Chapter 14
"I think I'll go try the water now" Roz finally said when she could think coherently again and rose to walk towards the ocean. "Coming?" She called back to Frasier.
"Ummmm.... yeah I'll be there in a minute." Frasier agreed, torn between his fears of the ocean and the desire to be with Roz again. Finally he threw his caution to the wind and started wading into the ocean, stopping when he got knee-deep, alarmed at how far Roz was out, he wasn't sure if she was touching the bottom or not but the water was at her shoulders.
"Come on out further," she encouraged as he gulped and began taking more steps, trying desperately to block the horrid images he had seen on TV of people stung by jellyfish or eels, and bitten by sharks. "The water certainly looked harmless enough," he thought as he watched it closely. Looking up at Roz occasionally for encouragement he managed to wade out until the water was almost up to his chest and then stopped. "I don't suppose you'd like to come back this ways a little would you?" He suggested, hoping she would say yes so he wouldn't have to go further.
A laughing Roz swam back over to him. Touching the bottom easily the water was a few inches below her shoulders. "You're kidding about this being afraid stuff aren't you Frasier?" You've been to the ocean several times, I remember you talking about it." Roz looked up at him in surprise.
"Well I've been to the ocean before, but I usually stay on the beach, or go out in a boat. And once in awhile stroll through the water, but never over my ankles really." Frasier admitted sheepishly.
"So this is the farthest you've ever come out into the water on foot." Roz seemed amazed.
"Well since I became an adult, Dad used to drag both Niles and I out here as children to where the water was over our heads. He thought it was fun to dunk us in the water without warning, Niles managed to get over his, but I'm still a bit skittish about going under. That salt water really burns your eyes." Frasier finished his explanation to an amused Roz when he felt something brush against his leg causing him to immediately jump up and cling to her. Fortunately the water made him almost weightless or they would have both gone under.
"Umm Frasier, what are you doing?" Roz mumbled as best she could with him practically smothering her.
"I felt something brush against my leg, it could have been a shark." Frasier started almost hyperventilating. Roz wanted to tease him but she could hear his heart pounding with real alarm beneath her ear.
"And do you know what else you're doing, look at you Frasier" Roz tried taking the reality approach to shock Frasier into letting go. "If it was a shark do you think having your feet 6 inches off the bottom is really going to help?"
"What, I see nothing wrong with this." Frasier tried to sound genuine though after taking stock of the way he was clinging to Roz, having his arms wrapped around her neck and her having reflexively grabbed beneath his knees when he jumped she was carrying him almost like she carried Alice sometimes. He had to admit though that although embarrassing it was nice to be that close.
"Frasier you do realize you're making a scene don't you." Roz said again, his weight starting to make her arms tired. "Guess there's no easy way to do this," she said as she let go of his legs expecting him to fall into the water. His grasp around her neck though was stronger than she had thought so he just quickly wrapped his legs around her waist, still clinging as if for dear life.
"But Roz, what if it was an eel or something and it's waiting for me to put my feet down?" He gasped.
"I do like being this close to him," Roz pondered for a second, "but this has just got to stop" She figured out what she was going to do, hoping it wouldn't traumatize Frasier even more.
"Frasier, it's just water, there are fish here. It was probably just some small fish that grazed your ankle," She started saying soothingly as she caressed his back lightly, causing him to start to relax.
"You really think so? But even if it was a small fish there might be a bigger meaner fish chasing it for lunch."
"Yes, and I hope you won't be to upset but I'm ending this little display now." Roz said as she quickly took a deep breath and picked up her legs, effectively dunking them both under the water. When they came up moments later Frasier was sputtering and Roz was laughing at the spectacle as his wet hair was sticking out in different directions. Forgetting his fear of the ocean creatures Frasier became focused on revenge as he grabbed Roz and picked her up then dropped her under the water. Laughing when she came up sputtering in surprise. "Oh you'll pay for that!" she teased as she began splashing him, suddenly the fear was gone and all that was left were two friends having fun in the water. The finally declared a truce when they could barely breathe any longer due to the exertion, the laugher, and the holding of their breaths during frequent dunkings, it seemed natural as they held hands and walked to shore together, collapsing in the sand still laughing.
"You're right Roz, that wasn't as bad as I thought, thank you. Of course now I expect you to try that plane ride back without alcohol" he teased..
