Chapter TEN
Betty stood at the filing cabinet, absorbed in her task as EJ watched her through his open door. It had been almost two weeks since they'd had dinner together and he was still so happy that she'd shared with him about her amnesia. EJ knew that he should have contacted the authorities in Salem by now to let them know that Samantha was alive and that Nicole was in jail for a murder she didn't actually commit. The thing was though that if he did that they would immediately turn up on Betty's doorstep, demanding to know the whole story and EJ worried what that would do to her.
He doubted the Salem police department would have the same vested interest he did in making sure that Sami wasn't anymore damaged by this nightmare than she already was. It really concerned EJ what hearing of her past would do to Sami, especially as he'd seen for himself her reaction to his story which was in fact their story but she didn't know that of course. Besides EJ reasoned, Nicole more than deserved to spend as much time as possible in jail after what she'd done to Sami and he'd deal with any consequences that came of his decision himself.
In the meantime however, he and Sami grew closer every day. She was confiding more and more to him and EJ wasn't sure how much longer he could hold himself in check. It was obvious that Sami had grown very comfortable with him and felt safe around him which was very important to EJ. The last thing he wanted to do was add to the trauma she'd already suffered through. But at the same time he was beginning to feel that the time was right to perhaps advance their relationship to the next step.
He'd caught Sami looking at him sometimes and she'd look away quickly, pretending to work but he'd seen the blush in her cheeks and couldn't help but feel his hopes rise. EJ didn't know if it was all wishful thinking on his part but he thought he definitely detected something in the way Sami would look at him sometimes. It had been hard to work this closely with the woman he loved and keep that love a secret from her but EJ had endured it because he wanted nothing to go wrong this time between them. They had both already suffered through so much that EJ didn't want to ruin things now when they were so close to having it all again by pushing too hard too soon.
That being said though EJ couldn't help but think a little dinner date wouldn't be too much of a leap and he had the perfect idea as well. Sami's birthday was in November but seeing as she didn't know that then EJ was going to suggest they pick an arbitrary date to celebrate her birthday. He was thinking tomorrow night which would be a Saturday. That suited EJ as he absolutely loathed the weekends because they were days that he couldn't see Sami. This way he would still get to see her Saturday and then if all went well who knew where the evening might take them. It was almost finishing time and EJ decided that now would be a perfect time to put his plan into action. He stood up and walked out of his office and Sami looked up at him from where she was typing and smiled.
"I'm almost done with that Lawson paperwork," she told him, "I'll have the letter ready for you to sign in a minute EJ."
"No rush," said EJ, coming to sit on her desk as she tapped away at the typewriter, "Actually there was…"
EJ didn't get any further because there was a knock on the door.
"Sorry," Betty apologized with a smile and got up, answering the door.
EJ blew out an impatient breath, waiting for her to deal with whoever it was on the other side of the door. He couldn't see who it was because he was on the wrong side of the room but became immediately curious when he heard Sami's surprise.
"Oh… umm… okay… thank you."
Sami slowly closed the door and turned back around and EJ's eye brows shot up when he saw she was holding a modest sized bouquet of flowers.
"They're for me," she said rather unnecessarily and looked very surprised by that fact.
"They're lovely," said EJ, keeping his face carefully neutral even as every muscle in his body tensed at this unexpected development, "Who are they from?"
"I don't know," said Betty with a bit of a frown as she looked for and found a card, "But there is card."
EJ found himself literally holding his breath as he waited for her to open it and prayed that it was from one of her girlfriends from the temp agency or the ladies boarding home she lived in. He stood up then, suddenly unable to sit still as his nerves tightened.
"They're from Peter," said Betty, looking rather taken aback.
EJ's hands balled into fists and he shoved them into his pockets to hide them from her, his jaw tightening as he heard the other man's name on her lips.
"Peter?" asked EJ and hoped that sounded like a casual enquiry because inside he was ready to simply explode.
