Chapter Ten

AN: Thanks for the reviews! They make me very happy, and keep me typing.....

Derek didn't know if he ever felt better in his life than he did at that moment. He was laying naked in bed with his baby girl. She was draped on him, her arm and her leg over the top of him. Last night, he did something he rarely ever did after they made love; he passed out. It was that good. He didn't feel too guilty about it, however. She was out cold, too.

He woke up in the middle of the night to cover them up. The days were incredible, but the nighttimes in the Napa Valley were sometimes chilly. She snuggled next to him, murmured a sigh of contentment, fell asleep, and was still sleeping now.

Now that he was awake, he was watching her, wondering what she was going to say and do when she woke up. He tried to come up with every scenario. Quite a few things crossed his mind. He decided review them, attacking the most unpleasant ones first.

If she woke up and said, "Hot stuff, this was a mistake," he was going to tie her to the bed and make love to her every minute of the day until she admitted that yes, it was most definitely not a mistake.

Then he'd make love to her one more time for good measure.

If she woke up and said this wasn't a mistake, but she didn't know how it happened, he'd tell her the flat out truth. He always wanted her. That was a definite fact. He wanted her so badly for the past three years, it was driving him slowly insane. Flirting brought him some sanity, kept the flame of hope alive, but he truly needed this to happen for an extremely long time.

Then he'd make love to her, just to prove it.

If she woke up and said she was ready to have a full fledged affair with him, that he rocked her world and she wanted to fuck like a rabbit with him every minute of the day, he would tell her, "Thank you", first. That would be a huge compliment and he'd enjoy doing that with her, too. However, then he would do whatever it took to make her fall in love with him at least half as much as he loved her.

Then he would make love to her, to try to show her the huge difference between that and sex.

He didn't consider the last possibility, that she might wake up and say she was in love with him. He knew enough from all the negative signals she was throwing him the last couple of days, from the way she tried to get out of him going in the first place to her comment in the grape field about his heartfelt kiss, that her loving him was simply not the truth. If anything, Derek considered himself a realist.

However, he did have a lot of hope after the last two days. She seemed to really enjoy being with him, and she obviously felt he was a good friend. Now, he knew what he always thought was true; the chemistry between them was explosive. It was the best sex, the first real lovemaking, he ever had in his life. He have to show her being with him, being his lover, was at least worth a chance.

Then he'd make love to her again, to show her that friends don't usually do this together with as much success as they were having.

Anyway about it, he was set to have the time of his life the next few days in the Napa Valley. He had five more days to convince her; they were making great progress, considering it was just two days! He was going to do whatever it took to make his baby girl love him, and maybe even get her to consider keeping the ring he bought for her.

　
Penelope woke up, sated and happy from making passionate love with Derek. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of her life. She rolled on her side and was a little surprised when she looked. The bed next to her was empty. She wasn't worried; he must've stepped out for something.

She stretched, feeling muscles she hadn't used in a long time ache. She smiled; it was a pleasant ache, an awakening in her body. She got up and walked towards the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and blushed. She had kiss bruised lips, her neck had whisker marks; she looked thouroughly wanton.

He wasn't back yet. She decided to shower and put some lotion on. She giggled; they'd both smell like vanilla pear today. She put on her clothes, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

He still wasn't back. She started to get a little worried. She thought that maybe he was hungry and went down already. They did a lot of activity last night; he had reason to be hungry!

All the same, she grabbed her room key, stepped out, and met him in the hallway. He was carrying two lattes.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said. "You're up. I thought I'd surprise you with good coffee. I wanted to get back before you got up, but the line was really long and-"

She smiled. He was babbling. Derek never babbled. He was always calm and cool. He was nervous like she was, it made her heart warm. Poor sweet baby; he was feeling awkward right now.

She knew the best thing to do would be to just not mention what happened last night. It was too early to talk about everything. Maybe tonight they'd discuss it. Right now, she was going to be just like normal.

"Thanks, honey." She took the coffee and smiled. "We have brunch and then another excursion. Ready to go?"

He looked at her blankly. He didn't speak for about ten seconds, then he answered, "Yeah….I guess."

They walked down the hallway together and entered the elevator. She thought it was odd. She was talking to him like she always did, about what the weather was like, what they were supposed to be eating this morning, but he didn't answer. He was a morning person, he was always chatty.

It was fine, really. He needed to see it was fine, everything between them was going to be okay. They could make love again, and things still would be fine. She felt that good about everything. No reason at all to feel awkward.

About three floors down, Derek took her coffee from her.

"One minute," he said, putting both coffees on the ground.

"What?" she said, looking at him, a little confused.

He looked at her for one second, then shoved her against the elevator wall. She gasped in surprise before his mouth covered hers. He kissed her, his mouth working magic and demanding response. He kissed her until her knees were weak, but that didn't stop him. He put his thigh between hers, holding her up, and continued to kiss her.

He kissed her and kissed her.

Then he kissed her some more for good measure.

Finally, they reached the lobby. The elevator door opened. He kissed her for awhile still, then he pulled away from her. He picked up the coffee, handed her hers, and walked out the door, past two other gawking, extremely interested couples.

Penelope held onto the elevator rail, slumped against the wall, and went for a ride with them, just to get her bearings.