I own nothing power ranger-related, including but not limited to all these characters I'm playing with. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

"Okay, you're driving me crazy."

Geri's voice broke Kim's reverie as her hand shot out and clutched Kim's fingertips that just couldn't seem to stop tapping the table. Kimberly shook her head, as though trying to clear a haze. "Sorry."

"Sorry nothing. I sat next to you last month when you presented to the Birmingham account and you weren't this nervous. What is it about this guy?"

Kim shrugged. "It's nothing, really."

"And you've hardly eaten, and this place has really good food."

Kimberly rolled her eyes at her friend. "You're being dramatic."

"And you're being secretive! Come on, Kim, let me live vicariously through you."

"Alright, fine, if I give you the rest of my dinner, will you shut up?" Kimberly picked up her plate of food and thrust it toward Geri's empty one, causing both girls to burst into a fit of giggles.

"Seriously, though," Geri prodded as she stabbed at Kim's plate with her fork, "this guy better be a Greek god or something. You've built him up so much."

Kim threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly, her lips curving into a wild grin. "How? I've barely said a word about him!"

"Exactly. Which is so weird for you. So I've built up this huge image in my head instead. Good luck having him live up to that."

Kimberly exhaled sharply as her phone buzzed again, and she couldn't control the devious smile that crept across her face. "Seriously, the whole plate's yours." She gestured to her meal as she reached for her phone.

Come dance with me. They're playing our song.

Her eyes lit up with possibilities, and she favored Geri with another apologetic grin.

"I hate you, Kimberly Hart."

Kim giggled nervously. "I promise, I'll intro-"

She froze mid-sentence and reached for Geri's shoulders, directing her attention to the doorway. Leaning against the doorframe was Tommy Oliver, watching her intently. She could practically feel Geri melting beneath her fingers, and she tried to repress a giggle as Geri turned back to her dejectedly. "Go."

"What?"

Geri sighed melodramatically, rolled her eyes and grabbed for Kim's plate. "Go," she repeated, "but when I need a jogging partner for the next two weeks…" she muttered, motioning at the plate as she sent a death glare at the waiter who had come to collect it.

"I'm totally there," Kim interjected, taking to her feet.

"Hey!" Geri exclaimed, whirling in Kim's direction as she scurried away. "Be cool! You do NOT hurry for any man."

Kim took a deep breath and grinned at Geri. "You're the best."

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered with a half-smile as she stabbed at her stolen meal.

Kimberly sauntered coolly towards the door, keeping her eyes trained on Tommy. He stood unceremoniously against the doorjamb, his suit jacket slung casually over one shoulder like a photographer had come along and intentionally posed him that way. He favored her with a smile and an appreciative stare as she approached, and he barely flinched when she kept strolling right past him into the lobby.

"Where you headed?" he asked nonchalantly as he turned only his head slightly in her direction, almost as though he were waiting for someone other than her.

"Well," she began, glancing around the room as though she were lost, "some guy just wrote me a text message asking me if I want to dance, but I'm not sure who."

Tommy nodded, slowly rotating in her direction, preparing himself to play her game. "Sounds exciting."

"Only if he's hot. Otherwise, it's creepy."

Tommy laughed as he started to inch back toward the other ballroom. "Asking you to dance via text message… How modern," he said quietly, without turning to see that she was following.

Kimberly also noticed that he hadn't even looked back at her and again found herself awestruck at the calm confidence he exuded as he moved. She, of course, fell into step behind him. "Eh, it's more romantic in person. And it doesn't do me any good if I can't find the guy."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll find you if he really wants to."

A flirtatious remark was on the tip of her tongue, but she noted their proximity to the ballroom door and stepped away quickly instead. "Well, I hope he shows up soon - "

Her sentence faded away into a playful giggle as he spun towards her, swiftly wrapped an arm around her waist and escorted her into the room. "Looks like he found you."

She scrambled for a witty response, but found herself uncharacteristically tongue-tied, and she stood frozen just inside the door from the lobby as Tommy trotted toward his table to drop off his jacket.

"Something wrong?" he questioned, reappearing at her side.

"Um, besides the color scheme? No."

Tommy feigned offense. "You don't like it?"

"It looks like all the bridesmaids blew bubbles that were too big and they popped all over them," she hissed.

"Well, I like it. Pink invokes some really good memories for me."

"I didn't think anything could invoke your memory, Mr. Oliver."

"Ha ha, you're hilarious," he muttered with a playful roll of his eyes. "Besides, it's easy to remember the good things."

She felt herself blushing and focused on changing the direction of the conversation. "Well, I like pink. Obviously. But there is such thing as too much of a good thing, and this girl has found it in the form of bubble gum," she said, waving an arm discretely at the pink streamers, pink chair covers and pink floral centerpieces.

