Buck Wilmington glanced up guiltily at the sound of voices. He relaxed
when he realized they were feminine voices. He was sitting at a corner
table in the ATF break room. He'd chosen this particular one because
it was next to a large potted palm which effectively hid him from view.
The government's cut rate attempt to bolster morale by conjuring thoughts
of warm, sandy beaches and relaxing tropical hideaways. It did no such
thing, of course. But it did provide good cover for an agent who wanted
to conduct a little business in private. Away from the prying eyes of
his friends.
Buck recognized one of the two women as a fellow agent. Theresa Mason
was her name. A tall, elegant brunette who specialized in arson cases,
if he recalled correctly. She was rather cool and remote in her dealings
with he and the other men, so Buck had never asked her out. Nor had any
of the others as far as he knew. He'd never seen her companion before.
On the short side, with midlength light brown hair and eyes to match,
she looked young and a little nervous. Buck guessed her to be a new
recruit, being shown the ropes by an older, more experienced agent.
The two women walked over to get a cup of coffee from the pot on the
counter. They were talking about qualifying scores on the shooting range,
so Buck went back to his double bacon cheeseburger and extra large fries.
He knew the guys would figure out where he was eventually and then that
would be the end of this meal. Ever since their annual physicals,
when his cholesterol level had come back just a teensy bit on the high
side, they were acting like a bunch of old ladies. Fussing about his
diet and his fiber intake and in general just cutting up his peace and
taking all the fun out of eating. JD had even begun buying fat free
frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. And Buck refused to even discuss,
let alone eat, the boy's attempt to make cheeseless pizza for dinner
one night.
The two women wandered over and sat at a table nearby, but still at
an angle where they couldn't see him. Although, if he leaned slightly
to the left, he could see them. He was munching the last of his fries
and was about to get up when something they said caught his attention.
"So do you have any more questions? Anything that needs clarification?"
That was Theresa asking. But it was her companion's response that had
Buck riveted in place.
"Well, you've been wonderful about explaining how everything works.
But I was wondering...It's not exactly about work, but..." the young
woman trailed off, embarrassment plain in her voice.
"Oh. Yes. You were wondering about The Magnificent Seven, as they're
known around here." The older agent sounded amused.
"How did you know?" Buck didn't even have to look to see the blush
that went along with her reply.
"Honey, they all ask. Hell, I asked." Buck had never heard Theresa
sound so relaxed. So human. She'd asked? About them? Wait til
the rest of the boys heard that bit of news.
"It's just...they're so...can you tell me? Please?" The eager note
in the younger woman's voice caused Buck to preen just a bit. Could he
help it if the team had more than its share of animal magnetism? One
member in particular. If he did say so himself.
"Everything you need to know, Livvie. But I'm telling you right here
and now, don't get your hopes up. There are reasons why none of those
men are married. You've got to learn to think of them like they were
fish in an aquarium or something. Pretty to look at, but not much use
otherwise."
Buck's mouth gaped open in indignation. Rather like a fish's.
"Of course, to be fair, these "fish" are rather handy to have in a
crisis. I'm speaking strictly of interpersonal relationships you understand."
Somehow Theresa's added words failed to soften the blow to the eavesdropping
Buck's ego. Grimly, he settled down to hear what else the heretofore
unsuspected enemy had to say.
"Fish?" Livvie said skeptically.
"Or whatever image works for you." Theresa the traitor shrugged her
shoulders.
"Are you just teasing me? I mean, because I've heard nothing but
good things about them. And they all seem so nice." Buck nodded his
head in satisfaction at Livvie's defense of the team.
"Oh, they are nice. And they're the best ATF team in Colorado.
Probably the best in the country. It's just...well ask me about one
of them amd I'll see if I can explain it to you."
"I don't want to offend you or anything. But you don't really seem
the type to listen to unsubstantiated gossip. Are you sure you're not
a little biased? Because maybe none of them were ah...?" Livvie trailed
off.
"Sour grapes because none of them were interested in me, you mean?"
