Comparative Kisses

Chapter 2 – Teddy

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to the genius mind of Callie Khouri.

A/N: I really hope the buildup wasn't too much here.

Rayna's first kiss with Teddy was a mixture of so many emotions. She was so tentative about it, so unsure of where it would lead. She was not ready to jump into another serious relationship at the time, but Teddy was not the type of guy you casually date. She went out with Teddy three times before their first kiss. This was a totally new experience for her, wondering if a physical connection was ever going to be made. She knew he was a gentleman and could sense his hesitance, but she wasn't sure if it was because he was unsure about the kiss or unsure about their developing relationship.

The night she met Teddy, she was at the country club celebrating Tandy's birthday. If it wasn't for Tandy, she would have never gone back there, but Tandy begged so she obliged. People started to recognize her as each tour she did gained more traction. As much as she loved being in the spotlight on stage, she hated her private life being constantly documented. If the country club offered one positive, it would be that everyone there knew her already. She wasn't Rayna Jaymes there. She was Rayna Wyatt.

She stood at the bar sipping a vodka soda, pondering the fact that she hadn't had the luxury of having a drink at a bar for several years now. She never wanted to promote drinking when Deacon constantly had to fight those demons.

She was staring across the bar, watching Tandy flirt with her Vanderbilt boyfriend, turned husband. Then right in her line of sight, a very cute, meticulously dressed guy leaned over the bar and raised his finger to the bartender. She figured him to be the bourbon type, but instead the bartender brought over a draft beer. That was the first surprise of the night.

She didn't realize it, but she was staring as he took his first sip. His eye caught hers and then the second surprise hit her. This guy had the cutest, most innocent smile.

"Hi." He said softly. "Sam Adams."

Rayna gave him a skeptical look. "Excuse me?"

"It's a Sam Adams." He took another sip. "You looked very interested in what I was drinking."

Rayna momentarily forgot how nervous she got around guys drinking in bars, shaking away the memories of begging disappointment. "Sorry." She said feeling a bit caught. Sometimes she forgot who she was in this setting, retreating back to that scared girl who left the country club years ago with Kyle. It didn't take long for her to stand up straight and find her confident voice. "You just look like beer would be beneath you."

"Wow." Who did this girl think she was? He, of course, knew who she was from all the tabloid magazines and award shows. "That's a little presumptuous. " He rested the pint glass on the bar, stared at the TV monitor while unbuttoning his left cuff and started diligently rolling up his sleeve. "And what beverage would you think to be on par?" He looked back at her as he started on the other cuff and sleeve.

Rayna couldn't help but notice how confident he was and that intrigued her a bit. The last few years have been filled with battered remarks, bad tempers and angst. Just like that, she was hit with surprise number three. Teddy Conrad was a breath of fresh air. "You know what?" He leaned in to her as he spoke softly. "Don't answer that." He made eye contact with someone across the room, gave what Rayna would later describe to him as a devilish wink, and threw a ten dollar bill on the bar. "It seems you think you know me so well." He looked over again at the person that seemed to be waiting on him. "Have dinner with me tomorrow. I'll prove you wrong."

"Dinner?"

"Yes. Dinner. You know, the meal after lunch."

"Where?"

"Does it matter?" He challenged.

"It might." She smiled, realizing that coming here tonight might not have been the worst thing.

"Here. Meet me here tomorrow." When Rayna made a face, he quickly jabbed at her preconceptions about the country club. "Oh, wait. " He took another sip of his beer. "I bet you hate the country club."

She raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was even wasting her time with this guy. He came off like a pretentious, know-it-all, who was a little too cocky, but something drew her to him. It could have been that smile, but she thought it may be that he wasn't like the rest of those country club types. "Now, who thinks they know who too well?"

"Touché". He started to walk away from her, but turned back toward her one last time. "Seven. I'll make sure I have a bourbon in hand so not to disappoint you."

Rayna stood there in shock. How did he know what she was thinking? She laughed out loud, not remembering the last time she had a flirty conversation that was light and actually fun.

