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"Hey, Partner, wait up!" Skalany called out just as Peter was ready to grab his jacket and head for the door.
He stopped and looked at her inquisitively. "What's up?"
Skalany grinned at him and said, "We're getting together at the Agrippa tonight, if you and Kacie want to join us. There's a new band playing that's supposed to be really good."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Oh, Kermit, Blake, Jody, me, your father, to name a few."
"My father? You-you have my father going out to listen to a live rock band? You got him dancing, too?"
Skalany reddened a little and said defensively, "Well, yeah, so? We enjoy each other's company."
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Anything going on here I should know about?"
"Not yet. But I'm working on it."
"I'm warning you, Skalany," he teased and shook a finger at her in mock anger. "I will NEVER be able to call you 'Mom'."
Making a face at him, she walked away. He was about to leave, when he snapped his fingers and picked up the phone instead. Punching in familiar numbers, he waited and then spoke into the receiver. "Mom? Is Eppy there? Put him on, wouldja? Eppy? Yeah, this is Peter. Listen, a bunch of us are going to the Agrippa Club tonight. Come join us, if you want. You remember where it is?...Yeah, that's the place...OK, yeah...around seven-thirty or eight...OK, see ya." He hung up, and thought to himself that music and maybe a little dancing would be fun. And if Skalany really DID get his father out to dance with her, that sight would be worth something, too.
The Agrippa was crowded, noisy, and smoky. Peter and Kacie found the table where the rest of the precinct gang was gathered. As they joined their friends, Peter noted that, while the band was loud, it was quite good. He sat next to his father, with Kacie on his left. Kacie ended up sitting next to Epstein, who already had several straws lined up neatly beside his glass.
Catching her staring at the arrangement, he explained, "Helps me keep track of what I've had in a night. That way I know how much money I should end up taking home."
She smiled faintly and commented, "I know a lot of people who do that." Unconsciously, she edged her chair a little closer to Peter's.
Peter leaned over to speak into his father's ear. "Loud enough for ya, Pop?"
Caine grimaced and shrugged one shoulder. "There is something to be learned from everything."
"Oh, yeah? What are you learning from this?"
Caine reached over and took Skalany's hand. "That the company of a good friend makes anything...bearable." As they shared a meaningful look, he continued, "Shall we, Mary Margaret? I believe that this is...our dance." He put a hand to her elbow and escorted her out onto the floor, where they disappeared into the moving crowd.
Peter stared after them, open-mouthed, while Kacie giggled at the look on his face. "Oh, come on, Peter. After all, they ARE consenting adults, you know."
He frowned at her suspiciously before commenting, "There IS something going on here that I should know about, isn't there?"
She grinned at him and winked. "Could be. But I think that Mary Margaret is still working on it."
"I told her, and I'm telling you, that I will NEVER be able to call her 'Mom'."
Kacie leaned over to give him a quick kiss and then demanded, "Come on, Hon. You told me we were going dancing tonight, so let's go." She pulled him to his feet, and they headed out into the throng, Peter's face still wearing the same nonplused expression.
The band started playing another slow tune, an old song from the eighties. The vocal lead started singing to his onstage partner, his voice amazingly like Lionel Richie's in the original release:
* "My love, there's only you in my life;
The only thing that's right."
Peter took Kacie into his arms and told her, "That's what I think every night I come home and find you there waiting for me. YOU are the one right thing in my life."
The female counterpart picked up on her section of the song, and Kacie softly sang along with her,
"My first love, you're every breath that I take,
You're every step I make."
Kacie put her arms around Peter's waist. "I can't even remember what my life was like before you." She rested her head on his shoulder as the music continued to play.
"And I, I want to share all my love with you,
No one else will do.
And your eyes, they tell me how much you care.
Oh yes, you will always be
My endless love.
"I love your eyes, Peter. All I have to do is look into them, and your soul talks to me. I will never have any doubts about your love when I see the way you look at me."
Peter murmured into her ear, "They better start playing something a little more upbeat SOON." It was all he could do to keep from giving into the urges her very nearness was creating.
"Two hearts, two hearts that beat as one,
Our lives have just begun.
Forever, I'll hold you close in my arms,
I can't resist your charms."
"Maybe we'd better go HOME soon, because I can't resist YOUR charms." Kacie was having a difficult time not melting further into the strong arms around her. She moved her hands from around his waist to behind his head, as she pulled it closer to hers. The music played on, and their lips met and moved hungrily.
Mary Margaret was also enjoying the feel of a man's arm around her. She smiled up at Caine. "You're a marvelous dancer, Caine. Where did you learn how to do this?" {And how many other...dance...partners have you had since your wife died?}
He smiled at her and said simply, "Peter's mother, Laura, loved to dance."
Skalany noted the suddenly sad look on his face and shifted the conversation tactfully. "Peter and Kacie seem to be enjoying the music." They glanced over at the couple in question, and it was obvious that as far as the young people were concerned, there was no one else in the room.
"Yes. It brings me great joy to see my son so happy." Caine guided Skalany expertly about the floor as they moved to the slow rhythm of the love song. {Dare I speak of the feelings that you bring out of my soul? I have missed holding a beautiful and desirable woman in my arms like this.}
"And love, I'll be the fool for you,
I'm sure, you know I don't mind.
'Cuz you, you mean the world to me.
Oh, I know I've found in you, my endless love."
"You mean the world to ME, Kace." Peter kissed Kacie back. "I thought you didn't like public displays of affection? Not that I'm complaining, mind you."
"I...just needed to do something to tide me over until later." She raised her eyebrows at him suggestively. "Kissing was the only thing I could think of that I could do in public withoutgetting me, or the both of us, arrested." Heat called to heat, and their lower bodies strained toward one another.
Peter's face reddened and he cleared his throat before swallowing hard. "Let's talk about something else. I need to get my...mind...off things."
"So I noticed."
"Woman, you are shameless."
"Can I help it if I like being in the arms of my lover?"
"You are NOT helping things here, Kace."
"I don't know about that. Seems to me your...dancing...is going quite well."
"Kacie, cut it OUT," he begged. "You want me to embarrass myself out here?"
She loosened her hold about his waist and grinned at him wickedly. "OK. I'll behave. But you save that...thought...for when we get home, all right?"
"You're going to pay for this, Katherine Christine."
"My daddy taught me to always pay my debts." Her voice was solemn, but the twinkle in her eye made him wish they were already on their way home. She rested her head on his shoulder once more and sang into his ear again as the duet finished.
"And love, I'll be the fool for you,
I'm sure, you know I don't mind.
And yes, you'll be the only one.
No one can deny,
This love I have inside.
And I'll give it all to you,
My love, my love, my love,
My endless love."
It seemed a most natural thing to end the song with a tender kiss. Kacie's eyes shone with adoration as she whispered to Peter, "That song says exactly what I feel in my heart for you, Peter. You HAVE all my love, because you are my first and only and endless love."
Peter caught his breath at the look on her face, and bent his head closer, intending to kiss her thoroughly, when the band broke into a bone-jarring bass-filled rhythm, and the crowd on the dance floor quickly picked up on the change. "Damn!" Peter said in exasperation. "NOW they decide to do a fast one!"
"Don't worry, Hon," Kacie reassured him. "We'll get our own copy of the song, and we can...dance...to it...at home."
Peter blew out a big breath of air. "Let's go sit down a minute. I need to cool off awhile."
She looked down at him and up again, opening her mouth to comment, but Peter shook a finger in her face. "DON'T say a word." Wrapping arms around one another, they walked back to the table together.