Upon arriving at the hospital, Mindy realized a part if her expected him to drop her hand, accustomed as she'd become to their previous state of secrecy or 'being cool' as Danny had so eloquently phrased it. They hadn't really talked about it in the cab. Actually, there'd been very little conversation. The time had been mostly taken up with making out and allowing their hands to rediscover one another while avoiding Danny's injury. An unspoken competition was waged that became all about seeing who would be more daring while they were still technically in public. He won when he pushed aside her vest and finally got to release that button, dipping his warm tongue down between her breasts while his thumbs brushed her nipples through the layers of material. (The cabbie, in true New York fashion, had to have seen what was going on but barely batted an eye. He'd probably seen worse.) Now, though, she couldn't help but wonder how he'd feel when faced with their relationship becoming public knowledge pretty much immediately after it restarted and in the hospital where they worked, no less.
Much to her delight, he merely tightened his grip as they walked through the doors and kissed her cheek before addressing the nurse at the desk. The woman must have recognized them at little because her eyebrows flew up toward her hairline as she handed Danny a clipboard. Mindy just grinned at her. That's right. I am straight up dating Danny Castellano (again)! We're adorable, aren't we? The world must know! Tell your friends and neighbors! Then she realized the button on her shirt was still undone and she was practically flashing the entire ER her lacy pink bra. (Damn it.)
Aside from holding a pen and balancing the clipboard, Danny's hand was rarely out of hers, like he needed to maintain contact or one of them would disintegrate. Even though his palm was slightly sweaty (this was Danny, after all) it didn't bother Mindy one bit. She hand a thing for Danny's hands and had admired them before she ever admired the man all that much. For a long time, she'd thought they were easily the most graceful thing about him. With long, tapered fingers and wide palms, his hands moved in a weirdly relaxed but elegant way that seemed very at odds with the often uptight, rude loudmouth they happened to be attached to.
In the few instances in which he'd touched her early on, shaking her hand when they first met, shoving her over on the couch in the doctor's lounge, holding her arms when Beverly broke her nose, she'd been surprised by the strength in his hands. Not because she didn't think he was strong as a person or as a man, but his hands moved with such an odd fluidity it was easy to expect a less than firm touch. It was one of the first things she actually liked about him, this physical sign of a sensitive side she would glimpse occasionally that he just couldn't quite hide behind the Staten Island tough-guy persona. That was her internal version of things, at least.
Then, of course, she'd seen Danny dance. It may not have been ballet, but his hands were definitely not the only thing she found graceful about him after that.
Thinking about his dance for her at Christmas still made her smile, made her heart rate kick up, made her replay that perfect moment in her mind and curse her coworkers all over again for interrupting. When she'd hugged him and his arms came up to reciprocate, she was almost sure she wasn't alone in the overwhelming connection she felt with him then. In fact, she was pretty sure she and Danny would have kissed if Peter hadn't burst into the room demanding 'boob wine', followed by Jeremy with Danny's wrecked gingerbread house, both of them completely breaking the beautiful spell that had fallen around them. She'd tried to bring it back after they left, but he'd turned down her invitation to 'get some air'. He knew, of course, that this was code for the 'perfect first kiss' part of her man-trap but she was hoping he'd clue in to her willingness to adapt to a change in partner if the partner were amenable. In the end, she'd figured she must have been mistaken about the spark she'd felt between them.
Immediately thereafter, Cliff had happened, inevitably putting everything Danny-related firmly on the back burner. She was left with no time to think about her feelings toward him. As was her style, she threw herself into the new relationship with gusto, brushing aside any thoughts of Danny, his dance, or his weirdly graceful hands and body. Every now and then, even while dating Cliff, her brain would supply a particularly erotic dream about one or more of those things and she would startle herself awake only to lay there in total shock, staring into the dark with phantom sensations of Danny's hands being the ones to slide across her skin and make her sigh and moan. She wasn't sure how she felt about that either and couldn't afford to give herself a chance to decide since she was firmly in a relationship with someone else.
Once, she'd been snoozing in the doctors' lounge and must have been making noises in her sleep. The next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake by Danny who, in her dream, had just been grinning at her in the most deliciously carnal way while in the middle of a dare that involved him making her come as many times as he could using only his hands. After jumping up at the sight of him like she was on fire, she proceeded to stare at him like he had a giant spider glued to his face. He'd just rolled his eyes and told her she must have been failing at counting sheep or something when he came in because she was muttering numbers in a strange voice but had only gotten up to six. (A number that seemed highly improbable in reality… at least when pertaining to her dream and not sheep. Obviously, it was totally realistic to have six sheep.) Regardless, her eyes had widened, hoping she hadn't said anything else that might give away the true nature of her dream. Despite being mortified with embarrassment, she couldn't take her eyes off him, darting from his hands to his lips, to his eyes (making him irritably repeat, "What?– What?") before mumbling an unintelligible excuse and escaping to the locker room.
