Chapter 14: Killian

Killian unlocked the door of his condo, surprised that Emma had agreed to a cup of hot chocolate. He had the idea for a while now but hadn't expected her to take him up on it.

"It's nice in here." She said breaking into his thoughts.

"Aye. I was a bit worried it'd be covered in doilies and lace to be honest." He replied, holding out his hand to take the leather jacket she was wearing.

She snorted as she pulled off the jacket and handed it to him. Brinkley came thrashing out of the bedroom, running at full speed toward Killian who simply braced himself as the canine hopped up onto his back legs and threw his front paws on Killian's shoulder. He scratched the dog's head and said hello before instructing him to get down.

"That's quite the welcome." Emma said. He noticed she had taken a step back, practically pressing herself against the wall when Brinkley had come running out.

"He can be a bit enthusiastic with me. Did he scare you?" Killian asked.

"No." Emma lied.

"Try again." He said, repeating back to her the words she used when she knew he wasn't telling the truth.

Emma huffed. "Fine. I'm not a big fan of large dogs. Especially when they're running full speed in my direction. My uncle bought his sons a puppy when they were kids. They used to get a kick out of getting the dog to corner me or jump all over me. As they got older they taught him to attack me. Well, not really attack but he'd chase me or lunge at me."

Killian frowned. "Your aunt and uncle did nothing about this?" He asked, already knowing the answer to the question.

"They never did it when my aunt could see. She might have stopped it if she knew. My uncle found it funny so he'd encourage them, telling me that dogs could smell fear so I needed to just get over it if I ever wanted the dog to leave me alone."

Killian couldn't stop himself from growling under his breath. "Would you be terribly offended love, that if I ever ran into this uncle of yours that my fist would connect with his jaw immediately?"

Emma laughed. "You'll have to wait your turn behind me. But I hope to never see him, or any of them, ever again."

"Yes, of course." Killian replied, wanting to punch himself for even mentioning it. Of course she wouldn't want to see them. "Would you like to assist me in making the hot chocolate?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Sure." Emma followed him into the kitchen, standing out of the way near the sink as he gathered the ingredients and a saucepan. He held out the bar of chocolate to her which she took and immediately brought to her nose, closing her eyes and inhaling the rich scent. "You put cinnamon sticks in the milk?" She asked, as he placed one in the saucepan.

"Betsy does." He answered. "Would you like to chop up the chocolate? The knives are in that drawer there." He pointed between them. She grabbed a knife and began chopping the chocolate into small pieces. He dreaded bringing it up again, but he wanted to make her comfortable. "Does Brinkley scare you? I can put him back into the bedroom."

"No, he's okay." She replied.

"But the first time we met..." Killian trailed off.

"I know. I don't know why I backed up today but didn't react then. It's weird. I can't explain it. It happens sometimes and not others." Emma tried to explain.

Killian nodded as though he understood. "Brinkley" he called, "come here." The dog trotted into the kitchen right away. "Sit." Brinkley sat, awaiting his master's next command. "Emma here doesn't have a good history with dogs. You'll need to be very nice to her. No jumping. You'll be on your most obedient behavior. Do we understand?" Brinkley offered a bark in response. "Now go shake her hand to tell her you understand."

Killian turned to Emma who was looking at him as though he sprouted another head. "Just go with it, love." Emma shook her head in disbelief but crouched down and held out her hand. Brinkley immediately put his paw in hers. She couldn't help but smile a little. "Smile." Killian told the dog and Brinkley immediately opened his mouth, tongue lolling out to the side. Emma snorted. The dog looked ridiculous. "That's a new one." Killian told her. "Is there anything else you'd like him to do to make you feel more comfortable?"

"What else does he know?" Emma asked, curiously.

"Lie down." Brinkley immediately laid down on the kitchen floor. "Scary movie." Brinkley covered his eyes with his paws. "Bad guy." Brinkley removed his paws and bared his teeth. "Shot you." Brinkley rolled over on his belly, legs sticking straight up in the air. "Nine lives." Brinkley hopped back up into a sitting position. "Chase your tail." The dog immediately twisted in circles trying to catch his tail. "Pretty please?" He sat back on his haunches and lifted his front paws together in a begging motion. "Squirrel!" The dog's ears perked up as he quickly darted his head around as though he were looking for the squirrel.

Emma was laughing so hard she had to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Your dog is ridiculous. I mean, really ridiculous."

"He likes to call himself entertaining. Eccentric, even. I think he quite enjoys making a spectacle of himself. We're working on dancing. I'm trying to teach him to waltz." Killian confessed.

"You...you're teaching your dog to waltz? Wait, you know how to waltz?" Emma asked.

"Of course." Killian said holding out his hand to her.

"Oh no. I don't dance." Emma said taking a step away from him.

