By: Kim
Summary: Another VSS (Very Short Story). Lee doubts
Amanda's ability to handle an assignment.
Disclaimer:The main characters belong to Shoot
the Moon and Warner Brothers Productions. The story is a product of my
imagination.
Lee Stetson paced back and forth in front of Billy Melrose's desk. "Billy," he struggled for words. "Amanda is not ready for an assignment of this magnitude. Get Francine to do it."
"Magnitude," Billy chuckled. "Scarecrow, for the last time, Francine is not available. Everyone else is tied up with other projects. Amanda will do fine. There's no 'magnitude' involved, Lee. All she has to do is reel the guy in, sweet-talk him a little. You'll do the rest. If he thinks she's on his side, he'll sing like a bird."
"And if he doesn't believe her?" Lee was grsping at straws.
"She'll be great. Remember, she did some acting in college," Billy reminded him. Obviously his best agent was not happy with his partner's assignment.
Lee gave up. He went upstairs to the Q-Bureau. Amanda didn't even look up as he entered. She muttered, "Hi," her eyes glued to a file.
"Hi," Lee said, more than a little annoyed that she didn't look at him. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"No, no," she replied absently. "Just getting acquainted with William Gregerson."
"Uh, Billy told me about your assignment," he fished.
"Mmmm," she nodded.
"You'll be doing more than 'getting acquainted with him'. Do you think you can do it?"
Amanda put down the file and looked up for the first time. "What? Why do you ask me that? It's a simple assignment. He's expecting a contact, he gets me. I come on to him, he gives me the information, I leave, he gets arrested."
Lee laughed. "You think it'll be easy? Just start coming on to a guy out of the blue? You think you can do that?"
"Yes, I do. Why don't you think I can?" Amanda frowned at him.
"Amanda, you've never had an assignment like this before. It's not easy to just start...start giving your attentions to a total stranger like that." Lee looked at her uneasily. He sounded jealous, even to his own ears.
"You don't seem to have any problem with it," she pointed out.
Touche, Lee thought. Still, this was Amanda. "Amanda, I've been doing it for a long time," he reasoned.
"So I hear," Amanda couldn't suppress her smile.
"Amanda!" Lee looked away, embarassed.
"It's easier to do something like that with a total stranger than it is with someone you know and aren't involved with," Amanda continued her defense. "I don't think I'll have a problem."
"Yeah, that's true. I just think you should give this some thought, make sure you can handle all that's required of you, that's all."
"Well I'm touched that you're so concerned, Lee. But I'll be fine."
Lee didn't think about his next statement until it was out of his mouth. "I bet you couldn't pull it off right now if you had to! If you had to just...just come on to me, I bet you couldn't do it!"
"Well, that's different. You're my partner. It would be a lot more awkward, yes." Amanda blushed at the very thought. Still, he was so maddening!
"Why? We've kissed for cover before. What's the problem? Chicken?" Lee raised his eyebrows mockingly at her.
Amanda took the bait. Her own eyebrows arched in defiance and she stepped towards him, her eyes narrowing. "Are you challenging me, Stetson? Because I can do it, you know."
Lee's mind raced. What have I gotten myself into? he wondered desperately. He thought about backing out, but who'd be the chicken then?
When he didn't respond except to fold his arms across his chest and tilt his head in a gesture of challenge, Amanda strode over to the door and locked it.
As he watched, she turned around to face him and put her hands up to her hair, releasing the curls from the comb that held them. She shook her hair out and it fell around her shoulders. Her fingers loosened the collar of her blouse. Her entire demeanor changed, and she looked like a cat about to pounce on a mouse. Lee had never seen Amanda look that way before!
Slowly she walked toward him. Lee was standing in front of his desk, and he leaned back against it to support his suddenly jello-filled knees.
Amanda's heart was racing, but she'd be damned if she let Lee know it. She maintained eye contact as she approached him.
Not saying a word, Amanda ran her hands up Lee's chest, slowly. Lee cleared his throat nervously and started to speak, and she placed a finger against his lips.
Amanda slid one hand up to his neck and splayed her fingers out in Lee's hair. She pressed closer to him, keeping her finger against his lower lip. Lee's arms moved of their own volition around her waist. Lee was finding it difficult to breath, and he was certain she could hear the wild beating of his heart.
Teasingly, tantalizingly, Amanda removed her finger and lifted her face to Lee's and just slightly brushed her lips against his. As Lee leaned in to kiss her more fully, she drew back, moving her lips along his jawline. A low moan escaped from deep in Lee's throat, and Amanda pulled back to look at him, surprised at his gutteral reaction.
Lee's face was flushed and his eyes were slightly glazed. Amanda had no idea how she was remaining so poised, except that he had been so arrogant in his claims that she couldn't seduce a man! It was nice to see that she could affect him in this way. She felt very powerful in that moment.
With renewed determination, she slid her hands down to his lower back and applied gentle pressure. Then she allowed their lips to meet in a full kiss. As she pulled away, she kept her teeth gently on his lower lip for a second before stepping back completely.
With a deliberately innocent expression on her face, she asked brightly, "So how was I? Any pointers?"
Lee was having difficulty breathing. "Ahhh," he tested out his voice, it was still there. He was trying desperately to compose himself.
"Not bad," he finally said, walking around to the other side of his desk and quickly sitting down.
"Not bad?" Amanda questioned him, arranging her hair back into a twist and fastening it with her comb. "Well, if you think I need improvement," she shrugged, "Why don't you come over here and give me a lesson?"
Lee's eyes widened. "No! Uh, I mean, you're pretty good, for a rookie and all. And uhh, I think you'll do just fine actually."
"Oh," Amanda said, pleased. She smiled at him then. "Well, thanks for being, you know, target practice, shall we say?"
A very flustered Lee grabbed his jacket and keys and headed for the door. "I uh, have a meeting with uhh, well..I'll see you later, Amanda..."
Lee closed the door behind him and rushed outside despite hearing Billy call his name.
What did Amanda do to me in there? I could have easily...he cut off his own thoughts. As he recalled the intimate moment, he wondered how she had felt. She had been so in control...so...Lee Stetson sighed. It was going to be a long, long day.
END