Title: Meeting in a Rose Garden

Summary: Mac reconnects with someone she knew in law school. (West Wing Crossover) (Mac/Other, Mac/Harm eventually)

Part Two

Sam tapped Sarah MacKenzie's business card against his desk while he stared at the phone. He had never pretended to be cool. He had never been one of those guys who waited three days to call a woman, or play any of the games that women complained about. When he liked someone, he called her. It was that simple. But could he really call a woman two hours after meeting her?

He sighed and glanced at his calendar. A completely free night was just so rare, and tonight was one of those very rare nights. God knew when he'd get another chance. He took a deep breath and flipped the card over to see the number and picked up the phone to dial it.

"Sarah MacKenzie."

"Hi Sarah, it's Sam Seaborn. From earlier today."

"Oh, hi." Mac was floored. She had just given him her number a few hours ago. And he was already calling? The eagerness made her slightly uneasy. She remembered how eager Mic had been. And how doggedly he had pursued her. That was the absolute last thing she wanted to go through again. "Hi." She repeated.

"Hey." He cleared his throat. "Listen, I know this is completely crazy since we just talked earlier today. But I have an unplanned free night tonight. And that doesn't happen a lot. So, I was wondering if you'd like to go out for dinner?"

She was quiet for a long moment. Even with the too-soon phone call, she didn't get a Mic-like vibe from him. He was just a man who had a demanding career and didn't have much free time. And he just wanted to spend some of that free time with her. Finally, she spoke. "Dinner sounds nice. Should we just meet somewhere?"

"Um, yeah." Her long pause had him convinced she was going to say no. But she hadn't, and he realized he hadn't thought any of this through. "Have you ever been to The Hamilton? One of my colleagues was there for dinner last week and hasn't stopped talking about it."

"I haven't been there, but that sounds nice. I live in Georgetown, and will need to change after work. Want to say 7?"

"That works. I'll call and get a reservation. See you tonight, Sarah."

Mac said goodbye and ended the call. She leaned back and took a deep breath. What was she getting herself into?

Mac sat in her car for a few minutes, while trying to calm her nerves. She hadn't been on a date in a long time, and a first date in even longer. She could see the restaurant from the excellent parking spot she had secured and watched as well-dressed couples came and went. She watched for a few minutes and sat up straighter as a familiar figure hurried into the restaurant. He was early, and that made her smile. Not wanting him to have to wait alone, she shoved her lipstick and her keys in the tiny clutch she had switched to, and got out of the car.

When Mac opened the door to the restaurant, she was pleased at his suggestion. The interior was sophisticated, but not stuffy. It wasn't overly loud, and most of the tables sat alongside a wall of huge windows. She scanned the room, and saw Sam standing at the host stand. She was approaching him when he turned and spotted her. He looked nervous, but incredibly handsome in the well-fitting navy chino pants and a pale blue button-down shirt. As she got closer, she couldn't help but notice how dazzling his eyes were, and wondered if he had worn a blue shirt to purposely accentuate them.

"Sarah, hi." He fidgeted nervously, not sure if he should hug her. Finally, he leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her cheek. "You look beautiful."

She smiled and looked down at her dress. It was new, and she already knew it would be a favorite. The dress was a pale blue and white striped halter style, with a fitted bodice and a full skirt that fell to her knees. The bottom quarter of the dress was covered in bright, multicolored flowers. "Thank you." She looked around the restaurant, and then back it at him. The place was crowded for a weeknight, and she saw more than one senator, and a large group of congressmen. She glanced at Sam and raised an eyebrow. "Did you have to drop your boss' name to get a table at the last minute?" He blushed, and she smiled.

"Leo's name, actually." He shrugged. "If you ever meet him, don't get him started on restaurants. He'll talk your ear off."

"Good to know." She smiled, hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt. She saw a young man approaching them, with menus in hand and was relieved she'd now have something to do – even if that something was just walking to a table. The table was a cozy, semi-circle booth by one of the windows. They both slid in, making sure to sit directly across from one another. She smiled up at the host, and waited patiently as he laid out the menus and the rolled flatware. He told them their server would be by in a few minutes and walked away. She turned back to Sam and raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry. I'm not very good at this. Especially with someone I don't know."

