Chapter 12 - Mr. Monk and the Christmas Surprise
After a long while, Adrian glanced at his watch. "It's a quarter to midnight," he murmured into her ear, while his hands caressed her waist. "We should probably go back inside." He let his lips wander over her neck.
Natalie sighed, tilting her neck to give him better access. "I suppose so," she agreed, the reluctance in her voice matching his own.
"Or," he continued, sliding his hands up the smooth skin of her back, "maybe we could just… leave… and go back to my place."
She shivered at the suggestive tone in his voice, but made herself pull back slightly. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just…"
"I know," he said, exhaling mightily. "We should… take things slow."
"I think it'd be best. For a little while, anyway." She stroked his cheek, marveling at the change that had come over him tonight. He almost seemed like a different man. Or maybe this was the man he had been before Trudy had died.
Adrian, to his own surprise, had to actively restrain himself from doing more than just kissing. He desperately wanted to take her back to his apartment for more… privacy. Somehow, though, he had sensed she wasn't yet ready to go that far, but it didn't stop his body from longing for more than what the circumstances allowed.
The clip-clip-clip of high heels on tile, very nearby, caused them both to sit up and attempt to hurriedly straighten their rumpled hair and clothing. A moment later, Sharona came around the corner, breaking out into a smile when she caught sight of them.
"There you two are," she said with obvious relief. "Dr. Bell said he'd seen you come out here, but I didn't realize you'd be on the far end of the terrace, or I wouldn't have volunteered to come get you. My feet are killing me! Randy and I have been dancing all night!"
Her practiced eye took in the still slightly rumpled clothes, Natalie's mussed hair, and the spots of color in Adrian's cheeks, and she couldn't quite hide a knowing grin. "C'mon, it's almost zero hour. We need to do the countdown and have a champagne toast!"
Adrian grabbed Natalie's hand as they followed her back inside. "How does she move so fast on those things?" he murmured to Natalie as they both walked swiftly to keep up.
"Lots of practice," she whispered back, squeezing his hand. "It's an art form."
The ballroom was even more crowded than it had been before they'd fled to the terrace, but Sharona weaved skillfully through the masses of people, and they followed in her wake. Thankfully, the far table where Randy, Leland and T.K. were seated was in a quieter and less crowded section of the ballroom, most people preferring to be in the thick of the action.
"Hey, she found you!" Leland greeted them with a broad grin. "We thought you'd ditched the party."
"No such good luck," Adrian muttered, thinking longingly of his quiet, orderly apartment, and his comfortable queen-size bed. And the woman next to him in that bed…
"We wouldn't miss the champagne toast to the new year," Natalie said, smiling, and subtly poking him in the side.
"Of course not," he agreed, surprising her by wrapping his arm around her waist in a very public display of affection. Leland, however, didn't seem fazed. Nor did Randy. It seemed that their "secret" was out.
"Speaking of champagne…" Randy finished filling the six flutes on the table. "Help yourselves! It's almost midnight."
The bandleader began the countdown just a few moments later. "Five… four… three… two… one! Happy new year!" They all clinked glasses and drank as the band began playing "Auld Lang Syne." Then Leland kissed T.K., Randy kissed Sharona… and Adrian kissed Natalie.
Natalie's heart leaped as his lips met hers. She hadn't been sure if he would kiss her at midnight. Kissing in a shadowed, semi-private terrace was one thing. Kissing in a brightly-lit ballroom in front of hundreds of people was another. But he didn't even hesitate.
From across the room, Dr. Bell smiled fondly as he watched their kiss. He had a feeling his sessions with Adrian were going to be much more interesting this year.
About an hour later, T.K. (having consumed much less champagne than her husband, who was currently snoring loudly in the passenger seat) dropped them off at Natalie's house. The night had grown chilly so, after hurried goodbyes, they'd hastened up the walk and into the warmth of the house.
Julie had apparently gone to bed, as the downstairs was dark except for the lights of the Christmas tree. They didn't bother to turn on any other lights; the soft white glow provided enough illumination for them to hang up their coats.
Natalie had barely closed the closet door and turned around when Adrian pulled her close and kissed her hungrily, the thirty minute ride from the hotel apparently being too long of a wait for him to bear anymore. They hadn't done any more than hold hands in the car, not wanting to make T.K. uncomfortable.
He was much more… aggressive… here in the privacy of her home than he'd been on the hotel terrace. Before she quite knew what was happening, he had her backed up against the closet door, his tongue in her mouth, and his hands moving down her back.
Natalie gasped, partially in pleasure and partially in shock, when his hands moved over her rear end. He pressed her body snug against his, and she couldn't help but moan when she felt what was unmistakably his erection pressing against her groin.
A few short hours ago she'd wondered aloud if he was even capable of a sexual relationship, and now he was tugging at the hem of her dress - tugging it up - and seemed intent on proving her fears wrong right against her own closet door. When her daughter was sleeping just upstairs.
"Adrian," she managed to gasp against his mouth. He moaned and began kissing the side of her neck, his busy hands stroking the backs of her thighs. Her knees were turning to jelly and she knew she had to stop things now, or else her tenuous self-control would shatter.
"Adrian," she said again, a bit more forcefully this time. "Julie's upstairs… we shouldn't…"
His hands and mouth both stilled at her words, and he drew back, his breathing raspy. "No… you're right." He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, willing himself to settle down. "I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize." He wasn't the only one who needed to settle down. She hadn't felt this worked up in years. "It's just… we're taking it slow, remember?"
He gazed at her, his eyes fairly burning with desire. "Not too slow, I hope."
