For: alittlenutjob. Happy birthday, sweetheart! This fandom, and world, is a brighter place with you in it!

He's been leering all night. She doesn't mind.

They're walking from the restaurant hand in hand, the combination of wine, a good meal, and him making her buzz. It's warm, even for the middle of spring, and they wander in the night, Danny leading them toward Madison Square Park instead of around it, eyes glued to her body nearly the whole time. It's a good thing she's paying attention or he would have been hit by a car by now.

"What?"

"Hmm?" He flicks his thumb over the bones of her dainty wrist in that tender way he does and meets her gaze, his eyes liquid from more than just wine.

"You've been staring since you picked me up. Do you hate this dress or something?" Mindy stops walking long enough to swish the dress, short skirt flaring out like a bell. Clearly there is nothing wrong with the adorable, pale lavender dress with tiny white rosebuds embroidered around the waist that feather out in a way that makes Mindy look like the embodiment of spring itself. But it's fun to ask the question and watch as he actually licks his lips when the hem of the skirt swishes up high on her thighs.

"No. It's a good dress. Very good." His voice is husky and his words hang thickly in the air around her like humidity. "We should just go around the park." He starts to turn back, suddenly in a hurry to make it to her apartment.

"Actually." Mindy doesn't move and he doesn't go far with their hands still joined. "It's nice out. Let's enjoy it."

She isn't exactly teasing him, it is a lovely night and they'll make it to her apartment soon enough. For right now she's enjoying the before stuff, the anticipation. She continues walking the way they were and he's quickly back in stride with her.

"So if it's not the dress then why all the staring?" Is it wrong to make him actually use his words to tell her what it is that's doing it for him? No. Of course it isn't.

"I didn't say the dress wasn't involved."

"Oh." She looks down at her outfit and wonders if maybe she read all of this wrong.

"Do you have any clue how sexy you are?"

Mindy flushes, her heart thumping hard in her chest, and wonders if she'll ever get used to him saying things like that to her. She's hopes not. "Uh, I think there is a fair amount of hotness going on. I'm glad to know you agree."

"I agree. Heartily."

She smiles and leans into his side, free hand coming to rest on the soft material at the crook of his elbow. "I've got to remember to wear this again, then."

Danny stops and she turns to him, over his shoulder the Met Life Tower is lit up yellow, pink, and blue. "Well, it has nothing to do with the dress really. It's you. You know that, don't you?"

She shrugs a little self-consciously. Mindy believes she looks good, but scrutiny has never been a friend.

"Okay," he says, brushing her hair back with both hands, his palms warm on her cheeks. "Then I'll tell you."

His eyes are roaming her face like he doesn't know where to start, and a small, sparking smile of a memory flickers at the corner of his mouth. "Do you know why I asked for that particular table tonight instead of a booth?"

Mindy shakes her head.

"Because I knew if I angled my chair just right and leaned a little I'd be able to look at your legs all through dinner."

She laughs. She doesn't mean to, it just kinda bubbles up.

"What?" he asks in that frustrated way that draws his eyebrows together.

"Nothing. I'm sorry. That was a very sweet thing to say. I just didn't realize you were so into gams, granddad."

"No, not-" his hands fall from her face with a sigh.

"Do I need to keep an eye out for any hussies who might be flashing a little ankle at you?"

"It's not a leg thing! It's your legs, your. . everything."

Oh, that is sweet. Not really the Jason DeRulo-lyric caliber commentary on her bangin' body, but really nice to hear. "Thank you, Danny." She pats his chest over his heart and is about to start walking again.

He grabs her waist before she can move away and leans his mouth towards her cheek, his eyes boring into hers and breath making a warm trail for his words to follow on her skin all the way to her ear. "I know every inch of your legs. That weird scar you have on your ankle from the first time you tried shaving, even though your mom told you it was too soon. How there's a spot right where your calf meets the back of your knee that if I kiss it makes you do this sound, like a this little breathless gasp."

Mindy swallows, her mouth dry, and his gaze flicks to her mouth and back. "When I look at your legs I know that they're just long enough to wrap perfectly all the way around my body, and what it feels like when they do."

"Danny-"

He brushes his lips up her jaw so he can whisper directly in her ear. "Do you understand what a fucking turn on it is to sit in that nice restaurant looking at your ankles crossed all ladylike under the table knowing that in an hour those same ankles will be hooked behind my back?"

He slides his mouth away and Mindy throws an arm around his shoulder, needing to kiss him. Danny pulls back from her though, his face serious.

"Mindy, wait. Let me finish."

What the hell more can there be to say after something like that? As it is she's five seconds away from dragging him to the nearest park bench and asking the older lady milling around waiting for her dog to poop to avert her eyes.

He sighs and runs both hands around her waist before continuing. "It's nice that I know all those things, sure. And you're beautiful; any guy with eyes and a brain in his head would want you. But that's not what makes getting a crick in my neck and being called a granddad worth it. It's you, Mindy. You are the sexiest woman I have ever been with."

"I don't think that's true. Don't you remember Eyepatch? Sheesh. I would have totally hit-"

"Would you stop? I'm trying to tell you something important here."

"Right, sorry. Continue."

"Mindy," he brushes a lock of hair behind her ear and then unhooks it again, fingertips playing. "You're my best friend. You have been for a very long time now. And adding all of this new, relationship stuff to that - I was afraid it would mess that part up or something. Change it somehow. But it hasn't. It's just made it better. Intense. I want you all the time. You are the sexiest woman I have ever been with. You're you."

Mindy blinks hard, not sure if there are tears in her eyes or if she's just too stunned to do anything else. He's staring back at her somewhat expectantly and she wonders if that means he's finished. "Can I say something now?"

"Yes," he nods with a chuckle. "Please do."

She kisses him, arms tight around his neck. Because how does she say something back to that? Danny pulls her close but doesn't respond to her frantic attempt to make out with him. Instead he spreads his fingers wide at the back of her head, keeping her still and kissing her back deliberately and with enough tenderness to make her heart ache.

Is she just telling herself what she wants to hear when, upon replaying everything he said, it seems to add up to one thing? He loves her.

"I think that's the first time you didn't have anything to say." He grins a little lopsidedly and looks disbelieving of her silence.

Too much of what's on the tip of her tongue now sounds like I love you, too, and she doesn't trust herself. There'll be a time, probably later tonight, where she'll explain to him how he's the sexiest man she's ever been with for all the same reasons. Because falling in love with her (super attractive) best friend is the most wonderful, terrifying thing to ever happen to Mindy.

For now though she'll save those words and use only the sparsest ones. "Take me home, Danny."

He smiles wider, the one where you see all his front teeth, and grabs her hand. "Come on."

Mindy has to practically jog to keep up with him, and in a flash they reach Fifth Avenue. If she were looking for a sign she would find it when they are able to hail the first cab they see.