Twenty minutes and one test tube later, he gave up. He walked over to the note on the counter. "Oh, you're supposed to *soak* them?" he asked the piece of paper.

"Yeah, Skipper. Y'know, even my fourth graders know to read the directions first." Sam looked up to see Mallory standing in the doorway, a smirk on her face.

"Uh, yeah. But I just thought... y'know..."

She walked in, coming closer to Sam. "You thought you'd try to get these all done so that we could do... something else?" She raised her eyebrows seductively.

Sam let out a sigh of relief, thankful that she seemed receptive to his idea. "Yeah," he admitted with a grin. He leaned in to kiss her, but Mal brought her finger up to his lips.

"Why don't you put the test tubes in the water and Ajax solution first?"

Sam nodded, and quickly fixed the basin full of soapy water. While his back was turned, Mal went to the other sink and got another bucket full of soapy water, and two big sponges. When Sam turned around, thinking he was going to get his kiss, she held the items up with a grin.

Sam looked from Mal to the bucket to the sponges and back to Mal again. He had been tricked. He knew it, and his face fell. Mallory couldn't help but giggle when she saw the reaction on his face. "You've got a really crappy poker face, you know that?"

"Yeah," Sam replied, trying not to sound sullen.

"Aw," she said, walking up to him. She put the cleaning utensils on the desk next to her and took his hands in her own. "If you help me today, I promise you we will spend some quality time together tonight," she told him seriously. She didn't want him to think that she was just leading him on. It was just that she was having so much fun teasing him at the moment.

He raised his eyes to meet hers. When he saw that she was being serious, he smiled. "Ok." He hesitated for just a moment.

"Sam?"

"Uhm, but, uh, do you think I could kiss you now? Just one kiss? Just as something to look forward to tonight?"

The puppy-dog look on his face just melted her heart. She leaned into him slowly, bringing her lips to meet hers. Meant to be a short and sweet kiss, Mallory soon found herself bringing her arms up around Sam's neck as the kiss turned passionate.

When they had both exhausted their supply of air, they slowly broke apart. "The real reason I didn't want to start anything in here is because I'm not sure I'd be able, or rather, willing, to stop it," she confessed to him quietly.

Sam stroked her cheek softly. "I'll be on my best behavior for the rest of the day," he promised her.

With that knowledge, and the promise of the night ahead of them, Mallory was able to tear her arms from Sam. "So," she said, getting right back to business. "Time to wash the lab tables."

"There are two sponges."

"How observant of you," Mal commented dryly. "I promised you I'd help, didn't I?"

~*~*~*~*~

*Plunk*. Mallory looked up to see a surprised expression on Sam's face. She looked down to see a leg immersed in the bucket of soapy water. She groaned, but at the same time tried to control her laughter.

"Uh, yeah, Sam... you might want to, y'know, avoid the water bucket..."

"Gee, thanks for the advice," he replied sarcastically, as he slowly lifted his foot.

"Anytime." She watched the process in fascination. He shook his foot out a little, and then bent down to squeeze the excess water from his pants. Then, to her surprise, he peeled off his shoe and sock. He looked up to see her watching, shrugged, and grinned.

"Can't have me squishing around all day, can we?" He then took off his other sock and shoe, and went over and put them in a corner.

"How many times have you done this before?" She asked suspiciously.

"Who me? This is the first time today," he replied defensively.

"How many times before today?"

"Y'know, the cleaning crew at the White House comes pretty early..."

"Sam..."

"I mean, you think that they would come a lot later... like after everyone has left. But they come around six in the evening. Who's left the building by then?"

"Most normal, non-workaholics?"

"And how many of those people work in the White House?"

"Ok... well, I'll give you that one."

"Thank you."

Mallory looked around to survey the room. The boards were washing, the tables scrubbed, and they had even washed the windows. Now all that remained was to put away the test tubes. "We're almost done, Skipper."

Sam looked around, also, and grinned. "We did good work today."

Mal nodded her agreement. "We certainly did."

"And the test tubes were a lot easier to clean once they were soaked..."

"Good thing you knew to read the instructions."

