TITLE: "Blinded By Love"

AUTHOR: Mearain

EMAIL: mearain@yahoo.com

FANDOM: Diagnosis Murder

DISCLAIMER: The characters aren't mine, except for Emma White, who is my creation, but the idea is.

TEASER: Steve meets the woman of his dreams.

RATING: PG

By Mearain

"Ok, I caught it. Now what?" Jesse asked as he held the nylon line that held a rather large bass.

Steve laughed and shook his head, the warm summer breeze ruffling his sandy brown hair. "Now you put it in the net and then remove the hook from its mouth."

The fair haired doctor looked at his friend, a look of absolute disgust on his handsome face. "I am not touching that thing," he complained, wrinkling his nose.

Doctor Mark Sloan laughed from the background, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. "Jesse, I think it's time you handed it all over to Steve."

"Agreed," he said, turning to look at Detective Steve Sloan, a broad grin on his lips.

Steve only rolled his eyes, taking the line and pole, the bass dangling from the hook on the end.

The three friends had finally managed to schedule a few days of vacation around each other, hoping to get in a bit of relaxtion in the lovely forests of Northern California. Even though Jesse had no clue how to fish, he was more than happy to be invited along on the trip. But as it turned out, Jesse was better at fishing than he had ever hoped.

They talked, laughed, and discussed Amanda's most recent problems with her son. The Community General Pathologist had had no end of trouble with getting her son to sleep properly and was not about to accept help of any kind from anyone, even her closest friends.

"One of these days she gonna realise it," Jesse said, making reference to the fact that the boy would sleep better if Amanada read him bed time stories more often. "It always worked for me."

Steve smiled as he steered the boat back toward the dock, but said nothing. Doctor Jesse Travis only smirked at him, knowing that somewhere in the mind of the handsome detective was a smart remark.

"I agree," Mark said, nodding his head, the breeze ruffling his silvery white hair.

At this comment, Jesse only smiled.

********************

The fishing boat glided into the dock, settling happily in its resting place, where it would stay for the evening, only to be taken back out for another day of fishing the following morning.

The three men disembarked their floating vehicle and made their way into the large, cabin style lodge where Steve handed over Jesse's impresive catch of the day to the cook to prepare for dinner.

"I'm gonna go take a shower and try to get the fish smell off of me," Jesse complained, wrinkling his nose.

Steve chuckled and shook his head, his eyes scanning the occupants of the main room. A few people were gathered there, talking amongst themselves. A couple sat on the large, overstuffed sofa near the fireplace, discussing something quietly. Another couple sat near the patio doors, watching the sun set over the lake, while yet anohter couple left the dining room, situated just off to the left. Something in Steve's heart twinged as he watched the happy couples going about their business.

"Something wrong, Steve?" Mark asked, glancing over at his son, seeing the unusual look on his face.

The sandy haired man blinked and looked at his father, forcing a smile. "No, dad, just thinking."

His father nodded, then moved across the main room toward the dining room, whistling something softly. Steve took a deep breath and followed his father. His attention was pulled to the dining room, so he didn't notice the main doors to the lodge open and a young lady step in, her long firey curls tossed about in the warm summer breeze.

********************

Jesse returned a while later, feeling refreshed after his warm shower. He took a seat at the table with his friends, his hair still damp and clinging to his skull.

"Much better," he commented, reaching for a glass of water that sat just in front of him.

"Glad to hear it," Mark said, smiling at him as he took a drink of his coffee.

Steve said nothing. Ever since earlier, he had been going through his life in his head, wondering where things went wrong in his love life. It had been years since he had had a stable relationship, or for that matter, had a woman interested in him at all. He didn't understand why, either. He thought he was a slightly attractive man, his mother had always said so, then again, she was his mother.

"Steve?" Jesse asked, snapping his fingers in front of the detective's face.

"Hmm?" he asked, blinking slowly as he looked at his young doctor friend.

"You okay?"

Steve nodded, reaching up to run his fingers through his sandy brown locks. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking a little."

Mark furrowed his brow. He knew his son well enough to know just what he was thinking about. Often times he had sat and wondered the same things. It seemed so odd that his son had never found that perfect woman, yet at the same time, he figured that his career as a police man, more to the point, homicide detective, probably scared off some of the woman that would have normally been attracted to him.

Jesse nodded, taking another drink of his water. A moment later the waiter arrived, brining out small salads for their appetizers.

The three men ate in silence for most of the pre-meal course, thinking about their own problems and concerns in life. Mark had devoted his entire life to medicine, taking it even more seriously once he lost his dear wife. Whereas Jesse, who was just a resident at Community General, was still young and had his entire life ahead of him. Yet, for some reason, he had not been able to find the woman of his dreams.

