While the hotel waiter brought in the cart and began setting up their breakfast at the table, Amanda went into the bathroom to brush her hair and freshen up a bit. When she returned, Lee was just putting an orchid into a small crystal vase before placing it on the table. He turned and with a flourish pulled out her chair.

"Your breakfast, Mrs. Stetson," said Lee. Amanda smiled and said "Why thank you, good sir," as she sat down to a bowl of fresh fruit.

"You know," he said, as he sat down across from her, "I feel like you've had that name a lot longer than just since yesterday."

"What do you mean?" She asked as she bit into a strawberry.

"Well, all the times we were undercover as a married couple," he replied, as he took covers off dishes of eggs and bacon and toast. "Like the Bouchard case in Betsy Ross Estates and the Cumberland. And the cruise."

He poured two cups of coffee. "Here's a question for you. When did we first kiss?"

"What?!"

"Kiss. You know, smooch. Lock lips. Learn another tongue."

"You sound like a ninth grader." Amanda put her spoon down. "I suppose you would say at the office, after they arrested Tony Martinet. For me, when you kissed me in my backyard after the Sali case was the most romantic. Stealing it before my mother came out." Amanda sighed, a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Wrong on both counts." He said, helping himself to more bacon. "Don't you remember the late, great Sandy Newcombe, sneaking out of training camp to flirt with his favorite reporter?"

"No fair." She said. "That was work. I thought you meant a real kiss, not one we had to do to keep our cover."

"Remember what I said about undercover work? Separating the real and the make-believe?" he asked. "By the time we were in your backyard I was long past past faking it. It just got harder and harder to keep the undercover kissing separate from kissing Amanda King."

Amanda blushed.

"At least by the time we were on the cruise I got the message and made sure we had separate beds."

"Hmm," she said, helping herself to eggs, "about that." She buttered a piece of toast. "Wasn't Francine supposed to go with you to the Cumberland? She was sick or something?"

"Yes, she was." He raised his eyebrows. "Where are you going with this?"

"Nowhere, really. Just wondering how she would have handled the bedroom situation."

Lee didn't say anything, concentrating very hard on his breakfast.

"Lee," said Amanda. "Come on."

"Why is this so important to you? That was a long time ago."

"I work with Francine everyday," she replied. "And I'd like to know more about her. Where she's coming from."

He sat back and looked at her for a few minutes. "What do you want to know?"

"Oh, what she's like when she's on assignment, in the field." Amanda was paying very close attention to the jam she spreading on her toast. "And . . . off the field. Socially." She looked up at Lee. His face was inscrutable.

"Oh, Lee," she said, suddenly contrite. "I'm sorry. It's really none of my business."

Lee sighed. "No, it's okay. I don't want secrets between us."

He took a deep breath. "All right. It's not very complicated. We were stationed together twice abroad - once in Singapore and once in Panama. They are pretty small operations - not a lot of staff. We did a lot of work together." He stopped.

"And?" Amanda prompted.

"And we probably played as hard as we worked." He hesitated again. "Are you sure you want hear this? It really was a long time ago. And things were different. I was different."

"Well, I don't need all the gory details," she said. "But it's part of your history."

"As long as you understand it really is history, not any part of my present, our present."

"I do understand, but it's still part of who you are."

Lee sighed again as reached for his coffee cup, holding it in both hands, talking almost more to himself than Amanda.

"Yes, we slept together - sometimes while on assignment, sometimes not. Then when both ended up here in the DC office . . ."

"You broke up?" asked Amanda.

"Not really. We just kind of drifted away from each other. We weren't really ever together - not a couple. There was never anything to break up." Lee put his cup back on the table. "There you have it."

"Sounds kind of sad to me," said Amanda.

Lee shrugged. "It probably is sad. We were both loners, both a little damaged, taking a bit of refuge where we could."

"And now?" Amanda asked.

Lee took her hand. "Now there's you. And me. And that's all I care about."

Amanda smiled. "Not alone anymore."

"Nope." Lee kissed her hand. "It's a whole new world."

"Poor Francine," said Amanda. "I hope she finds someone. What did you mean damaged?"

"I thought you already knew a lot - from when you bonded in the freezer at Marvelous Marvin's seminar."

"About chocolate. We bonded about chocolate," she said. "We were too lightheaded and cold to tell our life stories. Although," Amanda paused, "she did tell me not to expect you to come riding in on a white horse to to rescue us."

Lee grinned. "Well, maybe not on a white horse . . ."

"And then," Amanda furrowed her brow, trying to remember. "Something about people who just leave." She looked up again at Lee. "She certainly didn't think you would stick around."

"Ah," said Lee thoughtfully. "Well, a little more background. Francine's dad walked out on her and her mother when she was 6 or 7. She never saw him again. Her mother took it really hard. Francine grew up very fast. She's an only child and I think took on a lot responsibility to keep them on their feet."

Amanda's eyes grew very wide. "Oh gosh! I never knew any of that. It explains a lot."

"Uh huh," said Lee. "Remember one of the moles we had to go after in the agency? That turned out to be David Benson? The guy you dated."

"I didn't date him," said Amanda. "We went out once. Because you told me to."

Lee grinned again. "David thought it was a date"

"Never mind," said Amanda. "Finish your story."

"Well," he said. "It was pretty tense. Everyone suspected everyone else. Francine was abnormally uptight. Even for her." He paused. "Turned out her mother was having major surgery and Francine couldn't get back home to be with her. That was about as upset as I've ever seen her." He looked up at Amanda, letting it sink in.

"Soooo. . . " he said. Amanda waited expectantly.

"So, she and I had a lot in common, in how we grew up and how we felt about relationships. It was easy to keep our boundaries up, emotionally, if not physically."

He leaned back in his chair. "Then I met you and all bets were off. You managed to get past or destroy the walls I had so carefully constructed around myself. End of story."

"No," said Amanda. She got up and walked over to Lee's chair and gently sat on his lap. "Thank you for telling me." She kissed him. "It's not the end of the story . . . It's a new chapter in both our lives."

"I like the sound of that." Lee said as scooped up his bride and headed for the bathroom. "Now, about that hot tub . . ."