Well, one thing he knew about dating Mallory, she'd never let his ego get the better of him. They walked over to the test tube racks and started packing them away.

When they were almost finished, and the dinner date was in sight for both of them, Sam's cell rang. Mallory groaned as Sam took a few steps away to answer it. "Sam Seaborn."

"Do you know what I had to do today?" Came the extremely whiny voice that was barely recognizable as Josh.

"No, because you're not talking to me, remember? If you want to start talking to me again, I'd really appreciate it if you could wait until Monday."

"Aw, c'mon, Sam. I had every right to be pissed. I still am. I just need to talk to someone about my horrible day. My only solace is knowing that everyone else is as miserable as I am. C.J. had to coach a college debate team for the day."

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad..."

"They didn't speak English."

"Oh."

"Toby had to work at a children's carnival."

"God help the kids."

"Especially the kids that tugged at his nose."

"Why would kids be tugging at his nose?"

"He was the clown."

"Did someone get—"

"Sent the White House photographer down this morning. Actually, C.J. sent him. She sent him to get pictures of everybody to distribute to the press, something about how the administration isn't afraid to get their hands dirty."

"If C.J. gives out pictures of Toby in a clown suit, his hands are going to be dirty with her blood."

"My money's on C.J."

"I dunno, man. Toby's got rage on his side."

"Well, yeah, there is that. But... C.J. said that the photographer never made it to you today."

"No I didn't see him, actually."

"Yeah. That's because no one knew where you were."

"Ah. That'd be a good reason."

"People seemed to think that your assignment was even worse than Toby's, from the way you were acting all week."

"I, yeah. Hey, listen Josh. My day's actually not over yet. I need to go and y'know, finish up. I'll call you tonight."

"You're not done yet?!" Josh practically screeched.

Sam was about to answer when Mallory pulled the phone out of his hand. "No, he's not done yet. He's actually still got an evening... activity. He won't call you tonight, Josh. He'll call you tomorrow. Afternoon. Bu-bye now." With that, Mallory snapped the phone shut and tossed it back to Sam. "Test tubes are away. Why don't you go home, change into... say... a polo shirt and khakis, along with dry socks and shoes, and pick me up at my apartment when you're ready?"

Sam merely nodded, still shocked by Mal's forwardness. "Wait... you're not leaving here yet?"

She shook her head. "I just have to make sure that everything got done. I'll be out of here in about twenty, twenty- five minutes."

"Want me to stay with you?"

She looked at him and smiled. Even after the hard day she had put him through, between his work and her being a tease, he was still willing to hang around and get some more abuse. Just for that he deserved a reward. She leaned in and kissed him, softly, lightly, on the lips. "Go home. Take a nice long shower. Relax for a few minutes. I've got some plans for us this evening," she told him softly. "And I promise you they have nothing to do with soap. Not tonight, at least," she couldn't help but add.

Sam's mouth just dropped open. Did he hear what he thought he heard? No way. No way did Mal just imply that there would be a tomorrow morning as a continuation of tonight. She was just playing with him again. Screwing with his mind. But, he really did believe that they were going to have a nice time this evening... so... the whole teasing thing didn't bother him as much this time.

"Close your mouth, Skipper," she said with a smile. "I'll see you at my place in an hour, an hour fifteen?" When he nodded, she turned and quickly headed out the door. After all, she had to get home and change for their evening ahead, too.

~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile Josh was just staring at his phone. That was unmistakably Mallory's voice that came on the line. He should know, the families spent vacations together growing up. "Damn him," Josh muttered. How in the world did Sam manage to pull an assignment with Mallory? See, Josh would have considered that the perfect revenge, had she still been mad at him. But it sure sounded like all was forgiven. In fact, it sounded like Mallory was intent on showing Sam all the different ways she forgave him.

"He's not gonna get away with this. He framed me, and now the only frame he's getting put in is a bed frame. I will have my revenge..." Josh briefly contemplated the fact that he probably shouldn't be planning on extracting revenge on his best friend, when he realized that, yeah, actually, he should. Sam needs to be taught that Joshua Lyman is not one to bully around. After that they can go back to being best friends. After all, Josh really did want Sam for his best friend.

