Peter was proud, and Neal did not blame him. His handler had obviously done well while he had made a fool of himself.
"El helped me," he said.
"Elizabeth?!" Neal stared at Peter and tried to figure out if he was pulling a joke. "You said you were terrified telling her."
"I was. She, on the other hand, wanted to prove that she had a man worth fighting for."
Neal sighed. Sarah had known they would fight for him. It was hard to feel pleased that he did not need to date someone who he had no interest in and who was not a suspect. Jones would have to do exactly that and he looked rather pleased about it.
"Who knows," he had said and smiled.
"I won!" he told Elizabeth the second he saw her.
"I knew it." She kissed him on the cheek. "This is cause for a celebration." She gestured for the kitchen, and Neal saw that she had already made the wine ready. "How much?" she asked as she poured the wine.
"Fifteen thousand," Peter said.
"Okay, fifteen has to be the record," Elizabeth said.
"No." Peter had brought out two beers from the fridge and handed one to Neal. "Here you go, Tex. But it was the second-highest bid they've ever had."
Neal opened the beer, not wanting to argue that he would prefer the wine any day.
"Second?"
"There was a Kennedy last year," Neal said.
"Was it one of the good-looking ones?"
Neal frowned. How would he know if a man was good-looking or not?
"Guys," Peter said, "let's talk about what's next."
"Okay," Elizabeth nodded. "Where are you taking her?"
"Nowhere. I'm gonna go to her place, drop a bug, plant a keylogger, and figure out what she has planned."
So typically Peter.
"And how she plans to murder you."
"That, and how she's angling for my money."
"Is this date gonna be dangerous?" Elizabeth asked.
"Whoa. Peter is not dating her," Neal said.
"I'm occupying her. I'll have an arrest warrant before dessert."
Elizabeth did not look convinced with every right. If it were that easy, she would be caught already.
Peter was waiting for a phone call. So was everybody else in the conference room, waiting to tape, listen, help, and trace. He paced the room and got nervous. He told himself there was no reason. She had bet on him and would not let him go that easy considering the amount paid.
The phone rang. The whole room woke up. Jones gestured to him that they were ready. He picked up the phone.
"This is Peter."
He sat down with a smile. He would handle this.
"Hey, Peter. It's Selena." Wow, that was a seductive voice. He saw the kid smiling.
"Hey! Great to hear from you."
"We still on for tonight?"
"We have reservations for 8:00 P.M. at the Griffin." Diana gestured for him to keep it going. She needed time for the trace. "It's downtown. It's delicious. It's... I'll pick you up at 7:00?"
"No. I'll meet you there."
"No, no, no. I-I-it's no trouble."
"No. The trouble is you disagreeing with me."
Peter glanced at Diana's screen. 'Scanning for signal. No signal detected.' Was Selena that cautious?
"Well, what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't pick you up on our first date?" Peter said and get a smile and a nod of approval from his pet convict who lost the auction.
"Peter, I'll see you at 8:00." It was not a question.
"See you at 8:00."
Selena hung up.
"No trace," Diana concluded.
"Ugh! Great!" Peter barked and flew out of his chair. "We don't know where she is! If I can't pick her up…"
"You'll have to drop her off," Neal said.
"You're gonna have to seal the deal," Diana said.
"No! No, no!" Peter objected. "No deal sealing."
"You don't want her dumping you and going after another victim."
"Diana's right," Neal said. "You need to impress her enough that she wants to take you home."
"Elizabeth got me into this."
"Yes, she did."
"So, technically, it's okay."
"Yeah."
"Okay. I'm gonna close the deal."
It would not be binding in any way. It would certainly not include any bedroom activities. It was just as any other undercover job. And he hated to be undercover.
And, of course, he ended up in the van surveying Peter's date. And be there in case he needed advice. Or rescue.
"I'm on point," Peter said over the headphones. "Target's not here."
"Relax, Commando. It is just a dinner."
Diana entered the van.
"I got eyes on Selena. She'll be inside within a minute."
"Target sighted," Peter responded.
Diana sat down and pulled on her headset.
"You look even more handsome tonight, if that's possible," Neal heard Selena's voice.
"So do you." And then as an afterthought: "Beautiful." Diana and Neal had to suppress giggles. "Shall we?"
"Yes."
"Wonder what's on the menu," Diana said, turning the microphone off. Neal did the same.
"Theirs? Or ours?"
He brought up a picnic basket from a corner.
"Ours?" She stared, smiling.
"It's a very nice Halibut with a mango chutney." Neal handed her the container.
"Why are you doing this?"
"You helped me save face at the auction." For a large sum of money, but he did not ask if the feds covered it. "The least I can do is offer you a decent meal."
She accepted his explanation and relaxed. He got a candle from the basket.
"A candle!" she mused.
"Electric."
She giggled.
He arranged the plates, the cutlery.
"Beer or wine?"
"I hate to break it to you, Neal, but—"
"I know we're working. It's alcohol-free. Of course."
She smiled.
"Beer, please."
He opened two bottles. Alcohol-free wine was not his cup of tea.
