Author's Note: So many people asked me to do the dinner scene from Over the Limit to finish up my filler story that I decided to do it (as Singerme pointed out, they already gave me the menu :P). Special thanks to Rose Stetson for being my beta. :) More thanks to the people on Iwsod's blog: Check out what Dotty's class is about! I decided to leave the results vague so there will still be room for debate. ;)
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The ear-to-ear grin that Lee had worn ever since he and Amanda had left the Sullivans' boat was starting to hurt his face a little, but he couldn't stop smiling and didn't want to. Amanda was sitting beside him in the 'Vette, and they were on their way to the grocery store to pick up what they needed for tonight's dinner. It had all worked out so much better than he could have predicted.
The trip to visit the Sullivans had gone smoothly. Elizabeth was happy to see Amanda, and Amanda was relieved that everything was going well for them now. As they walked away from the Sullivans' boat, Amanda was relaxed and cheerful, so Lee decided to go ahead and ask her about dinner.
After Amanda's sore feelings the other day, he hadn't been sure whether or not she'd accept the invitation. When he asked her if she'd like to have dinner with him, she pointed out that the embassy party was tonight. Lee shrugged it off casually, saying that Leslie would be working at the party and that she had her own invitation. Leslie was still an awkward subject, and he didn't really want to discuss her much with Amanda if he could help it.
The suggestion of steak and baked potatoes with no shop talk seemed to go over well with Amanda. Not only had she accepted, but she had agreed that they didn't do things like that often enough. He had actually laughed out loud at how easy it had been to issue the invitation and how quickly Amanda had accepted it.
"Do you need to call your mother and tell her you won't be home for dinner?" Lee asked.
"No," Amanda said. "Actually, I'm on my own for dinner tonight, too."
"Where are your mother and the kids?" Lee asked as they headed back to his car.
"The kids are still at Tommy Johnson's house, and Mother has another of her meetings tonight," Amanda said.
"Tommy Johnson was having a birthday party or something, wasn't he?" Lee asked casually.
"Yes, he's having an all-weekend sleepover for his birthday," Amanda said. "I can't believe that his mother is willing to put up with six boys for the entire weekend, but it's kind of a special thing."
"Why?" Lee asked.
"His uncle works for a game company, and he's given Tommy some copies of games they've been working on that haven't been released yet. I don't really understand the games myself, but the boys love them, and they can't pass up the chance to spend all weekend playing them with Tommy."
"Plus, they probably get bragging rights, being the first kids at their school to play them, right?" Lee asked. Even with his strange childhood, he could remember kids on the bases where he'd lived with his uncle bragging about being the first to get a new record or a new issue of some comic book series that everyone was reading.
"Right," Amanda said, laughing. "Although, I think that Tommy's uncle is also using them as a test audience for the games. Jamie says that he'll be staying at Tommy's house all weekend, helping with the party."
"And probably taking notes on how they like the new games," Lee agreed. "Smooth move. He gets to be a hero to his nephew and his nephew's friends with his cool presents, and he gets his test audience to boot."
"At least Tommy's mother has back-up dealing with the boys all weekend," Amanda said with a grin. "So, where are we going for dinner?"
"My place."
"Your place?" Amanda raised her eyebrows. "I thought that you meant dinner at a restaurant."
"If you'd rather do that, that's okay," Lee said, although he was really hoping that she wouldn't want to do that. "But, really I prefer cooking steaks myself."
Amanda was giving him a puzzled look. They both knew that Lee often ate out at restaurants, but with both of them in jeans, they weren't really dressed to go out anywhere. Besides, after the difficult week they'd had, all he really wanted was some quiet time with Amanda. Just Amanda.
"Are you telling me that you actually have food at your place?" Amanda asked.
"Not yet," Lee admitted, "but we can easily take care of that." He flashed Amanda one of his most charming grins.
When she smiled back, he knew that he'd won her over to the idea. Lee steered the 'Vette in the direction of his favorite grocery store.