Ok... so... how to take out revenge. What is Sam's weakness? Well, Mallory, obviously. So... let's think. Sam has the hots for Mal. Mal used to not stand him, but now it's obvious she changed her mind. Leo hates the idea of Sam dating his daughter. He tried to drive a wedge...

"I am a genius!" He declared to no one in particular. Without hesitation, Josh picked up the phone and dialed the White House. Margaret quickly patched him through to Leo.

"Hey Leo."

"What is it now, Josh? You've called me 4 times already today to complain about your assignment. I kinda got the point, being that I'm not a moron or anything."

"Yeah, yeah, hey forget all that, ok? That was fine, and I'm done, and I've showered about five or six times, and I think the smell of garbage is finally starting to fade. Hey, listen, have you talked to your daughter recently?"

"She called sometime this week to talk to me, yes, why?"

"Do you know what she is doing tonight?"

"Tonight? No. Although I pride myself on being a caring and concerned parent, being that my daughter is twenty nine years old, I don't know where she is every minute of every day."

"Not that you don't want to," Josh grinned.

"Why are you calling me?" Leo asked with a sigh.

"What was Sam's assignment for the day?"

"I don't know. You're his best friend, shouldn't you be the one to know?"

"Well, I wasn't talking to him this week, being that he framed me with the cheese thing..."

"Do you really want to start that again?"

"Whatever. Hey, if I were you, I'd go find out what Sam's assignment is, and then see if maybe it ran overtime..."

"What the hell are you talking about? MARGARET!"

"You'll see. I just thought that you might be interested..."

Just then Margaret came into Leo's office. "Yes?" she asked, trying to anticipate Leo's needs.

"Yeah. I need you to find out what Sam's assignment for today was."

Margaret just stood there, not moving a muscle.

"Margaret, sometime today."

"I don't have to find out, I know."

"Are you planning on telling me?"

She shook her head. "No, actually."

"Margaret!"

"I was asked not to tell."

"By who? Certainly not me, your boss, the person who signs your paycheck and keeps you employed."

"By Mallory," she confessed quickly.

"My daughter called you up to find out what Sam's assignment for the day was and then to not tell me?"

"Something like that, yeah."

"MARGARET!"

"She called me to make sure that Sam got the Clearlake assignment, because it turned out that she was going to be in charge of it instead of her friend Jeannie, so she wanted to make sure that it was Sam that was working with her."

"I am going to KILL him, and then I am going to LOCK my daughter away for the REST of her LIFE!" Leo turned his attention back to the phone. "And how did you find out about this, Josh?"

"I called Sam to complain, and while I was on the phone with him, Mallory took it, and told me that Sam wouldn't call me tonight, or tomorrow morning, either. Leo, I think that Sam is trying to seduce her."

Normally a very rational and logical man, when it came to his daughter reason flew out the window. Josh was playing on the fact that Leo was much more likely to believe that it was Sam seducing Mallory than the other way around, when, in all likelihood, it probably was Mal doing the seducing.

"I'm not just gonna kill, him, I'm gonna MURDER HIM!"

"Leo, relax, don't worry. I'm sure Mallory won't let him get away with it."

"Relax?! Don't *worry*?! Josh, do you have any idea of what you're saying?!"

"C'mon, Leo... Mal's a big girl. She won't hesitate to put him into a wall if he tries anything."

"I'm going to go over there and help her."

"Do them both a favor though, first?" Josh asked, a little concerned because Leo had reacted more strongly than he would have anticipated. "Take a few minutes to calm down. You don't want to get into an accident rushing to save your daughter."

Leo could be heard taking a deep breath in and out. "You're right. But I am going to go over after I leave here for the night, just to make sure that Mallory is ok. That is my baby girl."

"I'm sure she'll be very happy to see you."

"Yeah." With that Leo hung up the phone and turned to stare at Margaret. "She asked you not to tell me?"

Margaret nodded, pretty shaken by Leo's recent outburst. "She likes him, Leo."

