Nicole had a few printouts stacked on the table of Ashton's house that she kept straightening. She'd forgotten when he was supposed to be here. It was already nearly four. He'd called at lunch to say he'd meet her here at three-thirty, he hoped. Well, he was late. She wondered where he was.

A little after four he came in the back door. She got off his couch and walked to the kitchen. He was a little sweaty, but he smiled at her. "Hey, sorry I'm so late. Benson had more questions for me than I'd thought." He walked into his bedroom. "I'll be just a minute!" he called, shutting the door. She frowned as she walked back into the living room.

She supposed a little time with him was better than none, but she wasn't sure she liked it. He walked in and plopped down next to her about fifteen minutes later, hair wet from a shower. "Okay. Let's see what you got." He grinned at her. His arm went around her waist as he leaned forward with her.

She smiled to herself, enjoying his touch. "Well, I was thinking about the colors. I want them to be a deep green and white." She pulled the green up on her phone and showed him.

He looked at it and seemed to think about it for a minute. "I like it. Makes me think of the woods."

"That's why I chose it." He gave her a slight squeeze and she smiled. "Next, I was trying to think of places we might can actually have it." She picked up the papers and spread them out. "I'd like to have it here, but I don't know where we'd have it. Plus, I'm from the other side of the state, so maybe Columbia do you think? It's about halfway."

He rubbed his face, thinking. "How far is it to your hometown, again?"

"Five hours."

He nodded and thought. "We're most of three hours from Columbia, but I think it would do."

"Okay. So tomorrow I guess I can look into what places there are that we'd like."

"Okay. What else?"

She hesitated. "Where would you like to go afterwards?"

He looked at her for a second, confused, but then he smiled at her. "Anywhere you are, Nikki." She giggled. He grinned. "Seriously though, I've always wanted to visit St. Louis. But if we don't go there, it's okay. My second choice is Nashville."

She nodded, typing them into her phone. Not that she thought she'd forget. "I would like New York, maybe, or Boston."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Go north, huh?" He thought about it for a moment.

"We could go to Missouri," she hurried to say.

He just smiled at her. "You don't need to give up that quickly. How about we decide what we'd like to do together, and then find which place has all those things, and a nice place to stay we both like."

She nodded. "Sounds fair."

"Good. I'll look into it. Decide on some things you'd enjoy, write them out, and give it to me."

She nodded. "Okay. I'll do that tonight."

There was a lull in their conversation. Nicole looked up at Ashton. He was watching her. She leaned on him and sighed. He stroked her hair. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Tired, I guess. What's on your agenda tomorrow?"

"At ten I have my physical test."

"Like, a doctor's exam?"

"No," he laughed. "I get to show off." He flexed his arm. "The test is tough. You'll see. I got permission for you to watch." She looked up and he was grinning. "Sound fun?"

She returned the grin and nodded. "Sure. You always have been a show-off, haven't you?"

He leaned down and rubbed his nose on hers. "Oh, yeah. Forever."

She gave him a kiss. He returned it briefly before pulling away. "What else?"

They sat back, his arm around her shoulders now. "Well, I get to find out when he's going to want me to do the polygraph test."

"Why do you need to take that?"

He shrugged. "It's all part of the hiring process. After the polygraph, normally I would also have to sit down and talk to three or four officers, but since I'm the only one going through this, they're letting me skip that. It's optional, anyway."

"Oh. Okay." They were quiet again for a long time. "What are we doing tonight?"

"I was planning on treating you and your parents to dinner out. You do still have my money, right?"

"Of course."

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask: how much did you end up giving Henry?"

"Six hundred. He was trying for a thousand, but I blackmailed him into accepting six."

Ashton laughed and shook his head. "Smart." He checked his watch and sighed. "We should probably let your parents know my plans for tonight."

She nodded. "Yeah, Mom's probably about to start dinner." He nodded and they got up. "You know they love you, right?"

He stopped walking and looked at her. "Really?"

"Really." She smiled. He grinned, took her hand, and led her out the door.

---

The police station looked very different when Nicole showed up at ten the next morning. Mason had a giant sack it looked like while Gary and Norman were fastening a chain-link fence to poles. Ashton was leaning against a car watching the people in the alleyway. She walked up behind him and touched his side. He jumped and stumbled back away from her. When he recognized her, he put a hand on his chest, bending over. "You scared me!"

She laughed. "And it was so easy. I need to do that more often."

He charged her, wrapping his arms around her, and swung her around once, lifting her off her feet. "I don't think so." He chuckled and she giggled. A glance at everyone else. His eyes locked on hers and he brushed her hair off of her face. He bent closer and kissed her.

After a couple of kisses, someone cleared their throat next to them. Ashton broke the kiss and looked up. Norman was standing there, smiling at them. "We're ready for you." He glanced over. "Well, ah, Gary, go help out Mason." Gary walked over to where Mason was struggling to drag the sack, which she could now tell was some sort of dummy. "Anyway, go ahead and get ready, Ashton. Nicole, you can come stand with me over here." He motioned for her to follow him.

"Explain it to her – I didn't get a chance," Ashton called to their backs.

Norman laughed. "I saw!" Nicole felt her cheeks heat up as they stopped and turned to watch.