"There is just one rule to dancing, love. Pick a partner who knows what he's doing." He replied, taking a step closer to her and wiggling his fingers.

"Why don't you show me what Brinkley knows first?" Emma stalled.

Killian patted his shoulder. "Up." Brinkley went up on his hind legs, his front paws on Killian's shoulders. "It's not quite accurate, but he is a dog."

"Does he know that?" Emma asked.

"Sometimes I wonder." He said to her before looking back at Brinkley. "Dance. One, two-three, four, five-six."

While it wasn't smooth at all, Killian was happy Brinkley had obliged and given Emma a laugh. "Down, now. Thank you Brinkley. Bow."

Brinkley ducked his head and slid his front paws forward for a moment before backing out of the kitchen, leaving Emma and Killian alone.

"And now the fair lady owes me a twirl around the kitchen." Killian said, stepping towards Emma and holding out his hand again.

"But I could never compare to that." Emma tried to stall again but Killian saw right through the technique.

"As you said love, he is a dog so I'm quite certain your dancing would not compare to that of a canine. Now stop stalling love. It's only us. No spectators to judge you." Killian replied softly moving closer toward her.

He watched as her eyes darted around the room, likely trying not to find another excuse as her hands slid into her back pockets. She frowned, lips parting but before she could make another excuse he brought his finger up to her lips. "I dare you." He said, hoping his instincts that she couldn't back down to any challenge were correct.

Killian saw the determination flash through her eyes as she stepped closer to him and placed one hand on his shoulder. Momentarily surprised that it worked, Killian stared dumbly at her for a few seconds before taking her other hand in his and wrapping his other arm around her waist.

Despite being the one to put them in that position, Killian greatly underestimated the effects it would have on him with Emma being in such close proximity. At least at the beach they were side by side. Facing each other, he found he would be content to map the contours of her face; the wispy pieces of blonde hair framing her face that had escaped the loose ponytail down to the elegant line of her jaw and finally to the cleft in her chin he found himself longing to touch. Her head canted slightly to the right and his brain fought with itself against the urge to kiss her or stare into her eyes which were incredibly green up close even in the yellow light of his kitchen.

All logical thought to keep up pretense of wanting to be only her friend disappeared from his mind when her lips parted for a second before her teeth pressed down on her bottom lip. Killian was sure she could hear, if not feel, how hard his heart was beating. His tongue wet his bottom lip and he watched as her eyes followed the movement.

Friendship be damned! His brothers voice yelled in his head. Kiss the woman already, Killian!

He ducked his head slightly, leaning toward her when a loud hissing caused them both to jump. Over her shoulder Killian could see the boiling milk splattering over the sides of the saucepan. Reluctantly he removed his hand from hers and stepped around her to pull the saucepan off the heat. The movement felt so natural it took him a few seconds to realize he was now holding her against the counter with his other arm still around her waist. The hand he had dropped fiddled nervously with the pendant around her neck, her right arm hovered in the small distance between them as though she wasn't sure whether she should touch him or not. He took both her hands and stepped backward pulling her with him. "Sorry love. But now that the milk in the pan has boiled over and we need to start over, perhaps we could try this dance again?"

Emma nodded and placed her hand back on his shoulder. His arm returned around her waist and he forced himself to concentrate. "One, two-three" he started, feet following his words. "Four, five-six." He paused for only a second, leading her through the movement again. When she made no immediate move to pull away from him he repeated the steps again a few more times. "I believe, love" he said, "you've learned to waltz."

Her feet faltered the second he spoke, stepping on his before she all but leaped back, arms coming to her sides. "Told you I can't dance." She said, cheeks pink in embarrassment.

He stepped toward her but her arms came up to cross over her chest and he decided not to push her. "I don't know what you're talking about. You were dancing just fine." He turned and dumped he saucepan of scalded milk into the sink but kept his eyes on her.

"I stepped on your feet!" She argued.

"Only because you started to think about it too much. You completely the steps four times in a row before that without so much as a fraction of a misstep." Killian said calmly.

Emma shrugged. "I don't know."

"Come on." He said, passing her to exit the kitchen. When she followed him into the living room with a wary expression, he handed her the remote and nodded to Brinkley on the chair. "Why don't you see if you can find another show Brinkley likes and I'll focus on making the hot chocolate."

"I didn't think I was that much of a liability in the kitchen." Emma joked but he picked up on the hint of truth in her voice.

"You're not, at least not that I'm aware of. However, I'm merely a man easily distracted by beauty so for the sake of my stove it's best I focus on that and not you." Killian replied, pleased when a pink blush stained her cheeks and neck and she turned to face Brinkley instead of replying to him.

Killian busied himself with measuring out a second batch of milk and keeping a close eye on it this time, listening as Emma flipped through the channels. "Oh Brinkley, look." He heard her say, followed by the rustle of Brinkley's collar. "It's Too Cute. Have you watched these before? It's about baby animals...oh, hello." Killian popped his head around the corner to see that Brinkley had hopped up on the couch next to her, placing his head on her lap. He smiled to himself, impressed his dog was winning her over all on his own.