"Don't give me that!"

Margaret couldn't help but roll her eyes. "You think that she would have asked for him if she hated him?"

Leo let out a sigh. Boy had he misread Sam this week. Here he thought Sam was dreading the assignment. Turns out he was plotting ways to get with Leo's only baby girl.

~* ~*~*~*~

An hour and ten minutes after Sam had left Clearlake, he stood outside Mallory's apartment door. He glanced down, just to make sure he really was wearing pants, and that there was nothing else equally as mortifying. Satisfied, he pressed the buzzer.

"Coming!" Mallory called out from inside. She walked by a mirror and smiled. The outfit she had chosen probably was not the best for the place she was going to take him, but she had to admit, she looked good. She paused in front of the mirror, adjusting her light purple form fitting top, and making sure her short black skirt was straight. Satisfied, she walked over and opened the door.

"Hey Mall—woah."

Mallory smiled, almost shyly.

"You look stunning."

"Thank you. You're looking quite handsome yourself," she replied. She glanced down to his feet. "Dry shoes?"

He chuckled a bit. "Yes, the shoes are dry, and I will try and avoid any water buckets we may come across this evening."

"Sounds like a plan." She reached into the hall closet and grabbed her jacket. "Ready?"

He nodded as he helped her into the coat. "Do you have a plan, or..." he drifted off, not exactly sure how to finish the sentence.

"Oh, believe me, I've got a plan." They stepped outside her apartment and she locked the door. After putting her keys in her purse, she subtly reached out for Sam's hand.

"Good. I like a woman with a plan," he said, trying to will away the butterflies he was feeling. It wasn't that he was nervous; he actually had a very good feeling about tonight. It was just... Mallory was so beautiful, such an incredible woman, he didn't want to screw this up... again.

She smiled up at him. "Great. Then we are headed to Arlington."

"Arlington? What's over there?"

"Chuck E. Cheese's."

"We're going on a date to Chuckiecheese?" he asked, slurring the name together.

"Yes, except it's Chuck. E. Cheese's," she told him, separating the name into three sentences to make it easier to understand.

"Isn't that like a kid's indoor playground or something?"

"That'd be the one, yep."

"Can I ask why? Not that I don't think it'll be fun or anything just..."

"What was today?"

"Saturday."

"Why were you helping me at Clearlake?"

"It was my assignment."

"You're assignment for what?"

"Cheese Day squ— oh," he grinned. "It's a themed date?"

She nodded and returned the grin.

~*~*~*~*~

After they had arrived and had their dinner, grilled cheese sandwiches at Mal's insistence, they got up to play some games. They tried to go into the ball pit, but Mal's skirt really wouldn't permit too much of that.

Sam tried very hard to win a prize for Mallory. He wanted to be the knight in shining armor for her. Unfortunately, these skill coordination games were never his strong point. "Why don't they have a trivia game?" he muttered to her after losing countless games of ring toss.

She giggled. "Because you are the only one who would play it."

"I'd win."

She merely nodded before pulling his arm excitingly. "C'mon!"

He allowed himself to be led by her. "Where are we going?"

"Skeeball!" She exclaimed gleefully.

About 10 games of Skeeball later, Sam had 12 tickets, Mallory, 358. He looked from his stack to hers. "How did you do that?"

"I cheated," she deadpanned.

"You *what*?!"

She rolled her eyes. "I was only kidding, Skipper. I've been playing Skeeball since I was old enough to walk. It's my favorite game."

"Oh," he replied sheepishly. They headed over to the counter, and Sam chivalrously gave her his 12 lousy tickets. "I wish they could be more of a help."

She shrugged, already intent on her prize choice. She picked out a medium size stuffed owl for 350 points, and got cheap one and two- ticket prizes with the rest. As they walked away, she handed him the owl. "His name is Brainy," she told him.

"He's very cute." Sam held the owl for a moment before giving it back to her.

"It's for you, you goof," she grinned.

"For me?" He glanced over at her. Not realizing where he was walking, he almost slammed into the corner of a game table.

