Dangerous Love

Six

  Dodd hesitated some seconds before knocking on her door. He smoothed his shirt with his hands and wiped the little beginnings of sweat from his brows

‘Damn, why am I feeling like a teen for crying out loud?’ he thought. 

He waited a few seconds and was about knocking again when the door swung open and it all looked like time stood still.

  She was dressed in a flowing gown, which hung onto her body tightly. If it was down to the fact that her work gave her little or no time to work out, he just loved the way she filled up the dress.

On her part, Dr. Mary Allen was quite taken aback when she swung open her door, she had not expected him to come this early so she wasn't quite done dressing up, but still, judging by the look on his face, she knew she had an effect on him. And instead of the realization making her sprightly and a little confident, she found herself getting aroused and her cheeks began to redden. 

She couldn't remember going on a date and to think she had "this" much effect on a man, made her blush even more.

"I have to be blunt Mary, you are quite stunning," Dodd said, taking her hand and brushing his lips over the back of her palm.

"Thanks for accepting to have dinner with me beautiful"

‘Now I gotta get a hold of myself,' Dr. Allen said to herself, she wasn't a "pretty head" and was damned if she was going to let herself get tongue-tied by any man, no matter how handsome and charming.

"The pleasure is all mine Mr. Do… sorry, Randy, still getting used to calling you by your first name" she replied and then turned to walk inside the apartment.

"Come on in and grab a seat, I would have said feel comfortable but you clearly have been inside this place before so…" She left her words hanging and rolled her eyes playfully, while she shrugged and moved inside the bedroom to finish dressing. 

Dodd didn't immediately sit down, his instincts kicked in and he tried picturing everything he saw in the wee hours of that morning. Slowly running his hands through her shelves and sofa, he closed his eyes and tried to envision the sitting room as it was that night. After a while, he gave up and called out to Dr. Allen, "got any water, feel thirsty as hell" he said and suddenly realized his throat was croaky.

 "Just help yourself please, there's water in the kitchen". He smiled and thought, ‘what effect she has on me'

 It had been ages since a woman had that much effect on him and he could also see she was aware of it. The only solace he had was that he felt and also saw that he had as much effect on her too. Yeah, women would always try and hide it but with the way she had gone red all over, he smiled.

 As he crossed the door into her kitchen, he glanced left and immediately felt something was awry. His gaze was on the refrigerator and without knowing why he moved towards it. Before he got to the refrigerator, he had seen what he wanted. The reflection from the window had played over the top and he clearly saw where someone had leant on it. Looking back to see if Dr. Allen was done, he moved towards her sink and touched it. Dry!!!!

Moving on, he went towards her dishes and touched five randomly, dry!!!!. She clearly didn't cook much.

He looked around, then heaved a huge sigh, he hadn't even realized he had been holding his breath. At that moment, Dr. Allen came out and said "all ready here, you set?" Dodd came back into the sitting room and met her at the kitchen door. 

Not wanting her in there at the moment, in order to preserve the scene, he bodily ushered her towards the front door and replied, "all ready beautiful" but inside he was fuming and all his survival instincts kicked in. He quietly sent a text, requesting for the forensic guys to get in there. They had until dinner was over for the forensic guys to get the samples of the intruder. 

-----------_-----------------------------------

  As they settled in their seats, in a cozy corner of the restaurant, Dr. Allen thought back on how he had asked her out, "up for a dinner out?" He had asked. She had been trying to work, but thoughts of Randy kept cropping up in her head. Yes, he was handsome and had the body every woman dreamed of, but she didn't want to be just a statistic to him. So she had told herself that she was going to be very cautious and aware around him.

While they ordered, Dodd hoped that the forensic guys were already en route to her apartment. They had less time than usual to do this job, what with the urgency with which they were scrambled and also, the need to keep it all hush hush.

"Find anything you like?" he asked, trying to plant a genuine smile on his face.

"yeah, yeah…" She answered and made her order. While he made his, she couldn't help but wonder that there was something amiss. Yes, she barely knew him, but the "effort" he had been putting in getting fresh with her was all but gone. 

Even the smile he was wearing now wasn't in his eyes. Being one who couldn't hide stuff, she pointedly asked.

“Something bothering you?" Dodd was quite taken aback. He always prided himself on his poker face and here comes a girl he barely knew already putting a lie to that fact. 

"Now what makes you think I'm bothered, Mary, I'm with a pretty lady, about to have dinner, what in the world could distract me" he answered with a burst of forced laughter.

"There!!!! that laughter seemed forced, you've been kinda absentminded, on the drive here, I didn't want to make an issue of it but you seemed distracted and had to beg for my pardon like thrice. If I'm a bore, please let me know and we can be done here" He looked straight into her eyes, and this time, he genuinely smiled. 

"I promised that I was always going to be straight with you. So please, don't make me lie to you" he finished. Dr. Allen sighed and knew within her that moment that it would be hard to keep her morals around this man. Other operatives that had been in contact with her in one form or the other, always treated her like a pretty head. 

