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The week went by quickly and Claudia found herself really looking forward to her date with Tony. She had spoken with both he and Jethro a couple of times during the course of the week and the more she interacted with the two men the more it affirmed that she would never be able to choose between them.
Betsy was keeping Joshua overnight with her grandson and although she was surprised that the date in question wasn't Jethro she didn't say anything. She just hoped Claudia knew what she was doing playing with fire like that. It was a good way to lose both men.
Claudia again found herself in front of her closet bemoaning what she should wear. She wanted something sexy and flirty that she could dance in. Flipping hangers out of the way at lightspeed she came across a dress she had forgotten she had. She took the dress out of the closet with a big grin, knowing that it was perfect. If it still fit.
It was a sexy red silk wrap around halter dress that she had bought in Spain on her last deployment before having Joshua, she had never had the opportunity to wear it. She slipped it on and sent up a silent prayer of thanksgiving that it still fit. She dug out a pair of strappy high heels that hadn't seen the light of day in years and took a good look in the mirror at the whole package. Not bad for thirty-five she thought. She just hoped Tony thought so.
Tony knocked on her door a couple of minutes early, he had admitted to himself earlier that he was excited about their date. And dates weren't normally something he got excited over.
"Whoa." Was all he could say when she opened the door. Her hair was down and soft, and she had on a bit more makeup than usual. And that dress was something else. He had not quite envisioned that she could be this sexy.
"Is that a good ‘whoa' or a go-put-something-else-on ‘whoa'?" she teased.
He took her hands in his and made a show of looking her up and down, "That was a wow-you-look-amazing whoa."
Once in his car he had to laugh, she was running her hands all over the interior biting her lip in excitement. "Now this is a car." She had seen it before in the parking lot, but this was her first opportunity to really appreciate it.
He raised his eyebrow in surprise, "You like cars?"
She laughed, "I grew up in a small town where the boys talked about two things, Tony, football and cars. If you wanted to impress them you had to know one or both."
"So do you know one or both?" he teased.
"Just wait until football season starts and you'll find out." She laughed.
They arrived at the restaurant and Claudia was caught up in looking around in curiosity, there was just color and decoration everywhere. Meanwhile Tony got caught up in watching her. She met his eyes across the table and saw the little grin quirking up the corners of his mouth, "What's so funny, Tony?"
"I just like watching you."
She gave him a skeptical look, "Watching me do what?"
He sipped his water and replied honestly, "Everything."
She didn't quite know how to answer that and instead she blushed splendidly and looked down at the menu. It took her a moment but she realized the menu was all in Spanish which she couldn't translate. Seeing her plight, Tony inched his chair closer and they shared a menu as he translated in his best Ricky Ricardo impersonation.
He had her laughing so hard by the time the waiter came back that she finally gasped out, "Just order something for me."
He ordered while she tried to compose herself. He loved the fact that he could make her laugh like that. He suspected that she hadn't done much of that in the last five or so years and he decided that he needed to rectify that.
Claudia sipped her water and tried to get over her case of the giggles although the waiter with his thick accent didn't help. But she did get a kick out of Tony answering in near fluent Spanish.
They were enjoying a glass of wine and conversation when the music got a little louder and Tony's eyes grew large, "Oh, oh, oh. You've got to see this." He stood and shifted her chair around so she could see the dance area. He swung his own chair closer to hers just as a tall, beautiful couple took the dance floor. Their costumes were as bright as the rest of the décor in the restaurant. They moved in perfect symmetry to the sensual South American music. Claudia was enthralled just watching them although Tony's proximity was more than a little distracting. Tony was torn between watching the dancers and watching Claudia, finally somehow managing to do both.
When their dance was finished, the restaurant exploded in applause and Tony just laughed when Claudia turned to him and teased, "You did remember the steel toe shoes right?"
They ate a leisurely dinner and had great fun sampling off each other's plates. Tony shared some funny anecdotes about work but he was a little reticent to share too much about the team or the nastiness they dealt with on a regular basis, she had had enough of that in her own life. Claudia told him about some of her travels with the Navy and her adventures growing up in a small town.
