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Fandom: Nikki & Nora Pairing: Nikki/Nora Rating: PG-13 to R (depends on the chapter) Title: A Thousand Oceans - Ch. 13 - As Sure As Night

Disclaimer: These characters well, Nikki, Nora, Dan, Darius, Georgia, Charlie, Arthur, Bobby and Mrs. Delaney are so not mine (dammit!), but Ann and Jill and other characters not mentioned in the pilot are (Ha!). The ones in the “dammit!” category belong to Nancylee Myatt and other’s I don’t know. I’m here for a bit of fun, and for this story, angst. No profit is being made here, and if it is, I’m not seeing a dime.

A/N: Christ on a crunchy taco…it’s been a while since I’ve been able to update this story. I don’t know about you folks, but it also feels like I’ve been working on this story for a while. Maybe it’s just me, but at any rate I apologize. I thank you all for sticking around, reading and to those of you that review, it tickles me so … so *thumbs up*. Oh, and thanks to Dirk, he’s awesome.

Take Care,

1SB

As sure as night is dark and day is light
I keep you on my mind both day and night

Ch. 13 – As Sure As Night

I look around the café while trying to smooth down the fly-a-ways that escaped from my ponytail. It’s not horribly busy, but a steady stream of people coming and leaving, not an unusual sight considering it’s a block and a half up from the station. I’m waiting on the order I placed for sandwiches and drinks a few minutes ago. Nikki’s back at the station following up on a lead in the break-in/homicide. Nothing’s been really helpful. Charlie came back with a little bit about the death. There was some significant bruising around the victim’s neck.

That helps.

If we can find the person that did it, we can match the patterns up. Right now, the husband is stonewalling us. The walkthroughs on both scenes confirmed that they were related. Two murders, two attempted burglaries and they’ve both gone wrong, which points to Nikki being on the right track, the burglaries weren’t the intent of the break-ins.

I sigh and screw my mouth to the side. It just defies logic and granted, criminals by and large aren’t smart, but…maybe I just expect a bit more from someone if they’re going to go and pop two people. A little more planning at least?

“Nora,” the guy behind the counter slides a full drink holder and a bag over my way and grins.

“Thanks Jason,” I say gathering the items.

“You need help?” He looks me over as I balance the tray in one hand and hold the bag of food in the other.

“Nah. I’m good as long as no one knocks me over.” I give a small grin and head towards the door. This isn’t the first time I’ve balanced four cups of coffee and some food back to the station. I have a hard time believing it will be the last.

Stepping outside the sun’s high overhead, shinning down on the city. For a fall day it’s beautiful and I’m glad September’s gloomy days are behind us. Hopefully this year October won’t see that much rain and we can head into winter a little drier than usual. I start down the sidewalk with a tiny spring in my step. I’m well rested and sure, the case isn’t going anywhere right now, but we’re not at dead ends all around. Nikki and I just need to tweak our perception. See if we can get something to shake loose.

Things usually do if you start shaking hard enough.

“Nora!”

I stop mid stride and look around for the source of the voice. I swivel left and see Bobby waving his arms at me from across the street.

Oh boy.

I look heavenward and ask for just a tiny bit of patience with my brother. I love him, God knows I do, but, I don’t think I can deal with him right now.

See, this is what I get for being a little upbeat.

I look back at him as he jogs across the street. His hands are outstretched and he takes the tray from my hands before saying another word. I give him a once over, the look on my face I feel may be similar to what mama gives us when she’s trying to figure out what we’re doing that we shouldn’t be. I know this by the way he withers under my look.

“Hi,” he says softly. “Looked like you needed a hand.”

“I had it,” I say. We’re standing in the middle of the side walk while people are giving us looks as they move around. I take my now free hand and tug on his uniform sleeve. “Come on.” I move us off to the side to let the passerby’s through.

“Oh, yeah, good idea.” His eyes go back to studying the tops of the drinks lids.

I huff. Is this really why he stopped me. To not talk? To not explain why he hasn’t returned any of my phone calls?

“Bobby, was there something you needed?” I figure right now blunt is better. Blunt will get us to the point and I can decide what I want to do.

I know I never gave him much warning about me. I sure as hell didn’t expect him to find out about me while I was in the middle of having sex. I really wish that hadn’t happened.

There’s just nothing I can do about it. He hasn’t given me a chance to explain and I’m not entirely sure I need to. Not now. Not when he’s been running away from me for the past few weeks. What I’d really like to do is shove my foot up his ass…

Well, maybe that’s the problem.

