A Whole New World/CH 4
Betty looked at Daniel, a blush clearly on her face, "What are you asking me?"
"It's a simple question. I just asked you to come up and have a cup of coffee with me and...talk, catch up a little. That's all. What's wrong, Miss Suarez? Don't you trust me all of a sudden? Since when have I ever acted like anything other than a complete gentleman towards you?"
"Well...no, but…"
"Okay, then…" he grinned. "Come on, Betty. I'm still a good guy. You know me. I promise; Scout's honor. You're safe with me."
She rolled her eyes. "Scout's honor, huh? You, Daniel? You're really going with THAT? How ironic!"
He smirked, "You're never going to let me live that one down, I suppose!"
She laughed, shrugging, "Let's just say, if I ever decide to write a book, I have plenty of VERY interesting anecdotes about YOU, MR. Meade!"
"Mr. Meade? Betty...I was just joking when I called you Miss Suarez. What happened to you jumping me at the airport, huh? Now, all of a sudden I'm "Mr. Meade"?"
"I didn't 'JUMP you!"
"You did, too! Whatever! You know what you did. I didn't mean it...like THAT! Look, I know it's been a really long time and I should have…"
"YES! You really should have!"
"Should have what...exactly?"
She shrugged, obviously upset, "I don't know! Called, wrote, kept in touch, done SOMETHING to let me know you still cared!"
The look of hurt and shock registered clearly on his face, "I should have done something? You're kidding me, right? I followed you, I chased you down...I quit my job, I…"
He stood very still for a moment, his arms folded across his chest, thinking. Then he blew out a breath, and took her wrist, pulling her quickly behind him, "Come on! I want to show you something. You need to see this!"
Once they got to his door, he finally released her hand to get out his key, then glanced at her expression, "What's THAT look about? Don't get all excited! I'm not going to show you...what did you think I meant? Do you really think that even after ten years, I suddenly reverted to "old Daniel"?
Betty, please...give me a little credit, will you? I'm still the man you helped make me into, okay? I'm still me. I'm just...well, a little damaged, I suppose. Not that I wasn't always...that! The difference is now I'm not a spoiled little asshole manchild anymore whose messes you have to clean up after. I'm just...heartbroken."
She smiled, then reached up to touch one side of his face, "I'm sorry. You haven't had it easy with women, have you?"
He made a face, "Yeah, you should know. Punishment for my many past sins, though, right? I guess I got what I deserve. Since I screwed around so much and broke all those girls' hearts when I was younger. So then, I got screwed! First by Sofia, and Renee, then Molly, then ...you.
Four women who all broke my heart. But you hurt the most. Because you taught me what it meant to truly and completely love someone, to trust them with my very soul. Then you just...left me to wallow in my own misery and loneliness. I tried to fill the time with...worthy pursuits. Things that I thought would make you proud of me."
"Like getting your MBA, and starting a charity in Molly's honor and writing a book?"
"Yeah. Exactly. So...I assume you want to see it? See what I wrote about...you? About us?"
She could feel her pulse quicken as she nodded, "I...well, yes, I would. You really wrote about us? But...nothing ever happened between us, Daniel! We were only ever...we were just friends! You know that."
He stepped closer, running his hands up both sides of her arms, then held her face in his hands, "I know that. How could I forget? You put me in the 'friend zone' and never let me even think about crossing that line with you! You ALWAYS had a boyfriend! Sometimes two, fighting over you!"
She smiled, dropping her head, and blushing, "Not always! I didn't have a boyfriend all the time. Besides, look who's talking! You went from one girl to another…Mister Player!"
He grinned, then shook his head, as he pulled her closer, "IF I really were still "Mister Player" I would probably do something really cheesy like this, huh? And then I would make my move. And I don't know, maybe kiss you?"
"Kiss me?" She swallowed hard, looking up into his eyes. Wow! How could she have forgotten just how blue they were? After all these years, Daniel's eyes were still...amazing! She tried to tell her body to calm down, knowing that he could certainly tell how much he was actually making her practically pant at his closeness. He had pulled her body into his, so close that she could feel...well, everything.
He nodded, clearly drawn under her spell as much as she was under his, "Yeah, Betty. I could kiss you. If you wanted me to. I mean...hell, don't you think it's about time? I should have done this...at least ten years ago! If I had any guts, I would have done it BEFORE you left me, before you took off, to give you a reason to stay! Like my mother told me to!"
