Four months later, Martin stepped off the train in Union Station and smiled when he saw the beautiful raven-haired woman clad in the same white blouse and blue jeans he'd left her in at her hotel in January. For the next three days, he was going to be all hers and he was looking forward to it. It had taken some considerable effort on her part, but she'd finally convinced him to take a few days and let her show him around the D.C. she knew. As he hugged her, it seemed like the best idea he'd ever been talked into having.
That night Lily knocked on the door to the guest bedroom of her apartment and smiled as she stuck her head in. "Is everything OK?" Did you find what you needed?"
"I'm fine, thanks." He grinned when he noticed the t-shirt she was wearing. It was faded, but it hadn't really changed since the night he'd given it to her. "You kept that old thing?"
"Of course I kept it. It's just now broken in and comfortable."
He patted the bed next to him and she didn't hesitate to join him, placing her head against his shoulder. "Those aren't the pants I gave you when you spent the night with me at Quantico."
"No, those bit the dust a few years ago after they got snagged on my mother's rose bushes one night while I was walking. These I borrowed from my father when I was staying at 'the mansion on the hill' over Christmas."
He laughed with her before smoothing her hair back and kissing her temple. "How are your folks?"
"Don't ask or I'll ask about yours."
"Fair enough." He laughed again.
"You know, this is how we got in trouble when we were kids."
"Good thing we aren't twelve and there are no adults around."
"Oh goodie. I'm not a big fan of adults."
"I think we safely left them at the train station." She snuggled closer to him as they fell into a comfortable silence. He'd missed her childish glee and her laid back personality. With Lily, he didn't have to be Special Agent Martin Fitzgerald, he could just be Martin, and, with her help, find the humorous side of what could be very stressful situations. Her ability to make his smile when he didn't think he would ever smile again was unbelievable, and he was grateful. As his fingers gently made tracks in her hair, they fell asleep with Lily nestled perfectly in his arms.
The next morning, Lily awoke as Martin attempted to gently slide his arm out from under her pillow. "Where are you going?"
"To take a shower and get dressed."
She took hold of his strong hand and pulled him back around her. "Everything will still be there in fifteen minutes. It's still too early."
"OK." He couldn't argue. She felt too good in his arms.
"You don't remember this place, do you?" Lily smirked as she stopped the car.
"Lil, last time I was at any of these places we were pre-pubescent kids." He couldn't help but laugh at the sparkle in her eyes. They'd stopped at two spots he vaguely remembered as their childhood hangouts, but the old estate they'd pulled up to wasn't ringing any bells.
"Think about when we were twelve years old and your parents took their European jaunt without you."
"This is your grandfather's old place?"
"Yeah, only now it belongs to my father." She shut off the engine and grabbed her purse. "I actually need to take care of a few things while they are in London. I'll be about an hour if you want Melinda to make you some lunch."
"No wonder you referred to this place as the mansion on the hill." Martin laughed slightly as they walked up the great stone staircase, but he winced on the last step, his hip injury bothering him.
"Hey Bobby." Hugging the butler, the same man who had worked for her grandfather while she was growing up, she nodded to the man who had been holding her hand all day. "You remember,"
"Master Fitzgerald, of course." He finished with his British accent.
"You are better than even I give you credit for." She smiled and shook her head. "Robert, I'm going into Daddy's study for a little while and I was wondering if you could show Martin to my old room and maybe find something to ease his aches and pains."
Martin quickly shook his head. "No, I'll be fine, thank you. It's just those stairs that aggravated an old injury."
"Hon, you've been in pain for the last hour. I'm driving so you don't have to worry."
"Just a couple of Motrin will be fine, thank you, Robert." He waited until the older man left. "Tiger Lily, I'm about to get my one year cake from NA. I have plenty to worry about if I were to take you up on your offer." Her face lost all color and he placed his ands on her shoulders. "Lil, it's not something I tattoo on my forehead, you could never had known."
As he hugged her, she found her voice. "Martin, I am mortified. I never meant anything by it."
"I know you didn't." He kissed her forehead. "I will take you up on your offer of some of Melinda's famous homemade goodies, though." She finally smiled again and he followed her into her father's office. "The inner sanctum hasn't changed since we used to sneak in here to steal your grandfather's cigars when we were teenagers."