She swallowed hard, and wondered if he knew what the expression on his face was doing to her self-control. "I think we'll know when we're ready."
Adrian wanted to say that he was ready, right now, but just nodded instead. Even if he felt ready, she obviously wasn't, and he needed to respect that.
He escorted her upstairs and spent a few minutes kissing her goodnight, very gently, outside her bedroom door. After that, he ducked into the bathroom to take a cold shower. He had a feeling he was going to get very well acquainted with cold showers in the ensuing weeks.
When Julie wandered down to the kitchen the next morning, she was surprised to find her mother already up and making breakfast - and looking very chipper for someone who hadn't gotten home until one in the morning.
"How was the party?" she asked, pouring herself a glass of orange juice.
"It was great," Natalie said, smiling to herself as she whisked eggs in a stainless steel bowl. "We had a good time."
"Did Mr. Monk have to shake hands with anyone?" Julie wandered over to the toaster and popped in a bagel.
"A few people, but he handled it well," Natalie replied, adding some salt and dried dill to the frothy egg mixture.
"And did you get a kiss at midnight?" Something in her daughter's voice made Natalie stop her breakfast preparations and turn around to face her.
Julie was looking at her with one eyebrow cocked, her expression eerily similar to one her grandmother often had around the socially scandalous.
"Why would you ask that?" Natalie said, attempting nonchalance, but the slight quaver in her voice betrayed her.
Her daughter grinned. "Might have something to do with a certain goodnight kiss I saw last night."
"Julie!" Natalie hissed, horrified. Had her daughter witnessed what had gone on against the closet door? Her face flamed crimson at the thought of it.
"Mom, chill. I heard you guys come upstairs and I opened my door to say goodnight, but when I saw you were… busy… I decided to go back to bed." Julie's bagel popped up and she began slathering cream cheese and jam on it.
Natalie relaxed slightly. Julie had only seen the comparatively mild embrace outside her bedroom door, not the exceedingly more amorous one downstairs. "Yes, we kissed at midnight too," she said shortly, going to back to whisking her eggs.
"Does that mean it's official?" Julie asked, taking her bagel to the table.
"What's official?" Adrian asked, catching her remark as he came into the room.
Natalie spun around and opened her mouth, but Julie beat her to it. "You guys," she said casually, gesturing with her knife. "You're officially a couple now?"
"A couple of what?" Adrian asked, confused, looking from her to Natalie.
Julie rolled her eyes. "No. I mean a couple. You know, romantically involved?"
Natalie sighed, rubbing her forehead. "She saw you kissing me goodnight outside my bedroom," she explained.
"That's good," Adrian said, his matter-of-fact response garnering stares from both women.
"Why is that good?" Julie asked warily.
"Because now you can see me kiss her good morning, too," he replied, and did just that. It wasn't a quick peck on the lips, either, but a long, slow, tender kiss that had Julie's cheeks burning as she averted her eyes and wished to God she hadn't said anything in the first place.
Adrian broke the kiss after a long minute and smiled down at Natalie. "Good morning," he said softly.
Natalie smiled back, feeling breathless and warm all the way down to her toes. "Good morning."
Julie grabbed her plate and decided to have breakfast in her room. "If you need me, I'll be upstairs, pretending I'm anywhere but here."
Adrian smirked in satisfaction as she pounded up the stairs. "I thought that'd do the trick."
"Aren't you clever," Natalie said, impressed. She went back to whisking her eggs. "Sit down, I'll make you an omelet."
He didn't sit down, but slipped his arms around her waist from behind and started nuzzling her neck with his lips. "Mmmm. I'd rather do this."
"Adrian," she murmured, her protest weak even to her ears. "How do you expect me to concentrate on cooking breakfast while you're doing that?"
"Who needs breakfast?" he replied, kissing her cheek.
"I do; I'm hungry," she said, laughing as he playfully nibbled on her ear.
He heaved an exaggerated sigh and let her go. "This had better be an amazing omelet."
Julie came back downstairs, dressed in jogging attire, as they were enjoying their amazing omelets. "Can I come into the kitchen or are you guys still playing kissy-face?"
He and Natalie exchanged amused glances. "'Kissy-face' can be arranged," Adrian informed her cheekily.
"Oh, for Pete's sake," Julie muttered, grabbing a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.
"Bet you wish you hadn't opened that can of worms," Natalie remarked, shamelessly enjoying her daughter's discomfiture.
"I didn't realize I'd walked onto the set of When Harry Met Sally," Julie returned.
"Who are Harry and Sally?" Adrian asked, nonplussed, as Natalie laughed.
"It's a movie about two people who are friends for a long time, and then they realize that they're in love," she explained.
"Sounds familiar," Adrian said, smiling.
Julie rolled her eyes as she adjusted her hoodie. "If you guys are going to be like this for the rest of winter break, I think I'll go back to the dorm early." When she left the kitchen, Natalie followed her.
"Julie, wait," she said, grabbing Julie's arm to stop her from opening the front door. "You're… okay… with this, aren't you? With Mr. — I mean, with Adrian and me being… together?"
Julie was going to crack another sarcastic joke, but when she saw her mother's anxious expression, she decided to take pity on her. "Mom, it's fine. I'm happy for you. For both of you."
Natalie's anxious frown transformed into a hopeful smile. "Really?"
"Really. I promise. It's just… going to take me a while to get used to all the kissing."
Natalie's expression turned sheepish. "You and me both."
Julie laughed and raised her water bottle in farewell as she jogged out the door, and Natalie returned to the kitchen.
"Everything okay?" Adrian asked as she sat back down.
"Everything's fine," she said, and sighed in contentment. "Just fine."