She couldn't have known that she'd soon get to experience something pretty close to that dream (although, let's face it, six was still a pretty unrealistic number when it comes to orgasms, hands or no hands). When he'd grabbed her on the plane, kissing her like the male lead in one of her romantic comedies, she'd finally felt what his hands were capable of, and it was way better than anything she imagined. He seemed to instinctively know how to touch her in a way that inflamed her desire to dizzying heights. She remembered vaguely thinking, Oh, yes… the butt grab is definitely his move, and boy did it work for her. No man had ever been so immediately enthusiastic about her ass. Not long after, she'd gotten to know the slight roughness of his palms from old callouses, the subtle dexterity of strength she'd felt before in his fingers as they mapped her body carefully and drew each heated thread of pleasure out of her with exquisite patience. Thinking of it now was enough to make her mouth dry as all the moisture in her body seemed to concentrate and throb between her legs.
"Hey," he murmured next to her, snapping her back to her surroundings. "What are you thinking of? You just got all dreamy eyed." Blushing, she smiled demurely and wondered if she should whisper something naughty in his ear or if she'd tortured him enough. Before she could decide, she was overtaken by a huge yawn out of nowhere, reminding her that it was now getting close to midnight. "No, no, don't do that– you'll get me started and we'll pass it back and forth! We still have things to get to tonight." He fought it mightily, but couldn't quite keep from succumbing to a yawn through which he groaned in frustration, then glared at her.
"I'm sorry!" She managed sleepily. "Its been a physically and emotionally exhausting day, Danny. Which is mostly, no– all your fault. Aren't you tired at all? It's way past your bedtime, old man." She leaned her head on his shoulder, valiantly suppressing another yawn.
"Eh, maybe a little."
"You just yawned," she pointed out.
He shrugged. "They're contagious. And my brain needed oxygen."
"Oh, is that what that was?" Lifting her head, she leveled a skeptical look at him through her lashes. He sighed gustily in disappointment like a kid who just got denied dessert. This effect was enhanced by the mussed state of his normally perfect hair as a lock fell directly in the middle of his forehead. Some of that she knew she was responsible for, remembering how her fingers ran up through his sideburns while his tongue teased her earlier. As if reading her mind, Danny's eyes darted down to the button she'd refastened.
"What about finishing what we started in the cab? That's not enough to keep you awake? I apparently wasn't doing something right." She reached a hand to push his hair back, noting the way even this small gesture made him inhale deeply and his eyes darken ever so slightly.
"No, actually, you were doing just fine– pretty sure my eyes were rolling back in my head. I think that cab driver's life will never be so exciting again. If you'd done it any better, he would have been paying us for the ride– Come to think of it, maybe if you had done it a little better, we could've gotten here for free!" This last made her start to snicker uncontrollably at the image filled her mind. His eyebrows drew together in a frown.
"Come on... I am injured so, you know, take is easy."
"That didn't seem to be affecting... anything."
"Anything?"
"You know what I mean… you're amazingly responsive for your age."
"My age?! I'm not that much older than y–" It was her turn to interrupt his sentence with a kiss.
After finishing the requisite paperwork, Danny didn't have to wait long before being assigned a bed and given some pain meds to keep him comfortable until he could be examined. One perk of being a doctor employed by a hospital was being prioritized for emergency care. It was a way of protecting an investment since happy, healthy doctors made for happier, healthier patients in general. And in a teaching hospital like theirs, where med students often became those doctors, it was a long-term investment that started early in their careers. In fact, a friend of theirs from residency was working trauma that evening.
Within minutes, the intake nurse had come around to get Danny's vitals and information. The nurse asked if he filed an accident report with the police, to which Danny responded that he didn't want to take the time because he was in a hurry. When asked what could possibly be more important than being hit by a car, Danny glanced up at her in a way that had heat spreading across her skin. While holding her gaze, he said he had to go meet someone really important at the top of the Empire State Building– the woman he was going to marry. Mindy nearly looked behind herself indignantly to see who he meant until she remembered he was probably talking about her. Then she gaped at him.
"Who are you and what have you done with Danny Castellano?" She demanded, drilling an accusing finger into his side after the nurse left.
"What? I said I wanted to go all in. What'd you think that meant?"
"So… this for real– I'm not being punk'd… I mean, is– is Ashton Kutcher waiting around the corner to pop out at me and tell me this is all a setup?"
"Okay, I don't know who that is… but this," he lifted their hands and pressed his lips to their entwined fingers, "is real. I told you that." His eyes were so earnest it made her light headed. "Or– I tried to tell you that." She shook her head rapidly, dismissing the last statement.
