This is not a lovely smut-filled ending like you all deserve, so I'm sorry for that. But by God I promised myself I would finish one of my WiPs and I'll be gosh-darned if I don't follow through on it! So here it is, in all its fallibility.

Thanks to: kirsten, moyeh, sammy, A, californiasmurf, danielle, ny_in_love, Faye, Candice, Niki, and Lyss, whose reviews I could not reply to online.

Speaking of reviews I lost a whole bunch back before chapter four of this was posted so if you never got a reply from me please let me know and I shall endeavor to PM you post haste!

On with the chapter…

"Two pair," Lindsay announced with a triumphant smile.

Danny looked up at Lindsay, shaking his head in amusement at her smug attitude. Although he'd thought she'd been kidding when she suggested they go back to her place and play strip poker he couldn't deny the enjoyment he was getting out of playing with her, even though he was currently losing.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were gonna stack the deck against me, were ya?" Danny teased as he moved to take off the cowboy hat.

"Not the hat," Lindsay told him with a hand raised to stop him.

Eyebrow cocked he grinned and his hand changed its trajectory, moving to the buttons of his shirt. He paused and waited until Lindsay nodded before he slowly undid the buttons and peeled off the shirt.

Lindsay barely refrained from releasing a sigh as Danny put the shirt on the back of his chair and then grabbed his beer bottle for a nice long drink as she reshuffled the cards. She belatedly realized she hadn't responded to his last comment and hurried to do so.

"I don't need to stack the deck. I gave you a handicap before we even started and you're still losing just fine on your own," she reminded him with a smirk.

As the ball party ended Lindsay had gone back into the bathroom to retrieve her shirt which she had rung out and carried with her. Once back at her place she hadn't put anything else on to balance the deficit in clothing.

"Maybe I'm losing on purpose on account of how much I enjoy your outfit," he teased her, "Ever stop to consider that?"

And no, she hadn't actually considered that. But after a moment she dismissed it—he sucked at poker, plain and simple. No one could fake losing this badly.

"I'm surprised that you liked this costume so much," Lindsay admitted through her blush.

"Why is that?" Danny asked, genuinely confused. Lindsay shrugged.

"Well Rochelle seemed to think you'd be more likely to be drawn to her choice, and I can't say I'd have been that surprised to find it was true."

"Does bringing up her name mean you've decided to tell me about what they've done to you?" Danny teased with a smile that told Lindsay he already knew the answer.

"No…in fact I really don't want to think about them anymore," She insisted and then contradicted herself with her next statement. "Although I do want to know why they've decided to pick on me. I mean if it's something I did then I want the chance to correct it, you know?"

"They're jealous of you, Linds, easy as that," Danny told her.

"And why is that, exactly?" she questioned with a smile. How funny that his statement echoed Stella's, she mused. She almost missed his rejoinder.

"Prolly 'cause I haven't so much as looked at one of them…especially not since I met you, anyhow."

His admission shocked her.

"What?" she barely managed to whisper.

He shrugged and the grin he sent her made her weak in the knees.

"I don't need to look at anyone else, Linds," He confessed and watched as she once again flushed one of the most attractive shades of pink he'd ever seen. "Especially if you're wearing something like that," he finished with a teasing leer.

Lindsay struggled to find something to say that would bring them back on an even keel and she smiled when she thought of it.

"So what do you plan on doing for this date?" She asked. "I admit I'm curious to see whether we'll go somewhere we've been to for a case or if there's a place we haven't been to yet that I'll be surprised by."

"Do you have a preference?"

"Oh, um well I guess the only thing I really have a preference for is for it to be something simple and low-key."

Danny took a few moments to give the idea of their date the consideration it deserved. He looked up at her again when he had a thought.

"How about a hockey game?" He suggested. "I've never been to one before; it could be a lot of fun."

"Yeah that sounds great, actually," Lindsay agreed.

"I'm not sure what team is from Montana or if there even is one," Danny admitted, "But how about we plan on catching the next game they play the Rangers here? There's bound to be one in the next few weeks, right?"

"Montana doesn't have a team, so I'm actually a Canucks fan," Lindsay told him, "Let's check the schedule out and see who the Rangers typically play because I'm not sure they're in the same division as the Canucks so we might be waiting a long time to see them play each other."

"You mean you want to check it out now?" Danny asked, attempting to hide his displeasure at the notion and failing epically.

Lindsay laughed at his clear lack of enthusiasm.

"Come on, cowboy," she said as she got up and made the short trip to the couch.

After much playful bantering back and forth they decided to watch the next game between the Rangers and the Maple Leafs, figuring that another Canadian team would suffice for Lindsay to root for against Danny. Because they both agreed there would be no fun in rooting for the same team.

When she turned to Danny she noticed for the first time just how closely they were sitting next to one another. Of course it had been necessary at the time in order to allow both of them to see the computer's screen but now it was no longer essential although it was still desirable. She didn't know if she should say anything or not but Danny took the decision out of her hands by speaking first.

"You know we never did end up agreeing on signals earlier," He said, moving even closer to her.

But just when Lindsay thought he was going to move all the way in and kiss her he stopped, clearly leaving it up to her whether or not they took that step. She gave herself a moment to appreciate the gesture before she decided on not only her answer but whether or not to follow through on the action he'd started.

"I don't think we need to worry about getting our signals crossed anymore, do you?" She whispered and allowed their mouths to meet. Danny couldn't help but smile, thrilled that she was finally getting to the part of the evening he'd been looking forward to.

When Lindsay began absent-mindedly playing with the strap of his tank as they continued to make-out he had to stop for a moment and tease her.

"As much as you have been benefiting from how I obviously feel about your costume if I'm not mistaken you've had a pretty noticeable reaction to my costume pretty much from the get-go as well."

"Yeah I have although I have to admit if I'd had any idea beforehand what your reaction was going to be to my costume I probably would have stuck with my original idea of going as a ghost."

"Well I'm glad you changed your mind."

"You know, it was Stella's idea that I dress up as a cheerleader."

Danny cocked his head and smiled.

"Huh…I once told Stella that I always wanted to see a cheerleader wearing my jacket over that hot little skirt."

Lindsay's eyes widened and they both looked at each other for a moment as the light bulb went off and they realized they had been set up quite handily.

"Stella, huh? Well I guess we have to think of a way to repay her, then, don't we?"

He rolled them over so she was pinned beneath him.

"Later, Montana. Much, much later."

Finis