"Surprised by joy – impatient as the wind" – William Wordsworth

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Lee had spent a productive day lounging by the pool. With the judicious use of twenty-dollar tips, the barman had become his new best friend in the last few days, and Lee had been quick to feed him salacious details on his evening with the delectable Mrs. Delahanty to cement his cover. Speaking just loudly enough to be overheard, he had attracted the attention of some of the Dog Squad as he let out little details on what he'd supposedly done to gain her interest. Francine meanwhile had finally appeared by the pool by noon, large sunglasses and small yawns all suggestive of a woman who had had an exhausting evening the night before. After gracefully acknowledging his wave of greeting across the pool, she had immediately zeroed in on one the dogs Lee had suggested as a good target and begun playing up to him. Lee made all the right noises to the other men about the fickleness of women to his new 'friends' in the squad and then spent the rest of the afternoon flirting outrageously with every other woman in sight, all the while watching Francine like a hawk. When she disappeared upstairs to change for dinner, so did he, leaving a score of women at the pool appreciatively watching him walk away.

He knew from their talk the night before that Francine would be back for cocktails sometime before the 8 pm seating in the dining room so he had time for a long shower. It was a relief to rid himself of the various perfumes of the women who'd been hanging on him all day and for the first time that day he allowed his thoughts to turn to Amanda. He grew hard thinking about the night they'd managed to have together before she left for Station One and the memory of her eyes, dark with passion, head tipped back on his pillow calling his name had him stroking himself furiously within seconds. Falling back against the shower wall with a groan, he had to laugh at himself. "A full day of half-naked women around a pool does nothing and ten seconds of thinking about Amanda has me jerking off like a horny teenager in need of a cold shower. The dog squad would never believe it." As he dressed for the evening, he wondered how Station One was going, knowing she was much better prepared this time, but unable to stop the smile at remembering her first effort. A complete disaster from start to finish and yet she'd still managed to identify and capture a Soviet agent. She should be done this round by Sunday he reminded himself as he dressed, and then you can call - or better yet, see her if you're not still stuck here. He grinned at his reflection as he tied the bowtie for his tux – who in their right minds would look forward to leaving the sun of the Caribbean for the inevitably grey skies of DC in December? He would, he knew, since the sunshine in his life was provided entirely by his fiancée. "Get a grip Stetson – you're sounding more like a hopeless romantic all the time," he said to the mirror before heading back downstairs to his station at the end of the bar.

"Hey Lee" said Antonio the barman. "You might be in luck – apparently there's been a shipment of fresh meat today."

Lee worked hard to maintain his smile in the face of the disgust he felt for the barman's assessment of the women at the hotel. "Really? What's the grapevine say?"

"Some friend of Mrs. Delahanty's apparently. Loaded, they say, and engaged to somebody important in the White House. The concierge says he got the impression from her conversation with Mrs. Delahanty in the lobby when she arrived that's she's here to blow off a little steam before the wedding. You might get lucky – Tommy says she's a looker."

Lee was intrigued; obviously Billy had sent more backup but who was available? – the pool of female agents wasn't that large so he must know her. A sudden horrible thought struck him: 'Oh God, please don't let it be Elisa'. Out loud he managed to say, "Really? Got a name? Maybe I know her if she's been going to the same parties as Fast Frannie."

"Hang on, I'll check the tab register."

He tried to look nonchalant as Antonio leaned down and flipped to the most recent page of guest bar tabs, even sipping his drink in an effort to look only moderately interested. He almost choked on it when Antonio looked back up saying. "Here it is – Victoria Greenwich. Ever heard of her?"

"Victoria Greenwich? Yeah I've heard of her." He couldn't believe he had managed to still sound calm.

"Well, she's just walked in, so you better move fast."

Hoping against hope that it wasn't just Billy reusing old covers for new agents, Lee slowly turned around and looked around the crowd. He finally spotted Francine talking with the manager of the hotel, a rather obsequious man named Halliwell. At first glance he thought she was alone, but then she shifted her position slightly to introduce someone else and Lee felt the wave of pure delight crash through him. It was all he could do to stop himself from charging over there. Instead he forced himself to turn back to the barman and say "Oh yeah, I know her, or at least her reputation. This'll be easy."

"Well, good luck man, the hyenas are already circling."

'Yeah but they don't know what I know' thought Lee to himself before pushing off the bar and beginning to circle the pool slowly, keeping an eye on the two women from a distance. He perched in the shadows, watching them while the dog squad made various runs at them. They were a striking pair, blonde and dark, and they fell into an easy rhythm of conversation and flirting with the men who approached them, all smiles and promises, and yet leaving no man in particular with the feeling that he was onto a sure thing. He grinned to himself as he watched Amanda's hand rise unconsciously and run a finger down the back of her neck. She knew he was there somewhere watching and he watched the flush cross her body as if she was aware what he was thinking. He turned as someone walked up to stand beside him – it was one of the dogs, a man named Gary who Lee had placed at the bottom of the "maybe" list of targets. He seemed more coarse then the usual squad members and didn't seem to be favoured with the women as much. He was on the list only because of his longevity as a hotel regular, but Lee couldn't see him being successful at charming enough women into even talking to him long enough to be drugged.

