A Kiss Is Just a Kiss/CH 5

Daniel continued kissing her, and stopped only briefly to open the door to the master bedroom suite, "Are you sure about this, Betty? I mean...really sure? Believe me, I'm definitely 'up for it', but I don't want to lose your friendship."

"You won't! I...are YOU sure, though? You're not still feeling drugged? You do realize that it's me, Betty! I…" he stopped her from continuing to say something derogatory about herself with another mind-blowing kiss.

"Stop putting yourself down like that, okay? Of course I realize it's you! Trust me, I know exactly who you are! You are the sweetest…kindest … most brilliant…Stubborn as hell...most annoying... adorable … beautiful ...intense girl I've ever met!

You drive me completely crazy sometimes with the way you bite your bottom lip with those big, soft, swollen lips that are so damn kissable!

Be honest, though...is this just a...mercy thing? Are you really...into me like Becks and that doctor said or do you just feel sorry for me?"

She looked at him as if he was insane, "Are you kidding me? NO! Of course not! Don't be silly, Daniel! You're so HOT! Of course I want you! Any woman would want you! I'm sure that doctor wanted you and that stupid Natalie and…well, come on, you know you're a catch!"

He smiled, as he brushed back a strand of her hair and kissed her gently on the large, soft bed, "Maybe. Thank you, by the way. But none of them really KNOW me! Not like you, sweetie! You know exactly how spoiled I am, what a jerk I can be, how idiotic I am sometimes and you still… maybe ...love me, don't you, Betty?"

She put one hand on his cheek and smiled, nodding as the tears came, "I do, Daniel. You're such an amazing, sweet, kind, big-hearted man! I love you so much! I was so jealous of that stupid woman Natalie! I didn't want you to replace me! Not with HER! She doesn't deserve you! She doesn't know you like I do. She doesn't know what you need."

He grinned, "Nobody does. Not like you, Betty. Because I need...you! Wait...one second, though, MISS SUAREZ! if you're so in love with me, why exactly were you kissing Becks?"

She sighed, as he flopped down next to her on the huge bed, "I don't know! I guess maybe...he was right! He said I was trying to convince myself that I wasn't in love with you. When did he suddenly get so smart?"

Daniel shrugged, rolling his eyes, "Don't ask me! He's always been sort of a goofball when we hung out all these years! Of course...so was I back then! Especially before I met you."

"Ah, such a charmer! I bet you say that to all the girls! Why was that doctor holding your hand? Is that a new way to take your pulse?"

He laughed, "Okay, first Natalie, now this doctor, huh? Trust me, you have no reason to be jealous, Betty. She was...nice, but definitely NOT my type! There was absolutely no chemistry! Becks is the one who's totally into redheads, not me! Not since Suzie Armstrong in the fifth grade with her freckles and stupid red hair broke my little heart!

I think...maybe Becks is right, though. And maybe you ARE a little tiny bit jealous, huh? That's so cute! Look at you, all...ready to fight other girls for me...that's very hot, you know! I'd really like to see you fight these women for me. I think you could probably take them both, since you're a tough Queens girl!"

She blushed, "Shut up!"

"What, you mean you wouldn't fight them for me?"

She rolled her eyes, "If I had to, sure. But you just said that you didn't like them. So I don't have to."

"Well, trust me, there was NEVER anything going on between me and Natalie, either! I felt sorry for her losing her fiance, that's all. She and that stupid Bennett were always trying to get me away from you because they could see how much I valued your opinion. But I admit I sort of liked seeing how jealous you were of her!"

"I can't believe you tried to REPLACE me with that...that...little skank! Sorry, but…"

He chuckled, seeing her so worked up, as he moved closer to kiss her again, "You are adorable, Betty! I have no interest in...anybody but you, okay? Maybe I could get Marc to be my assistant. Then you wouldn't be jealous!"

"No, I'll still be jealous. I don't like being replaced."

"Betty, sweetie, NOBODY is going to ever replace you, okay? I just don't want you to be my assistant anymore! You're way too good for that. But maybe you could be...you know my…" his closeness was causing her to have trouble thinking straight.

"Friend with benefits?" she offered.

He smirked, brushing aside a strand of hair from her eyes, "Your eyes are so pretty! And no, that's...not what I'm looking for, Betty. First of all, I respect you far too much to ask you to do...anything like that! And come on, we're best friends! We have been for four years now. We both know that some sleazy affair would never be enough for us.…"

She shook her head and leaned forward to stop him from talking with another searing kiss, as she whispered, "Maybe. But I can see you're hurting right now, Daniel. And if I can help…"

He furrowed his brows, smirking as she ran her hands slowly up his bare arms, causing him to flinch slightly, "Are you hitting on me?"

She blushed, "I guess so! Is it working? I mean...if you don't want…"

"Oh, I want to! As you can see, our kissing on the bed is definitely waking up the sleeping dragon again! Which is pretty great on its own, because nobody else has really...done that for me for months now! I was starting to get worried it was...well...broken! So thanks for making me feel like a man again!

I just don't want this to be weird for us. I may have slept with my assistants in the past but I never want to hurt your reputation. You've worked too hard to have me bring you down."

She shrugged, "People have been accusing us of sleeping together since I first came to Mode, Daniel. I'm used to it. I don't care anymore. I just want to help you...feel better. I care about you."

"Care about me? Betty, it's more than that...at least for me, okay? And please tell me you don't want me just because you're scared of my dad's ghost!"