At the grocery store, they picked up the steaks, a couple of potatoes, and some lettuce and dressing for side salads. The salad was Amanda's idea. Like any good mother, she pointed out that they should have a veggie with their meal. But, salad was a good suggestion, and Lee was glad that she thought of it. As an afterthought, Lee also picked up some ice cream for dessert. He didn't really want any of Leslie's leftover cake, and he didn't want to give any to Amanda, either.
"Anything else for you and your wife today?" one of the clerks asked him.
Lee chuckled at Amanda's shy, embarrassed look. It was a natural misunderstanding. A man and woman shopping together would typically be a married couple. Rather than correct the clerk, however, Lee just said, "No, thanks. We're fine."
Amanda was blushing now, and Lee was enjoying watching her reaction. She always got embarrassed because she actually cared about what other people thought and the false impressions they might have. None of that mattered to Lee at all. He knew who he was and what he was doing, and if others misunderstood, that was their problem.
For the rest of the way to Lee's apartment, they chatted more about the games Philip and Jamie were into. Lee understood less about them than Amanda did. One had something to do with robots from outer space and another involved wizards fighting strange creatures that Lee had never heard of. It didn't really matter. It was just nice to sit back and listen to Amanda talking to him. They really hadn't done enough of that lately.
After they carried the groceries up to Lee's apartment, Amanda insisted on helping him with dinner. Lee had cooked for women before and had women who had cooked for him, but preparing food alongside another person was different. In some ways, it was a little awkward, moving around another person in the kitchen, occasionally bumping into her, but it was kind of cozy, too.
Maybe a little too cozy, he thought as he bumped into her for the third time.
"Oops, sorry," Amanda said, moving around him.
"It's okay," Lee said.
It really was okay. On the one hand, it was a little annoying that he couldn't move around as freely as he usually could, but on the other, clumsily bumping into her like that didn't make him feel at all self-conscious. Amanda was comfortable and familiar. He had spent plenty of time with her with at work, sometimes in close quarters like in his car, and his partner's presence was always reassuring.
After the dangers she had been in recently, it felt good having her right there, in easy reach of an accidental touch. In fact, if he turned around right now, his head would be right above her brunette curls, and he would smell that shampoo that she liked . . .
Lee shook his head and took a hasty glance at Amanda. She was tearing up pieces of lettuce for the salad and hadn't noticed that he'd apparently been staring mindlessly at a raw potato for the last two minutes while his mind drifted.
While Lee prepared the steak and potatoes, Amanda finished fixing the salad. She put it into a bowl to chill in the refrigerator while the steak and potatoes were cooking.
"Anything else I can help you with?" Amanda asked.
"Why don't you put on some music?" Lee suggested.
The kitchen was a little cramped for two people, and some music would be nice with dinner. He didn't have to tell Amanda where to find his record collection. She already knew from past visits to his apartment and past attempts to tidy up the place. Lee smiled a little at the memory.
It was also no surprise to him that she passed up his Rolling Stones albums in favor of the only Duke Ellington record he owned. He knew that she had a special fondness for Duke Ellington because her parents liked him. Hearing his music made her think of happy times from her childhood. Even though Lee had bought the record before he had met Amanda, he now associated it with Amanda more than with the friend who had originally recommended it to him. For the first time since he'd bought the record, he wondered if he should get another one. It wasn't his favorite style of music, but Amanda would be happy to see it the next time she came over.
Amanda came back into the kitchen and watched him as he continued preparing dinner.
"Are you sure there isn't anything I can do to help?" she asked.
Really, there wasn't much left to do. Timing the cooking of the steaks was going to be easy. Lee knew that both he and Amanda liked their steaks medium-well, so they would both be ready at the same time. Mostly, he wanted Amanda to relax.
"Nope. You can just keep me company," Lee said, giving her a wink.
The cute blush returned to her cheeks. He loved how easy it was to make her do that.