He let out a breath and leaned back. "Thank God. I'm not either. My last date was with a woman I knew fairly well. I don't usually ask out women I don't know. Especially not the same day," he laughed nervously. "I just work a lot, and my schedule is unpredictable. I didn't want to miss my chance."

"I work a lot too. And I travel a lot for work. When I'm home my schedule isn't too bad, but I seem to hardly ever be home these days."

Sam nodded. "What kind of law do you practice?"

"I'm kind of an investigator and a trial attorney rolled up in one." She paused when their waiter approached to take their drink orders. She bit her lip as Sam ordered a gin drink, and then she went with her usual tonic water with lime.

The waiter made a note on his pad. "Would you like any gin or vodka in the tonic?"

She shook her head. "Just the tonic. And lime."

"Yes ma'am. I'll be right back with those."

She looked at Sam and forced a smile. She didn't want to get into her issues. "Anyway. Most of the military legal offices at bases around the country just handle things like wills and powers of attorney. So whenever there is a more serious issue, we get sent into to defend or prosecute. Sometimes both. We handle everything from petty misdemeanors to murder cases."

Sam's eyes widened. "Wow. That's pretty cool. By 'we' do you mean your whole office, or just you and the man you were with today?"

Wow. Not even ten minutes into the date and he brings up Harm. She swallowed, and wished the waiter would come back with their drinks. "The whole office, but Harm is my partner. We go on most of these investigations together."

"I don't know why, but I figured being a military lawyer would be boring." He shrugged. "I guess my ignorance is showing. I don't know much about the military."

She smiled. "I imagine most of the time it is. Some of the lawyers I've met at other bases are doing this because the military paid for their school and they're just waiting to get out and do something else."

"What about you? Are you waiting to get out and go do something else?"

"I don't know. I actually did get out very briefly a couple of years back to work at a civilian firm. The pay was insane, but it didn't make me happy." She shrugged. "I love what I do now, but I don't know if I want to do it forever."

"Why not?"

It was her turn to blush. "I think it would be hard to do if I ever settle down and have a family." She briefly thought of Mic, and how he would have loved to hear her say that. But instead she had dug in her heels and was adamant she would never sacrifice her career. He smiled, and once again she was taken aback by how handsome he was.

"Don't worry. I don't think you're dropping hints about marriage and babies on the first date."

She blushed again at his gentle teasing, and then felt herself begin to relax. The waiter approached with their drinks and asked if they were ready to order.

The dinner had gone better than Sam could have hoped for. And even though they didn't really know one another, the conversation flowed smoothly and they found that had a lot to talk about. They started with their disenchantment with the glamorous law firms they had once worked for, moved to more controversial topics such as don't ask, don't tell, told their favorite stories about their friends and coworkers, and reminisced about the greasiest, most run down burger place near Duke which sold the most perfect onions rings. When the waiter dropped off the check and left without saying a word, Sam glanced at his watch, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw it was almost 11:00. "We've been here for four hours. I guess he's ready for us to get out."

Mac laughed and reached for her purse. She was surprised to find it further away then she remembered, and then realized that she and Sam had been slowly edging closer to one another over the course of their dinner. She opened her clutch and dug around for a credit card, and stopped when he placed his hand over hers.

"Don't even think about it."

"Sam-"

He shook his head. "No way. It's our first date. Let me pay."

She slowly nodded and latched the clasp on her bag. "Okay. Thank you."

"My pleasure." He slid the leather folder to the edge of the table, and leaned back to study her. He had also noticed that they had shifted toward one another, and was pleased she hadn't moved away. He could feel the warmth emanating from her bare arm, and felt this nearly overwhelming desire to run his fingers over her skin. "Did you notice I said first date?"

Her cheeks pinkened again, and she tried to remember the last time she had blushed or smiled this much. God, it had been a long time. "I noticed."

He swallowed, and placed his hand on hers again. "Is that okay? Can we have another date?"

She nodded, and turned her hand over under his, so that their palms were touching. She watched as their fingers twined together, and she looked back up at him. "I'd really like that."

Sam held open the door for her and they walked back into the warm night. He glanced around the nearly deserted street and then back at her. "Where did you park?"

