Title: The Last of the Red Hot Lovers

Author: manette

Rating: PG

Summary: This is a reaction piece to ‘Fit for Duty’ and starts right after Mac has overheard Jordan’s psychiatrist friend, Inez Elgin, invite Harm to dinner. He invites Mac to join them but she says she’ll take a rain check before they all get on the elevator. This is from Mac’s POV.

The Last of the Red Hot Lovers

I walked into the elevator and smiled stiffly at Dr. Elgin. She smiled back in that oh-so-polite way people do when they are forced to share close quarters with a third wheel. Harm joined us and hit the button for the lobby. He rocked back on his heels and looked up at the ceiling. I thought for a moment he would start whistling, but instead he just cast a furtive glance my way. If I didn’t know better I’d almost think he was worried about what I was thinking.

But I certainly wasn’t responsible for the awkward atmosphere inside the elevator. After all, I’d been minding my own business, just wanting to go home after a long day in court, when I’d stumbled onto the cozy scene between the two of them. She was my expert witness, not his, but she was also Jordan’s friend, so I was willing to admit, if you twisted my arm, that it made some sort of sense for them to have dinner together. Maybe.

Oh, who was I kidding? This had nothing to do with Jordan. He was an attractive man. Very attractive, damn it. And she was an attractive woman—an attractive woman who’d been practically crawling all over him right in the middle of JAG ops. No telling what would have happened if I hadn’t walked up when I did. She looked hungry alright, and Harm might not know it, but he was the only thing on the menu.

Okay, now maybe I was getting a little carried away. It was just the jealousy talking. I didn’t need some shrink to tell me that. I was a big enough person to admit that I was pea green with jealousy.

But what was I going to do about it? Harm had invited me to join them. He was always the gentleman—always polite. That was my Harm. But, in fact, he wasn’t my Harm. Not yet. He’d been waiting patiently for some sign that I was ready. I thought we’d made progress at Christmas, but maybe not, because if we had I wouldn’t be standing here watching him smile brightly at blonde, beautiful, intelligent Inez Elgin.

I suddenly remembered another time at this very elevator when he’d invited me and Chloe to join him and Jordan for dinner. That had been the beginning of a painful time where I’d stood by helplessly and watched while he fell for another woman.

I didn’t feel like standing by helplessly this time.

I turned to Inez and asked sweetly, “Well, Dr. Elgin, where are you taking Harm for dinner?” Emphasis on the ‘you’—

She answered smoothly, “I thought he could take me to Granny’s Steak House over on Bullard Avenue.” Emphasis on the ‘he’—

We suddenly found ourselves caught up in a staring contest, neither of us blinking or backing down when Harm finally decided to intervene by saying loudly, “Good choice, Inez. I love that place.”

I blinked and turned my gaze from Inez to Harm. He hated that place—all those slabs of red meat swimming in their own juices. He’d taken me there once for my birthday, and suffered, not so quietly, the indignity of it all just to please me—or so I thought. Now it seemed he was willing to take her there, too.

He ignored the pointed look I was aiming in his direction and said earnestly, “Mac, you really should join us. You know how much you love a big juicy steak!”

Inez’s eyes narrowed slightly and her nostril flared imperceptibly as he repeated his invitation to me once more. She looked at him and then back at me, assessing the situation in a blink of her trained analytical eye and changed tactics without missing a beat. “Yes, Mac, you should join us. Please, I insist.” Emphasis on the ‘us’—

I had to hand it to her. She was good.

Harm rewarded her with an approving nod and said, “Come on, Mac. You’ve got to eat.”

“Harmon, you are so sweet, but I have a date with Brad Pitt and a TV dinner. I rented Troy on DVD, and I can’t resist a man in a skirt.”

“That sounds like a problem I could help you with, Colonel. If you ever need to talk—” The good doctor giggled and grabbed Harm’s arm as if she’d just made the funniest joke ever. Practically purring she added, “I prefer a man in uniform myself.”

I swear she batted her eyelashes at him.

He preened automatically before glancing at me and moving away from her slightly. Clearing his throat he said, “Speaking of uniforms, I need to get out of this one.”

This time we both slowly turned to stare at him. Realizing what he’d said he got all flustered and stammered, “I mean—I need to go home and change—into other clothes—before we go eat.” Just then the doors opened, and Harm seemed visibly relieved. “Why don’t we just meet at the restaurant? Say nineteen hundred?”

“That works for me.” Without a glance in my direction Inez flashed him a brilliant ‘I-can’t-wait’ smile—and walked off with a decidedly seductive sway toward the visitor parking lot.

I started toward my car, and Harm quickly caught up with me. We walked side by side without speaking. As we reached my car he stopped me with a touch on my elbow. “You’re not going to come, are you?” He sounded resigned.

I shook my head no. “But you knew I wouldn’t when you asked me.” I suddenly felt like crying, and that was silly.

“Mac, I don’t care about having dinner with her. She’s not even a friend, not really, and it was just a way to spend an evening. I appreciated her help on the case—that’s all.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Harm.” I tried to smile at him and then ducked my head.

“Yes, I do.” He hooked a finger under my chin and lifted my face so he could look into my eyes. “Tell me what you want, Mac.” I heard a note of pleading in his voice that broke my heart.

He was giving me a chance to fix this once and for all. I screwed up my courage and put on my bravest face. “I want you to go home and change into that green shirt with the purple and yellow stripes—and then go out to dinner and have a good time.”

He looked disappointed by my answer. His hand fell to his side, and he started to turn away. Then he glanced back at me with a puzzled look on his face and stopped. “You hate that shirt.”

I nodded my agreement. “I do, and even with it on you’ll still be the best looking man in the place, but when you tell Inez that she’s never, ever in a million years going to get another chance to go out with you because you’re already taken—then maybe she won’t be so heartbroken if she pictures you in that awful, ugly shirt instead of your uniform. I’m really doing her a favor—letting her down easy.”

He was grinning—his full blown, wide-open smile wrapping around me now. “Never ever, huh?”

“After tonight your days of dating blondes are over, sailor.” I suddenly felt reckless and secure all at the same time.

“Thank God.” His words washed over me as he pulled me into the shadows and into his arms. We were in the parking lot still in uniform, but it was dark and his mouth was on mine, and at that moment nothing else mattered. We broke apart startled by the sudden ringing of his phone. I moved away to give him space, but he grabbed my hand and kept me close as he pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. “Rabb,” he said into the receiver. “Oh hi, Inez. Of course. I understand. No probably not. Sure. Sure. You’re right. Okay. Bye.” He put his phone away and before I had a chance to ask he told me, “She called to cancel dinner. She said she didn’t want to feel like a third wheel.”

I laughed out loud and said a bit smugly, “I knew that woman was smarter than she looked.” I walked around my car and asked over the rooftop, “So, do you want to follow me home?”

“Anytime, Mac.” The glint in his eyes made my knees feel unreliable, so I opened my car door and sat down in the driver’s seat. Before I could close the door he was there—crouching down beside me. He took my face in both of his hands and pulled me up against him—kissing me hard—leaving no doubt of his intentions. “And in case you don’t know, I love you.”

“Oh, Harm, I love you too.” And with those words the final wall I’d built around my heart fell away. I ran a finger up and down his tie and asked softly, “Didn’t you say you needed to get out of this uniform?”

He straightened up to his full height, towering over me with a dangerous smile on his face before closing my door and leaning back into the window for one more kiss. “Get that gorgeous six in gear, MacKenzie. I’ll be right behind you.”

And he was—all the way home.

The End