Summary: Lee & Amanda play poker on Valentine's Day while on a stakeout.
Disclaimer: The characters of Scarecrow & Mrs. King are property of Shoot the Moon and Warner Brothers. The story is a figment of my imagination and is used solely for entertainment purposes.
Archive: Yes - anywhere.
Timeline: Set 2nd season.
Feedback: Please. Either on list of by private e-mail.
In a seedy hotel in Washington, Amanda King looked over at her "partner" and sighed in disgust. 'Here it's the most romantic day of the year and I'm in a dumpy motel with Scrooge himself.' Getting up off of the worn couch, she walked over to the window. She opened the faded orange curtains and looked outside. Even though this was hardly a good neighborhood, there were still people rushing on the streets below. She looked and saw a man get out of a brown sedan.
"Lee, look at this. Isn't that Redmond?"
Lee quickly shot up off the chair and rushed to the window. "Sure looks like him," he responded unenthusiastically.
They were sitting in this small room waiting for Mitchell Redmond to arrive for a meeting with a contact. The Agency had received word this morning that a special meeting was taking place at the Roadway Inn and that if they wanted dirt on Remond they should be there.
Billy had called them into his office and proceeded to brief them on the situation. The caller who left the tip hadn't known the time, and Billy didn't want to take a chance. He sent Lee and Amanda right over to the motel to bug Redmond's room and to wait until he arrived.
Glancing out the window again, they saw Mitchell Redmond dodge across traffic carrying a huge bouquet of flowers and a white teddy bear. He was obviously planning on enjoying himself tonight.
"It looks like things may actually start to pick up around here," Lee said, as he glanced over to Amanda and saw a look of sadness cross her face.
"I'm sorry I'm not such great company. I'm sure you had big plans for tonight with it being Valentine's Day and all."
"That's not what I meant….oh, Hell. Why do you always try to put words into my mouth?" he asked, getting a little annoyed. The truth was he didn't have any plans at all and was kind of pleased at spending time with Amanda. She was starting to play a big role in his dreams lately and he was so confused as to what exactly that meant.
"I'm sorry, Lee. It's just that this has to be the most depressing place to be. There's no color except for these awful looking orange drapes and it's freezing cold in here. Not that I had more important plans for today, but I'd at least like to be warm."
Lee winced at Amanda's words. She was always so chipper and optimistic about everything. Today must really be taking a toll on her. He took in her appearance; she wore blue jeans with a bright red sweater. 'Red is really a good color on her,' he thought. He looked down at his brown slacks and white shirt. 'How pathetic, I seem to blend in with the room.'
"You're adding color to the room. Have I ever told you that you look good in red?" Lee asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.
"Thanks, Lee. And of course we can't forget about my valentine," she said, picking up a pink heart with crayon marks on the front.
He watched as a shy smile spread across her face. 'The littlest things make her smile. I really like that about her.' He thought back to when they had arrived at the motel. When they entered the lobby, Lee had gone to the front desk to explain what he needed. When he had finished talking to the property manager, he followed Amanda's laughter until he found her surrounded by about 4 children. They were sitting on the floor by the ice machine cutting out hearts and making valentines' for their parents. He stood and watched her until his heart ached.
Amanda had glanced up and saw him watching her. "Lee, why don't you join us?"
Regretting it now, he had snapped at her that they had a job to do and stalked towards the room. It took her a few minutes, but she had followed him.
Bringing his attention back to the present, he felt the room closing in on him. "It's a little stuff in here, I'll be right back." And with that, he left.
Watching his retreating form, Amanda mumbled to herself, "Sure, Lee.
That's ok, I'll be fine in the dump all by myself." She turned on the TV
to have some background noise.
About 20 minutes later, Amanda heard the key in the lock and tensed,
not quite knowing who it was.
"Lee? Is that you?"
"Yeah, can you help me with the door. My arms are full."
Amanda went to open the door and laughed when she saw Lee juggling a bag of groceries and two cups of coffee.
"Where were you? What it something would've happened?"
"I just ran to the corner store. I spoke with the front desk clerk and she said that Redmond is having a guest arrive at 8 tonight. So, I thought I'd run and get us some food."
