Nathan Bridger stared at the computer screen which tilted up from his desktop and deftly adjusted a line on the blueprints with the stylus in his hand.  `That was one hell of a lot easier than it used to be on the CAD system on my old Apple,' he thought.  Pensively, he stroked his chin while he inspected the diagram again jumping only a little when the vid-screen on the desk next to him chimed.  He leaned over and pressed the connect button and then smiled at the beautiful woman on the other side of the screen.

"Hey, babe.  What's up?"

At first Kristin looked a little unsure of herself before answering.  "I was just wondering how much longer you planned on being and if you'd like us to save some dinner for you?"

Nathan glanced quickly down at the blue print again before looking back up at her.  "Oh, I figure in another hour …hour and a half…. my eyes should start crossing and I'll leave."  He smiled at her a little.  "And yes, I didn't get a chance to eat so I'd love it if you'd save something for me."

"Alright," Kristin said with a preoccupied smile.  "Just give us a call if you're going to be much later."

"You got it, babe," Nathan said reaching over and touching the disconnect button.

On the other side of the bay in the beach house Lucas sat on the darkened porch and shook his head slowly as he watched the woman in the dining room.  She pushed her hand nervously through her auburn hair while still watching the, now blank, vid-screen.  Then he saw her chewing on her lower lip a moment before she sighed loudly and walked to the back of the house.

Four nights later Nathan sat at the wheel of his car at about 1 in the morning.  He'd just pulled into the drive and he carefully shut the door when he got out.  Quietly, he mounted the stairs to the porch, securing first the outside door and then the French doors before walking to the back of the house in the dark.  He could see Kristin lying over on her side in their bed as he slipped into the bedroom, silently closing the door behind him.  He left the lights off as he took off his uniform and shoes and then, clothed only in his t-shirt and shorts slid into the bed.

He heard Kristin sniffle.  "I'm sorry, babe," he said softly, "I didn't mean to wake you up."

Kristin rolled over onto her back and looked at him.  Her face was hard to see in the dark.  "Where were you?"

"Working late."

"I called your office and you weren't there."

"I was over at the boat."  Nathan said casually and draped one arm across her waist.  "Sorry, I took a shower but I probably still smell like machine oil."

Kristin snuggled in closer to him.  He did smell like machine oil.  Then she snuggled even tighter and reached her lips up until she could kiss him.  She sighed as their lips met and their resulting desire followed its course.

A little over a week later Bridger was, once again, working in his slightly darkened office long after everyone else had left for the night.  He looked up as a soft tap was heard at his door to see Kristin framed in the light from the hallway.

"What are you doing here?" he asked with a smile.

Kristin came into the room shrugging.  "I had some work that I had to finish also and I thought since you were working late I'd take care of it at the same time."

"What about Junior?"

"The O's took him to dinner and then home."  Nathan smiled at their latest term for Lieutenant O'Neil and Chief Ortiz.  "They needed to borrow a car since Tim is finally taking his to the shop for brakes and you've got the two of them going different places tomorrow so I loaned him my car.  I figured you can give me a ride home."  She said sitting down on the couch.

"I'd be happy to," Nathan smiled, "but I've got at least another hour or so of work here."

"No problem," Kristin said stretching out on the couch.  "I'll be the one taking a nap."

"Right," he said going back to his work.  An hour and three-quarters later Nathan gently sat down on the edge of the couch and softly stroked Kristin's cheek.  "Hey, sleepyhead," he said softly.  Kristin shifted a little but didn't wake.  Nathan pushed the hair back off her face and smiled.  Unable to resist the siren call of her lips he leaned down and kissed her gently.

"Mmmm," she mumbled, finally waking up a little.  She squinted up at Nathan with a little smile.  "Do that again."

Bridger happily complied, kissing her a little more insistently this time.  When they pulled apart he smiled down at her still sleepy face and kissed her quickly on the forehead.  "I'm done for the night.  We'd better get going."

Kristin sighed still watching him.  Then a mischievous smile crossed her face as she brought her left hand over until it was kneading the strong muscles on his chest.  "I'm not sure about that at all," she said in a husky voice.

"No, I think we really should be going," Nathan said cautiously, knowing what was on her mind.

"Not that part."

"Huh?"

She lowered her hand until it rested on the front of his pants.  "The part about being done for the night," she grinned.

"Kris," Nathan warned… then he gasped as she started kneading him through his pants.  He slowly shook his head as he smiled back down at her.  "Oh, alright," he said lowering his head for an even more intense kiss this time.  It was a long time before they finally made it out of his office.

Nathan walked onto the porch with an iced tea in his hand and sighed contentedly as he sat down in his favorite wicker chair.