"But… You're sure you only got hit by a cab? You're not feeling feverish? There wasn't some body-snatching incident I should be aware of?" Danny regarded her strangely for a moment, then shrugged again in an annoyingly self-satisfied way, amused by her reaction.
Soon afterward he was back to being himself, grumbling about being asked to don a hospital gown and griping about the pain medication, saying it was one that always made him loopier than several others he felt were equally therapeutic options and he probably could just take an over the counter anyway.
"Wow, Danny," Mindy joked lightly. "Would you like me to get the nurse back here so you can request a different one? Or tell him you've decided to be a manly man and go without narcotics?" Smiling at his grouchiness, she was glad to see him acting pretty much the way she'd expect. "Doctors really are awful patients."
"Hey– remember, I have more experience taking care of you at this point than you do taking care of me. You weren't a whole lot better," he teased, making a huge show of swallowing the pill, even opening his mouth and lifting his tongue to prove he'd taken it.
"Um, I was like the perfect patient. You barely had to do anything."
"You complained because the chicken noodle soup I made you had too many vegetables in it. You said it was too healthy to be comfort food."
"It's supposed to be chicken and noodles, Danny! Not chicken, noodles and carrots, or chicken, noodles and celery! If it has to have vegetables in it, they should be so small they can't be seen, okay– otherwise it's false advertising."
He changed into the gown as Mindy held the curtains closed after shoving him inside when he suggested she help undress him with a crooked grin. Actually, she was strongly tempted to do so, especially after what he said about her being the woman he was going to marry. But we have plenty of time for sex– probably as long as we both shall live, Mindy thought whimsically, paraphrasing one of her favorite lines from "You've Got Mail".
"No, you just said that out loud." Danny's voice came from right next to her on the other side of the curtain, making her jump. "You're narrating again." She could tell he was smiling and wanted to punch him.
"Oh… Damn it."
"No, I like it. Question though, if your gonna keep going– do I need to be present for the part where you map out our lives in an overly romantic and unrealistic way? I mean, it's not like I'll get much say anyway." Mindy snapped open the curtain in mock outrage. If possible, he looked even more smug and amused with his stupid kissable lips and stupid muscley arms crossed over his chest as he lay back on the bed. And how, exactly, was he making a hospital gown look sexy?
"Good thing I was done changing– Hey!" The clothing he'd removed and folded neatly at the end of the bed had become a weapon in Mindy's hands as she snatched up his jacket and hit him with it lightly. "Injured person here!"
"That was for making fun of my narrating, which you know you love–"
"–I said I liked it–"
"–And that," she smacked him again, "is for once again insinuating that I talk too much–"
"–Sorry, but that you'll just have to get used to," he interjected, stealing the jacket out of her hands.
"–And that," she reached out and pinched him instead, making him squirm away, "is for continuing to pretend you're not a romantic even though you totally are. Did you or did you not run across the city for me?"
"Well–"
"You did. Of course it was only after you left that you ran across the city, despite saying you'd wait all night… which makes you an idiot and a jerk–"
"Min–"
"–But a hopeless romantic nonetheless, so don't pretend you don't want to be there when I talk about planning our lives or whatever. Because you do."
"I–"
"No, you don't get to argue with that."
He sighed. "…Okay."
"…Wait, you're… not going to argue with that?"
"No."
"Oh… Good. Then I'm sorry I hit you… and pinched you. Have the drugs kicked in yet?"
"Nah, not yet. I need to eat something though or it'll irritate my stomach."
"Well, I'm glad you took them. That bruise looks nasty."
"I just didn't want to be impaired when we get to those things we talked about." He clicked his tongue, letting his eyes travel up and down her body suggestively before winking in an exaggerated manner.
"Okay, that was lame. And you might as well just start saying sex, because no one's going to believe you're talking about anything else after that," she complained, fighting not to grin. He was doing that crooked smiling thing again and it had her pulse skittering out of control. "I am forced to repeat that sex with me would kill you in this condition and probably explode your heart monitor."
"I'm not on a heart monitor." Warmth suffused her stomach at the low, husky tone of his voice.
"Whatever." She narrowed her eyes, stepping closer even though she knew she shouldn't. "The point still stands."
"I was fine in the cab– Come here." He crooked a finger at her and lifted his chin. She thought about letting him sweat it, but knew it was useless. Faintly, she wondered if she'd always give in when Danny so much as crooked his finger and was afraid the answer was yes, not that he would ever hear that from her.
