Dedicated to mary1 who pressured me to update this fabulous fic. Also a special thanks to Cat who helped me with this chapter as a beta-reader! Much appreciated!
Jealousy is a Gift
Chapter Six
Danny woke-up to the smell of coffee in the air. He jumped out of his bed thrilled that Mary had made him some caffeine; something no man could live without.
When he got to the kitchen, he found Mary sitting at the table reading the newspaper, in one of his old t-shirts. "Hey beautiful," Danny said, planting a sweet kiss on her left cheek.
Mary looked up. "Hey yourself," she replied taking one last sip of her coffee before making him some. "Mike and them will be over soon, he said they're bringing doughnuts."
"Good," Danny said accepting the coffee. He then thought back to the other night. "Mary why did you say you didn't think we were ready to get married?" the former marine asked seriously.
"Because I don't think we're ready," she told him straight-out.
"Why not? We're two people who are in love with each other and want to spend the rest of lives together. What more to it is there?"
Mary sat back down. "A lot more Danny. It's also about commitment, and frankly I don't think you're ready for that yet."
"If this is all going back to the Dana thing, I just want you to remember that she kissed me."
"It's not going that way, Danny. I just don't think we're ready for marriage yet that's it." Mary's cell phone began to ring at the end of her statement. "I'll be right back," she told Danny as she headed out of their kitchen.
"This is Mary."
"Uh hey Mary, it's Eric."
"Oh hey," Mary said, careful not to mention his name in case if Danny was eavesdropping. "What's up?"
"You know, I'm really sorry about the other night and I just wanted to say I ended things with Leslie."
"That's terrible!" the special events coordinator replied sarcastically.
"I was hoping I could make it up to you. Maybe go out to dinner."
"You do know that I'm still going out with Danny right now don't you?"
"Yeah, I know," he said disappointedly. "This is just an 'I'm sorry for the other night' dinner."
"Okay, so when do you want to go out?"
"Maybe on Monday, around nine o'clock."
"Nine o'clock it is."
"And another thing Mary..."
"What's that?" the woman asked curiously.
"Please don't tell Danny about this. I kinda get this vibe that he doesn't really like me that much."
"You have my word."
"Alright, see you tomorrow," Eric said.
"Bye." Mary closed her cell phone and looked up to see Danny a few feet away from where she stood.
"Who was that?" he asked casually.
"Just a client who wants to discuss some things over dinner."
"Dinner, huh?" he asked, a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"Yes, just dinner."
"Okay." Danny walked back into the kitchen to drink more of his coffee. "So what exactly are you gonna change around here?" he asked surveying his…er…their place.
Mary laughed. "Everything."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," she said getting closer and closer to Danny with every word that was said.
"Well we'll just have to see about that," Danny said kissing her lips passionately, pushing her body up against the wall.
x-x-x
"The way things are going right now, I think I don't have a chance in hell to get Mary to be my wife," Johnny told the petite woman who stood before him in her hotel room.
"I mean why do you want this Mary Connell anyway. What's so special about her?"
"I don't know there's just something about her. Every time a lay an eye on her, I fumble with my words and I get this weird sensation in my stomach."
"Aww that sounds like puppy love" Dana teased her "boyfriend."
"Shut up," the older man spat at her. "You were supposed to get me a date with her a few days ago."
"I'm sorry, but it's hard work breaking a couple up that is so inseparable."
"You got until the end of next week. If she's not at least my girlfriend by then, I'll make sure you're sent back to prison." Johnny stormed out of her room not hearing anything Dana said.
"I'll make sure you're sent back to prison," she said mocking him. "Puh-leez. No one would ever do that to me even if they wanted to."
Dana then got out her cell phone calling her and her father's casino host. "Sam, I need a couple of tickets."
"Sure, for which concert?"
"Eric Saunders. I heard he has quite the voice."
"I'll get right on it, Dana. How many would you like?" Samantha Jane asked as serious as possible.
"Let's say about four."
x-x-x
"What time were we supposed to be there, Mike?" Nessa asked him as they sat behind traffic in a U-Haul truck.
"About nine."
"And what time is it now?"
"9:41," Mike answered the English woman.
"Great. How are we supposed to finish all the packing today?"
"Cool off, Ness. We'll get done by tonight."
"And what if we don't?"
A sly grin appeared on Mike's face. "If we don't then I have to buy you dinner."
"And what if we do finish unpacking tonight?" she asked with curiosity.
"Then you have to buy me dinner. Deal?' Mike asked extending his arm to her.
"Deal," she replied shaking his hand in return.
After they were done finalizing their bet, Nessa's cell phone began to ring. "This is Nessa."
"Hey, what's taking you guys so long? You were supposed to be here over a half-hour ago," a young female said on the other line.
"Oh, hey Mary. Yeah sorry about that, we just hit a little bit of traffic."
"Alright, just get here as soon as you can."
Nessa noticing something in Mary's voice asked, "Is something wrong?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"Your voice just seems a little off," Nessa said concerned.
"There's just something that's bothering me. I'll tell you about it later."
"Okay, see you in a few."
"Bye." Mary hung up the phone that was in Danny's kitchen. She peered over to Danny who was silently making more coffee. "How many cups have you had?" Mary asked.
