Christmas in Paris/CH 7

Daniel looked down at the ring on Betty's finger and smiled, kissing it then gazed up into her eyes, as he took her face in his hands, "I guess I'm still in shock that you actually said yes! Especially…you know, after all this time!"

She nodded, "Mmhmm…me, too! I can't believe you and your mom conspired to…"

He grinned, "Get you here? Well, to be perfectly honest, at first, I thought she was joking. But…well, you know how crazy my mother is. I still didn't think she would talk you into coming here in the first place. And when you showed up at the store, I still didn't believe it. You were so cute, sitting on my lap like that and getting all jealous of that silly waitress! I like you in "protective mode…pardon the pun".

She laughed, "Well, I figured I owed you. After all the times you chased away all my boyfriends in New York!"

"I did not!"

"Did too! Talk about overprotective!"

"Well, okay. Maybe I was just…worried about you. You hung around such idiots! They hurt you. None of those guys deserved your love!"

"And nobody messes with 'your Betty', right?" she smiled, reaching up to kiss his lips.

He pulled her closer, and mumbled, "Damn right!" He pulled her to the kitchen and lifted her up onto the counter, kissing her with an intensity and passion she wasn't expecting.

As he released her she raised her eyebrows, touching her fingers to her lips, "WOW! Thank you! What did I do to deserve that?"

He pointed up above her head, and she laughed, seeing he had a sprig of mistletoe hanging. "Hey, I figured I needed all the help I could get after all these years! I was worried you wouldn't even give me the time of day!"

"Seriously? How could you think I would ever just forget YOU, Daniel? You're…Daniel Meade!"

He rolled his eyes, and twirled his finger, "Trust me, THAT means absolutely NOTHING here! Or in London. And it means next to nothing in New York anymore I'm sure after all these years since I left Mode! I've been replaced on Page Six over and over.

And honestly, I'm more than okay with that. At least I know what I did to build up my reputation here in advertising and philanthropy has all been my own doing, and not simply because of my old man. In some small way, I think he might actually be proud of me if he were still around."

"Oh, I'm sure he would be! I never told you this, but he asked me to look out for you on his deathbed, you know. He said he had a feeling about me when he first saw me that day and he thought I was the only one who could keep you on your path. I even had his spirit haunt me later when I told you I didn't want to come back to Mode at first because I thought I had changed too much."

He raised his eyebrows, "His spirit, huh? Like…a ghost, you mean? Yeah, I could see him as Scrooge maybe. Or Jacob Marley. Or at least, that guy who's Billy Murray's boss in the movie. The one who played golf and hit on women all the time." he laughed, shaking his head, "Well, ayway, I'm sorry if he scared you, Betty! Hell, my old man scared the shit out of me sometimes when he was alive! So I'd hate to think how intimidating he would be as a ghost!"

"He yelled at me when I was eating my Papi's empanadas and his head was in my fridge. But then he said he was proud of you when you came up with the In Memorium cover and he disappeared to some beach or something wearing a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts."

Daniel laughed again, "Have I told you how adorable you are? God, I missed you, Betty!"

His proximity was getting to her, making her forget her own name, "Thank you, but I…um….sorry, what were you saying again?"

"You mean about you being so damn cute? I should say sexy! Very sexy. Or…how much I missed the way you always make me laugh? Or…was there something else you forgot when I kissed you? Or you kissed me? I know I'm having a very difficult time thinking straight right now. Maybe we should take this to the bedroom. I wouldn't want you to get a chill!"

She blushed, seeing him leering at her body, but decided the best thing she could do to even the playing score was to get him naked, as well. So she did just that, pulling off his tee-shirt over his head and tugging at the drawstring on his pants.

"Were you really that cold? Is that why you went and got dressed while you were on the phone with Becks saying all that sweet stuff about me? And about him being your best man?"

His eyes widened, "You DID hear that, huh? I was trying to keep things under wraps."

She shook her head, "Oh, believe me, I was definitely NOT expecting to get engaged this week or did I ever suspect in my wildest dreams that you actually got my family HERE without them spilling the beans to me! How long ago did you tell them you were proposing?"

He held up one finger, "One week ago. After my mom was acting so strange and urgent about us last week, I asked your dad for you know …your hand, like if I had his blessing to propose. Not that I thought in a million years that you would even show up, let alone…well, agree to marry me!

I told him what my mom had in mind. He and Hilda and Bobby and Justin were all pretty excited. Especially Justin. Bobby just said, hey even if you turned me down, at least they would all get to see you and to spend Christmas in Paris together. "

She blushed, seeming to be frantically looking for something to put on, at first grabbing his shirt, but he took it from her and threw it over his shoulder, "Hey, what happened to your little strip tease earlier? Lose your nerve already? Betty, honey, don't you think it's about damn time we…admitted what both our families have obviously known for years now, that we belong together, that we're in love with each other?"

"I know. I do. It's just…it's been so long! It feels…weird!"

