Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. We retain rights to the plot, but not the characters. this story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Author's Note: I have had to do some minor editing to this as I remember after the fact that I had forgotten to include a disclaimer and I noticed some typos and grammatical errors that I had overlooked during my initial editing process. I also had am adding a few more little tidbits of Francine's thoughts and a little added dialogue that occurred to me after publication. Due to the very positive reviews I have received on this, I am now also thinking of adding additional chapters, also from Francine's PoV, using info from later episodes as Lee and Amanda get closer to their wedding date and beyond.

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Francine was in the vault putting away the files she had removed a few days before when she had caught Lee and Amanda in a clinch. She couldn't help wondering how the two of them would continue to work together now that Amanda had come to her senses and dumped the notorious playboy before he could dump her. She was more than a little bummed that Amanda wouldn't give her the details of the break-up. She'd have to remember to ask her about when she could get her alone again. She was also dying to get Lee's side of the break-up story and see how they compared as Lee always did have a flair for embellishment when telling stories. She was about to exit having done what she came to do reaching for the door pushing it slightly open when she heard voices coming from the hall.

"You are and evil, evil man, Lee Stetson!"Amanda was saying with exasperation in her voice. Francine knew she should make her presence known, but it sounded like the break-up fight may not be over yet and she was burning with curiosity.

"How am I evil?" Lee had replied. "I don't know what you're talking about." Francine heard the deadbolt click in place.

"I cannot believe you did that to me!" uh-oh, Francine thought. This can't be good.

"What? What exactly did I do?" She heard Lee say as their voices grew closer to her hiding place. She peeked through the crack in the slightly open vault door to see the two of them standing to the side of Amanda's desk.

"Oh, don't give me that innocent look! You know exactly what you did." Lee just laughed which made Francine even more concerned. How could he be so callous? "There I was trying to have a serious conversation with Francine and you had to throw the whole thing off with that look you were giving me from across the room."

"What look?" Lee said as Francine watched him move closer to Amanda. His back was to her so she couldn't see his face, but she could see Amanda's and she clearly looked perturbed.

"The undressing-me-with-your-eyes look, kinda like the one you've got on your face right now! And the wink? It was all I could do to keep a straight face and I was trying to be sad about the break-up! You just blew that for me."

"I couldn't help it," Lee said. "I missed you last night and in that moment I was wishing that I was undressing you with more than just my eyes." Francine rolled her eyes at Lee's obvious attempt to seduce Amanda into taking him back. Francine watched in dismay as Lee pulled Amanda into his arms and kissed her passionately. She fully expected to see Amanda push him away or slap him, but what shocked was to see instead that not only did Amanda not protest, but she gave into to him immediately wrapping her arms around his neck and allowing him to press her against her desk. Come on, Amanda, don't give into him. Be strong! Let him know what's what, Francine silently cheered. She was relieved after a moment when Amanda finally did pull back.

"Lee, stop," Amanda said breathlessly. Good for you, Amanda,. Francine thought.

"So, what did Francine say when you told her about our break-up anyway?"

"She wanted to know all the details and if I gave it to you really good," Amanda replied with a big smile.

"You do give it to me really good," Lee said in a low, seductive tone. Oh, please, Could that line be any more obvious? Francine thought as she watched in shock as Lee lowered his head to nuzzle Amanda's neck. "I think that's why I couldn't help myself."

Francine heard Amanda sigh as Lee continued what he was doing, "You know that's not what I meant," Amanda said as she reached her hand up to the back of Lee's neck. Francine thought she'd pull back from him again, instead she was further shocked when Amanda did just the opposite pulling his head in closer as she leaned back slightly on her desk allowing him better access. From her vantage point, Francine couldn't really see everything that was going on because Lee's back was blocking her view, but she was stunned to see Amanda reach with her other hand to grasp Lee's rear. Her mouth dropped open at this. Oh, crap, she's going to let him have his way, she thought. She was wondering if she shouldn't step in and put a stop to it since Amanda didn't seem to have the willpower to do so on her own. This was exactly what she'd tried to warn her about. There was no doubt that Lee Stetson was charming when he wanted in, but she also knew from experience how cold he could be when he wanted out. She was relieved after a minute when she heard Amanda say. "Lee, we can't."