When the hot chocolate was done, he poured it into large mugs and carried them out into the living room. Looking at Brinkley he frowned. "Emma is a guest, not a pillow." Brinkley whimpered and Emma laughed. He held out the mug to Emma. "Your chocolate confection, mi'lady. Brinkley get down."

Emma took the mug from him and shifted on the couch, making room for Killian to sit down. "He could have stayed."

"Not unless you're a fan of slobber in your hot chocolate. Despite being a dog who knows he cannot have chocolate, he loves the smell." Killian said sitting next to Emma.

Emma wrinkled her nose. "Oh well in that case."

"So do you think he's found a new show to add to his favorites list?" Killian asked gesturing toward the screen where a litter of Scottish Fold kittens were tumbling over each other to attack a feather.

"I'm not sure. He's been watching but how you tell if he really likes it? Maybe he'd like puppies better." Emma said.

Killian picked up the remote and brought up the guide. The next episode was for a litter of Irish Settlers. "We could find out?" He didn't want to presume she would stay longer than it took her to drink her hot chocolate and the current episode was not even halfway through.

"You want me to stay for another episode?" Emma asked, surprise in her voice.

"Why wouldn't I?" Killian countered.

"We barely know each other and we've already spent five hours together." Emma replied.

"Do you have a time limit on how long you can be in someone's company?" He asked.

"Of course not, I'm just saying." Emma argued.

Killian frowned not sure where the conversation was going to go. "I don't wish to keep you here if you don't want to be, Emma. I rather enjoy your company and have no qualms about spending multiple hours at a time with you, if you're amenable to the idea."

"If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be. It's just..." She trailed off frustration evident in her tone.

"Just what?" Killian asked trying to understand.

"Nothing. Never mind. Just forget it." Emma huffed.

"Emma," he started, trying to figure out what had happened.

She stood abruptly, thrusting her mug out to him. "I'm just gonna go, thanks for the hot chocolate."

He stood up as well, taking the mug from her and placing it on the end table. "I don't know what happened here."

"Nothing. I just gotta go okay?" She crossed the room, yanking open the door to the hall closet and pulling out her leather jacket.

"At least allow me to walk you to your car." Killian replied.

"I've been walking alone to my car for years! I don't need a damn escort!" Emma nearly yelled at him, clearly becoming more agitated by the moment.

Killian desperately wanted to know what he had done to change her mood so drastically but realized it was not in his best interest to push her now that she was so upset. He held both hands up, palms facing her. "Okay." He said simply.

She softened a fraction. "Bye, Brinkley." She said looked at his dog curled up on the chair watching them with interest. Her eyes drifted back to him. "Good night."

Before he could reply she had turned and strode out his front door, shutting it firmly behind her. Despite the voice in his head yelling at him to run after her and find out what was wrong, he forced himself to remain standing in the same spot until he was sure she had gone.

"Do you have any idea what that was about?" Killian asked Brinkley.

The dog looked at him with wide eyes as though he was indicating he had no idea what happened either. Killian took the mugs to the kitchen, pouring the remainder of the hot chocolate down the sink and placing the mugs in the dishwasher.

Flipping back down into the couch, he stared at the television only half paying attention to the baby animals becoming acclimated to their surroundings on the screen.

The episode eventually ended, the litter of kittens with the folded ears all finding new homes with loving families, except one kitten who would stay at the house with his mother. Killian looked up at the clock realizing Emma would have gotten home by now. He wanted to call her, text her, something to make sure she had arrived home okay but he knew she wouldn't appreciate the gesture. The next episode started, the preview showing a litter of five tiny puppies barking away caught Brinkley's attention, who hopped up on the couch next to Killian, nudging his head against Killian's hand for pets. "So you do like this show." Brinkley barked in response.

Killian managed to make it through a few more episodes before he reluctantly drug himself to bed, Brinkley following on his heels. He slept later than usual, the sun already midway into the sky when he pulled himself from bed. He checked his phone, halfheartedly hoping she had called or texted him at some point throughout the night. The screen remained blank.

Annoyed he stomped to the shower, twisting the knob to increase the hot water and undressed quickly and stood under the hot spray, the temperature almost painful, trying to clear his head.

Two hours later his resolve not to contact her crumbled for a moment. Grabbing his phone he brought up his text messages and quickly shot one off to her.

Brinkley would like to thank you for introducing him to his new favorite show.

Don't hate me?

Also, I just wanted to laugh at myself for previously thinking this story could be wrapped up in 20 chapters. And thank you all for sticking through this really, really, REALLY slow burn. Even I didn't think it would take this long, but the end is in sight. I promise.