Mac gestured to the red Corvette at the end of the block. "I'm over there." He took her hand again and walked to her car with her.

"I'm sorry I kept you out so late on a work night."

She grinned and glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the White House. "Something tells me that you'll have to be at work in the morning long before I will."

He looked in the same direction and groaned. "You're probably right. I feel like our days start earlier and earlier every year."

"Do you enjoy it?"

Sam grinned and nodded. "I love every second of it."

"Good." She stopped walking when they reached her car. She unlocked it, and opened the passenger door to set her bag on the seat and closed the door again. She leaned against the door and looked up at him. "Thanks for dinner, Sam. I had a really great time."

"Thank you for saying yes." His eyes moved over her face and stopped on her lips. "Sarah, I-" God, he was terrible at this. He imagined most men would just lean in and kiss her at this moment. He swallowed. "Can I kiss you goodnight?" She swallowed and nodded, and he lowered his lips to hers. The kiss was tentative at first, but grew more intense when he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer.

The finally broke apart at the sound of a car honking and some teenage boys yelling for them to get a room. He looked over his shoulder, and then back at her and grinned. "Sorry. I think I got a little carried away."

She reached up and rubbed her thumb over his lips, and wiped away the traces of her lipstick. "Please don't apologize for that." She let her hand fall, and leaned in to give him a quick kiss. "I need to go."

He nodded and walked around to open the drivers side door for her. "Drive safely. I'll call you this week."

"Commander Rabb? Are you with us?"

Harm jerked at the sound of his name and looked sheepishly at the Admiral. "I'm sorry, sir. Do you mind repeating what you just said?"

Chegwidden frowned and repeated his question. Harm nodded this time, and spoke for a few minutes. When he moved on to Sturgis, Harm turned his attention back to his partner. She looked different this morning. Her eyes were bright, her cheeks were pink, and it was her distractedness that was responsible for his. When the meeting was over, he hurried around the table to catch up with her.

"You okay? You seemed a little distracted in there?"

She snorted. "Me? I'm not the one who got called out by the Admiral."

He rolled his eyes. "That's because you have the unfair talent of being able to pay attention even when you're not paying attention."

She grinned and headed to her office. "Jealous?"

He flashed her his most charming smile. "Absolutely."

"Colonel!" They both turned in the direction of Harriet's voice. She was beaming, and carrying the most beautiful floral arrangement Mac had ever seen - huge white hydrangeas, pink peonies, and stems of eucalyptus. "Colonel, these were just delivered for you. I signed for them."

Mac reached for them. "Thanks Harriet." She smiled at both her and Harm, and hurried into her office. She set them on the corner of her desk and reached for the card.

'I can't wait to see you again. S.'

She tucked the card into her purse and looked up to see Harm walking through her door.

His eyes moved from the flowers to her face and tried to neutralize his expression. "Those are nice. Who are the from?"

"I had a date last night. They're from him."

He took a deep breath. How was this happening? How? He had been working up the courage for weeks to take the next step. And once again, another man swoops in and sweeps her off her feet. "I didn't know you were seeing anyone."

She shrugged. "I wasn't. Last night was our first date."

Harm bit the inside of his cheek. "Well, at least this one is just giving you flowers after the first date instead of a diamond ring." She looked up, and he could see that he his words had hit exactly where he had intended. Her eyes darkened and he could see the hurt play over her beautiful features. His eyes moved to the flowers for one more second before he turned and walked out of her office.

Mac took a few minutes to compose herself after she watched Harm leave. God, why was he like this with her? She shook her head and took a deep breath. She pulled out her cell phone to call Sam and thank him for the flowers, and realized she didn't have his number. She opened up an internet window and did a quick search for him, and found his email address. She clicked on the hyperlink and typed out a quick message.

Sam,

Thank you so much for the flowers. They're absolutely gorgeous. Sorry to send this via email, but I don't have your number and didn't want to not say thank you.

S.

A few minutes later she was on the phone with a witness when she saw an email pop up on the screen. She swallowed and opened it. It was just a single line of text, and then two numbers, presumably his office and his cell phone.

You do now. And you're welcome.

End Part 2