Maybe his head’s so far up his rear that he doesn’t see what’s happening.

I chew my lower lip and he continues to look contrite.

This just sucks. I get it. On so many levels. We’re Catholic. I can’t count the number of times my father used the term ‘faggot’ and queer as slang when referring to some guy he had a run in with or some perp he chased down. There were nights when we’d be upstairs and he’d carry on with a few friends from the department. They’d joke and laugh flinging certain words around kids shouldn’t hear.

I’d be more than happy to say that my father saw everyone as equal. I can’t. I can say he was my father. I loved him regardless of his faults. He loved me despite the one’s he saw. I don’t know if he was proud of who I had become. Mom doesn’t really talk about him much. Not enough, I think.

So here we are. Me kind of understanding Bobby’s shock. We’re a normal, screwed up family. We’re that Tolstoy quote, just like everyone else. We all have our issues, some far worse than others, or different since you can’t place individual pain above someone else’s. But I would like my brother back. I’d like for him to talk to me. I want to be able to call him up and chat or meet up every now and again on Sunday’s to watch a game. I talk to the two other hooligans I call brothers on the important dates, but their lives are just as busy as mine. Plus, I’ve always been closer to Bobby, in age and personality.

Patrick and Terry are older than me by six years. Patrick’s the oldest at thirty-nine, Terry’s thirty-eight. In a few short months, I’ll be thirty-two and Bobby’ll be twenty-seven. Neither of my parent’s will admit to me and Bobby being the “oops” kids. We take pleasure in knowing it though.

My brother huffs, he shuffles his feet and goddamn him I’m knocked back nearly twenty years when he was six years old and launched a rock at our tree house. It missed. It broke a kitchen window. He stood in front of me before my dad came out screaming blue bloody murder. I took the fall for it ‘cause of that look.

Damn him.

He huffs again and stammers, “I don’t get it. Do you hate guys? Have you always been…? What about Tommy? Dan? Why didn’t you ever say anything? Do you hate men now?” The verbal diarrhea takes a minute to sink in.

I glare as everything finally registers. A hand goes to my hip and the bag of food drops to the ground. I poke him in the chest causing him to rock back with each jab of my finger. “Look here Robert Eugene; get those stupid, narrow minded, bullshit ideas out of your head.” I look around and drop my voice, “Guys are fine. I don’t hate men. Yes, Tommy and me. No to Dan and me. I’ve known for a while. A long while.”

His shoulders droop further.

Christ, it’s like I kicked our dog, Bubby. The mutt used to get the poutiest look when he was in trouble. I soften up a little and say, “Bobby, I don’t know what I need from you right now, and I don’t know what you want from me right now.”

“Nora, I…want to understand. Ya know? I’ve had…you’re my sister, I just never thought you’d…” His face clouds over in confusion and something else.

I deflate. Snatching the bag off the sidewalk, I take the drinks from his hands and head back towards the station leaving him in his…whatever the hell he’s in.

Dan leans against my desk talking quietly. I’m waiting for Nora to get back with lunch while Georgia and Jesse speak with their widow. Meredith Whitman is petite and blonde with a little too much Botox and time in the gym. It’s a personal judgment on my behalf. I think aging gracefully is a more dignified approach than the medical miracles currently being pushed. A great hairdresser and a phenomenal moisturizer generally takes care of the gray hair and fine lines.

I blink and look up at Dan. Now what was he talking about?

Oh. Right.

“I’m really sorry about our night out,” I say quietly. We don’t particularly need people hearing this. Especially cops. They chatter and gossip and whisper more than the women in the D.A.R. Since we were supposed to go out for drinks last night, Nora and I feel a little bad.

“It’s all right,” he waves me off, “you two needed sleep more. Just don’t think you two are getting out of it.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it Lieutenant.” I wink at him and ask, “Now out of curiosity, how many of your other detectives get the attention that you lavish upon little ole me and my gorgeous partner?”

His cheeks actually tint under the soft brown of his skin at my gentle teasing. His eyes drop to the beige linoleum under our feet and answers, “None thus far. None of them were my partner though.”

I pat his knee. I do understand. Ron and I talk at least once or twice a month since we reconnected on that undercover job. If you connect with your partner, if you work well with them, that bond is hard to break. Sometimes, I’m not sure, if I were Dan, that I would be capable to just cut that off.

“What…?”

I look at what he’s staring at on top of my desk. The signed paperwork for the condo is sitting on a few reports.

“You buyin’ a place?” he asks, tapping the forms.

