindy rolled her eyes as she followed behind him to the elevator. "Real men drink coffee and only coffee and it's got to be black, no sugar no milk," she said in her best Danny voice.

With that quip, they were back to their easy banter. When they got to her kitchen, Danny sat down by the island as she searched for coffee and hot chocolate fixings. When he saw her take out strange appliances from her cabinets, he got up to stand next to her. "What are you doing?"

Mindy turned around in surprise. He was standing so close and staring at the gadget in her hands. "It's a milk frother," she said excitedly, "It makes the milk all foamy and delicious. I like it in cocoa. Don't worry, I'll put some on your coffee for you."

Danny grimaced. Even though she made fun of him, he did drink his coffee black and definitely without frothed milk. "None for me, thanks," he said. He looked over at the side of the refrigerator next to Mindy's head. He saw the wooden block magnets that held up her grocery list and other papers. You could not see that side of her fridge from most areas in the room except when you stood directly next to it. They spelled out M-I-N-D-Y. He had made and given them to her for office Secret Santa a couple of years ago.

"Hey," he said with a smile, "you kept these." He did not tell her that he had spent a good portion of his free time in his office whittling into the blocks. He did not tell her how disappointed he was when she had not displayed them in her apartment. He did not expect her to make is a centerpiece or something, but did want to see them on her fridge. He knew she liked brightly-colored things, but he liked the wood as is. He told himself this train of thought was foolish.

"Of course, I kept them. They're the nicest homemade gift I've ever gotten. Jeremy was mad you didn't make a set for him," she said, standing next to the fridge, fingering the 'I' block. "They're the strongest magnets I have too." She pointed to the 'Y' that was currently holding all her outgoing mail, stamped and ready for the post office. She remembered how awed she was when she got them. She could tell that Danny had made them, but in the good way. Where the letters were slightly off-center and, while she had previous magnets that had shattered or fallen apart, these wooden magnets did not. She remembered with a cringe how she had initially made a joke about Danny's stinginess when the gifts had been exchanged. They were sturdily made and each letter was intricately carved in different fonts. When she realized she could use them to hold all her credit card payments, she began to display them prominently on the front of her fridge until the ribbing about her wood-working boyfriend got to be too much and she moved them off to the side. She bet that Danny had a lot of hidden talents, many involving arts and crafts.

He watched as she absent-mindedly looked at the magnets with a weird smile on her face. Danny stared down at her and he put his cup of coffee down. She followed the movement with her eyes and startled when he took her mug and set it down next to his coffee. He brushed the milk off her upper lip and leaned in for a kiss. Her lips were soft and supple and he rubbed his hand behind her neck. Mindy leaned back against her cabinets and braced her arms against the counter. She slowly brought her arms up to Danny's shoulders. She moaned softly as she felt Danny slowly and inexorably pressed her into the counter with his body. He definitely had better moves than she did. He did not try the whole 'it'll be an experiment' thing. He wanted to kiss her at that moment, standing by the magnets he made her, and he did.

His hands slowly skimmed down her arms until they were by her waist and slowly, so slowly, brushed the side of her breasts. He kissed a path down her neck. She felt so good. She smoothed her palms down his back and felt his shoulders undulate as his hands moved down to her hips. He had a very nice back. She started to pull up on the hem of his t-shirt and dragged her hand underneath.

Danny slowly moved his hand under her shirts until he was grazing the skin directly above her belt. "Is this okay?" he asked. Mindy nodded her head. They were moving fast. She had only started to analyze her feelings about Danny, but everything felt so good that she tried not to think about the consequences. She tried with shaking hands to try and unbuckle her belt. She silently cursed the jeans she was wearing. They were too tight and stretchy on the legs, but were slightly too big around her waist and she found herself only wearing them with thick belts to keep them secured and long shirts to cover any muffin-topping. Apparently Danny was impatient because he started to unbuckle it himself. He slowly slid his hand under the top of her jeans until he was brushing the top hem of her underwear.

