Title: Anything’s Possible

Author: Rita (dittypiddler)

Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King belong to Shoot the Moon Productions and Warner Brothers. No infringement intended.

Timeframe: Third season immediately following J. Edgar’s Ghost.

Summary: Filler for J. Edgar’s Ghost. This ditty is also in response to Alley’s cliché challenge.

Thanks to Cheryl and Miriam for betaing an earlier version.

Rating: PG

Feedback: Always

"I just stopped by to say thank you. For me. For my daughter. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Captain. Good luck." Amanda nodded to Captain Ronson as he left the Q Bureau and mentally bid good-bye to J. Edgar Hoover’s ghost.

"How do you like that, huh? That makes you feel good." With a satisfied smile, Lee moved behind his cluttered desk.

"Oh, it does." She stepped in front of the desk, waving a file folder and feeling like the proverbial cat that ate the equally proverbial canary.

"Whatcha got there?" Lee motioned to the folder.

"Ohhh, just a little something from the Francine Desmond file." Casually waving the folder back and forth, she tried her best to look innocent, but thought she probably failed miserably.

"Oh?" He shoved his hands in his pockets.

Amanda noted the wary look on his face at the mention of Francine’s name. "Uh-huh." She loved to watch him squirm.

"Let me see it." He reached for the file.

"You can look, but don’t touch." She grinned and flashed the embarrassing picture.

"What . . ." Lee grabbed for it.

"Ahh . . . ahh . . . ahhh . . ." She snatched her prize away from his grasping hand.

"Ahhh . . . Amanda, look, that was . . . uh . . . Christmas party . . . three years ago . . ."

"Ohhhh." Watching Lee’s pseudo-nonchalant expression, she nodded, unfazed. ‘Oh, boy. I’ve got him by the short hairs now.’

"It’s silly." He shook his head, looking as uneasy as Phillip had when he handed her last term’s report card.

"Mmm-hmm." Her grin widened. ‘You’re up that well-known body of water, without the necessary means of locomotion, big fella.’

"You know, that’s not a very terrific thing to be showing people." He gestured toward the photograph. "They might misunderstand."

Now Lee looked as anxious as Phillip did when she’d read that report card.

"Misunderstand this?" She shook her head. "I don’t think so." Oh, yeah. Lee should be ready to bargain any time now.

"What do you want for it?" he asked, in a defeated tone.

Her partner was definitely resigned to his fate. When she’d told her son he had to bring his history grade up if he wanted to attend basketball camp with the rest of his team, he had that same expression.

"This? Oh, nothing." She graciously handed him the picture. "This is free." ‘But you’re not out of the woods yet, buster.’

He seized the photo with the same relief Phillip had shown when she’d approved this term’s report card.

Amanda crossed her arms over her chest. With an evil grin, she dropped the net over her unsuspecting prey. "It’s the negative that’s gonna cost ya."

Lee leaned forward and placed his palms on the edge of the desk, looking her in the eye. "How much?"

When he gave her the full benefit of his dimples, her heart flip-flopped in her chest, and her stomach ran off to join the circus. She swallowed the wad of cotton in her throat and pasted on a blasé expression.

"Ohhh, well." She shrugged. "We’ll probably start with . . . ah . . . dinner at Spencer’s, and then . . . we’ll take it from there." With a triumphant smile, she leaned across the desk and placed her hands beside his, tilting her head. Lee’s face was only inches from hers. He gazed into her eyes with a look she couldn’t quite identify. His gorgeous hazel eyes dropped to her lips, and she held her breath as he slowly leaned closer.

‘Just a couple more inches and he’s gonna kiss me. I know he is.’ The shrilling of the telephone ended that thought. Drat!

Lee straightened and cleared his throat. Running his hand through his hair, he grabbed the offending phone. "Stetson." He glanced at her and turned away. "Oh . . . ah . . . no . . . I . . . uh . . . didn’t know you were in town."

His nervous stammer told her all she needed to know. He was talking to a woman. Probably one of his Randi babies. With a sigh of resignation, she withdrew a small envelope from the pocket of her jeans, laid it on the desk, and marched out of the Q Bureau. She closed the door with a resounding click, feeling annoyed with both herself and Lee.

‘What on earth was I thinking? Why would Lee want to go out with me when he has one of his bimbos waiting for him, all hot to trot.’