The thought of anyone other than himself sending flowers to Sami made EJ's blood boil but he just had to stand there and pretend that it was no big deal.
"Peter is my friend Nancy's brother," said Betty, looking at the flowers a little uncertainly.
"And why would Peter be sending you flowers Betty?" asked EJ, a muscle ticking away wildly in his cheek but fortunately she didn't seem to notice.
"Well we kind of had a date the other night I suppose," Betty sighed and wrinkled her nose thinking about it.
Nancy was one of her friends from the temp agency that she'd kept in contact with. They'd arranged to go and see a movie together on Tuesday but when Betty had shown up Nancy had bought her brother Peter along with her. That had been fine until Nancy got mysteriously sick all of a sudden and had begged off, leaving Betty and Peter to go to the movie alone. The cheeky wink Nancy had given her as she climbed into the taxi to leave left Betty in no doubt that this had been a set up all along on her friend's behalf. There wasn't anything she could do though seeing as it was all more or less fait accompli by that stage so she and Peter had gone to the movies together and then he'd taken her out for supper afterwards. He was a very nice young man and pleasant enough company but the whole time Betty couldn't help but wish that it was EJ sitting across from her rather than the sandy haired, freckled Peter. He was good looking in a boyish way and made Betty laugh but there was none of the excitement she felt simply being in the same room as EJ.
Everything about EJ made her pulse race and her heart thump harder in her chest and Betty felt incredibly foolish for having developed such feelings about her boss. She knew he liked her well enough but to think that he might entertain romantic feelings for her was just laughable. This man with his money and breeding could have any woman he wanted and why on earth would he want some little secretary with no memory of who she actually was? It was beyond laughable and even though Betty tried to convince herself of that fact she couldn't help but thrill to his every look, the way he said her name and smiled at her. It was a hopeless situation and Betty didn't know what to do about it. The feelings weren't going away, only getting stronger in fact and many times she would lie in bed at night and think of him and their little anniversary dinner together. She still had the rose he'd given her, pressed between the pages of her bible and she would bring it out almost daily and stare at it, remembering how it felt when he'd given it to her.
"A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet."
His beautiful words still struck a chord deep inside of her even two weeks later. Sometimes Betty felt like he knew her better than she knew herself.
"You never mentioned it," said EJ, the smile on his face feeling forced and fixed by now as he fought the urge to grab her by the shoulders and demand that she give him this interloper's full name so that he could beat the man to the bloody pulp he deserved.
EJ had gotten used to Betty confiding in him regularly nowadays. She would often talk to him about her concerns and worries and just generally what was going on in her life. This was the first EJ had heard of this Peter guy and he wondered if it had been going on for long and what it meant if she was keeping it from him. The uncertainty EJ felt around this new Betty was doing his head in sometimes – there were just too many unknowns for EJ's liking… like who the hell this Peter was!
"Have you been seeing each other long?" he asked and this time there was a definite strain to his voice.
"I only met him for the first time on Tuesday," said Betty and then she gave him a rueful look, "Nancy kind of set us up… without me knowing about it."
"Oh," said EJ, forcibly unclenching some of his muscles at hearing that at least this hadn't been going on for weeks.
That meant he was just in time to nip this thing in the bud before it got messy. He'd had to share Sami for the entirety of their relationship before her amnesia and EJ was damned if he was going to allow that to happen again. He and Sami belonged to one another and no one else… she just didn't remember that right now which made things a little tricky.
"So did you have a good time?" he asked her, watching Betty's face carefully.
"Yes," nodded Betty as she went and found a water jug to put the flowers into.
She arranged them on her desk and EJ stood beside her and they both looked at them.
"I mean it was nice," she said with a shrug, feeling a little embarrassed to be talking about this with him, "It was fine."
"So he didn't exactly sweep you off your feet then?" commented EJ and did an eternal jump for joy at her less than enthusiastic comments about the night.
