Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot. Sadly. I'd even be happy if I owned one character, just one! Greedy b.

A/N: Shockingly, I decided to resurrect this fic o' mine. 'laugh' I can't even remember what I wrote! It'll be short, perhaps only a few more chapters, but hey, when my muse visits (if only for a few minutes), I write!

Ta-da! The actual date...sort of. 'grin'

Chapter Three

Although the two had agreed that this, their first date, would be nothing fancy, Danny had still wanted to make it something special. So wearing his darkest pair of jeans, a dark green V t-shirt that fit snugly and topped with a casual black blazer over it, he felt that Lindsay would appreciate the small effort he made. Danny silently prayed that nothing would go wrong for the next few hours that he had with Montana. Both were on call, too eager and fearful that Lindsay would change her mind to wait any longer, and he fervently hoped that he wouldn't be hearing Mac's voice that night.

Pushing up the bridge of his glasses in a characteristic nervous gesture, Danny knocked solidly on the apartment. He ran a hand through his hair, shoved one hand into his pocket, and waited with a cheesy quip on his tongue.

The door opened and a smell of bread wafted out, puzzling him for a moment. "Gee Montana, I'm pretty sure that I said I was taking you out. Trying to seduce me with your cooking skills?"

The sight of an elderly lady wearing oven mitts before him puzzled him even more and he blushed at the older woman's quizzical stare.

"I can assure you, young man, that I am not doing anything of the sort," the lady croaked disapprovingly. Her eyebrows furrowed in a frown before, and much to Danny's sheer discomfort, she looked him up and down. "You look like a handsome young man. What brings you to my door?"

An embarrassed flush crept up his neck. "I'm sorry. I've got the wrong apartment, actually. I'm looking for Lindsay Monroe."

"Ah," the woman drew out. "There's a nice young lady, she is. A police officer too. She helped me a couple of times with carrying my groceries." The old lady scrutinized him again. "I'm not sure she should be with such a horny ruffian like you." She shook a mitten at him.

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and felt the heat from his flush. "Ma'am - "

"What do you do for a living, young man? It must be disreputable, with your manners."

For God's sake, was he really being interviewed by a strange old lady? Danny had to have a talk with Lindsay about possibly finding another apartment, minus the quirky tenants. "I'm Lindsay's partner at work, ma'am. Law enforcement," he threw in.

Crinkled, nearly-blind eyes looked back, unimpressed. Danny deflated inside. Tough crowd.

"Well, I supposed that should be good enough, if what you say is true, young man. She lives one floor up." A worn oven mitten deliciously smelling of bread was thrust up into his face. "Treat her right, you hear me?"

Recovering from what must have been a joke played on him by God, Danny gave his trademark grin. "Ma'am, you have my word that I will treat her like a princess."

The old woman merely clucked her tongue, as if she'd heard that line a dozen times before. She probably had. "Well, we'll see. Now be off with you, young man. Mustn't keep the lady waiting. And I don't want to be hearing any inappropriate sounds late at night!" She closed her door, muttering, "Banging and moaning. Young people these days, keeping an old woman up at night..."

Danny choked at that. Definitely needed to move Montana to a decent apartment.

Jogging up the stairs and working off his embarrassed flush, Danny silently vowed never to tell anyone, not even Lindsay, what just happened. The snickers would follow him around forever, and it would most assuredly come back to haunt him.

His footsteps muffled by worn spotted carpet, Danny made his way to Lindsay's apartment, praying that it was the right one, and knocked steadily. Wisely, this time, he kept mouth shut and smart remarks to himself as the door opened.

Legs were the first sight to greet him. Fit and lean, pale and creamy, absolutely perfect, legs; feet encased in modest espadrilles, leading up to gray cropped casual shorts that ended two inches above the knee. Danny swallowed. First it was her tongue he noticed back in the pizzeria, and now these wonderful shorts that showed off her legs. What was next, he wondered, and would he survive it?