"Sam watch—" But it was too late. Fortunately, Sam's body was saved from the sharp edge of the table by a huge mint green bear. Sam wound up sitting in the bear's lap.

Mallory couldn't help it. She tried to contain her giggles, but the sight of Sam in the lap of a huge stuffed bear was too priceless. Sam, thoroughly embarrassed, was too flustered to even stand up. As he tried, he managed to fall right back where he was in the bear's lap.

The manager must have seen what happened, and came running over. "Sir! Sir! Are you alright?"

Mallory looked around, and noticed that there was a crowd quickly gathering. Poor Sam, she thought to herself. He was just trying to be sweet...

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks," Sam mumbled to the manager.

"I sincerely apologize for that, sir. We are in the process of renovating, and so some of our games are not in their normal places. Do you need medical assistance?"

"Medical assistance? No, no, I'm fine, really. Thanks."

"What can we do to make it up to you and your—" the manager glanced at Mallory and made a snap judgment. "wife?"

"Wife?" Sam looked at Mal, who shrugged. "Really. We are fine."

Mallory nodded. "I think that my husband has just made a new friend, is all," Mal couldn't help but joke. She noticed that Sam turned about 4 shades of red, and leaned down in front of him. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sam," she told him softly. She really didn't mean to embarrass him any more than he already had been.

"Well, since you two seem fond of it, why don't you take the bear home? We've been trying to give him away, but no game winner deserves him more than you."

Sam started to open his mouth to say `no, thanks,' but quickly thought better of it. "We really wouldn't want to do that to your inventory."

"Oh, believe me, it's no trouble. I just hope that this can stay between friends?" the managed asked hopefully. Sam realized that the manager was afraid he was going to sue. He wanted to quickly assuage the man's fears. After all, it was his own stupidity that put him in the bear's lap.

"Of course. And we thank you for the bear... it will go perfectly in the nursery." He stood up and shook the man's hand. "Thank you, sir."

"No, sir, thank *you*," the manager replied, obviously relieved. "And I do hope this incident hasn't turned you away from here."

"Oh no, quite the contrary," Sam told him. "It will be a great story to tell our children when they are older."

Mallory just watched in complete fascination as Sam managed to lie so smoothly to the manager. Of course, everyone was getting what they wanted out of the deal. Sam was getting away without filing an accident report, and the crowd was quickly disbursing. The manager didn't have to worry about being sued, or even losing business. And the big green bear was getting a home.

A few minutes later, after Sam and the manager had discussed where the best place to put a warning sign would be, Sam turned to Mal. "Ready to leave?"

Mal nodded. "I think we've had enough adventure for one night."

"Yeah." Sam bent over to pick up the big green bear. "Oof!" he exclaimed. "This thing is heavy!" Mallory giggled when she saw him pick it up. Sam's arms didn't even go all the way around the bear, it was so big.

"Maybe you should get someone to help you with that."

"Mallory, I can carry a stuffed animal, thank you." He said, his back completely towards her.

"I'm over here, Skipper."

"Oh. Right."

"Can you see anything?"

"Uhm, well, not really."

The manager just then walked over with the sign. Mallory motioned to him, and he quickly came over. "Is there any way we could get someone to take the bear out on a dolly or something?"

The managed nodded. "Of course." He called over one of the counter guys, who brought the dolly over with him. They put the bear on the cart and wheeled it out to Sam's car, somehow managing to load it into the backseat. After buckling it in, Sam and Mallory once again thanked the manager.

They got into the front seat of the car and Sam started the engine. "You do realize that that bear is going home with you tonight, don't you?" Sam asked the beautiful red-head next to him.

"He's not the only one," Mallory said suggestively.

Had Sam been drinking anything, it probably would have been all over Mal. Instead, he was just thankful that he hadn't left the parking lot yet.

"You still want me to come home with you? After everything that happened tonight?"

"Sam... I knew you were a klutz long before tonight. I think it's really sweet how hard you tried to win a bear, anyway."

"Oh. Well." Sam said, not exactly sure of what else to say. With a smile, Mal put her hand on his knee, and they drove the rest of the way home in silence.

