Sunday Morning
Kate woke up, peeling herself from Daryl's arms before slinking out of the bed, taking care not to wake him. He looked different. So much younger with his face relaxed, his arms grasping for a pillow to snuggle against his chest like a teddy bear. That's how he had held her all night, like she was his teddy bear, tight and all encompassing.
First, she needed to pee. Second, she needed to get away. Kate wasn't exactly sure what the hell was going to happen this morning so her gut reaction was to at least try to avoid any awkwardness or (and this had occurred to her) potentially make things even more awkward by simply leaving. She carefully crept around her bedroom, grabbing what she needed, pulling on knickers, a sports bra, a vest and some shorts.
She was almost home free and out of the bedroom until she stumbled on the empty champagne bottle that was strewn carelessly across the floor having been wholly consumed somewhere between part one and two of last night's activities. She froze, holding in her breath, but the game was up.
Daryl grunted, his eyes straining as he rolled over to look at the noise that had disturbed his slumber. She thought about saying something but all Kate could see was his morning situation, standing to attention past the covers which were tangled around his feet. Oh my, it looked even more impressive in the early morning daylight that was streaming from the window where the curtains had forgotten to be closed. He caught her looking, a flash of red creeping over his skin before his hand held his modesty while he awkwardly kicked the covers to within reach. "What ya doin' sneakin' 'round?"
She felt like a naughty child with her hand in the cookie jar, caught red handed in her sneaky escape and no real good reason. Kate pulled her Free Runs onto her feet before using the end of the bed for a platform to help her tie the laces. She could at least act like she was being completely normal even if deep down she knew she wasn't, "I'm going for my run."
True, Kate did run almost every morning but she could have easily forsaken it especially when she was feeling as tired and worn in as she was right now. The real truth was that this relationship was now on a new level and she didn't want to face it at 7.30am or quite possibly ever. How she thought that she could enjoy meaningless sex with Daryl she was now quite unsure. All Kate knew was that she had woken this morning with her body curved perfectly against his warmth. His arms holding her like they were made for exactly that purpose and for a split second she had thought that she was home. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt like that or slept so deeply.
Daryl sat up on his elbow, a smile tugging at his mouth, "I could give ya a work out if ya like."
Her eyes flicked to the sheet that was concealing his exercise equipment then back to him, "I like running,"
"Ya want me to come?"
"No," Kate said more forcefully than she had intended before she plastered on a smile and told herself to relax. "You do… whatever you want…. to… do..." She bit her lip, holding in her breath. She needed to get the hell out of this bedroom. How could a woman be expected to think straight when she had a man looking at her the way Daryl looked at her. She opened the door and slipped out, pulling it shut with a relieved sigh before running downstairs to grab her water bottle.
Jesus fucking christ, she was mush. Sloppy on the floor mush and she needed to scoop it back together on this run.
/
Daryl rolled over and inhaled the scent of Kate's pillow before he nestled his head into it. He couldn't quite believe that he was waking up naked in Miss Uppity's bed. Now he was awake all he could think about was last night and there was no way he could fall back to sleep with all the excited adrenaline pumping around his body. He thought about the way she had looked, the way it had felt. But best of it all was giving her an orgasm, or three. God he could listen to that all day. If he'd thought her accent was sexy before it wasn't anything compared to how good it sounded when he was working her over.
He chuckled to himself, all those times she had sashayed around in her little dresses with her ladylike ways and last night she had been naked, covered in a nice layer of sweat, begging him to give it to her harder. His morning wood had little chance of disappearing while he kept this thinking up so he kicked his legs out of the bed and stood up, stretching out his arms and feeling pretty fucking good for once.
The front door slammed shut as Kate went for her morning run and for a moment he considered if she was merely running or running away. What if she wanted him to leave while she was out? The idea squashed some of his happy feelings. Then he decided fuck it, even if she did want him to leave there was no way in hell he was going to. A few weeks ago he had thought that this very moment would never arrive but all his determination had paid off. It was like climbing Everest. He couldn't just stop and turn back. He wasn't exactly sure what he wanted from Kate but it was definitely more than one night. She could run her stubborn ass along but he'd catch her up eventually.
Daryl found his jeans and dug out his phone to see five missed calls from Jim. Shit, his heart picked up speed as he fumbled through the lock screen to return the call. Suddenly he was worrying about a million different things. Jim answered almost straight away.
"Everythin' okay?" Daryl said rather than hello.
"I was gonna ask you the same thing…" Jim's voice was light, relaxed and Daryl released the breath that had started to trap at the back of his throat. "You never called for me to come and pick you up last night."
Daryl felt his ears burning, "sorry, forgot 'bout that." But when had Jim ever been so concerned?
"Just wanted to be sure you weren't beat up in an alley somewhere."
"Ya already startin' to sound like a Daddy."
Jim laughed, "except I want the details of exactly what you were doing last night. An not the kinda details a Daddy would want."
