"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose."

Tennessee Williams

David Rossi woke slowly to find himself face down in bed. His head pounded and his mouth felt dry. Slowly, he remembered the events that led to this state and the woman who helped him there. Denise.

Slowly, he rolled over and winced as the sunlight hit him right in the face.

"You know, Dave," a female voice began, pulling his tired eyes across the room. "I told you to stop drinking."

"The hell you did," he groused, looking at Denise Franconi through squinted eyes. "You bought the last round."

The brunette smiled at him, "I didn't force you to drink it."

"You're going to kill me, you know that, don't you?" he laughed, finding the action hurt his head.

"Not until after this tour is over, or McNeil Publishing will have my ass," she quipped, tossing a water bottle to him, "Drink that and get a shower. "You've got a lecture at 1."

Rossi took the bottle and opened it. As he took a long drink, he studied Denise. Curvy, with dark hair and eyes, she was 12 years his junior. Born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, she was a graduate of University of Miami with a degree in public relations. She was smart, funny, and refused to take one ounce of his crap.

"Are you gonna sit there and stare at me or are you gonna take a shower?" she cracked.

"I'm gonna shower," he said, getting out of bed.

XXXXXX

By the time he'd finished his lecture and the book signing session that followed it, Rossi thought he'd gotten his second wind. There were points during the day, usually when he stopped moving, that he wanted nothing more than a nice long nap. But as the day progressed, he felt better and better.

Denise did her best to keep him full of caffeine and water and made sure that he had a good lunch. She, of course, seemed to always have a Red Bull attached to her hand. He swore she had no blood in her veins. It had been replaced by the yellow energy drink and he teased her about it all the time.

She took it in stride, commented his coffee consumption, and drank more Red Bull. She said she picked up the addiction during her divorce proceedings. Seems the stress had been wearing on her and disturbing her sleep. So, she began drinking it to avoid the crash she'd normally experience around noon.

Her divorce, as heated and nasty as it got, was finalized on the day before they left on the week long publicity tour for his latest book. Her relief was visible. When they got on the plane to their first tour stop in Atlanta, she announced to him that she was going to spend the week of the tour celebrating and he was going to help her.

He wasn't given an option, so he went along and found himself having a good time. It had been ages since he closed a bar, but they'd done it each of the four prior nights and it was starting to wear on him. Tonight, he was going to suggest a nice quiet dinner. He'd done a bit of research on the San Diego area and found a nice waterfront restaurant, where they could eat over looking the water and just relax.

So they sat, sharing an amazing appetizer of seared ahi tuna and sipping glasses of Vueve Clicquot and for the first time in the past year, Denise was actually relaxed.

"You're staring at me," she smiled, looking across the table at him.

"I was," he nodded.

"Wanna tell me why?"

"You look relaxed," he smiled, "It's a good look for you."

She blushed slightly, "Great, you made me blush."

Rossi chuckled, "This from the girl who was doing shots with no hands last night?"

"That's different. And I guess it was hardly the behavior of a parent, was it?"

"Arianna is home in Virginia and, I expect, being well taken care of by her grand parents. And as for me? Well, I stopped needing a mother years ago."

It was Denise's turn to chuckle, "I don't know about that, Dave…"

"Touché," he said with a nod. Then, "You needed to blow off some steam."

"I did."

"And tonight, I needed a break, which is why I suggested this."

She sipped from her glass of wine, "I'm glad you did. This place is beautiful and it's nice to sit and relax."

XXXXX

After dinner, they walked along the San Diego waterfront. A cool breeze had picked up, giving Denise a chill. Without a word, Rossi took off his suit coat and slipped it around her shoulders.

She couldn't remember the last time a guy had done that for her, if one ever had. It was sweet, caring, and gentlemanly. She'd known Dave Rossi for a long time and had seen him be a real hound dog. There had been book tours over the years where she'd been afraid to knock on his door in the morning for fear of what she'd find.

But this tour, he suggested sharing the suite. This tour was her turn to celebrate and he wanted to be able to "keep an eye on her". She went along with it, figuring if nothing else, he'd keep her from getting out of hand. So far, he had. They'd had a great time and he'd been a perfect friend and companion.

Tonight's relaxed mood was his suggestion and, truth be told, it couldn't have been a better idea. She needed the relaxation and conversation. The whole night had an almost romantic vibe to it and he seemed to be orchestrating it.

As she walked into the suite, wrapped in his jacket, which smelled like his amazing cologne, she decided that romance with Dave Rossi wouldn't be such a bad thing. She'd always found him attractive, but never really let her mind take it anywhere else. After all, she was married and he…well, he never lacked for female attention.

"Look at this," he mused, walking into the living room, "The hotel has sent us complimentary champagne and strawberries."

