Love and Marriage

Chapter Thirty-Five

The next day Martin arrived at work, setting his coffee and briefcase on his desk before walking over to Danny's desk. As usual, Danny was there surfing the internet since they hadn't been assigned a case yet. "Danny, can I ask you something?"

Danny turned his attention away from the computer screen and focused on his friend, giving him a smile. "Sure Marty, what do you want to know about?"

"I…well, I was wondering if you…" He wasn't sure how exactly to phrase this question. Ever since Sam told him that Bethany was constantly throwing herself at him he starting thinking about whether or not she was right. Of course he would like to think that he's not that completely oblivious to Bethany's flirtations, but it was possible that he just didn't see it. It's not like he ever considered himself a major sex symbol to women. So he decided to ask Danny about it since Danny had much more experience in the women department. Maybe Danny would be able to shed some light on what exactly he should be telling Bethany to stop doing. Right now he had no clue.

"Martin, if you want an answer sometime this century you're going to have to ask me a question." Danny stated, getting tired of waiting.

"Sorry." Martin rolled his eyes. "You know Bethany Chambers, right?"

Danny started laughing. "Oh yeah. I know who she is." Why was Martin asking about Bethany?

"Well, have you noticed…any kind of…."

Danny finally understood. Martin was finally realizing that Bethany was after him like a dog in heat. Finally! He'd been wondering how long it would take his friend. Normally Martin was so obtuse but even he had his moments. "Flirting?" He interrupted Martin's question, knowing that it would have taken Martin forever to finish what he was asking.

"Actually, yeah." Martin replied, glad that Danny had finished the question for him. "Have you noticed any of that kind of thing when she's talking to me?"

Danny chuckled. "Yes. She's always flirting with you and trying to make sure you know she's available. I'm actually surprised that Sam hasn't used her as target practice yet."

"So it is that bad." Martin sighed. "How could I have not seen it?"

Danny stood up and clasped his hand onto Martin's shoulder. "It's simple. You're one of the 'good' guys. You're in love with Sam and you are the type of person who doesn't want to believe that someone like Bethany would disrespect your marriage with Sam and try to lure you into her den of sin. But she is that kind of person. She's been blatantly obvious with her intentions. But you didn't see it because you didn't want to."

"You know, that makes sense." Martin smiled. "Mind if I use that defense with Sam?"

"Be my guest, but be sure to use an oral footnote and quote me on it." Danny grinned.

Martin laughed. "I'll be sure to include the oral footnote."

"You better." Danny chuckled. "It's plagerism if you don't."

"I'll keep that in mind."

After a few more seconds of laughter, Danny became serious again. "So is Sam finally admitting that she's jealous about the whole Bethany thing?"

"Something like that." Martin replied. "The whole thing came up because I got jealous of a guy at the park. The father of one of Claire's classmates came up to us while we were having a picnic and started flirting with her."

"Where you there with her when he was flirting?" Danny asked.

"Yeah." Martin nodded. "In fact, we were kissing when he interrupted us."

Danny shook his head. "Wow, he sounds like he's even more bold than Bethany."

"He made me really mad." Martin admitted. "I'm still mad every time I think about it."

"That's understandable." Danny nodded.

"But Sam got upset because of it and then we had this talk about trust. She doesn't think that I trust her. So then that led her to admit that about Bethany. She says that she trusts me, but…"

"But you don't believe her?" Danny guessed.

"I don't know. I guess I believe her." Martin sighed. "I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to do."

"Well you could stop hanging around with Bethany so much." Danny suggested.

"I guess." Martin nodded. "But she's been a good friend to me."

"Because she wants to get you into bed." Danny reminded him.

"Yeah. That would probably be the best thing to do."

"And here's your chance." Danny whispered, looking at the person heading towards them.

Bethany walked up to Danny and Martin, giving both of them a smile but making sure that her smile for Martin was brighter than Danny's. "Hello Danny. Hello Martin. How are you today?"

"Fine." Danny replied before looking over to Martin. "I'm going to go get some coffee. Would you like some?"

"No thanks." Martin replied, hoping that Danny wouldn't leave him with Bethany. He felt uncomfortable around her now that he knew that she only wanted to get him into bed. "I already have some at my desk."

"Ok." Danny nodded. "Bye Bethany."

"Bye Danny." Bethany replied in a sing-song voice. She was happy to get rid of Danny so that she could have a few minutes with Martin all to herself. "So Martin, I haven't talked to you in a few days. How are things going?"

"Fine." Martin shrugged. Suddenly he was at a loss for words and was having trouble making conversation with her. Normally he could make conversation with anyone, but she was making him very nervous—and not a good kind of nervous.

"How's your little girl?" She asked, invading his personal space by inching closer to him. "How's Claire doing?"

"She's great." Martin answered.

"Is she out of school yet?" Bethany wasn't sure why Martin was being so weird around her right now but just chalked it up to him being in a bad mood.

"Not yet. Her last day is Friday." Martin replied. "Then she'll be staying at her friends' Sarah's house during the day."

"Oh that's so nice that you have people you can count on to take care of your daughter while you work!" Bethany smiled, lightly touching his arm.

It took every ounce of willpower for him not flinch once her hand made contact with his arm. "Yeah it is nice."

She let her hand linger on his arm for a few more seconds before bringing her arm down to rest at her side. "Well I better get back to work. I'll see you later!"

"Bye." Martin sighed, glad when she left him alone. Now that he was aware and looking for her flirtations, he noticed them loud and clear. First she was standing closer to him than he was comfortable with, and then touching his arm like that. No wonder Sam was slightly jealous of that.