"Pretty rude for you to crash a wedding and then insult the décor."

"I'm not crashing. I was invited."

"By whom?" he asked, with a wink. "I just happened to run into you in the lobby just now. You seemed a little lost."

Kim took a deep breath, hoping to allow her brain to catch up with all the playful banter. She was usually pretty good at thinking on her feet, but there was something about Tommy that slowed her mind down, and she knew it was only a matter of time before something stupid slipped from her lips. "I thought you said they were playing our song. To be honest, I didn't even know we had a song, but I know for sure this isn't it."

"You're right. It's not, and we don't. I just wanted to dance with you."

His words, spoken with such casual sincerity melted her heart right then and there, as though they'd been talking to each other like that for years. She pinched her lips together tightly, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to snap back at him now, and if she tried she'd surely ruin this moment. Instead, she lifted her eyes to his and smiled sweetly.

Tommy may have seemed calm and suave on the outside, but his heart was thumping against his ribs a mile a minute. Her smile threatened to unravel his cool façade, and he wondered how long she'd play along before she turned and ran. In his mind that was a nearly inevitable ending to this game, but he tried to push this thought away as he reached for her hand.

She could have sworn an electric shock shot up her arm as he touched her fingertips, and with a gentle squeeze he pulled her onto the dance floor.

Only a few couples had made their way to the floor for the smooth, slow, after-dinner melodies, but it wouldn't have mattered if the dance floor was packed. As soon as Tommy spun her to face him they were lost in their own world, a world vaguely reminiscent of times gone by.

He lifted her hand to place it on his shoulder, his eyes seeking hers as though he were asking permission, and she lifted her left hand to join the right, implying her consent. Her knees threatened to give way when his hand found her hip and pulled her closer. She allowed her eyes to drift closed, focusing on the strength of his hands on her slowly-swaying hips and the scent of his cologne invading her senses.

Tommy nearly lost his mind when she ran her fingertips across the back of his neck just below his hairline, and his eyes, which had also drifted closed snapped open to find her staring at him intently. "You cut your hair," she murmured softly.

"Yeah, a while ago," he replied with a wistful smile, knowing full well that if he still had his long hair her fingers would likely be entangled in it right now.

"I like it," she said with a flattering smile.

She continued to rub her fingers along the back of his neck, electrifying Tommy with a sensation that threatened to bring him to his knees. He sincerely hoped that his extreme arousal was not evident to her, but he doubted it, given how close he had pulled her against him.

Knowing full well that if she kept touching him this way he'd be reduced to a babbling mess in a matter of minutes, he reached up and took one of her hands with his. His other made its way to the small of her back and he rocked back and forth, stepping rhythmically to the slow beat.

"Tommy Oliver can dance! I'm impressed!" she said with an approving grin.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Kim."

"Yeah? Sounds like a challenge."

Thankful for the lightened tone between them, he grinned back. "A challenge to what?"

"To learn more about you. That means you're stuck with me for a while, of course."

"Of course." Tommy attempted to ignore the implied temporariness in her comment and focused on the more obvious insinuation – that they'd be spending more time together this evening.

Kimberly sighed inwardly as she let her hand drop from Tommy's shoulder and run down the length of his chest before making its way back up, watching him devilishly all the while. Trying to be discrete he bit down on the inside of his cheek, trying to settle the fluttering in his chest that her touch had caused. She stifled a giggle, knowing full well that she was playing with fire. "I see you're still working out," she murmured.

His eyes met hers, rising to meet her challenge. Two can play this game, he thought as he fortified himself for his next move. He let his hand drop lower on her back, allowing it to rest on the gentle slope of the top of her backside. He pulled her closer, holding her flush to his upper body and grinned as she let loose a quiet squeal. "Well, yeah, I own a martial arts school with John," he said, nodding toward the father-of-the-bride. "I tend to be a little bit of a control freak, though, so I still teach most of the classes myself. Working out's kind of inherent in the job."

She clamped down on her lower lip and fought the urge to purr, thinking about "Tommy" and "control freak" in the same sentence. You have a dirty mind, Kimberly Hart, she scolded herself, darting her eyes away from his in an effort to cool herself down.

They swayed silently for the next few minutes, pressed together tightly but both refusing to look at the other. As she tried to control her rapidly beating heart, she caught sight of the young newlyweds joining their friends on the floor and almost laughed at the irony.

Caitlyn was tall and blonde, with fair skin and light blue eyes. She looked absolutely radiant in a flowing white gown with a wide pink ribbon wrapped around her waist and trailing down into the dress' train. Her new husband, whose name she hadn't quite bothered to catch was tall with dark eyes and dark hair, gathered neatly at the nape of his neck in a clean ponytail.