The fuzzy side of Mindy's brain told her that they should slow down, but then he said, "I've wanted to touch you like this for a while," as he kissed her again and she gave up rational thought. She wanted this and did not want him to stop.

She felt herself automatically acquiescing to his hands and she fluttered her hands between his shoulders and upper arms as she felt his hand creeping lower and under the waistband of her panties until she was panting and trying to stifle embarrassingly eager noises. Her hips bucked forward and she thought of how long it had been since she had been touched like this. His fingers moved methodically and she found herself in a strange trace where she could not tear her eyes away from Danny's. When she could not see straight anymore, she slowly rested her forehead on his chest on top of his white t-shirt and ran her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck.

"Danny, I-" Mindy started in hoarse voice but she was interrupted.

"Why are you wearing so many layers?" Danny asked in exasperation, trying to unbutton her sweater. He had quickly run out of clothes after the football game and he was only wearing a white under t-shirt under his coat and he had taken that off shortly after they got to her apartment. Mindy, on the other hand, was still wearing a sweater with layered shirts underneath. Mindy did not like how he was pulling and stretching out her cute sweater. She slowly took his hands and moved them out of the way. Suddenly, after all that earlier insecurity, she was feeling confident and powerful. She held Danny's gaze as she slowly undid the remaining buttons and peeled off her layers until she was just in her plain beige bra. She lifted her chin, daring him to say something about her layers now. Danny did not break eye contact as he said, "That was ridiculously sexy." He slowly ground his hips against hers and Mindy savored the delicious friction.

"Let's go to the bedroom," he said. Mindy nodded. She did not know when she lost her ability to speak, especially since she usually had difficulty keeping her mouth shut. She shakily grabbed her shirts and held them to her chest as she led the way to her room. She stood at the foot of her bed and watched as Danny gently closed the doors. Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with all the crazy things that could go wrong in this situation. Previously, she had dealt with cheaters, commitment-phobes, and all manner of jerks. Things could turn sour and then Mindy would be stuck with him as a co-partner and colleague.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked. He had taken off his shirt and saw Mindy standing there, staring appreciatively at his chest, but clutching her shirt to her bra and looking like a deer in the headlights.

Danny always had a tone in his voice that made her feel ridiculous. Usually she plowed through her feelings of insecurity with a sassy remark, but they were both half-naked in her bedroom now. "You're going to think I'm silly," Mindy began.

"Just say it," Danny said. "You'll just drive yourself crazy thinking about it later. I can see that you're doing it right now." He looked at her wide-eyed expression and could see that she was contemplating what to say.

Mindy cursed him for knowing her so well. She should have just jumped his bones in her kitchen without a second thought. Her head was swimming with thoughts. Had Danny ever had an STD? But Danny was a doctor, he would have disclosed that information to her. What if he thought her breasts were too small and hips too wide? He did not seem to have a problem when they were in the kitchen and he did call her sexy. What if this was going to be a one-night stand? Mindy had no idea about this one, but Danny knew that one-night stands were something she could not do. It had been a while since Mindy had been intimate with a partner, what if she was rusty? Mindy knew that this was a particularly silly one, but she could not help but be a little nervous.

"What if-" Mindy started, but she was cut off by the shrill ringing of someone's cell phone. She clutched her shirts tighter to her chest. She could not decide if she was relieved or incredibly disappointed.

Danny groaned as he opened her bedroom door. It had seemed less than a second ago he had closed the door, ready to rip off Mindy's clothes, but now he was not so sure. "It's mine," he grumbled and he started to look for his coat. "That's the ring for the hospital," he said, scanning her living room. She wanted to point out that he was still shirtless, but he seemed busy frantically searching through his coat pockets. Besides, he looked good shirtless. He grabbed his phone to answer the call.

"It's Mrs. Horowitz," Danny said as he put his phone in the pocket of his jeans. "She's just been admitted to the hospital." He looked at her sheepishly. He definitely wanted to pick up where they had left off, but he also did not want to run out on her.

Mindy had recalled him telling her that he was worried about this particular patient. "She's the one you've been watching, right?" Mindy said.