A modest peach top with decorative black lace trim, forming a small bow at the V of her barely-showing cleavage, topped off with a cropped, long-sleeved jean jacket, Lindsay looked nothing like a hard-working, determined crime scene investigator. Her hair was up in a messy bun with a few curls wisping down to brush against the collar of her jacket.

"Well, hello Ms. Monroe," he drawled in a parroting of his long-ago words during the subway surfer case. "You look absolutely beautiful." He relished in the slight pink of her cheeks.

"Thank you," she said gracefully before she gave him a pert look. "You are almost late, Messer."

He definitely wasn't going to tell her why and instead propped himself against the side of her doorway, crossing his ankles. "Why, Ms. Monroe, you that eager for me?" he murmured.

As typical of her, Lindsay rolled her eyes and lightly pushed at his chest, causing him to move backwards, losing his pose. "You promised me food and sights, Messer. Move it or this," she gestured to herself, "is going back into her apartment, changing into comfy P.Js and catching the showing of Speed. Keanu Reeves was kinda hot, you know, back in those days."

"Hotter than me?" he asked indignantly before catching himself. "Never mind. Don't answer that."

Lindsay laughed, grabbed her purse, and turned to lock her door.

"I've got a cab waiting for us outside," he said as they began walking down the stairs and outside.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see and I hope you're not starving to death because there's something we're going to do before we eat." He went to the waiting cab and opened the door, gesturing her to enter first.

"What are we doing?"

"Something." Danny deliberately said nothing else, instead opting to sit back and watch her think.

Lindsay narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "The address you gave will take us to Central Park."

"Why yes, it will."

"You're really not going to tell me?" she huffed.

Danny merely grinned, enjoying the tiny little furrow between her eyebrows that developed whenever she got frustrated. He'd seen that look on her face aplenty when he antagonized her at work, intentionally or not. Working her up, he found, was one of his most enjoyable past-times. Seeing her get all riled up got him all riled up, in a whole different way of course.

The rest of the cab ride was filled with comfortable silence. Lindsay, having given up on guessing their destination, settled back into the worn cheap-imitation leather and tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she was out on an official date with Danny Messer. The annoying arrogant swot of a detective who picked on and teased her from day one - when had her feelings for him changed? From co-worker to friend to something possibly more? It was still hard for her to believe that he hadn't given up on her yet. And she wouldn't shut him out any longer, she vowed to herself. She wanted to open up and tell him about her, and hope that he still wanted to be with her. Excess baggage and all.

For his part, Danny couldn't stop his knee from bouncing. He wasn't nervous, truly, he wasn't. He was finally getting his date with Montana and he caught his slight smile in the window reflection. Danny was content to just take their relationship as it went.

He knew she had secrets from the past and his wasn't exactly a shining example, but Danny knew, he just knew, that all they needed was time. A trait that his job needed as a CSI was finding answers to questions - as quick as he could; naturally, it suited his own inner curiosity just fine. He liked being in the know of any situation. But for Lindsay, just for her, he was more than willing to curb it in order not to push her away. He'd wait. Danny had a feeling he'd wait a long time for the woman sitting a hands-width away from him in the small space.

Soon, as Lindsay had ascertained, the cab dropped them off at one of the entrances to Central Park and it was without hesitation, on either of their parts, that Danny took Lindsay's hand to guide her to their destination. It was a perfect fit and one that had a solid warmth rising through her.

He lead her through the park at a casual pace. Lindsay spotted places that she had visited for crime scenes and mentally shook her head. It was sad that she had never visited the park off hours before - the scenery truly was beautiful. Green everywhere and people just like them enjoying this vast seeming sanctuary and away from the hectic city.

Filled with curiosity, and denied the chance to snatch a pamphlet with a park map by Danny so she could see where they were going, Lindsay followed Danny's lead until they ended up in front of a restaurant with a wonderful close view of a lake. Furthering her confusion, Danny lead her around to the side and her eyebrows rose.

"Paddle-boats?"