The older agent's voice held no trace of anger.
"Uh..yeah." The younger woman was clearly relieved by her companion's
lack of offense.
"One of them did ask me. My favorite one, as a matter of fact. But
I turned him down. Very regretfully, I might add. An act of superhuman
willpower that only happens once in a lifetime."
"But why? Who?" Livvie was afire with curiosity by now.
"Who would be telling." Theresa shook her head and smiled mischievously.
"As for why, well the women in the building have formed a sort of, pool
of knowledge, you might say. Sheer self defense on our part. So if one
of the guys approaches you, then you can have all the necessary facts
at your fingertips and you can make an informed decision. Thus cutting
down drastically on the number of broken hearts and coma inducing chocolate
binges around here."
Livvie stared at her companion in absolute fascination mixed with
a healthy dose of astonishment. Buck did likewise.
"That's...that's incredible." She finally gasped. "Is it actually
written down somewhere? Or how do you access it? If you were thinking
about...if you wanted to know..." Livvie stammered a bit and began blushing
again under the other woman's knowing gaze.
"I'll show you how to find it later." Theresa promised. "Right now
I can give you a quick rundown on them, if you'd like." She offered,
to the younger girl's obvious delight.
"Who did you want to hear about first?" The older woman leaned back
in her chair with a grin.
"Well..." Buck was unconsciously leaning forward in his chair, awaiting
her answer.
"I was kind of wondering about...well, about Chris Larabee." Buck
sat back in his chair with an inaudible snort. The girl liked Mr. Ice
Man himself. He was sadly disappointed in her. Ok. Chris was nice enough
looking. But the man had absolutely no charm whatsoever. God knows
he wouldn't want to have to wake up and look at that sour mug of Chris'
every morning. Well, ok. He did do that. But he got paid for it!
"Going for the Alpha Male of the pack. I admire that. But that particular
wolf has got more baggage than Imelda Marcos. His wife and child were
killed in a car bomb meant for him several years ago. Since then,
there has been no record of him actually smiling at anyone except the
members of his team. And Mary Travis has been trying to get in his pants
for going on three years now and has yet to succeed. Doesn't offer much
hope, does it?"
Well Buck had to admit, those women had Chris pegged. But that was
easy enough to do after one look into those cool, usually unfriendly,
green eyes.
"No. I guess not. But still it might be worth it. I mean, that body.
Those cheekbones." Livvie sighed. Then, "Three years you said?"
At her companion's affirmative nod, Livvie sighed again. "She's the
one with all that blonde hair who's always dressed to the nines?"
Again her companion nodded. This time Livvie's sigh held a note of
resignation.
"What can you tell me about the long haired one then?"
Vin? She wanted to know about Vin? Buck was going to have to have
a serious talk with this young lady. She obviously had her priorities
all wrong. Didn't know a good thing when she saw it.
Theresa laughed and laughed and laughed. "Don't go there even in
your dreams. It would be a perfectly good waste of fantasy time. Have
you seen the looks he and Chris give each other? It would take an
army to come between those two. And I have my doubts even that would
work."
"You mean they're...? Livvie was obviously strugling with the notion.
As was Buck. He considered the idea, frowning. Then he filed it away
for further thought as the two women continued talking.
Theresa shrugged. "No one knows. But that's not really the point,
anyway. It wouldn't matter if they were or weren't. There still isn't
anything, or anyone, that's going to come between them. Most women don't
want to spend their lives being second best. Even for someone like that."
"Besides, it's those quiet ones that you have to watch out for. Rumor
has it that he used to be a hitman. And that he was wanted for murder
once upon a time. Of course, all the charges were declared false. But
still, it does make you wonder."
Livvie nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. I suppose it would." she agreed.
"Too bad. I would have loved to gaze into those blue eyes over a romantic
candlelight dinner." Her voice sounded a tad wistful.