"Sounds like preeclampsia," he said as he rattled off her symptoms.

Mindy froze. That was serious and she dropped her shirts and got to work looking for Danny's. "You need to go right away!" She found his shirt by her bed and threw it at him. "You should take a taxi to save time. I can drive your car back to your garage. The one by me is crazy expensive. Just leave the keys and let me know where to drop it off."

Danny was shocked at the change in her demeanor. He swore she was going to tell him that they were moving too fast. Her freaked out expression, not to mention her second thoughts after they got to the bedroom, seemed to confirm it, but now she was all business. He thought she looked adorable, still in her bra with her bright colored panties peeking out of her unbuckled jeans, barking instructions at him.

He snapped out of his reverie when he saw Mindy tapping her foot with her hand extended. "Yeah, the keys," he said absentmindedly as he fished around in his coat once more. At least all of his clothes were on now.

"Can we continue this another time?" he asked as he headed for her front door. He saw Mindy's eyes sharpen suspiciously.

"Is this going to be just a 'bedroom date?'" she asked in a rush, trying to sound flippant. "Because it's okay if it is. I just want to know now." Danny started to respond. "But you can't ignore me at work afterward," Mindy interrupted.

"Wait … what?" Danny stuttered as tried to comprehend what she was saying. "I meant like dinner later this week … or something," he finished lamely.

Mindy beamed at him. "Of course," she said quickly. "Danny, you don't have time for this," she said.

"What? You're the one who-" he began. "Besides, when have I ever been able to ignore you at work? I've been trying for years."

Mindy rolled her eyes as she ushered him toward the doorway. "No time for rude jokes. I'm free after Wednesday this week," she said as she threw open her door.

He stepped into the hall and noticed that a delivery boy was about to ring the bell for her neighbor across the hall. The young man stopped to glance at Mindy appreciatively. Danny immediately stepped in front of Mindy to hide the fact that she was still in her bra and that her pants were still loose and hanging off her hips. She was too busy kicking him out of her apartment to notice that she was still essentially half-naked. Danny gave her a quick, hard kiss and whispered, "Mindy, you need a shirt."

Mindy yelped as she brought at arm over her breasts and promptly slammed the door in his face. "Tell me how the delivery goes!" she called out.

Mindy leaned against her now shut door and smiled as she heard Danny's receding voice say, "Eyes to yourself, buddy."

xxx

Mindy woke up unnaturally early on Monday morning. She had a procedure scheduled at 11 o'clock, but she wanted to get dressed, return Danny's car, and drop off her Thank You orchid at his apartment before heading straight to the hospital. She contemplated whether showing up at Danny's place was a good idea or not. He did say that he hated taking the subway with them. She eyed her phone as she decided whether to call Gwen or Alex or Maggie for advice. As she was about to hit dial, she stopped herself. She was over thinking this. 'Just do it,' she told herself. She was just a friend, dropping off a gift, at another friend's apartment.

She meticulously picked out her outfit. She chose a plaid skirt that complimented her butt and an oxford button-down. She added a bright cardigan to keep from looking too preppy. She quickly did her makeup and opted to wear her contacts even though she would have to switch to her glasses when she got to the hospital. It was a good thing she kept a set of travel toiletries in her locker.

After checking herself in the mirror, she grabbed Danny's car keys and trotted out the door. She did not want to chicken out and go back to bed for a couple of hours instead so she felt compelled to half jog until she got onto the sidewalk in front of her building. She went to buy the orchid first since the florist she liked was around the corner from her apartment.

"Good morning, Sayed," she called as she walked into the flower shop.

"Good morning, Dr. Mindy," he said cheerfully. "What can I do for you?" He was hanging a beautiful display of flowery ferns from ceiling hooks.

"You can just call me Mindy," she laughed. He had called her Dr. Mindy ever since she let him know she was a doctor. This also meant she had to deal with sometimes uncomfortable questions about his medical problems. One time he cornered her to ask her about whether the swelling in his foot was gout.

