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Amanda's house: The next morning, doorbell rings:
"I'll get it," Dotty hollers. "Hello."
Dotty ended up staring at the delivery guy as he asked, "Is there a Amanda King living at this address?"
"Yes, there is." Dotty said as she reached for the roses. There had to be at least two dozen of them. "Thank you."
"Thank you, ma'am. Here's the card to go with it." Dotty turned around and used her foot to close the door as Amanda came down the stairs.
"Mother? Those are beautiful." Amanda stated.
"They're for you. Let me set them down so I can hand you the card."
"I wonder who they're from." Amanda commented. She actually had a feeling who had sent them. As she smelled the roses, she pulled the card out of the envelope.It read, "You are more beautiful than any flower. From, SECRET ADMIRER"
"Who's it from?" Her mother was standing there watching as a small smile crept up on Amanda's face.
"I don't know, Mother. It said from a Secret Admirer." Amanda picked up the roses from the counter and set them on the dining room table. She then noticed an envelope lodged in between the stems. Acting like she was straightening them, she picked it up and put it in her pocket.
"Oh, Amanda, how romantic. I wonder who could have sent them. Whomever it was, they have great taste in flowers and romance." But Dotty thought to herself, "Amanda, who do you think you're fooling? You know exactly who they're from."
"Well, mother, I've got to finish getting ready for work." Heading upstairs she pulled the other note out and read it."Scarecrow has learned his lesson, but he would like some more tutoring. Dinner tonight? Pick you up at seven? Wear one of the roses if your answer is a yes."Smiling Amanda finished getting ready for work. She decided to wear her newest outfit, which was an aqua-marine blouse and white skirt, both made of a silk-like material. Then, she heard her mother holler that she was leaving with Kurt. Stepping out of her bedroom, she yelled back, "Have a nice time."As she reached the bottom step, she turned around, and headed to the dining room. When she was upstairs, she'd found a pin that she could hook the rose onto. Picking up one of the roses, she carefully snipped the end off, and pinned it on.
Smiling, she picked up her keys and purse, and headed to the agency. ________________________________________________________________
At the agency, Lee was in Billy's office:"Billy, one of my contacts tried to get in touch with me last night. I've arranged to meet him at 11 this morning. We're meeting at Emilio's. He's going to be posing as a busboy. The message he left me said that it looked like the Russians were involved. The information was something to do with a new weapon the Russians were coming out with. He's probably being watched."
"Okay, sounds secure enough, but I don't want you going alone."
"I thought I'd take Amanda with me. You and Francine could be at the next table. We really don't have anything to worry about when it comes to Michael, but we never know whether he would be followed or not."
"Well, Amanda's here." Billy picked up the telephone when he saw her on the video screen. "Ms. Marston, will you tell Mrs. King I need to see her in my office?"After five minutes, there was a knock on the door."Come on in, Amanda." Billy said.
"Hi." Lee said as he watched Amanda. He saw the rose and smiled at her.
"Hello, sir." Amanda smiled cheerfully at Billy and Lee.
"Amanda, do you have anything planned for lunch today?" Billy asked.
"Hadn't planned anything. Why?" She answered.
"Well, there's an assignment you could help us with if you're not busy." Lee stated.
Amanda asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"All you have to do is allow me to be your lunch date at Emilio's. It's there that Michael will try to contact me. Billy and Francine will be at another table." Lee smiled at her as he noticed how her eyes lit up. He thought, "I should try to make her eyes light up more often."
"Sounds easy enough. I think I could manage to do that." Amanda said as she smiled.
"We'll leave here at 10:30." Lee stepped closer to her as Billy started talking.
"Now, Francine and I will leave before you, so that we'll be in place. I'll let her know. Why don't you two go, and look at any of the reports that have come in the news relay, to see if there is any information we need from them."
Grinning, Amanda and Lee headed out the door. ________________________________________________________________
In the Q-bureau, 10:00a.m., Lee and Amanda just came through the door:
After shutting the door, Lee went up to Amanda. He grabbed her arm and turned her around."Amanda." Lee said as he started to pull her into his arms.Amanda started to put her arms around his neck when they both heard someone coming to the door. They stepped apart and Lee sat down at the desk.
"Lee, Billy wanted me to let you know that we're leaving." Francine came through the door.
"Okay, Francine, thanks for letting us know. We'll see you there." Lee said, but he was thinking, "Damn it, Francine, you're always showing up at the wrong time." He watched Francine turn around and walk out the door again.He noticed that Amanda had disappeared into the vault, as if she were busy putting some files back. Lee got up and locked the door. Then he quietly followed Amanda into the vault. Slowly he put his arms around Amanda from the back. Without saying a word, she leaned back against him.Leaning down he placed a kiss against her ear, then slowly worked his way down to her neck. Feeling Amanda move her head so that he had an easier path to follow, he turned her around and placed his lips on hers.After a few minutes, they broke apart, both having trouble catching their breath.
"Lee." Amanda whispered.
"Hmm." Lee answered.
"I think we'd better be heading out. I've a feeling that if we don't leave now, then we're not going to make it on time. We might not make it at all." Amanda smiled shyly at Lee as he started to lean down for another kiss.
Taking his arms from around her, he stepped back and grinned. "You just might be right about that."
