These Things Take Time/CH 1
Daniel and Betty entered the restaurant and ordered. When she returned from the restroom, Betty noticed that Daniel had slipped one of his shoes off, but she didn't say anything.
"What looks good?"
"Hmm...well, the Basil Chicken sounds like something you'd probably like."
"Ooh, yum! That does sound good! Are you getting the Beef and broccoli?"
"Of course. Why fight tradition? You want some of my pot stickers?"
"Naturally. What about dessert?"
"Mmm….cheese cake egg roll, with coconut ice cream looks nice."
"Perfect! Sakki?"
"You have to ask? But don't have three, remember. Two is your limit."
"Hey, I'm a big boy. I can handle three, Betty. I'm not driving."
"Sorry, I'd just prefer you didn't drunk dial me to help you plant your ficus at three in the morning, Daniel. Please stick to two? For me."
"I called you at three in the morning to plant my ficus? I don't even have a ficus."
"I know. Actually...a few times you drank too much sakki you asked me to do all kinds of things. But...we won't go there."
He leaned forward, smiling conspiratorily, "Oh yeah, this is good. Tell me what I wanted you to do, Betty. Come on. Please?"
"NO! Daniel...it doesn't matter. You were drunk. I just put you to bed."
"You did, huh? Thanks! Did I...get friendly? Really? How come you never told me this?"
"Sometimes. A little." She shrugged, "You were drunk. You didn't remember."
"Why didn't you slap me?"
"I did. A few times."
"But not...every time, huh? This is very interesting. You know you hit on me once when you were loaded, too, Betty. I don't think I ever told you that."
She looked shocked, "What are you talking about? No, I didn't!"
"Oh, yes you did."
"When?"
"The night Matt went off to Africa. You drunk dialed me, don't you remember? You said you had just gotten your landlord to let you move back in after Amanda and Marc forgot to tell you they hadn't been paying rent. But you didn't have any furniture yet. So, I told you you could come over and stay with me."
"I remember that. We stayed up all night doing shots. Which I never do. I don't remember hitting on you, though."
He smiled, "Well, you probably don't remember challenging me to a game of strip poker, either, then. Which you won, by the way. You're pretty good. I felt sorry for you, being tortured by Wilhelmina. Remember, she had your hair all crazy and your skin was red."
"Sure, I remember that. Where did I sleep? Your couch?"
"Nope. You insisted we share the bed."
"I did?"
"Yep. You said you were so drunk and so tired, I was safe. I teased you, saying how did you know you were safe and you said you always felt safe with me.
So...I felt kind of bad for peeking when you were getting undressed for bed. But then, after we both fell asleep, I woke up and you had your hands on my butt."
She put her hand up to her mouth, "Oh my God, I remember that...sort of. Daniel, I'm so sorry! I woke up and was so embarrassed to be in my underwear that I got dressed and left before you woke up."
He laughed, "Yeah. That was funny. You were so cute. Especially in your underwear."
He put his hand on hers, and she felt his foot sliding up her leg slightly.
She gulped down her water, almost choking, her eyes wide, "Daniel…" she whispered, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing. Betty, come on, it's a restaurant. What do you think is going to happen if we have a little PDA, huh? They're not going to kick us out for playing footsie under the table or nuzzling, or kissing or making out a little. Try it. Let your hair down a little."
She sighed, "Daniel...I don't know."
He kissed her neck, and literally took her hair out of the clip she had it secured in, and let it fall across her shoulders and back, as he nipped at her ear, "God, you have sexy hair, Betty."
"I do? Thanks. You too. I mean...uh...the shrimp looks good. Doesn't it?"
He smiled, putting his arm around her and running his finger on her shoulder, "Are you nervous or something?"
"No. Maybe. What are you doing?"
"Betty, relax. I honestly don't remember how to do that bra trick that I apparently taught my nephew. I guess I'll have to ask him to refresh my memory. Or better yet, go to the source and ask Becks.
Don't worry. You're safe here. As long as we're never alone together. Then I'd have you under my spell immediately. Isn't that what you seem to think?"
"No. Of course not. Why would you say that?"
He moved next to her in the booth, leaning close to her, "Because, you're acting like you're afraid of me all of a sudden. And you don't need to be. This is silly, Betty. You know me. You can trust me
I mean, how many times have we spent all day and night together and I never hit on you before, right? Just because I'm hitting on you now, doesn't mean...you have to be afraid of me. I know no means no. I might try to change your mind, of course, but I'm not going to attack you or anything, I promise. Scout's honor.
So, until you're comfortable with us...taking things to the next level, I'll just try to ignore how intoxicating that vanilla stuff you use smells, and how smooth your skin is and how…" he ran his finger across her lower lip, "incredibly full and sexy your lips are."