They felt she didn't grasp the intricacies involved in their world. Some had tried getting fresh with her, dinner dates et al. But no one had even come as close as making her feel important enough to be told things on the square. Dodd made her feel like she even was an agent, even a low-ranking one, but the inclusiveness made her trust him in a sort of way. Others who had even tried getting fresh in a more persistent way had either been told off or reported to the colonel. Dodd did not bother hiding his intentions, though he hadn't officially said anything, his eyes and actions gave him away.

So all she did was say "I understand and thank you for being honest with me, at least the little you could give away" she finished with a wink as if to say ‘hey I'm cool with the situation, I trust you to sort it out.

 Dodd was grateful she didn't press it and replied "honest to God, if we were properly acquainted, I would've planted a kiss on those lips of yours, thanks though" he finished and sipped from his glass of water. Dr. Allen blushed and said jokingly 

"You are crude, wanting to kiss a lady on the first date" Which elicited another round of laughter from Dodd. "The way I've been laughing around you can be said to have surpassed my entire life's worth"

"So, enough of work Mary, do tell me a little about yourself," he said as their dinner arrived. She paused for the waitress to finish setting their meals before she replied 

"What do u wanna know?". 

"I wanna know you, the whole story. I'll confess something to you, this was an assignment I was reluctant to accept, let alone becoming your sentry" he allowed a little pause to catch the smile on her lips, and in her eyes, he also grinned. She clearly was one for being open, what with the way she focused on every word coming out of his mouth. "I'm a field guy, I like the intrigues involved in preparing and seeing out a mission. So I was, should I say downbeat about coming to DC. Plus my holiday in Vegas was cut short. This is me giving Uncle Sam some overtime." He finished and winked at her.

"But it's overtime you are clearly enjoying, wouldn't you say?" Dr. Allen replied to him. 

"To be honest, I  always try to be when I'm around you. I mean who wouldn't want his mission to involve a stunning doc who you get to stay within her apartment where she lives alone". He made sure the emphasis on the "alone" was quite clear to her, which, as anticipated, she reacted to and said

 "Hey dude, do I have to ask the colonel to make you sleep outside the door?" she giggled between mouthfuls.

"Now back to what I asked before we got sidetracked, I took one look at you and I said wow!!!, that is one stunner". She was about to chip in a snide remark but raised her head and saw the seriousness plastered over his face.

"Well thanks…" was all she could muster before bowing her head and hiding her loss of words by putting more effort into her culinary skills. 

"You're welcome doc, still waiting to unravel the mystery that is you," he said, looking straight at her and trying to hold her gaze. 

"Well, what can I say?" she began, " I was born in Wilmington,  Delaware, three kids, two big bears, and a shy little me." she laughed and found herself relaxing a bit. They had finished dinner and Dodd had ordered a bottle of red wine."Dad and mom were very insistent on us taking our education seriously. My elder brother Al, became a pilot, while Al chose to go into banking."

 "Hold on a minute, both your brothers are called Al?".

"Yeah, Alex and Alfred, they never liked being called Al at home. Made them feel you talking to them both" she laughed as she remembered. She missed her brothers and it clearly showed from the way she talked about them and the warmth that crept into her eyes as their childhood memories came flooding back.

 "Then as you know, I ended up in science, Microbiology specifically. It was a course that intrigued me and being a naturally inquisitive person, I found satisfaction in it," she concluded. "Any more questions agent Dodd?" she asked jokingly as the effects of the wine began to kick in and she felt more relaxed around him.

"Yes, do I have permission to ask more personal questions?" he asked.

"Well, we are here now, ain't we? So shoot".

"Have you ever been married, kids and the whole works?" he asked, his voice almost above a whisper, or so she thought. She really had to slow down on the wine..shaking her head, she replied 

"No kids, plus I haven't been lucky enough to be swept off my feet" she was grinning and before she could continue Dodd chipped in 

"Your sense of humor is infectious, been a while I've laughed this long". He paused to sip some wine and then continued "So what happened with the "boys", you've been meeting bats?" He asked with a chuckle. It took a couple of seconds before she caught on to what he meant and then burst out laughing…

"You know how it is, I have native American roots, from my mom's side. She was always playing us, kids, with food. Making us give our opinions on the different delicacies she invented" she said, smiling at the thought of her mom summoning them down for "their support".So, when I got to my teens, I gained some weight here and there and also being tall for my age, the boys didn't want nothing with tall fat Mary" she finished laughing.

"Well, look at you now!!!" Dodd said, joining in. "They sure would be kicking themselves now, what with the way you fill that dress up". The way he said it and the look in his eyes made her know he meant it and she knew he was a 'bad' dude.

"Thanks for the compliments, but I'm getting plastered so I think I should head on home," she said, rising to her feet.

"Forgive me Doc, I have been enjoying your company and completely forgot you've had a long day. Shall we" He said, coming round to her seat and pulling it back for her. He dropped some cash under the bottle, with a generous tip and slowly ushered her towards the car and home.