Sark was slightly embarrassed that he had run out of the room so quickly after he was sure Kaylee was in the shower. Something about that woman just made him a little nervous. After hanging out in the bar downstairs for an hour, he figured he had given her ample time to get ready and made his way back up to their room. He knocked softly on the door as he slid it open just in case she wasn't ready.
A voice from the bathroom shouted "Yeah, yeah. I'm almost ready. Give me five more minutes."
Sark took a seat and began to relax. It helped that he had created an occasion where the dress code required him to wear one of his suits. He had chosen his favorite, a beige suit by Arnold Brant with a light blue shirt worn with the top few buttons undone. It was his most comfortable suit and the one that fit his true personality the best. He really had no idea why he had brought it along on his babysitting job.
"I'm ready," Kaylee said as she stepped out of the bathroom.
Sark did his best not to let his jaw noticeably hit the floor. She had really pulled out all of the stops on this one. Her hair was pulled back off her neck and twisted up into a bunch at the back. The ends were gelled so that they stuck out a little giving her hair an almost modern feel. He had no idea where she had found a dress that fit her so perfectly. It was a simple strapless black dress with a diagonal cut hem. He had seen a million or more women wear a similar dress but it never looked this good.
"You like?" she asked. Kaylee held out her arms and did a little twirl.
Sark caught himself staring and answered, "It fits the restaurant."
Kaylee was slightly sad he hadn't paid her any sort of compliment since she had put so much work into creating something that would drive him wild. "I'm not going to let it bother me, though," she though. "Not in the least. Nope. No way. Not bothering me at all. Doesn't even matter." She continued to tell herself that on the whole ride over to the restaurant.
When they were seated at Zeffirino's, Sark pulled her chair out for her and whispered in her ear, "You were awfully quiet on the drive over."
"Yeah, I guess I'm just in a pensive mood," she shot back a little sharply.
"And I see you're not in a very happy or calm mood either," Sark remarked. The waiter came over and took their wine order.
Kaylee smiled at her companion and grasped the hand he had rested on the table. "Well, who wouldn't be upset when they spent so long getting ready for their boyfriend and he doesn't even comment on it?"
"What are you doing?" Sark asked as he pulled his hand away from her.
Kaylee leaned over and whispered, "We're supposed to be a couple who's dating, aren't we? It wouldn't hurt to keep up that appearance. Am I the one that's new at this or is it you?"
"Sorry. For a while there I forgot that we were even trying to keep a low profile."
"Why is that?" Kaylee asked.
"Well, you kind of threw off my thinking," Sark admitted. "Or should I say your dress threw off my thinking."
Kaylee beamed. "Finally, a compliment. You're not too good at that, are you?"
"Actually, it's one of my better talents. I just don't hand them out lightly." Sark held his glass of 1998 L'Apparita Merlot to Kaylee in a toast.
"What other talents do you have?" Kaylee asked nodding at the open dance floor.
"Are you asking me to dance with you, Ms. Derevko?"
"Maybe. But only if you can keep up."
Sark stood up and offered his hand to Kaylee who gladly took it. He led her out to the middle of floor while ignoring the whole restaurant that had turned to stare at the pair of them. "Looks like this restaurant doesn't see many people dancing," Sark whispered in Kaylee's ear as he eased his hand on her hip.
The couple lightly swayed to the soft beat played by the band. Kaylee found herself relaxing as the wine began to kick in. She was surprised when she felt herself being twirled and then pulled in rather close.
"My my, Mr. Sark. You do have a few moves, don't you?" she teased.
"You haven't seen anything yet," he purred into her ear. Kaylee tried not to show the affect his sudden seductiveness was having on her as he twirled her once more.
Sark couldn't help but get caught up in the moment a little. He was the center of attention at one of the most romantic restaurants in the area with one of the prettiest women he had ever met. "And she doesn't seem to mind the attention either," he realized as he took notice that most of the male eyes in the room were on his date. He pulled her a little closer.
"My, aren't we possessive?" Kaylee whispered.
Sark didn't answer and Kaylee notice for the first time that he was looking rather distracted.
"Is something wrong?" she asked as he dipped his face down to her shoulder.
"You smell good," he whispered back.
"Oh."
He smiled and twirled her around once more slowly. "I think we need to get off this dance floor before I lose myself in the moment a little more and forget where I am and who I'm with," Sark thought to himself. He was silently cursing himself for letting that last comment slip through his control.