"It wasn't that," shrugged Betty and looked a little uncomfortable, "I guess I was just caught off guard a bit and I wasn't sure…"
She trailed off then and bit her bottom lip.
"Wasn't sure of what sweetheart?" he asked, using the endearment more frequently around her nowadays.
"It's just that I've never been on a date before," said Betty hesitantly, "I wasn't sure what I should be doing… or not doing. I suppose I was just thrown off because I'd never done that before."
"You and I went on a date," pointed out EJ, a little stung by her comment.
Betty's eyes widened at that comment.
"Oh but that wasn't a date!" she exclaimed, her cheeks going pink.
"What was it then?" asked EJ with the slightest of frowns.
"An… an employer being kind to his employee," stammered Betty.
Only in her wildest dreams did she let herself believe that she and EJ had ever been on anything close to a date. It was too much to think that a man like him would be in anyway interested in her other than as a friend. It had been a bitter pill to swallow for Betty but most days she just accepted that was how it was and got on with things. Besides, when they'd have their little heart to hearts which seemed to happen quite often since both had shared about their past two weeks ago EJ still seemed pretty hung up on the woman who'd died when he'd talk to her about his lost love. There was a kind of awe filled adoration in his voice whenever EJ spoke of Samantha that told Betty that he was still in love with her, even though she was dead. It was kind of hard to compete with a ghost, not that Betty truly entertained the idea of her having any kind of chance with EJ of course.
"And that's all it was?" he pushed her and Betty suddenly found it hard to read his face.
"Of course," she said a little uncertainly now, "And because we're friends."
EJ tried not to grimace at that last comment. His softly, softly approach may have back fired a little for him he was realizing. Of course he didn't want to frighten Sami with coming on too strong but he also didn't want to be relegated to the position of just a friend either. EJ wanted far more than friendship from her and now with this news of another man sniffing around he wondered if he may have miscalculated somewhat.
"Right," said EJ evenly and then looked at her intently, "So are you going to see him again… this Paul?"
"Peter," she corrected him automatically and pulled a little face as she looked down at the card in her hand, "And his note says he wants to take me out on Saturday night."
EJ ground his teeth and counted to ten before speaking.
"You don't sound very keen," he observed, watching as Sami went and sat down at her desk again.
The truth was Betty wasn't very keen because she would much rather be contemplating a dinner date with EJ than with anyone else she knew. But then Betty was telling herself to be practical. Nothing could ever happen between herself and EJ and she should just get on with her life. Maybe going out with Peter would help her forget her silly infatuation over her boss before she made a complete fool of herself in front of him Betty mused. But then that scenario presented its' own problems.
"It's not that… it's… um… it's just that…" Betty trailed off and suddenly looked very uncomfortable.
EJ frowned and grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to Betty as she sat there and took a seat.
"What is it sweetheart?" he asked her with a concerned tilt of his head, seeing that she was fretting over something.
"I… ah…." Betty was blushing now and EJ was finding it increasingly difficult to control himself around her as she watched that delightful pink colour her cheeks and the fact that he was sitting so close to her now.
"It's alright Betty," he reassured her, putting a comforting hand over hers, "You know you can tell me anything."
Betty looked down at his hand that was lying over the top of hers on the desk, his tanned skin contrasting sharply to her much paler complexion and felt a flash of something unsettling go through her. When he was this close to her it was hard to concentrate and Betty was just a mass of strange feelings and her body felt oddly heavy.
"Betty?" he prompted her and this close Betty could see the flecks of green in his dark eyes that were looking at her so kindly.
"I'm worried that if I go out on another date with Peter… or with anyone really…" began Betty hesitantly, "That they'll expect me to… um… you know…"
"Betty," said EJ urgently, unconsciously tightening his hold on her hand, "You don't have to do anything that you don't want to… ever!"
There was a painful lump in EJ's throat at the thought of how innocent and vulnerable Sami was now, even more so than before and the need to protect her welled up inside him again.
"But what if I want to?" she asked him quietly and then blushed furiously.