"I gotta go," Daryl could at least put off the questioning until later and no doubt there would be a full inquest.
He threw his phone on the bed and walked into the bathroom to take a leak. It was like the rest of Kate's rental; all shades of grey, clean and shiny except for her clutter of belongings. He washed his hands and stood completely naked while he inspected the various toiletries that were scattered over the sink and filling the cabinet. Eye cream, body souffle, body cream, body butter, some french shit and a bunch of crap that he had no idea about but all of it smelt damn good. Some of it smelt like he might even be able to eat it, especially the cocoa butter, thick, chocolatey like a tub of white frosting ready to spread over a cupcake. But no, it did not taste good, Daryl ran his mouth under the tap, scraping his tongue with his teeth. Why he had scooped up such a large fingerfull he wasn't exactly sure.
Daryl tried to tell himself that all this stuff would probably drive him crazy if he ever had to live with her. She didn't even need all this crap. She looked nicest to him when she was wearing jeans and her beat up old Converse, like she was ready to go do something fun. She looked even better when she was wearing nothing but a wasn't even any space leftover for a razor and some shaving foam. But seriously, who was he kidding? No matter what he tried to think he loved that she had all this useless womens shit and thought it was cute as hell.
Along the counter, past the sink and Kate's various lotions and potions, there was a 'bowties and bourbon' scented candle sitting next to a box of matches. He could almost picture her lighting it before she pulled off her clothes and pampered herself in the way that Charlene sometimes said she was going to. He lit the candle before picking up the little glass pot of nail stuff that was in the same pale pinkish colour as her toenails, 'hopelessly in love', he laughed at the name before catching sight of himself in the mirror holding onto a candle lid in one hand and nail stuff in the other. Jesus, he looked ridiculous but Daryl couldn't deny the fact that he was enjoying this backstage pass to Kate's life more than just a little bit.
He put down the nail stuff and checked out his new tattoo. It looked good. A rose wasn't what he would have ever picked for himself but now that it was on his skin it looked right and he already loved it. It wasn't itching too much just yet so he couldn't complain but he did need to clean it. He turned around to look at the shower and decided he might as well give it a whirl as he turned the faucet before stepping behind the glass screen. He paused under the cascading waterfall head letting the water run over his face for a few minutes before looking for the shampoo.
Her shampoo was fresh and reminded him of the forest as he lathered it in his hair. Then he looked through all the other bottles that were lined up on the little shower shelf to find shower gel. The one he picked up was by Victoria's Secret. His mind flashed to Kate's underwear and then he felt his blood rushing.
If he'd thought getting what he wanted last night would have quenched his desires he was wrong. It was like a tinder to the flame. He rubbed the shower gel over his body and tried to ignore what was between his legs. But then he was lathering up his balls and then he was taking his length in his hand and stroking along. This definitely wasn't the first time he had thought about Kate in the shower and it wouldn't be the last. He let his head fall back, the water pouring over him as his hand pumped in tune with the image in his head. Then he stopped, letting out a painful groan. This was wrong. He slammed the screen door open and grabbed one of her fluffy towels. He couldn't rub one out it her shower, at least not without Kate there to help him along. Jesus, he was like a horny teenager.
He picked up Kate's deodorant and took a sniff. It smelled like clean cotton which was thankfully not as bad as the time he had borrowed Charlene's. It was supposed to smell of a summer bouquet but left him smelling like an old lady quilting circle. He sprayed himself, wiggling his toes on the tiles and whistling his own tune as the candle he had lit filled up the room with the smell of cologne. Hell, he might as well have the full experience. First he picked up her little pot of eye cream to give himself a manly, definitely manly, treatment. Thank fuck no one was here to witness this or have any idea of what he was doing right now or he would never live it down. Besides it wasn't like he had anything else to do.
When Daryl had finally finished getting ready, lord knows how long he had spent acting like a pussy, he noticed another door in the bedroom and threw it open. Jesus, he'd never seen so many clothes and shoes outside of a store. Maybe Kate was going to be staying in Georgia after all since he had no idea how the woman was going to get all this shit on the plane. He considered stepping inside the closet before deciding he'd probably already done enough creeping for one morning.
So he went downstairs, passed the living room and into the kitchen to make Kate breakfast for when she got back. He made great pancakes but couldn't find any flour. Then he thought about eggs but there were none. There was nothing much. Half a bottle of 'apple, asparagus and lemon' juice, he pulled a face. Disgusting. Then there was two red peppers, a Cantaloupe, a carton of milk and tea, no coffee.
Daryl caught sight of that damned porch swing and groaned before rolling his shoulders and reaching for a cigarette. He lit the end as he stepped outside to look at fixing that thing again and proving himself to Miss Uppity. He climbed on the railing in between drags of his cigarette and inspected the fixing in the wood before looking down the garden to the little brown shed that sat nestled amongst the bushes and a magnolia tree. It wouldn't be too difficult to fix it right if he had the proper tools and this was a matter of manly principle. Daryl had already decided that he was supposed to be the one that could fix shit and he was already off to a bad start.
