Burn (Michael Bennett 7)

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT WASN’T planned by any means.

Blame it on the fairy tale, I thought.

My hands found Mary Catherine’s waist and I was kissing her.

“I don’t deserve you. You know that, right?” I whispered as we came up for air. “You’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. Hell, to anyone.”

“You mean that, don’t you?” Mary Catherine said, staring point-blank into my eyes.

She suddenly broke away from me and jogged a little bit ahead.

“Come on, now. Hop to it. Let’s work off some of that ice cream, Detective!” she called back to me. “We need to get moving. We definitely don’t need to get a desk appearance ticket for another flagrant PDA like that one!”

“Don’t worry, I’m a cop, Mary Catherine,” I said, chasing after her. “You’d be amazed at what a flash of my badge can do.”

We passed something I’d forgotten all about as we were coming up on Ninety-Third Street. Up a set of park stairs on the street was the Bennett family van.

I started leading Mary Catherine up the stairs.

“What are you doing?” she said.

“You’re worried about public displays of affection, right? Well, I have a solution,” I said as I unlocked the van’s front door. “Let’s remove the public aspect.”

“In the van!” she said. “You’re crazy. The van isn’t what I would call private. People will see us!”

“No, they won’t. The back windows are tinted, sort of,” I said as I yanked her hand. “Anyway, we’ll lie down low.”

I kissed her.

She laughed.

“We are not doing this,” she said.

“Yeah, well, you’re the one who had to start everything up with all that naughty detergent talk.”

A screaming siren went by as we continued to kiss, followed by what sounded like the rattle of a homeless guy’s shopping cart filled with returns.

“Wow, talk about setting the mood,” she said, taking a step back from me and leaning against the side of the van.

“What can I say? I’m an incurable romantic,” I said. “This sucks. I don’t like being such a cad, but with my ten kids and your new nanny roommate from ten A, there in your room on the top floor, it’s hard to find a place to be alone. In fact, it’s pretty much impossible.”

“Well, you’ll have to try just a little harder, Casanova,” she said, smiling.

I snapped a finger.

“I know,” I said, taking her hands. “We’ll plan a weekend, or at least a Friday night. We’ll go away—or no, we’ll stay in town. That’s it. We’ll paint the town red at a French bistro and then get a place somewhere special. Have you ever been to the Plaza?”

“The Plaza,” Mary Catherine said. “Oh, sure. My sister, Eloise, and I grew up there.”

“C’mon, I haven’t been there, either. It’ll be a panic, I promise. What do you say?”

“I say you’re out of your mind,” she said, smiling.

I kissed her.

“That goes without saying,” I said. “The question is, are you game, Lady of Erin?”

She kissed me back.