The meal went back rather quickly after their little scene on the dance floor. Sark did ask her to dance a few more times as they waited for their dinner, but Kaylee discovered it wasn't so magical when there were other couples on the dance floor also. Nevertheless, she did notice that he was gripping her a little tighter each time they danced.
After paying for their meal and exiting the restaurant, Sark held the car door open for Kaylee. Smiling he slid into the driver's side and revved the engine. "I can't thank Irina enough for finding me a BMW," he said.
"Let's see what this car can do," Kaylee said with a grin.
Sark was delighted that she wasn't afraid of a little speed. He would kill himself if he let this opportunity go by without really testing the car's limits. With a small screech of glee from Kaylee, the two made their way rather rapidly back to their hotel.
When they got out of the car, Kaylee grasped Sark's hand in her. "Just keeping up appearances," she reminded him before he could pull his hand away.
"I know," he replied kissing the hand entwined in his lightly. They leisurely strolled back to their rooms making sure that at least a few people witnessed them together. However, Kaylee was surprised to realize that when they were on their floor and out of the public eye, Sark still didn't drop her hand. "Must not realize he's still holding it," she thought. "I'm not going to correct him."
Sark did finally drop her hand to open their hotel room door for her. She smiled shyly at him and quickly made her way to the bathroom to change.
Seizing the moment of privacy, Sark decided to change quickly while she was out of the room. It was easier to avoid the whole awkwardness of the situation if he could be in bed before she emerged from the bathroom. He had just gotten his suit off and was searching for a place to hand it when Kaylee reentered the room.
She hung up the black dress she had worn that night and slide right into the left side of the bed. She turned over and looked at Sark as he was checking his cell phone for messages. "I hope you aren't thinking of doing something noble like sleeping on that sad excuse for a coach," she stated.
"Never crossed my mind," he said with a smirk. "I'm too selfish for thoughts like that to even enter my head." Sark fell lightly into his half of the bed and whispered good night.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~* ~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~* ~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~* ~ ~*~ ~*~
A half-hour later, Kaylee still couldn't get herself to go to sleep. She hadn't had such an exciting night in a very long time. Being cooped up in a chateau in France wasn't as much fun as it sounded. It also didn't help that her mother kept constant surveillance on her for her own protection. The spy world has a habit of abducting family members to get deals made. She found herself wondering if Sark had fallen asleep yet. He hadn't moved since he had lain down. She rolled over to face him and realized that he wasn't even facing the same way as her. Her light sigh and the movement of her turning over again jostled him a little so that he rolled over and laid an arm around her.
"Hmmm... this isn't so bad," she thought as he unconsciously pulled her closer. "Not bad at all."
She looked over her shoulder at his sleeping face. "It's so cliche, but he does look so innocent when he's sleeping," she thought. Trying not to move too much, she turned over to face him. With her index finger, she traced his cheekbone lightly and was surprised when he began to nuzzle her hand lightly.
Relaxing a little, she felt herself drift off to sleep. Within minutes she was woken up by his lips gently kissing her cheek. She realized that this was probably an unconscious movement by a man who was attractive enough to have spent many a night with a woman in his arms. But she wanted to let herself think that he realized it was her he was with.
Kaylee moved her head slightly so that he was no longer kissing her cheek but was actually kissing her lips. She smiled to herself as she felt him lightly nimble on her bottom lip. His hand ran up her side to the back of head. Unable to resist, she delicately opened his mouth to deepen the kiss a little. In the moment, she drew her hand up to touch the back of his neck, and that movement woke him out of his slumber.
He smiled lazily at her. "Hi."
"Hi," she said back.
Suddenly, Sark realized where he was and who he had been kissing. He jumped back away from her and tumbled off the bed. "What the hell happened?" he found himself asking for the thousandth time since he had met Kaylee Derevko.
"You kissed me," she said simply.
"I know that." He paused for a moment. "Were you kissing me back?" he asked.
"Yes, I was. Is that so wrong?" Kaylee asked.
"On many different levels," Sark admitted.
"Why?" she asked him. She was beginning to get a little angered by his reaction to what was going on.
"Because you're just a kid," he said absentmindedly.
Kaylee sent him an icy glare and turned over. "Go to sleep, Mr. Sark," she whispered.
Sark got up off the floor and walked over to the incredibly small coach. "Looks like I'm ending up on the coach anyway. I should have known this would happen." Sark couldn't figure out what exactly had happened though, and why it mattered to him so much that he make sure there were boundaries set up between Kaylee and himself.
And why it bothered him that he knew he desperately needed boundaries if he was going to keep his mind and body off of his boss's daughter.