Roz merely stuck her tongue out at him as they picked up their towels to go back to the beachhouse for a light lunch.
LATER
"I was thinking about dinner at the Chantarelle Restaurant nearby, it has both French and American food, and a nice romantic atmosphere for Vince to take pictures of." Frasier suggested as the sun began to set.
"Sounds good, why don't you give him a call. He can bring his waitress friend and take her on a date on Rick's tab." Roz agreed as she went to the bedroom to find the one dress she had brought among the shorts and tee-shirts.
They arrived at the restaurant nearly an hour later, spotting Vince and some blonde woman they assumed was the waitress, near the corner table they had reserved. They quickly gave their wine order, looked significantly at Vince, and then proceeded to lean forward looking deeply into each others eyes as they held hands across the table.
"So what do you think of the new program format Kenny is trying to promote?" Frasier asked as he slowly kissed Roz on the hand.
"Oh, I think it's terrible, our ratings would drop terribly if he put us that early in the morning." Roz replied as she smiled warmly back at him.
"Not to mention you'd have to get up a lot earlier," Frasier's tone was almost sensual, though Roz could detect the mirth dancing in his light blue eyes, which seemed to be sparkling even a little more than usual that evening.
"That as well, and I'm not in the best of moods most mornings.." She agreed smiling back with her best seductive look, causing Frasier to inwardly gulp even though he knew that she was doing it for the sake of the camera.
The waiter returned with their wine and they placed their orders. Frasier then gallantly poured the glasses full and raised his glass in a toast.
"To staying in our old time slot!"
Roz nodded as they clinked glasses and completed their toast. They could hear the small clicks of the camera as Vince took pictures. And that was much the way the evening continued as they ate in the romantic atmosphere with a lot of gratuitous hand holding and gazing into each others eyes while they ate the delicately grilled swordfish and talked about mostly meaningless topics while their body language suggested much more.
They all met in the parking lot after the meal, and were introduced to Vince's new friend Selena, a waitress at the motel where he was staying.
"Well guys let me know the next time you want me to appear with the camera, but Selena and I are going to go continue our evening elsewhere, right baby." Vince said oozing charm as he leaned over to kiss his new girlfriend.
"Sounds good, thanks Vince." Roz said as she began to dismiss him. Surprised when he turned back around. I almost forgot, I was on the balcony the other night cause I was supposed to get some pictures of you at the house, can we get that out of the way tonight, and then I'll only have to get you one more time before you go. I've got a rental car, I'll even give you a ride so you don't have to pay cab fare."
"How very generous of you," Roz smiled, still pleased at how easily she had managed to get him to cooperate with them. Though this would definitely be something that they didn't need to share with her attorney, they knew they were stretching Laura's ethical boundaries as it was without disclosing how they had the P.I. from the other side in their hip pockets.
AT THE BEACHHOUSE
"You know I kinda like this surveillance thing a lot better when the subjects cooperate like this," Vince joked as they stood in the living room.
"Perhaps you should consider a career as a photographer then for magazines or something," Frasier laughed as they started to discuss scenarios.
"OK, well I have enough pictures of last night, minus the ones of you on the couch of course Doc, so I'll just stand out here on the balcony and you two can just come in the front door, make out a few minutes and do whatever and then I'll take off. Sound good?" Vince said as he put his arm around his girlfriend, "I promise it'll only take a minute babe."
Neither Frasier or Roz were going to admit to the flip-flop their stomachs did at the idea of getting to kiss again so they seemed rather nonchalant as they both shrugged at his suggestion.
"Cool, OK, well give me about 5 minutes to get set up on the balcony and then come in the front door and Action." Vince said as he headed out to the balcony, setting up a tripod while Roz and Frasier went back out onto the front doorstep. "And don't mess it up, I don't want to have to stick around doing retakes all night."
"Look who's turned into Mr. Hollywood." Roz joked as they reached the doorstep, "though I shouldn''t complain, at least he's cooperating with us."
"Right. We've got about 4 minutes to figure out what to do here, any plans here or are we just going to wing it?" Frasier asked trying to control the nervousness he was suddenly feeling.
