Chapter 12

As usual the job took longer than it should have. The whole time Daryl was fighting with the drain under the small bathroom sink, Merle was flirting with Krista the tenant. Daryl shook his head as he heard them agree to meet up at a bar later tonight. He didn't understand how women could fall for Merle's line of crap.

When he was done, he handed the inexpensive ring back to its owner, said his goodbyes and left. He was ready to get back to Emma. His Emma.

Merle hurried after him. "While we're out, could you look at a few other things for me?" he asked.

"No."

"C'mon, bro. We won't get credit for the rent if we don't do more work around here," Merle told him.

"If we don't do more work?" Daryl said sarcastically. "This job is yours not mine. I've already done a half dozen jobs here this week, what have you done?" Daryl was putting his tools in the back of his truck. He knew they needed the rent credit from the maintenance job in order to afford the monthly rent. "Did Merle do anything around here," he wondered.

Daryl wanted to say no, but he didn't. They needed the four hundred dollars that the job contributed towards the rent. He rested both hands on the side of the pickup and took a deep breath. "What else is there?"

Merle laughed, "Knew I could count on you little brother."

Daryl shook his head and got into the truck and he and Merle drove to the next job.

Four hours late they finished. Daryl pulled the truck into his spot in front of their trailer. Emma's car was still there. Daryl was hungry, but he knew they had no food left. He had missed both breakfast and lunch today. He decided to shower first and then check in with Emma.

Daryl took a long hot shower and it felt good. He also did something he hadn't done in a very long time, he shaved…well sort of. He cleaned up his face so the scruff on his cheeks and neck was gone. He kept everything else. He looked himself over in the mirror and thought he looked pretty good for a change.

Dressed in his best jeans and shirt, Daryl headed over to Emma's. Even though it was only mid-afternoon he didn't want to come back to change his clothes. He wanted to take her out to dinner that night. The money he had gotten from fixing the Porsche was still burning a hole in his pocket.

He knocked on Emma's door which she quickly opened with a smile. "Hey, come on in."

"Sorry, I took so long. We ended up having to do a couple of repairs around the park. I hadda do them as it helps with the rent." Daryl explained as he walked into the living room. Emma just melted right into his arms and they stayed that way for a couple of minutes. She tilted her head back and looked into his blue eyes.

"Missed you," she said smiling up at him. Then she noticed the scruff on his cheeks was gone. "Hey, you shaved."

"Missed you too. Yeah, I was starting to look like a bum. Just cleaned it up a bit."

Emma turned his face so she could see it better. "I didn't mind it before, not at all, but this does look really good. I may have to fight all the women off now trying to get to you," she told him with a wink.

"Yeah, right," he said rolling his eyes. "I ain't anything special to look at. Still surprised that you think so."

"Are you serious?" Emma asked him completely surprised. "Daryl you are really good looking. I mean when I saw you the day you fixed my tires I almost couldn't talk because I thought you were so hot." She thought was that Daryl was looking at her like she was crazy. "I'm dead serious. When you came by the diner to pick me up that day, my friend Cassie was there and she completely agreed. Face it Daryl, you're a hot guy," she teased him. It was the truth.

Daryl desperately wanted to change the topic, so he brought up something he had been worrying about. "Still don't agree, but hey, I gotta tell you sumthin'." Daryl took Emma by the hand and they sat down on her sofa. He could see that she looked worried and he felt bad. "No, nothin's wrong Em. This whole thing is new to me – wanting to spend time with you, missing you and …you being my girlfriend. I mean I hope you want to. Shit…" he said running his hand through his hair in embarrassment. "I never done this before, never wanted to, but I can't not want to do this with you. I'm gonna screw up. I know I will, as I ain't never had a girlfriend before, but you'll let me know when I do, right?" Daryl took a deep breath. That was so hard for him to say, but he needed Emma to know what to expect from him.

He turned and looked at Emma and she was looking at him with her beautiful smile. "Don't take this wrong, but you are so damn adorable." She took his hand in hers. "First, yes, I will be your girlfriend. I want that more than anything. The key to any relationship is communication. As long as we talk to each other, we'll be fine. You're gonna find out that I'm easy."