Danny shrugged, slightly self-conscious at the incredulity in her voice. "If we were in Italy, I'd take you for a canal ride complete with singing, but we'll have to settle for this." He looked to see her reaction and suppressed his shoulders slumping in relief at her wide happy smile. Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, he said, "You like?"

Inwardly he couldn't believe that just slipped out of his mouth. What happened to his smoothness? His charming suaveness that usually had women already half-way to falling for him, even without the use of lines. It took a vacation when in the presence of this country girl, leaving him flailing like an uncoordinated putz.

"Love." Lindsay's smile widened at this unexpected surprise. She took a step closer towards the dock and eyed him impishly. "But just because it's a paddle-boat and not a canal boat, does that mean you're not going to sing for me?"

His eyes sparkled behind his glasses. "Montana, I didn't mean me. I croak, not sing."

"How 'bout a croon? Would you settle for that?"

"Not a chance." Lindsay couldn't hold her pout as Danny took her hand once more while the employee held the boat steady.

Tightly holding her hand to steady her descent into the boat, Danny once again found himself admiring her legs. In his teenage years, there was no doubt he'd be wiping drool from the corner of his mouth. As it was, his jaws were clamped shut. He could watch her legs for days. It was a rare sight; Lindsay never wore skirts to work, it wasn't practical, but outside of work...anything was fair game.

After watching her safely secure herself, Danny got into the boat himself and thanked the employee as he gave them a push away from the dock.

Looking over as Lindsay laughed, he had to join her as she laughingly pointed to her feet, exclaiming, "My feet don't reach the pedals all the way! I didn't think I was that short!" The two continued to laugh as Lindsay was forced to slouch slightly in her seat to help paddle.

And Danny felt a burst of happiness in his chest.

As they paddled, they talked. Nothing too personal, staying off the topic of the reasons behind her standing him up and her issues, and carefully skirting around his family and background past. Instead they shared and compared their favorites, debating over which was the best for the silliest reasons, their likes and dislikes, and their 'deepest' secrets.

Passing by other paddlers and those on the banks eating a late picnic dinner, the late summer sun began to set and to each of them, it was one of the best times of their lives. Danny had never seen Lindsay so carefree and smiling; it was an image now permanently preserved in his mind.

This is what he had been hoping all this time: a chance to show her that they could be great together.

Laughter abound between the two as they bantered, shooting witty comments and rapid-fire rebuttals that had become standard practice since their first meeting that had stemmed from slight resentment and competition giving way to respect and friendship. They had each come to expect it from the other and thereby further cementing their place in each other's lives as the hour passed.

Teasing each other as their tiny paddle-boat somehow managed to wedge itself into a difficult position and which took them a good ten minutes to get themselves out of amidst the choking laughter that had Lindsay mischievously digging at Danny's directional skills and him threatening to splash water on her, the two finally made their way back to the dock. Both felt light and happy.

Danny tightened his grip on Lindsay's hand as he helped her out of the boat and she beamed a wide smile at him. His heart lurched. He could honestly say that no one had ever smiled at him like that. Genuine and wanting nothing in return.

The two thanked the employee and they started walking.

Lindsay looked sideways at him. "I didn't picture you as a paddle-boat person."

Snagging her hand and tugging her closer, Danny shrugged. "Didn't picture you as a person to carry a six-inch switch blade either." He winked and murmured, "Got my attention with that one, Montana."

"Wasn't sure what to expect in the Big Apple, so I thought to be prepared for anything." I wasn't prepared to meet someone like you. Tugging her hand out of his grasp, Lindsay gave him a grin as she wrapped it around her waist, taking the opportunity to snuggle into his shoulder.

Pleasantly surprised, Danny's grip tightened on her hip. "You fit in perfectly, Montana." And I never want you to leave. He cleared his throat. "So, you ready to eat?"

"Absolutely." Lindsay couldn't stifle the wide smile blooming on her face and nearly stretching her cheeks so wide they hurt. He smelled so good. "Where are we going? Or it that also a surprise?"