Smiling they both headed out the door with the knowledge that there was more to come. ________________________________________________________________
Emilio's:
"Amanda, would you like some wine?" Lee asked her as he moved to sit down beside her.
"That would be nice but I think it's still a little early. How about some coffee instead." Amanda moved close to Lee and whispered, "We'll save the wine for later."
Lee just grinned, and ordered coffee for both of them. They both decided on salads. Watching everything around him, he noticed Michael was at the next table removing the dishes. Then he noticed a guy, sitting at the table right across from them. "Amanda, see that guy at the table across from us?"
"Yea, I noticed he hasn't taken his eyes off of the busboy this whole time."
"I'll need to give Michael a warning before he tries to make the drop. Here goes."
"Busboy, could you come and wipe down this table for us? Honey, have you ever seen such a mess?" Lee said as Michael looked up, and saw who it was.Quietly he moved his dishpan over to the table, and pretended to be wiping it off.Slowly, he removed a large envelope from underneath his apron. Instead of giving it to Lee, he allowed it to drop down, to lie beside Amanda's purse that was sitting on the booth, between her and Lee.
Amanda sweetly leaned toward Lee and whispered, "Honey, while he's busy cleaning the table, I'm going to head to the powder room." She quietly picked up the package, along with her purse.Heading to the restroom, she caught Francine's eye, and nodded that she needed to follow her. Francine slowly leaned toward Billy, and excused herself.
Meeting Amanda in the restroom, she asked what she wanted.
"We were being watched, so the contact slid the package to where I could pick it up with my purse. Here, before they figure out something was going on." Amanda handed Francine the package.
Francine quietly took it, and put it in her purse, which was big enough to hide the whole thing. Going out the door, Francine said, "Thanks again for loaning me your brush. I really don't know what happened to mine."
"Your quite welcome. Nice meeting you." Amanda answered back then turned toward Lee.She smiled sweetly at Lee as she asked, "Sorry, I took so long. Did you miss me?" Then she put her arms around Lee's neck and whispered in his ear, "Package was delivered to Francine, and the two of them are heading out the door."
"You know I did." Lee grinned at her as he leaned in to kiss her for a brief second. "I'm looking forward to spending some more time together tonight." The waiter brought their lunch and they ate quickly so they could get back to the agency. _______________________________________________________________
Later that night:
Lee pulled up to Amanda's house. He remembered that Amanda had said that her mother and the boys would not be home until Sunday. Slowly he walked up to the front door, and rang the bell.He was unable to catch his breath, when Amanda opened the door. She was wearing his favorite dress, the black one with the spaghetti straps, and the pearl buttons down the front.
"Come on in, Lee." Amanda invited while she headed to get her wrap and purse from the living room.
"Amanda, you look fabulous." Lee stated as he started to move closer to her, until he was standing right next to her.Amanda reached up and traced his jaw with her fingertips.
"Lee, I think we need to talk." Amanda said and then sighed. "Don't you think we are moving a little to fast? Here we are best friends, one day, the next day we're having trouble keeping our hands off each other."
Lee watched Amanda as she said this speech. He was having trouble thinking, let alone speaking. Realizing that she was right, he stepped back to gather his thoughts."Amanda, I know your right but when I'm next to you, I lose my self-control, and I have to kiss you. Now, I can't promise, always to keep my hands off you, but you're right, we should slow down. Let's take it one day at a time. Okay?"
"I don't want you to keep your hands off me all the time, because I've the same problem. One day at a time will be fine. I bet you it will be worth the wait. We've finally given in to reality, and it's a great feeling." Amanda said as she moved in for another kiss.After they pulled apart, Lee bent down, and picked up and placed Amanda's wrap on her shoulders. Slowly, he escorted Amanda out the front door and headed for Emilio's. He remembered Amanda whispering something to him about wine earlier today. Smiling he thought, "Amanda King, you will be worth waiting for. You are like a fine wine, the longer you wait for it to age, the better it tastes."
The end.
Story Notes:
DISCLAIMER:
The characters known as Lee and Amanda are owned by WB and Shoot the Moon Productions. (Sigh) How I wish they were mine, but they agreed to come out and play.
AUTHOR'S NOTES & WARNING:
Well, here it is the sequel to "Temptation Strong".
Let's see how fast Scarecrow learns his lesson. I've a feeling that some might laugh, some may cry, but I think that some people just might be surprised. I would like to thank Ashley for doing a great job betaing for me, again. I'm sorry to say that this will probably be the last story I will write for about a month or two. I'm going to just have enough time to check my email and that will be about it. Again, thank you very much Ashley. You're the best.
TIMELINE:
The first part was the AU ending of "Utopia Now", but this part is the next day.
The characters known as Lee and Amanda are owned by WB and Shoot the Moon Productions. (Sigh) How I wish they were mine, but they agreed to come out and play.
AUTHOR'S NOTES & WARNING:
Well, here it is the sequel to "Temptation Strong".
Let's see how fast Scarecrow learns his lesson. I've a feeling that some might laugh, some may cry, but I think that some people just might be surprised. I would like to thank Ashley for doing a great job betaing for me, again. I'm sorry to say that this will probably be the last story I will write for about a month or two. I'm going to just have enough time to check my email and that will be about it. Again, thank you very much Ashley. You're the best.
TIMELINE:
The first part was the AU ending of "Utopia Now", but this part is the next day.