A/N: Here's another chapter. Witty banter is hard to write. I envy those who do it effortlessly. I wish I were one of them. As always, your comments and reviews are greatly appreciated. I think once the new season starts I'll continue to write this, but also I would love to start taking ficlet prompts from people. I think it would be fun.

CH 8

They made their way back out to the street to stand under the same light as before. As if on cue, a cab pulled up in front of them, its passengers ready to disembark. The cool night breeze had begun to pick up a bit. Mindy felt the shiver of goose bumps chase along her skin. It was chillier than she'd expected. She ran one hand up and down her arm in an attempt to generate some heat.

Danny cast a sideways glance at her. He couldn't say he'd noticed the chill in the air. He was still feeling the warmth of scotch coursing through his veins. A visible shiver coursed through her and Danny sighed. Having no jacket to drape across her shoulders, he did the next best thing. He put his arm around her and drew her in close.

She looked up at him and smiled. "God, Danny, you're like a million degrees." She reached up and pressed the back of one hand against his cheek. "Still trying to show me what a real man is?"

He smiled to himself. "You know I can't let these people think I'm such a jerk that I'd let my date stand shivering in the cold." He was beginning to feel more than warm with her pressed up against him.

She let out a little contemplative noise. "It irks me, but I will have to make one concession to you." She wound one arm around Danny's back. The wine had her feeling a little sleepy and introspective, not to mention lightheaded. "I do go after a certain type. I could be more discerning." She let out a little melancholic sigh.

The cab passengers finally emptied out of the vehicle and Danny maneuvered Mindy into it. She slid across the seat waiting for him to follow. When he was settled in next to her, he called out her address to the cabbie and turned his attention back to her.

She was staring at him as though she'd never seen him before, a dreamy expression on her features. He scooted closer to her. "You know what you're feeling right now, Min?" He turned away from her and faced the front of the cab. His hands resting in his lap. "You're intrigued right now. It's because you've realized that you don't really know me. It's the mystery. Being an open book may have some advantages, but it's the unknown that fascinates people."

She frowned to herself and shifted into the same position as Danny. They sat in silence for a couple minutes, both staring straight ahead. "Are you saying I'm an open book therefore uninteresting?" She'd meant for the words to come out in a different tone. Something confident and argumentative, but instead they sounded flat, sad even.

Danny didn't immediately reply so she continued, this time a little more heatedly. "I'll have you know, there are a lot of things you don't know about me. The things you think you know are the things I choose to divulge." She crossed her arms in front of her. "There's a certain power in that."

Danny looked back at her with a smile. "I'm not saying you're uninteresting. Sometimes I do find things out about you that surprise me. I'm saying that these guys you date only ever know that smokescreen you create for them. How can you expect them to stay interested for long?" He kept his hands on his thighs. He knew they were sweaty as hell. This conversation was making him uncomfortable. "You do it in such a way that makes it seem like you're an open book, they think they have the whole story, but they don't." Tomorrow he would regret this conversation. It was already making him feel awkward. What he was saying didn't really make sense.

Mindy's irritation began to fade away. She was left feeling confused. "I don't know what you're saying. Do you think I reveal too much of myself or too little?" She was still frowning.

Danny felt the last of the bravado he'd been assuming all night leave him. He was at a loss. He didn't know what he meant. Anything he could say now would just be even more jumbled and confusing. He sighed and laid his head back against the seat. "I don't know. It's a fine balancing act. Just be yourself, don't put all your cards on the table at once. Let people get to know you…. organically?"

Mindy let out a cynical little laugh. "Organically?" She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "That's very easy for a man to say. Do you have any idea of the pressure a woman my age feels to figure everything out quickly?" Mindy didn't like the note of self-pity in her voice. "I have a biological clock and its ticking gets louder with every unsuccessful relationship."

She was on the verge of tears. Ugh. This was not how this was supposed to go. She sucked it up. "Of course when you bring that up on a first date, the men seem to go running for the hills." She laughed. "Would something like that scare a real man, Danny?"

He laughed. "Oh, I don't know, maybe you should keep that to yourself until the second date, even real men have their limits." The strange tension in the cab was broken. "Ten to one says you'll be married to a hot doctor in a year or so, even if we have to tranq him to get him to the altar."

"Danny!" Mindy reached across the seat and slugged him in the arm. "And if I'm not? Will you step in to fill the spot?"

He laughed again. "Let's pray it doesn't come to that."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, right, you would never marry me, I had forgotten." She relaxed back into the seat "So we're done with the whole gentleman act? I'll miss Danny 'Jazzman' Castellano." She let out a yawn. "I'm exhausted, it feels like two am and it's not even ten yet. God, I am old." She leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder. "Don't wake me until we're at my place."

