Just a Christmas Kiss

Chapter 7

As Daniel waited outside of his parents mansion for Sofia to arrive he felt anxious.

Of course at some point before he went and kissed Betty, he actually really liked Sofia. She was sexy, intriguing, intense and passionate. They had some great fun together. He thought he was in love with her.

However, now...well, he was rather conflicted, especially since he'd been having more romantic feelings towards Betty all the sudden. He couldn't stop thinking about her.

His Betty.

She was sweet, kind, adorable and charming, and smart and really very pretty. Not to mention he could NOT stop thinking about their kiss! Their short but electrifying kiss.

Why did everything with Betty seem more meaningful and special. She made him feel good. He felt he didn't have to be anyone but himself. He also really valued her honesty and friendship. She was genuine.

He vowed to ask her on their dinner if she felt anything for him, if he was crazy or she was feeling the same way too.

For now, as Sofia walked up to him he smiled and hugged her "Hey Sofia."

"Hello, wow, your house is...impressive."

He smirked "yah, that's a pretty accurate word, I suppose." he led her inside and as they walked in she took in the sight in awe. "Wow."

He smiled. "This is where I grew up. What do you think?"

She looked to him with a smirk "It's very nice. Just like kissing you" she said in a seductive voice before she kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her deepening their kiss wondering if he just needed to let go, but he still felt something was missing.

"Ehem" they split apart when Bradford was at the end of the hall. "Oh Mr. Meade!" Sofia said feeling embarrassed.

"Daniel. Sofia. Good to see you both"

They smiled. "My God, she's stunning!" Claire exclaimed as she came into the room. "Hi darling, I'm Claire, Daniel's recovering alcoholic mother!"

"Mom, can you try not to embarrass me" Daniel sighed.

"Daniel, dear, I'd never do anything to embarrass you" she said teasingly as she placed a kiss to his cheek. She took Sofia's hand and said "Come dear, let me show you Daniel's baby pictures!"

Daniel rolled his eyes "great!"

Bradford laughed and patted his son on the back.

As the night went on, they ate and chatted amicably, mainly his parents telling Sofia embarrassing stories about him as a kid. He tried not to eat very much so he could still enjoy dinner with Betty.

At some point after dinner, his mother pulled him aside and said "Daniel, dear, are you alright?"

He looked at her strangely "Sure, why?"

"You seem...distracted. You bring home a gorgeous woman and you seem the least bit interested in her."

Daniel felt his chest tighten "What? That's not true" he felt panicked. Was it that obvious that his mind was elsewhere?

His mother simply looked at him with her eyebrow raised. He sighed "fine, you're right. I just had a rough day at work"

"Was it that witch Wilhelmina?"

He nodded "yah" he lied. Wilhelmina was surprisingly pleasant today. He figured her new cowboy boyfriend was making her not as 'witchy'. "And I guess not having Betty at Mode is making it a lot less bright." he admitted.

Claire smiled slightly "She is a sweet one, isn't she"

Daniel nodded with a smile. "Claire, darling, let's have a dance, shall we?" Bradford said as he held his hand out for her to take. She smiled and placed her hand in his and began to dance with him in front of the fireplace.

Daniel smiled. He liked seeing his parents being loving with each other. "Shall we?" Sofia came up to him.

He nodded with a smile and started to dance with her. "I'd love to have what your parents have. But without the cheating!" she stated quickly. "If you ever cheat on me I'll cut your cajones" she whispered. He laughed. "Duly noted!"

She smiled.

As Claire was dancing with Bradford she watched her son dancing with Sofia. "Do you like her?" Bradford asked. "She is lovely. I just feel she's hiding something" Claire observed.

She didn't know what was going between them but she felt there was something off about their relationship. Daniel seemed not as interested as she felt he should be and Sofia seemed too eager to be with her son.

"Daniel…" Sofia said quietly. "Mhm?" he responded distantly.

She looked at him "we should get married"

He looked at her in surprise "What?"

She smiled "I've met your parents, we love each other, we're good together."