"So what kind of meeting does your mother have tonight?" Lee asked.
"Well, it's actually more of a class. There's a program at the community center called 'Know Your Personality Type.' It lasts for three nights in a row, and this is the third night."
"'Know Your Personality Type?' Doesn't she know her personality type already?"
Although, now that he thought about it, Dotty's personality was somewhat difficult to define. Not that he was going to say that to Amanda.
"They have you answer questions about different things, like the way you make decisions and whether you like to plan things or be spontaneous, you know, stuff like that, and then they kind of rate you on your different qualities and come up with your personality type," Amanda explained.
Lee vaguely remembered taking a similar kind of test when he'd joined the Agency. It was probably still somewhere in the file containing his psych profile, but he couldn't remember what the results were. At the time, he hadn't much cared.
"What's it for?" he asked.
"It isn't really for anything specifically," Amanda said. "Mother's just doing it as a special interest project. She says that understanding personality types can give you a lot of insight."
"I didn't realize that she was so introspective."
"Well, actually," Amanda said conspiratorially, "I think she's really interested in the topic of tonight's meeting."
"What's that?"
"Romance between different personality types." Amanda giggled. "There are a couple of good-looking gentlemen in the class, and I think Mother's hoping that one of them will be her type."
Lee laughed.
It occurred to him that Amanda's mother might have another ulterior motive for wanting to know about romance and personality types. It could be another step in her on-going mission to find a new husband for Amanda.
"Has she tried to figure out your personality type yet?" he asked casually.
"She tried to give me the test, but she got frustrated when I had trouble choosing between the options she tried to give me."
"Like what?"
"Well, one of the questions asked whether I thought that children should daydream or make themselves useful, and I said that I thought both were important. Mother kept saying that I had to pick one or the other, but I don't see why. After all, they could daydream while they do their chores, can't they?"
Lee grinned. You just had to love Amanda's logic.
"So she couldn't figure out what personality type you are?"
"Eventually, she figured something out, but she's still analyzing the results. She says that she'll tell me when the class is over."
Along with whatever her assessment of Amanda's ideal romantic type turned out to be, Lee thought darkly as they set the table and started bringing out the food. It was no secret that Dotty wanted Amanda to get married again, and Lee disapproved of Dotty's romantic recommendations for Amanda. Even though it was really none of his business, he'd been relieved when Amanda had finally dumped what's-his-name the weather boy. Whatever type he was, Lee was sure that he wasn't the type that would properly take care of a woman like Amanda. Guiltily, Lee remembered that he hadn't done very well at that recently himself.
As he watched a smiling Amanda setting out the salad and fetching wine glasses for the two of them, Lee wondered if he should check what his file said about his personality type.
Amanda went into the kitchen to get the rest of the food, and Lee studied the table settings. Quickly, he shifted his place setting so that it was next to Amanda instead of across from her. That felt better to him. Amanda looked surprised when she came back with the steak and potatoes, but she didn't say anything about the change in the seating arrangement. Lee just poured the wine for both of them and lit the candles in the middle of the table.
All through dinner, he kept a careful eye on Amanda. She ate well and seemed in good spirits. To all outward appearances, she seemed to have forgotten their earlier argument. However, Lee doubted that was the case.
"Would you like some more salad?" Lee offered.
"No thanks, I'm fine," Amanda said.
"More wine?" Lee was restricting himself to a single glass because he would be driving Amanda home later, but there was no reason why Amanda couldn't indulge a little more.
"No, thank you," Amanda said. "Dinner was really wonderful."
"Just meat and potatoes," Lee said modestly.
"Well, it was just was I needed," Amanda said.
"Good." That was just what Lee needed to hear.
Then, Amanda looked uncomfortable. "Um, Lee, if this dinner was meant as an apology . . ."
"Stop!" Lee held up his hands. "You don't have to say anything. I said no shop talk, and I meant it."
"I just wanted to say that if it was an apology, it was a good one."