"Why not?" he said as he pulled his head back. Francine shook her head at his sheer gall. How could he ask her something like that? She'd dumped him for a reason.

"For starters, we're at work," Amanda said which was not at all what Francine had expected her to say.

"We don't have to be. How about we take a nice, long lunch, maybe back a my place." Say no, Amanda. Come on, say no! Francine shouted silently.

"There's no food at your place," Amanda said in a sultry voice.

"I know," Lee said seductively. "Just dessert." Lee lowered his head again, this time not to Amanda's neck, but to her collar bone then lower. She watched in horror as Lee yanked the tails of Amanda's blouse from her skirt and she didn't seem to be stopping him. Anytime, Amanda, Francine thought desperately. "Think of it as practice for our honeymoon.," as his hands disappeared from her view again and he once again lowered his head. Honeymoon? Francine thought. Had she heard correctly? Is he teasing her with the idea of marriage to get what he wants from her? It was worse than she thought, he was doing the most despicable thing he could think of and Amanda seemed to be falling for it, hook, line and sinker and she would be the one to suffer. She knew all too well the pain of being stood up at the altar.

"Well, I am a firm believer in practice making perfect, but we're never going to get to our honeymoon if we don't say a wedding date." There you go, Amanda! Put him on the spot! Francine whooper in her head.

"Hey, you know what? Speaking of which," She noticed Lee had stopped his seduction attempt for a moment. "This belongs here," he said as he pulled Amanda's left hand away from his behind. Francine couldn't see what he was doing after that. What exactly was he doing with Amanda's hand? "As for a wedding date, you just tell me when and where and I'll be there. I can't wait to marry you, Amanda King," Lee said as he leaned in to kiss her again. Francine saw Amanda move her right hand from Lee's neck but with Lee blocking her view, she couldn't see what she was doing, couldn't see where either of Amanda's hands were now, but wherever they were and whatever she was doing was causing Lee to groan. Francine finally decided it was time to put a stop to it.

"All right, that's enough, Casanova!" She shouted as she stormed out of the vault and was appalled to see Amanda with one hand in Lee's pants and with her blouse unbuttoned revealing a lacy camisole underneath. "What the hell is going on here?" Francine demanded as Lee and Amanda rushed to straighten their clothing. She pointed a disapproving finger at Lee."You...you are despicable! Of all the low, disgusting things you've done in your time, this is the lowest and the most disgusting! How can you lead Amanda on like this with promises of marriage, knowing what she went through with her first marriage?" Before either of them could say anything, Francine continued to Amanda, "And you, how could you be naive enough to buy into it? I mean, come on, Amanda. I thought you were smarter than this!"

"Francine, Stop!" Amanda said as she held up her left hand showing off the diamond ring Lee had placed on her finger a few minutes earlier.

Francine stared for a moment before saying, "You mean, this...this..."she looked from Amanda to Lee and back to Amanda as she struggled to say the word."...engagement is real?" She glanced from Amanda to Lee.

Lee reached for Amanda's left hand linking his fingers with hers while still holding her hand up so that the diamond was plainly visible. He then said, "Francine, I wouldn't have bought Amanda this very expensive diamond ring if it weren't real."

"You mean, you're actually getting married?"

"Yes, Francine, we are. We were just trying to keep it quiet because of the danger it might put her kids in and we'd both appreciate it if you'd keep it quiet too."

"Yeah, of course. Who'd believe me anyway? Lee Stetson, die-hard bachelor, getting married."

Lee and Amanda both laughed before Amanda turned backed to Lee and said, "So how about that nice, long lunch now?"

"You're on," Lee said with a smile then added, "You know I think after the last couple of days, we're going to have to start checking the vault before we lock the door," which caused Amanda to burst into a fit of giggles. Lee linked his arm with Amanda's and winked at Francine before the two of them left together leaving Francine for the first time in her life stunned into silence.