Steve glanced up from his salad, his eyes falling on the young woman who had just entered the dining room. She was the same woman who had entered the lodge not more than an hour early, but he had not noticed her, his mind having been stuck on his misfortune in love.

She smiled at the host as he approached her, her lips curving upward into a charming expression. She spoke, her voice drifting along through the room, reaching Steve's ears. He felt his heart skip a beat as he heard her soft words. His eyes took in everything about her, from her soft firey curls, her dark eyes, her pale, silky smooth skin, to her dark green, sundress and sandals.

His breath caught in his throat as the host led her passed the table where they sat. He tried not to look at her, but could not stop himself, his eyes latching onto her slim form as she walked passed.

"Steve?" Jesse's voice interrupted his gazings.

"Huh?" he asked, not turning to look at his friend, his attentions completely focused on the lovely stranger.

Mark raised his brow, looking from his son to Jesse. "Someone appears to be awfully interested in the young lady."

Jesse snickered. "Apparently," he commented, shaking his head in amusement.

Steve ignored them, turning slightly in his chair as he watched her take a seat at the small table near the large fireplace. The roaring fire caught her hair, setting it ablaze, giving her a flaming halo. He sighed softly, his heart filling with desire for her.

"I think someone's in love," Jesse joked, chuckling softly as he took a drink of his water.

Steve blinked and turned his head, his eyes landing on his friend's amused face. "Who?"

"You," his father added, his own expression showing his amusement at his son's actions.

He frowned slightly. "I am not," he said. "Anyhow, I don't even know her."

"Though, I imagine, you would like to," Mark said, reaching over to lay a hand on his son's shoulder.

He nodded, glancing back at the young lady. "I would, indeed."

******************

"Excuse me," Mark said, stepping up to the table where the young lady sat, quietly enjoying her coffee.

She looked up as she sat down the cup. "Yes?" she asked, her soft voice matching her appearence. She was very feminine, more so than any woman he had ever known.

"My name is Doctor Mark Sloan," he said, holding out his hand to her. He smiled as she took it, her slim, delicate fingers wrapping around his.

"Maggie Simms," she said, smiling at him. "What can I do for you, Doctor?"

"Well," he said, removing his hand, almost reluctantly from her grasp. "acutally, it's more for my son, than for me."

"Oh?" she inquired, gesturing for him to take the seat across from her.

Mark smiled at her and seated himself, his attention focused completely on her. He didn't noticed Steve's rather jealous expression.

"Yes, my son, Steve, has been rather interested in you since he first noticed you enter the dining room."

"Really?" Maggie asked, her lips curling into a shy smile as her eyes dropped to her coffee cup. She slowly raised her hand, her fingers slipping into the ivory handle of the cup, carefully lifting it up to her lips. She took a sip of the steaming brown liquid, then replaced it on the table, her gaze lifting to his face.

He smiled warmly at her, almost a fatherly smile, though he could not deny that she was quite lovely and had he been more his son's age, things may have been different. "Yes, he's right over there," he said, his finger pointing to the table where Jesse and Steve sat.

Her eyes moved from the doctor's face, following his gesture to the table. She saw the two men, one of which was smiling in her direction, the other was trying to make a fork balance on a salt shaker.

He's quite handsome," she commented, her own smile breaking out across her soft, ruby lips.

"I try to tell him that," Mark said, making a face and rolling his eyes.

Maggie laughed softly, the sound escaping her lips like the soft trill of a harp's strings. "Does he have your sense of humour?" she asked, looking from his son back to him.

"Well, let's leave that for you to find out," he smiled at her, then stood, returning to the table that he had been sharing with his son and Jesse.

****************

"Well?" Steve asked as his dad sat back down.

"Why don't you go over and find out for yourself?" Mark smiled at his son, knowing that the lady was as interested as he was.

Steve cleared his throat, then looked back at her, only to see her smiling at him. "I think I can do this," he said, laying the cloth napkin on the table as he got to his feet.

He closed the gap between his table and hers in a matter of moments. The entire walk there his heart pounded in his chest, his palms became sweaty, his breath came in short gasps. If he didn't know better, he would have thought he was about to ask the most popular girl in school to the prom.

"Hi," he said, his eyes twinkling as he slowly seated himself across from her.

"Hi," she replied, her own heart racing in her chest. She laid her jittery hands in her lap, trying to hide her slight nervousness.

He held out his hand to her and introduced himself. Gently, she lifted her hand from her lap and took his, her fingers sliding around his. Both of them knew at that moment, that they were meant to be. Heart, body and soul.

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