"I'm just glad you're alright," Lee said softly. "I was really scared for you."
There, he said it. But, this time, it was the right thing to say.
"I'm glad you're alright, too," Amanda said. "I was worried about you."
Lee gazed silently at Amanda. She looked so delicate sometimes, slim with those big brown eyes and cute little nose . . . well, the point was that she looked like someone who needed to be protected, but instead, she was determined to protect everyone else.
For a long moment, they held each other's gaze. Then, Amanda looked away, blushing.
"No more shop talk, right?" Amanda said.
"Right," Lee said. "Let's go sit on the couch and listen to the rest of the record."
The record was nearing the end, but there were a couple of songs left to go.
The two of them settled comfortably next to each other on the couch. They listened to the music quietly for a few minutes, but Lee still felt the urge to talk to Amanda. It felt good to have just the two of them talking together again.
"So, has your family been doing anything else interesting lately?" he asked. The question felt a little odd. It wasn't one that he usually had to ask because Amanda usually just told him everything. In fact, she might have already told him everything when he wasn't paying attention.
"Not really," Amanda said. "How about you?"
The question had slipped out automatically, and Amanda immediately looked embarrassed. She knew exactly what he'd been up to lately, and neither of them really wanted to discuss Leslie.
Fortunately, there was one thing he'd done recently that Amanda didn't know about.
"I had a dance lesson a few days ago," he said.
"Dance lesson? You already dance well."
Lee smiled at the compliment. "Well, you have to practice to keep your skills sharp, and sometimes I learn something new." It gave Lee a good idea. "Why don't I show you?"
"Right now?"
"Why not? The music's still playing."
Lee stood up and held out his hand to Amanda. Shyly, she took it.
There wasn't a lot of room in his apartment for dancing, and the music wasn't the same as the music from his dance lesson, but Lee was a skilled dancer. He kept Amanda close, murmuring instructions to guide her through the steps and preventing her from bumping into the furniture.
Between their personal conflicts and Amanda's recent close calls, it was reassuring to Lee to be able to hold her like this. She was warm and safe in his arms. He'd made sure that she'd had a good meal, and she was relaxed enough to move easily with him as he guided her through the steps of the dance. In short, for the first time in awhile, he felt that all was well between them.
Toward the end of the song, he decided that they should have a big finish.
"Get ready to for the dip," he said with big grin.
"Dip?"
Lee kept a firm hold on Amanda, wrapping one arm around her waist and placing his other hand on her upper back to support her.
"Here we go!" he said, lowering her into the dip.
Amanda gasped as she dipped backwards and giggled as Lee brought her suddenly upright. She clung to him as she regained her balance.
"Lee!"
"Fun, huh?" he teased her.
It was fun, holding Amanda in his arms as she laughed and hung onto him.
"Let's sit down for awhile," Amanda said, still laughing. "I need to catch my breath."
The two of them collapsed onto the couch as the record ended. Amanda's face was red, possibly from the dip or all the laughing or . . . maybe she just needed to cool down a little.
"Want some ice cream?" Lee asked, remembering their dessert.
"Sure," Amanda said.
Lee went to the kitchen and returned with two dishes of ice cream. Amanda had started to nod off while he was gone, but as Lee approached, she jerked herself awake.
"Are you okay?" Lee asked gently.
"Sorry," she said. "I'm just kind of tired this evening."
Lee had hoped that his phone call last evening had helped Amanda to sleep better, but maybe she'd had some insomnia anyway.
"But, I think I'll feel better after some ice cream," she said, eyeing the dishes Lee was holding.
They ate dessert in silence, but it was a comfortable silence, the kind of silence between two good friends who had spent a nice evening together and had run out of things to say but were still enjoying each other's company.
Amanda set down her empty dish and leaned back on the couch looking relaxed and sleepy. Much as Lee hated to end the evening, it would be awkward if Amanda fell asleep on his couch.
"Do you want me to take you home now?" he asked.