"I would say wing it, but I'm not to sure you know how to do that." Roz kidded him. "Look I figure it can be pretty easy, he just needs a little footage of us doing something besides playing cards or watching TV, how hard can it be?"
"So we just walk in the front door, kiss a couple times and then go into the bedroom right?"
"Well we could, but I kinda think we should make it a little more, that is if you don't mind."
"A little more?" Frasier gulped as his pulse started racing.
"Yeah, I was thinking of a scene from a movie I was watching a while back. I figured we could go in the front door. As soon as it closes we start all the kissing stuff, and then some very minor clothing removal as we travel from the door to the bedroom." Roz made it sound extremely simple.
"Minor clothing removal?" Frasier was obviously cautious and suddenly seemed near hyperventilating.
"Yeah, you know, like tie, jacket that kind of stuff." Roz rolled her eyes.
"Yes I figured that for me, but what about you, you're not exactly covered with accessories there," Frasier acknowledged as he viewed the simple yet elegant dress she was wearing.
"Simple, you just remove the dress..... Quit gaping Frasier, you'll catch flies. I have a slip underneath, and you've seen me in dresses more revealing than this slip will be. Is that OK with you?" Roz studied his face for agreement almost laughing at how similar the look was to the one she had seen earlier in the day during his little ocean trauma.
"Sure, I can do that I guess, is there a catch or a zipper?" He said after a moment, trying to sound cool and collected though he thought they were going just a little above and beyond what they should have to do. Besides it was getting harder and harder for him to hide the feelings that this marriage to Roz were bringing up. He found himself wishing that it was authentic more and more often, yet he kept the feelings suppressed, realizing that Roz was thinking only of getting Alice back right now, and he kept having that small doubt in the back of his mind that told him she could never fall for a guy like him. He wasn't flashy enough, or exciting enough for her..
Meanwhile
"I can't believe I'm suggesting this to Frasier, I wonder if he can see through me." Roz worried. She just couldn't bring herself to admit to him how increasingly attracted she was finding herself to him. She had occasionally wondered through the years what it would be like to hook up with Frasier. And even though this whole marriage thing had started out as a pretense she found that it was becoming increasingly more comfortable than she would have thought. And now she was coming up with these schemes to get him closer, if even for a few moments. She was still embarrassed after kissing him so abruptly on the beach and now here she was getting him to participate in this scene, which truth be told could probably be done with a little less complicity. She knew she was lucky to have Vince as the P.I. He was always a dramatist and only aided in her schemes. How she wished that she didn't have to resort to such planning just to get a kiss, but she was almost positive that Frasier could never see her as a serious interest, he liked women who had more breeding and more finesse, and a taste for the culture he enjoyed. So she would take what she could get, she figured as she stared off into space.
"Hey you guys, like anytime now." Selena's whiny voice jarred them both from their thoughts.
"OK, ready to go." Frasier said solemnly as they approached the door.
"Yeah, it won't take but a few minutes" Roz said lightly, so just relax and take it easy she assured him, trying to loosen him up as they opened the door and entered the beachhouse.
After taking 5 steps in so that they were in clear view of the balcony
they went into action. Roz sat her purse on the table and turned
to face Frasier who gulped slightly as he pulled her to him and they began
a repeat of the kiss at the beach. Frasier almost jumped as he felt
Roz reached her arms up under his jacket and slowly slide it off.
He leaned back for a moment gazing at her intently as she unfastened his
tie and then gasped again as she used it, still around his neck to pull
him in for another kiss. He was managing to keep himself fairly
controlled as he let her lead the way since this was her plan to start
with, that was until he felt her fingers on the button of his shirt and
then her hands back on his chest. His control began to slide as he
hungrily deepened the kiss, invading her mouth with his tongue which caused
her to gasp in surprise before eagerly accepting it and then probing with
her own. As their kiss continued Frasier remembered the dress and
easily found the zipper and slid the dress off her shoulders. He
was too involved in the kiss to even take stock of what she was wearing,
just luxuriating in the feel of her body so close to his. They continued
towards the bedroom, still kissing passionately as they made it through
the door and without even thinking collapsed on the bed.
Authors Note: I would like to thank the beta readers who participated
in the voting process for A, B or C.... if you don't know what this means
don't worry, but for those who do, yep I went with A -- but at least you
got to see the alternates, so don't shoot me :)