~*~*~*~*~

Leo let himself into his daughter's apartment, after realizing that if there was anyone home, they weren't about to answer the door. After doing a quick survey, he found that there was in fact, no one in the house. "I'm gonna kill him," Leo muttered to himself.

He went into the living room and turned on the TV to wait for her, just to make sure that she was ok. But he found that he was too nervous or frustrated, or both, to just sit and watch TV. After a few minutes, he found himself pacing the length of the living room.

Finally tired of pacing, he wandered into the back room to call the office to see if anything was happening. If nothing else, he could talk to his assistant until his daughter came home, safe, sound, and alone.

~*~*~*~*~

They parked outside of Mallory's apartment, and somehow, between the two of them, managed to get the bear into the elevator. "I have no idea where I'm going to put him," Mallory said with a smile.

"Him or me?" Sam asked with a grin.

"Oh believe me, I know where I'm going to put you." She leaned in to kiss him just as the elevator doors open. "Damn," she couldn't help but mutter. The two of them managed to get the bear to Mal's door, where she had to go search for her keys in her purse.

Sam, who finally realized that he really was going to stay the night, wasn't helping all that much to find the keys. Standing behind Mallory, he slid his arms around her waist and started kissing the back of her neck. "Mm... you're distracting me..." she murmured.

"Is that a bad thing?" He whispered back.

"I had no idea you.... were such a good... kisser." She shivered a bit as she felt his hands move underneath her shirt.

He felt her shiver. "I'm sorry," He whispered, and started to remove his hands.

"No!" she said, a little too quickly. She put her own hands on top of his to keep them where they were.

"Ok," he said with a grin.

"But, oh, Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we take this inside?" Her hands returned to her purse and she managed to find her keys this time.

"Absolutely." He kept still long enough for her to unlock the door. He kicked the bear inside and they followed quickly. Mal locked the door behind them, and then focused all her energy on Sam.

~*~*~*~*~

"Yeah, mm-hm, yeah. Ok." Leo sighed as he listened to his assistant tell him some tale of... well, whatever. Something he had absolutely no interest in. Wait. Was that the door? Yes, it was!

"Hey listen Margaret, I gotta go. I think my daughter's home."

~*~*~*~*~

Sam quickly lifted the shirt over her head and leaned her gently against the door. He leaned down until their lips were touching, and he kissed her passionately. Sam realized that this was the first time he was the one who had initiated the kiss. Either way, the result was the same. He was here with this incredible woman, and she was letting him kiss him.

It was her turn to remove some of Sam's clothing. In one swift movement, Mallory pulled Sam's polo shirt up over his head. It landed on the floor next to her shirt. Yes, this is definitely what she had dreamed about.

Sam moved lower to kiss her neck and chest around her bra. When he glanced up, he was happy to see her eyes closed and that she seemed to be enjoying this. He refocused his attention on her chest, letting his tongue dance ever closer to the lace.

Mallory sighed in contentment. She could feel the gentleness in his kisses, in everything he was doing. Never before had she felt so cared about. She opened her eyes to tell him how she was feeling, but instead was greeted with something from her nightmares. "Dad!"

Leo just stood there, staring. This was something he had never wanted to see. Not only was Sam making out with his daughter, but she just pulled his shirt off. He was kissing her and doing other things to her that Leo was sure he didn't want to know about. But the worst part of it all was, Mallory seemed to be enjoying herself just as much. No. That couldn't be. She was just getting caught up in the heat of the moment. She didn't really want to be with Sam. Leo knew he had to do something.

"Get your hands off my daughter!" He screamed at Sam.

The instant Mal had yelled out her father's name, Sam was frozen in fear. He stayed exactly where he was, his hands on Mallory's waist, his mouth a little lower than her neck. When he heard Leo's yell, he stood up the rest of the way and dropped his hands from Mal's waist. He started to slowly back away from her.

"That's right. Move away. Mal, move away from the door and let him leave."

Mallory reached out and grabbed Sam's hand. She was not going to let her father scare him away.

"Mal, let go of him. He's no good for you. Let him go, let him leave."