"Nah. Nothing fancy, Linds. Just some wine, good food, excellent company. There's this great Greek restaurant less than a block away from here."

"Not Italian?" She was surprised. She had heard he spoke Italian and Lindsay had thought that he'd take the chance to wow her.

His fingers danced upon her hip. "Montana, there's no need to go to a restaurant for that. I'll cook you an Italian feast! The best of everything; how many points would that get me huh?"

"That depends upon how bad the food poisoning I would inevitably get."

Danny halted, affronted at her smirk. "Oh, that's it. Next off-day we have together, you're coming to my apartment and I'm not letting you leave until you taste my food. My ma made sure I could cook."

Being in Danny's apartment made Lindsay's heart jump. And she knew she was in serious trouble when just the thought of being in a colleague's apartment brought more than just friendly feelings to mind.

Shoving those thoughts away, Lindsay berated herself. It was their first date, jeez! Walking forward, she dragged him along and changed the subject.

"I'm actually surprised one or the both of us haven't been called in yet. I mean - "

"Ah, ah!" Danny gently put a hand over her mouth, to her surprise. "Don't say it! You'll jinx us Montana. This date has been a long time coming; nothing is going to mess it up. No work talk."

She rolled her eyes at him and pulled his hand away. "You're crazy."

Crazy for you. The thought flashed through his mind leaving him in slight shock. He knew he was feeling something for Montana, but up until that moment and even then, had no idea of the depth. He looked down at the woman comfortably resting her head on his shoulders with her honey brown curls brushing against his jacket and found himself thinking hard thoughts. About his future. With the woman beside him.

A low rumble brought him out of his thought and arching his eyebrow, he looked down at Lindsay.

She wore a sheepish look. "Whoops. Well, I'm hungry!" she added indignantly as Danny began to laugh. Not even her jab to his stomach got him to stop. Eventually Lindsay settled for a mock-petulant look and rubbing her stomach.

"Twenty minutes Montana, at the most. Can your stomach handle that?" His shoulders still shook lightly. It was nice to know that she had an appetite unlike other women he dated who ate like birds.

She shot him a dirty look.

Their banter continued during their walk, enjoying the easy atmosphere between them as country and city came together with ease. Pointing out all the things one would never see in the country such as the obese half-naked, seemingly-homeless man lying sunbathing in the middle of the sidewalk or the wonderfully delicious, potentially tainted street-meat of hot dogs and sausages to the non-existence of complete silence anywhere to the rare finding of a banjo being sold at an outrageous price of over a hundred dollars in a store they passed.

The restaurant was tastefully decorated from the outside and the wonderful aroma wafting out onto the sidewalk had Lindsay's stomach growling and she rubbed at it furiously as if she could appease it somehow.

The sun was setting into the late hour as they entered the restaurant and it was that moment that Danny's cell phone began to rang.

Danny groaned. "Ya' gotta be kiddin' me!" He shot Lindsay a dirty look as she covered her laughter with her hand. Fishing out his phone, he grimaced when he saw that it was Mac. "You jinxed it! Montana!"

"Maybe this is fate's way of telling us it's not meant to be," Lindsay teased. She yelped when Danny suddenly pulled her flush against him. Feeling his hard muscled chest, Lindsay caught her breath. He was like a brick wall.

Danny looked down at her with carnal hunger burning in his eyes. "I don't think so. Sometimes things are even better tasting the longer you wait to have them." His eyes flicked to her lips and a slow predatory smile curved his own lips. "I'll have that kiss from you yet, Montana. And I have no doubt that you'll taste deliciously sweet."

His eyes glinted wickedly at her audible gulp.

The sound of a stomach rumbling spoiled the moment a split-second later.

Lindsay's groan filled the air mingled with Danny's snickers.

OK, so they got half of their date, but there's still fun in store for them. I've got the next chapter planned out, but I honestly have no idea where this is going. But I hope you enjoyed reading!