She perused his orchid section and immediately settled on the bright purple blooms with darker purple spots. "I'll take this one, please," she said placing the orchid on the counter. She looked at the colorful pot it sat in. She knew that Sayed chose each pot for each plant and carefully groomed them into perfection. Today, she chose a pot with a colorful ikat pattern. She was willing to pay extra just for the colorful designs.

"Who should I make the card out to?" he asked as he pulled a cute card from his display.

"'To Danny, Thanks, from Mindy,'" she said succinctly.

"Danny again, huh?" Sayed said with a smug smile. He took her credit card and rang up her purchase.

Mindy felt her face flush as she grabbed the receipt to sign. "He's a good friend and I always give thank you cards or gifts," she said. She tried not to sound so defensive, but after the pep talk she had given herself that morning, she could not help it.

Sayed looked stricken. "Dr. Mindy, I did not mean it like that! I just-" he stammered. "It is very good manners to give thank you cards." He handed her the orchid, but then took out a spool of ribbon to wrap around the stem in apology.

"I'm sorry," Mindy said as she took her beautiful purchase from the counter. "I'm having a weird morning."

"He will love it," Sayed called out as she headed out the door.

Mindy next debated whether she should grab some breakfast baked goods to bring to Danny, but as she juggled the car keys and the orchid, she thought against it. She would rather not drop all of her purchases as walked to his building. With that settled, she quickly drove to Danny's garage as she tried mentally rehearsing what she was going to say.

By the time she approached Danny's apartment, with the orchid securely in her arms, she had decided on either 'Just dropping these off' and 'Want to grab breakfast?' after wildly oscillating between 'Let's get naked' and a simple 'Good morning.' She sometimes wished she was wittier and flirtier, but that would have to do.

She was surprised to see that Danny lived in a building with a doorman. She had to cajole him into letting her surprise Danny instead of having the front desk call him to confirm a visitor. After trying to bribe Sal, who she found out had three kids and a wife in Queens, with breakfast pastries, he finally gave up with a laugh. "Alright, Mindy," he said sternly. "Just this once. I guess I wouldn't mind getting flowers from a pretty lady before work," he said with a friendly wink.

"Oh, Sal, thank you!" Mindy said with a sigh of relief. "You let me know if you like cheese or fruit danishes better, okay?"

"Cheese," Sal said without missing a beat as he gestured toward the elevators.

Mindy took a deep breath for courage as the elevator doors opened at Danny's floor. This is not a big deal, she told herself. Maybe she was being too eager, after all, she had seen him last night. But she did not want him to have to pay for parking by her apartment. She was technically saving him money.

Mindy sharply knocked on Danny's door. She heard him walk to the door and look through the peephole. The door opened suddenly and Danny was standing there, dressed for the day but with wet hair. He stood in the foot-wide crack in the door so she could not see past him. "What are you doing here? How did you get past Sal?"

Suddenly, the flirty banter she had decided on went out the window. "Well, good morning to you too, grumpy," she said. She gestured to the orchid. "I just wanted to bring you this as a thank you and drop off your car keys." She held out the keys expectantly.

Danny just stared at her.

"This is the part when you invite me inside for some coffee before I head off to the hospital," Mindy said curtly. 'Way to be flirty,' she told herself. There was nothing more awkward than standing out in someone's hallway, waiting to be let in.

Danny peeked behind his shoulder into his apartment and gave Mindy a panicked look. "I don't think it's a good idea, Mindy."

Danny was red in the face and fidgeting in his doorway. What was wrong with him? "I don't care if it's messy," she said breezily.

Danny looked indignant. "I am not messy," he said. He looked back into his apartment, as if he was checking, and then back and Mindy. They stared at each other awkwardly. Mindy noticed that he was sweating. At first she attributed it to his hair being wet, but she could see the perspiration at his temples.

Mindy suddenly had the sinking realization that he must have a visitor inside. Probably from a bedroom date. There was no other reason for him to keep her standing out in his hallway. She felt very sick and tired. He had kissed her yesterday and had already found another woman. Maybe he had a secret girlfriend. She had seen how easily he got dates sometimes, especially when he stopped being a jerk and pretended to be charming.