My fingers drum across the top of my desk before I answer, “We are, yes.”

His head whips to me.

I smirk. “We put in the bid and the deposit. We just need to finalize a few things. With any luck and a little push, we can have everything squared away before the end of the month.”

“Wow,” he says, “That’s...soon”

I shake my head. “Not really, the purchase of the property yes, but we couldn’t pass this place up. Once we get settled, you’ll have to come over.”

“You two really are serious,” he whispers. The look in his eyes is a mix of crestfallen and shocked.

“Did you think we’d risk what we’re risking otherwise?” I ask, curious of his answer. He couldn’t possibly know Nora as well as he thinks if he thought she’d risk her entire career for a fling.

Shaking his head, he gives me a suitable answer, “No, no I guess not. Just, it seems sudden.”

“Not really,” I say. I’m about to qualify my opinion on it not being soon enough, but I understand. To him it is sudden. He doesn’t know about the months leading up to the inevitable relationship. I often wonder why we wasted the first months of us knowing each other.

Seems a waste to have gone that long without touching Nora, but that’s just it. He didn’t know and really doesn’t understand. Nor does he understand the time after our first night together. You can make a case that we should have waited, that we should have taken things a little slower.

It’s really not in my nature and while Nora can be the more pragmatic of the two of us, when she settles on something, I have yet to see anything less than an act of God prevent her from getting what it is that she wants and by an act of God, I am referring to an earth-shattering roll in the hay.

And I’m sitting here smirking up at my boss trying to get him to understand all of this when I spot Nora out of the corner of my eye. A quick glance in her direction tells me everything I need to know. To someone that didn’t know her, nothing would seem out of place.

But, I do.

Something’s wrong.

A quick glance at Dan and he can sense it too.

She smiles at us as we abandon our conversation to track her progress across the bull pen. The smile is an attempt that would be appreciated under most circumstances, but she only went to get lunch. Her shoulders are a little too squared and her back a little too straight, for everything to be okay. What in the hell could have happened in a three block walk?

“I’ll leave you ladies to it,” Dan excuses himself, sliding from his seat on top of my desk and heads towards his office.

I watch Nora watch his retreating form as she slides my salad and coffee to me.

“Thanks,” I offer, earning her attention. Satisfied, she’s focused on the right set of brown eyes or in Dan’s case, brown backside, I raise an eyebrow in question.

She responds with a single word, “Bobby.”

I huff. I would love to be able to ask about the encounter, but this is neither the time nor the place. I purse my lips briefly and then say, “Here, give me.” I motion to the food for Georgia and Jesse. “Give me so you can eat and get settled.

She hands the two drinks and sandwiches over gratefully. I pick them up and saunter over, interrupting their conversation with Mrs. Whitman, “Excuse me. Lunch you two.”

“Thanks, Nik,” Jesse says taking the items from my hands.

Georgia picks up, “Mrs. Whitman, this Detective Beaumont.”

I hold out my right hand. Her left meets it and I notice the glint on her finger first. Her wedding set comes with a princess cut diamond on her engagement ring. The diamond is easily two and a half carats.

“Meredith,” she says. Her grip is firm as my eyes trail up and look up into her eyes for the first time. They’re grey and they blink at me. Chills dance up my spine and I know this isn’t the first time that I’ve seen these same eyes look at me in the same way.

My mind searches and a dusty memory from several months back at a charity function with a friend of mine where we had a little too much to drink flashes through. I was as graceful as possible in four-inch heels and three sheets to the wind, but I stumbled a little as I tried to find the coatroom. I wanted to get my shawl before Nora got there to pick me up and Michelle, an old college friend and date for the evening, wasn’t much of a help. She allowed herself to be absconded by Jeffery Morgan, the resident stud of St. Baptiste Children’s Hospital.

Couldn’t blame Michelle. Not my type, but cute and from the rumors, he knew what he was doing between the sheets. Michelle had just broken up with her third fiancé so blowing off a little steam seemed acceptable. So alone, I went in search of the coatroom. Instead of the coatroom, I found a closet that held two semi-naked, grunting partners doing things that seemed rather unsanitary in a closet.

It was her grey eyes that blinked up at me over the rather large stack of packaged toilet paper. I dislike the fact that, on occasion, my life seems more like a horribly written soap opera. I’m sure things like that don’t happen to normal people. When I giggled about it to Nora, she just smirked and said that’s what I get for socializing with people that have more money than sense.

I wish I had an argument for her there.

The memory is resurrected as I keep a grip on Mrs. Whitman’s hand and look back down at the diamond.