They ate.
"Oh, this is good."
"Thank you."
They listened to Peter and Selena.
"Maybe that was a little too forward," Peter said.
"No, Peter. There's nothing more attractive than the truth."
"He's doing good," Diana noted.
"Well, he's gonna need to step it up if he wants an invite back to her place."
"You ever cook like this for Sara?"
"I thought about it."
"Well, do more than think. Insurance investigator Barbie would be thoroughly impressed."
They clicked their glasses.
And so did Peter's and Selina's, it seemed.
"Oh, I love this song," she said.
"Oh, me too."
"Shall we dance? You've been adventurous with the Merlot. Why stop now?"
Neal almost choked on his food. Peter dance? As the couple got closer to the dance floor Neal heard that it was a slow ballad. Anyone could handle dancing to that.
Except they had barely time to start until the song ended and something else started.
"Is that a tango?" Diana asked.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Neal turned on his microphone. "Peter, Peter, there are certain things you cannot recover from."
"I can handle this," Peter answered.
Neal listened, baffled, to feet and bodies moving to a steamy tango.
"I don't hear any screaming," he said to an equally stunned Diana.
"People cheer," she said.
"I can't believe it." He wished he had eyes in there.
The music ended, and there where lots of applause.
"Let's go back to my apartment so that —" Selena somehow made the audio feedback in a high pitch tone.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Neal yanked the headphones off. "Did you get that?"
"The first part loud and clear."
"The second?"
"Never to be repeated."
Neal chuckled.
"Nice work, Agent Burke," he said into his mic. "Peter?"
"Remind me to thank El for the dance lessons," Peter mumbled. "Neal? Neal? Neal?"
"I don't think he can hear us." Neal looked at Diana for ideas.
"She must have blown the receiver."
"I'm on point," Peter mumbled into his watch. "Target's not here."
"Relax, commando," the kid answered in his earpiece. "It is just a dinner."
"I got eyes on Selena," he heard Diana through Neal's microphone, entering the van. "She'll be inside within a minute."
Less than that. He saw Selena in the large mirror behind the bar as she entered.
"Target sighted," he mumbled and turned.
She looked at him as if he was a Greek god.
"You look even more handsome tonight, if that's possible."
"So do you," he replied. She was beautiful. And he had said she was handsome. "Beautiful," he corrected. She smiled even wider. "Shall we?"
"Yes." She took his arm and let him guide her to the table.
"Something to drink?" the waiter asked when they had got their table and sat down.
"Please."
"May I recommend our Merlot?"
No, Peter had got another recommendation.
"A bottle of your Vino del Diablo." It was really going for the name. So silly, but it seemed to work.
"How adventurous," Selena approved, leaning closer.
"I'll take a risk once in a while. Like the auction. Like you."
"Oh, so I'm a risk?" She did not seem angry but amused. Peter remembered he had a deal to close.
"I feel I don't need to hide anything from you," he said, relaxing as if he spoke to El.
"Oh…"
The waiter served the wine.
"Maybe that was a little too forward." He kept eye contact, not apologizing too much.
"No, Peter. There's nothing more attractive than the truth."
They raised their glasses together.
"Oh, I love this song," Selena said after one sip of the wine. Peter had not even noticed they played anything.
"Oh, me too."
She rose and offered her hand.
"Shall we dance?"
"Oh, uh..."
"You've been adventurous with the Merlot. Why stop now?"
For Peter, dancing was close to sex without having sex. But that was his point of view. And nothing to write home about for most people, it seemed.
He followed her to the dance floor and put his right arm around her waist, and she moved close to him. It was a slow ballad. And Selena smelled terrific. She was hot and sexy, and Peter had to take a deep breath and think of neutral things.
The music ended, and Selena took a step away. Thank God.
But instead of a new ballad, there was a tango. Selena's eyes met his, and he smiled.
"Peter, Peter, there are certain things you cannot recover from," he heard the kid's voice in his ear.
He posed Selena in front of him with her back towards him and placed one hand on her hip, and formed an outstretched spear with their left arms.
"I can handle this," he mumbled. And moved sideways, confident. Selena knew her tango, too, and followed perfectly as he turned her around and leaned her backward. As they moved across the floor, Peter found they were the only dancers, and the other couples stopped to watch them. And they applauded.
Peter dared to make one move where he let the woman take the initiative, and she got what to do, and moved her foot along the inside of his leg almost all the way up. Peter really had to remember who he was and who she was.
He made a lift, and her long, gorgeous legs were shown off in all their elegance. She moved around him, following his collar with her fingers.
One last move leaning over her, and the tango was over.
Applause and cheers. Wow. Pity this was not with El. He had to take her to dance tango some day. It was sexy.
So thought Selena as well, because she leaned even closer and whispered into his ear.
"Let's go back to my apartment so that we can dance some more."
She took him by the hand and led him towards the exit.
"Remind me to thank El for the dance lessons," he mumbled. But there was no sound. "Neal? Neal? Neal?" No Neal. No Diana. Just silence.