She could only manage a whisper, he was so close, his lips only a centimeter apart from hers, "Your MOTHER told you...to kiss me?"
He whispered, too, wrapping his arms around her, "She told me to give you a reason to stay. I'm sure she didn't have a raise in mind! That was my stupid idea, because again, I was too chicken shit to tell you how I felt about you. No, she meant for me to...seduce you, to make love to you, I'm sure. But, like I said, I chickened out. I guess I was afraid. Afraid you'd reject me. You looked so shocked when I told you I couldn't live without you."
She blushed again, "Well, yeah! That was a surprise! I didn't really understand. I didn't know what you meant at first when you said that. But you meant...Daniel, this is all so…sud..."
"Sudden?" he laughed, "SUDDEN? In what way is ten….make that fourteen YEARS SUDDEN, huh, Betty? Give me a break! I waited for you! I barely dated in all these years, hoping and praying that this day would come. I knew how much you loved your family and missed them, if not me…that you'd want to come back for them someday. I just...didn't think it would take you ten years!"
She shook her head, "You were wrong, Daniel. I mean, yes, of course I missed my family. But I also missed you! YOU are the one I couldn't keep living without! I...you...you really WANT to kiss me? Shut up!" she shoved him lightly, gasping at the firmness of his chest.
"Yes, Miss Bossy!" He laughed, then his smile turned into a look of lust as he put his hands over hers on his chest, then picked them up and kissed them. He drew in a deep, slow breath, and ran his fingers over her lips.
Those lips he had dreamt about for so long now. He leaned forward, closing the very small distance between them, and crashing his lips into hers, running his hands from her waist, across her back, and into her hair, getting completely lost in her.
They both deepened the kiss, the passion beyond what either of them had even imagined possible. After all this time, it felt so much better than their dreams to be holding one another, finally giving into their desires.
When they eventually came up for air, he was able to get the door open and pulled her inside, trapping her against the door, and kissed her again, if possible, with even more intensity than the first time. He had to somehow convey to her just how much she meant to him, how lonely and heartbroken he had been all these years without her here, to brighten his world. "God, I missed that smile, Betty!" his own smile made her heart lift.
She put her hand up to her forehead, covering her eyes, "I missed you, too, Daniel! I…" she touched his lips, and followed her touch with another kiss. This time she pulled him down to her level, making him so crazy with her fire, he lifted up one of her legs, to wrap around his waist, and grabbed her ass, moulding her body against his like a tattoo.
The heat between them was ready to explode. Betty tried to tell herself it was just a reaction to seeing one another after being apart for so long. But she knew better. Deep down, she knew he must surely love her. She had no doubt she was completely in love with this man. It had been all she could do to keep herself from booking a flight and coming to him, to declare her feelings about him.
Feelings she didn't realize were there until she had stupidly left him behind to chase her dream. Achieving her dream career was wonderful, amazing, just what she had always wanted. But coming home to an empty apartment, to an empty bed, she had felt herself concerned that she was turning into the vision she had of herself as Wilhelmina.
"NOT the puppy!" she burst out.
He laughed, looking into her eyes, tenderly, "What did you say? Something about a puppy? Hey, I just realized, when did you get contacts? I love your eyes, but...I sort of miss your glasses, too. They were cute! Just like you."
"I got Lasik!"
"Oh! Oh, wow. Well, me...I guess we've done a little role reversal." he shook himself, taking her hand and kissing it as he led her towards his home office, and picked up his reading glasses, and put them on, making a face, "Here I am. Old man Daniel!"
She smiled, shaking her head, "No you're not! You sure don't KISS like an old man!"
He sighed, grinning slightly, "Well, thank you, Betty. I'll take that as a compliment."
He started to take them off and place them back on his desk, but Betty picked them up and put them carefully back on him, then smiled, running her hand softly over his beard, and touching the sides of his glasses, "No, you're more of a 'sexy professor', like...Indiana Jones when he's talking about Archeology! You notice he's got a bunch of young girl students all hot for him. That's the kind of professor you'd be! And look at you, here, writing your great American novel! VERY sexy, Professor Meade!"
A smile slowly spread across his face as he pulled her back into his arms, then threw his glasses onto his chair, and taking one hand to quickly clear everything onto the floor, then lifting her up on top of his desk, as he looked into her eyes, "Was that my pep talk, Miss Suarez? Because it definitely worked!"
