The minute the door closed Amanda flipped the lock and sprung into Lee's arms. "Good morning, my heart," she whispered against his lips.
All thoughts of this crazy plan melted from Lee's mind as he kissed her. Kissing Amanda was freedom, the freedom from proving himself, from the crushing emptiness of a purely physical rush of hormones and endorphins that once provided the only comfort in a cold life. Amanda wanted him, not his prowess, not the fantasy, only him, and although he had truly loved Dorothy and desperately clung to Eva, he'd never let himself stay in the moments always pushing forward.
Amanda felt boneless in Lee's arms. Only her father had made her feel so safe, so loved, and so enough before Lee. She knew by nature she needed to do her best in everything she accomplished, and the drive constantly kept her pushing, kept her striving, kept her marching forward. Her one failure, her marriage left her static and devastated. She'd tried, oh she'd tried, but her early pregnancy, Joe's ambitions, and Jamie's tumor, everything coalesced into emotional riptide. With Dean, she had the emotional equivalent of a life jacket. He'd been kind, so kind, considerate with her. He'd helped her stop the descent, but still stuck in place treading in the water. Then, Lee's visceral pleas for help and beautiful hazel eyes pulled her into his world, where she found a new facet of herself and the love, she'd craved her whole life. For the first time since she lost her father and the death of her innocent dreams, her soul's pieces fit. She buried her long slender fingers in his hair and sighed, feeling whole and safe in the moment.
Lee's breath hitched as he felt his control slipping. Gently, he pressed a peck against the sweet lips he loved and rested his forehead against hers. "I did promise I'd be professional, didn't I?" he chuckled.
"Work doesn't start officially until 0830 we've got five more minutes," Amanda answered, gently stroking the back of his neck.
Lee all but purred under her touch. "I want the weekend!" he quipped.
Amanda sighed, as she stood to hang her coat. "Joe canceled on the boys. I had hoped we could be alone, but I've got to do something to make it up to them. Not that I truly can do that, but I don't think I can leave them."
Lee scowled. "Did he give a reason?"
"Of course, Lee. He'd never not have a reason. He said that the president of South Africa and the Prime Minister of Estoccia need him on a conference call, and he'll have several meetings after," Amanda parroted, her eyes dulled with disappointment.
Lee clenched his fists and took a deep breath. "Let me guess, he didn't even bother to mention it's his weekend to the man who literally pulled his children out of the reach of a gunman."
"I guess not," she sighed, her voice hoarse.
"Hey, come back to me," Lee entreated, opening his arms for her. As he enfolded her against him, he kissed her cheek and whispered. "This isn't on you or the boys, this is a father with very skewed priorities. I know both the Prime Minister and The President well enough to know they'd gladly reschedule to a time when it's good for the boys. We can still salvage this just let me make some calls. How do you feel about dugout seats at the Oreal game this Saturday?"
"Lee! That's much too extravagant!" Amanda gasped.
"Just listen first. All it would take is one phone call, I get a guy invited to a press gig at a Senate hearing and he gives me the three passes. No money spent and I realize this will not make things right, nor can we keep doing this if it continues, but I know how they feel, and I would have given anything for a memory like this at their age."
"You got tossed from three colleges why couldn't you have tried UVA?" Amanda demanded, before kissing him as hard as she could.
He laughed. "And what would you have done if I broke into your Kappa house?"
Her brightest smile came to life. "That would depend on if you broke in for me or not."
"If I did?" he challenged with a wink.
"I would've made you pancakes and a chocolate milkshake," she stated. "You would've probably been half drunk and mixed up the rooms. Once you were sober, I would've told you to ask me out properly and I'd be pleased to accept."
Lee's answering smile made his face hurt. "First of all, I never went into the wrong room. Second, the far more likely scenario involves me being too chicken to approach you, so what would you had done if I went after one of your housemates?"
"I would have steered you away from the girls who might have passed you something," she shrugged. "But I would dream of you coming for me."
"Nothing will ever keep me from you, Amanda, I swear it," he vowed, clutching her hands.
"I know." She smoothed the maroon silk of his tie and pecked his lips one last time. "You better make that call, and I'll start setting up for the drop."
"Amanda!"
"Lee, you know it will work, and you know I can do it," she argued her hands going to her hips in the classic mom pose. "You cannot possibly think it's beneath me, or somehow morally unacceptable, because if you do, I might just slap you for every woman who has ever entertained people for a living."
"Amanda!" Lee bellowed. "It's not the dancing or the singing, or the women who do it. I hate the men who watch shouting filth, guzzle cheap booze, and do things that shouldn't even be mentioned in public, as if the women aren't even human, just live dolls for their twisted minds. The thought of you—" he trailed off and started to pace.
"Hey, hey," she soothed. "I'm not dancing for them. I'm dancing for you. I'm dancing to help you get what you need to save God knows how many lives. Those disgusting men you hate are meaningless, love, all I'll see is you."
"You know my past, and I'm neither ashamed nor proud of it," he sighed. "But I never forgot a woman's humanity, no matter who I was with, whether business or not. I have a hard time with Francine's happy hooker routine. This is much worse."
"I understand," Amanda smiled.
Running his hand through his hair Lee closed his eyes to calm down. "I know, you always do. I guess the thing with Briol still eats at me. What Magda and Mara did, what Francine did to save us. I really hate those men, Amanda."
"I know, and I really despise the women who do it too. Women like Eva and Sonia, you never forgot their humanity and they never once considered yours," Amanda whispered, her hand coming to rest on his face. "Lee, look at me," she pleaded, locking her dark eyes onto the hazel she so loved. "I chose to take that package, and I freely give myself heart, body, and soul to you. Becoming your partner, I swore to myself and to God that I'd do everything I could to help keep you safe and help you save as many lives as possible. As your wife, the only thing I can't do for you is give up mother and the boys. Everything else is on the table now and forever. Let me do this as your partner, and the woman who loves you with all I have."
He turned his head to press his lips to the soft palm. "Okay, let's get it set up," he conceded. "What's all this about the dentist?"