They both laughed. She shook her head, "No! He just...made me feel guilty for not being there for you right after his death."

"Well, to be fair, I did fire you at first before I knew she had been blackmailing you! Hey, that's an idea."

"You're going to fire me again?"

"No, of course not! Well...not exactly. But maybe we could get you another job at a different magazine. Or I could step away for a while. Recover from my cult indoctrination! Do some travelling."

"That's a great idea!"

"Yeah, I was thinking...I could go see Alexis and DJ. Then start over somewhere where nobody's heard of Meade Publications. Someplace like...London! At least I wouldn't have to learn to speak a new language there! DJ always tells me how much my French sucks!"

"My Spanish does, too. I think that's a very good plan. I just don't know how I feel about you leaving New York. I'll miss you!"

"That's why I'm talking to you about it. I wouldn't ever spring something like this on you without discussing it. It's a huge decision. You know, you could always...come with me, Betty."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not? That way, we could...you know, see how things go with us."

"For how long?"

"I don't know. A month, maybe two? Over the rest of the summer. We could take a long vacation. Then decide if we really want to stay at Mode or if we want to...start our own magazine. Something you're more interested in than fashion. Hell if my mom can do it, so can we! All I know is, I miss working with you. But this time, NOT as my assistant, but as my...partner."

She squealed with excitement and threw her arms around his neck, covering him with kisses, "OHMYGOD! I would LOVE that! You're brilliant, Daniel! A European vacation, then us working together away from Mode on our own magazine? That all sounds fantastic! YES! YES! I'd love that! I miss working with you, too!"

He laughed, but responded to her kisses, deepening them and they soon became more intense again, this time he was kissing her neck, and rolled on top of her, "Betty, you're really driving me nuts, you know that? I want you so much!"

All she could manage was a low moan, and pants of excitement, urging him to continue. She was driving HIM nuts? More like the other way around! She gulped, trying to keep her wits about her as he continued kissing his way down her body, but it was no use. She was quickly losing all control. She had wanted to help him to "feel better." But the roles seemed to be reversing and the more he kissed her, his gentle touch set her senses on fire.

Her eyes widened as he slid down to her legs and began softly kissing his way upwards. Good grief, Charlie Brown, the man knew exactly what he was doing! She glanced down, seeing his eyes closed, a sweet smile on his face as he reached up his fingers towards her growing ache. He took his damn time, tasting her and making her writhe and squirm in pleasure and desire to have him inside her.

No matter how unselfishly she had started this night, Daniel seemed determined to make sure she was completely satisfied first before he (finally) entered her. He opened his startlingly gorgeous eyes to seek final permission but she had no words at first. She pulled him down on top of her firmly, and eventually nodded, "YES! PLEASE, Daniel! I NEED YOU!"

Her excitement and urgent desire finally brought back his familiar smirk, and he slid inside her, kissing her passionately as he held tight, pumping into her as if he had been waiting to be with her for a lifetime. Had he?

When he finally shouted out his own orgasm, then collapsed beside her, he sighed, as he touched her cheek, smiling, "Thank you, Betty! That was ...amazing!"

"I agree! That was Amazing! I wanted to 'help' you, but...just...WOW! Thank YOU, Daniel!"

He smiled, almost blushing at her praise, "It's funny. I think maybe Molly was right all along. All this time...she kept trying to tell me that after she was gone, she wanted me to be happy again and she was convinced that I was secretly harboring a huge crush on my cute little assistant.

I dismissed her because I didn't want to think about her...you know, dying. I was still in denial. But she told me that she saw how much I talked about you, how much your friendship meant to me and she knew you would always take care of me, that you were at least a little bit in love with me, too.

Again, I reminded her that you already had a boyfriend, that you always seemed to have a boyfriend and that the one time my crazy ex had accused you of having a 'crush' on me, and I asked you about it, you totally went out and kissed Henry, just to prove how wrong that whole idea was.

She just laughed and said that was total crap because you knew your relationship with him was ending, and was "safe", just like I knew when I proposed to her that it was only going to be a short-term relationship because she was dying.

She told me that YOU were my real soulmate, Betty. She said she loved me, too of course, but she could see how happy both you and I were when we were around each other and that when you know somebody that well, almost better than they know themselves and still want to be with them all the time, that's love!

Of course, I tried to tell her how silly she was being. Then, later, I made a total fool out of myself, when she introduced me to a friend of hers that I thought she was trying to 'match me up' with after her death! I started thinking about what she said recently, though. Since she's been gone...I don't know, was she right? I know...I've never felt more...alive, more happy, more content, more satisfied as I do right now!"

He had been tracing circles on her breast with his index finger. She choked back tears, hearing him tell her how he felt. She sighed, biting her bottom lip and smiled somewhat shyly at him, putting her hand on top of his, then turning to face him, and holding his face in her hands, "I think that...being married to Molly showed you how unselfish you could be and maybe changed not only the public's perception of you from the carefree, man-whore to a kind, loving, doting husband, but more importantly, you learned by taking care of her that you are a much better man than you ever gave yourself credit for, Daniel!

You are a really good man. You're kind, gentle, caring, and generous! And I definitely don't just mean with your money! You're generous with your time and your body and that was...well, extremely intense and…"

He smirked, kissing her to cut off her compliments, "You can say it, Betty. The best you ever had, right?"