Thanks for the words of encouragement. I was going to wait a few days, but wanted to take their story just a bit farther…can't wait to hear what you think…
"Excuse me Dr. Santino? Can I offer you coffee or perhaps orange juice?" Dani looked up at the attendant who was waiting patiently for her answer. How long she had been standing there, Dani had no idea, but by the way she was looking at her, it could have been awhile.
"I'm sorry, jet lag I guess, how about coffee with cream and sugar? Thank you."
Once the attendant had left, Dani's thoughts drifted back two hours before when Nico had kissed her in the snow. While she had only been with a few men, she had been kissed enough to know that Nico was good, no better than good, crazy good. Dani could have kissed him forever, but Nico had been the first one to break it off, tearing his mouth from hers as if he had been burned. With both of them breathing hard, he had gotten up and without saying anything extending his hand to pull her up.
She had tried to talk to him then as she had brushed the snow from her coat, but his look had stopped her. His eyes, just moments before dark with passion, had gone cold and the warmth she had felt in his arms had been replaced by the wind off of the mountain. Dani hugged herself in an effort to get warm and to keep her hands from shaking.
"We should go Dr. Santino; the plane is waiting for us". Without making eye contact, Nico got into the SUV and started the engine, leaving Dani to follow and get in the passenger side.
"Nico, we need to talk about what just happened" Dani knew that she couldn't let Nico win on this one. Whatever was going on his head, she needed to try to figure it out.
Nico knew that tone of voice, but he had to stop this, for both their sakes. "Dr. Santino…Dani, look what happened shouldn't have happened, okay? We were both tired and things got out of control. You were warm and willing and I took what you were offering, but there is nothing more to it than that okay? Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss, now can we let it go?
After that, they had ridden to the airport in silence. When they had arrived, Nico had dropped her off in the private waiting area in the terminal saying he would back after he took care of a few things.
Dani knew he needed distance, but after what had happened, it still hurt. Boarding the plane, he had made sure she got on first and was seated before he took his seat in the back of the plane. With little sleep and the emotion of what had happened, Dani put her head back and closed her eyes trying to forget and losing herself in sleep….
"Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss" – Nico knew he had hurt her with those words, but it couldn't be helped. Dr. Danielle Santino wasn't even his, she belonged to Matt now. And even if she didn't, she could never be his. He should never have kissed her.
Gabrielle had said it best "You have a past that you can't even talk about with anyone" If Dani ever knew about the things he had done, she would never see him in the same way.
When he had first told Danielle about Gabrielle last month, he saw the flicker in her eyes, knowing that his affair with a married woman put him in the same league as Ray, her ex-husband. He knew she had tried hard not to judge him in that moment, but how she couldn't when he didn't think too highly of himself either. And if she had trouble with the affair, how would she react to the rest. Nico knew that he couldn't bear to see that kind of disappointment in her eyes…"God, what a mess", he said softly.
Not even an hour into the flight Dani abruptly awoke to the bell of the fasten seat belt sign and a loud crash from the area of the galley. What had started out as a smooth flight had turned rough very fast. She had always been a good flier, but then again, she had never been on such a small plane before in this kind of weather.
She tied looking out the window, but all she saw was her reflection and frost around the edges. What should have been blue skies was a thick mass of gray. Just as she pulled her seatbelt tighter around her lap Nico appeared at her side.
"Nico, what's going on?" Dani tried not to let the fear into her voice, but knew she failed miserable when Nico's eyes met hers. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out, are you okay here for a few minutes?" Dani was able to get out a nod and after a reassuring squeeze to her shoulder Nico made his way to the cockpit.
What seemed like hours, but was probably less then 5 minutes, Nico sat down next to hear and put his seatbelt on. "So here's the deal, we've run into a pretty strong storm and the pilots are concerned it's going to get worse before it gets better. They've decided to re-route the plane. We're landing at a small airport a couple hours outside Wichita in about 10 minutes."
10 minutes become 20 as the pilots struggled to get the plane down safely. Finally, when Dani thought she couldn't take one more minute, she felt the unmistakably thump of the wheels on the tarmac. After a few slips, the plane finally began to slow down and then make its way to a hanger.
"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Dani said confidently. "Piece of cake". When she looked at Nico she saw amusement in his eyes. "Well, considering it was a "piece of cake", feel free to let go of my hand at any time." Looking down she saw that her fingers were laced in Nico's. "I'm sorry, I know you don't like touching." Dani said trying to take her hand away, but Nico resisted. "I like when you touch me, Dr. Santino."
Their eyes locked and Nico started to lean in to kiss her when the subtle clearing of the 1st officer's throat interrupted.
"Mr. Careles, we are locked down for the night. We are in the thick of the storm right now so no one is going anywhere tonight. We've made some phone calls and we managed to get a couple of rooms at the motel out near the highway for you and Dr. Santino. The crew will be staying in the rooms at the airport they keep for us in case of emergencies. Your ride is outside; I would suggest you take off soon so you don't get stuck.
