Mickey and Laurie ended up going to a barbecue place for dinner on Mickey's dime.

"I hope this is okay with you," he murmured almost apologetically as he led her inside the establishment.

Mickey hadn't had enough time to properly scope out the area. Well, he had, but when he did he'd had something other than personal entertainment in mind when he'd done it. He knew the convenient take out places that would get food to him fast when he needed it, and he only knew the barbecue place because it wasn’t so far from their homes, though still a bit of a distance. He couldn’t exactly ask her to take a bike ride at night, so he'd brought out his car for the first time since he'd had it moved there.

Laurie didn’t seem to mind their destination, though, smiling up at him as she preceded him into the building.

"It's no problem. I'm always so busy with work that I don’t get out as much as I'd like. I haven't been here in a while and the food is simply too amazing to pass up on."

They were led to a table for two and given some minutes before they ordered.

"I can give you some recommendations, if you'd like," Laurie offered as they both picked up their menus.

He looked through the options. "How long has it been since you were last here, anyway?" he asked, curious.

Laurie hummed, tapping a finger on her chin as her eyes rolled to the ceiling. He watched her think, his own thoughts running to how pretty she looked.

She'd gone all out. The woman in front of him looked so different from how she'd been both times he'd seen her, he would have been tempted to think it was a different woman if he'd been a casual observer.

She was wearing a black and red dress that wrapped nicely around her curves, giving just a hint of cleavage and reaching down to just above her knees. The sleeves were made of mesh material so he could glimpse the pale skin of her arms, without the option of having skin contact. Her hair had been fixed in a casual updo that had strands of her hair falling around her face. Three-inch heels finished the ensemble, putting them at almost the same height, and he couldn’t stop thinking about how hot that was.

Of course, he'd tried to make himself presentable as well. When he wasn’t in his work clothes, he liked being in comfortable, workout clothes. But he'd gone with something that fit neither mold, a simple dress shirt and black slacks, forgoing a jacket because the weather wasn’t nearly so cold to bother him yet, though he did have a thick undershirt beneath the dress shirt. He'd noticed the look of appreciation she'd sent his way, so there was at least the assurance that she liked how he was dressed.

"I don’t even remember, really," Laurie suddenly said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

His eyes jumped back to her face, meeting hers, and he hoped she hadn't noticed how he'd been staring at her. She didn’t seem to have, though.

"Honestly, it's been too long ago to remember. It was definitely before I started on my thesis, and I was alone anyway. I can't give you an exact date, but nothing on the menu seems to have changed. I could probably still get something you might like…"

He watched as she bit her lip, her head lowering slightly so she was staring at him from under her lashes. He found himself wondering if she realized just how appealing she looked when she did that.

"I trust you," he told her honestly, ignoring the voice in his head that said he didn’t deserve her trust.

They talked while waiting for their food and as they ate. He didn’t do it to try to pry any information out of her. Laurie wasn’t involved with the mess going on, and Mickey was going to try and keep it that way for as long as he was able.

He just wanted to get to know her; details about her life that had no bearing on the case. Any other time, he would have been berating himself for doing this kind of thing when he was technically on company time. But all he could think of as he sat across from Laurie was how beautiful she looked with her face all lit up as she lost herself in conversation.

Because she'd been there before, Mickey let Laurie order for them. And she was right, the food was simply too good. He didn’t indulge himself a lot, actually. Because of the nature of his job, he had to remain fit. He hoped to keep his job and remain fit for a while, so he usually watched what he ate. He was spoiling himself just this one night, though. The habit was a carryover from his time with his wife, take-out was simply a necessary evil when he had too much going on to make himself a proper meal.

He barely thought about it as he and Laurie laughed over innocuous stuff, stories she'd recounted from her high school, then undergrad days.

Then, when they left they went to Howl at The Moon, a party-themed piano bar. It had been Laurie's recommendation when he felt he didn’t want the night to be over, and she'd had the same idea, and they split some of their extremely strong Bucket Drinks.

Afterward, they walked the Promenade until they were sober enough for Mickey to drive, talking, flirting, and holding hands.

Mickey spent most of the night in a pleasant haze, just going with the flow and enjoying the atmosphere. Laurie was wonderful, and Mickey couldn’t remember the last time he'd been this interested in a woman. Had he been this interested in his ex, back when they first met? He could barely think to remember, Laurie was taking up most of his mind, but he doubted it.

Unexpectedly, they were confronted by a mugger.

But Mickey wasn’t really one to judge, was he? He'd forgotten himself, forgotten his objective, and that was why he found himself in such a ridiculous position.

"Give me all of your money and your phones, now!"

The shout seemed to come out of nowhere because he wasn’t watching the front. No, his eyes were all for Laurie Nash. But then the shout came, and he looked ahead, probably with this stupid look on his face, because getting mugged may be something that happened to a lot of people, but not to Mickey.

He didn’t have a weapon on him, but even that wouldn’t be a problem. Laurie hadn't made much noise, thankfully, just a short scream that she'd cut off quickly when she noticed the man in front of them held a gun in his hands. His hands were steady, eyes intent on them, so this was something he'd done enough times not to give into nerves. That or the man had nerves of steel.

Mickey pushed Laurie behind him. She clutched at his arm but didn’t try to stop him as he stepped forward, arms held up and out.

"Hey, man. We don’t have anything left on us, I swear. We were just gonna head home—"

"I don’t give a shit! I didn’t ask how your date went, I'm telling you to give me all the money you have on you. Better yet, just drop your wallet, and have the pretty lady throw her purse with it. I want to see both your phones, too."

The man actually sneered at them. Whatever experience he'd had, though, the guy was still an amateur. Mickey got close enough, and then he pulled the slide off the mugger's gun and tossed it in the harbor before the man even noticed he'd moved. He then proceeded to beat the snot out of him for being so careless in choosing his victim.

If Mickey had been in his right mind, he would have apprehended the culprit and called the police to come pick him up. But he wasn’t in his right mind. Later, he would try to think of why he'd acted like he did. Was he just so full of rage, because the idiot had actually pointed a gun at Laurie with him there? Was he trying to impress her? Either way, the mugger got scared enough to run, and he couldn’t exactly follow after him, so he just stood there and watched the guy run.

Laurie just stood by and watched the whole thing. Even if she'd decided to jump in, there wasn’t any good she would have been able to do. Watching Mickey handle himself, she was pretty sure she would have just gotten in the way, anyway.

She'd never seen anything like it before. Laurie was amazed, intimidated, grateful… and a bit turned on.

When the guy ran, Laurie didn’t even bother looking at him, her eyes remaining trained on Mickey. After a moment, he turned back to her, mouth open to say something, probably ask if she was all right. Whatever look she had on her face, in her eyes, seemed to stop him in his tracks, his mouth snapping shut.

Her feet drifted closer to him without her being conscious about it. They were suddenly toe-to-toe, and she had a feeling Mickey hadn't been the one that moved. He actually stood rigidly, hands fisted at his sides, jaw tight. But Laurie saw something in his eyes that made her body warm and tighten deliciously. She knew she was attracted to Mickey. More importantly, he seemed to be attracted to her, too.

They ended up kissing intensely, then turned to hurry back to the car.