I recover quickly enough and chirp, “Lovely, ring.”

Well shit.

“And if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to my desk.” I drop her hand and head back towards Nora trying not to give anything away. “Nora, I need to speak with you for a brief moment,” I drop my voice and add, “now.”

She follows me out to the hallway and leans against the wall.

“We have a problem,” I dive right in, “Do you remember when you came to pick me up at that charity event for St. Baptiste and I told you about the couple I walked in on.” I don’t wait for a response and carry on, “Well, you see I had this niggling little thing in the back of my mind when we initially met our widower, but there was a lot wrong with that crime scene so I considered it to be nothing more than cynicism. But,” I hold up my finger as her mouth opens up, “here’s the thing. I was just formally introduced to Mrs. Whitman and when I saw her, it all came back from the recesses of my addled alcohol induced memories of that night.” I lean forward and whisper, “I still think you owe me for that night by the way.”

Her mouth drops open as she tints pink.

“It’s not my fault you indulged my wandering hands and then promptly fell asleep afterwards. I was left high and damp, as it were.” I bite back the bark of laughter at her fully ruddy cheeks now. “But this is not the point of my story; the point is that I’ve seen Mrs. Whitman before. It was our newly widowed socialite that was bent over that toilet paper stack.”

Her mouth drops a little more and I finish up, “It was also not the first time I’d seen our widower, Brian was the man behind her.” Realization dawns over her and I say, “I’m also pretty sure I can get Charlie to confirm the squarish bruising along our victim’s neck was made by that rock on Georgia and Jesse’s widow’s finger.”

Three mugs rise and clink together and Dan says, “To Nikki and her philanthropic drunken nights!”

I can’t seem to make the smirk disappear from my mouth as I chastise, “Awe, come on partner, leave the blue blood be.” Dan looks between Nikki and me and grins.

Setting his now half-empty pint of beer down, he says, “I mean it. Hell, who concocts a scheme like that?”

I tap the tabletop and pick up his train of thought, “Who doesn’t want to have their mistress knock off their wife while you kill their husband?” I turn my attention to Nikki on my left, who is looking between Dan and me less than amused at the banter.

I squint at her and she finally cracks a grin. I’m four shots and three pints into our outing with Dan. After confronting Meredith Whitman on the ring and the affair, she broke down and told us pretty much everything we could want to know. After polishing off a bit of paperwork and an arrest on Brian Talbot, Dan said he was buying and we were all going out. Georgia and Jesse left the bar we were at around ten.

In an uncharacteristic mood, I decided to see if Dan really was going to be as cool about me and Nikki as he has been to date. I brought him to Happy Phantoms. The drinks up until our entrance here, two shots and one beer with our co-workers, gave me a slight buzz. But then, Cassie came by. She just swung by the table, dropped off two rounds of shots and skittered away before I had a chance to say hello.

She did shoot me a wink. With Casey that can be interpreted in so many ways. She also knows I’m a sucker for good tequila.

So, here I am becoming drunker by the minute with my lovely, doe-eyed, brunette taking it in her stride. I know it’s harder for her with him here. Dan can come off strong.

I have no excuse for that only because he is. He’s that type of guy and he can be a jerk, but if you give him a shot, he’s also all right. If I can make him a friend now, like he wanted to be when we were just partners. I don’t want to miss the opportunity.

“Well,” my baby drawls, “I do think making sure doing your civic duty pays off.”

Dan laughs and I grin at her. She really is something else.

“So Nora, you seem comfortable, what is this place exactly?” Dan asks me.

“A bar,” I shrug.

“Hmm, nice place.” He looks around and I can tell he appreciates the lay out. Phantoms is set up so that you can have a nice conversation and still enjoy your surroundings. Since Ann introduced me to this place nearly ten years ago, it’s been a staple. I’m glad I can finally introduce it to Dan.

“This where you usually go?” He looks between Nikki and me.

“Nora actually brought me here. It’s a nice place, little trouble and good owners. Where do you go on your down time?” Nikki fills in for me.

“This little bar over by my house. Can walk to it and back from it.” He winks at Nikki. “Nora’s been there a few times.”

Nikki’s head swivels to me and her eyebrow arcs elegantly. I smile. She still looks like she wants an explanation. I lean over, bring my right hand to the side of her neck and pull her in close. “You look a little jealous,” I tease gently, letting my lips brush over the shell of her ear. “He was my partner. We had some drinks together,” I remind her.