Eager to get back to her desk in the Bullpen, she walked briskly down the hall to the stairs. At least she could finish up her work and maybe take her mind off of Lee and his floozies.

~~~~~~~~~~

After staring at the same page of the report for ten minutes, Amanda couldn’t remember a single word of it. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, her mind kept drifting back to that moment in the Q Bureau. What would have happened if the phone hadn’t rung? Lee was the best friend she’d ever had. Knowing he would never be more, she should be content with his friendship, but she wasn’t. She wanted more. ‘Yeah, Amanda, and if a frog had wings, it wouldn’t bump its tail on the ground.’

"I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty, okay?"

Amanda jumped. "What?" Lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t heard Lee approach her desk.

"I said I’ll pick you up for dinner at seven-thirty. I made reservations at Spencer’s for eight o’clock. You told me last night your mother and the boys would be out of town, so it should be safe for me to come to your house. Right?"

"But . . . I . . . I gave you the negative."

"What’s that got to do with it? We had a deal."

She shrugged and looked away. "Well, I just thought you were making more exciting plans, that’s all."

He cocked his head and grinned. "No, Amanda. I was not making more exciting plans. I’ll be there at seven-thirty sharp." He winked and sauntered out of the Bullpen.

Totally bewildered, she stared after him. Did Lee really want to have dinner with her instead of a night of wild passion with one of his bimbos? ‘Why would he want to spend the evening with me instead of . . . unless he . . . nah, he was just being nice. He didn’t want to disappointment me. But . . . maybe . . . don’t go there, Amanda.’ A wide grin crossed her face. ‘Well, Phillip did get a C in history, so I guess anything’s possible.’

She chuckled and grabbed her purse from the desk drawer. If she left right now, she would have plenty of time to get ready for her blackmail date with Lee. ‘And who said crime doesn’t pay?’

~~~~~~~~~~

Amanda had grown more apprehensive with every mile since leaving the Agency. After parking her car in the driveway, she rushed into the house. Too flustered to face one of her mother’s inquisitions, she was grateful the family had gone to visit Aunt Lillian. Throwing her purse on the couch in the den, she glanced at the clock and took a deep breath.

"It’s five-thirty. Lee’s picking me up at seven-thirty, so I have two hours to get ready. I’m gonna need every bit of it, too. Okay, Amanda, you’ve got to calm down. Oh my gosh. Why am I so nervous anyway? Lee is my best friend. I’ve had dinner with Lee before. Lots of times. Why does tonight feel so different? Because you’re in love with him, you silly goose, that’s why. I know he was going to kiss me today. I can tell when a man wants to kiss me. If only that gosh darned phone hadn’t rung. Oh, great. Now I’m talking to myself. So what? There’s nobody around to hear me, is there? No, there isn’t, thank goodness. So I can talk to myself if I want to." She nodded her head several times. "Of course, I can." Deciding that she wasn’t completely crazy, she hurried up the stairs.

"First, I need a nice bubble bath to relax me. At least, I hope it will relax me. Maybe that new vanilla scent. Yeah. That should do it." While the tub filled, she shed her jeans and plaid shirt and chucked them in the hamper. Clad only in her bra and panties, she scrutinized herself in the mirror. "Not bad, if I do say so myself. I may not be as well endowed as the women Lee dates, but I’m not half bad either."

She stripped off her remaining clothes and sank into the bubbles. Leaning back against the tub, she felt the tension ooze from her body. "I wish I was as alluring as whoever Lee was talking to. I’m sure she must be alluring. Ha! I can just imagine. Probably long blonde hair, blue eyes, and big breasts. I really must stop talking to myself." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Too bad they don’t teach alluring in Spy 101."

"If I don’t get out of this water, I’m gonna look like a prune. Nothing attractive about wrinkled fingers." She stepped out of the tub and dried off. "I wish I had something new to wear. Lee’s seen every decent dress I own. I need something to really make him sit up and take notice. Something . . . alluring, drat it. And I’m talking to myself again."

She padded to her closet and looked through her dresses. "Nothing alluring here. Wait a minute." Pushing clothes aside, she unearthed the red dress. She had bought it on impulse, but never had the nerve to wear it. Her hand hovered over the dress for several moments. Making her decision, she pulled it off the hanger and held it against her naked body, studying her reflection in the mirror. Well, it was certainly daring. "Sexy. That’s the word for it. Sexy."

The dress was made of red satin, with thin spaghetti straps and a v-neckline that showed just enough cleavage to be enticing. "I certainly can’t wear a bra with this." It was cut low in the back to reveal an ample amount of skin. The bodice was very form fitting, ending just below her hips in a slightly flaring skirt that fell two inches above her knees.

"It’s a good thing the weather is warm, or I’d catch pneumonia in this thing." Amanda shook her head and started to dress. She was a woman on a mission. "If anything can make Lee think of me as a woman, and not just good old Amanda, this should do it."

She toed into the matching red heels and turned to the full-length mirror to judge the effect. "Not bad, Amanda. Not bad at all." She had to admit she looked . . . pretty darned good. She laughed. "Daddy would say I’m enough to make a good dog break his leash." Even her make-up was more dramatic than usual.

Twirling in front of the mirror, she watched the short skirt flare out around her legs. "I’ll just leave my hair down. More alluring that way." Diamond stud earrings and her heart necklace completed the look. A couple of dabs of perfume and she was ready. "Hold on to your socks, Scarecrow. You’re about to meet the new and improved Amanda King."

Amanda slowly descended the stairs, being careful not to break her neck in the spiked heels. Sinking down onto the living room sofa, she tried to quell the butterflies taking flight in her stomach. "Okay, Amanda, it’s time to calm down. If you’re going to be alluring, you can’t act like an idiot, and you really need to stop talking to yourself." Taking a deep breath, she clutched the small, red evening bag and settled back on the couch to wait for Lee.

TBC in "Deeper Than Love"