He finished his cigarette and headed back into the house to find the key for the shed. It was hung on a little hook he'd already noticed by the back door but before he could head outside to make a start he noticed a printout stuck to a white board with a little magnet that was shaped like a star. He grabbed the paper and pulled it free, his heart sinking to his feet.
'British Airways
Atlanta - Heathrow
Sunday 24th July 22.10'
/
Kate had spent more than half of her run sitting on a bench with a paper cup of coffee and wondering what the hell she was doing. It wasn't that she regretted sleeping with Daryl, it was the opposite problem. She hadn't expected to like it so much and that was almost worse. She almost hoped that he would be gone this morning so she could brush the weird feeling that was curling around her stomach someplace where she could forget about it. But now she was home, walking into her kitchen and there he was standing in the garden with that bloody swing.
She stepped outside and Daryl gave her a half smile, "it ain't comin' down again."
Kate looked at the drill and various other things that were littering the ground along with wood shavings and dust, "you didn't have to do that."
"I was gonna make ya pancakes but…" he pulled a face, "ya didn't have anythin', don't ya ever cook?"
"I have a melon," Kate retorted with more tartness than was probably required.
"Right," Daryl raised his eyebrows, "what 'bout tomorrow… what ya plannin' on bakin' for the picnic?"
"It's all in hand." Shit, forgot about that.
She left him outside with all his judgements even if he wasn't really judging her. So what if she couldn't cook and didn't cook, she bloody hated cooking and she wasn't trying to win any Michelin stars here. Nor was she auditioning for the role of domesticated little housewife.
Kate hopped onto her kitchen counter and toed off her trainers followed by one sock to inspect her tattoo. It had been rubbing on her run and the pain had been part of the reason for her extended coffee break.
Daryl appeared from the garden, picking up her foot and looking it over, "ya don't regret it do ya?"
Kate looked at him, she could see the nervousness on his face, "no… I might even do it again."
He let out a little relieved sigh as he dropped her foot, his hands sweeping up her thigh to pull her to the very edge of the counter and right to his lips. He smelled different, familiar but not the same musky smell that he usually bathed her in. His kissed fell from her lips down to her jaw and then her neck. Despite every instinct telling her not to stop she pulled away, slipping off the counter and reaching for the melon.
Kate had to be realistic. She was leaving in three weeks. She should probably have been setting boundaries before things got even more out of control and Daryl managed to crawl even further under her skin than he already was. Last night, sleeping over, waking up together in the morning, it was too comfortable. Daryl was too comfortable, helping himself to her power tools and poking around the kitchen, thinking about making her pancakes.
She pulled a knife from the rack and thwacked it into melon where it became lodged, stuck in the middle, too far in to take out and not enough in to weaken it. She raised the knife with the melon attached and bashed it hard against the counter.
"Jesus…" Daryl pulled the fruit knife from her hand, "ya gonna chop a damn finger off."
"I'm fine," Kate reached for the melon but he gently nudged her away with his elbow as he forced the knife all the way through.
"How do ya want it?" he angled the knife to cut long slices.
"I don't need you chopping my fruit."
The doorbell rang and both their heads turned to look down the hall before Kate went to answer it.
"Lou… are you okay?"
"Aye." He shuffled through the door, hanging his fedora on a coat hook then bounded towards the kitchen, "don't tell me you've forgotten about our day."
Antique shopping. Shit, forgot about that too.
"What are you doing here son?" Lou declared, surprised, casting a mischievous glance her way.
"He's fixing my porch swing…" Kate offered as she pulled out a chair for Lou.
"Is that what they're calling it nowadays?" he said low enough that only she heard.
She died a little, ignored his comment and announced, "tea?"
"Aye that'll be grand Lass."
She made tea for two, Daryl and Lou who were sitting at the table discussing the idea of another hunting trip. It felt like her father had walked in and caught her up to no good with the neighbour and she was happy to be leaving the room, "I'll just bob in the shower." Lou didn't react and Daryl gave her one of his long looks.
When she dressed; jeans, tshirt and converse, her usual sunday afternoon attire, she headed downstairs to find the boys in the same spot, tea gone.
Daryl stood up, scratched his chin, "I better get goin', gotta help Irma set things up for tomorrow." He patted Lou's shoulder before moving over to her and then he kissed her, right on the mouth, right in front of Lou, "I'll pick ya up tomorrow 'bout 11 okay?"
Bloody hell, she didn't want the world to crack open and have things change too much, "I can drive myself."
"I know, but I'd like to anyway," he gave her another kiss on the top of her head and then left before she could protest. He left her standing, completely exposed to Lou's Cheshire Cat grin.
"Bugger off Lou," she huffed before picking up the cups and placing them in the dishwasher.