Emptying the bags, she saw that he had indeed bought some provisions for the night; a six pack of beer, a 2 liter bottle of cola, chips, pretzels, and a bag of chocolate kisses.
“Planning to drink yourself to sleep?”
He set the six pack on the table. “Maybe. Here.” He handed her a cup of coffee and a bag of cookies he’d gotten from the store. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he added gruffly.
Her eyes went wide and color touched her cheeks. Then he felt stupid and wished he’d just kept his big mouth shut. He yanked off his coat. “Come over here.”
“Why?”
'So I can have my way with you,' was his first thought. Glancing at the image on the TV, he couldn't help but tease the woman who made him crazy at times. “I see you found the cable channel.”
“I didn’t ….Oh, Lord….” She turned bright red. "I thought maybe you'd want to watch it."
“Now, why would I do that when I have live entertainment right here?”
Amanda turned from him in embarrassment and picked up a deck of cards that were on the table. "Do you want to play cards?" she asked, really wanting to do something safe and get off that topic of conversation.
“What kind of cards?”
“Five card draw," she said, not wanting him to know that it was the only game she knew how to play, except for Go Fish.
“I don’t play for money. Too dangerous.”
She was surprised by that. "That's ok, we can improvise." She went to the table and held up the bag of chocolate kisses.
Lee choked on his beer as he watched Amanda shuffle the cards like a Vegas dealer. "How did you learn to do that?" he asked.
"Oh, it's really no big deal. I play a lot of Solitaire." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she bit her tongue. 'Great, now he'll think that I have no life.'
"I'm impressed. You're really good."
"Thanks."
They had played for about 45 minutes when Amanda was down to 1 lone kiss. She looked at Lee's pile of kisses and grimaced. 'If I could only concentrate on the game instead of him I'd be doing much better.' She looked down at her hand - 4 queens. This was sure a winner.
"Umm, Lee. Can I write an IOU for more kisses?"
"I'm sorry Ma'am, but your credit isn't good here. But I'm sure we can make other arrangements."
“Name your pleasure. I bet my hand beats yours," she challenged, hoping for the best.
He knew that his brain was suffering from a lack of oxygen. It was the only explanation. He picked up one of the candies, unwrapped it, and extended it across the table.
“Eat it.”
She reached for it, but he shook his head. “Open your mouth.”
She did as instructed and felt Lee's warm fingers gently place the kiss inside of her mouth. His gaze settled on hers as she slowly let the chocolate melt in her mouth.
Lee's mind went into overtime, imagining what her tongue was doing to that piece of chocolate. 'How I wish I were that kiss.'
Regaining her composure, Amanda wanted to let Lee know that she wasn't the inexperienced housewife that he made her out to be. She was more. A lot more.
"Ok, big shot. I will bet you my one chocolate kiss and one real kiss
that my hand is better than yours."
Lee smiled. "You got yourself a deal, Mrs. King."
Amanda happily laid down her 4 queens and started to pull the pot towards her, until Lee laid down his cards - 4 kings.
Lee made quite a production about collecting the 15 or so kisses that laid in the middle of the table. "Now, if I remember correctly, you also owe me one real kiss."
Knowing that he expected her to change her mind, she got up off the rickety chair, walked around the table and leaned against the table. Placing her hands on his face, she moved towards him until their lips met. At the intense shock that rocketed through her body, she flinched, but then felt Lee's hands settle on her waist. They pressed their lips a little closer and tightened their hold on each other.
It was an amazing kiss. They both released the other, and looked at each other for what seemed to be the first time.
"Good game, Stetson."
Just as Lee was about to lean in for another kiss, they heard voices
coming from Redmond's room. Remembering why they were there, they headed
over to the recording equipment.
A few hours later, as they were packing up the equipment, Amanda discreetly put the bag of cookies that Lee had given her into her purse. Lee quickly placed the pink valentine that Amanda had made into his back pocket.
This was one day that they would never forget. And little did they know
that the other would keep the fact that they had taken those possessions
and kept it a secret until their wedding day.
The End.