Feeling utterly adrift, she shook her head at them both, then closed the distance to cover his lips with hers. Their kiss this time was languid and unhurried but every bit as emotionally intense as it had been in the cab. It reminded her of the way they kissed before they ever had sex– slow and sensual like he was a low burning flame consuming her piece by piece. Each discovery felt like the first and held the promise of all they had yet to explore. Every sense was tuned exclusively to him, from the friction of lips to the roughness of his stubble to the glorious, wet slide of tongues to the scent of his skin and sound of their trembling breath so vital and close. It amazed her how lost she could still get in the sensations created by his mouth. With anyone else, she grew bored after roughly ten minutes and found a way to move things forward. Not with him.
Danny was different. Danny she could kiss for hours.
The world around her faded from consciousness as her focus narrowed to his mouth and the barely audible groan he released when she used her teeth in a gentle bite before drawing his bottom lip between her own indulgently. It was a sound she never tired of hearing; it was helpless, needy, and she loved knowing she could do that to him. Even with the rush of that power, she needed the anchor of one hand resting lightly on his chest, feeling the warmth of his body through the soft cotton, her fingertips tracing the side of his throat where his pulse raced by. All sense of time disappeared as his fingers dug hard into her hip, then slid up her waist to skim along the underside of her breasts. Head swimming, she was starting to rethink the necessity and wisdom of her insistence on coming here when the curtain drew back and a deep voice spoke.
"Whoa."
They broke apart guiltily to see Glenn Walters standing there holding Danny's chart.
Glenn had started his residency the same year as Mindy and was on several rotations with her. She had briefly crushed on the tall black man before determining he was more brother than boyfriend material to her. He had a great sense of humor and such an easy-going, relaxed nature that everyone had been surprised when he excelled under the demanding environment of the emergency room and trauma wards. With only a mild look of surprise, he nodded at his patient and the woman who'd so recently been wrapped around him.
"Danny, Mindy, good to see you as always." They both muttered sheepish hellos. Glenn propped the chart on the end of the bed, then wagged a finger between the two of them. "It's really none of my business, but… that's new, right?" Mindy cleared her throat as Danny's mouth fell open, both unsure what to say. Then both began speaking at once.
"It's– well, it sort of – it's new but it's – I mean," she started.
"–You could say its new, although we kind of– um," he stuttered. Glenn held up a hand, cutting them off.
"Alright, alright, take a breath," he advised, laughing. "It's not a big deal, I was just curious. Good for you, though. I mean, we all thought maybe you two had a thing back in the day, the way you'd argue with each other. We figured there had to be something there– I mean, senior resident arguing with a first year to the point of ignoring everyone else, sparks flying… it was like watching a tennis match– It was like when those doctors on 'House' argued with each other at work to convince everyone they were no longer in a relationship or something, you know?" Mindy coughed to hide her surprise, wondering why everyone but the two of them were able to see it so long ago. First Josh, then Amy, now Glenn? Who else? I mean, really! Why did it take us so freaking long to see this?!
Danny seemed just as stunned by this information but was smiling his weird pod-person smile and staring off distractedly.
"Anyway…" Glenn blew right past the awkward silence and brought them back to the present as he looked at the chart again. "Hit by cab. Slightly better than falling down a manhole, I guess. At least there was no embarrassing ambulance ride or news story this time. The lack of accident report and the note, 'patient said he had to go meet his future wife at the Empire State Building' make a hell of a lot more sense now, too." He winked at Mindy. "You want to give us a second?" She acquiesced quietly, feeling unaccountably shy as she squeezed Danny's shoulder before stepping away from them, reeling from Glenn's statement.
She meandered distractedly to the waiting area and used the coffee machine to get some much needed caffeine, continuing to stand near the drinks station as she warily assessed the empty chair situation. It wasn't promising; at the moment, she did not finding the idea of sitting too near the sick and/or injured terribly appealing. This time of night, the proverbial shit usually hit the fan down here as people who had gotten off work hours ago had plenty of time now to get drunk, begin arguments, or plot crimes to commit under cover of darkness. Also, it was Friday night, which usually added to the crazy. Also, she was pretty sure if she sat down she would not want to get back up. The longer she was away from Danny, the more she became aware of just how weary she felt. Maybe I will disintegrate without him, she mused. Her eyelids felt heavy and her legs were starting to feel sore from the 104 story climb she'd taken. In the morning she would probably feel like hell. Then she and Danny could be in pain together and take turns being the patient. Or take turns playing doctor.
Suddenly, it occurred to her that she hadn't checked her phone in well over an hour and a half. It had to be some kind of record; normally, the nagging feeling of being cut off from the outside world without her ever-present internet connection drove her to distraction. Clearly, Danny was a bad influence in this area, what with his old fashioned, 'your cell phone doesn't need to be glued to your hand' attitude. (That and his distractingly sexy self.) Usually, only lengthy medical procedures could keep her out of the loop this long. She pulled it out of her purse to find a slew of texts from her coworkers wanting to know what happened. As she scrolled through them, she responded to them in her mind.