"Only about seven or eight."
"Only? Danny, I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to cut you off," she said taking the cup out of his hands and taking a sip from it. "Mmmm, this is so good," Mary said, teasing him.
"Knock it off or that coffee's going all over you," Danny said jokingly.
Mary glared at him. "Is that a threat?"
"It just may be," Danny said stepping closer and closer to his best friend.
Suddenly, the kitchen door opened with a loud burst. "I hope you got coffee because I really need to wake up." Sam looked at the couple. "Sorry, was I interrupting something?"
"No, not at all," the former marine told his rival as walked over and poured another cup of coffee for himself. "I'll be back." And with that Danny walked out into the other room.
"What's up with him? He seems depressed."
"I guess it's because I said I didn't want to marry him anytime soon…or because I won't give him anymore coffee."
"You never deprive a man of his coffee, Mary! You know better than that!" Sam joked as she made herself a cup of the hot liquid also.
Mary laughed to herself. "Has Delinda gotten here yet?"
"Yeah, I think she's in the bathroom reapplying her make-up."
"Are you serious?" Mary Connell asked in disbelief.
"Yeah." Samantha looked around the kitchen noticing something was different. "Where're the doughnuts? I thought you said Mike and Ness were bringing doughnuts!"
"They still are. Apparently, our two friends hit a little bit of traffic."
"Well they better get here fast. I am so craving a jelly-filled doughnut."
Mary stared at her co-worker and friend. "They didn't call you Hummingbird for nothing, did they?"
"Nope."
Delinda came out of the bathroom, and walked into the living room where she saw Danny twirling a ring in his hands. "What's that?" she asked curiously.
Danny looked up and quickly put the ring back into his pocket. "What?"
Delinda reached into his pocket and pulled out the beautiful diamond ring. "This."
Danny grabbed the ring from her possession. "It's nothing."
"It doesn't seem like nothing." But all Ed Deline's daughter got in response was a cold glare form the former marine. She decided to back off and soon walked into the kitchen to talk to her friends. "Your man has some serious issues," Delinda said directly to Mary.
"What do you mean?" the redheaded asked worriedly.
"Oh nothing, just that he's a major grouch this morning. How do you put up with him?" Delinda said in a highly energetic way as usual.
"You don't want to know…" Mary trailed off.
"I'm sure I don't." Delinda responded just before they heard the front door open and close.
"Honey, I'm home!" they heard Mike shout threw the house.
"Finally!" Sam exclaimed. She walked into the living room where the African-American man now stood. "Now my cravings will be satisfied!"
"You are full of surprises, you know that Sam?" he told her as she grasped the doughnut box from his hands.
Mike went to follow Sam into the kitchen, so he could too divulge into one of the tasty pastries.
"Ah, not so fast, man. You gotta help me unload the truck before you can eat."
"What! No way!"
"Hey, you know what they say: 'no work, no food'. Let's get to work, buddy!" Danny then drug Mike outside where they began to unload the boxes they had packed up yesterday.
Nessa watched as Mike walked away. "So what was wrong with you earlier? You said you'd tell me when I got here."
"Hold on," Mary said as she looked around to see if anyone was watching and led the Ice Queen to a small hallway that almost led to the bedroom. "You know that guy I was telling you about a couple days ago? Eric Saunders."
"Oh that performer, you used to date? Yeah, I remember him," Nessa Holt replied.
"Well he called me today."
"But I thought you said he was real nasty to you the other night."
"He was. I don't know but somehow he got the courage to call me up on my cell phone this morning, and…" Mary said not wanting to finish.
"He didn't ask you out did he?" Nessa asked thinking of the least obvious.
"Well, only technically. Eric said it's more of a 'I'm sorry' dinner."
"And you actually believed him?" Nessa asked in disbelief.
"Nessa, I dated him for a year. He knows how to make me agree to go somewhere with him."
"Unbelievable," Nessa said shaking her head. "What did Danny say about this?"
"That's just it. I can't tell Danny that I'm gonna go out to dinner with Eric. He'd probably hunt down Eric and kill him."
"All because Eric yelled at you?"
"Well, yeah, you know Danny. He sometimes can be a little over-protected."
"A little?" Nessa challenged Mary. "He'd put a guy into a coma if Danny saw him checking out your ass!"
Mary laughed. "I think it's really cute that he would do that for me."
"Cute?" Nessa shook her head. "Maybe a little bit…from your position."
Mary went back to being serious. "Please just don't tell anyone about my 'date' with Eric. Especially Mike. I don't want Danny finding out."
"You're actually serious? About going to dinner with Eric?"
"Yeah," Mary replied, looking guilty.
Danny stopped as he put down the cardboard box. Had Mary just said she was going on a date with Eric?
x-x-x
an: yay! Another chapter done! I promise to get the next chapter up soon and the whole plot to this story will begin! Thanks to all the people who reviewed; you're awesome! Pleaz review this time too!
ccabello: thanks a bunches!
Lakergrl: also loved those scenes! I love how the writers are developing a friendship between mary and sam. Danny was very funny! Thanks!
mary+danny4eva: I liked that quote too! They're probably going to hook up, still debating on it. Thanks for the comments!
miss invisible: thanks much! Go D/M!
rage: thanks for your review!