Chapter 7: Second First Date
Derek hears Meredith's car in his driveway thirty minutes later. He smiles as he pours her a glass of wine and takes it with him to open the front door.
Meredith is walking up to Derek's front door when it opens and startles her a bit.
"Hi Meredith," Derek says with a smile. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's okay," she answers as she stops in front of him. Then asks, "How did you know I was here?"
"I heard you pull into the driveway."
"Oh," she says, feeling a little stupid.
Derek smiles at her again, holds out the wine to her and says, "Come in, have a glass of wine."
Meredith steps inside the front door and reaches to take the wine at the same time. Their fingers brush against one another and she feels a little jolt of awareness. "Wine at the front door?" She takes a sip, sighs in pleasure and says, "I could kiss you right now."
Derek grins at her as he shuts the door and replies, "You could. I'm all for kissing."
Meredith giggles and without really thinking about it, places her right hand on his shoulder and stands on her tiptoes to place a quick kiss on Derek's lips. Again, she feels the jolt of electrical awareness and pulls back quickly.
Just as quickly Derek reaches up and holds her hand in place on his shoulder. "Meredith?"
"What?" she whispers, anticipation coiling in her stomach.
"I'm going to kiss you now."
"Okay."
He reaches out and puts his hands gently on her cheeks and tilts her face up toward his. Derek rubs his thumbs along her cheekbones, feeling the softness of her skin.
Meredith glances at his mouth and involuntarily licks her lips. The feel of his hands caressing her face sends her heart accelerating. She leans into him a little, wanting to feel his mouth on hers again. Now.
Derek feels her move and meets her halfway. Their lips connect and they both feel a sense of excitement and completeness. Their brains go hazy as they part their lips at the same moment and feel the silky slide of tongue against tongue for the first time. Derek groans and pulls her body up against his while Meredith wraps her right arm tightly around his neck; careful not to spill the glass of wine still in her left hand.
They have no idea how much time passes as they stand in the foyer of Derek's house - body pressed against body, kissing ravenously. An intense burning in her lungs - signifying a need for copious amounts of oxygen - is what finally pulls Meredith from Derek's arms. She backs away slightly, both of them taking in deep breaths of air. Meredith leans on the wall across from Derek and notes that he is as visibly stirred as she feels. His skin is flushed, and he has an obvious erection. She grins, feeling proud of herself for some crazy reason. She takes two healthy gulps of the wine she still holds and then clears her throat.
Derek grins at her and then takes a long deep breath and lets it out slowly. Then he holds out a hand to her and asks, "Are you hungry?"
"More than I realized," she answers as she slips her hand into his.
He chuckles as he leads her to the kitchen. "Is it me just having a dirty mind or was there a double meaning in that answer?"
"Definitely a double meaning," she giggles. "What exactly is on your dirty mind?"
"If you actually want to eat dinner - I can't answer that."
"Okay," she giggles again. "What can I do to help?"
"Nothing," he answers as he ignites the grill on his stove top. "I just have to grill the steaks. Everything else is ready."
She sits at the island and watches as he moves about his kitchen in a very efficient and concise manner. She's amazed at how effortless he makes cooking look considering he can't see what he's doing. She doesn't want to be insulting though, so she keeps her thoughts to herself.
"Tell me about your day," he says as he flips their steak and sprinkles pepper on them.
She pulls her eyes away from his hands and replies, "It was filled with paperwork and clinic duty until the accident from downtown filled the E.R."
"In other words, it was boring until you had surgery."
Meredith laughs and says, "Yeah, pretty much. Except that I was mad at the timing of the unexpected surgery because I didn't want to cancel our date."
"Really?" he asks with a grin as he plates their food.
"Yes, really."
"Well, then I guess it's all right to tell you I'm glad it was only postponed and not really cancelled."
She grins hugely at his statement. "Do you mind if I pour some more wine?"
"Of course not."
"Do you want some?"
"Yes."
Meredith pours their wine as Derek takes their food to the table and sits down. She's pleasantly surprised at how comfortable she feels with him. She feels a punch of lust in her stomach as she looks at him and decides that the sexual attraction is a wonderful bonus. "Here you go," she says, leaning across him to place his wine glass on the upper right of his plate.
"Your hair is long," Derek says as he feels it brush his face when she leans across him with his wine.
"What?" Meredith asks, sounding a little baffled. Then she realizes her hair touched him and she says, "Oh, yeah, it is." She stays beside his chair and says quietly, "Derek, I'm sorry if I seem insensitive…"
"You don't," he interrupts, sounding slightly tense. "It was just an observation." He sighs heavily and continues, "Meredith, this… dating, I mean - it's the first time since…"
When he doesn't continue Meredith asks quietly, "The first time since you lost your sight?"