Morgan
- OMG. I can't stand it! Did he find you?! (Oh Morgan, you're a weirdo.)
- Please, Dr. L, tell me he found you… (Yup, he found me alright.)
- Hello?! (Chuh… rude.)
- Really? After everything I've done for you, you ignore me! You two better be having sex right now. (Boy, don't I wish.)
- Hey, Dr. L, I'm not really mad, I just would really like to know if my best friend and former roommate managed to hook up with the man of her dreams tonight, that's all. No big deal. (Ugh. Guilt trip much?)
BrOB-GYN (Peter)
- Hey, Danny stopped to get pizza like the total chode that he is… don't let him get a pass on that! But he's on his way now, FYI (I really wish I'd seen that sooner!... Do I wanna know what a chode is? Guessing no.)
- Well trashy skank, hope you and Danny are bumpin them uglies right now! Bow chicka wow-wow. Git it gurl. Git it aaalll night long… And you're welcome, BTW. (How does he manage sound like a frat boy even in texts? And how did he change his name in my phone?!)
Jeremy
- I hope you two have finally mended things. It's taken bloody long enough. (Pretty sure you weren't even aware of our relationship until today, so…)
- Incidentally, if you do decide to embark on a relationship I will need both of you to sign another waiver saying you release the practice of liability in the event that things should not work out and so forth. (Gee… Thanks for the vote of confidence!)
- Just a friendly reminder. Hope it doesn't come to that of course. Best of luck. Ta. (That's a little better… Does that man really have a waiver for everything or is he making it up as he goes along?)
Rolling her eyes, she seriously considered letting them all wait, but thought better of it. They had been nice enough to take time out of their respective days to convince her Danny was in love with her and encourage her to meet him. (And then to encourage him to go find her when he was being ridiculous and hungry… stupid, stupid Danny.) She supposed the least she could do is update them all on the latest developments. Also, they would find out all the details eventually even if she didn't want them to know.
Opening a new group message, she typed out a short paragraph saying they had found each other (at last!) and were together but Danny had gotten hit by a cab after he saw them so they were back at the hospital getting him checked out. She was about to hit 'send' when it occurred to her that since the majority of the office worked at the hospital concurrently, telling them about Danny's injury might cause all of them to descend en masse, thereby making their night that much longer and (more importantly) delaying any possibility of more hot, sexy making out, touching, or even steamy looks for that matter. With this in mind, she removed the part about the hospital and said they were watching a movie at his place and hit send, determined to do her best to ignore any responses it garnered.
She finished her coffee and got a refill, mixing one for Danny as she idly scrolled through her Twitter feed. Another huge yawn had overtaken her when new message popped up on her screen.
Danny
- Where's you run off to? Gotta hot date I don know about? Get your curvy ask back her. I'm horny for your kisses. ;)
"Wow. Danny Castellano sent me a winky face. I can officially die happy." She snorted in amusement, wondering at the spelling errors before responding.
Mindy
- Who is this? This is Mindy. :P
Grabbing the coffee cups, she traversed the hundred or so feet back to his bed and pulled back the curtain. Danny looked up at her, his eyes somewhat unfocused as he waved his phone.
"Cute. You reused my line."
"It's only fair– you reused mine. And sent me a winky face, you perv." He gave her a big dopey smile. "Jeez, you weren't kidding. That stuff does make you loopy."
"Yeah, I told you. Empty stomach's not helping."
"Uh-huh. What did Glenn have to say?"
"Probably just bruising, but he wants an X-Ray to be sure."
"Oh good. Looks like I won't have to kill you after all," she observed sagely.
"Well if you kill me now, no sex for you."
"What are you talking about? I could get another guy like that." She snapped her fingers.
"Ah, but then I'd just have to haunt you like a sex crazed poltergeist and make sure you never got laid again." Blinking slowly, he pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. "Wow, I'm feeling it now." His voice was starting to sound a bit muzzy and he seemed on the verge of falling asleep. It was actually crazy adorable and reminded her way to much of how he sounded during sex. "That text was off, wasn't it?"
"Which part? The part about my curvy ask? Remember how I told you about autocorrect?" He chuckled throatily, a sound so sexy she felt her toes trying to curl in her shoes. To offset this, she stepped closer and kissed him chastely.
"Mmm… I remember. You taste like coffee. Where's mine?" He spoke with slightly exaggerated slowness and a very slight slur like words had suddenly become hard to pronounce. She wondered if she could get away with taking video of this for blackmail purposes.
"Here. Couldn't find any tonic water." His own phone dropped forgotten into his lap as he took the cup from her, smiling in that crooked way of his.