EJ looked a little taken aback by that question.
"I mean one day… if I wanted to… with someone… to be more than a friend… if they were interested… "
Betty stopped talking then and shook her head, looking away from him.
"I'm making an idiot of myself," she mumbled, wondering what possessed her to even start talking about such a thing with EJ of all people.
It was just that she had a lot of questions about life, her amnesia having blotted out some of the finer details for her and Betty had become accustomed to talking to EJ about them over the last couple of weeks. She just hadn't quite planned on discussing this kind of thing with him.
"And you want to be… more than a friend with this Peter person?" asked EJ, somehow managing to keep the question neutral sounding but feeling anything but inside he had a near blinding need to do some real physical damage to this man, "And you're not making an idiot out of yourself Betty."
"I just want to know what I'm meant to do," said Betty softly, realising she had nowhere to go but forward now, seeing as the damage was already done, "If I like someone and we were on a date, what's the right thing to do? Like what if I go out with Peter again and he wants to kiss me? I don't know… I don't remember…"
"Do you remember kissing Betty?" asked EJ, very intrigued to know the answer to that question.
EJ was still trying to work out exactly what it was that Sami did and did not remember when it came to life.
"No," she said and looked embarrassed, "I've seen it… in the movies and everything but I don't if I've ever done it before… or how to do it right."
Betty pulled away from him then, sitting back in her chair and folding her hands awkwardly in her lap.
"I feel so useless sometimes you know," she almost whispered now, "Like there is all this stuff I should know but I just don't. There are some days that I feel like all I do is make a fool of myself and I wish that I just knew more… understood more things."
"Betty you've had a very traumatic experience," said EJ with a shake of his head, "You shouldn't feel like that. There is no reason to feel badly about yourself at all. So you've forgotten a few things… there is no reason you can't relearn them."
"I guess," said Betty but didn't sound overly confident of that fact
"I'll prove it to you," said EJ, sounding very sure now, "Kiss me."
"What?" she exclaimed, looking at him as though he'd gone mad.
"I'm just trying to prove a point Betty," said EJ calmly.
This Peter business had given him pause for thought and he wasn't about to sit idly by while Sami had her memories peaked by anyone else but him. This, EJ decided determinedly, called for some decisive action on his behalf. He just knew that once they kissed again Sami would no longer be able to contemplate kissing anyone ever again because that had been how it was for him.
"You trust me don't you?" he asked her with a little smile as Betty nodded slowly, "So trust me to help you with this. I'm going to prove to you that there is nothing wrong with you whatsoever sweetheart."
Betty looked at him, her heart hammering in her chest as she contemplated doing as he asked. She didn't even know how they'd managed to get here, it was like she was having a very vivid dream all of a sudden.
"Betty…" he said softly and the way he said her name made Betty's head swim.
She didn't herself think about it then, knowing that she'd regret it forever if she said no to kissing this man, even though he was only doing this to prove a point. Betty leant forward quickly and pressed her lips to his, knowing that if she didn't do it right then she wouldn't have the courage later. Her only knowledge of kissing came from the movies she'd seen since her amnesia so she did what she'd seen the actors doing and simply placed her lips against EJ's not moving them and closing her eyes tightly. She held them there for a second and then broke off the kiss and then looked at him uncertainly. Her shoulders sagged when she saw the way he was looking at her.
"I did it wrong didn't I?" she asked, looking suddenly miserable, knowing for certain now that she'd made a fool of herself, "I knew it."
"It wasn't wrong," said EJ, unable to believe that just like that he'd finally had her lips against his, after all this time, his heart beating erratically in his chest.
It wasn't how she used to kiss him but that didn't matter to EJ, confident that she would soon remember with some gentle encouragement. EJ moved closer to her, so that his nose was practically touching hers as she looked at him uncertainly.
"Betty," he said huskily, his eyelid drooping a little now, the familiar feeling of being lost washing over him when he was this close to her.