Gary was now leering at Francine and Amanda. "The new one's cute too – you know if we tag-teamed we could probably get a four-way later." It was all Lee could do to keep his clenched first from flying out and clocking him where he stood. The agent part of his brain dropped Gary off the list; anyone who wasn't solely interested in getting a woman alone was not their target. The other 95% of him seethed quietly before he could finally trust himself to say "No thanks, I prefer to work alone" as he stalked off towards Amanda.

Francine looked up as he walked out of the shadows and smiled knowingly at him, while making a show of waving him over to join them. "Lee, darling, do come and meet one of my oldest friends. Vicky, this is one of my newest friends, Lee something-or-other. We had the most marvellous time last night, you should definitely get to know him as well."

Well, Frannie, you did say you'd introduce me to all the most fun people when you invited me down here and I'm sure Mr. Something-or-other won't disappoint." Amanda's expression was pure mischief as she looked up at him.

The dimples in Lee's cheeks deepened as he bent to take Amanda's hand and raise it to his lips. She was becoming more flushed as Lee held her hand just a little too long and allowed the tip of his tongue to lightly jab out and lick her before releasing her. He looked up into Amanda's dancing eyes and grinned. "Call me Lee, and Frannie could tell you I never disappoint."

"Well then I'm sorry I'm late for the party."

"Better late than never." He turned to take Francine's hand and give it the same kiss, minus the tongue action. "Frannie, darling, you never said a thing last night about having such a lovely friend coming to join you."

"Well, it was just an idea I had once you left me all tucked up in bed last night and I called to see if she wanted to join us. And how nice that William said you could come. Isn't it nice, Lee darling?"

By now Amanda was having difficulty not bursting into giggles. She knew Francine was enjoying needling her with that line about Lee tucking her up in bed, but she was too happy to be here to care.

"Very nice indeed," Lee answered Francine, giving her a wink. "Now can I persuade you two lovely ladies to join me for dinner? I hear the Beef Wellington is excellent."

"Oh I don't think I'm that hungry after travelling all day. I'll probably just have a salad," said Amanda in her most demure voice. Lee gave her a confused glance as she looked up at him, eyes twinkling. He suddenly remembered her telling him months before that a girl eating lightly on a date was a sure sign she was hoping to get lucky at the end of the evening. Her smile widened as she saw the desire flicker in his eyes as he made the connection.

Francine knew that, as usual, there was a joke she wasn't getting but chose to let it slide. "Well, you two go and have fun. I'm planning on having my own little dinner date."

"Not with Gary." Lee's attention had returned to her fully. It wasn't a question and Francine understood immediately that the hapless Gary had been eliminated somehow from his list. "No, not Gary. I thought maybe Simon? That English accent of his is just delicious." She'd named one of his top suspects and Lee nodded in acknowledgement. He held out a hand to Amanda

"Shall we Mrs – uh?"

"Miss. I'm not married yet. But you can call me Vicky." She took his hand and rose gracefully to her feet.

"Not married yet, hmm? I can't believe someone hasn't done something about that, although I see now you have a lovely ring there." It was lovely – she was wearing the ring he'd given her just weeks before.

"Oh I'm working on it but you wouldn't believe how hard it can be to get a man to nail down a date." She paused look down at Francine "We'll see you in the dining room then." It was reassurance that they'd be watching her and Francine nodded. "And maybe a nightcap?"

"I'll let you know" Francine glanced up at Lee who nodded imperceptibly. She watched as the two of them made their way towards the dining room before turning and giving her most beguiling smile to the handsome Englishman watching her from across the pool.

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SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK

Lee knew exactly which table to request that gave him the best view of the room so he could watch Francine and her date for the evening. It was also just happened to be a perfect table for letting them sit side by side on a curved bench against the wall.

"God, I love my job," he murmured into Amanda's ear, delighted by the throaty laugh his comment caused. "How on earth did you get here?"

"Agency jet."

"A-man-da!" he growled. "You know what I meant. You were supposed to be stuck at Station One this week."

"Well, I was and then I wasn't." She held up a hand at his expression. "It all went fine. So fine that I got out early and I only have a few things left to complete but Billy has some paperwork to do for me first." She suddenly looked uncomfortable and changed the subject. "Did you hear Fred's off work under medical leave again?"

Lee looked at her suspiciously. He knew she was being evasive about something but sitting in the middle of a surveillance job was probably not the best place to make her tell him what about. He decided to let it pass for the time being and respond to the latter part of what she'd said. "Again? What's he done this time?"

