Chapter 2: Surprises and Revelations

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story and receive no profit from it in any way.

Some things never changed in the Venturi household, such as everyone fighting over the bathroom. Lizzie, of course, had the highest claim, as it was her engagement party. Marti, the teenager who had to look perfect for every occasion, was busily banging on the door to finish her makeup. As for Casey, after spending some time catching up with her mom and George, she took a quick shower and finished getting ready in her old bedroom. No point in adding to the confusion, but she was taking extra special care with her hair and makeup. She piled her hair up in a becoming twist, and left delicate tendrils hanging down from the elaborate do, framing her face. She took extra time with her makeup as well. She definitely wanted to look drop dead gorgeous for this special night. She told herself that it was out of love for her sister, but she had to admit that she was eagerly anticipating Derek's reaction when she came down the stairs. It was a moment she had imagined for years, and tonight she wanted it to happen, so much that it frightened her.

After finishing her makeup, Casey reached into the closet and pulled out her dress. She had bought it on impulse the week before, knowing how well it became her figure and complexion. But she had never worn such a daring dress. It was really a sari, but with a difference. Wrapping the bodice was different- it crisscrossed over her chest in the front, wrapping around her neck, but her back stayed bare. It showed off Casey's beautiful figure to perfection. After putting on the dress, adding some simple jewelry and a quick spray of perfume, she made her way downstairs.

"Casey! You look beautiful!" Nora exclaimed as she entered the kitchen, where everyone, even Lizzie, was waiting for her to come down. "Thanks, Mom," Casey replied, but her eyes were scanning the room for Derek. But he had his back to her, looking intently out of the window, for something had obviously caught his interest there. She walked over next to him and looked out, but saw nothing unusual. "What are you looking at, Derek?"

Derek jumped as if she had scared him to death, and turned around and sat down at the table without saying a word. Casey turned and looked at him in hurt astonishment, but he would not look back at her. Lizzie was prodding him. Derek shot Lizzie a look and for some reason it made Lizzie back off. She looked at Casey as if she understood the situation perfectly, and shrugged. But Casey was devastated.

What had she done? This afternoon had been so perfect. He had seemed so eager to see her, and their flirtatious banter had encouraged her to finally anticipate that MAYBE Derek was somewhat attracted to her. All of the effort she had put into making herself beautiful tonight was to see his reaction, but obviously she had just kidded herself this afternoon, and the spark she had imagined was just that, her imagination. She looked at George and Nora with tears in her eyes, but before anyone could say anything, the doorbell rang.

It was Sean, Lizzie's fiancé, and apparently it was his jaw destined to drop this evening when he looked at Lizzie. His reaction to her was so perfectly what Casey had imagined Derek's to be for her that it hurt Casey terribly, so much that after greeting Sean she had to leave the room to compose herself. Casey heard George say something to Derek and then the door opened. Apparently everyone was leaving for the party, so she ran out to ride with George and Nora, because she couldn't bear to be with Derek right now.

Casey walked out the door with a smile on her face, but it froze there when George stopped her entrance to the car. "Case, your mother and I are going to have to stay late at the party to clear up. I've already asked Derek to give you a ride, okay?"

George wouldn't look her in the eye when he said it, so he couldn't see the look of sheer terror on Casey's face. She had to count three before she spun around and began to confidently walk toward Derek's car. She had never felt more like Babe Raider, but her courage was false. In fact, she was amazed that she was not witnessing the re-birth of Klutzilla. But she did make it to the car, and there was Derek's hand, helping her in. She glanced at him quickly, but he still wasn't looking at her.

Derek closed her door with a force that startled her and brought tears to her eyes again. When Derek sat down in the driver's seat, she was reaching for her Kleenex. She started to wipe her eyes, but a masculine hand suddenly reached over, gently took it from her, and wiped her eyes. Casey looked over at Derek, but his expression kept her from saying the heated words that were coming to her lips. Neither of them could say anything, but Casey looked at Derek's stricken face with astonishment.

"Derek, what's wrong?"

Derek sat back in his seat and sighed, but his eyes never left Casey. His eyes raked over her, then he moaned as if in anguish and ran his hand through his hair nervously. He stared at the steering wheel for a moment, but his eyes returned to Casey as if drawn to her by some magnetic force. When he finally spoke, his voice was merely a hoarse whisper.

"Why do you have to be so damn beautiful?"

Casey was stunned. "What did you say?"

Derek reached up to caress her face. "Case, you don't know what you're doing to me. You and that dress are more than I can take. Don't you know why I wouldn't look at you?" He moved his hand away and looked away again, took a deep breath, and then there were his eyes blazing at her again. "When I saw you come in tonight not only did you make my jaw drop, love, but you brought me to my knees. If I hadn't turned to grab the countertop I couldn't have kept on standing. I couldn't look at you, Case, and stop myself from doing something scandalous right then and there. Casey, don't you understand that what I thought then and what I'm thinking right now about you is anything but brotherly? Because all I want to do is take you back in the house, strip that dress off and make love to you."