EJ tilted his head a little as she remained stock still, almost frozen in place as he very gently nuzzled her nose with his, the soft contact making her breath hitch. Betty felt her eyes begin to close as he lightly brushed his lips back and forth over hers. One of his hands came up to cup her face, his fingers fanning out over her cheek and his thumb softly caressing her chin as he continued to nip and tease at her lips. Betty gave a little whimper, her hand going to his chest to brace herself as she leant evermore into him, the room beginning to spin wildly around her. She had no idea that a kiss could make you feel all these things. She felt light headed and her heart was pounding in her chest but as wonderful as this felt she craved more but Betty had no idea what more was, only knowing she was starting to grow frustrated as EJ continued to gently move his lips against hers.
EJ for his part was in heaven. Even though their kisses were quite chaste at the moment the simple fact that he had Sami's soft lips pressed up against his and her delicate scent in his nostrils, it was enough to nearly drive EJ over the edge. His body that had been deprived of her for so long now cried out for more, responding helplessly to the simple touch. EJ could feel himself getting hard, knew he should stop this before it got out of hand but he was too starved for the taste of her to be able to bring himself to do that. He finally broke the kiss but kept his lips still almost touching hers as they held each other's gaze, his dark and needy, hers wide and startled looking and EJ couldn't stop himself.
"Open your mouth sweetheart," he growled, his lips brushing hers as he issued the command and Sami's eyes widened as she looked at him in confusion.
EJ could see the question in her eyes and knew the best way to explain was to show her. The thumb that was still at Sami's chin pulled down slightly, parting her lips and EJ moved quickly, closing the small distance between them and claiming his prize. Betty gasped in surprise as his tongue found its' way into her mouth, her hand that was still resting on EJ's chest clutching at his shirt as the taste of him exploded in her mouth. She'd had no idea that you could do this in a kiss and instantly found it far more satisfying than merely EJ's lips against hers. Both of his hands went to cup Sami's face now, allowing EJ to deepen the kiss. Betty gave a shaky groan as she felt his tongue begin to stroke hers, the sensation defying description.
Oh god the taste of her in his mouth again after all this time… it was maddening.
It was too much for EJ and he didn't even think about it, his hands leaving Sami's face to reach around her waist and pulled her towards him. Betty offered no resistance as she felt him drag her from her chair so that she was sitting sideways on his lap as he leant back in his chair, neither one of them breaking the kiss as he did. Her arms went around his EJ's neck even as his arms tightened around her waist. Betty had never been this close to a man before and marvelled at how hard every line and angle of EJ's body seemed to be, the sensation a revelation to her. The memories were flooding back for EJ, his body responding helpless at the feeling of her soft breasts pressed up against his chest again and her lovely bottom moving ever so slightly against his rapidly hardening manhood.
Betty was just completely lost in their kisses, her heart was beating so hard and fast that it was almost painful and she couldn't catch her breath at all. Every time she tried EJ claimed her mouth again, over and over so that the room was spinning wildly for her, the only solid thing seemed to be EJ and she clung to him helplessly. She was tingling from head to toe but even more surprising than that was the aching throb between her legs. Right at her centre Betty felt an odd pulsating sensation. Even more shocking than that was when EJ had pulled her onto his lap like that and she'd felt his muscled chest against hers as his tongue plundered her mouth so relentlessly there had been a sudden burst of moisture rush out of that ache between her legs. Betty had never experienced anything like it and would have been more embarrassed if EJ wasn't doing such a good job of distracting her right then. The thing was as well that the longer their kisses continued for the wetter Betty seemed to be getting down there and once again her frustration level began to build even as she was clueless how to satisfy this growing need inside of her. All she knew was that if EJ stopped kissing her now that she was going to die.
