Screen Captures Courtesy of Swoopes For personal use and select distribution only © May 2002 by Amber Stockton Dead Mean Leave No Trails - tagalogueWritten by Whitney Wherrit Robinson (excerpts from the episode belong to her)
Lee cleared his throat and Amanda looked up. He pinned her with his gaze. By the small smile on her lips, she appeared to know exactly what he was thinking. Her smile grew larger as she set down her plate. Their eyes locked as he did the same. She placed her hand on her thigh and raised one eyebrow in question. "Amanda..." He stopped at the look in her eyes. Her entire expression changed. She leaned forward and placed her hands on either side of his face, then moved to initiate a kiss. A car door slammed outside, interrupting them and caused her to pull away. "It's Mother!" "Ohh," he moaned, expressing the same frustration she obviously felt. "Out the back. Quick! Hurry, hurry!" She stood and gestured with her hand towards the door as she grabbed their dishes and headed for the kitchen. Lee sighed and vaulted himself over the back of the couch. He reached the back door and slipped out quietly. However, he didn't leave the back yard and walk to his car like he normally did. This time, he hesitated and stood just outside the door. He wasn't about to let the evening end like this. When Amanda had suggested it, he had been surprised but very eager to participate. Their lives certainly didn't allow for situations like this very often. When the opportunity arose, there was no way he was going to resist. He hoped he had guessed right on figuring that Amanda was as eager to join him out here as he was to have her with him. A second later, he heard the knob turn and smiled. As soon as she stepped outside, Lee grabbed a hold of her right arm to swing her around into his embrace. She gasped in surprise then smiled when they were face to face. "Amanda! There's a beautiful silver sports car parked in front of the house. Wouldn't it be fun if it belonged to a new neighbor?" Dotty called from inside. Lee smiled at her and gave her a quick peck on the lips, then leaned toward her to kiss her again, but changed his mind and turned to leave instead. He felt her gaze on his back as he walked around the corner of the house and heard her release a sigh. Something stopped him, though. He wasn't ready to say goodnight to her ... not yet. Quickly forming a plan in his mind, he pivoted on his heels and quietly snuck up behind her. When she reached for the back door, he grabbed her left hand. She stiffened for a moment then relaxed when she saw him. He winked and began walking backwards towards the gazebo. Amanda willingly followed him. They stepped up into the gazebo and out of sight from any windows in the house. Lee gave a little tug that brought Amanda back into the circle of his arms again. She placed her hands lightly on his chest. There was just something so right about holding her. As he gazed down into her face, he realized there was no way he could have left the way he did and been content to leave it at that. They stood there for several moments. Amanda was the first to speak. "What's the matter?" She smiled. "Feel our evening was cut too short?" Amazed that she had read his mind, but wondering if she wasn't expressing her own feelings on the matter, he smiled and tightened his hold. "Yeah, a little." He sighed. "One of the few times we've been able to have an evening to ourselves, and we get interrupted ... again. Sometimes I wonder if your mother or the boys don't have an internal sensor to tell them just when to arrive." She shrugged. "That's the price you pay for leading a double-life, I suppose." "Yeah, but just once, I wish..." He paused. As much as he wanted to tell her exactly how he felt, he didn't feel he could at the moment. Things had definitely been improving between them. Their relationship had changed a lot in the past few weeks, but he wasn't sure he was ready to tell her everything he was thinking. There were still a lot of things he had to sort out in his own mind before he could do that. "Just once you wish what, Lee?" Thinking fast and coming up with a reasonable end to his thought, he leaned his forehead against hers and gazed into her eyes. "Just once, I want to be able to give you a proper goodbye without everyone else watching," he whispered. His gaze fell to her mouth. He watched her pull her bottom lip between her teeth and lightly bite down a few times before her tongue came out to moisten her lips. She swallowed several times, and he had to fight hard to keep the grin from his lips at her obvious nervousness. "Well, there's