"This'll work. Hey, it's just the way I like it," he said after a sip, like it was the most impressive thing ever. "Black with just a little sugar because cr–"
"–Cream is for sissies," she finished for him. "I know. See? I do listen to some of the stuff you say." Sipping it slowly, he gazed at her fuzzily over the rim before setting it aside.
"You still look nice, Min. Even after climbing all those stairs." His fingers reached out to toy with the front edge of her coat. Her eyebrows quirked up.
"That's me. 104 floors and still flawless. I woke up like this," she drawled casually a la Beyoncé even as his words made her heart stutter in her chest.
"You're really pretty in pink."
"Hey, nice '80's movie reference!"
"Huh?"
"…Never mind." She bit back a smirk, pursing her lips.
"Aw, don't do that," he frowned drowsily.
"What? First I can't yawn, now I can't smile?"
"No, it's not that– it's– the thing, the thing you do with your lips. Man, it drives me crazy when you do that." His head rolled back and forth on the pillow in frustration.
"What thing I do with my lips?" Obviously, he was losing it.
"Oh God, you don't even know?" Staring at him expectantly, Mindy's chin jutted forward, hands spread, completely at a loss. "You do this – its like a smile, but you purse your lips just a little and it makes wanna fff… Oooh, I just– I want you so much right now."
"Danny!" Thank goodness he was too medicated to speak at normal volume or the whole hospital would be treated to the lascivious, depraved rantings of her boyfriend. Wait– Boyfriend? she thought vaguely. Somehow that doesn't seem adequate.
"What?"
"I know what word you were about to use, Danny!"
"I can't help that it's true! Hey… you were the last one, you know."
"Last one? Last one what?" Surely, he didn't mean… well, he could mean anything. Last woman, last hope, last … lover. Those are pretty much all the same, dummy, she chastised silently.
"Remember when you asked me if I'd really been with every race of woman? Well, I have now," he declared smugly, a slow, devilish grin spreading across his face. "You were the last one."
"What?!" She pushed his arm away in mock outrage before trying to pinch every inch of him she could reach. Grinning, he thwarted her efforts by grabbing her wrists and holding her hands away from his body, the reminder of his strength turning her on even as she struggled to inflict pain upon his person."And here I thought you were being romantic again! Is that the only reason we got together? So you could check me off some kind of sexual bucket list?!" If there had been something besides his clothing nearby, something like a throw pillow (or a brick) she would have begun beating him with it and hard, injury be damned. "Are you gonna write a book now? How I Slept With Every Race of Woman and Some of Them Twice? And just because we're a sixth of the world's population does not mean all Indians are one race, Danny. That's very offensive!"
"Says the woman who's constantly referring to herself as a 'woman of color'."
"Well, it's different coming from me because I am a–"
"–A woman of color. Right." His voice and his eyes had softened as he gazed at her with the smallest of smiles curving his lips. The look was one he'd given her a lot lately, one she didn't recognize for what it was until now. It was the same look he gave her when he was helping her write that letter to Cliff, when they were first together, when she asked him to stay with her when she was sick, and when they'd spent time rediscovering the city they both loved together. It was a look that kindled a radiating warmth in her chest and fluttering butterflies in her stomach.
One instance in particular came to mind. They'd been watching the sun set over the harbor after spending the whole day together about two weeks ago. She'd remarked on how she liked watching the light glint off the hundreds of thousands of windows across the city skyline; it made her think about all the different kinds of people (mainly the famous kind) behind those windows who could all be watching the same sunset at the same time as her. When she finished speaking, she'd turned to find Danny looking at her with an expression very like the one he wore now. Had it been anyone else, she'd have thought he wanted to kiss her, but this was Danny. Danny, who broke her heart. Danny, who made it clear he didn't want her… or so she thought. At the time, she had dismissed it as wishful thinking brought on by the romantic setting and the wonderful day in each others' company. Now she knew she must have been right, and the thought made her heart pound erratically.
He'd looked at her the same way just before she'd spotted the man she thought was Andy on the subway this morning. Wow, that was this morning? It feels like so long ago.
In fact, now that she thought about it, there were actually numerous times in the past when Danny had looked at her in a similar way. Only then he was clearly just as confused about what was happening as she was. Various moments from the past popped into her mind: the time they'd accidentally touched hands on the plane from Santa Fe before he gripped hers definitively on purpose, the time he'd cleaned her glasses for her and slid them gently back on, his fingers in her newly shortened hair the night she decided to go to Haiti, the time he'd kissed her cheek post Wiener Night before leaving with another woman, the hug at the Christmas party after he performed a dance he'd memorized just for her. Each time, there had been an underlying uncertainty there, something he was clearly flummoxed by and not ready to explore. Each time, she managed to convince herself it was just affection that made him look at her like that, like she was something different, like she was something special. It seemed unbelievably obvious now that it hadn't been only friendly affection.