Emma realized how that sounded and immediately turned red. "Wait! That didn't come out right. Easy as in not high maintenance, but not easy as...well you know." Here she was trying to make Daryl feel more confident about them and she was telling him she was easy. "Good Lord, Emma!" She said to herself.

Daryl laughed. They made a great pair. He was still surprised that this was working between them. He finally had a girlfriend and at thirty-seven that was fucking ridiculous, but he never met anyone that made him feel this way. His choices in hook ups in the past were really bad since not one of them ever came close to making him want to see them again. With Emma, he never wanted to leave her side.

"I know what you mean," he told her with a smirk. He kissed her and found that each time it felt more and more natural to do so. "So what do you want to do this afternoon?" he asked. "I want to take you out to dinner tonight, your choice of place, but what do you want to do now?

"Oh Daryl, you don't have to take me out. We could eat here," she replied. Emma didn't want him spending his hard earned money just to take her out. She was just as comfortable staying at home.

"I know I don't have to… I want to. I was late coming home yesterday because we did a last minute emergency job on a Porsche. The guy slide me a hundred for staying and doing the job. You choose the place and we'll eat there tonight, okay?" Daryl wanted to spend the money on her. He didn't know much, but he knew that when you dated someone you took them out. He wanted Emma to feel special.

"Okay, fine," she said rolling her twinkling eyes. "If you want to take me out to dinner, I'll just have to suffer through it."

They laughed together and kissed again. Daryl never wanted to stop kissing her, but he was hoping to save that for later. He broke the kiss and again asked her what she wanted to do that afternoon. Together they threw out a few ideas and ended up settling on going for drive in his truck.

Emma was able to sit right next to Daryl as his truck was so old that it had a bench style front seat, not bucket seats the way vehicles did now. He held her hand the entire drive as she showed him around the area. The ended up with an early dinner as Daryl was hungry from not eating all day at a casual restaurant that Emma knew. She wasn't comfortable eating in a fancy place and she guessed that Daryl wouldn't be either.

The sun had gone down by the time they headed home. They both were a bit quiet on the ride back, each lost in their own thoughts about each other. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, but one of two people that were relaxed together. Daryl had never been this comfortable around a woman before. He wasn't tongue tied or nervous anymore. He knew that Emma got who he was.

The anticipation of what would most likely happen tonight also hung in the air. If Merle hadn't interrupted them that morning they both knew they would have had sex. That was the only barrier they had left to cross. It worried Daryl more than Emma. He was used to taking care of his own needs and not caring about anything else. Could he do it? Would it be enough?

Daryl parked the truck and they both got out and headed to Emma's. When they got inside Emma suggested they either watch a movie or the TV. Daryl looked through the handful of movies she had saw they were all really chick flicks. None appealed to him, so he suggested the TV. After flipping through the channels they found a show they both liked and Emma snuggled up next to Daryl to watch it.

They talked about the show and the next one after that as the night wore on. It was getting closer to the time when they would be going to bed. Daryl assumed he was staying over, but suddenly he wondered if he was wrong. She may want him to go home.

It was like they were on the same wave length as suddenly Emma looked up at him with her big green eyes and said, "Kiss me." Daryl complied instantly. His woman wanted a kiss, he was certainly not going to say no, when he was dying for one too.

When their lips came together they immediately forgot about the show on the TV. Closed lips, soon turned to open and their tongues quickly danced with each other. Every few minutes when they needed to take a breath, one would explore the other's face or neck or anything else their lips could find.

Emma ended up practically sitting in Daryl's lap as the kisses intensified. She could feel his erection under her and it thrilled her that he wanted her. His hand moved up under her shirt and caressed her back. The touch of his fingers on her skin sent waves of desire flowing through her. Emma wondered how she would be able to handle it when he actually touched her breast again or more. She never had a guy get her this worked up this easily before.

Daryl loved the feel of the smooth skin as his hand explored her back. It was such as contradiction as his own was so mangled. Eventually he used his other hand to unclasp her bra and immediately both of their breathing became ragged. It was time to take their relationship to the next level.