Linny
Green Eyed Monster
Chapter Three
There is nothing better than newly-engaged bliss. Well, almost nothing, anyway. But, when it comes to happiness, newly-engaged bliss is right on the top of the list.
After we'd finished our evening at Paper Moon, we'd gone on a walk through the park. Slowly, hand-in-hand we just strolled through, admiring the winter scenery. Snow covered every leaf and tree branch visible and there was no sight of grass anywhere to be seen. It was a beautiful spectacle.
And then we came across a lonely little gazebo that stood overlooking a frozen pond. It was dinky and practically tucked away from the rest of the park. Yet, it hadn't been neglected or anything like that. In fact, it looked as though it had some promise to it. With a few well-placed decorations, it could be downright beautiful.
Earlier in the week, Bobby had asked me about my perfect wedding—when I was "marrying" Terry-slash-Ethan, the wedding I was planning was not the type I would have truly chosen for myself. And I'd told him about wanting to get married outside in the snow. Not like a blizzard or anything, but a gentle snowfall that would blanket me and my husband as we kissed for the first time as husband and wife.
I knew the moment I saw the little gazebo in the park, that I wanted to get married there. A small, intimate wedding with Lucy and Sue as my bridesmaids, Jack and Myles as Bobby's groomsman and a select handful of guests; absolutely perfect.
But, Bobby and I hadn't even begun talking about when and where we would get married. We were still wrapped up in the blissful shock of him asking and me saying yes. We could have always decided to marry the next year, but that still seemed too far away. I'd like to think we'd been waiting far too long for each other already and Bobby would for some inexplicable reason say something like: "Let's get married tomorrow, luv", but hoping that that would have been the scenario would have been fruitless.
Not because it wouldn't have gotten us anywhere, but because the man I loved more than anything had already had a plan in the works. But, I'm jumping ahead of myself.
There was still one problem. See, at the FBI, agents are not allowed to date anyone within their own unit. So basically, marrying one another wasn't even an option. Of course, that hadn't occurred to me until after we gotten home. I was still coming down from Cloud Nine after the second time we'd made love that evening. I was enjoying the feeling all too well that I just didn't want it to end. But, I'd worn my fiancée out, it seemed. He'd needed to rest, so I gave in as I rested my head upon his chest, listening to the sound of his racing heart as it slowed to its normal rhythm.
It had only been two days, but I was dreading going back to work the next day. Bobby would be riding a desk for the next few weeks, which meant we would be one agent down for field work. We already had a full caseload as it was, so it wasn't like I could play hooky—as much as I wanted to.
But that was when it hit me. The whole no dating policy. Of course, transferring was an option, but there was a reason why we were considered the best team the Bureau had to offer—I know, quite modest, aren't I? My point is that we worked well together. We've always worked well together. Our team was so close that we were practically like family. The higher ups just couldn't tear us apart because the inevitable happened.
And to be honest, I was pretty sure Bobby and I weren't the only ones. Of course, that's only speculation, but Jack and Sue were making goo-goo eyes at each other more than usual. Again, not really the point to my story.
When I brought up my fears to Bobby, he'd just smiled that million-dollar grin at me. I should have known that he'd already had something up his sleeve. He told me about the day that I'd revealed that I had been undercover and how after I'd dealt that blow, he'd gone to speak to D. I dreaded hearing the story, because I wasn't expecting good news. With the no dating policy in place, of course D would only be able to recommend a transfer—no matter how much he supported us. Yet, the news wasn't all that bad, per se.
D did support us. And he had a solution. It wasn't exactly ideal, though. Bobby and I had never really had too many problems. And if we had, we'd been able to sort through them ourselves. But, because of our… erm… situation, we were about to be put under the microscope. We were going to be the guinea pigs to the higher ups new program. We needed to show them that we could be together on a personal level and still be able to work in the close proximity we'd become accustomed to. It would be a trial, but if Bobby thought we could get through it, I would trust him and follow him wherever he led me.
And he led me to one of the most surprising places. He'd made plans for us for Saturday; a day an entire week away. There's something to be said about spontaneity, but a man who plans out a date a week in advance is definitely something special. Even a keeper.
But where he was taking me, I wasn't allowed to know.
And it wasn't like I hadn't tried to get any information out of him about his plans. Believe me, I tried. And trying to get information out of a stubborn Aussie is like trying to break into Fort Knox with a plastic spork. It just wasn't happening.
Even my alluring feminine wiles—with a little help from Victoria's Secret—didn't help matters much. In fact, that seemed to have distracted the drongo more than I'd intended since my new bra—one I'd spent painstaking hours on finding—would end up hanging from my closet door the moment I stepped foot into the bedroom wearing it. Not that I'm really going to complain too much about that.
I wouldn't give up though. If I couldn't get it out of him, I would try his accomplice. And there was only one person I knew he would rely on. Lucy.
There were a few times I'd caught her looking at me with that cat that ate the canary grin of hers. At first, I'd thought I'd just been imagining things because I would blink and she'd be looking at her computer screen or a file in her hand. But after a day or two of recognizing the feel of eyes boring into my skull, I knew that wasn't the case. She knew something.
And it had more to do than with just our engagement. That is, if she already knew about it. We were going to hold up in telling the team until the weekend—invite everyone over for brunch on Sunday and tell them all the good news in a more comfortable surrounding than the bullpen. So, whether or not that is what she knew and was just bursting with excitement over it, I couldn't really tell. That smile was getting kind of annoying, though.
So was all the paperwork she kept shoving in my face. I swear I'd signed the same documents on the Terry-slash-Ethan case once already during the week, but there was always "one more"—which usually turned into two or three more. Weird.