The cab slowed to a stop in front of Mindy's building. She was still resting her head against his shoulder. Her silken hair had fallen forward across her face, and the street lights shining through the window only cast a chequered illumination on her skin. She looked peaceful in sleep. The strains of concealed discontent he'd heard in her voice earlier were not visible in the lines of her face. Danny felt a little fluttering in his chest and took a deep breath to dislodge it.

He'd set out tonight to prove to her that she didn't know what to look for in men, but found himself fending off the inexorable pull of her personality. Maybe that's why she always ended up with these jerks. Because she made them feel like they could be better. That's how he'd felt tonight when he'd let go of the bitterness he carried around with him like a shield. Even if it was only for a night, it opened up a whole world of possibilities. It was ironic that he was the one trying to show her what kind of guy she should go after. There had been times when he'd been a bigger jerk to her than any of them.

He reached across to grab her shoulder and gently shake her. "Min, wake up. We're here."

She opened her eyes with a momentarily confused expression in them, but quickly remembered where she was and smiled up at him. She pulled away and stretched her arms out in an attempt to wake herself up. He paid the fare and slid out of the cab, turning back to assist her.

She grabbed his hand and used it to lever herself up. Her reflexes were still a bit fuzzy, and she ended up pulling both of them off balance. Danny quickly widened his stance and wrapped his arms around her to prevent her from slipping. They were pressed together in a manner reminiscent of the sensual dancing from before. Mindy caught her breath but continued to cling to Danny's shoulders.

Their lips were inches apart. The shortened breaths coming from each of the mingled before their faces. It seemed inevitable that they kiss. Mindy couldn't asked for a better moment if she'd been in one of her favorite rom/coms. Before she could close the tiny gap between their lips, the cabbie called out to them to shut the door.

The moment was lost and Danny quickly pulled away from her, reaching behind her to slam the door shut.

Mindy was caught between feeling disappointed and relieved. Kissing Danny would have been a mistake. Whatever she was feeling right now was just a result of the strange night they'd had together, and surely it had all been an act.

Oh, but she still wanted to kiss him.

Danny awkwardly shoved his hands into his pockets and turned towards Mindy's stoop. They walked side by side up to her door. They stopped and for a minute Danny felt like a clumsy teenager on his first date. He just stood in front of her not saying anything.

She pulled out her clutch and opened it, searching for her keys. When she found them, she looked back up at him. "I had a really nice time." She leaned up and gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek. "Even when you were being a jerk." Her eyes sparkled. "I'm glad we're friends." She turned to the door and put the key in the hole.

Friends? The term didn't irritate Danny like it had before. They were friends. He could readily admit that now, but he didn't understand this other thing he was feeling. This fluttering that he'd been afflicted with off and on throughout the night. "Yeah, and friends don't let friends date assholes. Keep that in mind the next time I give you a hard time about your dates." He started back down the steps.

She twisted the key in the lock and heard the tumblers flip. She smiled at him as retreated. He looked over his shoulder one last time. "And keep all that Jazzman stuff to yourself tomorrow, Lahiri. A man's gotta keep some mystery about him."

Humming the melody of some unknown song, Mindy stood in front of her bathroom mirror brushing out her hair before she went to bed. She'd had a good time tonight. She'd been prepared for some awful bar food and a bunch of men yelling at a sports thing on TV. Danny had thoroughly surprised her.

She set the brush down on the countertop. She glanced over at the slightly wilted tiger lily lying beside it. She picked up the flower and ran the petals between her fingertips for the twelfth time. She picked it up and took it into her bedroom.

Her phone was lying on the night stand where she'd left it to charge. She used it to take a picture of the flower in the palm of her hand. Danny made fun of her for snapping digital pics of nearly everything, but it was her way of preserving the things she loved. She could open up the files and relive those moments whenever she wanted.

She scrolled through the pictures from today. She stopped on the one of Danny. He was smiling broadly and his eyes were relaxed. He'd just informed her she was 'not a bit' hot. At the time he had looked quite strange to her. She'd never seen him that way. He was happy. Because of her?

She felt a tightening in her chest. It was overwhelming to find yourself responsible for someone else's happiness. She didn't know how she would act around him in the morning. She shook herself out of that headspace. There was always a chance she was totally overanalyzing this. It was Danny. It would be fine. They'd be back to bickering as soon as the sun came up.

She smiled to herself and slipped under the blankets. Danny's lopsided grin was the last thing in her mind before she drifted to sleep.