"Thanks Stratten. You have my cell phone. Call me if anything changes, otherwise, we will be back here tomorrow morning."
After the first officer had left, Nico turned to Dani, "Ready?". "Can't we just stay on the plane?" Dani asked? "This way we can be here when they are ready to leave."
Dani just wanted to go home. She was tired, she was hungry and most of all she needed to get away from Nico. Even after all the things he had said, she was sure that he would have kissed her again on the plane if they hadn't been interrupted.
"Dani, you're exhausted. Let's get to the motel and you can rest. I promise I will have you home by Sunday." Without waiting for her to answer, he took her arm and walked her to the car. Too tired to resist, Dani held her coat closed against the wind and together they left the plane.
After stopping at the local diner for a quick bite, Nico and Dani made their way to the motel. Nico dropped Dani off at the main covered entrance; parked the car in the last spot and made his way through the forming drifts to the doors. He noticed that Dani had taken a seat on the couch near the fireplace and was already falling asleep.
Approaching the front desk, he gave his name and slid his black American express card across the counter. Expecting two keys, he could only stare at the one key placed in his hand. "There must be a mistake; there should be 2 rooms under my name."
"I'm sorry, but that's all we have left." The young man stammered under Nico's stare. "You see a young couple came in and the lady was really pregnant, I couldn't turn them away, could I?"
Without saying another word, Nico turned away from the desk and towards Dani. Touching her lightly on the shoulder. Dani jumped. "Jesus Nico, how can you always be so quiet." Nico smiled, "You were asleep. C'mon, let's go."
Making their way down the quiet hall with Dani trailing behind, Nico got to the room indicated by the number on the card slip. After sliding the key in and out and seeing the light turn green, Nico grabbed the handle and turned it so that it was open. After turning on the light, he turned to Dani, "Okay, here we are".
Nico stepped aside to let Dani enter the room. She eagerly took in the the king size bed and already thinking of a hot shower and a warm bed, she turned back to Nico.
"Thank you, for everything. Now I think I will say good night."
"While nothing would give me greater pleasure than leaving you alone, we have a bit of a problem. There is only room left at the motel and it's this one. I know you don't want to hear this, but tonight, we are going to be staying here, together."
"No, no, no, no, no way Nico, I'm not sharing this room with you and I'm certainly not staying in THAT bad with you. You can sleep in the lobby or in the car or back at the airport, but you are not staying with me, Nico, you just aren't."
Pacing the room, Dani continued, "The things you said Nico, after you kissed, me, those were hurtful things Nico, they made me want to hate you, and they made me want to…" her words trailed off and it was in that moment, she understood why he had said the things he had.
He was intentionally trying to drive her away, make her mad enough at him that she would put distance between them, make her stay away. Of course, why hadn't she seen it before?
As she looked at him, with the wind howling outside, she knew that this may be their only chance to see what this thing was between them. But could she be that brave? What if Nico rejected her again, what if he was cold to her, what if he didn't want her, what if, what if...
"Okay, Nico, I'll let you stay on one condition." Nico leaned up against the door jam, and with a slight smile, asked "And what would that be". Surprised by the quick 180 and expecting a list of rules a mile long and fully prepared to sleep on the floor, he was stunned when the words came out of her mouth.
"Tonight Nico, will be just for us. No Gabrielle, no Matt, no Hawks. No regrets, just the two of us. Together. I want to finish what we started in that snowdrift"
Coming into the room and letting the door close behind him, Nico approached her very carefully.
"Dani, what exactly are you asking?" Dani knew it was up to her. Nico would never cross the line, never make the first move. His sense of loyalty, or duty or whatever it was to Marshall Pittman and the Hawks would not allow him to take this step. But she knew that if there was ever a chance for them, it was now.
"I'm asking Nico, for you to stay with me tonight, to be with me tonight." Bridging the distance between them, she put her hand on his cheek, enjoying the texture of the day's growth along his jaw line.
Looking down at her, Nico knew that he might only have this one night and so regardless of how it turned out; he was going to spend it with her. And, what did he have to lose really, besides his heart?
And something told him that it had been hers since the cemetery, when he watched her hold TK's hand in hers at his Mother's grave. He knew then, what she would come to mean to him.
But as much as he wanted to stay, he wrestled with his feeling. He should leave now, say something to her and that would cause her pain, to back up from him to break the spell she seemed to weave around them, he could say all sorts of things, even bring up Matt, but as he looked in her warm brown eyes, all he saw was his chance.
And just for once, Nico was going to take a chance, with her.
"I accept your condition Dani, tonight will be for us. But I can't promise more than tonight, there are so many things you should know before…."
"My conditions, Nico, not yours." And then with a smile she kissed him and he was lost. Taking off her coat and his, he laid her back on the bed and covered her body. They came together not in a hot rush but a slow burn. Both wanting to take their time with each other.