Neither of them had known it, but they had been falling for each other a long time.
Over time, the uncertainty in those looks had shifted to a far more vulnerable, risky place. Confusion became fear, creeping in stealthily like a particularly insidious cancer. Whether it was fear of his feelings, fear of rejection, fear of hurting or losing her, she could never be sure although all of these had undoubtedly played a role in his stupid decision to end things.
At some point in the not too distant past, however, a small portion of that fear seemed to have disappeared almost overnight. Lately, she realized in hindsight, it had seemed like he was no long unsure of one thing– his own feelings. Her feelings were still unknown to him until tonight. She hadn't missed the complete and utter relief on his face when she said she loved him too. As he looked at her now, his eyes held such obvious love she recognized it instantly. There was also an unabashed warmth there that intoxicated her. It was like he was thrilled to finally be able to let her see what how he felt and look at her with all of that emotion plainly showing on his face.
The racing torrent of these thoughts and his steady gaze made her hot all over, and Mindy inhaled slowly in an effort to keep herself from dragging him behind the nearest lockable door. Not for the first time, she was thankful for the deep shade of her skin that had hidden a multitude of revelatory blushes throughout her life.
"Oh, this is so unfair," she muttered after a long silence teeming with sexual tension. "You probably couldn't even get it up right now if you wanted to." Danny snorted indelicately, watching her take off her coat and fan her face.
"How much you wanna bet? Wait… do you want me to?"
"Ha-ha. There's nothing we could do about it now and you know it. Someone will be here any minute to take you to Radiology."
"Hmm. Good point. That would be awkward." He leaned toward her a little.
"It would be. So awkward. Especially since you're only wearing a hospital gown," she managed, getting drawn in by his dark eyes.
"Mmm." He leaned still further, eyes roaming her face hungrily.
"Stop it."
"Stop what?"
"You're smoldering at me. You know I can't resist your smolder."
"Then why are you trying?" His face was only inches from hers now and she knew he hadn't been the only one leaning in. (Damn it.)
"I have an idea," she whispered, licking her lips, thrilling at the spark of desire in his eyes as they flickered to her mouth.
"You do?"
"Uh-huh." Her voice was barely audible, breathy even, as she brushed her open lips against his with a feather light touch while they shared breaths. He inhaled shakily, gasping when her tongue flicked across his lower lip. She kept it up until neither of them could stand it. "While you're in Radiology," she whispered into his mouth, drawing the sentence out. "I'm going to go upstairs and change into my scrubs," she stated, pulling back. He stared at her stupidly, saying nothing for a full five seconds.
"Wait– What?!… You gotta be kidding me!" His head dropped back and he stared at the ceiling before covering his face with his hands.
"I can't help it that you're this sexually addicted to me, Danny." She stood back and smoothed her clothes down casually.
"Uuuuggghh," Danny groaned behind his hands. "Are trying to give me a heart attack? I hate you so much right now," he growled without looking at her.
"No, you don't– you love me, you wanna have beautiful mixed race babies with me," she trilled in a singsong voice, much the way Peter had once done to her, "or rather one beautiful mixed race boy named Anthony Francis… Yuck."
She was so caught up in her victory she didn't see it coming. In a flash, Danny hands shot out, grabbing fistfuls of her vest and pulling her to him roughly. Luckily, she was standing to his left, so no contact could be made with his injured side. Not that she was thinking about that much. She was mostly thinking Whoa! and then, Oh God… before her brain just turned to mush.
Her upper body fell over his, one had steadying herself next to his body on the bed, the other clutching near his shoulder. There was nothing slow about it this time. Instead, he devoured her, moving his tongue past her lips in an purely erotic way that liquified her insides instantly. She heard herself whimper a little before angling her head to give him better access while her legs weakened beneath her. As she leaned precariously over him, he tugged her coat free from where it was draped over her arm, arranging it hastily over his lap before placing a hand over hers where it gripped his shoulder. Their mouths stayed linked as he haltingly slid their hands down his chest, over his abs, and under the edge of her coat until she felt the hard ridge of his erection through his briefs. He moaned softly against her lips as she stroked him lightly through the layers of material once, twice, and a third time before she made herself stop, pulling back slightly to look down at him.
"Guess I was wrong," she rasped. He nodded unsteadily, eyes drifting closed when she stroked over him again. Pointedly, he grabbed her hand and slid it back into view.
"Turn about is fair play. Between what you did to me on the street and in the cab, Min, I've been halfway there for a while now. Why do you think I left my underwear on?" His jaw clenched as he breathed deeply, trying to calm down.
"You have? I didn't notice." She would have ribbed him mercilessly had she known and, of course, been that much more tempted to drag him off somewhere private.
"Yeah. Made things with Glenn slightly weird, but I think he understood."