The dinner plates had been cleared and Claudia could see a glint in Tony's eye that let her know she was in trouble. He confirmed it by standing and dragging her over to the dance floor. By the second song Claudia loosened up and lost her self-consciousness and began to get the hang of the dancing. Good dancer, bad dancer, Tony didn't care, he was just enjoying himself more than he had in a very long time.
He knew the restaurant and dancing had been a big hit when Claudia was humming and dancing all the way out to the car. He flinched in surprise when they reached the car and she suddenly spun around with an impish look on her face asked, "Can we put the top down?"
Seeing her standing there biting her lip in anticipation he shook his head and chuckled, "Your wish is my command."
In short order the top was down and the radio tuned to a Latino club mix. Tony glanced over as they drove so see her swaying along with the music with her eyes closed and a blissful look on her face.
"Claudia, can I ask you something?" he said, curious about something.
"Sure. Anything."
"What were you like right before you met your ex?"
"I worked hard. I took my job seriously, and it came first. But I loved to play too. You know what I mean? Stuff like tonight, it's just perfect. Cutting loose, just having fun."
"Yeah. I know exactly what you mean. My job responsibilities always have to come first. It makes having a regular life hard sometimes."
"Does that even exist any more?"
"What?"
"A regular life?"
"According to the little old ladies that were at the wedding last weekend it does."
"Well, they sound like the same little old ladies that come in to the diner and tell me that I need to find a nice man to marry so he'll take care of me. I think their version of regular is overrated."
"Yeah. I just felt like Tony the Two Headed Freak at the wedding with everyone trying to tell me how I should be living my life."
Claudia laughed, "I've had that problem for years. I finally gave up caring and decided that I'm just shooting for happy instead."
"Happy, huh?"
"Yup. I want to raise a healthy, happy child and be able say in ten years that I've earned every laugh line on my face."
Tony contemplated that for a minute, deciding that was probably the healthiest philosophy he had ever heard. A new song came on the radio with a quick beat, and he made her squeal when he put his foot down and let the little sports car zip along like it was made to do.
They got back to their apartment building, both with windblown hair and huge smiles plastered on their faces. Tony efficiently put the top back up and took Claudia's offered hand when he was finished. She had the same impish grin on her face from before and he squinted at her, "What's that look for?"
She tried to put on an angelic face and teased, "What would I have to bribe you with to let me drive your car?"
He pulled her in for a kiss that made her toes curl and when he let her up for air he whispered, "Come upstairs and I'm sure we can think of something."
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Claudia woke the next morning to the sensation of lying on her back with Tony's head on her chest and his arm wrapped possessively around her middle. She smiled thinking that Joshua did the same thing when he would sneak in her bed when he had a bad dream. She ran her fingers through Tony's hair and realized that given what he had told her about his home life that he probably never had anyone to cling to when he had a bad dream. It also didn't sound like any of his past girlfriends had exactly been the nurturing type. It made her a little sad thinking that no one had ever really shown this funny, gentle man any affection. She thought about his reaction to her simply feeding him and folding his laundry that first night and his obvious discomfort over the wedding he attended. He didn't just need affection and nurturing. He was almost starving for it.
That realization hit her hard and she leaned down and kissed the top of his head. He stirred a little and squeezed her tighter. His voice breaking the silence of the room startled her, "What time do you have to go get Joshua?"
"Sneaky. I thought you were sleeping. I told Betsy around noon." Her hand drifted down and she trailed her fingertips along his back.
"Good. Then we have time."
"Time for what?" she questioned.
A heartbeat later he had himself positioned on top of her, pressing her into her with his weight and said, "Time for this." He whispered as he kissed her.
A long while later after they had said good morning in a long leisurely manner and showered Claudia was in the kitchen wearing only a borrowed NCIS t-shirt and trying to figure out how to use Tony's space-aged coffee pot when she felt strong arms snake around her and a husky voice whisper in her ear, "You know I will never be able to look at that t-shirt the same way again."
Claudia's inner imp came out again and she teased back, "Sorry, should I take it off?"
Tony just dropped his head to her shoulder and groaned.
Eventually they had coffee and Claudia slipped down to her apartment to find some jeans and she and Tony went to pickup Joshua.
And somehow in her heart Claudia realized that she was in fact falling in love with both Tony and Jethro. Equally and completely. And her heart sunk a little as she thought about how deep the hole was that she was digging for herself.
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