Sam stood there, having absolutely no idea what to do. He certainly didn't want to leave, but on the other hand, he didn't want to die, either. But Mal was holding onto his hand with a death grip. And he was not going to leave her if she didn't want to. He'd suffer the consequences. "I'll leave if you want me to," he said softly to Mal.

"Yes. Go. Get out!" Leo yelled.

Mal looked from Sam to her father. She was just about to tell Sam how good he made her feel, how she wanted to have a relationship with him. She even thought that there was the possibility that she might be able to love him. She wasn't ready for that yet. But she was willing to have a relationship with him. But she didn't want to sacrifice Sam's career for her desires. "Maybe it would be better if you left," she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she stared at the floor.

Sam took his hand away. Well, that answered that. "Ok. You want me to leave, I'm gone," he said, trying unsuccessfully to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"Sam, no, wait!" Mal cried out, looking up at him.

"Let him go, Mallory. The man is no good. He just wants to get you in bed."

"Dad, shut *up*!" Mallory yelled, whipping around to face her father. "Don't you get it? I'm a grown woman, now. I can do whatever the hell I want. I gave you a key on the understanding that you wouldn't pull shit like this!"

"Like what, Mallory? Like trying to protect you? Well, forgive me for being a caring father."

"If you really wanted to protect me, you would be encouraging Sam to date me. Look at him! He would be willing to give everything up if I asked him to stay right now! He would give up his career, knowing that you would fire his ass on Monday, just because I asked him to. He would do it all for *me*! This man would do anything to protect me!"

"It might seem like that now, Mallory, but it's not true. He sleeps with call girls, for Christ's sake!"

"One! He slept with one! And I'm not a virgin, either, y'know, Dad. We all make mistakes."

"Mallory O'Brien McGarry!"

"What?! What do you want me to do, lie? Ok, Dad. I'll lie. I've never slept with anyone before. I've never even kissed a guy. How's that? Feel better now?"

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Why are you still treating me like I'm twelve? Look at him. Look at this man. Dad. This man wants to love me. I've rejected him, I've abused him, I've ridiculed him, but still, he keeps coming back for more. I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm not going to let the best thing in my life walk away because my father saw us making out. I'm sorry. I'm not." She turned to face Sam. "I'm not," she repeated softly.

Sam smiled at her, and reached out to brush away the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. "I do want to love you," he whispered to her. He held out both of his arms, and she leaned into him. He held her close. "More than anything I want to love you."

Leo watched the two of them carefully. He didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to acknowledge that Mallory could be old enough to fall in love, and that Sam could be smart enough to realize how precious she was. But seeing the two of them, he couldn't deny it any longer. He wanted his daughter to be happy, and he had done a horrible job of doing that tonight. Obviously Sam was doing better. He walked over to where their shirts were lying on the ground and picked them up. Meeting Sam's eyes, he handed them both to him. Sam nodded his understanding, and broke away from Mallory long enough to help her put her shirt back on.

"You take good care of her, Sam," Leo said. He felt like he had just lost his daughter, mostly because he had. Because of his stubbornness and refusal to see her as a grown-up, he would be forced to find out about how she was doing now from her boyfriend. His shoulders crumpled in defeat and sorrow, he headed for the door.

"Daddy," Mallory said softly. Leo turned when he was called. Sam released her from his arms and stepped back. "I love you." She went over to him and hugged him tightly.

Leo held her, holding her for all that he was worth. "I'm sorry, Baby. I'm sorry I've been so stubborn. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't want you hurt, either, Daddy," Mallory replied. "But I do want to be with Sam."

Leo pulled back and looked at her. He nodded slowly. "But you'll tell me the instant he does something stupid?"

She giggled a little. "Why don't I just tell you when he does something that isn't stupid? Those are much rarer," she said, smiling over at Sam. Leo laughed at that, and the embarrassed look on Sam's face.

"Why do I have a feeling there's a story behind that?"

Mallory's laughter increased. She led them all over to the couch to sit down and to hear the story. "Well, it all started when Sam wanted to win me a teddy bear..."