As she looked at him, she couldn't help but be tempted to give in, to go along with this crazy lust-filled reunion that they had both been swept into since she got home. It was everything (and more) than she had dreamt of, that she had hoped for. But she couldn't help but be taken aback.
Almost the moment her hesitation even crossed her mind, he stepped back, looking extremely embarrassed, "God, Betty! I'm So sorry! I didn't mean to...attack you the minute you got back! What the hell was I thinking? I mean...well, obviously, I wasn't...um thinking with the right head! Sorry!"
He helped her back down, and quickly started gathering up his laptop and papers, putting them back on his desk, his face bright crimson. He was glad he had grown his beard out right now. It hid his shame at his actions. What the hell was wrong with him? Here he was, attacking the poor girl the minute she came home? Did he really WANT her to be sorry she had left London and turn back around?
When he finished, he blew out a breath, shaking his head, "Yeah, well, THAT happened! Can we...just...chalk that up to...me being VERY glad you're back home and...and...getting my wires crossed? I know you weren't trying to come onto ME, just because you said you thought my beard and glasses were sexy, didn't mean you wanted me to...to...defile you! I just got so excited about you being back and…I'm really sorry!"
She blushed, and smiled, seeing how upset he was at himself. She felt like she definitely needed to own up to a lot of that "misunderstanding", though. She HAD been turned on, hell, she still was! He was so damned hot and him coming onto her like this was...well, making her sweat!
She sighed and nodded, as she fanned herself, "It's okay, Daniel. I fully participated in that kiss!"
"HELL yeah, you did! Did they teach you that in England? I thought they were all uptight over there? Stiff upper lip or whatever. Don't tell me you learned to kiss that way from some...Lord Baltimore Fauntleroy? Or was it Bond, James Bond you got kissing lessons from? I guess I can see you as a modern Bond Girl...Octo-Betty!"
She tried not to laugh at his silliness. "No, you goofball! I...guess...I learned from YOU!"
"Me? When? Did I give you secret kissing lessons when I was drunk or something? When I was on drugs?"
"No, I meant...well, other than that time when you thought I was Molly, no, we never actually kissed."
He stepped back towards her slowly, invading her space, and causing her to back up against that damn desk, "I thought you said I only kissed your eyebrows, because you're so short?"
"I lied. It was...a pretty intense kiss, actually. But your mom was there, even though she was yelling at that Bennett character and I knew you thought I was Molly, even though you said MY name, which was kind of...weird. It just...wasn't what I had always imagined our first kiss would...be. So, I pretended it didn't happen."
He cocked his head to the side, "What did you imagine...so, wait, you...like you imagined that we would even HAVE a first kiss? Or more importantly a second one like the one you just laid on me? Really? You could have fooled me! I asked you point blank if you had a crush on me and you told me I was nuts! Went out and made a point to kiss STUPID nerd boy!" He was walking her backwards, in the general direction of the living room and his large, comfy sofa.
She tried not to laugh at his adorable obvious jealousy over Henry. What was it with men getting jealous over the poor man, anyway? "Don't call Henry stupid, Daniel! What did he ever do to you? You tried to fire him, you gave him that bad reference…."
"He got you! That's what he did! You were in love with him. He was your first real love. And your last as far as I know. I know you were never really in love with Matt Hartley. He was a stand in. He knew it, too, deep down. That's why HE got so jealous of Henry, too. And Gio. We all were jealous of the man because he had you and all he did was break your heart! Over and over. And it...pissed me off! He never deserved your love, Betty."
She bit her lip, "Thank you, Daniel. That's very sweet. But if you think Henry didn't...deserve me, and neither did Matt or Gio, who did?"
"I don't know. You tell me. Can I nominate someone for the position? A former best friend, perhaps? A man you know and can really trust with your heart. Someone who would never hurt you and who knows you…"
"Better than I know myself?"
"Yeah. That sounds about right. Any candidates in particular in mind?"
"We'll see. I guess...time will tell. So, how about I sit right here? And you go get your book and let me read it. I assume you missed me mainly for my editing skills? That's really what this is all about? You need a good editor?" she teased. "And when I've finished...editing, you can text Justin and let him know I got here safely, and you're keeping me here, as your sex slave until he and my sister have enough time to decorate for my surprise party?"