She did meet him for dinner that next night and learned that her instincts were right. Teddy Conrad was not like every ivy league, MBA graduate her father and Tandy tried to set her up with. Sure, he was smart, well-mannered and came from a long-line of wealthy bankers and politicians, but he was also genuine, open and honest. They kept the conversation light and Rayna quickly realized that he certainly was charming. He asked her about her music career, but knew enough not to delve too deep. She told him how she quickly had to learn the business side of her career on the fly and how it terrified her in the beginning. She asked him if he ever wanted to follow in his family footsteps and go into politics. He told her he would take the route only if he could see himself making a difference in a community that needed it.

Rayna hadn't been on a first date in almost twelve years, but she thought it went well. She was definitely intrigued. After Teddy paid for dinner and they were walking out to the parking lot, she suddenly felt nervous. She knew that a first kiss between them was looming. She hadn't kissed another man in all that time, and couldn't believe that she felt like a teenager and not the twenty-eight year old woman she was.

"Where's your car?" Teddy asked, placing his hand on the small of her back.

Rayna pointed to the white BMW, not too far off in the distance. "That's me."

"Ok." Teddy removed his hand from her back and turned to face her. "Thank you for meeting me tonight. I'm hope I showed you that I'm not the pretentious prick you thought I was yesterday." He smiled and his dimples adorned his face.

"Fine. I admit it. I did think you were a pretentious prick."

"And now?"

"Not so much." She replied. Rayna couldn't believe she was letting this stranger charm her.

"Good. I did my job." He said lightly. "Again, thanks for meeting me. Want to do it again?"

Rayna wanted to say yes because everything about this newly formed relationship seemed so easy. When she hesitated, he quickly spoke to fill the silence. "It's fine if you can't."

She wondered what he meant by that, and suddenly her guard went up. Why would he think she couldn't? She was single. Well, she was trying so very hard to be single. "No. I can. I just…." She didn't want to pretend this was easy for her, but she needed to. She wanted to give herself the opportunity to move on. "…I'm going out of town for the next week. When I get back?"

"Sounds good." Teddy said casually.

Then something that Rayna didn't expect, happened. Teddy held out his hand for a friendly handshake. "It was nice getting know you better."

"You too." She couldn't help but keep the shocked inflection out of her voice. She was nervous about kissing another man, but all he offered was a handshake? She was utterly confused.

"I'll wait here until you get safely to your car."

"Okay. Thanks for dinner." It was all she could muster.

As she walked to her car, she thought about what the hell transpired. After the drive home, she contemplated how she could have misread that entire situation. Then it dawned on her. Is it possible that she was now so far removed from this country club world that this was completely normal? That nights after concerts where people got inebriated and had sex with random strangers was not the norm? That her past relationship with Deacon and their sexcapades were not what the average person did? Had the last three years of the toxic relationship with Deacon completely blinded her?

After being away for the week, Rayna came home to an invitation sent with flowers from Teddy to take her out again. Maybe she wasn't completely blind? Maybe he did like her? Maybe he was attracted to her?

The card on the flowers said to meet him tomorrow afternoon by the Cumberland River benches. She knew exactly the spot, but when she arrived she was surprised to see him somewhat out of his element. She assumed this was out of his element. Dressed in jeans and a tucked in casual button-down, she took note of the bottle of champagne and picnic basket.

"Wow. This is really nice." She observed as she approached.

"Glad you like it. I wasn't sure if you really wanted to head back into a fancy restaurant or the country club for that matter. I'm starting to think that's not your scene." He pointed to the blanket he laid out, offering her a seat.

As Rayna sat, she studied him as he took a seat next to her. "You thought right."

Teddy poured two flutes of champagne. "You okay with this?" He was referring to the champagne.

Rayna thought that was another weird comment from Teddy. She tried to make light of it. "Well, it's not Cristal." She joked, but she quickly realized Teddy thought she was serious. "Teddy, I'm kidding." She couldn't help but inquire. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Teddy grew serious, his eyes searching hers. "Can I be completely honest?"

"I didn't know we were not being completely honest."

Teddy decided to be as direct as possible. "I learned a lot about you in the past week and a half."

Rayna started to think that is what she liked about Teddy, which was now completely erased. "Tabloids?"

"I'm not proud that I actually read that garbage, but it seems that you have been through it a bit over the past few years."

Rayna put her head down, embarrassed that he may now know too much. "You can say that."

