Chapter 11

He reached the house sometime later and paused at the door, it seemed like a lifetime ago when he left this morning. He remembered the chaos and confusion from the morning and braced himself before he opened the door. He was taken aback by the silence when he opened the door. He was instantly on alert. He placed his hand on his firearm and slowly moved through the entry way of the house. He stepped up the steps and down into the kitchen. He was startled by the buzzer of the oven going off and immediately Amanda came down the stairs.

"Oh," she exclaimed when his presence startled her, she smiled blissfully at him, "I didn't hear you come in," she said sliding past him, grabbing a pot holder and opening the oven. He looked around the kitchen and noticed the dining room table was set for two, lit with candle light. A bottle of something was breathing on the table.

Whatever she was making smelled like heaven, "Were is everyone?" he asked, looking around wondering if they would pop up unexpectedly the way they did this morning.

"Well mother took Jamie and the kids out to dinner and then to the Regency for the night," she smiled at him, "so we can celebrate...alone," she said softly with a gleam in her eye. He swallowed thickly knowing she was going to try to seduce him.

"Really?" he asked her, trying to sound calmer than he was, it hadn't been twenty fours yet but, he wasn't sure he would ever get used to this domestic stuff.

He looked at her again and realized she'd changed out of her pants suit and into a beautiful, flowy, off the shoulder white dress. And she smelled incredible. Her shoulders were bare-she looked exceptionally pretty, "you look beautiful," he told her unconsciously.

She smiled and her cheeks turned pink, she was blushing he noticed with surprise. They'd been married for years but a compliment from him still had her blushing? Did the other Lee not compliment her? He wondered.

Suddenly she chuckled as she passed him to place the dish on the table, "the last time I wore this dress you told me you liked it better in a ball on the floor," she turned and ran her hands up his arms to his shoulders and wound them around his neck and kissed him. Slowly at first. He froze but the taste of her soft warm lips sent a bolt of electricity up his spine. He couldn't help himself he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. When they finally broke apart, he left his eyes closed and took a few deep breaths to try and calm his pounding heart. Never had one kiss affected him so.

Finally she told him softly, "We should eat."

His eyes flew open and all he could do was nod. He wasn't sure what to do, he knew she was going to try to seduce him. On one hand she wasn't his wife but on the other hand...she was his wife. It was a moral dilemma. He was fighting with himself on the inside. He was attracted to her, no doubt about it but would it be right? How would be reject her without reason. She was the other Lee's wife, maybe he could talk to her about this.

He cleared his throat, "Uhm, Amanda," he started hesitantly, waiting for her to look up at him, "there's something I need to…." he looked into her eyes, he saw all if her trust there. He wiped his mouth nervously, "there something I need to talk to you about...about this morning," he said.

"Lee, I meant what I said. If you don't want to take that job at the State Department. I know the decision to come out of the field was a big one for you. And despite what you said about getting older, it's not like your seventy-five. You're still young and strong and if you want to stay, we'll figure it out," she sighed and smiled at him, "we don't need the money-"

"No, I," he interrupted but quickly realized what she said, "the money?"

She nodded, "yeah," she looked directly into his eyes, "I know you think we should get a bigger house but…Jamie will be leaving for college soon and we'll just squeeze in when the boys come to visit," she grasped his hand and held it tightly.

'Oh,' he thought, he was going to get a bump in pay and get them a bigger house. Damn if she didn't deserve it.

"I'm going to get you a bigger house, Amanda," he told her, "we shouldn't have to do any squeezing. We should all be comfortable," he nodded at her and continued with what he wanted to tell her, "Uhm," he said gently, "I wanted to talk to you about this morning when we...woke up, I-"

Amanda laughed, "Lee," she grabbed his hand again, "I won fair and square," she rubbed her hand up and down his arm, "but, not only am I up for a rematch but, I could even be persuaded in providing you with a consolation prize of your choosing," she smiled at him.

There was no doubt that this was some sort of game they played between them, he wondered when and how it was started and what the ante was but now wasn't the time to get into it.

"Wh-Amanda listen," he tried again, "I'm not your-," he stopped short abruptly. Looking into her eyes, God! He couldn't do it.

She laughed, "What? Sweetheart?"

"I'm not your...partner anymore," he said slowly, then plowing through when he picked up on this train of thought, "And you know, that's what's really bothering me. I'm just...going to miss you being by my side every day," he told her, "you watching my back."

She sighed, "I know...I mean, we talked about it but I never really imagined what it would be like to not work together anymore," she smiled, "it's going to be so weird but, you know our new hours will be so much better for the kids and no more overseas assignments...no more risks to the family. They'll be relatively safer now," she said. He nodded in understanding, so that explained the new job. The promise of a better income and home life.

He ate slowly, dinner was delicious. She carried the rest of the conversation all on her own. If she noticed his silence she didn't say anything.

"We can leave these and I can clean up in the morning-" she started to suggest.

He shook his head, "might as well do it now," he told her, "then we won't have to get up to a dirty kitchen," he smiled sweetly at her as he tried to delay going upstairs until he could figure out what to do, "we'll do them together."

They worked side by side cleaning up the dishes and putting them away. When he couldn't put it up any longer, she took him by the hand and led him upstairs. She turned to him and kissed him immediately as they entered the bedroom, he couldn't help it. He got lost in her. He was drowning in the feel and the taste of her before he knew it her dress was on the floor, along with his jacket, shirt and tie. She was working on his belt when the phone rang startling them both.