Q Bureau
Monday, 4:30 p.m.
Amanda's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at her fiancé. 'Is he serious?
He can't be!' "After what happened last time, you really expect me to climb up
and---"
"Mount."
"What did you say?" Amanda asked.
"The word is 'mount.' You don't 'climb up,' you 'mount,'" Lee corrected.
"Well, you can just forget it! I'm not mounting anything, buster!"
He'd tried to anticipate all her responses last night, when rehearsing his plan
of attack. Well, nearly all of her responses. The last one had taken him by
surprise-and sparked his imagination.
Lee chuckled to himself. As entertaining as such thoughts about his fiancée
were, it was time to focus on the matter at hand. With a resigned look, he went
for the Stetson home slide. "Horse riding is one of my favorite things to do.
I just wanted to share that part of my life with you, Amanda. But, hey, if you
don't want to . . . I understand. Really." Avoiding eye contact and slumping
his shoulders, he eased off the edge of her desk.
"You really want me to do this, don't you?"
"I do . . . But if you're not comfortable with the idea, we can do something
else together."
*Don't look at her yet.*
*Lower the bottom lip, give a sigh.*
Lee started his silent countdown. *1, 2, 3, 4 . . . *
"Oh, all right! I'll go. But it's only because it's you who's asking!"
Lee looked up, grinning. "Amanda, you'll love it. Just wait and see." He
leaned across her desk and gave her a quick kiss.
"Uh-huh." She didn't sound convinced.
"I'll go over to the stables and set everything up for Friday. This is gonna be
great!"
Just as his hand clasped the doorknob, Amanda's voice made him turn.
"I guess I can return the bathing suit."
His hand dropped.
"Bathing suit?" He loosened his collar.
"Mmm-hmm. I thought we could spend Friday having a picnic and going swimming."
Her expression was dreamy, her voice as slow as honey warmed by the sun. "I
know the perfect lake . . . quiet . . . secluded . . ."
He gulped.
"But I'll be happy to do one of your favorite things. A bikini isn't important,
compared to that." She shrugged.
"Bikini?" *Why is it so hot in here?*
"A red bikini."
"I just traded a bikini for a horse," Lee muttered. As the door clicked shut
behind him, he ducked his head to avoid all eye contact.
.
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Amanda's House
Friday, 9.15 a.m.
Lee leaned against the counter, sipping coffee. Friday had finally come. It
had taken all his self control not to pound on the door at 5 a.m. Any time he
spent with Amanda was precious, but when you added horse riding . . . the day
couldn't begin early enough.
*Speaking of which.* "Come on, Amanda! We're gonna be late!"
As he leaned over the sink to rinse out his cup, he heard her voice float down
the stairs. "I'm almost ready. Mother took me shopping for today." Her laugh
chimed. "Guess everybody wants quality time with me lately."
He splashed water into the mug. "You didn't have to buy anything special. The
stable's fully equipped." Glancing at the wall clock, he wondered how to hurry
his beloved along.
"I know. The last time Mother saw me on a horse, I was six and wearing pink
taffeta. She thought we should buy something to mark this occasion, too," came
the muffled reply.
"I'll bet you looked cute," he called out, envisioning a small Amanda with pink
bows in her long brown curls.
"It's not too late. I can exchange this get-up for taffeta if you like." Her
voice sounded husky and nearer, as if she'd reached the family room.
Lee turned and opened his mouth to respond. His mouth remained open, but he was
incapable of speech.
Before him stood a vision.
She wore a tailored white shirt, cuffs rolled up to reveal lightly tanned
forearms. The vee in the front was unbuttoned just enough to show the sparkle
of her ever-present heart necklace.
His eyes continued downward.
Next came a wide brown leather belt, tightly cinched around her tiny waist.
Then the tan riding breeches. They clung to her body like a second skin.
Until the boots. Glorious, mid-calf, shiny black boots.
*Forget about talking,* his brain commanded. *Try to swallow.*
*It's gonna be one lucky horse.*
"Lee?"
"Umm." The tick of the clock thundered in his ears. Or was that his pulse,
blood rushing to his head and . . . other parts of his anatomy?
"Is this okay to wear? Or should I change?"
His tongue unglued itself from his palate, and the words tumbled out. "No!
Don't change. Don't ever change."
Amanda smiled. "Let's go, then. The stables await!"
"Uh, Amanda, could you remind me of something later?"
"Sure. What?" She held out her keys, preparing to lock up.
"Remind me to thank your mother."
He watched the play of her muscles beneath the suede jodhpurs as she walked
ahead of him.
*Flowers AND chocolates. Definitely.*
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A Stable Near Arlington.
Friday, 11:15 a.m.
Amanda's laughter rang through the musty stable. At first, Lee's idea that she
should get to know her chosen horse sounded ridiculous.
Surely it would be better to start practicing the sitting, no mounting, she
corrected herself.
That, and staying on, were where she'd always encountered the most trouble.
But as she felt Walter's downy lips softly mouthing the carrot in her palm, she
was glad Lee had insisted. She could grow to like this.
The scuffle of Lee's footsteps through the straw littering the mounting yard
brought her attention away from Walter and back to her lesson.
"How are you two getting along?" he asked, taking in Amanda's glowing face and
the way Walter was rubbing his large muzzle along her upper body.
"Wonderfully!" She grinned.
"Great. Let's go to the next step, shall we?"
Watching Amanda put her foot in the stirrup as he'd instructed, Lee gently but
firmly placed his hands around her waist.
Feeling the familiar tingle as soon as he touched her body, his smile widened
*Wonderful indeed.*.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Lee's Apartment,
Friday, 6:05 p.m.
Humming as he dried his hair, Lee felt weary but happy. He'd reluctantly ended
the lesson when Amanda's allergy medicine began to wear off. Now he looked
forward to the rest of the evening, the perfect end to the perfect day.
"That mine?" he asked as he joined his freshly-showered love on the couch.
"Yep. Thought you might like some." She retrieved the second mug of hot
chocolate from the coffee table and handed it to him.
"Thanks."
For a few moments neither spoke. Amanda molded her body to his, and they sipped
the rich, sweet brew.
Supposedly chocolate was an aphrodisiac. If you asked him, so was the smell of
liniment that lingered in the air.
"Lee."
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for today. I really enjoyed it."
"I'm glad." He gave her knee a light squeeze with one hand and brushed a strand
of damp hair behind her ear with the other. "After last time, I wanted to give
you some good memories of riding. Sans taffeta."
"Oh, it was even better than when I was six."
"Yeah," he responded, intent on the warm body next to him, the firmness of her
thigh between his hand.
"I didn't hear anyone say 'Giddyup!' Not even once! And . . . Mmmph."
Further conversation ended as Lee pressed his mouth to hers.
As he felt her lips open to his insistent tongue, his thoughts drifted to ideas
of their next day off together. And a certain red bikini that would never be
returned . . .
THE END
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I don't own either of them, only the horse they rode in on . . .
Timeline: After "Nightcrawler" but before "Do You Take This Spy?"
Timeline: After "Nightcrawler" but before "Do You Take This Spy?"