She tilts her head and nuzzles against my lips and nose. Dan needs to leave soon. Or no, we need to leave soon. Tequila does odd things to me.

“If you two don’t stop, I may not be able to keep these comments to myself,” I hear Dan say.

Unable to resist, my right rand comes up to caress her cheek as I turn my hand over and use the back of my fingers. Her eyes warm instantly when I pull back and look at her. She takes it the rest of the way causing our lips to connect.

I keep it as chaste as possible, only pulling back when I can’t stand not taking it further. I hum my approval as her tongue takes one last swipe over my lower lip.

“Cough, cough,” my old partner chokes out. He can’t even let me revel in the hotness of my girlfriend.

“Jerk,” I sneer and toss a napkin at him.

He holds his hands up in surrender and winks at me. Picking up his drink, he tips it towards me and says before taking a sip, “To you, partner, I admire your taste in women.”

I flip him off and he chuckles around the lip of his glass.

“Nora, are you saying that you disagree?” Nikki looks at me.

I shake my head vehemently. I know when an answers going to get me in trouble…kind of.

Sometimes, I get in to trouble and don’t even know it. But she loves me. So after I deny, I grin. She likes it when I smile.

“Sugga,” Nikki says and nudges the beer towards me, “You’re cruisin’ right now. Why don’t you finish your drink?”

I pick up the nudged glass and see that it’s almost empty. Well, that’s no fun. I feel my mouth turn down. That’s no fun at all.

“So, you two are getting a place.” I look up from the bottom of my now empty glass to Dan.

Another grin comes over me. “Yeah,” the sound of my voice a little slower and sillier than I’d like. “You should see the place. Harney, it’s huge and ours.” Wait…I look at Nikki. I signed the papers, she said her dad picked up the money from her bank; Nikki met Mary at the station while I was meeting with the A.D.A. to secure the warrants. “It is ours, right?” I need clarification.

“It is or will be soon.” She’s wearing a smile, not nearly as wide as mine, but she’s not drinking a whole lot tonight.

With my assumption confirmed, I look back at Dan and point to Nikki. “Cute and she handles paperwork. What’s not to love?”

His eyebrows rise. “Love?”

I nod while motioning Casey for another round. She sees me and nods holding up her finger to give her a minute. I nod and go back to Dan. “Yep. A lot actually.”

“Good. So answer this for me, why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I’m not out. My very close friends know, but that’s it. Besides I didn’t know how you’d react,” I try for honesty.

He points to me and says, “You’re an idiot.” He smirks. “Now, we just need to make sure that this personal relationship between you two isn’t going to interfere with your work or we have to revisit our arrangement.”

I snort, “It hasn’t for the past year and some months. It won’t now.”

I take pleasure in Dan’s mouth dropping open.

My girl is something else. Not only is she just this side of drunk, she’s been goading Dan which is just fun to watch. I have never had the chance to see how they interact with out the pressures of the office hanging over either of their heads and all I can say is that it’s damn funny. They don’t speak much but they carry on these conversations with looks and body language.

I also saw Nora motion for Casey to bring another round. I resist the shake of my head. I’m going to let her do this, cut lose and get drunk. Tonight, I cut her slack because she needs it. She needs the lubrication to let Dan in. Dan wants in and he seems to be enjoying himself tonight.

He’s also okay with us, which is honestly a load off. I was dreading the first show of affection. Nora surprised me two ways, initiating it and not floundering her way through the afterward. She may love me lots, but tonight, I think I’m ass over tea kettle all over again.

I see Casey come towards us. It’s been a while since we’ve been in, maybe it’s time I take Dan out for a spin on the dance floor to give the two a chance to catch up. I turn to Nora and motion her out of the booth. Unquestioningly, she complies allowing me out of my corner seat. I pull her to me as I stand up next to her and press our hips together. Automatically, she leans in and captures my lips. Her tongue ghosts over my lips. I part them, allowing myself to get a full taste of the alcohol dusted tongue of my lover. She is something else with a few shots of tequila in her. I won’t deny that I absolutely adore it.

But I pull back. I want to dance right now. She should catch up with Casey. She whimpers at the loss of contact and I suppress my own groan. I tap her nose. The action earns me a grin before I spin to Dan and say, “Come on, Lieu. Show me what you got.”

His face splits into a delighted smile as he takes my offered hand. I give Casey a wave and wink as we pass on the way to the dance floor. I hear Nora call out, “Keep your hands above the waist Harney. I will shoot you otherwise.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen Nora like this before,” Dan says as I spin around and walk backwards grabbing his waist.