As Amanda filled him in on the hapless Fred, Lee had the incredibly simple task of appearing to be completely involved in seducing her. Somehow they managed to make it through the meal without incident although Lee tested her limits by running his hand up her leg and under her skirt in a way he knew drove her crazy. If he hadn't been determined to maintain an absolute protective cover on Francine, he probably would have done more, but they both knew they could only have so much fun without getting distracted.

Francine was doing her usual excellent job of appearing to get drunker and merrier as the meal progressed, getting increasingly louder and slightly obnoxious but eventually they saw her signalling that she was ready to call it a night. They stood up as she walked towards their table, Simon trailing behind looking confused.

"Well hello you two" she drawled. "Been having fun?" She didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "Vicky darling, why don't you come up for that nightcap we talked about earlier? I've hardly had a chance to see you since you got here and we're supposed to be discussing your wedding plans. Simon, you don't mind if I leave you to your own devices, do you? I promise to make it up to you tomorrow." Again, she didn't wait for an answer before linking her arm through Amanda's and heading out of the dining room.

Lee looked at Simon who was staring after them with an annoyed expression. "I know how you feel buddy – she's a bit of a tease isn't she? I thought I was in for sure with her friend, but I think we may have been dumped for a girly gabfest. Unless you want to follow them to their rooms and see if they're up for a little team sport?" He wondered if Simon would eliminate himself as easily as Gary had done hours earlier or if he was landing himself with a new problem.

"No thanks, mate. Best of luck to you but I think I'll take my chances on getting her alone tomorrow." Simon was still watching the two women as they left the room. "I'll settle for the free meal tonight and get the big score later."

"Big score?" asked Lee, with well-feigned confusion. "From last night, I'd say she's good but she's not that good."

"Not that kind of score, mate." Simon smirked at him and then paused looking at him thoughtfully. "Tell you what, see how you do with those two tonight and then come find me tomorrow. I have someone who might want to meet you."

"Gotcha" thought Lee to himself before saying out loud "Well, okay. I'm happy enough to have them all to myself. See ya round."

A few minutes later, he was tapping on Francine's door. He laughed as the door opened and a well-manicured hand reached out to grab his tux lapel and drag him into the room. "Jeez, Francine, wasn't last night enough for you?"

Amanda grinned at him from across the room where she was finishing the bug sweep. "Next I expect I'll have to prove I really do know what a ménage a trois is."

"Lalalalalala!" said Francine holding her hands over her ears. "You two always know how to creep me out! Your act at dinner was nauseating. But seriously, Lee, it's definitely Simon!"

"I know"

She looked startled at the immediate response. "How do you know? Did you see him when he tried to spike my drink?"

"One, because he turned down my offer to bring him up here with me and two, he offered to introduce me to someone tomorrow. I think I just got recruited. How the hell did I miss him slipping something in your drink?"

"Because I knocked over the glass while he was in the middle of doing it. You invited him up here? What would you have done if he'd said yes?" Francine glared at him.

"Hit him with the Cobra Death Grip" answered Lee smiling as Amanda cracked up.

"The Cobra what?"

"Old British spy trick – could have sworn I mentioned it last night. Never mind - I would have sent him up first and let you knock him out, of course."

"Oh that reminds me" Amanda said suddenly. "Francine, Dr. McJohn sent some stuff with me that should counteract the effects of anything these guys are putting in the drinks. He says it's not really finished testing yet, but he's sure it's safe."

Francine wrinkled her nose and looked disgusted. "No thanks, I'm already freaked out enough by this whole thing without drugging myself." Amanda's eyes met Lee's questioningly. The slight shake of his head told her they'd discuss it later.

"If you say so. He says it'll work as both prevention and cure if you change your mind."

"I won't. You two just keep watching my back and I'll be fine. And now, in deference to Amanda's being here, I'll change in the bathroom this time." She grabbed her pajamas and went into the ensuite.

"This time?" Amanda looked at him quizzically.

"Last night, she was so busy discussing the case she did a whole striptease in front of me. Perks of being old friends."

"Bet you enjoyed that."

"Actually, I didn't notice what she'd done until it was all over. I'll be sure to pay more attention next time."

"Next time, Stetson?"

"I'm hoping for an encore tonight with the real star of the show instead of having to settle for the understudy." He had moved across the room and was now bent down nuzzling her neck.

"Oh smooth, very smooth, lover boy. But you better move because Francine is going to come back out of that bathroom in about ten seconds." Indeed, no sooner had Lee stepped away than Francine walked back into the room and stared at them suspiciously.

"What are you two up to?"

"Amanda was just asking me about your tattoos," replied Lee easily.

"I don't have any...oh for God's sake! You are such a -" muttered Francine.

"Wormbrain?" supplied Lee.

"Yes, that's perfect – you are such a wormbrain."

"Don't call your brother wormbrain" muttered Amanda out of sheer habit. "Wow, this is just like being at home except the weather's better."

"Well, let's get tomorrow planned because I want to go to bed." Francine missed Lee and Amanda's eyes meeting over her head and the shared smiles that said "me too".

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