"I just don't want to do anything to upset you. If drinking in the afternoon is not okay, I hope you would tell me."

Rayna looked at him. "What do you want me to say, Teddy? That I'm proud of the hell I let myself be put through? Because I'm not." She looked to the sky, willing the liquid pools to stay put. She didn't want to cry in front of Teddy, especially over Deacon. "I like to think I'm stronger now for it."

Teddy told Rayna that afternoon that she didn't have to get into it if she didn't want to, but to his surprise, she did. She explained how things deteriorated over time. She didn't go into too much detail, but she definitely painted a PG rated version of the picture.

In return, Teddy told her about his college flame Peggy and how he never felt like he could truly trust her. She always had an ulterior motive, pushing him to live his father's life and not his own. That afternoon they opened up to each other a bit and the circumstances of their pasts brought them closer together.

As they packed up their picnic lunch and made their way to the parking lot, Rayna wondered what it would be like to kiss Teddy. Again, she was a little bit nervous. Again, she wondered how different it would feel, laced with emotion and caring versus whiskey and anger.

He walked her to her car and after she unlocked it, she spun around to face him. "Thanks for the picnic. It was fun."

He gave her his signature dimpled smile. "That was the point."

Rayna decided to give him a signal that she wanted him to kiss her and she leaned into him just enough to give him the signal. She felt Teddy lean in, but instead of a romantic gesture of any sort, he placed both of his hands on her shoulders, tilted his head, and kissed her on the cheek. "See you soon?" He asked as he put enough distance between them so he didn't mistake their interaction to anything more than what was on the surface.

"Okay." Again, Rayna could not keep the skepticism out of her voice.

Rayna watched as Teddy walked away and she again could not figure him out. She swore she was no longer going to do this with him. If he was going to be completely honest with her, she was going to return that sentiment the next time she felt like she did at this very moment – confused and slightly disappointed.

A few days later, she found herself walking down Broadway after having brunch with Teddy. As they popped in and out of local stores, laughing and joking, she realized they were forming some sort of friendship. He definitely flirted with her, touching her playfully when it wasn't necessary. She was guilty of the same. She shoved him back a few times when he was being a little too playful.

As they continued about their day, a reporter or two came out of nowhere and snapped their picture. She seemed unfazed, but she could tell Teddy was taken back a bit. As she started becoming more and more successful, a piece of her privacy was taken from her. Deacon had been there for that transition in her life, knowing exactly when she needed to play into that role and when she needed him to make her excuses for her.

Within minutes, she could tell Teddy was uneasy, borderline uncomfortable. When they entered a hat store on lower Broad, she feigned interest of the display on the wall, while she spoke. "I'm sorry about that."

He turned toward her, trying to make eye contact, but unsuccessful. "About what?"

She smirked, as she picked up a navy hat. "Is this where we are going to pretend that you are not bothered by the men with cameras every time we hit the sidewalk?" She lifted her concerned blue eyes to his softer brown ones.

"I don't pretend, Rayna. It doesn't bother me, but I can't say I'll ever get used to it. I'm not used to being followed by anyone on a date."

His admittance surprised her. She held the hat in her hand, but turned to face him. "So this is a date?"

He gave her a skeptical look, clearly confused by her question. She continued, lowering her voice a bit. "I wasn't a hundred percent sure. The last few outings didn't necessarily end like a date." She was mortified, avoiding eye contact as she placed the hat back on the shelf.

"My heart wanted it to be a date, but my head was a little unsure."

"Why's that?" She questioned. "Because of the tabloids."

"Honestly?" He asked. "Partially."

"I thought you said the paparazzi didn't bother you." She teased.

And then it happened. "I thought it would have bothered you." Her first kiss with Teddy happened in the middle of that hat store on lower Broad. He cupped her face, leaned in for a gentle kiss, but he lingered for a bit longer than she expected. When he pulled back, he was grinning in that way she found completely adorable. "It doesn't bother me at all." He reached over her right shoulder and grabbed the blue hat from the shelf that she was previously holding. He held it as a shield from potential onlookers, as he leaned in again. She giggled right before his lips connected with hers again. It was sweet, gentle and playful. It was everything a first kiss should be.

-Please review!