no one watching now," she croaked. He softened his expression and sighed. "No, but how long do you think it's going to take your mother to realize that you're not upstairs and come outside looking for you?" He wanted more than anything to close the distance between their lips and cover hers with his own. "Considering the circumstances, I think we should probably call it a night. You should go on back inside so that your mother doesn't ca...." Her lips touching his prevented him from finishing. He instinctively pulled her closer to him as he closed his eyes and returned the kiss. Her hands slid up his chest to rest just below his shoulders. A moment later, he reluctantly pulled back. He didn't want to put a stop to their embrace, but he knew his own limitations. If he didn't stop now, it could lead to something he wasn't sure he was ready to face. Lee cleared his throat and gave Amanda a crooked grin. He gazed down into her eyes, which had darkened with undisguised emotion. "You know, you really are going to set a new record for disobeying orders," he rasped. "Orders? I wasn't aware that your suggestion should be taken as an order." He slid his hands to her waist and softened his voice. "Well, you know what I mean." She grinned slightly. "It gets the job done, doesn't it?" Her voice was soft but sure. "Yes, it does at that." He nodded. "In work and in ... other matters," he affirmed with a wink, then cleared his throat. "You know, I don't think I told you how proud I am of what you managed to do on this case with Sali. I know Billy commended you, but I wanted to add my own thanks. You really did a piece of work with Millicent's diary, figuring out what you did just from the words she wrote." She relaxed a little in his hold and slipped her hands loosely around his waist. "I guess you could say I have a nose for details." "As well as trouble!" At her immediate reaction, he hurried to continue. "But you won't hear me complaining as much anymore." Her eyebrows raised in question. "Oh? And why not?" "Because when you get into trouble," he began moving his hands to rub her back tenderly, "I'm usually the one to come to your rescue. If you didn't get into trouble, you wouldn't need me." A lazy grin formed on Amanda's lips. "Mmm, well I don't think you have to worry about that anytime soon." "And would you care to explain that remark?" Just as Amanda started to reply, the sound of a door opening was heard. "Amanda!" Dotty called. "Are you out here?" Lee sighed. Amanda gave him an understanding smile. "Yes, Mother!" she called in response. "I'm just sitting in the gazebo and enjoying the evening." Lee grinned at the twinkle in her eyes. "Well, I wanted to let you know that we're home." "Thank you, Mother. I'll be there in just a minute." "All right. Don't be too long. Jamie wants to tell you how he did at the science fair." "I won't, Mother!" Amanda smiled as the door closed again. "Guess that explanation will have to wait." "Mmm, guess so." He slipped one arm from around her to lightly touch her face. His finger trailed down her soft cheek and his hand moved to caress the back of her neck. Smiling at the way her eyes drifted closed and the way she leaned against his hand, he continued the caress. "And if you're the least bit resistant, I'll just employ 'la touche de le tendresse.' His eyes softened as he leaned forward. "There are ways of making you talk," he playfully threatened and placed a tender kiss on her lips. "Mmm, I can hardly wait!" He chuckled and stepped away from her, running his hands down her arms to clasp hers. He raised them to his lips and bowed over them, placing a light kiss on each one. "Until next time!" he said in farewell, then slowly released her hands and left the gazebo, slipping into the dark of the night. As he walked to his car, he once again felt the overwhelming desire to return, but knew that going back would be too risky, for both of them. There would be far too many questions to answer if Dotty happened to see him. He wasn't even ready to fully talk to Amanda about his feelings. He certainly wasn't ready to explain his presence in her life to her mother. One thing he did know. He would be spending a lot of time thinking about their relationship in the next couple of weeks. Something told him she was waiting for him to make the first move. Somehow, he would put his jumble of thoughts into some semblance of order and feel sure enough about them to share them with Amanda. Until then, he would enjoy the time he had with her and continue to make the small steps that were slowly moving their friendship into something much more. (THE END) |