He shrugged, kissing her passionately, "I can work with weird. Hey, I worked with you for four years. I like weird. Weird is good. It's sweet. Like you, Betty. You're sweet. You're amazing. Um…beautiful, crazy but cute, adorable, clumsy, smart, make that brilliant, dedicated, persistent, excited, aroused, um… insatiable? Oh, well, okay maybe those last ones are me."

She bit her bottom lip as he started nuzzling her neck and backing her up to his bedroom. Her eyes opened slightly as she moaned, thoroughly enjoying his kisses. "Me, too! Please don't stop!"

His grin spread, as he raised his eyebrows, "I love it when you beg!"

He scooped her up, and threw her onto his bed, "Okay, so far, THIS has definitely been the best Christmas EVER! And it's about to get even better! By the way, you do know…how much I love you, right, Betty?"

She nodded, as she scooted up, sitting against the headboard while he crawled up to kiss her, then rolled them over so that she was looking down at him, "I think I have some idea! I mean, who does this? You actually got my family here and planned a wedding when I was thinking it would just be great to see you again, and maybe go on a few dates! You're so amazing, Daniel! I love you, too."

He rolled his eyes, "That's very, very good to hear! I can't really take the credit though. I think we both know it's my mother we should thank for most of the actual planning! I just made a few calls. She's the one who sort of got me thinking I might still have a shot with you. I had all but given up on making things happen with us. I thought you surely must have found some British version of the accountant and forgotten all about me by now.

But she convinced me that it's never too late. I knew you two stayed in touch. And she said…well, she told me that I wasn't the only one who still carried a torch for you. She said you still asked about me, too. Which gave me hope that you might still care.

I was shocked that you actually showed up. Her concern was that you and I were moving far too slowly to ever get her those grandkids she's wanting to spoil before well, she gets too old to enjoy them, let's say. I'm so happy that she's healthy! She knows I'll forgive her meddling since it got me what I wanted for Christmas. What I've wanted for so long now. You!"

"Aww! You can be a pretty sweet guy, Daniel. So romantic!"

Her smile brightened, as she leaned down to kiss him. He looked up in appreciation and lust at her lovely bare breasts and closed his eyes, then grinned, "Boobs. Big boobs. Remember that night? Geez, Betty, if I only knew what amazing ones YOU were hiding under all those crazy outfits! I would have never wasted my time hitting on that bridesmaid!"

She laughed, swatting him away then rolled her eyes, "You're so ridiculous! I take back the 'romantic' thing. Boobs? You're such a child sometimes! Anyway, how do you remember that? That was forever ago! Besides, you didn't really hit on her. More like she hit on you! She kept asking me if I was your girlfriend."

"Yeah, I remember. And you got all red and said don't be silly! Of course not or something like that. You WERE always beautiful, Betty. I hope you know. I saw you. I knew you would turn into the gorgeous little butterfly you are now. You were always pretty enough. It was me who didn't deserve you. We both know how much I needed to grow up first. I was "only five years old" He smiled, then pulled her down and rolled them over so that he was on top of her.

As they both laughed, she nodded, "Well, that much is true. I guess you have grown up a little since then." She put her finger and thumb together, "Not much, but…"

"Shut up, Suarez! I'll show you grown up, woman!" He began kissing his way down her body, caressing her tenderly as he went. She responded to his attention with her soft moans and pulled him back up to kiss him passionately and grabbed onto his butt. They tousled as they joined, getting lost in one another as they made love, ending up rolling off the bed and landing on the floor, both laughing. "Sorry!"

He shook his head, tucking back a strand of her hair out of her eyes, "It's all good. That was totally worth the wait! And the bruise on my butt! How about you? Are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself, did you, my sexy, sweet, if slightly clumsy little bride-to-be?" He jumped up and held out his hand to help her to her feet.

She blushed, "I'm okay. Wow! I can't believe it's actually still snowing out there! It's really snowing on Christmas Eve! And we're in Paris! Even with all the private jets and advantages to being wealthy, how did you and your mom manage that one? You have to be…magic!"

He laughed, twirling his fingers, then blowing them, and taking a bow, "Well, thank you! I can't really take credit for the weather. That was just great timing. Or good luck. Maybe a bit of both. But as far as us…our first time together. It was pretty magical for me, too, Betty. I hope you feel the same after we've been married for ten or more years and have two point five kids running around. Oh, and a dog!"

Her eyes widened at the thought, "Point five?"

He shrugged, pointing to her stomach, "You know…one on the way?"

She shook her head, pulling him back down towards the window, wrapping his arms around her waist as he stood behind her. She glanced up at him, and laughed, "Well…that one won't be right away. You may be able to talk me into getting married on the spot and I'm sure it didn't take much convincing for my family to agree to a Paris Christmas vacation. But even you don't have magic sperm! It takes more than one time, you know."

He grinned, turning her around, and held her close, as he whispered, "How right you are! Much more. Lucky we've got nowhere to go. It might take all night! I must have been a really good boy this year! I sure got everything I've been wanting for a very long time! Come here, Mrs. Clause! Santa needs you to come and sit on his lap! Or is it give him a lap dance? Either way, I need something sweet."