He looked at her not knowing what to say. She held his face "Marry me" she kissed him

Betty had been busying herself by finishing her article on Mode ever since she got home. She felt so distracted. She wasn't sure what she was going to do in regards to Daniel. As it was nearing 8 o clock, she decided to text Daniel that she wasn't feeling well. As she was about to send the message, her phone rang and she saw that it was him calling.

She felt butterflies, and answered "hello?"

"Betty? Are you ok?"

"Uh...actually...I don't think I'm going to dinner. I'm not feeling too well.

"Oh...that's too bad. I'm right outside. Are you sure you can't?"

She instantly perked up "You're here?"

He seemed to laugh "Yeah, you sound better."

She laughed "I'll see you in a minute"

"I thought you weren't feeling good?" he said in a teasing tone. She smiled "You made me feel better" she looked out her window and saw the town car and him standing outside. She smiled brighter as she saw him wave to her.

She laughed "I'll be down in a second."

When Betty got down stairs she picked up her blue fluffy coat. As she was putting it on, Hilda walked in and said "Where are you going?"

Betty bit her lip "Daniel and I are grabbing some dinner"

Hilda's eyes grew bright "What? You're going on a date with Daniel? That's awesome!" her excitement was much too loud for Betty's liking "Hildaa! Sh!" she felt panicked "It's not a date! Just two friends having dinner"

Hilda smirked "mhm...whatever Betty. Here, why don't you borrow my coat" she handed her her black coat "It matches your outfit more"

Betty looked at her in surprise "really? You don't mind?"

Hilda shook her head grinning "of course not! Especially since you're going on a 'dinner' with your hot rich ex boss/friend who you kissed."

Betty shoved her shoulder "Hilda! Stop! It's not a date!"

Betty slipped on her sister's coat. Hilda shrugged "Whatever Betty. Have fun" she winked at her and Betty hurried out before she felt even more embarrassed.

As she walked out and saw the smile on Daniel's face she felt her heart skip. He looked as charming as ever! Why was he so charming?

When she stopped in front of him, his smile was warmer. She smiled "hi"

"Hi. you look...great! New coat?" he asked in admiration. She shook her head "It's Hilda's. She let me borrow it."

He nodded "It looks...really nice! You look...amazing"

She looked at him in surprise "Do you really think that?"

He nodded with a smile "You know I'm a terrible liar just as much as you are Betty!"

She laughed as his grin spread. "I love your laugh.I missed it and your smile so much today!" he exclaimed as he opened the door.

Betty stared at him in surprise, but he said "Come on! Get in!" he held the door for her and she felt her heart pound as she got in. This absolutely felt like a date. This was not good! What was she going to do?

As Daniel shut the door and walked around the other side of the car, he felt like his heart was racing away, especially when he first saw Betty step out of her house. She looked...really pretty. It was strange. She didn't really change all that much about her look, yet she looked incredible.

When Daniel got in on the other side, he looked at her and Betty tried to act normal. Once they had been driving for a minute or two, she glanced at him and said "So...have fun making out with Sofia?" quickly berating herself, because she sounded jealous.

He let out a deep sigh and dropped his head on the seat. "What's wrong?" she asked knowing something was up.

"I'm engaged!"

Her eyes grew wide "What?"

"To Sofia" he said.

She felt her heart plummet.

"Wow! Uh... I guess this really is a celebratory dinner. Your engagement and my new job" she said feeling like she wanted to cry. This was going to be a terrible night!

"Why do you not seem as happy?" she asked in wonder.

"I panicked! I don't even know how it happened. She asked me to marry her and I said yes. We were at my parents house and it all just...happened."

Betty stared at him in shock. "Wow...that's…"

"Crazy!"

She nodded "yah" She plastered a smile on her face and said "Well, congratulations! I'm sure you two will be really happy together." she said holding back her tears as best as she could.

He looked at her and felt like crying. "Betty...I'm not sure about this."

She felt her heart clenching "I think this is all my fault. I told Sofia you might propose to her and that you had a ring."

He looked at her in surprise "It's not your fault. I should be honest with her." he placed his hand on top of her's. "With you"

She looked at him in confusion and then to their hands. "Me?" she asked in a soft tone.