"Danny, do I… Do I really turn you on that much?" The question came out casually, but there was an unintentional quiver in her voice that gave away its depth. There were times when she found it amazing Danny was attracted to her at all. If he had a type, she never would never have thought she was anywhere near it; the women he dated were mostly skinny and perfect at least in her eyes. Despite her frequent assertions of her own hotness, somewhere inside there was still a girl that didn't quite believe she was desirable, worried that she didn't measure up to the standard of beauty, and feared that she wasn't going to be enough, especially for someone like him. There was a part of her that worried Danny would end up wishing she were thinner or had bigger breasts or blue eyes or any number of other things she may or may not be able to change.
He grimaced, about to say something off-handed and light, when her tone registered. In the space of a heartbeat, his expression shifted from playful to totally sincere. He stared at her a moment, another strange, thoughtful look in his eyes before he moved his focus to her hand he still held lightly against his body.
"Mindy," he began, pausing as he gathered the words. He sighed quietly, playing with her fingers, hesitant for reasons she couldn't determine but sent her mind racing frantically with fear. "You… You make me feel… like I'm sixteen years old again." Of all the things she imagined him saying, this wasn't one of them.
"Um. Is that… good or bad?" The way he said it, she couldn't tell and she abruptly needed to know the answer like she needed to breathe.
"Oh, it's good," he said, but his expression indicated otherwise.
"Then can you tell that to your face? Why do you look like I just asked you to go to a musical with me again?" Lifting one shoulder, he seemed reluctant to elaborate as she stared at him. He opened his mouth several times to speak but nothing came out. Feeling slightly sick, she was about to tell him to forget it when he spoke softly.
"Because it's– it's kind of embarrassing… because I– basically… I want you all the time. And not just sex, although that's… really, really great." At this she couldn't help but smile. "I get excited just holding your hand, touching your hair, making you laugh. All you have to do is look at me a certain way, or hell, just walk into the room or smile and my heart just... just pounds like I've never touched a girl before. You make me want to be romantic, you make me wanna do dumb things for you like the guys in those movies you love… I mean, it's like I've never been in love before. Not like this. So do you really turn me on that much? Fuck yes, Min. You do. You really do. All the time."
Unexpectedly, Mindy's eyes filled. Even as she was smiling, a tear dripped down on his chest, marking the space over his heart with a tiny darkened circle. She drew a ragged breath as his hand came up to brush away the track it left on her cheek. "Hey… don't get upset." He pressed soft kisses to her forehead, her nose, and her lips. "I said it's a good thing! Look, I even told my face." Lifting her chin, he gave her another huge, dopey grin that made her laugh through the tears.
"I know, I'm sorry, I just needed to hear it... I didn't mean to start– I'm just tired," she sniffled pathetically.
"Don't apologize. Just don't doubt that I'm attracted to you, okay? I love you."
She nodded, pressing her lips together. "I'm probably going to need to hear that a lot for a while."
"Bring it on." His eyes narrowed. "But if you tell anyone what I said about feeling like a teenager, I'll deny every word."
"Aaaaand you just ruined it. I was about to ask when you figured out how to always say the right thing."
He gave a cocky shrug. "I'm gifted that way."
"No, the point is that just now you didn't say the ri– No, you know what? Never mind. You were having a one time streak so I'll let you have it. Can I move my coat now, Danny?"
"Yeah, I'm good."
"Okay. I really am going to go change now though. My feet are killing me. I'll meet you back down here when I'm done."
"Alright. I'll text you. And can you get me something to eat? I'm starving."
"You're always starving. But I'll get you something." She straightened, glancing toward his groin to make sure he was suitably calmed. She was about to go, but couldn't resist one last peck on the lips that turned into another lengthy kiss. Danny didn't seem to mind, his hands sliding back into her hair and down the sides of her neck. When she finally pulled away again, he sighed heavily.
"Maybe I'll just take your coat with me to radiology. That wouldn't be weird, right?"
"You're secret's safe with me. Or you can use your own," she teased, grabbing his jacket from the end of the bed again.
"Yeah, yeah… Get outta here," he said, over-emphasizing his accent. He shoved her away lightly after taking the proffered lap-covering jacket.
"Alright, alright, I'm going," she threw over her shoulder. As she walked away she pulled her phone out again, opening the message thread to Danny. Before she could type out anything, the indicator bubble popped up on his end showing he was typing a message to her, making her heart jump in surprise.
Danny
- Your hips. Your ass. Your calves when you wear heels.
- 3 very sexy things that turned me on just watching you walk away. Now hurry up so I can get you home and take you to bed.
Needless to say, a huge grin spread across her face as she exaggerated the sway of her walk, knowing he could likely still see her. She turned the corner and hit the elevator button before thinking up a sassy response to send.
Two could play this game.