"And that's why you are going to lay back on the most comfortable couch in the house, where we were busted for sitting a little too close together when we were twelve, and allow Bobby to bring you whatever you need. We don't have to be anywhere until seven-thirty tonight."
After two Motrin and four of the best chocolate chip cookies he'd ever eaten, his pain began to subside so he rested and watched as Lily worked. Her long raven tresses were tied on top of her head with two pencils after ten minutes, the loose strands being tucked behind her ears, and he noticed just how flawless her smooth porcelain skin was. "Hmm?" He'd been so lost in her beauty that he hadn't heard what she had asked him.
She looked up from the check register she was working on with a frown. "I'm sorry. Were you asleep?"
"No, I was just admiring your look."
"Now I know you were dreaming because I look like hell right now." They shared a laugh. "What I asked was do you want me to have Bobby start the hot tub for you?"
"No, I'm OK, Lil. Stop worrying."
"I like worrying and I'll have you know that I'm quite good at it, as was my mother before me." She laughed again. "Are you sure you don't want to soak in the tub? It feels really good on sore muscles." He shook his head and she shrugged as she went back to work.
That night at dinner, as they laughed and talked about everything from new cases to old memories, Martin found himself drawn to her. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. He'd felt it back when they were in their teens and twenties, but he had never had the confidence to act on it. That was then, though, and, as they talked, he gently leaned in and kissed her sweet red lips. Lily Anderson was a beautiful woman and they'd become closer in the past nine months than they had been when they were younger and he didn't want to just sit around and wonder any longer.
"Um, wow," Lily blushed as she tired to regain her composure, "what was that for?"
"It's something I should have done years ago, Lil. You are a beautiful woman who takes my breath away, who I enjoy being around, and I want to take our friendship to the next level."
"I think we've established that."
"Lil, I didn't mean to push, but,"
She placed her finger over his lips. "No, Martin, you didn't push. Not in the least. In fact, I really wish you had done that when we were kids because I had such a crush on you." She blushed again as she looked away and he took her hand. "I just never thought I was your type. I'm not blonde, I'm not gorgeous, and I'm not mysterious. I'm like an old storybook you've read a hundred times and can recite by heart. I'm not new."
"You are incredibly gorgeous, Tiger Lily, and you are new. There's so much that I have yet to find out about you. We lost touch for so long yet I feel like we never lost that connection. Besides, mysterious is over-rated. I want you. I want someone who is beautiful, confident, intelligent, warm, and inviting. There's something to be said about a really good book that you've read a few times. It's comforting and yet it's exciting because there are parts that you forget, parts that seem to come alive, and you always know that it's going to make you smile, but you're not an old book, Lil, you've added a few chapters that I haven't read yet."
"Just tell me this isn't going to make things weird between us, Martin. I don't want to wake up one day and regret that we did this because I can't seem to talk to you anymore without getting silly."
"It won't get weird, Lil, I promise. We aren't kids anymore."
"Bite your tongue. I refuse to grow up."
"I've noticed." He laughed as she pretended to glare at him.
"I've noticed that I don't live in New York. I'm game for a long distance thing if you are though."
"It doesn't bother me. I'm not going to let you get away again." He kissed her hand though he came to rue those words. Being three hours away by train, two hours by plane, from her began to wear thin when he wanted to see her for a weekend, to take her out for an evening, or just to see her after a bad day.
Lily felt the strain as well. They talked almost every day, but it just wasn't the same. She found herself actually missing him and caught a shuttle up to New York three weeks after he'd left just to surprise him for a weekend. Two weeks later, she answered her apartment door and found Martin leaning against the doorjamb. "Hey Secret Agent Man."
"Hey there, Tiger Lily." It had just been a horrendous week and he needed to see the smile that greeted him. As he stepped inside, he kissed her deeply, and suddenly all the ills of the horrific case he'd just wrapped up were gone. All that mattered, all that filled his senses, his mind, was her, and that was all he concentrated on for the remainder of the night.
The next morning, as she lay in his arms, her naked body pressed against his, she smiled. Originally, she was so scared that dating would ruin their friendship, but just the opposite had occurred. She felt closer to him. There was no more need to censor, to watch what she said, because they knew everything about each other. They truly were best friends and it just heightened their physical and emotional connection.