He nodded "I want to talk to you about something, but...let's do it when we're not in a car"

She nodded, feeling dazed, wondering what he wanted to talk to her about.

When they reached a little pizzeria, Betty looked at him with a playful smile "Pizza?"

He shrugged "Is that ok? I kinda had a craving for pizza"

She nodded with a smile "definitely ok!"

He grinned "great. Come on." he led her inside. Betty took her coat off and draped it on the back of her chair, Daniel doing the same. When they took a seat, Betty looked around admiring the place. "It's a nice place."

Daniel nodded, as he looked around noticing it was rather quiet; there was italian music quietly playing, the restaurant was dimly lit, decorated with lights for Christmas, and each table had a little poinsettia plant in the center and candles.

Daniel felt his heart race as he looked back to Betty who looked insanely pretty today. He couldn't get over how sparkly her eyes looked and how pretty her hair was. She looked great in red. It was definitely her color, he thought.

He felt like he was on a date with her. He noticed her bite her lip and that made him want to kiss her again, feel those soft lips against his. He was about to say something when the waiter came over "bonjourno!"

"Hi!" they both said, smiling back at the kind waiter. They ordered a pizza and Betty looked at Daniel in surprise when he ordered champagne. When the waiter left, she smirked "champagne? That's fancy!"

He grinned, shrugging. "We are celebrating our friendship!" he said causing her smile to brighten. She felt butterflies in her stomach at how charming he was being.

She smiled at him, and her smile made his heart fill with warmth. "I love when you smile" he said, resulting in her blush "Daniel!"

"It's true. I felt like my day was meaningless without you" he admitted.

Please stop!" she said lightly, but then met his eyes "please!" she really couldn't take him being so sweet with her. She was falling in love with him.

"What?" he asked.

"Stop! Stop being so sweet to me!"

He frowned "You don't want me to be nice to you?"

She placed her hand on top of his, causing his heart to start racing again as he looked up to see her eyes "I don't mean that! I just mean...we're friends, ok!"

He slipped his hand around her wrist "Betty, look, uh...we really need to talk."

"You keep saying that! Talk about what?"

"About us!"

"Us?" as she asked the waiter came back over with their bottle of chilled champagne, and two glasses. Betty slipped her hand away from Daniel's. The waiter poured the champagne for them and then left with a smile.

She glanced to Daniel and sighed. This was a lot harder than she thought.

Daniel picked up his glass and held it up for her to clink her glass. "To friendship"

She laughed and held up her class clinking it with his. As she took a sip, her eyes remained on his, her heart was beating so hard she felt he might be able to hear it.

Daniel couldn't take his eyes off Betty and her pretty eyes. He sort of wished he could take her glasses off and stare at her without them. He wanted to kiss her so bad! Especially with the way she was looking at him. He felt like his stomach was doing little flips.

Betty smiled as she looked at him. He smiled at her when he placed his glass down.

Betty felt like she was being put under a spell whenever she saw those beautiful blue mesmerizing eyes of his sparkling. They remained quiet for several minutes, this obvious tension between them.

Betty wished she could make it go away and they could simply be friends. Why did she have to go and kiss him at the Christmas party?!

She bit her lip. Of course she kissed him! He was Daniel Meade! The most handsome charming man she ever met, who was being so sweet that night, she couldn't resist.

They sat in an awkward silence until the waiter brought their pizza. Betty started to pick up a slice of pizza, Daniel was watching her intently as if wanting to ask something. She took a small bite of her pizza, although she felt she was much too nervous to eat properly. Daniel was really making her flustered.

She finally looked at him and said "Daniel! Stop!"

He smirked "Stop what?"

She rolled her eyes "Stop staring at me! What is it that you keep wanting to talk about?" she asked, although felt anxious to know.

He took a deep breath.

She looked at him "Daniel?"

Daniel sighed "Betty...I…I can't stop thinking about our kiss" his voice was so alluring, she wanted to just melt.

Her heart started pounding, hearing him say that.