Casey gasped, and Derek sat back and covered his eyes in frustration. "See, I knew this would happen. Now everything is ruined, you'll probably never speak to me again, much less go into business with me. But Casey," he grabbed her hand forcefully and made her look at him again, "you have to know everything now. The truth is that I've been in love with you almost since the beginning. I only tortured you so much when we were kids so that you wouldn't see. I stayed away after we finished high school so that you wouldn't see. I thought that I could handle having you in my life again, but the truth is, I'll never be able to be your brother, or just your law partner. I want your love. I want to marry you and make babies with you. I want to dance with you tonight and know that we have the rest of our lives to dance together."

Derek had been leaning forward, looking earnestly into Casey's eyes. She was trembling, and began to cry. Derek wiped the tears away, and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Are you okay, Casey?" he whispered, lowering his head to look at her again. Her eyes were closed and she didn't say anything for a moment.

"Derek, I don't think I'll ever be okay with you again."

"Casey, no, don't say that…"

"Derek…I'm not through."

"I'm sorry, Case. What is it?"

"You promised to dance with me tonight, Derek."

Derek turned his head around and smiled wanly.

"Don't tease, Casey. How do you think I'll feel, dancing with you knowing that I can't have you?"

Casey opened her eyes, smiled gently, and took his hand.

"What about dancing with me knowing that you do?"

Derek's eyes were intense. "Casey?"

Casey moved in to him and held his face. "You have me, Derek. You always have."

Derek closed the inches between them and kissed her hungrily. Over ten years of longing on both of their parts culminated in one moment of passion. Their urgent need for each other blocked out everything except their sense of each other. It wasn't until Derek tried to move his body over to hers that he hit the parking brake and realized that they were in his car, still in George and Nora's driveway, and late for Lizzie's party. He slowly sat up, sat back in his seat, grabbed Casey's hand and kissed it gently.

"You're going to be the death of me, woman."

Casey began scattering kisses on his neck. "Maybe, but I'll make sure you die happy."

Derek cupped her chin and forced her to look at him. "If you're with me, I will."

"We've been so stupid. I've known that I loved you ever since I broke up with Ben in high school!. I couldn't help comparing him to you, and he just didn't measure up. All these years, Derek, we could have been together. And now that we are, I don't want to waste time."

"I know, but baby, we've got to get to the party now. I'm sure everyone is at the hotel by now. They'll be wondering where we are."

Casey sat up and began trying to fix her dress. Derek laughed softly. "You might want to refresh your lipstick while you're at it." He laughed again. "It's been a long time since I've been parking, Case. I have to say that it's much more enjoyable than I ever remembered it."

Casey smiled. "Enjoyable but frustrating, you mean." She leaned over to him teasingly. "I'm not nearly done with you yet." She kissed him again, passionately, but stopped after a moment and whispered, "I need to go inside for a minute. Be right back, love."

Casey emerged from the house a few minutes later with a small bag and a big smile. Getting back into the car, she leaned over and kissed Derek again. When she pulled away, they sat looking into each other's eyes for a moment. Derek caressed her face.

"Is this really happening? Because I've dreamed it would be like this so many times…"

Casey began nibbling on his ear. "If it is a dream, it's the best one I've had in years."

"Case, baby, if you don't stop it we're never going to get to the hotel."

Casey sat back in her seat with a contented smile. "Then let's go, Derek. By the way, I called the hotel while I was in the house."

Derek looked at her. "Why did you do that?"

Casey leaned over to whisper in his ear. "I had to find out if they had any vacancies for tonight. I can't do what I want to do to you tonight here at home."

Now Derek forgot that they had to leave and started nuzzling Casey's neck. "So what did they say?"

"They did happen to have a room available. So brace yourself, Derek, you're in for the night of your life."

After a few more moments of kissing, Derek cranked the car and they finally left for the hotel. They arrived in short order. Derek was about to get out of the car when Casey grabbed his arm.

"Derek, how are we going to get through the party without letting anyone know about us?"

Derek sat back and looked at her. "I guess it's not the right occasion to announce it to the world, then, huh?"

Casey nodded. "Derek, most of the people here at this party think of us as siblings.

Never mind that we aren't blood related and haven't lived together as step-siblings for a decade. It's going to be a shocker to them. Our parents deserve to hear this from us privately before anyone else knows. And I wouldn't put a damper on Lizzie's engagement party for anything. I want her to have the perfect night with Sean.

Derek leaned over and kissed her. "Well, then, I'll try to make my eyes and hands behave. But it's not going to be easy – as hot as you look tonight, the men will be all over you. Just save most of your dances for me, will you?"

"Derek, just remember that you'll be the one taking me to bed after the party's over."

Derek's breath caught in his throat and his eyes darkened as he looked at her. "Did I say most of the dances?" He leaned over to kiss the sensitive spot on her neck that he'd discovered a few minutes earlier. "You're making it awfully difficult to rely on my discretion, my dear."

AN: Please review my work- I'm always wanting to improve my writing!