"What about Ezra Standish? I bet there are some interesting facts
on file about him?" Livvie sounded eager. Buck was starting to feel
downright offended. He was already down to fourth choice here. Not
a position he cared for. He was an interesting guy. And he might
not drive a Jag, but he didn't come complete with a mother like Maude,
either.
"Ezra? Yes, indeed. You noticed the car, didn't you? That and the
designer wardrobe?"
"Well...he does have really pretty green eyes, too." Livvie defended
herself.
"Yes. And all three are courtesy of his Mother. Mrs. Maude, I'm
working on husband number six, Standish. That alone would be reason
enough to stay away from him. But the man also suffers from a severe
case of commitment phobia and you need a dictionary in order to understand
more than one word out of ten that he says. Add it all up and it spells
'Find yourself another guy, sister'."
Buck rubbed his hands together in glee. So Maude had given him the
Jag, huh? They'd been trying to find out for months now where Ezra had
gotten it. Just wait until the boys heard this one. Or maybe he would
keep it to himself until he needed a favor from ol' Mr. Standish. Like
maybe borrowing that purty car of his once in a while.
"What about Nathan Jackson, then? He's always smiling. And he's
got such wonderful hands." Livvie smiled, rather wickedly, in Buck's
opinion. And his hands were just as nice as Nathan's. Weren't they?
"Yes. He does have great err...hands." Theresa's smile said that
she knew exactly what the other woman had meant.
"Unfortunately, he also has a girlfriend. And being the disgustingly
loyal, faithful, wonderful, all around nice guy that he is, we don't
stand a chance in hell of getting him unless she decides to dump him.
Like that would ever happen!"
Livvie snorted in agreement. Buck began to feel just the slightest
bit uncomfortable at how well these women seemed to know them.
"Ok. Ummm...what about JD? He seems far too young and innocent to
have accumulated much in the way of baggage."
She was interested in JD before him? The kid? He was definitely
entering the Twilight Zone now. Or maybe this was an episode of Candid
Camera? God. He hated that show. But he almost hoped it was. Because
there was no way he was admitting to the rest of the team that his vaunted
animal magnetism had tied him for last place in this girl's affections
with an ex preacher!
"No baggage. Unless you count a vastly overprotective guardian in
the form of Buck Wilmington. JD is lucky that man lets him go to the
bathroom by himself."
Hey! He let JD do plenty! Was it his fault the kid couldn't seem
to stay out of trouble and needed Buck around to...well, just needed
Buck around was all.
"And of course, there's that sweet little girlfriend of his. And
the fact that the boy seems to suffer almost perpetual injury in the
line of duty. And outside of it, as well. So unless you have a yen for
nursing..."
"So that leaves, who, Josiah Sanchez? A bit older than I usually
date, but very interesting."
"He took his last date to a soup kitchen. In the worst part of town.
For six hours. Her car was stolen. She wound up donating her entire
paycheck to the mission out of some sort of middle class guilt thing.
And he was so respectful of her sweet personage, his words, not mine,
that she didn't even get a kiss goodnight."
"Not even one lousy kiss on the cheek?" Livvie sounded apalled.
See? Buck felt like shouting. I would never do that to such a
sweet young thing. For a moment he forgot that this "sweet young thing"
had left him for last.
"Oh well. I guess that's it then." Livvie said rather sadly. Then
she brightened a bit. "Still, I noticed a really cute guy down in the
lab this morning. What can you tell me about him?"
Theresa glanced at her watch. "We need to get down to the shooting
range. I'll tell you on the way."
The two women got up and started making their way towards the door.
Buck opened and closed his mouth several times in an effort to speak.
But his voice refused to obey him. They weren't even going to mention
him? They'd forgotten him? Buck Wilmington, ladies man extraordinaire?
They couldn't do that! It was against the rules. He was sure of it.
He jumped to his feet as they pushed open the door and began walking
out.
"Now wait just a cotton picking minute here! I want a word with you
two ladies. You need to have a few matters clarified for ya!" Buck's
shouts echoed through the building as he chased the two women down the
hall.
Office gossip. He'd teach them a thing or two about that.
The End