Daniel felt nervous but continued "I have to know if you felt something. Anything. Look, it's fine if you don't. I won't ask again. But…please...tell me. It wasn't just a Christmas kiss, was it? Am I the only one who felt something...something special?"

Betty felt like she couldn't breathe suddenly. "Um...Daniel...we shouldn't."

"Shouldn't what?" he placed his hand on top of hers again. She felt tears fill her eyes as she pulled her hand away again "shouldn't be together! You're engaged to my new boss!"

He leaned forward in his chair and picked up her hand again "Betty! I need to know if you felt something when we kissed!"

Betty shook her head "No! I didn't!" she lied, feeling like her heart was twisting. How could she be with Daniel? He was way out of her league. And he was engaged to Sofia! "Like I said before. It was just a Christmas kiss. It didn't mean anything." she said a tear sneaking down her cheek.

He felt heartbroken. "Ok…" he felt like the air suddenly became hard to breathe. He felt like running away.

As he stared at his slice of pizza, Betty wanted to tell him she was lying, that she absolutely felt something when they kissed. A man had come up holding a basket full of beautiful red roses. "Flower for your charming lady?"

Betty shook her head "No thanks!"

Daniel stopped the man "Wait!" he handed him some large bills. The man gave him the whole basket. Daniel smiled and picked out one of the roses and held it out to Betty.

Betty stared at him and the roses, feeling like her heart was constantly skipping. "Please, let me put this in your hair"

Betty bit her lip, his voice completely making her melt. She felt she couldn't deny him. She nodded. He smiled brightly and got up, coming over to her. She looked up at him as he was standing next to her. He placed a hand to her face, making her feel butterflies.

As he slipped the rose in her hair, he never took his eyes away from her's. She wanted to kiss him more than anything. Of course she felt something when they kissed! He was perfect! She loved him!

She bit her lip, trying to keep her eyes from watering.

Daniel smiled and went back to his chair. She blushed as he stared at her. "You are so beautiful" he said in a soft voice. Betty looked to him and felt like telling him how she felt, but suddenly she heard her name being called.

"Betty!" someone had called from the other end of the restaurant. Betty looked over and her eyes grew wide "Henry?"

He smiled and came over to them "Wow, it's great to see you! You look...amazing!"

Betty blushed "Um...thanks Henry."

Henry looked to Daniel, and their table, noticing the champagne, and roses "Are you two on a date?" he asked curiously, an obvious disappointment in his voice.

Betty shook her head "No! We're just friends! Celebrating!" she said quickly.

Daniel nodded in agreement feeling like his heart was being twisted in his chest. "Yah... friends. Celebrating Betty's new job..." he said distantly.

Betty nodded with a fake smile "And Daniel's engagement!" she picked up her glass of champagne and quickly drank it all in one gulp, reminding herself that he was taken!

They both looked at her in surprise.

After a moment, Henry smiled. "Ok...I don't want to intrude. Congratulations to both of you!" he said, but looked to Betty "Hopefully see you around" the smile he sent her was sweet and he lingered for a moment.

She nodded with a smile "yes"

Daniel nodded to Henry as he walked away. He finally looked to Betty who was pouring herself another glass of Champagne "what was that?" he asked.

She frowned "What?"

He sighed in frustration "Betty! Why are you being like this?"

She felt tears fill her eyes "Like what?" she said as she nearly brought the second glass to her lips, but he took the glass out of her hand and placed it down "That! What's going on? Please talk to me!"

"About what?!" she started, feeling like she was losing her resolve. She picked up her glass again and started to drink it.

"Do you like Grubdork instead of me, is that it? I remember you said he was cute! You can tell me! I'm a big boy!"

Betty shook her head and said "What do you care! You have Sofia, remember?!" she was going to drink some more of her champagne, but he took it away again. "Betty, cut it out!"

Tears slipped down her face, betraying her attempt to remain impassive. He saw her tears and got up and kneeled in front of her wiping her tears away gently "Betty…" he said her name softly, his touch making her want to melt.

"Daniel...please…" more tears slipped down. He wiped them gently looking in her eyes. He smiled. "Dance with me, Betty" he said as he got up pulling her up with him. She shook her head "no!"

