LUNCH WITH THE COMMISSIONER
Jim drove the two of them to a tall skyscraper building in downtown Manhattan.
Abigail was confused. There was no restaurants in this district. Only sky-rises and hotels.
Frank hopped out of the Excursion and held a hand out for her to grab onto.
She graciously accepted the help as she kept her left arm close to her chest and stepped down.
"What are we doing in this part of town?" She questioned Frank.
He gestured towards the revolving glass doors, "Come on. I'll show you."
Inside he led them to the elevators and she watched in amazement as he pulled out a key to unlock the access to the rooftop.
He grinned at her, "A friend of mine owns the building. He's given us the rooftop for our lunch."
Abigail's eyes widened as they stepped off the elevator into a huge rooftop courtyard with lush plants just starting to bloom.
In the center was a table set for two and a waiter was standing beside the table, holding a seat out for her.
She looked back at the Commissioner in surprise.
Well now I feel like a heel for going off on him.
This was unexpected as she didn't take him to be much of a romantic. Or at least she hadn't expected him to be.
She sat down feeling impressed with their surroundings.
The waiter brought over two plates of food with delicious shrimp pasta piled high.
She smiled. He remembered she loved pasta and seafood. The waiter made his exit and Baker noticed that Jim stayed at the elevator entrance keeping a respectful but watching eye.
"Sir, this is really…really nice."
He chuckled, "Well I'm glad it put you in a better mood at least."
Abigail looked down at her lap in embarrassment. Perhaps she had flown off the handle earlier.
"I'm sorry about my outburst at you. These pain meds have got me a little irritable."
He nodded understandingly.
She continued, "I understand why you wanted me to stay behind on your trip tomorrow. And I'll do my best to get along with Erin. It was nice of her to offer to help me look at dresses."
His eyes watched her as she spoke. He dabbed his mouth with the linen napkin and then said, "Consider it forgotten, Baker. Truth be told, I think Detective Abetemarco had something to do with that offer." He winked at her.
She laughed. Anthony and Erin seemed like an old married couple sometimes. But they brought out the best in each other.
Abigail suddenly noticed there was a covered tray on the table. She left the lid and her eyes widened happily.
"Oooo dessert!" She stared down at the rich chocolate delicacy laced with caramel swirls.
"I'm expecting you to share that," he reminded her as he bemusedly watched her dig in.
"Hmm maybe.." her eyes rolled back, "Oh my goodness, this is sooo good."
Frank watched her happily spoon the dessert in and suddenly his appetite was for something else. He slowly rose up from his chair and walked over to her side of the table.
Abigail noticed the look in his eyes and she turned the spoon towards him to offer some. He obligingly opened his mouth and ate some of the chocolate delicacy. But then his hand grabbed her right arm and gently lifted her up.
She dropped the spoon with a clang on the table unable to keep her eyes off of him.
The fire in his eyes.
Her pulse quickened as he steered her towards the far end of the rooftop. She glanced over at Jim and noticed he stayed near the elevator entrance.
They were behind some of the lush plant life now and the Commissioner was staring down at her intently.
He looked so hungry.
Abigail felt her throat dry up.
She reached up with her right hand and put it to his cheek.
He felt as warm as she did. On fire.
His expression softened at her tenderness and he watched her eyes.
Instead of waiting for him to kiss her she gently brought his chin down and met her lips with his.
Tender. Soft. Light kisses. His moustache tickling her.
She pulled back for a moment and said softly, "Thank you for this lunch. It was really thoughtful of you," she looked up at him feeling a rush of feelings for her fiancé who at the moment looked like he wanted to pounce on her.
He smiled sexily down at her and Abigail felt goosebumps on her bare arms. She was wearing a sleeveless blouse with her black pencil skirt today.
His hands were suddenly on her waist and he grabbed her forcefully yet gently because of her injured shoulder.
But this time their kisses were fierce.
Baker felt somewhat helpless and out of control with only the use of her one arm. But at the same time it turned her on.
Giving Frank more control she melted into his embrace.
"May 10th," he murmured as his mouth moved along her jawline.
"Hmm?" she muttered back confused and feeling incredibly love drunk with how he made her feel.
He paused and looked in her eyes. "Our wedding day."
She smiled broadly feeling color rise to her cheeks.
"Sounds good to me."
That would give them just under 6 weeks. She had already told Frank she was in no way interested in a long, drawn-out engagement. He was happy to oblige.
When she had told her parents over the phone, she momentarily thought she gave her father a stroke. Thankfully it was just him dropping the phone and her mother back on to reassure her that he was just speechless and awestruck. But they had agreed to come to the wedding.
Frank was breathing hard looking into her eyes and she could feel the intensity simmering between them.
"You'll be fully healed by then…" he trailed off and suddenly she knew where the conversation had shifted to.
As if on cue she felt the blush creep into her cheeks.
"Yes…yes I will be. Fully healed. And ready," She grinned back up at him. "…you uh…you don't mind waiting?" she said suddenly feeling nervous.
He shook his head, "Of course not, Abigail. I love you. There just might be something to the idea of…anticipation," he said huskily as he stroked her cheek.
"And it's my own damn fault for your injury. If I had only –"
"Frank." She said his name with a commanding sense of authority and he stopped mid-sentence to listen to her.
"Please. Let it go. It's not your fault. It never was. I went in that store on my own free will. I do not blame you in the slightest. I know that you have this," she waved her hand in the air to try to express what she meant, "...You feel you have this sense of duty to your cops' protection. And I can definitely understand that. But I will not have you blaming yourself for our whole marriage. So…knock it off."
He looked back at her in surprise. When she got that tone he listened.
He sighed deeply. "Okay." He gingerly pulled her into his strong broad arms and she sighed happily in them.
"I don't know how tomorrow night's going to go with Erin. We could be best drinking buddies by the end or cat-fighting and pulling each other's hair out. So I expect you to hurry back from upstate," she said wryly.
He laughed heartily and held her tighter, "Roger that ma'am."
A/N: Sorry for the delay on this latest chapter. I have recently gotten back into acting (thank you Tom Selleck, this is all your fault LOL) and it's been a crazy good busy week! More fun to come next chapter with Erin, Abigail and special guest appearance :)