"Yes," he answers, sounding a little vulnerable.
Meredith's heart clenches for him. She squats down next to his chair and takes his hand in hers. She places his hand on the back of her head, let's go and whispers, "It's blonde and most of the time it's in a pony tail at the hospital."
Derek turns his face toward Meredith. He slowly runs his hand down her hair, letting it fall between his fingers. When he reaches the ends of it - in the middle of her back - he grasps a handful and pulls it forward. He leans down and smells her hair and Meredith feels tears burn her eyes as her heart clenches again. She leans closer to him but doesn't say anything. By now their faces are merely an inch apart. Derek whispers, "Your hair is soft, and it smells good."
Meredith doesn't have a clue what to say so she closes the space between them and kisses him softly. He kisses her back and continues to run his fingers down and through her hair. This kiss is completely different than the passionate one at the front door. This kiss is soft, slow and vulnerable. This kiss leaves Meredith shaken as Derek pulls away. He places his hand on the side of her face, smiles and states, "Our food is getting cold."
Meredith laughs as the intensity of the moment is broken. She turns her face and kisses his palm then sits down across from him to eat. She cuts a bite of steak, eats it then says, "This is fantastic."
"Of course, it is," Derek replies cockily as he sets down his wine glass and cuts his own bite of food.
Meredith rolls her eyes and laughs. They eat their food. They make a little small talk but mostly they're both thinking about what is happening between them. They're both a little scared, but neither is willing to walk away. They want to see where this could go between them.
After they finish eating, clearing the table and cleaning up Derek asks, "Do you want more wine?"
"I've already had two glasses."
"So."
"So, I better not because I already feel a little light-headed and I have to drive home soon."
"Or you could stay."
"Not yet Derek," she says gently.
"Okay," he grins, "But you don't have to go yet."
"I don't," she answers as she sits on his couch.
Derek grins and goes to sit next to her. "When is Laura's birthday party?"
"It's tomorrow," Meredith groans. "When is Kayla's?"
"Next Saturday," he laughs. "You don't sound enthused about it."
"I love my niece, but they're having her party at Chuck E. Cheese's. Do you have any idea how much the thought of a place full of screaming kids terrifies me?"
Derek cringes, "To be honest, that place would be my nightmare come true."
"Exactly. Is it completely awful that I keep hoping for an unexpected surgery tomorrow at noon?"
"Maybe a little awful," he laughs and reaches out to touch her. "I won't tell anyone though, because I'd be hoping for the same."
Meredith laughs and leans to quickly kiss him again. What she means to be a quick kiss turns long and hot as Derek pulls her tightly to him and crushes his mouth to hers. God, she thinks, how can we be so into each other so fast?
That's her last coherent thought because Derek slips his hands under her shirt and along her stomach. He moves his lips down her neck placing hot little kisses in random places.
Meredith presses her body closer to his and revels in the hardness of his body as she runs her fingers along his shoulders and down his back.
"I know you said not yet," Derek rasps as he begins unbuttoning her shirt.
"I did," Meredith moans, "Don't stop yet."
He pulls her onto his lap so she's now straddling him and furiously finishes unbuttoning her shirt. She thinks she hears a button ping on the floor but can't, be sure as she presses hard into him and feels his erection against her. Derek opens the front clasp of her bra and takes her breast into his hand. She moans at the feel of his surprisingly calloused fingers grazing her nipple. She grinds her hips harder into him causing him to groan and lean forward to replace his fingers with his lips.
"Oh God," she sighs as she runs her fingers through his soft black hair.
"Oh shit," Derek mumbles as he lifts his head from her breast and moves his hands to still her hips.
"What's wrong?" she asks, feeling confused.
"Isn't that your pager?"
"What?" she asks again, trying to focus. She hears the insistent beeping and echoes his sentiment, "Shit."
She moves off of his lap and gets her pager from her purse. "It's the hospital," she says as she straightens her shirt and leans down to get her cell phone. She dials quickly and discovers that one of her patient's needs emergency surgery and no one else is available to do it.
"I'm thirty minutes away," she says into the phone. "Can you get everything prepped so I can scrub-in and start immediately?"
She listens says thank you and hangs up. Then says, "I'm so sorry, Derek."
"Don't be," he says, getting up to walk her to the door. "Remember, I know what to expect."
"Thank you for tonight," she says.
"You're welcome."
She gives him a quick kiss and asks, "Can I call you tomorrow?"
"Of course," he grins. "Make sure you get some sleep first."
"I will. Bye Derek."
"Bye Meredith."
He stays in the doorway until he hears her car pulling away. He shuts the door with a smile on his face. He has no idea where this is going with Meredith, but he has every intention of finding out. It's absolutely wonderful to feel like there's something to look forward to again.