"Long day, Cap?" Lucas asked from his perch on the loveseat.

"Yeah.  Lots of work and then they decide that I get to go on a little trip to DC."

Lucas frowned as he sat up and leaned towards the older man.  "When are you going to DC?"

"Next week for two days.  I get to go accompany Bill and show my face to the powers that be in the US government."  He frowned and shook his head.  "I'm going to try not to be too good at it or Bill might decide that I should go with him on trips to other countries."

"You're going to be gone for two days?"

"Yup.  You and Kristin should be able to handle that."

Lucas smiled knowingly and leaned back in the loveseat.  "I know that I can but I'm not so sure about the Doc."

Nathan came to a complete halt as he raised his glass to his lips and looked over at the boy.  "What do you mean?"

"Cap, do you have any idea what she does when you work late?"

"She calls me," Nathan shrugged.

Lucas chuckled a little.  "Do you want the whole sequence?"

"Yeah… I think so," the older man said hesitantly.

"First she and I eat, then about an hour after we finish she starts the pacing routine.  She paces out here and looks out at the water.  Then she paces into the dining room or the den and stares at the vid-screen.  She does this for about an hour or so… all the time with one hand on her hip and the other running through her hair… you know, that move she does when she's nervous."

"Yeah, I know," Nathan said.  Now the boy had his whole attention.

"Then eventually she gives you that phone call… mind you she does a false start a couple of times before she actually dials.  Then after she calls she stands there and stares at the screen for a little while before she just sighs and goes back either to the bedroom or the den."  Lucas grinned over at the Captain.  "I don't think she trusts you, sir."

"I've never given her a reason not to trust me," Nathan said hastily.

"I'm just telling you what it looks like, Cap.  If you go away for two days this should be *really* interesting."

"Yeah, well, I'll talk to her," Nathan said uncomfortably.

"So, Bill wants me to go with him to attend a hearing at the Capitol and then to some reception afterwards.  The whole thing should take two days."

Kristin was sitting on the couch gnawing on the end of her thumb.  "When?"

"I leave on Monday night and I should be back on Wednesday morning."

"Alright," she said very softly.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," Kristin answered hastily.  "If you have to go then you have to go."

Nathan still looked at her doubtfully.  "Kris, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Have I ever given you reason to not trust me?"

"In regards to what?" she asked neutrally.

"In regards to me being faithful to you."

"No."

Nathan frowned a little, "Then why don't you trust me?"

"Why should I?" she asked simply.

The frown became deeper.  "Because I've told you that I don't mess around."

"A lot of men have told me that, Nathan," she chided him.

"I'm not a lot of men."

"You're still a man."

His voice was a little more insistent.  "Kris, I could never do that."

"Alright."

"You don't believe me."

Kristin shrugged.  "Not really, to tell you the truth… but tell you what, I'll believe you until you mess up."

"I won't mess up," he insisted.

"In which case I'll be pleasantly surprised," she said standing up from the sofa.

"What are you going to do when I have to go to sea?" he asked curiously.

Kristin stopped next to his chair but didn't look at him.  She placed one hand on his shoulder but the move had no intimacy.  "When you're at sea there's a certain amount of protection for me there.  As the Captain, I don't think you'd mess around with any of your crew members… especially not with Lucas on board."

"Kris, while we maintain a relationship, I won't mess around at all."

"If you say so, Nathan," she said walking away and leaving a very confused and concerned Captain in her wake.

The hearing had lasted waaaaaay too long and Nathan had barely survived the chair they had him sitting in.  For an hour or so, it wouldn't have been too bad.  When you had to sit there for almost five hours while the Appropriations Committee members thought up stupid questions to ask him and Bill it was almost too much… and now… now it was even worse because they'd moved from the hearing to this blasted reception.  Okay, it was very impressive that it was held at the White House but Nathan couldn't think of the last time he'd spent almost ten hours in his dress uniform and it wasn't doing any good to his mood.

He politely mingled among the crowd, pausing occasionally to talk to someone who either he knew or who wanted to talk to him.  Altogether, this was turning out to be a most boring night.  Surreptitiously, Nathan glanced at his watch and wondered what the chances were that he'd be able to sneak out of here.

"You're Nathan Bridger, aren't you?" a man to his right asked.

Nathan looked over at the man.  "Yes, sir, that would be me," he said with his best polite smile.

"I believe that you're sleeping with my wife."  The man grinned at Nathan's confused face.  "I'm Jerry Collins.  Husband number two," he said putting out his hand.

Nathan had heard of him. "Senator," he said accepting the handshake with a nod.

Collins tilted his head to the side.  "Let's walk, Captain."  They moved into a side room where only a couple of people stood.  The Senator walked over to the tall windows and looked out into the night for a moment before turning back to Nathan.

