 a reasonable enough solution at the time." Ezra reached out and made a slight adjustment to his companion's shirt before handing him a jacket.
"How did you meet her in the first place?" Curiosity caused Buck to temporarily forget his litany of complaints. Something Ezra was more than happy to encourage.
"Working vice. The details are unimportant. Suffice it to say that I recognized her potential and saved her from suffering a bit of embarrassment at the hands of our beloved legal system. She wished to express her gratitude in a rather personal way and was not accustomed to taking no for an answer. Hence, here we are. Just be grateful she spends most of her time in Atlanta." Ezra tilted his head back and studied the results of his handiwork. He had to admit he was rather pleased. Buck cleaned up much better than he had expected.
"I do believe that perhaps you may not embarrass me after all," Ezra pronounced, glancing down at his watch. "And we have just enough time for a short refresher course on table manners."
"Gee. Kill me with the compliments, Ez. Are you like this with all your dates? Maybe I oughtta give you a lesson in the old Buck Wilmington type charm."
Ezra snorted. "I am from the south, remember? We invented charm. I just do not always choose to squander it on cretinous individuals who lack the proper appreciation." Ezra was a bit stung by the dig.
"I bet I could teach you a few things the south don't know about." Buck grinned slyly, his good humor returning as he saw Ezra's eyes narrow in response.
"I beg to differ." Ezra was at his most haughty.
"Is that a challenge?" Buck smoothed down the front of his jacket and grinned cockily at the other man.
"I don't believe it will be any challenge a'tall since you have never evinced anything that I can recollect as remotely resembling charm."
"I could have you eatin' out of my hand in less than an hour," Buck predicted confidently.
"You could try. And you would fail."
"We'll see about that." Buck closed the door of his dressing room and began changing back into his own clothes.
Buck was silent as Ezra paid for their purchases. He was obviously thinking about something. It wasn't til they'd reached the Jag and Ezra had unlocked and opened Buck's door with an exaggerated flourish that he appeared to have reached some sort of conclusion.
"Ez? You realize that you just challenged me to seduce you, don't ya? One straight all american guy to another."
"It's not the game that's important, Mr. Wilmington. It's the winning," Ezra replied, going around to the driver's side and opening the door. He slid in behind the wheel with a smooth economy of motion and flashed a superior smile at his companion.
Buck stared out the window as Ezra drove. He wasn't sure exactly when this had gone from onerous duty to interesting evening, but he found that he was actually looking forward to tonight. He'd show his southern companion a thing or two about how to charm people, no matter what their gender!
+ + + + + + +
"Gee Buck, you look almost pretty in that getup. Ezra must've picked it out." JD Dunne stood in the doorway of Buck's room, watching while his roommate twisted and turned in an effort to make sure the elegant suit he wore was hanging properly from his large frame.
"C'mere and tell me if the seam is straight here, JD. Make yourself useful."
JD obediently moved forward and inspected the area in question. "Looks fine to me. You're sure fussing a lot, Buck. If I didn't know you were going out with Ezra, I'd think you had a hot date tonight." He sniffed the air appreciatively. "You're even wearing that fancy cologne Maude brought ya back from Paris."
"There something you and Ezra ain't told us? Should we be expecting wedding invitations in the mail?" JD grinned and dodged the halfhearted punch aimed in his direction.
Buck adopted the slightly patronizing tone that he knew drove JD crazy. "Watch, listen and learn, son. There ain't never a good excuse to be sloppy about work. That's the kind of thing that comes back and bites ya on the ass. Ezra and that Blossom gal are both gonna get the full complement of Buck's Famous Animal Magnetism tonight. If she knows anything about Davis, I'll have it out of her before dessert arrives."
"Oh brother. Buck, you gotta do something about that animal maggotism of yours. It's making you delusional." JD shook his head and began making his way out the door. Just before he disappeared around the corner, the young agent stuck his head back through the doorway long enough to make one final remark. "Just don't forget that Ezra is your date tonight and not what's her name. Wouldn't want the poor guy to get jealous now."
Forget? Hah. Not likely. Ezra Standish was going to admit the awesome power of his charm before the night was through or his name wasn't Bucklin T. Wilmington.
Buck could hear JD still chuckling to himself as he clattered down the stairs. How bare feet could make so much noise, he had no idea. But then, the kid's idea of quiet was to turn the volume down to ten. He took a deep breath, inhaling the mingled scents of soap, shampoo and cologne. Had he overdone the cologne? He'd found that a lot of women preferred the plain old smell of soap and water, so he'd gotten out of the habit of wearing the stuff. But he just knew Ezra was gonna smell good tonight, which meant he had to smell better.
Hearing the doorbell chime downstairs, Buck hurried over to the bureau and carefully picked up an elegant vase containing a single perfect red rose. It was a good thing he'd stayed on friendly terms with Liza, who happened to own a florist shop. Good roses were damn hard to find this time of year. Let's just see what Ezra had to say about this.
"Buck, dear. Your young man is here," he heard JD call out in a falsetto tone that surely must've made Ezra's eardrums ache at close range. Maybe he should delay going down a bit? See if JD could manage to make Ezra bleed from the ears next go around? Naw. He couldn't. He was supposed to be charming Ezra tonight. And letting him suffer more of JD's attempts at humor than were strictly necessary definitely didn't fall into the category of charming.
+ + + + + + +
"I hope that puerile display of humor gave you immense satisfaction, JD. In another ten or twenty years, you might even be funny." Ezra hoped he sounded his usual insouciant self. He was feeling a bit... twitchy tonight. And it had absloutely nothing to do with Buck, no indeed. Ezra would have no trouble resisting that temptation. He must be coming down with the flu. That would account for the slightly feverish feel to his skin.
And the shortness of breath. The flu would account for the shortness of breath. Because the mere sight of Buck coming down the stairs wouldn't make him feel that way. That was ridiculous. No matter how well the suit accented his tall, muscular frame.
"Evening, Ezra. I have to say, you look good enough to eat." Ezra wondered if JD found the words as suggestive as he did. Buck couldn't possibly be serious about... They weren't actually going to do... Ezra resisted the impulse to pull out his handerkerchief and wipe his brow. Never let them see you sweat. That was a maxim passed down from Mother to son through the generations. Or had it been a commercial for anti perspirant? Oh Lord, now he was becoming delirious. Marshalling his thoughts, he stepped forward to greet his "date".
"Thank you, Mr. Wilmington. You are looking remarkably well this evening, yourself. I trust you found some time to practice more than just mere innuendo, however. Perhaps table manners? Relearning the use of proper eating utensils rather than one's fingers?" Ezra smiled lazily, feeling more in his element now that he had reestablished control of the situation.
"Actually, I spent my time searching everywhere for this. Just a little token of my affection." With a look of studied innocence, Buck held up the gleaming vase with its single perfect rose. It was perfect. Liza had said so and even a blind man could see it was a prettier than usual kind of flower.
Ezra reached out an elegant hand and took the vase gingerly from Buck's grasp. "My, my. I'm touched by your thoughtfulness. A rose. How perfectly... "
Dull. Ordinary. Completely unoriginal. What Ezra actually said was "delightful", but Buck knew what he really meant. So that's the way he wanted it then. Fine. War was being declared right here and now. And all was fair in love and war. Everyone knew that.
"Uh, Buck? Ezra?" JD glanced back and forth between his two friends, seeking reassurance. He was getting some very strange vibes here.
"It's all in the details, JD.