"They're both eighteen?" she asked quietly, still not turning to look at the man holding her.

"I think he might be nineteen. Both still young, though." His words were whispered against the top of her head where his face was currently buried, rustling her hair gently and sending a chill down her spine.

She nodded gently, thinking that the last time she'd seen Tommy she'd been about eighteen. She'd also left him – and his ponytail – in the arms of tall, blonde-hair-blue-eyed Katherine right around that time. The similarity to the bride and groom was uncanny. How crazy would it have been if… Her thought process trailed off, refusing to play in the land of 'what-if's' in favor of the 'here-and-now', where she was safe in the arms of ponytail-less Tommy. "You were right about one thing."

"What's that?"

"Pink and white do look good together," she said, fixated on the young girl's gown.

Tommy smiled, not sure if he had actually said those words or not, but happy to agree anyway. "I know they do."

"Alright, it's time to pick things up a bit and get this party started! We hope you'll all join us on the floor for this next number!"

Tommy breathed out sharply, almost thankful for the break in the romantic tension thanks to the DJ. Kim backed away from him quickly and favored him with a smile. "I should probably get back. Geri's probably freaking out."

"Jerry? I thought you said you weren't here with a date."

Kim smirked slightly at the traces of envy she could see dancing in Tommy's eyes. "No, Geri, like, Geraldine. She's a girl from work. But don't call her Geraldine. She's likely to kill you."

Tommy laughed, trying to mask a sigh of relief. "Well, I'll keep that in mind."

"I really should go, though. Who knows how many other guys have sent me texts asking me to dance in the last twenty minutes."

She sure knows how to push buttons – especially my buttons, he reminded himself as shook his head amusedly. "I could take them, you know."

"All of them? Twenty minutes is a long time. Who knows how many suitors I have lined up."

Tommy spread his arms as if to say, 'bring it on.' Then he cocked his head to one side. "Yes, all of them."

"You'll get no argument here," she replied, trying to tear her eyes away from his toned torso.

He laughed modestly. He wanted to ask if she was still up for meeting up later, but the glossy wetness in her eyes and the bright smile spread across her cheeks told him that he hadn't seen the last of her tonight.

"Hope I was able to at least entertain you for a while," she said facetiously as she started to back toward the door.

"Yeah, thanks, I guess I owe you one."

Her mouth curved into a dangerous smile as she leaned in toward him. "Don't think I won't take you up on that." Then in a flash of caramel colored hair, she was gone.

Kimberly practically dove into the chair next to Geri, two fruity cocktails in hand. She placed one on the table in front of her friend and took several long gulps of the other.

"Geez, Kim, nothing like being a classy drinker."

She smiled bashfully. "Sorry. I just really needed a drink."

Geri nodded, her dark curls bobbing enthusiastically. "Liquid courage?"

"Um, no, not really… In fact, I think I've been pretty bold already."

"Oooh, do tell!"

She sucked in a deep breath, followed by another sip of her drink. "I really just need to cool down, and take the edge off."

"All this over an ex?" Geri prodded, springboarding from the minimal details she'd coaxed from Kim earlier.

Kim did not reply, but took another long sip of her drink.

"So when are you bringing him in? I cannot wait to meet the guy that broke Kimberly Hart."

"What?!? I am not broken!" she protested.

"Come on, Kim, you're practically the president of Man-Eaters Anonymous. I've never seen any guy throw you off your game, and you can usually convince them to buy you a drink with nothing but eye contact and a toss of your hair."

Kim nodded, reflecting silently on her most recent conquests. Clearly, she was not a fan of serious relationships, and the extent of most of her relationships included some free drinks at the bar and flirtation on the dance floor. Most men she "dated" never made it into her apartment, let alone to her bedroom, though. I'm young, I'm having fun… There's nothing wrong with that, she worked to convince herself as Geri continued.

"But this guy has you guzzling well vodka from the cash bar like it's water, and running around with this frenzied, crazy look in your eyes. Which reminds me, we will have to make a visit to the ladies room before you rendezvous with him again so we can touch you up." Geri gestured toward her hair and face with a look of mock disgust.

Kimberly was forced to giggle. She knew anyone listening would have thought Geri was being horribly rude, but in truth Geri was as steadfast and loyal as they came, and she was doing everything she could to fulfill her role as best girl friend. "Thanks, Geraldine."

"I swear to God, I'll stab you if you call me that again," she muttered through clenched teeth as she grabbed for a butter knife from the table.

Kim threw her arms around her friend's shoulders. "You're as good as they come, you know that."

Geri rolled her eyes but smiled back at her. "Is that you or the cheap vodka talking?"