Every second that their kiss continued made EJ lose a little more of his control. He was on fire for her, in his head he could already picture himself lying Sami down on her desk, pushing her skirt up and making her part her legs for him as he placed himself between them. He was already easily hard enough to mount her right now and he was beginning to shake with how desperate his need was to do just that. He needed to feel her body stretching as it accepted him, Sami groaning at the effort it would be costing her to accommodate his girth but begging him not to stop - to go harder and deeper inside of her.
One hand that had been at Sami's waist moved to her knee as she still sat sideways on his lap. She began to boldly mimic his kisses, her tongue finding its way into EJ's mouth now and making him emit a groan low in his throat. His hand began to slide up Sami's knee because EJ was frantic to know if she was as wet for him as he was hard for her. Sami had always gotten so wet so quickly for him in the past and nothing had excited EJ more to know that her body was continually that eager for him.
All his grand ideas about taking this slowly had left EJ utterly now as his hand crept ever higher up Sami's leg, his fingers sliding between her thighs. Betty responded so enthusiastically to his kisses it had caught EJ off guard as had his voracious need for her. He'd been controlling himself around her for so long now EJ had thought himself able to continue with that iron grip he had on his will power but he hadn't reckoned with the intoxication of Sami's kisses. How could he have forgotten how powerless he was to stand against them he wondered desperately? From the first moment they'd met and her lips had touched her all those months ago in the cloak room EJ had lost himself utterly in her and he'd been an idiot to think that it would be any different this time round. He needed her more than he'd ever done before in his life right then and that was really saying something because he'd needed Sami more than oxygen before their separation.
It finally filtered through to Betty's consciousness where EJ's hand was headed and she panicked, squeezing her legs together tightly. She was going to die of embarrassment if he found out how soaked she was down there at that moment. Betty was clueless as to why it was happening but she couldn't seem to get her body from pushing out fresh moisture as the minutes ticked by and EJ's kisses continued.
"No!" she gasped, finally breaking their heated kisses as her hand went to try and push EJ's from her leg.
"Please," he groaned loudly, not able bear being denied the delights that he was almost certain would be waiting for him once he found the junction of her thighs.
"No," she said again, desperate to escape EJ now before he discovered her shameful secret.
She wiggled around on his lap, trying to break free but all it did was force continuous little moans of pleasure from deep inside EJ as her shapely backside ground itself against his now rampant hard on.
"Oh god!" he grunted, squeezing his eyes tightly closed and concentrating desperately on not simply losing his load then and there.
Betty took his distraction as a chance to break free from him before he discovered the state of her. She was not sure what was wrong with EJ as he looked like he seemed to be in physical pain right then and she wondered hopelessly what she'd done wrong to make him look like that. It had all felt so unbelievably wonderful to her that she hated to think EJ hadn't been sharing a similar experience. Suddenly Betty felt like a complete fool standing there and she couldn't bear to face him. EJ forced his eyes open just in time to see Betty crossing the room and making a grab for her coat.
"Betty," he mumbled, still trying to get his body back under some kind of control, "Wait!"
But Betty didn't wait, throwing him a last mortified look before disappearing wordlessly out the door, slamming it behind her. EJ tried to stand up and then had to sit down again, in no state to be attempting such a thing right then. His erection strained mercilessly against the material of his trousers and he knew he was in no fit state to chase after her. Even if he could walk in this condition he'd no doubt be arrested as soon as he took two steps out onto the street. EJ groaned loudly and slumped back in the chair, his head rolling right back as he cupped himself through his trousers, trying to alleviate some of the painful throbbing there.
What had he just done he wondered in anguished? Sami had looked horrified when she'd practically bolted from the office. EJ threw a despondent arm over his face and hoped beyond hope that he hadn't just completely destroyed any chance he had with Sami by moving too quickly. He cursed his lack of control having clearly frightened her with coming on so strongly. EJ needed to see her and right away, he couldn't leave things like this between them. The throbbing underneath his hand told him that he was going to have to wait a little bit longer though before tracking down Sami.
"Bloody hell!" he bit out, angry at himself for being such an uncontrolled fool.