Amanda glanced at her watch and nodded. "I shouldn't be out too late tonight."
It was a little chilly when they got outside, so Lee handed Amanda his jacket before helping her into the car.
"Oh, that's okay," Amanda said. "It's only a short ride home. I'll be okay."
She tried to hand the jacket back, but Lee wouldn't take it.
"Just put it on," Lee said. "I'll get it back from you when I drop you off."
"Thanks," Amanda said, letting Lee wrap the jacket around her shoulders.
The drive to Amanda's house was also quiet. Lee didn't try to start a conversation. Amanda's quietness was proof of just how tired she was. He decided to just let her rest and spent the ride congratulating himself on a successful evening. Even more than offering an apology to Amanda for his neglect, this evening had been about making her feel better, and it appeared that he had succeeded.
A short while later, he pulled up near Amanda's house. He couldn't park immediately in front because her mother would ask questions.
He turned to look at Amanda and saw what he'd already suspected: she had fallen asleep at some point during the ride. Lee smiled quietly. Amanda was rarely quiet for so long except when she was completely unconscious. Her chatterbox tendencies used to get on his nerves when he first met her. Now, it was . . . well, still a little annoying at times, but also an endearing trait. It was one of the things that made Amanda, well, Amanda.
And he loved her.
That revelation should have surprised him, but it didn't really. The fact that it didn't was the most surprising part. It probably would have surprised him a few months ago. A couple of years ago, it would have shocked him. But, he'd had time to sort out not only his first impressions of Amanda, but also his second, third, and fourth ones. He knew all of her little habits, could tell when she was unhappy about something, and knew all her favorite foods and what her favorite childhood book was. He worried about her when she didn't eat properly and wanted to brain any man who paid too much attention to her. Any real threat to her life scared him to death. He just loved her.
Maybe nothing would ever come of it. Amanda had two children and her mother to think of, and Lee didn't know if he could ever fit into that domestic scene. It might take him a little longer to decide for certain whether he wanted to. He didn't even know for sure if Amanda would want him to.
For now, it would be enough to enjoy her friendship. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin their partnership. From now on, he was going to pay more attention to her, take better care of her, and try to keep her safe as much as possible. That was pretty much a full time job in itself.
It suddenly occurred to Lee that he had been staring at Amanda for awhile. Fortunately, she was still asleep and didn't know that he'd been staring. She was adorable, bundled up in his jacket, fast asleep. She looked so peaceful, he hated to wake her, but they couldn't sit out in his car all night.
He gently brushed a finger down her cheek. Amanda's eyes fluttered open. She looked around, confused.
"You're home," Lee said. "Time to wake up."
"Oh." Amanda rubbed her eyes and sat up straighter.
"I should give you your coat back." She shrugged it off and passed it over to Lee.
"I'll wait here until I'm sure you're safely inside," Lee said. "Goodnight, Amanda."
"Goodnight, Lee."
Lee watched Amanda carefully as she walked up to her front door and unlocked it. Even after she went inside, he waited to make sure that all was well. A couple of minutes passed and nothing happened, so he started driving home.
Alone in the car, his thoughts turned back to Leslie. He hoped that she had enjoyed her embassy party in her new dress. He hoped that she wasn't too upset about him skipping out her, although she had kind of thought he might, had even suggested it herself.
But Lee wasn't really sorry for missing the party. He hadn't even thought much about Leslie that evening. If he had gone with her to the embassy party, his evening would have consisted of endless introductions and little or no time to even share a dance. He'd had a much better time with just Amanda. As nice as Leslie was, he just didn't feel the same way about her as he did about Amanda.
The best part of the evening was knowing that he had repaired their relationship. Now that she was feeling better, he was feeling better, and he was sure that Amanda would sleep well tonight.
Lee slept very well himself. He fell asleep thinking about his next "no shop talk" dinner with Amanda. After all, she'd agreed they should do more of that. His dreams were full of dancing, with a woman who looked good in either a black evening gown or in jeans.