"Please?" his eyes were pleading with her. She felt she couldn't control her emotions. Seeing those gorgeous blue eyes made her feel completely compelled to listen to every word he had to say.

"Daniel...we shouldn't. You're engaged! To Sofia! My new boss!"

"Please Betty… just one dance" he said in a soft tone, she could hear the desperation in his voice.

She felt like her heart was in a constant race. She felt she couldn't breathe. He was so incredible and charming and handsome and she wanted to kiss him senseless. He looked so gorgeous. His dark shirt making those blue eyes of his sort of sparkle.

She squeezed his hand, silently agreeing to dance with him. He smiled at her and she felt her stomach flip. As he pulled her to him, his arm came around her waist, holding her close, as his free hand held hers.

As Daniel held Betty close to him he wanted to hug her and never let her go. He almost did that, when he heard Betty say "we're not dancing" her voice was quiet and he could hear her worries.

They danced to the softly playing music, Betty forgetting that Henry may still be in the restaurant, but she felt she couldn't focus on anything else but Daniel and how insanely mesmerizing he was being. As they danced silently their eyes seemed to be held by a magnet.

Daniel could not get his heart to stop pounding like a drum. It was nearly wanting to burst inside him as he danced with her. Having her close to him again made him feel whole. He knew what he and Betty had was special. It was magic. He had to break things off with Sofia.

He lifted his hand to the rose in her hair, smiling at her, his eyes shining brightly. "You're so beautiful" he whispered, not wanting to disrupt their quiet bubble.

Another tear slipped down her face and he placed his hand to her cheek, wiping it away "Can I please kiss you?"

Betty was about to speak, but he didn't let her answer and met her lips with a kiss. As soon as his lips touched hers he saw fireworks. He held her closer to him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him back, the passion and intensity in her kiss surprising him. He felt like he was soaring in the sky. He never wanted it to end.

As they kissed, Betty felt the tears wanting to surface at the intensity she felt in their kiss. There were definite sparks! She felt they were much more powerful this time. She couldn't stop kissing him. She wanted him closer to her.

Daniel felt like he was in heaven kissing Betty again. Her perfect soft full lips, her small waist, her body close to his, how passionate she was. He wanted to be like this forever. She was so beautiful. He held her face kissing her slower, wanting to savor being with her like this.

As Betty was forgetting herself and everything around her, his hands landed on her face gently and the soft way he kissed her made her come back to reality, for some reason.

She pulled apart in a breathless pant, her hand quickly landing on her lips as if in shock, but said "I...I have to go!" she quickly picked up her coat and rushed away.

Daniel stared in shock for a moment, bringing his own hand to his lips. He smiled and knew he had to go after Betty. He picked out his wallet and tossed some bills haphazardly and went after her.

He knew she was running away because she was scared. Scared of her feelings for him. She had to be.

Hell, it was scary for him too. The feelings she stirred inside him were overwhelming and he never felt them before with anyone else.

He rushed after her "Betty!" he followed her down the sidewalk, she was walking pretty fast, but he finally ran and caught her "BETTY! Stop!"

"Daniel, please, I- I can't - I, Oh my God, Sofia!"

Daniel rolled his eyes "Betty, look, I don't love Sofia."

"No, Daniel, it's Sofia!" she made him face a different direction to see Sofia with Hunter. She handed him a ton of cash, and placed a kiss to his cheek before she got into a cab. "What the hell? Is she still seeing him?" Daniel said in surprise.

But then when they saw Hunter walk into some strip club named Boylesque they looked to each other in shock "What?"

The reporter side of Betty was intrigued "come on, we have to find out what's going on!" she started walking across. Daniel caught up to her again and stopped her just before she was about to walk in "Betty! You can't go in there!"

Betty rolled her eyes "Daniel, I'm a big girl! It's not a big deal! Um...look, we should find out what's going on with her and Hunter. She made such a big fuss about leaving Hunter for you today."

Daniel looked at the place "uh…"

Betty rolled her eyes "I can go in by myself!" she said as she stormed into the place. Daniel looked at the place again and sighed. "Oh hell!"