She took a step away from Danny. "Oh, I see," she asked quietly. She awkwardly bent down in her skirt to place the orchid on Danny's worn welcome mat. She was so glad she had decided to forgo getting breakfast croissants.

Danny saw how ashen she suddenly looked and how her voice had taken a pinched quality. "Mindy," he began. He fiddled with his doorknob.

"Danny," she said haltingly, "you clearly have a visitor and this was a terrible idea, me coming here. I should have called. Sorry." She walked back toward the elevator and pressed down. She felt so foolish and unbelievably disheartened as she waited for the elevator. She could feel her eyes burning, but she refused to cry. She was saving her tears for ASPCA commercials, heartwarming scenes involving children, and Tom Hanks. She knew she should have called one of her friends to talk her out of this idea. Showing up at a guy's apartment, half a week before a date, was never a good idea.

Danny was floored by how many emotions coursed through him. He was flattered that she thought he had a female guest, but was also disappointed by how she thought he would string along two women at the same time. He was touched by how distressed she looked, but now he knew with a sinking feeling that he had to let her into his apartment.

"I saw you less than twelve hours ago, when would I have had the time to-" He stopped when he saw her hurt expression.

"I don't know!" Mindy said. "Maybe your phone is full of potential booty calls." She punched the elevator button viciously. Her heels made it impossible for her to make a quick getaway on the stairs so now she was stuck. Waiting in the hallway and pretending to ignore Danny as he walked toward her. At least he was fully dressed.

"I don't do 'booty calls,'" Danny said distastefully, leading her back toward his apartment by her arm. "Just hurry up and promise not to tell anyone at work about my place." She felt immensely better temporarily, but was still suspicious.

At another time, Mindy would have poked fun at how old he sounded or about how rude he was being, dragging her by a firm grip on her arm, but right now, she was pleased that Danny was not interested in semi-anonymous casual sex and that he was leading her into his apartment. As she paused at his doorway, she heard the elevator doors open with a ding. She hated elevators. They never came when you needed them. She thought about making a run for it when she felt Danny tighten his grip. He was going to put a sweaty palm stain on her sweater if he kept that up.

"The elevator's already gone," he said as she heard the elevator doors ding closed.

"I don't want to be in here if you don't want me to," Mindy asked tentatively in the doorway. Danny just pulled her into his apartment in response.

It was a lot bigger than Mindy had expected. The walls were mostly bare and the whole apartment was decorated in mute blues and browns. The place looked clinical and spotless, much less smoky than she had imagined. Mindy opened her mouth to make fun of his antiquated TV and old man sense of decoration when she saw them. She had to step all the way into his living to see them.

Lined up on the window sill at the far side of his living room were six or seven orchids, sitting in unique and colorful pots. It was essentially the only color in his whole apartment. He kept the orchids she got him in the past. If this was not a declaration of love, crotchety as Danny may be, she did not know what would be.

"Are these the orchids I got you?" Mindy asked reverently. She stared at the display he had created. She walked up to it and caressed some of the blooms.

"Yeah," Danny said sullenly. He was fidgeting with his cuffs of his shirt. He knew this was going to happen. This was why he had always picked her up at her apartment. "The first one died," he said, trying to joke it off.

His tone of voice did not deter her. "Is this why you didn't want me to come inside?" Mindy asked.

"A little," Danny said. "That and you were going to tell the whole office about it," he said jokingly.

Mindy was not going to ruin the moment by laughing at Danny's lame jokes.

"Some of these are like five years old," she said. "I couldn't even get that cactus to live for a year, how did you-?" She answered her own question as she picked up a hardcover book on orchid care half-hidden behind his curtains. She picked it up and held it out in front of her.

"Oh my god," Mindy breathed. He had gotten a book on orchid care. The pages were worn and there were a couple of dog-eared pages. She flipped through to see dirty fingerprints on certain pages. Danny had taken up orchid gardening.