She swallowed, her eyes following him, and trembled slightly as he touched her. "I...you think my lips are...are...sexy?"
"Oh yeah. Very sexy, Betty." He kissed her neck lightly and smiled as he saw her reaction. "I don't make you...nervous doing this, do I?"
She shook her head, not seeming very convincing. "No. Uh...no, not really. I just… it's just...different. Like I said."
"You seemed more relaxed before. Last night. You didn't seem to mind me kissing you. Was that just because you were still in shock that I kissed you, or that I finally admitted I love you? Or...is this sudden phobia of me because you started thinking about us actually having sex?"
"You've...you've thought about that? About us?"
He rolled his eyes and smiled, "Uh, yeah. Betty. Come on. I am a guy! Maybe I'm not sixteen anymore, so I don't think about it twenty-four seven like DJ, but...still.
This is me, Daniel. You have MET me, right? Of course I've thought about it. A lot. You mean, you haven't? Like at all? That's sort of...well, I think I'm insulted. Really? Never?"
She blushed, and he grinned, touching her cheek with his finger, "Aha! Okay, I see you have actually pictured us together, huh? So...how was I? In your mind, that is."
She looked down, "Daniel...I'm really not comfortable with this conversation right now. Can we please...talk about something else? Stop….doing that! It tickles!"
He laughed, shrugging as he moved his foot away from hers, "What? What am I doing? Oh, you mean my foot? Geez, Betty. Relax, sweetie. It's just a foot. It's perfectly harmless.
To be perfectly honest, it's actually a diversionary tactic. See, if you're 'distracted' by my foot, you won't notice my hand over here, moving your hair aside, so I can do this. And this."
He dropped a few well placed kisses on her shoulder and neck, moving slowly but surely towards her breasts. She drew a breath, as she inhaled his scent and shivered at his touch, Betty felt like she must surely be hallucinating all this. This couldn't be Daniel...acting like this towards her. Could it?
She licked her lips and as she chewed on her bottom one, she heard Daniel let out a low moan, as he sucked on her neck and she felt one of his hands lightly caress her arm, and the other start sliding up her leg.
She turned to face him, shock clearly on her face, as she instinctively slapped him without stopping to think, "Daniel! What are you doing?"
He leaned back, "Sorry! I...just got turned on when you chewed on your lip like that. You're...you slapped me? Really?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. But...slow down, please. I'm not one of your one night stands, Daniel."
He nodded, and moved away. "Of course, Betty. I didn't mean to insult you. I'm sorry. It's just. Well...it's been a long time. I'm so happy to finally have you know where my head is and I guess I just got excited. You know, thinking about how great we're going to be. You know, together. As a couple. We have so much in common and we know each other so well. We work so well together as a team. I just started thinking how amazing that is going to be once we do…well, you know. Like off the charts fantastic."
"Daniel."
"Sorry. Clearly, you're not comfortable talking about this yet. But...can I get some kind of timeline? Uh...three dates is customary. Technically, this is our third date, but I'm willing to downgrade it to our second, since it was sort of last minute."
She chewed her food, and started thinking for a minute, "After the launch."
He leaned forward, "Yeah?"
"We'll...talk about it then. But until then, can we please just keep it a little...less intense right now? I'm…"
He nodded, understanding, "Sure, Betty. I get it. You're overwhelmed right now. I'm sorry, honey. You're just kind of...turning me on, you look so hot tonight."
"I do?"
"Oh, yeah. Totally. But, I completely understand. You're under so much pressure right now. You don't want to start something with us until your launch is done and off your plate and you can relax a little, right?"
"Right. Thanks for...understanding, Daniel. It's not that I'm not...flattered. Or...interested in...well, us…"
"Upgrading our relationship?"
"Right. It's just. Not quite the right time yet. You do understand?"
"Sure. Yeah. Totally. It's fine, Betty. I can control myself. I'm not some kind of animal. We can just...talk. Like always. And maybe…"
"Kiss? Goodnight?" She offered, blushing slightly.
He smiled, "Sure. Sounds good. I warn you; I might want to say 'goodnight' for a while, though."
She smiled at him, nodding, "Me, too. That was...nice."
He fed her a bite of his broccoli, "Nice? That's kind of a lukewarm response after four years; you think my kisses are...nice?"
She rolled her eyes, after she fed him a bite of her vegetables, and leaned forward, whispering, "What are you looking for...hot? Sexy? Makes me want to rip your clothes off right here and make love to you? Is that what you want to hear, Daniel?"
He grinned, nodding quickly, taking the chopsticks out of her hand, and leaning forward slowly towards her lips, "That's much better. Now, see? Was that really so hard to say? I'm just looking for a little ego boost. Some sign that you're into me as much…" She cut him off, kissing him intensely and running her hands through his hair as she deepened the kiss.