We find the rhythm to Santana’s newest version of The Game of Love. The song’s upbeat and the girl singing, Michelle something or other takes over for the job of Tina Turner on this newer version. Not bad and the beat’s just right to engage Dan in a friendly dance.

Finally, I answer, “She can cut lose when she needs to.”

His hands move to loosely grip my hips. He steers us away from the speakers, off to the side where a few other couples are engaged in conversation while moving to the music. I lock my hands behind his neck and we smile at each other. I think Dan would be able to keep up with me on the dance floor…if I ever gave him half a chance.

“Does she do this often?” he asks.

I shake my head and lean in to be heard, “This is one of the few places where she can. She’s comfortable here. Her bringing you here is an act of faith, Harney.”

He swivels his hips, dipping his chin in understanding. He licks his lips and looks away from me, back towards our table as he opts for an abrupt topic change, “If you hurt her, there will be hell to pay Beaumont.”

I bring my right hand between us and tweak his nose. “You’re in love with her,” I state. I mean at this juncture in our friendship we may as well clear the air. He knows it. I know it. Nora’s clueless, but then again, I don’t think she notices half the people that pay attention to her. My partner is a focused individual.

My hand goes back around his neck as he shrugs. “True, but I’m big enough to know when I need to sit on the sidelines. She’s your pain in the ass now.”

“She’s never really talked about your relationship, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing…” I start off.

“Nikki…”

“No, now wait, I’m gonna lay it out here Lieutenant,” I use his title hoping he gets this, “I don’t think I want to know. It’s the past. I appreciate the lengths you’re going to for us and that’s enough for me to give you my respect. You’ve earned that; just don’t do anything to screw it up.”

The right corner of his mouth turns up into what I’m sure has made more than a few women swoon and he says, “Take care of her and we’re good.” With that his hands drop from my waist and I follow him back to our table where Nora and Casey are carrying on. Casey’s brought the good stuff. A two-hundred dollar bottle of tequila sits on our table and Nora is more than slightly flushed.

Sliding in next to Nora, Dan takes a seat next to Casey as I make the introductions, “Dan this is Casey Gerard, bartender and friend, Casey, this is Dan, our boss and Nora’s old partner.”

Nora leans into me and I wrap my arms around her shoulders, pulling her in tight. I can smell the tequila as she nuzzles my neck. It’s going to be a long night.

“Wait,” Dan says holding up his hand. “Nora, this is Casey, the Casey?”

Nora’s head comes up from its place on my shoulder and she grins at me a little blurry eyed before turning her attention to Dan to nod her head.

At her answer, he runs his hand over the top of his head and laughs. A full on belly laugh that causes him to double over the top of the table. I look at Casey expecting an answer. She shrugs and says, “No clue, but how have you been?”

I point to Nora and offer, “Not too bad. Has she been behaving herself?”

“Not really,” the bartender admits. “She’s itching to leave. You know how she gets.”

I run my hand through Nora’s hair, scratching her scalp. “I do.”

Dan finally has himself under control and he says, “Sorry, I just thought that…Nora mentioned you from time to time. Blew me off on a few after work drink outings to see you.”

Casey nods, her light brown locks swishing around her face. “Okay. That’s funny because?”

“’Cause I always thought you were a guy.”

Her mouth screws to the side and she looks down at her barely covered ample chest. “Clearly not male.”

“No,” Dan admits, “You certainly are not.” He sends her a smile I have only seen directed at Nora, piquing my curiosity.

“It’s okay. It is nice to meet you though. Nora’s mentioned you a few times. You’ve interrupted a few things too,” she teases.

Dan’s face clouds over and he points between Nora and Casey. “Wait you two actually were…”

“She was my booty call,” Nora mumbles, grinning.

“Hey,” Casey’s voice is a little indignant a brief moment before she bobs her head, “Yeah, fine, Nora was my booty call. I actually like that much better than being hers. Sounds so cheap and tawdry the other way around.”

I roll my eyes. I really think it’s time to go before Dan begins asking questions to things I don’t want to hear.

Dan holds his hand up and waits for Nora to give him a high five. As their hands connect, he says, “Really, Nora, excellent taste in women. I could have been using you all this time for my wingman. Is there anyone else that I should know about?”

Nora’s mouth frowns in thought before she answers, “Well, Ann, but that’s ancient, ancient history.”

“Ann…? Ann…? F.B.I. Ann?” he asks incredulously. Nora nods as Dan’s mouth drops to the floor.

“Well shit,” he mumbles.

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