"This is embarrassing, Mindy," he said, rubbing his neck and looking at his watch. He should have just let her think he had a woman in his apartment.

Mindy placed the book down as she looked through the blooms again. "This is the most romantic thing that has ever happened to me." Her eyes were shining, but she had a big smile on her face.

"Mindy," Danny said in warning as he avoided her gaze.

"Danny," she said mockingly. If she was having doubts the night before, she was now overwhelmed with confidence. She sauntered over to him, looking uncomfortable and sweaty. She threw herself onto him, bear hugging him as he struggled. She started peppering his face with kisses, not caring if she smeared the cute shade of lipstick she had chosen for the day. He eventually gave up and wrapped his arms around her and tried to reciprocate her lightning fast pecks.

He squirmed in her hug. "Can you please-? I can't-" he said. He finally grabbed her chin and kissed her properly and when she tried to protest he used the momentum to deepen the kiss. She felt his hand smooth down her back as he slowly pulled her even closer and she subconsciously began to unbutton and untuck his shirt to run her hands underneath.

When she finally pulled back, she noticed three things. One, Danny looked deliciously disheveled, shirt askew and damp hair standing on end. Two, his face was covered in lipstick. Three, and most surprisingly, he had a goofy grin on his face and did not seem to mind about points one and two.

He longingly caressed her hip as he said, "I got to be at the office soon and you're three days early for our dinner date."

Mindy giggled. "I got to be at the hospital by eleven," she said. As she leaned in for another kiss, Danny pulled back questioningly.

"Then why are you dressed up for the office?" Danny gestured to her tight plaid skirt, tights, and oxblood pumps.

Mindy would never admit how much time and effort when into choosing her outfit this morning. "I wanted to look nice," she said, trying to sound sassy, as if to imply her gorgeousness was an act of heavenly spontaneity.

It was a little thing, but Danny was immensely pleased that she would purposefully dress nicely just to see him when she had to change into scrubs in three hours. He debated whether he wanted to usher Mindy into his bedroom or take the situation more slowly. He did not want a quickie before they both had to head to work.

"Let's get breakfast," Danny said. "I know a great diner down the street with amazing waffles." He started to tuck his shirt back into his slacks. "And we can talk about where you want to have dinner. Maybe you could just come here and I'll make dinner for us."

Mindy smiled as she helped him button his shirt and wipe the lipstick off his face. "You had me at 'waffles,'" she said slowly. "Also, you cook?" She liked the idea of having a homemade meal at his apartment and she was already plotting to bring an overnight bag. Less distance from the meal to the bedroom. Although she was disappointed they were not already in his bedroom now, she knew herself and she knew she would want to spend all day in bed with him and she was not going to be late for her procedure.

"Of course," Danny said as he brushed her hands from his face. "Real men know how to cook." He pulled Mindy in for one last kiss and they headed out the door. They ended up kissing again waiting for the elevators.

By the time they made it to the lobby, both Mindy and Danny's hair had seen better days. They walked shoulder to shoulder as they approached the front desk.

"Morning, Sal," Danny said as they approached the front doors.

Sal was standing and straightening his hat. "This one's a peach, Danny," Sal said pointing to Mindy and winking and they passed by.

"Cheese danish," Mindy called out. "I'll probably get him two," she whispered to Danny. "Does the diner have good danishes?"

Danny grabbed her hand as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Are you best friends with my doorman now?" he asked. "Unbelievable," he said shaking his head. He droned on about the security of the building and how attractive women should not be held to a different standard than the delivery guys, but Mindy was not listening. She was savoring the sensation of his calloused hand gripping hers as they walk to the diner and cherishing the fact she knew that deep down in Danny's curmudgeonly exterior, he was a romantic at heart.

"Are you listening to me?" he asked with a nudge.

"Nope," Mindy said with a serene smile.

Note: It was so difficult to write this chapter and it's because I can't write sexy scenes. I didn't originally have Danny getting the call from the hospital, but that whole section before was horrible. I'll leave that to the talented fanfic writers who do it so well.

Thanks for all the reviews everyone and I hope you enjoyed!