"Oooh," she smiled, "Very nice…two of my favorite things."

"Well then," he replied, picking up the small bottle of champagne and pulling off the paper wrapper. "Why don't you go get changed and we can sit and enjoy this."

She laughed, "You don't like my dress?"

"I love the dress," he said, looking up at the simple black dress she wore, "But you know you always get changed when you get back to the hotel."

"And you think you know me so well," she teased, kicking off her black pumps.

"I know you well enough," he returned, loosening the wire around the cork, "Now, are you going to get changed?"

"Yeah, give me a minute…"

She returned a few moments later in a pair of silk pajama pants and a form fitting black t shirt. To her surprise, he'd turned on the faux fireplace and dimmed the lights. The sounds of soft jazz were playing over the in wall speakers.

XXXXX

"Feel better?" he asked, pouring them each a glass of champagne.

She sat next to him on the sofa and took one of the glasses, "Tonight," she began, thoughtfully, "Has been very nice…"

"It has," he smiled, "A change of pace from the first couple of days of the tour."

"Yeah, well, I kinda needed that."

"And I kinda needed this," he sipped his champagne. "I think you did too."

"I did," she admitted, taking a sip. "Not as good as the stuff we had at dinner."

"You liked that, huh?"

She nodded, "I'm leaving all of my wine pairings up to you from now on."

"And I'll leave my shot choices up to you."

She held up her glass in mock toast, "Fair enough." Her eyes studied the tray on the table, "Oh, that is not chocolate sauce to dip the berries in…"

"I was wondering when you'd see it," he laughed, picking up a berry and dipping it into the dark chocolate. Holding it over his other hand, he brought it to her lips.

"You're being such a gentleman," she teased, taking a bite of the berry. For a moment, she closed her eyes, a look of bliss on her features. He found that look very arousing and wondered just what it would take to put that look on her face without the chocolate. She opened her eyes and laughed, "You have to try this…"

To his surprise, she took a berry, dredged it through the chocolate and held it up for him. He took a bite and chewed, while she watched him expectantly. "Well?"

"Very good."

She reached out and wiped the corner of his lips with her thumb, "You had some chocolate on your lip."

He dipped another berry and brought it to her. With a devilish smile, he touched it to the tip of her nose. "And you have some on your nose…"

"Very funny," she laughed, as he popped the berry into his mouth. She picked up a napkin and wiped the chocolate from the tip of her nose. "See if I wipe the chocolate off of you next time."

Taking a chance, he said, "There are better ways to remove chocolate."

He watched as she gave him a sloe smile, "David Rossi, are you flirting with me?"

"I've been flirting with you all night," he seriously said. "Is it working?"

She leaned towards him and kissed him softly, "You tell me."

"If that's all you've got," was his smiling challenge, "I don't think it's worked very well."

"You really are one of my most demanding clients," she said, leaning in and kissing him more surely. "Well? Was that better?"

"For now," he nodded, as they pulled back. He watched as she took a sip of champagne and decided he wasn't going to push things. He didn't want to rush it. He wanted to take his time and not only win over her body, but her heart as well.

"That's it?" she asked, looking at him. "You're not going in for another kiss?"

"I will," he simply said, watching as disbelief took a firm hold of her features. "But there's no rush."

"Wait a minute, I've seen you on the prowl…David Rossi doesn't pull back. David Rossi does a total seek and destroy mission when he finds his target. Unless, you've changed your mind."

"Trust me, Denise," he smiled, dipping another berry into chocolate and bringing it to her mouth. "I have not changed my mind."

"Then what are you doing?" she asked, then bit the berry.

"Taking my time," was his simple response. Seeing that it wasn't enough, he went on, "You're not just a pick up, Denise. You're a friend…"

She raised a brow, but didn't say anything.

"I would love to take you to bed tonight and I have no doubt it would be amazing," he softly said, "But, you deserve better than that. You deserve a man who knows how to treat you…"

"Dave," she blushed.

"Your ex was a bastard and the last couple of guys you told me about…" he shrugged. "Well, obviously they weren't what you needed, or they would still be around."

"And you think that you could be what I need?"

He smiled at her, "I think so. But what I think doesn't really matter. It's what you think that counts."

"I think," she said, leaning in and kissing him softly, "That you're being very sweet, and very gentlemanly…." She kissed him again, harder. "But if I initiate things tonight, you would just be giving me what I need, right?"

"Before we go home," he said, kissing the tip of her nose, "I promise you. You will get all that you need and more, but only when we've both decided it's time."

Denise sat back and took a sip of champagne while she mulled over his last statement.

"Well?" he asked, refilling their glasses.

She nodded, "Okay, we'll do it your way. I only hope this is all worth it for you."

"I'm sure it will be," he winked.