Ashton got in the car he was leaning against. "Now, here's what he's going to do." Norman leaned a little closer and began pointing. "He's sitting in the car with his hands on the wheel. When I blow my whistle-" he held up the whistle around his neck with his free hand "-he'll get out, open the trunk, take out a baton and a gun, set the gun on that table, and take the baton. He'll then sprint about 220 yards – I had Gary measure it and I think he messed it up, but I'm going to leave it – climb over the fence, jump over that plastic patio table, belly crawl under that net for 5 yards, drag that dummy 50 feet – it weighs 160 pounds, which is why Mason had a hard time with it, but don't worry, we'll fix that – then, at the end of the 50 feet, he has to drop it and come back, going back over the obstacles, and then put down the baton and dry-fire the weapon. He has a 6-minute time limit."

Nicole's eyebrows rose. "Wow."

"Let me check and make sure he's ready, and then we'll start." Norman jogged to the car, looked in the window, nodded, and came back. He blew his whistle and Gary started the stopwatch he held.

Ashton hopped out of the car a second later. He popped the trunk and ran around. He quickly sat the gun down on the small table, surprisingly gently. He ran off with the baton. Nicole was surprised at his speed. He jumped high and landed high up the eight-foot fence. He easily jumped down and gracefully high-stepped the table. He dropped to the ground and belly-crawled under the fence. Seconds later he was at the dummy. Nicole was shocked by how easy he made dragging it look. He reached the marker for 50-feet, dropped it, and ran the course in reverse back to the car, making everything look easy. He dropped the baton in the trunk, lifted the gun, and dry-fired in the direction of the dummy.

Gary hit the stop button and held it up. He'd run the course in just over three minutes. Norman gave a thumbs up to Ashton. He jogged over. "What was my time?"

"Three minutes, thirteen seconds," Norman said and slapped him on the bicep. "Good job. Next, you gotta run. Are you ready?"

He shrugged and rubbed his hands together. "Sure. Standard?"

Norman raised one eyebrow that, to Nicole, looked freshly waxed. "Of course."

Ashton nodded and Norman led them down the street. "We're going to have to use a gym for the rest of it," Ashton explained to Nicole as they walked.

She touched his arm. "You made that look so easy!"

He shrugged, smiling. "Well, it was easy to me. I mean, I keep myself in the right condition for it. Technically, you're supposed to condition for it for weeks ahead of time, but my dad got me into a certain exercise habit, and it keeps me conditioned for it all."

She nodded as they walked through the door Norman was holding for them. "Next, you're getting on the treadmill. You've got 17 minutes to run a mile and a half," Norman said as he stopped beside one of the treadmills.

Ashton nodded, got on, and Norman punched the buttons for him. Once he got it going, Ashton fixed the speed to a faster and faster pace until he was running all-out. Soon, he was out of breath and sweat ran in rivulets all over him. Nicole, standing where he couldn't see her, wrinkled her nose as it caught the light and glistened.

After a while he slowed and stopped. "Done," he panted. Norman looked over and checked.

"Good job," he said with a grin. "Now, I'll let you catch your breath, and we'll move on to the third part."

Ashton panted as he followed Norman to the weight bench. He sat heavily on it. After a few moments of panting, he lay back. "170."

Norman began putting weights on the bar. "How much do you weigh? 160?"

"157."

Norman's eyebrows rose. "You bench 170?"

Ashton grinned. "160, but I can lift 170."

"Okay." He put on the last weight and stepped back. "Go ahead." Ashton lifted the bar, held it for a few seconds and sat it back down. "Good job." Ashton sat up and Norman walked over to a stand. He took out a rolled-up mat and unrolled it on the floor. "Now, drop and give me twenty." He laughed as Ashton walked over, smiling. "Seriously, we're gonna start with push-ups. One minute to do twenty." He waited until Ashton was on the floor and shouted, "Go!"

He shouted the number as Ashton went on. He hit the stopwatch. "Fifty seconds to complete twenty. Good job. Sit-ups. Twenty-five. One minute." Ashton rolled over. "Go!" He again shouted the number as Ashton completed them. He hit the stopwatch. "Twenty-five in fifty-five seconds. Good job. Now, a little easier. See how far you can reach." Norman walked away and came back with a dumbbell. He sat it at Ashton's feet and then sat down, bracing it on himself. Mason handed him a ruler and Ashton bent forward, reaching out as far as he could. "Ten inches," Norman shouted. "Excellent." He hopped up and Ashton followed suit, but a little slower.

Ashton stood near to Nicole, and she was glad when he didn't try to put his arm around her. "Well?" he asked, slightly breathless.

Norman watched him for a minute. "Well, buddy, go home, take a shower, and be back here for your polygraph test at one. You passed."

Ashton nodded and smiled at the cops as they left. Once they were alone in the building, Ashton just flopped on the floor mat. "You okay?" Nicole asked, sitting near him.

"I will be. Those tests are hard." He grinned at her. "What you think?"

She smiled. "Impressive." She eyed his shiny bicep. "You're faster than I thought."

He put his hands behind his head. "Um, thanks?" He smiled at her. "What time is it?"

She checked her phone, but still raised an eyebrow at him. "You're wearing a watch." He shrugged and closed his eyes. "It's close to eleven."

"Plenty of time to go shower before lunch." He sat up, opening his eyes. "I think I'll go do that now. I feel a little sore." He stretched his arms and then stood. "I'll come get you when I'm done, if you want."

She nodded. "Sounds good. I'll go home and wait for you."

"Okay." He gave her a quick peck and was gone before she could pull away. She wiped her mouth the moment he wasn't looking.