"How is she?" he asked gently.

"She's very well, sir."

"You don't have to call me `sir', you know.  You can call me Jerry."

Nathan nodded a little.  "And you can call me Nathan."

"Is she happy?" Collins asked going back to his first train of thought.

"Yes.  She's really involved in her work and she likes the area."

"Do you love her?" the Senator asked bluntly.

"Yes, I do," Nathan said seriously.

"Does she love you?"

"I believe so."  Nathan looked at the man for a little bit as he stared out the window again.  "Did you love her?"

"Very much so," Collins sighed.

Nathan moved around so his back was to the wall and Collins could look at him easily.  "You know, Senator, you're causing me a lot of problems."

"Jerry," Collins said absently.  "What kind of problems."

"It seems that Kristin has this inbred distrust of men.  She figures that they're always lying to her.  Did she get that from you?"

"Me and number three."

"Number three?"

"Jack Weston.  He cheated on her too."

Nathan looked at the floor and shook his head.  "Senator, pardon my saying so, but you're an idiot."

Collins smiled a little.  "Jerry… and you're completely correct, Nathan.  I'm a total and complete idiot for having messed around on Kristin."  He sighed and looked out the window again.  "I think she could have taken almost anything else except cheating on her.  It's kind of the ultimate lie."

"And one she couldn't tolerate."

"Exactly."  Collins looked directly at Nathan.  "Don't do that, Nathan.  Don't cheat on her."

A small smile crossed Nathan's face.  "Jerry, I have enough problems trying to handle one woman… especially one quite as headstrong as Kristin… I don't think I'd ever be so daring as to try to handle another one at the same time."

Collins grinned at him.  "And you love her?"

"More than you can imagine," Nathan answered sincerely.

"Good," Collins nodded.  "She deserves that."  He smiled at Nathan again and held out his hand.  "Take care of her, Nathan.  She's a hell of a woman."

"I will.  I promise."

Kristin had met him on the porch when he got home with an enthusiastic kiss.  Although she apparently worried when he was gone, the minute he got back everything seemed alright again.  Now she was sitting on their bed watching him unpack his bags.

She regarded him seriously as he hung his dress uniform on the front of the closet and started taking medals and insignia off of it.  "Why are you disassembling it?"

Nathan grinned and looked back at her.  "I spent over eleven hours in this uniform yesterday.  It's in serious need of a trip to the cleaners."

"How was the hearing?"

"Long," he said positively.  "Very long."

"And the reception?"

Nathan stopped and looked thoughtfully out the window.  "That was a little more interesting."

"In what way?" Kristin asked cautiously.

"You meet some fascinating people at those things."

"Oh," she said with a dejected air.

Nathan had gone back to ridding his uniform of all its accoutrements.  "And you won't even guess who I met."

"Who," Kristin asked in a small voice.

"Jerry Collins," he said placing the last insignia on the dresser and turning towards her.

"Good heavens."

Nathan moved over until he sat on the bed next to her.  "We had a nice little talk."

"About what?"

"Mostly about you."

"Me?" she asked surprised.  "What in heaven's name would Jerry have to say about me?"

"The standard things," Nathan said shrugging.  Then he looked right at her.  "Were you well?  Were you happy?"   He paused a moment.  "Were you in love?"   His voice became more serious.  "Did I love you?"

"Jerry asked all those things?" she exclaimed.

"Uh huh.  I think he still loves you."

"He had a funny way of showing it," Kristin said disapprovingly.

"He knows."  She looked at him questioningly.  "He knows he did the one thing that you couldn't tolerate in a lover and that was to cheat on you."  Nathan shrugged again.  "He wanted to be sure that I knew not to follow his lead."  A small smile crossed his face.  "As if I ever would."

"You wouldn't, huh?" she smiled at him a little.

Nathan slipped his arms around her and pulled her close.  "Not in a million years, Kristin.   I love you… I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my life."  She pulled away and frowned at him.  "More than anyone else, Kris," he reaffirmed.  "There's no way that I would ever endanger our relationship by messing around."   He grinned a little.  "Mrs. Bridger didn't raise any stupid children, ya know."

"Really?  What about Paul?"

"Alright," Nathan conceded.  "She did raise one stupid kid but I wasn't it."  He gazed at her face… her perfect face…. and leaned down to gently kiss the lips that called for him.  After long moments they pulled apart, if only to catch their breath and Kristin snuggled her head tight into his shoulder.

"I don't know why," she mumbled, "but I believe you, Nathan."

His arms enveloped her in the warmth of his love and he whispered into her ear, "Always, baby… you can believe in me always."
 
 

<<<The End>>>